#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

[cheriedivine]

Youtuber Ellie x Reader Hc’s <3

♡‧₊˚₊✧ pairing: youtuber Ellie Williams x youtuber fem reader (No use of y/n)

♡‧₊˚₊✧ CW: slight cursing

♡‧₊˚₊✧ Tags: just pure fluff tbh

♡‧₊˚₊✧ Author’s note: I’ve been watching so much Izzy&Emma lately and i thought about this fun idea and i love this so much lmk if y’all want a part 2 bc i definitely have more ideas for this ^~^ (maybe also a little one shot?)

୨୧─── ⋆୨୧⋆ ───୨୧─── ⋆୨୧⋆ ───୨୧─── ⋆୨୧⋆ ───୨୧

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Ok so Ellie convinced you to start a channel with her for shits and giggles yk but a video of you guys doing a Dress to impress gameplay went viral and it was all over tiktok.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Like the video got 100k views in 48 hours…

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ After that, she was hooked. She begged you to keep making videos together, saying it was “for the fans,” but really… she just liked having an excuse to be on camera with you.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ofc you accepted (how could you not when she was so cute)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ One of your most popular videos is the Couple Drawing Challenge where you switch canvases every 5 minutes. You couldn’t stop laughing, meanwhile Ellie was so serious about it. Like, genuinely stressed every time she had to give up her progress.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ The paintings turned out surprisingly good (thanks to her of course), and she hung them up in your shared apartment like they’re museum pieces.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ While you love vlogging little cozy days, behind-the-scenes moments, aesthetic montages, Ellie’s more into chaotic gameplay and silly challenges.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ When you hit 1k subscribers (even though she was ready to celebrate at 100), Ellie made a cake from scratch. It was… questionable looking, but the effort was there. She even tried to pipe "1K BABY" on top with pink frosting. (You chose the colors)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ I just KNOW she’s the type to be like “babe we’re not doing a Q&A those are cringe” cut to 5 mins later: “so the first question is ‘who fell first’… it was me. obviously.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ELLIE WOULD FORCE JOEL TO APPEAR IN A VIDEO AND IT WOULD BE THE FUNNIEST SHIT EVER.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ I can imagine him wearing that “I love my lesbian daughter” shirt.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ The comments immediately dubbed him “DILF of the Year.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Ellie was disgusted. “Stop hitting on my dad, weirdos.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You made Ellie a swear jar so your videos wouldn’t get demonetized. She tried to cheat by using creative alternatives like “fork” and “ship,” but gave up after a week.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You’ve collected enough for like, a whole sephora haul

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ She bought you the Sabrina Carpenter skin in fortnite just so you’d play with her.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You did. And totally destroyed her. She was… not okay afterward. Her ego’s was a bit bruised ngl

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Ellie insists on matching outfits when you film together. Oversized hoodies, themed shirts, stupid little hats, she loves it.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Also, she has her hands on you at all times. Arm around your shoulder, hand on your thigh, holding your pinky. Marking her territory for the creepy dudes in the comments.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ She always deletes hate comments so you wont get sad :( (cutie)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ But what she doesn't know is that you made a secret account so you could fight the incels in your comment section LOL

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You filmed a “Doing my girlfriend’s makeup” video… Ellie ended up looking like a glam rock star and refused to take it off for hours because “I ate this shit up to be honest.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ The comment section was filled with “Is your gf single?, asking for a friend”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You deleted them <3

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Ellie made you film a ghost hunting vlog in an abandoned building. She screamed first. You have the footage. You’re never letting her live it down.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You guys have a series called “Gayming o’clock” where you play dating sims, fortnite, roblox and chaotic co-op games.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Ellie accidentally went viral for being too soft with you on camera — like fixing your mic, brushing your hair away, or whispering “you’re doing so good, babe” mid-filming. The fans LOST IT.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ For your anniversary, she made a cringey but adorable montage of your funniest on-camera moments. It ends with her saying “Here’s to forever. Unless you beat me at Fortnite again, then we’re breaking up.”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ There’s a running joke on your channel that Joel is the true star. You guys got him a little trophy and filmed him “accepting his award.” He actually smiled (rare footage!!).

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ You guys always EAT UP the fan edits on tiktok, you have a folder full of them.

[honeycaksy]

Alphie's one-sided beef with Ron and Hermione, could you talk more on that, please? I loved childhood friends who drift but one doesn't want them to, although I'm not sure if that's what Alphie and Harry have.

Also, is Alphie's name pronounced 'Alfie'?

tysm!!

-💜 anon

P.S I can totally see him pranking them as a way to try and get Harry's attention.

Heeeyyy 💜 anon!

And yep, you totally guessed what happened with Harry and Alphie’s friendship 😭

They were super close as kids, but things shifted when they got sorted into different houses at Hogwarts. That distance grew even more when Harry became friends with fellow Gryffindors Ron and Hermione (I love the Golden Trio; I wouldn’t keep them together in this AU otherwise! And it’s not Harry’s fault he made friends in his own house).

Alphie didn’t take it well at first, feeling replaced. He definitely pulled pranks on Ron and Hermione to get Harry’s attention and prove he was the cooler, more fun friend.

To make things more complicated, Alphie got super popular over the years; hated by most of Slytherin, but adored by the rest of the school. Non-slytherins even cheer “Go Alphie!” instead of “Go Slytherins!” during Quidditch matches. Add that to his endless shallow friendships and all the people he’s dated…

Harry and Alphie still hang out, of course, and even do a loooot of pranks together when they can, but they’ve both grown into their own friend circles. (So see it as if they spend 50% of their time together while the other 50% with their other friends). Strangely though, every summer they go right back to being inseparable again.

And while Alphie’s jealous of Ron and Hermione, Harry completely loses it over Ashina, the werewolf girl Alphie befriended. None of Alphie’s other friends or flings ever made Harry this jealous, especially since the Marauders started projecting and seeing her as “Remus 2.0,” even shipping her with Alphie. ( I promise nothing ever happens lol )

Also yes! Alphie is pronounced as Alfie! ( Al-fee ? ). It’s how we pronounced it in French hahahah

[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.

[sixtsstuff]

Alright, alright

I here you people!

Some person replied on the Marauders x Descendants characters crossover and I must admit GOSH IT MAKES SENSE

So we all agree that Ben and Mal is such a Starchaser coded couple

~•°•☆•°•~

Now, some people told me - and I had thought about it myself - Evie as Sirius and tbh this one make sense given their diva personality mixed with their fierce loyalty and their automatic acceptance of the ennemy's lifestyle:

Like Evie accepted the Auradon pink and girly lifestyle so fast and she realized quikly it was what suited her best unlike Mal who took much more time to accept herself

It makes me think of Sirius accepting so fast the Gryffindor life and all the love and care his friends had to offer, whereas Regulus took way more time to realized he deserved it

(Makes sense for the Black Brothers to be Mal and Evie given how much siblings aura they give off)

~•°•☆•°•~

Given this, people commented that Remus should be Doug and that's where I'm not so sure..

It goes with the Evie x Doug/Sirius x Remus BUT I think Doug is way less aggressive and brave than Remus who doesn't hesitate to defend anyone (at least in my hc!)

Although I can see the popular frat x introvert nerd dynamic that suits so much Wolfstar and Evie x Doug (do they have a ship name??)

~•°•☆•°•~

Of course, as I said in the previous post, Barty HAS TO BE Harry, I've never seen such a good Barty variant then Harry Hook ladies and gentlemen

We don't know much about Harry's backstory and about his relationship with his parents but I bet they are some daddy issues hide underneath this messy eye make up

~•°•☆•°•~

If Harry is Barty it makes sense that Uma is Dorcas, they are so matching tbh

They both give off the powerful and fierceful woman aura that everyone fear BUT over who everyone simp, especially Harry/Barty, I mean, I don't ship Barty with Dorcas or Harry with Uma but they both defo yearn for their hot best friend in a wierd platonic way

~•°•☆•°•~

With that said it would make sense that Evan take the role of Gil, BUT I am definetly not stanning that, Gil is cute but very dumb in the movies from what they've let us see of him and my boy Evan is NOT like that at all...

~•°•☆•°•~

Last but not least, Marlene as Jay

I saw someone saying it and it just makes so much sense guys, they give off the same jog energy of 'I will give 100% of myself to win this game' but also the 'if we lose cause of me I'll blame myself and wonder if I'm worthy of being in the team'

And Obvious it's our boy Ben/James who's here to cheer them up and show them they're plenty worthy!

~•°•☆•°•~

So here are what made sense or not in what y'all commented, let me know if you have more ideas, I love doing this!!

I'm thinking of Pandora as Jane... but she also gives off Peter energy HARD, I don't know if I love it or hate it, what do y'all think?

Also who would be Audrey?? I'M SO CURIOUS

[hollow-lime-green]

hello oh great fanfiction community !

i saw a stsg big bang event acc today and before that event gets rolling, i would like to say some words about fan events and specifically big bangs in general - without targeting any specific event, and maybe as some food for thought for the community/prospective event runners.

under the cut: the argument for a reverse bang (not femdom)

this is a bit of a ramble but i'm writing this as i have my coffee so you'll have to deal with it being a bit of a braindump.

so let me first just say that i love fan events and i extra love big bangs. the concept of teaming up with someone is awesome. you get to make friends, and specifically you are making friends with someone with a different but related hobby! (art vs writing)

that being said, in all fandom spaces i have ever been in - zines, events, general interaction - there is a pretty heavy favoritism towards artists. you can see this when you look at the number of artists slots in zines, relative levels of engagement in fanart vs fic posts, and, of course, in big bangs (artists select prompts, rather than writers).

now, i am not blaming artists for this (not fully - although sometimes this becomes entrenched in the space's culture, esp with zines and zine groups). there are actual reasons for this:

Zines - art takes up less space than fic - of course you can fit more of them in a zine. also, artists can do merch (imagine writing merch... fortune cookie slips?)

Likes - art is extremely quick to see and ingest, and then smash the like button. writing requires a bit more time investment and usually clicking to a second tab. it is very logical for art posts to get more engagement. (and i think the kind of engagement fics get is often more rewarding - i would not trade my comments for any number of likes. however this, and follower count which correlates, is a good general measure of 'popularity')

Big Bang/Prompt Selection - artists go "omgggg no i can't write the pitch i suck at writing!!"... and i'm going to be so real, i think they're right lmfao. i mean the answer is 'well git gud' but in my experience this is actually true, they struggle to write out pitches.

so yeah, there are real factors that drive artist power/popularity ahead of writers in these spaces. that can also influence the culture of how they are often given priority in fandom events. while i don't blame artists for that, it kinda sucks as a writer. often, as a writer, it can really feel like you're begging for scraps - limited zine spaces, engagement on posts, etc.

which is why big bangs are so great! as a writer, you get a buddy! we love buddies! (not that firefighter ship, i don't know her.) collaboration is great. as a writer, you get to pitch your ideas, and then some artist is gonna see your idea and be like "omg i love that idea" and then they claim you and you get to be buddies, right?

right?

well, this is where the equity problem can come back - because writers are the ones pitching first, they are still in the vulnerable position here. i've been in a few big bangs, and by the nature of this system (writer pitch, artist pick), you often will end up with writers who don't get a pitch claimed, or a situation where artists are pinch hitting and doubling up to make sure everyone is matched up.

which just doesn't feel great.

now, like i said, there are valid reasons for why writers pitch first - fic is more describable (there are events, it's not just a still), writers are better at words (tough to hear but true), and it also takes an ass ton of time and motivation to write (i have even seen some events where there's a big lead time on fic creation, then artists get paired later in the process).

but, consider, it is simply less fun this way. all of these events sort of function on the assumption that an artist will get inspired by fic/prompt - without giving writers the chance to do the same. for writers, there's no spontaneity in this process. we have to be in the driver's seat.

sometimes, a writer deserves to kick back with a pina colada and say "yeah bro what's the vision" as the artist says "ummm... idk i wanna do like.. pastels? kinda like, fluffy springtime? oh and here's a new rendering technique i want to try- [pulls out tablet]"

because the thing is, i can work with that, actually. i think a lot of writers can. all i need is a handful of tags - AU and some general mood indicators - and we can find something compelling to write. you wanna put the character in some ridiculous pinterest strappy outfit? i'll write the choreography of getting into/out of the ridiculous pintrest strappy outfit. you wanna do dark colors? oh the mood of this scene is about to be so dark colors. comic? bro i'll write the dialogue. that's part of why i've been so excited to write for tropefest! it's fun!!

so, a reverse bang, for the uninitiated, is exactly this: a big bang where artists pitch, and then writers select from those prompts.

they are cool and we should do them. thank you for listening to my ted talk. (who am i kidding this is definitely tedx)

[cursed-sonic-opinions]

a friend of mine and i were yapping the other day and our shared opinions and criticisms sort of turned into a bit of a public service announcement so here goes lmao

firstly- all writing has flaws, but this is not a reason to dogpile someone for liking one author more than another or for disliking an author, or to attack the author directly for being flawed. so if we were to say that we dislike some parts of the way evan and ian are writing, but enjoy some others, you shouldn't be sending hate to us for that opinion, tattling to the authors, or running to the authors to scream that we're right. you disagree, move on, you agree, move on.

so now going into the bulk of it- this fandom has a weird view of ian vs evan's writing, and it's because of popularity. both evan and ian got into archie because of their fanworks, but because evan had the extremely popular ghosts of the future under her belt, the fandom leaps to defend her from all criticism, while letting ian take a bunch of negativity.

this magnetizes flaws in ian's writing making it seem earth shattering, and ignoring flaws in evan's writing making her seem perfect. so if one person says they don't like the direction a pivotal scene takes, it's "excuse me, that's evan stanley, revered author and artist for the comics and creator of gotf, show a little respect", but if someone says they don't like the way a line was written, it's "of COURSE it was ian flynn, let's go send him a death threat." because we knew evan before her time on archie, but we only knew ian once he made his debut in archie, so a lot of us see her as a person to respect solely because she was a fan creator turned important figure in official media even though ian was too. and the only reason ian doesn't get that treatment is because his work wasn't as well known as evan's.

it's also worth noting that evan tends to do ship teases in her issues, mostly silvaze though other ships have been seen in her work or implied through small details (whether you interpret future growth as romantic or not, the background colors match the mlm flag, for example). however ian is trying to move away from a lot of ships featuring major characters, like sonamy. this is also due to the mandates, which, if those are what's keeping him from also teasing ships as often as other writers, evan is seemingly not held to as strongly. so either the mandates need to be all inclusive or lifted, and the second really WILL give us archie 2.

but this isn't to say their work is horrible! i'm not saying that because evan likes silvaze and because ian has to work with mandates their work is bad. there's a reason ian is known as the guy that saved the franchise, and a reason evan got so popular in the first place. the issue here is that people are putting certain creators on a pedestal, calling others the devil, and telling anyone who disagrees to die.

tl;dr: stop harassing people for their opinions on the authors, they're all flawed but all have something to enjoy, and please critique kindly instead of being rude about it.

[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. 😅

[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.

[torntrianglesleeves]

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?

[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.

[saurons-pr-department]

K and X?

K - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom?

So I consider myself to currently be in two fandoms, Silm fandom and The Clone Wars/Bad Batch fandoms.

Silm fandom: I've either been particularly fortunate in my time here or I've curated my tumblr immaculately, but my impression of my corner of the Silm fandom is that it's full of very calm and relaxed people who really love lore deep dives and really enjoy sharing their areas of expertise and how they can relate to the Silm (like people who are into metal work, linguistics, mythology etc. etc.). I know I frequently just share light hearted things, but I really love just how academic this fandom can get

I also love how much crafts are appreciated as fan works and not just fan fics and drawn fan art. Like we have so many textile artists and book binders and jewellers etc. in this fandom and they get so much interaction because who doesn't love to see a real-life Noldo, you know??

It's not all been sunshine and rainbows. I know people who've had awful experiences in the fandom. In my own experience, I've come across people who judge people for shipping things they ship themselves because of course only they are doing things the right way. Like I once came across an angbang shipper that said women shouldn't ship it because it was clearly a fetish thing when they did it??? Like sir, put the misogyny down! I even once had someone get so mad that my url appeared in their recommendations that they felt the need to dm me and tell me I shouldn't exist (something something, satanism in 'the professor's' work).

(In case anyone is wondering about the way I wrote 'the professor', I am usually wary of people who insist on exclusively calling Tolkien that. Too... pedestal-y for me).

All in all though, I've found myself a nice corner where you can ship what you want and create deeply fucked up fan works where you ask "how can I make this worse" and you'll be joined by fellow sickos going "yes! yeeeeeeessssss!".

The Clone Wars/Bad Batch: I'm fairly new here so I don't feel I have as much insight. I had been in Star Wars fandom before (yeeeeears ago) and always found The Clone Wars to be one of the calmer sections of a dumpster fire of a fandom (as we all know, no one hates Star Wars like a Star Wars fan). I would say I feel less comfortable here than in the Silm fandom, but I think I just haven't had sufficient time to establish my sicko circle to the same degree yet XD I find that generally people don't revel in "how do I make it worse?" which is like my favourite thing in fan works. People get a lot more upset at character death than I'm used to, to the point where it almost seems like a bit of a sore point... And I'm just like, it's a war, I would be disappointed is characters didn't die because then there'd never be any consequences. I'm just over here quietly killing off more characters with hammers in my head XD I don't know, I just feel like my feelings towards the shows and what fanworks I'd like to see don't quite match what seems to be common in the fandom on Tumblr.

Oh! And did you know that there's a degree of taboo against shipping the Clones?? They're so rediculously shippable. Anyway, I ship Clones. I think they should be part of the long tradition of stories of men serving in the military together with a devotion that boarders on (or is blatantly) homoerotic.

There's also way more x reader fic around than what I'm used to and I find much of it sooooo uncomfortably traditional gender role-y, but it's wish fulfillment and clearly my wishes are not these people's wishes. Like, there's one character in Bad Batch that's very smart and all the insert fic is like "he uses such big words that my tiny inferior brain couldn't possibly understand but he's so patient with me anyway" and I'm a woman who works in r&d so I want to drop kick the screen when I see this. But like I said, not my wish, not my fulfillment. I just find it odd it's so popular. (Yes I do keep reading it, no I don't know why. Someone please stop me).

Overall though, I haven't had a bad experience, but I don't feel like I quite fit either... That being said, I've had some fun convos with people about Tech being autistic, so maybe I just need to post and interact a bit more and I'll feel more at home like I do with the Silm. Like, I'm a little unfair to TCW/BB here because I'm compairing a few months to something like 6 or 7 years.

X - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

Silm: Angbang, Silvergifting, Túrin x Beleg (yes that's three, but I can't pick just one, we're luckly I narrowed it down this much!)

TCW/BB: Echo x Fives, Echo x Tech, Tech x Crosshair (yes, I am cheating here too XD) (also, I think I should be allowed to marry Tech, just saying).

I'm actually not a huge shipper. I don't ship in most things. I'm very fussy about romance in fiction. I very rarely go anywhere near anything that's canon or hinted at in canon (esp. het). I dunno, romance in fiction can give me the ick really easily.

[darkestmetamorphosis]

🔥 ships :)

The only thing more annoying than my NoTP being an inescapably popular ship is when a ship that I love is popular but the way everyone else writes them is not my blorbos

I've ranted about this with trevorcard a lot before; I need to spread the topcard propaganda like Alucard spreads Trevor's legs XD

It also irks me with belschine (which isn't exactly popular, even if it's the most popular ship in HoD... most popular HoD ship is an overly narrow superlative. But it kind of makes it worse that most of the few people who even know about them are getting them wrong) anyway my point is, people have got to stop ukefying Juste. I don't care how starved I am I will NOT read fics that do him dirty

Maleon has too little in game for me to be interested in them. Vampire lord x vampire hunter should theoretically be my shit, but it's a case of good idea, bad execution. I'm sure there's fics that do the work the game didn't, but I am scared to go in there you know there's a good chance of ukefication going on there

I like alumaria (SotN only. idk the nocturne ones are probably a match made in hell but I have no fucks to give about them)

Not castlevania but whenever I see an inescapably popular ship overtake many a blog I get antsy and wonder if this is where all the people involved in the voltron shipping wars went (this is about that one arcane ship)

Also not castlevania but because I need to scream, there is a fandom of a game that I like but I cannot interact with because so many people are so wrong about my favorite character. And despite having a lot of well written, multifaceted characters, of course the most popular ship is the one that most fits into the basic yaoi tropes to the migrating dudeslash fans (even though that is not their canon personalities, but there is a lot of flanderizing and making shit up going on) because they're the only two skinny white dudes in the entire main cast. The "the women/poc just aren't as well written" excuse doesn't make sense here but the fandom doesn't care about the female characters unless it's in the context of yuri ships, and for my blorbo the most compelling gay ship is with a black man but most of the fandom has collective amnesia about him. And lemme tell you they really like to treat my blorbo the same as nfcv fans treat Hector. It's bad