#This isn't even a shippy thing they're just good

[minakoaiinos]

Lost my original post of this from the other day but I genuinely don't understand how Black Butler discourse ever shifted into the does Sebastian ~really~ like Ciel or is Ciel just dinner line of conversation that is pervasive as it is because Sebastian is the one that has absorbed his whole existence into Ciel's. Sebastian's face is what Ciel wants Sebastian's whole purpose is doing things for Ciel Sebastian's every hell of a butler yes my lord speech is about how he's Ciel's and Ciel is the one going around saying shit like whatever Sebastian is just my pawn 💅

[jenny-from-the-bau]

Honestly from what I’ve seen on Twitter, I think the cheating thing was more of a joke than anything (not denying that some people genuinely feel that way though). I feel like most people have generally been saying that 17x06 was a good set up for Jemily to actually happen and that they want it to develop from there, not that it needs to be instant. Also the queerbaiting allegations seem to be more directed at the cm social media etc for interacting with shippy posts and responding in ways teasing the ship (e.g. saying that they ship Jemily too) but then referring it to as just a friendship later and the show seemingly having no intention of making the ship canon. Of course whether it’s actually queerbaiting is kind of debatable but I guess people feel like they’re being used for views.

Idk if we're seeing the same tweets, but every time I go on twitter, there's genuine anger and vitriol. People saying JJ needs to just cheat so Will is gone, wishing Will dead, saying that they don't want JJ and Emily being together unless it's canon (romantically), etc etc. It all seems very real and genuinely harmful. I've seen way more people saying they hated 17x06 because Jemily didn't become canon than anyone saying it was a good episode.

Also, like, I understand that it can be frustrating to see the CM accounts say they ship Jemily, but that doesn't translate to "because it's going to happen." A PR account isn't in the fandom. They're interacting with popular posts, and they may even ACTUALLY ship Jemily, but that really doesn't mean anything. It's never been said that Jemily is going to be made canon. No one has said that, I'm pretty sure.

Jemily IS a great friendship. The ultimate moment WAS wonderful and heartfelt and funny and fulfilling. They're best friends and they're there for each other through thick and thin. That doesn't mean they love each other romantically and they probably never will. JJ is happily married, and she also has an amazing, deeply fulfilling friendship with Emily.

Interacting with "shippy posts" isn't a promise or hint or anything like that. It's actually awesome that they're acknowledging queer fans and talking about queer ships! That's crazy to me, as someone who grew up with Rizzoli and Isles and Swan Queen. We're a valid audience!! That doesn't mean it's going to be canon, though. Romantic Jemily has never been promised.

Being acknowledged as fans of a ship in a positive way isn't the same as being used for views. Are the showrunners wrong for thinking that we love JJ and Emily as characters? Are they wrong for thinking that we want to see them be happy and close?

Want a queer ship on CM? Tara and Rebecca are right there! Why are they not good enough for people??

JJ and Emily are a wonderful, wonderful example of adult female friendship, and how important it is to care for your friends when you also have a romantic partner and a family.

[arcadekitten]

Hello Arcadekitten! So I was wondering, in What way did Ryo Mean when he told Embry he misses them Then Embry said they miss him too? I feel like that’s kinda a strange thing for friends to tell eachother but that’s Just my opinion!

Thank you so much for your time if you see this!

I don't think it's strange for friends to tell each other at all. Especially given the context of their relationship in Crowscare: You have to remember that Embry does not live in the town that Ryo lives in. They are friends, but they can only hang out with each other when Embry is in town--which isn't super often. And Embry is still a child, so when they're able to stop into town is not in Embry's control.

I want to clarify that like, if you are someone who wants to ship something I don't inherently mind if you want to read more romantically into a character's dialogue (as this is what I'm getting implied from this ask). BUT in the same breath I never want you to deny the possibility of platonic love in all its shapes and forms. The possibility that nearly any line that can be read romantically can just as validly and love-filled be read platonically.

It is something I feel very strongly about in my work! It is very clear that I enjoy me a good romance and that I like writing romances! But I also feel very strongly about the love you can feel platonically towards others and that more often than not yes, actually, there IS a platonic explanation for this.

For example Mary's relationship with Crowven in Cemetery Mary or with Vasilis in Blackout Hospital. Mary expresses a lot of love for these individuals and in turn they express love right back to her. And if someone played Blackout Hospital and thought Vasilis and Mary would make a cute couple I wouldn't mind. I've even made shippy art of them myself before! But I also think it's important to recognize that that relationship was written platonic and that there is no less love there than if it was written romantic--just a different kind of love.

LOL sorry that was a bit of a tangent but I saw an excuse to talk about my feelings on this kinda matter and I took it! Hope you're okay with that! ✰

[olderthannetfic]

People going on about how they're representing this whole Greek thing are missing that that one anon had a pretty good point about how "cultural appropriation" rhetoric gets misused. People do really need to be more specific about what the issue is, or it very easily turns into basically just arguing for cultural segregation. I've seen that happen numerous times on this website over the years. I've seen people argue that it's appropriative to do something like *learn about* another culture or learn its language. I think it's really important for people to keep an eye on what are the actual issues with cultural appropriation (mostly about exploitation and colonialism) and not just the idea that cultural mixing is bad, or that being interested in a culture that isn't your own is bad. Because the truth is, whether you intend this or not, if you're just arguing that everyone should only keep to the culture of their ethnicity or their place of origin or both, then you're basically in agreement with white supremacists. It's not that cultures mixing is bad; most culture is a result of some mixture. It's when it's done in a way that's exploitative and/or disrespectful: like reducing sacred symbols like indigenous war bonnets to a fashion accessory, or incorporating the art of another culture into your own art without giving credit and without paying anyone from that culture who taught you or added to your work.

FTR, I don't think you can "appropriate" ancient mythologies. I think people are getting twisted around though because there is a genuine history of colonial exploitation of Greek artifacts by colonial powers to fill their museums, as with the Elgin marbles. I do think it's still a good idea to be properly informed about them, regardless, at the very least because those make for the more interesting retellings. For all that people (who IME, largely haven't read it, I'd love to hear if people who have read it disagree though) rag on Song of Achilles, I actually thought it was a pretty good example of a retelling because the author, who has an educational background in mythology, takes great pains to try to recreate the society and cultural norms of Greece at that time rather than sugarcoat it. Achilles may be even more of a jerk than he was in the original Iliad, tbh. It's telling to me that the author's other books that are less "shippy" don't have as negative of a reputation on here in that regard as Song of Achilles, despite being fairly similar, and it makes me wonder how much of that is because it's popular among "fujoshi fandom" so people just assume it MUST be shallow and fandomified, and I was super shocked at how much it really wasn't that at all. As well as I saw that a lot of people expecting something more like that were disappointed by all the period-accurate misogyny and so on.

Which brings me to another point: another reason I'm skeptical of a lot of this discourse is that it seems like often it's more of a high-culture, low-culture thing. A thing that is popular with M/M fanfic writers can't POSSIBLY be doing it right. A thing that is a popular video game or Tony-winning Broadway musical that is popular with the fandoms for those things, can't possibly be accurate. And I get that a lot of that is because a lot of populist things that took from Greek mythology have been inaccurate (Disney's Hercules, for instance) but if you're going to criticize the accuracy of something, I think it is worth engaging with the original work and what it actually does rather than just assuming It's Popular It Must Suck. It feels like a lot of this turns into lording that you were into it before X over others. And being aware that Tumblr Recommendations often do a poor job of actually giving you a good idea of what the work is really like.

As well as, of course, asking yourself - as we should with any sort of historical inaccuracy etc. - if the inaccuracy was deliberate or not. Sometimes people are not really telling that story in order to tell the most accurate version of something but to make a different kind of point, and so the changes might be deliberate. I would argue this is true with something like Hadestown.

That doesn't mean you can't still dislike it for that reason, of course. I know a lot of classical musicians who dislike the movie Amadeus for being so inaccurate about Mozart's and Salieri's lives. I like it despite that because I think the point it is trying to make is stronger for not sticking to the historical fact. I just wish more people did know the historical fact, though.

--

One would think the "Is it bad if I learn to cook Thai food?" thing was a strawman... but I've seen it in the wild far too many times.

[itachis-eyes]

1. I'm surprised you get so many NS requests since you've been saying for so gucking long you don't draw NS

2. Imagine Oro teaching Sas how to do eyeliner and lipstick ( I mean, I know Oro does his eyeliner so well and ik cursed mark Sasuke wears that nice purple lipstick

Not a request. Just wanted to send this to you 👉👈

For #1, I think it's because the link to my about is old-fashioned. From what I hear, most Tumblr users are mobile bound, and most themes are also mobile based, so things like links in custom themes just don't seem as accessible. Maybe I'll make a link in my description and I think it'll help. The anon later came back to clarify they didn't intend for it to be shippy, but the wording is still sparking red flags for me, so I don't think I will fulfill that request. Maybe a commission, but also, I don't think it would feel good to make someone draw something you -know- they don't like, even if it's for payment.

For #2, these ideas are cute, but something about them always bothers me. Is it common in fandom nowadays to assume Orochimaru's markings are the result of applying makeup? Is it a little fandom in-joke I'm not getting? This is a genuine question for me. Orochimaru's marks are present when he's a child, teenager, and adult, and they are also present in the male body at the end of the 1st part of Naruto. They're still present in Boruto, too. I don't believe they're in any way applied on purpose. He was just born with them. Same with Sasuke's lips in his curse mark mode. Like the 4 point Star on his face, it's clear that it's just a marking/body change due to the curse mark, and not him stopping to apply lipstick.

This isn't me trying to be a downer or me trying to say men can't wear makeup in case someone reads it that way. Just that when it comes to Orochimaru and Sasuke, those seem like odd choices to me, their makeup is either natural markings or transformation based markings. Sage mode Naruto is transformation based, etc. I can't get behind the makeup thing for born/transformation based markings and if it's a fandom in-joke, I honestly don't get it.

[serpentinegraphite]

...re: your tags on the WFA Jason crowbar incident -- might one be directed to your referenced essay?

Since it's been a min, here's the DC meta post this ask is referencing.

I thought it was on my blog, but I haven't been able to find the essay in the weeks since this ask came in? It might have been a tag rant more than the proper essay I thought I had posted. Or I might have been thinking of a broader and more general essay on the current trauma in fanfic portrayal, which I have definitely posted on this blog somewhere and in several friends' inboxes.

The gist of the essay is that a) fandom as a whole has a tendency to treat panic attacks/flashbacks as the Only and Right Way to experience trauma, even though that's by far not universal and b) will apply this even to characters who have canon trauma and show specific trauma reactions!

With Jason Todd in WFA having a Crowbar Sound Flashback, it's a perfect microcosm of both! The problem, therefore, isn't necessarily WFA being Uniquely Terrible and Inaccurate; WFA just exclusively plays with a lot of softball, fandom-popular tropes, so it remains popular even and especially with people who aren't super familiar with the canon. And because WFA thrives on softball, popular tropes, of course it's going to pick up on the Best Way To Write Trauma.

The essence of the problem is actually the way trauma symptoms in fanfic are homogenized to the most palatable, most sympathetic reaction guaranteed to woobify even the most hardened crime lords and war criminals: a panic attack. But not ANY panic attack! Specifically the hyperventilating on the floor, curled up in a ball kind of panic attacks! (Characters who lash out in anger when they're scared? Characters who shout mean things? Not anymore! Now they're hyperventilating on the floor and they need tender care and possibly a hug.) The momentary full helplessness is integral to creating a miniature h/c journey for the characters (panic –> helplessness –> rescue –> bonding).

Panic attacks actually have a pretty wide range of symptoms! Sometimes they're focused more on derealization reactions or heart racing (loads of people irl end up in the ER thinking they're having a heart attack, when it's actually a panic attack).

This specific portrayal of trauma as panic attacks is, I think, most egregious with characters who would actually fucking die if they had this exact trauma response. E.g., Jason Todd, who infamously both commits crimes and fights them. If he has a panic attack at every scum bag who waves a crow bar at him, he's probably getting beaten to death with a crowbar again. If even one of his regular criminal contacts or enemies catches wind that he has a crowbar panic attack weakness, he's dead! And this could be played for drama in this kind of fanfic, but it never is. (Because drama isn't the point, quick and dirty h/c is.)

Distilling his trauma about dying into panic attacks dismisses his entire history and canon trauma response (rage and vengeance and trying a completely different tactic from Batman to better the city of Gotham when the Red Hood is being a good guy and not just being a crime lord for profit). Here is a solid discussion on how Jason reacts to his own death (I'm new here and this essay is already long lol, I'm not citing whole comics runs or anything myself), with a great addendum from Ragnarok-hound in the tags on the Doylist reasons for why the canon goes over Jason's death again and again anyway.

The problem further stems from everyone learning panic attack symptoms from a combination of personal experience (which for the AO3 crowd in the shippy tags does not as often include people with uh combat or crime experience) and actual mental health web resources, so any panic attack scene reads like it was written by someone between high school and college age checking off a list of psych textbook panic attack symptoms. So it makes sense why they would go with the thing that is easiest to write for them and stick with the approved symptoms they know will garner the most sympathy from the audience and, importantly, other characters in the scene. E.g., to return to bullying WFA's portrayal, having Bruce arrive to tell Jason everything will be okay and fix everything.

(I think ymmv more on Bruce portrayals, depending on Your Preferred Batman, whether that's the corresponding era of comics with Red Hood, the animated series, or some campy/classic live action Batman portrayal, but one thing that is pretty consistent in every Batman media is that he's not fucking great at feelings, so even with a generous reading, WFA simplifies a lot of fraught history between Jason and Bruce here. Further, I could write an entire second essay on how bystanders in fanfic always have the perfect response, to either use the right therapy speak and handle a panic attack perfectly or hug the person to help them calm down or what have you, but this is long enough as it is. To be brief, though: sometimes, especially in a situation like Jason and Bruce's, it's perfectly normal to see someone panicking and then also panic and fuck things up even worse! It's also common to feel frustrated or tired of seeing someone panic over the same thing! Like I know fanfic and WFA are wish fulfillment, but like. There's a lot of nuance and basic trauma understanding missing here.)

And that brings us to another point, which is that PTSD triggers don't necessarily manifest as anxiety disorders and textbook panic attacks. I mean, this feels obvious, but there are a lot of ways to experience PTSD! and that's the thing about Jason Todd! He has trauma, not an anxiety disorder! While panic attacks as the default and most common trauma reaction are very common in fanfic, it's not like even the top most common trauma trigger reaction? And it's weird that it's everywhere like this. Trigger responses have a wiiiiide range, e.g., nightmares, lashing out (the Netflix Jessica Jones show was especially good at this actually! Billy Hargrove on Stranger Things is a fucking perfect example too), dissociation (The Raven Cycle books do a great job with this, and then the fanfic forgets that it happened entirely), or simply activating one's fight or flight instinct (and we've seen with Jason, it's often a fight instinct!). There are probably also loads of Batman comics exemplifying each of these variations, but a) as stated I'm new here, I don't have comprehensive citations for every character (yet) and b) I really want to illustrate how fanfic specifically keeps sticking to one particular portrayal in a way that most canons don't.

Jason Todd can be easily written as having a Specific Traumatic Incident (dying hideously via crowbar) or having complex PTSD (little daily bullshit! you can do an entire deep dive on complex PTSD resulting from poverty, homelessness, and regular repeated exposure to violence as a child e.g. by being Robin, which is not even getting into the stuff you can gather from popular hc/later retcons about his mom's drug use or how his dad's working for Two Face and getting sent to prison might have affected him; another example it's a common hc that he's straight edge because of what drugs may or may not have done to his mom depending on the canon you're working with, but I don't see a lot of people writing him with the corresponding control issues that often pair with that). There are a lot of options is what I'm saying.

WFA choosing to double down on the sound of a crowbar scraping (when also like he's the one using a crowbar for actual mechanic things in this scene, he's probably used to a variety of metal scraping sounds, okay I'm nitpicking here again) over any of the more complex trauma under his belt is very lazy writing. They're distilling his entire history to one specific sound that causes a very targeted panic response, which I know. Is the format. That's how WFA works, it's not supposed to be deep, but this is again, a pattern I keep seeing again and again in fanfiction (to bully another fandom: Stranger Things fans insisting that Steve Harrington is afraid of his own swimming pool when the canon strongly contradicts that; he's swim team captain for 3 years running after this AND that's actually Nancy's trauma reaction, not Steve's).

Again, the problem isn't necessarily specifically with WFA or people who enjoy it or with h/c. But, yeah, the crowbar scraping sounds panic attack is a huge disservice to Jason's character, and it's like a ubiquitous pattern of writing trauma in recent years.

[memuntos]

SHIPPING INFO — ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSE(S).

WHAT'S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSES(S)?

considering that a good chunk of my muses are literally insane or (holds knife to your throat) type muses, i don't have a big list of otps. but most of my muses that do have canon counterparts for i would sell my soul for and those include: genya / david, jude / cardan, rosalind / orion, alice / jasper, yor / loid, kate / anthony, veronica / jd (in the worst way possible tbh)

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?

honestly most things. i don't do large age gaps and i don't do pregnancy plots for the most part. in general, i don't write ships often because romance isn't my go-to genre but there are quite a few things i love exploring. i love the pain of heartbreak and trope of right person, wrong time. yearning and angst are my bread and butter when it comes to ships so however that can be achieved i'm game. i am more than happy to explore a wildly unhealthy ship but am only willing to do that with really close friends. i hate when people romanticize toxic relationships but i do think they can be written with nuance and awareness. i actually love a good fight, a lovers spat. i love the hard and messy parts of a relationship, i love couples getting through the messy parts of a relationship and coming out stronger. love takes a lot of work and i think we need to realize that more as a community and society tbh. i'm also a sucker for either ends of the spectrum of a relationship, meaning the very beginning with butterflies, first dates, confessions not said, etc. and married, domestic life. the stable in between period of a couple doesn't do much for me unless they're just as much friends as they are lovers.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

i'm not a big age gap girly especially considering the age of most of my muses and how i believe age directly correlates with maturity and life stages in most cases. so i get uncomfortable pretty quickly with an age gap. with muses that are minors it would have to be within a year or two at most. older than 18, looking at maybe 4 ish years max. i don't have enough 30+ muses but when the muse is above 30 i'm willing to go to about 6-7 years older. immortals are obv the exception.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

very lol. if i'm real honest, i'm open to shipping only if we've comfortably talked ooc. there are a few rare times when i see someone and i'm itching to hit them up for a ship because i think our writing styles would vibe well, but due to previous experiences, i do like to establish a bit of an ooc connection. this truly could just be rotting about our muses together or plotting and screaming a little. so any of the people who have me on discord and we've plotted about multiple muses are fair game to hit me up to ship bc i will definitely be too awkward to hit you up ahahahah

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY'RE CONSIDERED NSFW?

i'm not really a steamy writer so two muses making out is likely as far as i'll go. i love tension and palpable tension between two muses but physical touching won't go far in a thread with me just for my own comfort levels!!

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE(S) WITH?

there's only a few that come to mind off the top of my head but i love a good random ship tbh whether canon or oc. canon wise the only ones i can think of off the bat are genya / alina, johanna / katniss, velma / daphne, ty lee / sokka.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

yes please because i will not get the hint, i hope you know that <3 besides naturally flirty muses, i will never default to anything shippy so you really do have to let me know even if we’re besties i will not catch what you are putting down

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?

yes!! all my ships will exist in different universes and/or timelines.

ARE YOU SHIP - OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE - OR - LESS?

ship more - or - less for sure. once we get a ship going though they live in my head rent free. i’ll send you stupid musings about them and will scream at you, but romantic ships usually aren’t my go-to dynamic.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM(S) ?

literally the same answer as above tbh. with ocs though special shoutout to noemi / fallon, chija / tyl, aklla / allie, estelle / harriet, som / kit. aka literally all my oc ships i think 🤭

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

look me in the eyes, hold my hand, and tell me you have a proposal to make 👉👈

tagging : anyone who hasn’t done this and sees it !

[utilitycaster]

(Long ask warning)

Hello! I'm jumping on the appreciation train to say thank you so much for all of your meta and analysis! I just found your blog today, and you've already given me so much clarity and context for things I've been noticing in the CR fandom lately.

I quite literally spent my summer living under a rock (in the woods leading spelunking for scouts!) and so was completely out of the loop from early June through September. And while I am not yet caught up (I'm about to start ep. 65), I have been going through the tags and ao3, because I primarily engage with fandom through fic and I don't care about spoilers. And I can't help but notice that everything being written for c3 lately is just... monochromatic. The Hells have such interesting characters and premises. One would think they're ripe for creative and interesting fic. And yet even what little gen fic that I have seen since returning to civilization has largely been boiled down to reiterative mush with vaguely shippy overtones. I can totally see this being indicative of the cresting and waning of the Imodna and Callowmore shipping you've been discussing.

I've gotta ask though, is it really just shipping that is causing this problem? Or is there something else in the source material that you think could be affecting fic in particular?

This is the first time I've been in a fandom with ongoing source material in over a decade. I'm used to watching people beat dead horses in their own little corner, safe in the knowledge that I can block them and it isn't going to affect my experience in the slightest. I guess I'm just having a hard time believing/remembering that shipping can be this incidious.

So a couple of things: first, I was not heavily involved in fandom until Critical Role; I have a decent amount of background knowledge from being on Tumblr and because I do tend to look into/research this kind of thing because it's very interesting to me, but you will probably have better snapshot of what fandom looked like 10 years ago than I do. Second, fanfic has always been a tiny aspect of what I've engaged with and I do find the bulk of it to be dull and samey (which is why it is a tiny aspect), so again, you probably are a better judge of the quality of fanfic elsewhere.

With that said, as part of a much larger discussion of which I only have as mentioned pieces of the puzzle, I do think there's been a shift over the past decade or so of like...people expecting the source material to reflect fanfic-y desires, and resenting it when it does not; people not seeing the point in enjoying non-canon ships; and a broader theme of self-infantilization. This has to a small extent spilled over into published fiction, though thankfully there's plenty that isn't that. It's not just shipping (though that absolutely can be insidious to the point that people have been harassed and doxxed over it); I think it's a general taste for pablum that has been growing within fandom spaces.

I'll link a few posts I've made and a source that, while I cannot vouch for it per se I did read and found enlightening at the end but I think a really indicative example as of late was the fandom response to the show Good Omens (spoilers for Good Omens S2 in the next link if you are by any chance avoiding those). Obviously do not do anything obnoxious to the person who wrote this question, but there are a worrying number of people in fandom spaces who believe this unironically and uncritically: fiction exists to "save us from hurtful reality." And I do understand that the tumultuous politics and world events of the past decade are probably a factor; but I mean, have you looked at literature from the first half of the 20th century (or like. the second half, for that matter)? It is, in my opinion, only going to help put our modern world and issues in better context and honestly make you feel better in the long run if you read, say, The Great Gatsby or The Things They Carried instead of burying your head in lower case song lyrics ... (hurt/comfort, fix-it, happy ending, 6k) and like, to be clear, I have written a small portion of lower case song lyric-titled fics myself but most of them aren't terribly happy, and even so, god I'd be horrified if that was all people were reading.

We've seen it across fandom at large with the polls; I have not watched season 2 of Our Flag Means Death in part because I've realized with horror that this mentality has swept, plague-like, through that fandom; people are acting like having a canon queer ship on a small premium cable show in 2022 is world-changing and unprecedented while also kind of ignoring everything that isn't the central ship (including valid criticisms of how this takes a real-world plantation owner and turns him into a goofy fop, how there's precious few female characters and none in the main cast, and how the actually far more groundbreaking nb character is pushed aside in favor of the core M/M ship). Spoilers for Good Omens again (sorry in advance, Good Omens 2 was a realization point for me how deeply and widely this rot has set in in some places and I have a bunch of sources of people being like "guys stories require conflict and tension to be good" in response to the overwrought moaning that the story wasn't unambiguously happy) but this is another author responding to the "the desired endpoint of all fiction is obviously to have your ship living in a small house together in bliss and anything else is torment" mentality.

In addition to shipping another factor is, I think, people overidentifying with characters and as such being reluctant to actually put them through any sort of hardship, however minor. I recently reblogged a post about the origin of the concept "Mary Sue" and it led me to read a bit about its history, because it was in fact created by women. It was a woman in the Star Trek fandom who was sick of spending money to buy fanzines (pre-common home internet, let alone pre-Ao3) only to find the vast majority of the stories to be this "here is my self-insert who is perfect and beautiful and pure and every other character thinks she is the greatest even if that's entire OOC". It was a frustration with the abandonment of the characterizations in the original work. And that's true today - I have read a popular Imogen and Laudna fluff fic to see what the deal was and it stripped out so much of their premises and characterizations it was unrecognizeable as them but for the hair colors and occasional cringeworthy attempts to replicate Southern US dialect - but what was notable is that those people were at least being honest and writing OCs (though to be fair a lot of them were also young white teen girls and the only woman in TOS was black and that was probably also a factor). Now, you get people who cannot tolerate any analysis of characters that is less than flattering because instead of having an OC, they are identifying so strongly with, for example, Imogen or Ashton, that they cannot separate out the real character or understand this is not an attack on them (or, to be blunt, as someone who sees some of my own worse traits in both those characters, a necessary critique). It's not shipping, but it is that same "fiction should only ever be a soft blanket or a flattering mirror, never a dark mirror and certainly never a door" mentality.

I do place a little blame on fanfiction itself; I think having something that is roughly made to order and tells you exactly what it is up front means people start to think that is the only way, and that's why we have people claiming Chipotle is the height of cuisine while making gagging noises at the authentic Mexican restaurant except for fiction. I think fanfiction can be great; it's fun to write and I have read some great pieces. But a lot of it is mush and formulaic and as that Mary Sue history points out, always has been.

So anyway, to Bells Hells: I think past campaigns also had a lot of dull fanfiction; I think the Nein lent themselves more to poorly written angst than poorly written fluff but yeah a lot of that was really samey and bland in its own way. Fanfiction has always been formulaic to a degree but I think we're starting to see the generation of people who really have read more of that than like, books, and sure there are shitty books, but man there's a LOT of shitty fanfiction, and increasingly, I find that shitty published books are bad because they're too much like fanfiction. [If I get the chance today I have a post I want to write about the ignorance of fantasy tropes in the current fandom which I think is also driving some of this and which I alluded to in my post about shipping; like, I feel the almost automatic but oddly thought-free resistance to gods and fate and the 'right' way to respond to a tragic backstory comes from this ignorance; this also is a case in the D20 fandom when they've dipped into sci fi.] Shipping definitely is a factor, and I think again C3 has an influx of fans primarily here to ship in that "my ship must become canon and must 'win' for some arbitrary definition thereof" which is probably why so much of the fanfic sucks, but again, this is a larger self-infantilizing and entitled mentality that goes beyond mere ships.

Further reading (mostly my own posts but not exclusively)

The fandom echo chamber (also Good Omens spoilers in a broad sense), not by me

Some discussion on queerphobia being inserted only as a tool to assist with specific shipping narratives (I think this ties in again to like. people need obstacles to justify why the characters aren't already in their cottage by the sea but once the characters are together they discard these obstacles even if they are systemic and would still exist, which makes for really bad fanfic bc it's clearly poorly plotted and thought out)

Me on why this campaign isn't good for shipping but a lot of the fandom showed up primarily to ship (might be the post that prompted this ask tbf)

Fandom monocropping (not my post)

My treatise on Imogen and Laudna specifically which honestly, even now that they are canon, still largely holds up re: the fandom and a related one about similarly fluff-centric Change is Evil and the highest order of fiction is Two Blorbos In A House With Zero Problems mentality (not by me but I've been part of that discussion)

[spandexual]

Shippy ask: who are your greatest hero/villain rivals to ever do it in a sentai

Insane (eh, only mildly) question: what's your most common "you sort of put my kink in this show but you did it WRONG so I'm just annoyed you came so close now"

Clothing advice: any advice for coordinating stuff in the bodysuit region to look like streetwear because I've seen a few people on the wild in them looking great lately and I would enjoy secretly feeling like a starship captain

I mean have you seen Gekiranger. Have You Guys Seen Gekiranger. I know you specifically have but You, Reading This, Have You Seen Gekiranger? Tiger vs. Lion, literally feral untamed wild child raised by pandas in the forest vs elegant arrogant ambitious little princeling with a simpering girlknight at his side, purity and fury vs corruption and bitterness... You Guys... Jan and Leo (and I'm not calling him fucking Rio he's a LION the same way no one calls Mele the CHAMELEON "Mere" despite that being what dumbshit John Toei wrote in the mook) are the absolute peak of sentai hero/villain ships. Actually I would say the peak of toku hero/villain ships entirely. gaijug is just below and then like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis far underneath those two is like, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh actually idk, whatever KR hero/villain ship ppl have convinced themselves is peak ig. KR doesn't do very good hero/villain come to think of it. I guess it's because of all the main/secondary like how every sentai has its red/sixth (and usually red/blue too but I feel like that's not actually as common as ppl make it out to be, I think a lot of it is people just wanting an episode 1 ship)

Honestly, if my kinks show up in shows at all, they're often done perfectly bc people don't think they're sexual so don't have to pretend they're not (eg. The Stig being essentially a moto-drone like WOW) or the entire premise of the show is based around it (... like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider, even though the suits have not been as sexy as I'd like lately) lmao. I did get a bit annoyed at The Orville for giving Isaac (very sexy faceless kind of evil robot) a human appearance and emotions at first but the whole arc was his sexy milf doctor girlfriend going "ehhh actually I like you more when you're a sexy faceless kind of evil robot" which is incredibly based (as is the fact his sexy milf doctor girlfriend is The Sexy Outfit Wearer of the show a la Deanna Troi despite being a canon mother of a teenage boy and visibly middle-aged). ummm but I think all shows should have more crossdressing that isn't for jokes and more femdom or at least FLRs that aren't "bitch wife controls wimp man" coz like ew

Bodysuits are pretty easy to style casually! If you're talking more leotard style that are like a top with a crotch and no legs then a really sexy thing to do is wear low waisted bottoms so the skin on your hips is showing. Kind of like an advanced whaletail lol. Looks best if the bottoms are big baggy jeans/trackies or really slutty tiny pleated/otherwise voluminous miniskirts, I'd stay away from anything tight, small top big bottom energy yk. If you're talking about the full-body tight catsuit type, I think they're always gonna look a bit costumey, but you can still style them. Wearing a cropped/waist-length non-tight jacket over the top always looks super cool, look at 80s Rogue from X-Men! A floor-length coat would look cool too, rather than balancing the silhouette like with the baggy jeans or puffy jacket, it reduces the sex-costumey look by de-dramatising the silhouette by giving it a solid background. There's a lot of ways to play around! Bodysuits are essentially an inner layer the way tshirts and leggings used to be lol so you can honestly do whatever but I think if you want to be stylish you can't go wrong with the balancing act.

[featheredmoonwings]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

This is a lovely ask thank you!

Now let's see. 5 of my favorite fics I've written, hmmm.

I know no one asked for explanations but I'll give them anyway XD Here they are (these probably change depending on my mood), in no particular order even though they're numbered:

Lonely Stars Drifting In The Black (gen) Why is it fav? I of course CANNNOT go without mentioning this fic. My first, properly long fic that I finished. I remain so proud of what I achieved here and my commitment to writing it all out and FINISHING it. That used to be something so hard for me to do and I'm so proud of how I managed to write these complex relationships without sacrificing the character's morals. I-m still working on the series that sprouted out of it and I'm STILL so happy about the stories coming out of it. Fandom: Star Wars: Prequels Characters: Jango Fett & Obi-wan Kenobi Summary: It's an easy job, go in, get some information, and then Jango Fett can be on his merry way out of the disgusting Death Watch camp which he has nothing but contempt for. It WOULD be an easy job, that is if it weren't for the chained kid they've got, tied up like an animal… Jango sees red and nothing more. He'll make them regret the day they dared to lay hands on a child.

Of The Old Things Hidden In The World (gen) Why is it fav? I consider this one of my most self indulgent projects and I love it for this XD. It's a crossover but I take myself very seriously with it and that's one of the things I like so much about it. Could be silly but I don't let it be. I took a concept that I really liked (Merlin turning Aithusa human) and then I just REALLY ran with that idea. When I would usually hate miscommunication, this story is filled with it but it's purposeful and no one is being stupid about it. Fandom: Merlin BBC x Avengers MCU Characters: Aithusa, Merlin, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff & Clint Barton Summary: Merlin and Aithusa have weathered this world together since the long gone age of Camelot. But now Merlin is in grave trouble and there's nothing Aithusa can do to help him. Merlin has commanded him not to follow, not to help. If Aithusa keeps doing nothing at all, it'll soon break his heart, surely. But… this new age has heroes, perhaps they might help. After all, Hydra IS their problem, isn't it? The should be the ones to deal with it.

A Crime Of Passion (gen, but can definitely be read as shippy) Why is it fav? This story gave me SO much grief but since the MOMENT I conceived this story I've loved the idea and at the end (despite all the problems) I keep loving the result I got from it. I got some good narrative out of it and TENSION. Characters being forced to do something they don't want to my beloved. Fandom: Twilight Characters: Carlisle Cullen & Aro Summary: For the life of Edward, Carlisle Cullen must make a bargain with the devil of Volterra himself, the bargain though, is not at all what the Doctor thought it would be. (Canon Divergence from the end of New Moon)

After The Mist (pre-ship but SUPER gen vibes) Why is it fav? This ones OLD and you can see a lot of mistakes in the writing but I LOVE the interactions that I wrote and the relationship I was crafting. I like it so much, love the idea of the story, that I STILL want to finish it and give it the love it deserves. Fandom: Frozen ll Characters: Agnarr & Iduna Summary: After young Agnarr returns to Arendell that faithful day in the forest, there's a grief too deep inside his chest he cannot begin to comprehend it. But there's no time to dwell on it, he's a king now and he must act as such. Still, he is drowning, he's drowning all the time. But there's someone out there who might just understand what this profound pain is doing to him. "My name's Iduna."

Drizzle By The Sea (Gen) Why is it fav? Another VERY old work which I'm still very fond off. It captures one of the things I love writing the most and it's this little pleasures like walking in the woods or getting soaked by the rain. I find the feeling it produced beautiful and it makes me happy so, yeah. The execution is maybe a bit clumsy but I know what old me wanted to transmit. I keep coming back to this sort of writing and I hope I never stop cause it makes me feel alive and like the world is magic. Fandom: Teen Titans (cartoon) Characters: Robin & Jericho Summary: Jericho is a bit... weird. Robin can see in the way the sea captures his attention that there's a natural feeling and a sense of delight that he carries with him. It's contagious.

Thank you so much for the ask @cilil it made me very happy and I did want to answer something like this today. I'm glad for that emotional boost, so thanks again <3

[risingsouls]

[Okey dokey. Now that I've imploded and have picked up those pieces (maybe), I want to discuss what I plan to do moving forward. I want to preface this by saying I do not blame anyone but myself for getting to this point. I didn't follow my own rules, and it has made me uncomfortable with what I'm doing on this blog.

This is mainly about shipping so, if you ship with me, you'll want to take a gander. Under the cut for obvious reasons and to not annoy people.]

So, this has really been a long time coming but I do think I want to reset pretty much all my ships. Again, this is not anyone else's fault but my own, but I've just sort of become bored with what I've been doing in that realm. I went against my own rule of building up ships and allowed them to be rushed instead of built from the ground up like I like. I want to go through the stages of getting two (or more as the case might rarely be who knows) muses into a relationship. I want to see the messy parts. I want to do more than just having relationships be established from almost the jump after one or two small interactions. It's not fair to my muses who are all pretty damn picky. I don't feel like I'm doing right by them by not building these relationships properly. I do love all the ships that have happened, but I'm just not happy with myself for not sticking to my guns about REALLY building them.

What does this mean? Good question. By default, I think this means that I'm just going to wipe the board clean of all ships, save for a few exceptions. I'm also going to lay some ground rules for shipping in general that are honestly more a reminder for me, but also a sort of "this is what you can expect" thing moving forward for my partners.

First and foremost, I'm going to be pickier. I'm not going to allow people to just come at my muses from the jump with anything that's obviously shippy in an established way. Flirting is fine, but if I get something like "I've always loved you" (within reason on this one because that could be interesting) or "we've been married for sixteen years!" when there was no build up to this or they're basically strangers, I'm going to ignore it. Anyone is welcome to come ask me to ship, but, at the risk of sounding harsh, we're BOTH going to have to work for it.

If characters have a history, either in my canon or regular canon, I'm obviously willing to be a WEENSY bit more lenient. For example, Nabooru and Vegeta, in my AU crossover shenanigans, already have some history. Not necessarily as a romantic relationship (unless it's way down the line and even that's not traditional), but they did build some rapport with each other in that realm to some degree. However, since my Vegeta isn't the same as someone else's, I do still want to do the lifting with getting them off the ground. I want to see how it would differ with someone else's Vegeta than with what I've written/imagined in my AU. And I should also disclaimer that no other Vegeta or any other character needs to know Nabooru or any other one of my characters in the way they do in my AU.

This is where I'm afraid I might hurt feelings or lose RP partners, though I really hope I don't as it's not intended. As mentioned, I am starting ships over. I know I told some people recently that I was okay with continuing what we had, but it's become clear that I'm not happy with what I allowed and how I rushed things. Basically, I am very much still willing to explore the ships I already have again! But I do want to sort of start at some kind of beginning. To build it from the ground or close to it up. If you don't want to deal with that, I understand, but I feel this is necessary for me to feel good about what I'm doing again.

I think that covers everything. If you have questions, don't hesitate to pop in my DMs or hmu on dis.cor.d. Again, I'm not upset with anyone at all! This was definitely a me issue that I didn't get a handle on before I let it get to the point it bothered me.

[inchidentally]

Ngl little bit sad that you're becoming kinda negative on here. I miss when you used to post those super cool thoughtful discussions and analyses, without the need to trash talk or bash on other ships.

(just to say, I'd normally post something like this behind a cut and I promise I always will in future. it just feels like today in particular is a good moment to state a few of these points. I'm not normally this serious lol I just want to kind of mitigate any more drama.)

I've always posted about wanting rpf to be kept out of the drivers' and teams' public spaces and I've always said it's stupid/unnecessary drama when fans of certain fictional ships get genuinely loudly "competitive" over other fictional ships and I've really always been against people hating on the girlfriends who get caught in the crossfire of the fans who truly believe their two drivers are in a secret gay relationship. it's how I've always personally felt and apart from it being my opinion (which is fair for my blog) I also feel like having even a smidgen of traction on my posts means I can potentially prevent landoscar going down the road of certain ships that have fans who've fully crossed over into aggressive/publicly disturbing territory. and who've been doing so for years and only gotten worse.

hell, I've even always openly hated when Lando's individual content gets taken over by people bringing up Carlos or Daniel or even sometimes Oscar or Max F. the man has a life beyond all of those friendships and he very much deserves for his content to sometimes stay just about him. only people like his family or Jon/Lando's team of 10+ years deserve any significant share of credit for Lando's successes but no one's bothering to bring them up in the comments etc.

also, it's still very early days for landoscar as a ship and we have at least two more years of Lando and Oscar as teammates (fairly likely more) so if we can keep out the element of fans who take rpf into widely public spaces/directly to the people involved, then I'm going to continue to occasionally post about it. those types of fans absolutely hate reality intruding and they hate real life partners even more so I'm absolutely going to post about reality and girlfriends regularly. even apart from the fact that I'd feel weird excluding girlfriends, there's a solid reason to do so.

especially when even apart from rpf, the girlfriends always get shit from people who want the guy for themselves or who have decided they get a say in who he dates. I'm not going to pretend like all of that doesn't happen just to avoid all negativity.

as far as the tricky/controversial asks I get, I always put them fully under a cut and tag appropriately so they're incredibly easy to skip. I also batch them up so one of those posts happens maybe once every couple weeks - if that. my content has always been massively on the side of fun content vs anything drama/wank related.

the one thing I will say is that I'm getting a lot of repeat anons about ship drama that I would otherwise not hear about (I rarely look at twitter and my tumblr dash is lovely and tidy with just a few things blacklisted) so I'm going to write one sort of roundup post to cover any more of those and not answer any more. I'm just repeating myself atp.

I also went on my first ever blocking spree in this fandom today when a post I'd rb had a bunch of ragey hardcore rpf people jump onto it and I also blacklisted a few more things. so that's the last I'm personally ever going to see of that drama myself. I still casually ship carland0 and dand0 as well and a whole lot of us are nothing to do with the people publicly pushing shippy shit or doing the whole - god I cannot believe this still happens - 'my rpf ship is real and yours isn't'. they're also the people who call all girlfriends "escorts" and "beards" so they're easy to identify.

one last thing anon is that I hear you but I've got to mention I delete a LOT of borderline hate asks and I leave a fair amount of trolls frothing by refusing to respond to their asks. so I'm very much always trying to keep the content on my blog free of useless drama or negativity.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

More short ones today!

Anonymous asked:

Hii, I discovered your art for the first time on twitter a few months ago and I'd like to know how the battle to keep the account is going. Also I can't find the sfw account?? Like, it just vanished, did something happen?

P.S. : love your art style, it looks delectable

Hi Anon! Thank you for your support ❤️

The battle is still ongoing, well, we're sending appeals pretty regularly, but unfortunately no luck yet. The most difficult part is to get these people to actually reply :( It’s going to be over in a week, though, I’m tired of waiting.

There is no sfw account, but I can understand the confusion with our accounts right now...

@aoinoryush is just my super old personal account that we didn't really want to use to post art (other than that one time when we posted a FloIdi comic), so I created a new one.

@ryuichirou52622 is the new art account for both sfw and nsfw pieces, at least for the time being.

If you can't access either of them for some reason, please let me know!

Anonymous asked:

Did not realize I needed FloVil till this moment

It's how things always are with these two. You don't think of them, and then you see them, and boom... wow I needed that...

(Thank you ❤️)

Anonymous asked:

You once again got me barking at your art. Vil is just so.... UUUUUUUUUUGH he's so beautiful

Hehe thank you so much, Anon!! Barking is a very good reaction, I love it >:3

I am very happy I could draw Vil beautiful enough for this reaction...

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH SHIT THE FLOVIL!

HEHEHEHE YESSSS

Anonymous asked:

Any context on the latest post?

There isn't any, to be honest; we were just in a FloVil mood, likely due to their interactions in the Playful Land event.

I guess Floyd was just feeling extra playful that day~

Anonymous asked:

U like ortho/Idia

Why not Jade/Floyd? Is it because ur highly against tops on tops?

We are not highly against it, Anon, but yes, we don't ship two characters that we consider tops together. It works both ways: their interactions don't feel shippy to us because they're tops; but at the same time they're tops because their interactions don't feel shippy to us. It's difficult to say which one is more true.

So yeah, we don't automatically ship every problematic ship just because it's problematic.

Funny enough, whenever I draw the Leech parents, they always look like just straight-up Floyd and Jade lol So maybe I am a hypocrite.

But then again, it's very difficult for us to picture Mama Leech and Papa Leech having sex... so maybe I am not a hypocrite....

Anonymous asked:

Your art made me look up the heights of Floyd and Vil, and it gave me a thought.

Cause Vil is taller than Floyd with heels, but shorter without. (183cm without, 196cm with, while Floyd is 191cm)

And I love myself a character that acts all tough until they get put in their place.

So Vil being taller than Floyd with his heels on, and he's acting all proper and like "you can't touch me" or something.

And then Floyd gets all smiley and immediately gets Vil off his high heels (bad joke), and now Vil's not so high-strung.

Plus, Floyd finally being able to look down at Vil instead of having to look up is probably something he would enjoy.

Idk. Just a thought :)

Anon! This is such a good point lol I've always wondered about Vil's height... Since he wears high heels pretty much all the time, he really should usually be about the Tweel's height or even taller... Much taller, if we consider Rook's info about his heels lengths as factual!

Floyd getting Vil off his high heels (great joke) is a very hot concept. Of course, heels or no heels, Vil won't lose his pride easily, but... what if this is only the beginning. 👀

In any case, Floyd would enjoy and probably tease him about it~

[hopeymchope]

"Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" might've had a lot less kaiju action than the previous attempt to translate Godzilla into a TV series, but it more than made up for that in quality storytelling!

My sundry observations, gripes, praises and questions:

They really went out of their way to honor the Japanese roots of the source material, didn't they? We're in Japan for a ton of the show, dealing with Japanese and/or Japanese-descended characters for the majority of it, and have a surprising amount of Japanese dialogue throughout — it's nice.

I know Wyatt Russell is a Nepo Baby, but he's honestly still very good at what he does. I don't think the series has any bad acting... but the two Russells (because Kurt Russell is, ofc, amazing), Mari Yamamota (Keiko Miura) and Joe Tippett (Tim) are still the absolute highlights for most of the run, IMO. The Russells and Yamamota do the emotional heavy lifting with aplomb, whereas Tippett is so naturalistic and likable that it's hard not to find him engaging.

Cate starts off the series being such an asshole who doesn't show any empathy for people going through the EXACT SAME SHIT that she is, but I think the later reveal of her trauma on "G-Day" somewhat explains her attitude problem. She then manages to pivot to being much more likable JUUUUST in time for the episode where we get the flashbacks revealing she was a shitty person even BEFORE G-Day. LOL.

May ALSO swings between being likable and being a total ass, and while that sounds like a complaint, I actually sort of appreciate it. We're seeing the main female characters get the kind of nuance and depth to them that they aren't often afforde in mass-market media, and that's cool.

On the flip side, there's Kentaro. The fact that both Cate and May get to act both likable and dickishreally me expect the same thing for Kentaro. They're the trio of young people who make up the titular "Legacy," right? (Well, I guess that's mostly meant to refer to Cate/Kentaro.) So... I was shocked when Kentaro's chance to be a total prick never came around. He's pretty likable and understandable throughout! Even when he's being SUPER harsh on Hiroshi, I still understand it in light of what Hiroshi's done to their families. I feel like maybe Kentaro got something of a short shrift on this front. He gets adequate backstory, mind you, but he also never gets either A) as much focus time as May and Cate, nor B) a chance to come off like kind of a dick like May and Cate sometimes do? It's a little tempting to say that making him the more "pure" of the trio comes off as sexist, but... the way that he gradually is shoved into the background of the story's focus and doesn't even get to go on the big final adventure makes it pretty clear that this ISN'T because the producers favor Kentaro. More like the opposite....

In fact, take particular note of how nobody really gives him credit for how he was the ENTIRE REASON THEY SURVIVED Episode 4. They diss him and don't believe him, and when he's ultimately proven right in a way that saves all their asses? May gives the credit for her survival to Cate for some inexplicable reason. (Except for ONE later moment when neither Kentaro or Cate can know or hear her admit Kentaro saved them.) WTF. I found that frustrating.

That episode was the start of Cate and May becoming incredibly tight-knight with one another, and I'm still not clear on how/why that happened. Is it just because they both vascillate between being chlidish assholes and likable adults?? By the halfway point of the show, I was really getting strong shippy vibes off them. Which would be super cute and sweet if it wasn't also, y'know... kinda shitty. Because May used to be with her brother? Who clearly still had feelings for her when the series starts, just a few days prior? MMM.... not cool, May. To be fair, however, not always caring about their own hurtful/sketchy behavior is actually pretty in-character for them both, so maybe it works. And I suppose you gotta take that happiness where you can get it in this crazy, now-kaiju-laden world.

The character who shows up at the end of Episode 9 completely shocked me. They got me there. And in light of that twist — that character who disappears near the end of the finale? Perhaps this goes without saying, but there's no way we've seen the last of them. ZERO chance... unless the person portraying them doesn't renew their contract for season 2 or something. :P

This is, of course, a "Monsterverse" series. But the logic of how the Hollow Earth works in this show doesn't seem to REMOTELY align with how it was portrayed in Godzilla vs Kong, does it? Not even KIND OF. I wonder if Godzilla x Kong will get that disconnect to retroactively make sense.

At least one returning actor from the Monsterverse films shows up to provide a link... for one scene.

And speaking of the Monsterverse, that's hardly the only Continuity Sketchiness going on here! Serizawa only gets name-dropped ONCE in this series despite the fact that he's still presumably the HEAD DUDE IN CHARGE over there. They keep calling Verdugo the Deputy Director because Serizawa is the director, right?? Though Verdugo sure does make unilateral decisions about the whole-ass organizations multiple times in this show.

All of my prior point is especially goofy when the idea of HELPING Godzilla is treated as this shocking, bizarre concept ..... despite the fact that it's Serizawa's entire fucking philosophy since BEFORE this takes place???

Okay, let's shift back to positives: Takehiro Hira doesn't get as much screen time as many cast members, but his performances over the last two episodes are friggin' emotionally devastating. Fantastic.

The lack of more Toho monsters in the Monsterverse has been something of a downer for me personally, but they still do pull out some really cool original designs. That Frost Vark is pretty badass.

[raikkoberg]

I'd like to thank @kimissteeringwheel for the tag!

Pairing/Shippy list!

Here's the rules:

1. List your top seven ships

2. Put all of them in order of your love for them; 7 to 1, 1 being your favorite.

3. Name their fandom.

4. Supply photos for said people.

So here we go-

7. Jenson Button x Fernando Alonso [Ship Name: Buttonso / Jensonando]

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Reasons: Because why not? They have the chemistry, they have the potential, they have their own thing going on every now and then- give me a good reason to not ship these dorks.

6. Napoleon Solo x Illya Kuryakin [ Ship Name: Napollya / Illeon]

Fandom: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. [movie 2015]

Reason: Pure Grumpy x Sunshine trope. Illya is shot tempered and keeps himself isolated most of the time, but Napoleon knows how to get under his skin (👀) and adores his Red Peril to death. I mean, he literally jumped in those deep waters to save his life- what more prrpf do you need?

5. Charles Leclerc x Max Verstappen [ Ship Name: Lestappen/Verleclerc ]

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Reason: Seriously? You need a reason? Aren't those subtle touches on Charles' lower back after the podiums, or even when they're close to each other, not enough? Isn't that habit of Max not being able to stand in one place after seeing his favorite Ferrari boy enough? Isn't their inability to not mention each other once in every interview ever enough? They're the definition of "Love is blind"

4. Mika Häkkinen x Michael Schumacher [Ship Name: Makkinen/ Mikael]

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Reasons: The classic Finn x German trope. They say they're not friends yet can't seem to leave each other alone. They basically defined each other's lives in the sport and outside of it by staying side by side in every battle. A win wouldn't feel like a win to any of them if not snatched by the other one.

3. Carlos Sainz Jr x Lando Norris [ Ship Name: Carlando / Muppet Friends ]

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Reasons: THEY'RE MY COMFORT SHIP!!!! They take care of each other, mention each other everywhere, go on golf dates (and dates) with each other, spend time with each other on family weddings/holidays and even after it's been three years since Carlos switched teams, their bond keeps on getting deeper and deeper. And these two were the ones people initially thought would not get along. They proved everyone wrong, and still are. I personally believe both of them progressed a lot as a personality after meeting each other. Specially in Lando's case- He's a big brother to Oscar now. Carlando for life!

2. Nico Rosberg x Lewis Hamilton [ Ship Name: Brocedes / Rosmilton ]

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Reasons: REASONS??? FOR WHAT EXACTLY??? Both of them come from two totally different worlds and background - one with everything and one with almost nothing. Nico grew up in a lavish lifestyle but he established that friendship doesn't care about your background. It's just friendship. And he had his fair share with Lewis, a little boy from the UK who found a friend in a place and time he least expected to be. They went on vacations together, raced each other as teammates - both in karting and F1, which was a dream they both promised each other of when they were practically babies. But the same dream tore them apart later in life and they're so close and yet so far. And the fact that it's not fictional is just tragic.

Honourable Mentions:

Destiel [ Dean Winchester x Castiel] - Supernatural

Cherik [ Charles Xavier x Erik Lehnsherr]- X-Men Universer

Stony [ Steve Rogers x Tony Stark] - Marvel Cinematic Universe

Johnlock [Sherlock Holmes x John Watson]- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Hannigram [Will Graham x Hannibal Lecter] - Hannibal.

AND DRUMROLL 🥁

1. Kimi Räikkonen x Sebastian Vettel [ Ship Name: Simi / Kibastian ]

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Reasons: Who else has ever had the ability to make the Iceman smile bar the little unhinged sassy German that we all love and worship the most? Kimi is so comfortable with his surroundings when around Seb and actually laughs and speaks by his own will! They both spend time playing badminton and Kimi actually addresses Seb as his friend. Like- is this a dream? IT'S REAL!!!! Get yourself someone who smiles at you the way they both smile at each other. And after all- it's Sebastian. You can't resist his charm- no one can ✨

Like look at them:

Uff. This was a long post but I enjoyed it. Thanks a lot to everyone who read it to the end.

I'd like to tag @thatquirkycookie, @sebbuh , @wdkzms, @rednyx-sf, @muppet-friends and @sainzinnorris to participate. And anyone who sees this post and wants to do this obviously. No pressure though. Do it only if you feel like it!

[burberrycanary]

I, too, want to procrastinate right now so thanks @zenaidamacrouras1 for the tag <3333

Rules: Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass this onto other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

I’ve been on a writing streak lately and I’m usually most excited by what I’m currently working on. But, taking a look back, here are some works I’m proud of.

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Still Left with the River (The Paradox of Motion) - 14k | G | Steve/Bucky, MCU

Summary: Coming back from as good as dead to a changed world is easier the second time around. But then Steve supposes that, like with most things, you get better with practice. 

A post-The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Stucky Endgame fix-it where even if you can’t go home again, you’ve got to go somewhere.

This is part of my massive labor of love stucky end game fix-it and probably my favorite story in the series, viewed individually. As I was writing this I went: no one is going to want to read a G-rated post-TFATWS stucky fic that doesn’t provide pretty immediate shippy gratification. But I love watching Steve have to pick himself up and go on after making a huge mistake that deeply hurt the people he loves most. While it can be cathartic as a reader to watch the people Steve left behind be furious, chewing him out until Steve has suffered some amount that’s “enough,” what I wanted to focus on is how hurting and disappointing the people closest to you, who continue to love you painfully through the hurt, creates such a complicated mess of damaged relationships. Steve, re-isolated by so much death and his own mistakes, now has to deal with repairing what he put wrong, if he can and if he’s given the chance to. But as the paradox of motion title would suggest, crossing that distance isn't easy.

This story is a quiet complicated love letter to New York City while this whole series is a massive intricate love letter to Bucky Barnes. Plus, Steve quietly pining is so my jam I can’t even. Come for Steve pining, stay for Steve making things right again.

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What the Living Do - 10k and counting  | G-E ratings | Henry/Alex, RWRB

Series Summary: This story is set a few months post-film and in a better universe than ours. Henry divides his time between New York and Kensington Palace. Alex is a second year student at Georgetown Law in Washington D.C. and lives in the White House. The distance is hard, but they're making it work.

We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss—we want more and more and then more of it.

The epigraph of this series is from Marie Howe’s What the Living Do, which is a poem she wrote to her brother who had died from AIDS. It beautifully balances grief and living.

I’m drawn to characters who aren’t going to immediately tell you everything they are thinking and feeling—and to performances where so much is conveyed through micro-expressions that you don’t need dialogue.

Which means this RWRB series is an interesting challenge for me as an author that’s involved writing a lot of very direct communication all the way up to out-in-out Relationship talks. And a lot of fluff. But thanks to the series being told from Henry’s POV, it’s fluff in a minor-key mood. So if you like your bantery domestic fluff shot through with slowly healing grief and the lingering impact of spending years in the closet without a supportive family only to be traumatically outed, then this is the series for you.

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The Art of the Possible - 9k | M | Sharon-centric, TFATWS/MCU

Summary: Maybe whether you’ve picked the wrong side depends on where you’re standing—but if you can’t tell who the sucker at the poker table is: it’s you.

Sharon before, during, and after Madripoor.

I had so much fun writing this with @village-skeptic though it is absolutely not a story for everyone: non-linear and less than straightforward without the hook of a popular ship. Maybe I’m just drawn to characters the MCU keeps doing dirty (cough Bucky cough), but the incoherently bad writing of TFATWS created openings to tell a story that focuses on the bleakly dark aspects of the thematic and subtextual storytelling that is foundational to the MCU. And Sharon was the right character for telling that story.

But for anyone troubled by the politics of the MCU? This is a story for you and I hope you give it a try.

The trick to telling a story with heroes is knowing when to stop and what to leave out.

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I Leave This at Your Ear - 5k | E | Betty/Jughead, Riverdale

Summary: They sort of break up again on February 17 and definitely get back together on March 15. They barely talk between “the Valentine's Day massacre and the ides of March,” he jokes later, sitting next to her in a booth at Pop’s and hoping that she’ll slide closer to rest her head on his shoulder like she used to.

Ah, the brief golden age of Riverdale when that sandbox was fun to play in. This is probably the single best expression of my style as a writer: lyrical, a lot more show than tell, starting in medias res with people talking around strong feelings that are conveyed without being directly mentioned much of anywhere. I’m drawn to focusing on the hard and messy parts of relationships without the big drama of external angst or the relatively easy knots to untie that are misunderstandings—a Marmite tendency, I know. But I love thinking about the part where you go, ok, but how do we actually live with everything that’s happened? Getting back together is easy in comparison to going forward afterward—that is what’s hard.

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Exactly the Contents of One - 6k | M | Starsky/Hutch, Starsky & Hutch

The day's smoggy and breathless, already in the mid-eighties with the weatherman promising worse tomorrow, but as long as they keep moving it's not so bad.

(Or, becoming Starsky and Hutch.)

I definitely have a type: two characters who are very different people but share common values and are fighting for something bigger than themselves—idealists who get all mucked up and worn out in the trenches while loving each other too deeply and too much, generally in ways that are at odds with the society around them. Yeah, that’s my ship type. 

This is a throwback pick for an old fic, but I’ve always been interested in how slash developed as a genre and a subculture. I ended up taking a tour of some OG ships from the 60s and 70s, including going pretty deep down a Starsky/Hutch rabbit hole (the 70s TV series and not the film remake, I cannot emphasize enough). I was nervous about signing up for this because there was a 5k minimum word count and at the time I’d never written anything near that long. So, wow, I’ve come a long way.

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I'm not sure how long this game has been going around, but if @skarabrae-stone, @sullypants, @beaarthurpendragon or @controlofwhatido haven't played yet and would like to, please have some self-rec love 🥰