#all about their one ship to rule them all....it honestly felt like half the shippers genuinely hated Eddie and were just there for Buck

[bigskydreaming]

@ankahikoibaat

I don’t even go here in terms of that fandom in your last reblog but oooof do I relate to it. IMO there’s definitely a larger discussion to be had about the tendency across multiple fandoms for a lot of the most diehard shippers to only be invested or appreciative of one half of their chosen OTP, and with this constantly making a visible appearance via the Hand of the Author always taking shots at the other half of the pairing - most often in the form of their intelligence. 

(IMO even more-so than we tend to see this phenomenon filtered through the form of calling into question a partner’s ethics or moral code, etc. No, its always about how smart or competent they are, as if everything else is irrelevant and that’s the easiest or most essential vehicle for putting one half of a ship down and making sure they’re viewed by readers as the weak link in the pair).

Its frustrating and annoying on a lot of levels, but above all else every time I see it happen it just smacks of self-sabotage too?? Because I’m always like....isn’t the other person in this pairing, the character you the author actually like, supposed to be truly, madly, deeply in love with this character? Why do you think they even WANT to be with this person if the way you write their POV constantly has them bemoaning this person’s existence or acting like they’re a constant drain on them or a burden to be around?

[glitterytidalwavedragon]

Expanding into my other Fandoms (I’m gonna have to take a stance) Read the whole thing please.

One of my oldest and most beloved anime is Inuyasha. As of late I have been binged watching the hell out of it as I am getting my BFF into different anime shows. We are really close to entering the Yashahime part of the series, and she asked if I planned to write fanfiction involving the one character which made me even watch the show as a 10-year-old.

Sesshomaru

The first episode I ever watched involved this aloof, entitled dog fighting his brother over the sword in their father’s grave. Specifically, it was part 3 of that whole episode series were Kagome pulled out the sword. I at the time had 3 dogs of German Sheppard/wolf hybrid, they were MASSIVE dogs, fell in love with the big white fluff that was Sesshomaru’s demon form. I use to sneak staying up and watch the show faithfully to see the goodest boy as it was only on at 11pm EST on adult swim. Which meant it was bad and I was breaking the rules, I felt like a rebel.

Now I hesitated answering that question. She has no idea of what is in Yashahime, she is being careful not to spoil it so I told her I didn’t know. Recently, to find out what the feel is for Sesshomaru content, I looked into the tag on tumblr…

OH MY GOD.

Sesshomaru’s tag is FLOODED with hate. Like every four post, there is hate, distain, and attacking happening. As someone who watches Yashahime, I quickly knew why.

Sessrin.

Even now I sigh. And I sigh HARD. I am not for, nor am I against the Sessrin train. Same for the Sesskagu train. I think both sides need to look at things on a logical prospective. I plan to do just that. I know I will get hate from the either side and maybe some support as well. But if I am going to do anything in this fandom (as I like doing ships and reader inserts) it will come up.

So, like my Kaiba post, and my Sebastian Heel post, I will use my research skills as well as my COLLEGE DEGREE WHICH HAS BOTH ART AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY labelled on it to explain why this progression in the story is normal to anti-Sessrin fans and why this isn’t a crime by story standards nor should we look at it as a crime.

AS WELL

Explain to Sessrin fans why it is so weird for non-shippers to see it play out and why so much hate formed.

As I let out another sigh, we shall begin. Let’s start at an historical prospective. (Links at the bottom).

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL!

~~

I will start with the information I can access right away.

While finding charts on the life-span of common folk in 1590’s Feudal Japan is rather difficult, Ancient.edu states that the average lifespan was about 50. To put this in perspective, the average lifespan of Europeans at the time was somewhere between 40-45 with the latter being rare. Since most of us reading are not from Japanese descent, I will through Europe in this first.

If we look at the same time frame of 1590, we are looking at most of Western Europe had now entered the age of Renaissance. According to sources from Learning Resources in association with the National Gallery of Art, marriage was not what TV drama’s from HBO or Hulu depicted. By today standards they would be a crime, as the average age for marriage of an adult female was age 14…

The reasoning behind the young marriage age had multiple factors. First being, females were considered an adult once they were menstruating. Birthing also proved to be fatal, and since the lifespan was at best 40 and 45 if they were lucky, there was really no room to wait. Also Europe at the time had became hugely focused on making sure blood lines were legitimate, meaning to ensure the girl was a virgin, the moment she was able to reproduced she was married off. Those they married were not young teenagers either. Most marriages, a man would be in their thirties, and had probably multiple wives as women died more than men when not counting the battle field.

To make matters worse for the Renaissance Lady, these marriages would leave many young males unable to marry and if their husband died in battle, well, unfortunately they were not seen as desirable. This was due to the idea of a ‘free woman’. Should the girl not have a father, brother or uncle to return to as they too died, a widow had her freedom. But that freedom came at a cost. She would be assumed to have slept around, and in many writings, such as the Canterbury Tales, where Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a Window on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land survived her five husbands and the men in her family. In short, she was made to be a slut and to be looked down upon as no man controlled her.

The point of talking about Europe is because that is something most of us Non-Asian or Japanese people consume and like to paint in large romantic brush strokes of knights and magic. Honestly, reading G.R.R.Martin Song of Ice and Fire, he uses this model as we see the Queen of Dragons, Danny start off at age thirteen shortly after she had her first menstruation.  

Now let’s look at Feudal Japan.

As stated before, the lifespan was around 50 years. In some populations, this was even shorter. Nagaoka, Hirata, Yokota and Matsu’ura’s on demographic data at the Yuigahama-minami area in Kamakura, Japan and found both male and female remains that suggested life expectancy to have ended around age 24-25. This was largely due to living conditions and public health. In areas like these, it would make the most sense to marry and repopulate quickly as the expectancy of life was half the national average at the time.

To my frustration, I could not find a clear marriage age for Japanese women at the time of the edo period. HOWEVER, where there is a will there is a way. I took a look at famous Lords or Daimyo’s of the time. The average age of marriage of their wives was between 12-14. Much younger than I expected, but it made sense considering this is a time where war ran the show and marriage was strictly about political gain. One of these Daimyo’s was Masamune Date, who was also 13, but then as he got older took concubines who became considerably younger than him as he became older. The goal was to have as many children as possible for hires and for political marriages to gain power.

Now lets look at Inuyasha the MANGA

Lets get the manga timeline proper here. The whole adventure took place in 11 months, a month shy of Kagome’s 16th birthday. Doing a few estimations, Rin would have travelled with Sesshomaru about 8-9 of those months. But before we get into the relationship, lets look at something the ANIME made a huge mistake with in the beginning and tried to fix as the story went on.

For some reason I could only fine gifs for the Early appearances of Sesshomaru so bear with me.

Early appearances in the manga

 ^ He was so fickle and a trickster then...

Now early apperances in the anime.

Later appearance in the manga

Laster appearance in the anime

Notice the issue here? 

Sesshomaru was CONSIDERABLY younger looking in the start of the manga. In the anime, he started off looking like an fully adult male. But as the anime went on, they tried to make Sesshomaru look younger with subtle changes to his jaw line, eye size, and his height. Yeah, his height had changed. They made him shorter.

While in the manga, we see this young-teen looking demon, slowly mature over 11 months to look like he is in his later teens and by series end, closer to being in his late teens or twenty. Yes, art changes over time, but the anime went a reverse route. I can only guess they spoke to the author of Inuyasha about her ships, as they did Drama CDs, and realized the mistake that was made in making him more mature than he was.

You can’t tell me he doesn’t look closer to his manga self in the final act, because he does.

Since we are on the topic of the anime, lets be clear. The anime timeline and manga timeline are very different. The story in the anime (in the English) suggests that OVER a year has past since Kagome started her journey. They try to fix this in the final act, but it was still so muddled as previous seasons are to be taken as cannon. This could have been due to an translation error in the early production when the anime no longer had anymore manga material to reference. But whatever the case, for English viewers the time the group spent together felt much longer.

So now we come to the heart of the issue.

Because of the mistakes of the anime, a lot of anti-sessrin see the relationship as father daughter. I’ll be honest, watching the anime and solely the anime as a teenager and as an adult (as the manga was on hold for a very long time due to author’s health. I was in college when it finished.), I too thought it was just a father-daughter relationship and Jaken the nanny who got punched all the time. In fact, the English took hard liberties with Kagura, as the English dubs often do with characters, and made it very clear her feelings for the demon lord and Sesshomaru very much recognized them (though he never responded). Even in her death scene, it felt as if he was saying good bye to a friend more than love interest. But who really knows, as there are things that point otherwise.  When another demon mock’s Kagura’s death, Sesshomaru gets super pissy.

The manga did also play with this fact when it came out in English, idk if the wording or message is different in the Japanese. Translation errors happen a lot even in todays releases, look at Kuroshitsuji.  So of course most anti-sessrin’s did not see this coming in Yashahime when Rin was named mother. In fact it felt like a betrayal as we were sure Sesshomaru had no romantic feelings.

Then there was the Kohaku/Rin mashup that was hinted left and right. The English anime, with its overly dramatic and blunt emotions made it appear one way. That in the end the two kids would probably be married. Then the anime as a whole made Sesshomaru older than intended. I can see why and understand how this became a problem.

On the other side of that coin.

If you followed the dub, seen ‘Swords of an Honorable Ruler’ and read the manga… Sesshomaru was not fatherly to Rin at all. In fact, Jaken picked up all of that leg work. Rin worried for Kohaku, but clearly loved Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru cared about Kagura but he almost CRIED when he lost Rin.

We have to remember that Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship must have been very hard for the demon. While we never see his mental process expect for a few rare times, we have to remember he hated humans. In the movie, he blamed a human for the early death of his father, Sesshomaru killed without mercy. It made sense that he wouldn’t be fatherly to Rin as her just being there should have caused countless inner conflicts. Hell, he even says his father’s weakness was humans, and look who picked up that trait.

Sesshomaru was designed to, someday, walk in his father’s footsteps. So sess/rin, not a surprise. Also when you see it in a historical perspective, Rin having kids around age 15-16, makes sense. In fact you could argue he waited too long for the time period.

We also need to look more at the manga when concerned with Yashahime. 8-9 months is all Rin travelled with him and he was like hold up, and left her at the village because he KNEW she needed to come to her own conclusion. That no matter what she picked he would live with and protect her. Unconditional love on his end. She cannon wise spent YEARS living with humans and MONTHS with Sesshomaru. Again, by manga standards of cannon.

Now I can already hear the screaming about age and what not. Some sources say Sesshomaru is over 900, by the rule of thumb, if we look at anime and movie releases, we have Sesshomaru being over 500 with no define age and Inuyasha around 270 years old being more pinpointed due to the movie. Just by going by ANIME CANNON. Kagome and Inuyasha, you have a 15 year old with a 270 year old man. If you say being pinned to the tree doesn’t count, then you have 220.

Also, here is something very interesting. In the episode where Inuyasha meets the unmother, he tells her, thinking it was his mom, she died when he was very small and we have flash backs later in the series of him being small running from demons. Demons clearly age much slower than humans, even half-demons. Inuyasha can be 270 but mentally and physically be 15, the same logic works for Sesshomaru, who in the manga is not much older than Inuyasha.

In the manga, there wasn’t any grooming, in the anime, there was a ton of mess-ups but no grooming.

Would this fly in todays world? HELL NO! NO, its gross, she’s a kid. Stop.

I know any fanfic I write will lean heavily on the side of father/daughter because that is what I grew up seeing on the screen. I can’t think of Rin as an adult because years of seeing her as a cheerful little girl. It’s like seeing G.O.T Arya about to have sex for the first time in season 8… I remember when she was a kid on the show. It was way to weird and I had to look away until it ended. But that’s my 2021 mentality.

But Inuyasha is not taking place in 2021. Feudal Japan is a whole other era with its own beliefs, morals and way of life. Those who understand this have nothing wrong with them. They just understand history.

Also, just to bang some nails in…

Anyone remember Bleach? Remember the MOST accepted couple was Ichigo and Rukia…. Rukia who was hundreds of years old and Ichigo who was 15… or Ichigo’s mom who was a teenager and his dad also hundreds of years old.

Most of this also boils down to Sesshomaru being a dude. As in reverse roles in animes its accepted and they don’t have the same historical context. Inuyasha is based off of historical context of Feudal Japan.

We need to stop spreading hate. We can’t accept some forms of literature because its European fantasy but bash other fantasy based literature for doing the same thing.

Sure, its weird for those who were use to seeing the father/daughter dynamic. Yes, there are extreme sessrin fans who post really questionable illegal content when they decide to leave Rin as an 8-year-old…

But this wasn’t ever meant to be perverted. The story was meant to make sense on a logical and historical base.

I hope everyone takes the time to read this. I love Inuyasha, I love Sesshomaru. I am just sick of seeing so many people fighting over what should be the revival of a beloved series. While yes, there is still room for sess/rin not being a thing, until it is stated otherwise, why hate each other? This fandom will only lose people by doing this. Calling people names or accusing them of illegal endorsement can hurt someone these days over social media.

Tumblr allows you to block tags. You don’t have to read anything or watch anything you don’t like. We gain nothing from attacking each other but can lose so much by doing so. Fanart, really good fan fiction, friends, ideas, sharing fond memories. Both sides have the right to feel as they feel, but no right in hurting each other.

A fandom is meant to bring people together. Not start a war…

Thank you.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20402

http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/#:~:text=Marriage%20not%20only%20reflected%20order,to%20ensure%20the%20bride's%20virginity.

https://www.ancient.eu/Canterbury_Tales/

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1424/daily-life-in-medieval-japan/#:~:text=Just%20as%20Japanese%20people%20today,in%20Western%20Europe%2C%20for%20example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megohime

[five-wow]

Feel free to talk a lot about your theory of how McDanno was always stronger when there was heteronormativity nearby so that it was safe, and how that plays into the finale!

Ooh, thank you! That is an interesting question, and not one I had related directly to the finale before, though it certainly works on all kinds of levels, so I will take that “talk a lot” very literally and just ramble a bit.

Honestly, the most obvious way I think this comes into play is outside of the story, where the entire two-part finale (I’m including 10.21 here, since they were originally going to be aired as one) was about Steve and Danny and how important they are to each other and how Steve would probably have found a way to literally turn the entire island upside down and water torture gravity into dropping Danny into his arms if Danny’s disappearance had gone on for long enough, and then Catherine showed up in the last five minutes after having been mentioned like, twice, briefly, in the very last episode of this 22-episode season. The messaging felt very much as if “Steve loves Danny!” was being shouted at us on a loop and then there was a single “but he’s a HETEROSEXUAL man who is NOT GAY because he is HETEROSEXUAL” tacked onto the end in the form of a character showing up in a way that really made no sense for anyone, least of all her, which conveniently helped viewers dispell any thoughts about Steve maybe, y’know, wanting to be with Danny in more than one way. Catherine was not there for herself - she was there for Steve’s happy end, which needed to include a hetero love interest, because that is what a happy end is, right? The way they made her return, she was less of a character making a decision and more of a prop thrown at Steve’s character that was supposed to make us think “ah yes, now he can be happy again!” even though it went very much counter against what the entire season had been making us think a happy end for him would look like.

(Sidenote, this is also (part of) why it makes me very sad to see Catherine hate show up in people’s responses to the finale - I get that emotions run high and it’s easy to blame her for things, but she really, really, really isn’t at fault. As much as this ending wasn’t fair to Steve or Danny, imo it was also extremely unfair to Catherine. (Also, I don’t expect many people who ship Steve/Cath to end up reading this, but if anyone does, I just want to add that that’s super valid and if you did like the ending because your ship was given a very obvious and maybe unexpected chance, I get that and I’m happy for you! I personally don’t think it was a good move for any of the characters with the way it was executed, but I also deeply empathize with rooting for your ship and taking what you get, my gosh.))

(ANOTHER sidenote, I want to clarify that I don’t think the entire reason for the writers making Cath show up is that there was too much emotion between Steve and Danny in 10.21 and 10.22. It was an ending that didn’t rely on the logic of the story, but on viewers’ learned bias saying that any man + any woman = happy, romantic end. There’s obviously a lot more there, but it also happens to playvery nicely into the formula of Steve and Danny getting A Moment (or even Moments, plural) and then being shielded from the shadows of gay doubts by throwing in something sufficiently straight-looking.)

In story, though? In story this would also be a Whole Thing that fits depressingly well. I do think it’s fair to note that Steve didn’t really seem to have any part in his decision to fly off with Catherine - she showed up, orchestrated by other parties, and then he took her hand, but he didn’t ask her to come. That’s something, I guess! At the same time, he did kind of… make the choice to very literally run away from where Danny is after this whole Emotional Journey they (and Steve especially) went on. Steve’s been feeling off, like this comfortable spot he carved for himself on the islands wasn’t fitting anymore, and Danny was very obviously very worried and was immediately designated the unofficial spokesperson for the whole thing, because duh, everyone knows how ridiculously close they are. Then Danny got kidnapped (somewhat because of how much Steve cares for him, even though deeper down it’s mostly Doris’s fault, but obviously Steve would take on that guilt because it was just lying around - free real estate!) and Steve lost his mind and held Danny’s hand and Danny didn’t respond negatively to that at all, and they had some lovely moments. Then Steve decides he still needs to get away and up and leaves, so very literally leaving Danny behind. Then Cath shows up, unexpectedly, and lo and behold, Steve’s (former) Great Romance! The one that got away, as he just told Cole (so the audience would feel like this wasn’t out of the blue)! The woman he wanted to marry at some point and that he hasn’t seen in a year and a half (to the best of our knowledge) and the absolute perfect convincingly straight antidote to Steve’s emotional turmoil related to his male BFF/partner/dude he’s kinda married to and keeps telling how much he loves him. Once on the plane, Danny is not even there anymore and with the exception of Catherine herself there’s literally no one Steve knows present who could be judging him, but being a little ambiguously romantic with Cath might settle some of his own internal fears about where things with Danny were (once again) headed, so he takes Cath’s hand. It’s easy, safe, straight. All very comforting things.

And I just. The HAND HOLDING is my favorite part of the finale, honestly, because it’s so blatant. Steve holds Danny’s hand at Danny’s bedside, teary and praying to a literal God to make sure Danny is okay, and then Danny makes light of it by asking why Steve let go. Are they fighting now, Danny asks? That  implies holding hands is the normal state for them and not holding hands is Bad, even though two grown men holding hands is a very loaded thing in much of western culture and we’ve never seen them do it before because they’re very touchy with each other but in very specific ways, bound to very specific rules, and random hand holding is distinctly not okay under those strict social guidelines. And then. AND THEN. We close the episode with Steve offering Catherine his hand and Catherine taking it and Steve turning to look out the window and smiling vaguely, and the parallel kind of smacks you in the face and I find it both very funny and very sad and wonder if the writers even realized it at all, or whether maybe it was entirely intentional and meant as a nice nod to McDanno shippers because we were never going to get canon McDanno but at least this way we had, I guess, Steve’s implied hetero endgame romance play out in a way that also pretty literally happened with Danny earlier in the same episode, meaning that they’re at least sort of put on an equal footing? (Best way to interpret this: Steve is bi. It’s canon now.)

ANYWAY. Yes. I feel like this maybe veered off-topic, but I suppose the point is that Steve was allowed to hold Danny’s hand, but we had to be reassured he’d also want to hold Catherine’s, and Steve got to tell Danny he loves him and tear the island apart to get to him and ask God to take him instead of Danny and talk with Danny about how they both dream of a future in which they’re still side by side as old men while also currently living with Danny and both being single, but he had to then leave with Catherine so we would know that two single guys who live together and exchange I love yous while planning to grow old together aren’t actually [lowers voice to a hushed whisper] gay.

HOO! What a relief. I was really worried there for a second, guys.

(Also consider: all of that happens with Danny and it’s just guys being guys, just buddies being homies, just straight dudes being hetero, and then Steve takes Cath’s hand and maybe smiles a little and we’re supposed to infer it’s an epic romance. It’s fascinating to me how little straight you need to sprinkle in to completely even out the scales for most viewers, or even make them lean way in favor of “obviously he’s straight, why would you even think anything else, lol”.)

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

honestly i fully agree with you, i'm also annoyed with some of my fellow dany stans cause they hold every other character accountable for their actions in s8 except dany, like if you're gonna disregard the fact that dany murdered half a million people then you can't hate jon for killing a person that was at that point a mass murder, or act like sansa was the most evil character ever for being snippy towards dany and spilling jon's secret, cause guess what? they were all written like trash

Hi anon. Let me be clear here, I’m disheartened (not annoyed) when I see that some of my mutuals are so desperate to hold onto their anger that they forgo logic in order to cherry pick season eight.

Some Daenerys stans will tell you that this argument is justified:

‘At least Daario didn’t kill Daenerys!’

But that this one is wrong:

'At least Sansa didn’t burn down King’s Landing!’

Or that this one is wrong:

'Jon Snow was right to kill the mad queen!’

Acknowledging only select information is known as confirmation bias.

Now, I get that I probably shouldn’t have used a specific post to try to call out logical fallacies and double standards, but hey, I am only human. Of course, as I have had kindly explained to me by Tumblr over the last couple of days, one’s emotions are only valid if you are exclusively a Daenerys fan. Information that would’ve been handy to have prior to making my appeal!

So why did I do it at all?

Because I saw a fellow Jonerys shipper who admitted to harboring at least some resentment towards Jon (and thus, cannot fully enjoy their own ship). As someone who was there not long ago, I can attest that it sucks.

Some of my mutuals would unfortunately rather use S8 Jon Snow to help retcon Daario Naharis into a good partner for S1-7 Daenerys.

Spoiler: He’s still not.

I wasn’t going to touch the Daario subject, but you know what? If my reputation is already obliterated at this point, I might as well.

Sure, Daario brought Daenerys some flowers. But he also invaded Dany’s privacy not once but twice, once while she was naked and vulnerable, putting a knife against her best friend’s throat. He betrayed his allies just because he thought Dany was hot. He told her 'A dragon queen with no dragons, that’s not a queen’. Daario really said ‘fuck the people’ to the Mhysa. 👍

“Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone.”

Daenerys Targaryen, who felt lonely all her life, felt nothing upon leaving Daario for a reason. Some of her fans really want to ship her with a man that reinforces her loneliness. It just makes me sad.

What’s funny to me too, is that in the last few days, I’ve seen people who support Dany x Daario also making the argument that 'as women’, we shouldn’t care about Jon Snow or that his character was butchered because Dany got it worse, or simply because he’s a man.

For people out here dismissing men in general, it’s sure convenient that they can’t recognize that a woman blows Daario Naharis right out of the water…

There are even ex-Jonerys fans who would rather ship Daenerys with Jaime Lannister, her father’s murderer, before Yara Greyjoy.

And speaking of Jaime Lannister…

As a big fan of Brienne of Tarth, he’s never been my favorite character. I always argued that he was never good enough for Brienne - that his feelings for Cersei would always overshadow his feelings for her…

Yet, aside from maybe the middle of my post-S8 mental breakdown, I’d never use season eight to help support or bolster that argument because the man who said…

“To be honest I never really cared for them (the people), innocent or otherwise.”

… is no more Jaime Lannister than Daenerys is a genocidal dictator.

I’ll have to wait to see what ‘the court of Tumblr’ rules, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be something along the lines of “Jon Snow is the only character we should hold accountable for his actions in season eight!”

It’s a riot around here!

[kob131]

https://twitter.com/CJ_Black0/status/1261143893166473216

You know, this shit is a picture perfect representation of why I say that these guys should just stop with the pretenses and just say ‘RWBY bad’ over and over again.

I've joked about how funny it would be if RWBY pulled the rug from underneath our feet & had bumbleby not be endgame. But all jokes aside, considering the state of #RWBY, RT & the RWBY fandom as a whole...the writers kinda HAVE to not only make it canon, but ideal. 

Yeah, I heard the same shit for years about redeeming the White fang. How did that go again?

What I mean is that RT has been on some pretty hard times lately & it's cashcow has seen far better days. Let's not kid ourselves, RWBY is sustained mostly by people who care more about the relationships & labels than the actual story & characters.

Except considering that the analysis scene is still thriving and non-relationship shit is still thriving-

That ain’t true now is it?

A majority of the fandom seems to be comprised of people who've stuck around from nearly the beginning. And sure, new faces pop up here & there, but it's not the massive surge that the Beacon arc brought in.

Really, because I heared that most of the old guard left because the writing was SO shit. Isn’t that suppose to be true?

Or are you guys both full of it, proclaiming whatever fits your narrative instead of trying to reflect reality?

And this isn't even touching on the overall quality of the writing within the show, which has honestly barely-if not outright hasn't-improved at all from its early days. 

Still gotta lug around that giant cross called ‘nostalgia’ even as the things you botch about are primarily rooted in the beginning...

To put it frank, RWBY is pretty much becoming an isolated franchise, where the only ones who really care about it are those who were already here. 

Do you actually have a THING to back that up? Any analytics? Any stats? Anything whatsoever other than your word, something rendered completely worthless by your own actions?

And nowadays the show seems to operate on 1 golden rule to keep it afloat, "shipping sells"

...

https://store.roosterteeth.com/collections/rwby#/sort:ga_unique_purchases:desc

This is a link to RT’s merch store, specifically their RWBY merch orgnazied by their best sellers. See something that doesn’t add up?

Shipping merch takes FOREVER to find on here...and it’s the Ren and Nora shirt. Not even Bumbleby, the so called ‘selling ship’. Bumbleby shit doesn’t even show up until, at best, the second page with the Yang Vs Adam shirt. And I do meant at best because Blake’s nowhere on the shirt.

This is factually untrue. Shipping is not selling. What is selling is character merch.

And it doesn't matter which side of the argument you're on or what you ship, you can't deny that the most talked about topic in RWBY is the ships.

Actually I can. Bumbleby is only talked about as much as it is because half of it is from you fuckers strawmaning it into importance. I’ve seen more people talking about Ironwood and Team RWBY than that nothing ship.

You think ships are all that there is because you don’t engage with anyone but shippers. You willfully blind yourself to anything not shipping related so you can pretend that’s the top issue.

And at the head of it all, is bumbleby. The golden child of the CRWBY & problem child of the fandom.

By ‘CRWBY’ he means TWO members. Barbara and Arryn. Nothing about the writers, the people with ACTUAL control over the story. Just two voice actors from a company with a lassiez fair approach to handling their employees. 

And by ‘problem child’ he means; ‘scapegoat.’ We’ll discuss that later.

With shipping pretty much largely holding the vessel that is RWBY afloat, & bumbleby being a large component of that pillar with an even larger following behind it, what do you think would happen if that component never came to pass? Well, RT would face the Wasps' wrath.

You mean like they were beforehand? You forget CJ, your methods and your positions were once held by those same wasps. You’re all pretty pathetic.

And frankly, I don't think RT could afford their cashcow taking a serious blow like that. I mean, they're still planning on having RTX later this September while we're still heavily dealing with the pandemic, showing that they probably can't afford to NOT do it.

That doesn’t even make sense. ‘While we’re still heavily dealing with the pandemic’ In May. Four months away. While we’ve begun reopening the economy.

And the second being the wrath of the fandom over Clover's death. Some of those who were upset weren't upset because Clover himself died, but rather the ship Lucky Charms was now dead & they felt like the writers queer baited them...even though Qrow & Clover never hinted at romantic attraction.

You mean a fraction of what they got from Pyrrha’s death? Who was not only a part of a much bigger ship but was also a woman so people generally gave more of shit.

With the company in bad conditions,

Which can’t be solved by shipping.

, RWBY itself slowly fading more & more into mediocrity and obscurity

He says as it’s held up better than numerous other shows.

nd the fandom going into a frenzy over a ship that wasn't even hinted at existing in the first place

Said ‘frenzy’ being small peas compared to the absolute shitstorm that was the hiatuses of Volumes 3 and 5.

...the writers HAVE to have Blake end up with Yang in the end.

Ah huh, sure. How many times have I heard shit like that.

None of this really holds up huh? Well, consider this.

Ignore the actual meaning of the words he’s using and instead listen to what his statements feel like. Also consider that many of things he’s said, while bullshit when compared to facts, are running narratives among his audience and his own circles.

Now compare it to something like say...CNN’s coverage of Trump. Looks eeirely similar huh?

The actual content of CJ’s words don’t matter. He could talk in vaguely negative gibberish about RWBY and it’d serve the same purpose. It’s just meant to rally his base and draw in people already thinking like him. Just like a politician uses a bunch of clichés to rally their base and draw in more radicalized people. You see it every day of your life on the TV whenever you here about Trump’s new scandal.

This is why I say people like CJ can just replace whatever they are saying with ‘RWBY bad’.  Much like how a politican just says what you want to hear or sell you the feeling you are feeling, they do the same just in regards to a show.

Also why this disgusts me. There’s no substance to what is being said: it’s just people being whipped into a frenzy and cults being built.

[thatlittledandere]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 31 and 40 for that shipper ask meme (sorry for picking so many but those questions are GOOD)

You're right, they absolutely are. I'm sorry in advance that this is gonna be LONG and I'm on mobile so I can't even add a read more;;

1. Talk about the first ship you ever had

So I'm SURE there were relationships I was invested in in movies and cartoons I watched as a child (I've always been a sucker for romance, even though there was that period when I didn't want to admit it) but I can't remember anything from very far back;; So it was either Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter or Ichigo and Masaya from Tokyo Mew Mew, whichever I read first.

2. Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life

GOSH. You can't do this to me. I guess Romione because it was the time in my preteens when I was becoming more aware of... stuff, in general, abs the two cemented my love for friends-to-lovers. Then Ioryuu, because I've never been AS invested in and passionate about a ship before and likely never will. Nothing can compare to that intensity and ngl I miss it;; I miss the genuine hype I felt in my heart that made me interact with people and make things. So many things. I honestly can't think of a third one with such a lasting impact, sorry;;

3. What's your current OTP?

I imagine Souyo scenarios in my head every night before falling sleep and every morning after waking up, this is not a joke not an exaggeration. I still feel a little traitorous saying this on tumblr but their dynamic IS somewhat similar to the way I see Ioryuu so-

4. What's your current NoTP?

I don't think I have one? I have dislikes, some of them strong, but I don't see any of them often enough to be, like, actively angry. I have better uses for my time than willingly exposing myself to stuff I don't like.

5. Do you have any poly ships?

Not generally, juggling two characters is enough work lol. The only poly ships I've ever really actively shipped are Niels, Duncan and Natalie from the web comic Niels And the Gang by humon and Kinatsuen from Boueibu, but neither are actively on my mind much these days.

8. Have you ever shipped yourself with a character?

BOY HAVE I EVER. I've seen someone on tumblr have a side blog for self-shopping and not gonna lie, it's an excellent idea. My late teens were spent reading character x reader fics on Quotev and I started my fic career with the same genre. I don't really know what to do with myself when I DON'T actively ship myself with a character, which is my state of being now that Yosuke surpassed Yoosung as my favorite character;; Ibushi and Yoosung are the biggest ones but man oh boy I have shipped myself with characters from early age and I'm showing no signs of stopping! There's a reason that I main dating sims.

15. Have you ever "shipped at first sight"?

Not for long. I SUCK at forming first impressions. Usually if I start thinking I'll ship something, I end up not being so invested in it after all, and instead shipping something I swore off at first lmao. Which leads us to...

16. Talk about a ship you initially disliked

As a rule of thumb, all of them. I don't understand HOW it keeps happening but somehow almost all the ships I truly care/d about (that I didn't start shipping through osmosis before knowing them in the source material) started out as something I thought I "wouldn't be able to get behind." Gajevy. Shikatema. Sasunaru. Doctor/Rose. Karabita. Atsutodo. Kiribaku. Yoozen. Enatsu. Freaking IORYUU. EVEN SOUYO. IT'S BEEN YEARS I REALLY SHOULD KNOW THE PATTERN BY NOW

17. Talk about a pairing you've stopped shipping romantically

Like, I started to think they're better as friends after all? I guess NaLi. Then again, I mostly only shipped them out of spite in the first place because I wanted a counter for N/a//Lu, which I never liked at all;;

20. Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping

Now this time I can say for sure that there isn't one. I can't come up with ships myself and stay on board if there isn't content for it, canon or otherwise;; It's not a conscious decision or anything, it's just how my mind works. I get attached to stuff by exposure, whether from fans or the source material, and if the source material has enough content for two characters for me to pick up on and become interested, it's guaranteed to be enough to become a somewhat popular ship.

21. Is there a ship you just don't get, but have nothing against?

Actually... That's the extent I go to with notp'ing these days. I'm passionate about the right to ship whatever you want so by proxy I can't have anything "against" a ship, even if the sheer thought of it existing makes me nauseous. And I know how to think from points of view other than my own, so I can usually see the appeal, even if it appeals to me personally less than eating dog shit while walking barefoot on rusty nails that are also on fire.

That said, the only ships I have on my Tumblr blacklist are Yoo//ra/n and Suza//lu/lu because they're both popular ships for characters whose tags I am/was following and therefore get suggested a lot even if I want following anyone who ships then. Oh, and all B/LMa//tsu ships! I generally can't feel good about incestuous ships, but can and will fight for their shippers' right to do as they please as long as they stay respectful. (never saw blmatsus who weren't respectful. saw a plethora of anti-blmatsus who were absolute demons. actually the reason i moved away from the last remnants of my anti mindset was that i didn't want to be associated with THOSE anti-blmatsus, when the shippers they wanted dead were all such sweet people. food for thought.)

22. Which of your ships have the best chemistry?

All of them?? Lmao I don't understand this question, isn't shipping all about liking the chemistry between characters? Or the potential for it I guess, in which case the chemistry is whatever you want it to be, which is great B) I'm sorry I keep accidentally dodging questions I'm bad at choosing examples from a long, unordered list

23. Which of your ships deserve better writing?

Hhhhhhh I shipped Jerza for years and was still unsatisfied with their ending, Jellal didn't get to heal enough and we didn't really see them working through their past in an effective way and getting comfortable around each other. It's like they were supposed to be friends to enemies to lovers but the last part didnt really develop and their relationship stagnated at the stage were they were both just permanently awkward out of regret, and couldn't bring themselves out of it even though everything was forgiven forever ago. Or I've forgotten a lot of stuff that happened. Very likely. Is your a case of bad writing or good writing not working out the way I wanted it to? You're asking the wrong person.

25. Have you ever shipped a pairing before you even started watching the show/movie simply because of gifs/graphics or similar?

EYUP. Harumichi was my otp for like a whole year before I saw a single episode with them lol. It was crazy, but it was REAL. I've also went into shows already paying attention to things I knew my friends/people I follow shipped, kind of hoping I'd get into it.

26. Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic I'm writing these questions down from screenshots and I cropped the rest of this one out by accident rip

Eeeh I go for the obvious. Best friend pairs, obvious pining, some rivalry with sexual tension, though I don't really know what to do with those. Then there's the fact that I never see it coming sick Persona 5 reference bro and start shipping the couple I thought "should just be friends" at first. This is more about my relationship to the ships than their dynamic but it's very constant...

27. Is there a ship you've shipped for most of your life?

Hmmm well I got into HP and started shipping Romione sometime in mid elementary school so it's definitely been more than half my lifetime since, but I don't really know if I "ship it" anymore. I didn't start disliking them or anything but for me, "shipping" is an active intrest in a fictional relationship, so if it reaches the stage where I like it, in theory, but I don't have the feels, it doesn't really count. That's why I can say I like ships without shipping them. It's gotta be actively on my brain, man.

31. Talk about one of your favorite headcanons for a ship you love

I haven't mentioned Kannao once, which is criminal. So here's some of what I imagine their future to be like :D I've been getting new Persona followers recently so here's something for you to unfollow me over lmao

So first of all I ignore the canon that Naoto goes back to the city for her detective work after her first year of high school, shhh she stays in Inaba, only taking the occasional jobs. She and Kanji start dating during the spring break before their second year and get more comfortable with each other, so that the next summer they're still cute and very much themselves (which means somewhat reserved) but not as awkward anymore :) I haven't thought about what happens after they graduate but they get married in their early 20s and have a son <3 (Chie and Yukiko adopted their daughter only slightly earlier. They may or may not have had a bit of a competition going on) ((yes Souyo are very much together but if they end up having children I haven't thought about it it's later))

Kanji manages the textile shop and Naoto helps when she's free from detective stuff. They live in Inaba but Naoto is away quite often for her gigs;; She takes up a few jobs less when Kouta is little though so he wouldn't feel less close to his Mom than his Dad.

Both Kanji and Naoto suffered from unfair expectations growing up, so they try their best to make up for it with Kouta's upbringing. They want him to feel comfortable being himself and free to express himself the way he wants; they make sure he knows he'll always be loved and supported, and to never be ashamed of who he is. As a child it doesn't even occur to him that many social norms and social expectations exist, because Naoto and Kanji pretty much let him do whatever as long as he isn't hurting himself or anyone else. They might go a little overboard though, giving into Kouta's whims without much consideration at all. The Amagi Aunties enforce rules and keep kids grounded in reality much better lmao

40. If you could change one thing about your otp, what would that be?

HMNGHNMHGNMGH I WAMT YOSUKE'S INTERNALIZED BULLSHIT ACKNOWLEDGED!! It's there AtlUS!! Stop pretending oh my god.... I love the Dancing All Night story mode (so far. I am by no means done); Yosuke gets cool moments and Yu's internal monologue really shows how much he appreciates him. The dynamic is so much better than with a silent protagonist, and thank god they didn't go with the tactless anime Yu (as fun as he is). I know there are a bunch of nods to the cut romance across spinoffs but mannnn... I wish they were more serious about it. At this point it's not even that far-fetched to think Yosuke has feelings for Yu that he may or may not be aware of, and I know that Yu as the player character can't be too tied down to one option in canon, but still... Even the clown gets tired of jokes at some point. One can dream.

40 ship questions

[redisriding]

King of Scars - Review

I have just finished reading King of Scars and let me tell you, I have some THOUGHTS™

I don’t want to spoil anyone though, so read below the fold at your own discretion…

(Also contains spoilers of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology, but it is unlikely that one has not read those books but has read King of Scars).

Nb. I word vomited this onto the page so apologies for any typos/misspellings/incomplete trains of thought!

Okay so, let me start by stating my position in respect of the other Grisha Verse books. I enjoyed the Shadow and Bone Trilogy. I really liked the first one, thought the second one did nothing but elongate the story, but found the third one redeeming. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the two main characters/love interest as I found both Alina and Mal annoying in parts, but I have to remind myself that I am in my mid-20s reading YA books so maybe I can’t be too critical of the behaviour of teenagers(?!). I am however a sucker for when the female lead chooses the good boy they grew up with over the mysterious creepy stranger, so yeah I shipped them. What made this trilogy for me was the amazingly vivid universe that was created – the Grisha Verse – and the absolute romp of supporting characters. So, not wanting to leave the world behind just yet I read the Six of Crows duology and I LOVED THESE BOOKS. Not only did we get to delve deeper into the Grisha Verse, but the storyline is fantastic, the characters are brilliantly painted, and the dialogue is some of the most witty, most wonderful dialogue I have ever read (Jesper anyone?). Plus, the Nina x Matthias dynamic is my absolute favourite romance trope!!! With honourable mentions to Kaz and Inej of course.

Going into King of Scars I was hopeful for a thrilling adventure across the Grisha Verse I have come to know so well, with some excellent characters and cracking banter.

 Was that what I found?

 In short, no.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate this book. It was an enjoyable read. However, I do think the King of Scars is Leigh Bardugo’s weakest work. Now, I don’t know whether she was writing under pressure from her publishers, fans etc., if there was something going on in her life perhaps to throw her off her game, or if the King of Scars was genuinely the direction she wanted to take this series/story/universe. The characterisation was good as always, I enjoyed learning more about Nikolai and Zoya’s respective backstories, and yeah, I ship them hard, but there wasn’t as much witty banter as I had hoped. Particularly from a character like Nikolai who gave so much in previous books. Sure, the argument can be made that this book is about him battling his own demons, so fair enough if he was somewhat off his game. I think however this book fell down in two key ways, (1) the universe and (2) the story itself.

What do I mean in respect of not liking the “universe” as conceptualised in King of Scars? This might sound a little strange, but in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology the “magic” that the Grisha possess appears very “real” (if magic can indeed be real). There are rules about how Grisha power works and thus seems plausible to me. I feel like King of Scars departed from this. I don’t mean the Zoya/Dragon story line. I actually quite enjoyed the exploration of “but aren’t we all things” and the blurring of the lines between different Grisha powers. I think that will make an interesting development in the story. What is less clear in how magic works in the Grisha Verse is (1) the demon that possesses Nikolai (but sure I can get on board with it for the purpose of the story and to be quite honest I don’t REALLY care about a lot of the minute details about the world’s in fantasy books operate), and (2) the whole mid-section of the book where Nikolai and Zoya are sucked into this Twilight Zone/Alice in Wonderland alternative dimension that emerges in the fold. This is where the book lost me. I didn’t totally understand what was going on, and I think the writing fell down here. It was like even Leigh Bardugo didn’t have a clear idea as to what was happening. Trying to make sense of it was a bit like trying to look through fog. Dragons, bees, three-headed bears, a big rock that became a palace, thorns??? I was totally baffled by it all. Where they in the fold or the Unsea? How did they just suddenly disappear? Where did that pilgrimage camp go? Was any of that real or just an illusion to trap Nikolai and Zoya there? Even at the end I’m unsure as to how much Yuri knew, how much he was leading them knowing what was going to happen or was he just a hapless buffoon that got caught up in the whole thing? How exactly did Zoya defeat the bee witch queen? What happened with Nikolai and his demon? Is it is half defeated? Is the demon the Darkling himself rather than a residue of the Darkling’s monster? Does that mean that the Darkling lives half within Nikolai and half within Yuri? Maybe some of this is deliberately vague and will be cleared up in the next book, but I honestly think that a lot of it has to do with the writing because there are parts that are perfectly clear and I do understand what is happening, for example when Zoya slays the dragon. Perhaps this was because I had read the previous books and I understood what it meant to kill a creature to create an amplifier, but equally, I believe that Leigh Bardugo wrote this section clearer because she had written the previous books!

Essentially, I felt that I had a good grasp of the Grisha Verse but this whole section is too off the wall for it to be believable to me and just doesn’t feel like it “fits” with the universe that had been created/developed in the other books.

The second thing I dislike is the story. Yes, see previous thoughts above in respect of the whole mid-section of the book, but this whole story was just angling to bring the Darkling back? Nah, I don’t like it. Not because the Darkling is a baddie and the thought of him being back can only mean bad things, but because I think its lazy writing. There is already so much conflict, or potential for conflict, in these books with Nikolai becoming King and trying to save Ravka that there was no need for the Darkling to return. For one, I think it undermines everything that happened in the Shadow and Bone series for him to return and presumably be defeated in the next book?. Mal sacrificed himself for Alina to destroy him, only for her to lose her power afterwards. It doesn’t seem right that he went on “living” in this alternative universe. The whole body swap thing was just bizarre, and again, lazy writing. I’m not a fan of people suddenly appearing back from the dead as a trope anyway, but this was particularly sloppily done. (Yes, I know Mal came back from the dead too but there was some explanation as to have him having two souls/lives inside him and as I say I was an Alana/Mal shipper so I was prepared to overlook it). I just felt that the Alina/Mal/Darkling storyline was wrapped up so nicely at the end of the Shadow and Bone trilogy that is doesn’t seem right to bring the Darkling back as the villain in a Nikolai/Zoya story. The final line in the Shadow and Bone series about Alina and Mal living a normal life if a life with love could ever be such a thing absolutely destroyed me (I wept for the evening after reading that – it’s my catnip), but that story felt complete. I don’t see how the Darkling can come back within at least Alina being involved again, and she doesn’t have her powers anymore which were the only things that defeated the Darkling. I think what my uneasiness boils down to is, presumably Nikolai and Zoya are going to defeat him in the next book, but no matter how comprehensively they do so, I’m never going to believe that he is actually dead, or that death in the Grisha Verse really exists. That at any time, anyone, not matter how long they have been dead for could just reappear with some absolutely insane story of how they managed to remain living even though they were totally, utterly, completely, without a doubt dead. 

I think the crux of my disappointment with King of Scars can be summed up as follows:-

Will I be reading the sequel?

Yeah...probably.

Will I be thinking about what is happening to these characters every day until that book is released?

No.

[liliaeth]

Dutch Comic Con meet and greet

I’d been delaying this one, sorry about that, I’ve had way too little time. I’ve been way too busy with overtime at work.

But since it’s weekend, and almost a week since the con.

Now I’ve already made a post on the Q&A (here), though I forgot to mention one or two things, like how Tyler was asked if he’d had a choice, which character other than Scott, that he would have wanted to play on Teen Wolf.

Answer being Derek ;-)

He also talked about what a great dramatic actor he thought Dylan was, and how the two of them are still friends. That often they separate themselves from a crowd just to talk and share what they’ve been going through.

One of the things I noticed about the Q&A is what a natural entertainer Tyler is. He never sits still, and he keeps everything lighthearted and fun. Or how he meandered on the inspiration question.

Now admittedly, my memory is killing me, and I keep mixing up things he said in the Q&A and the meet and greet, so my apologies in advance if I do so. It’s why I probably should have made this post sooner, but ah well..

Now on to the meet and greet.

I’ll admit, I’d never before done one of those. So since I didn’t know what to expect, I’d looked things up online. I figured it’d be a line and getting to talk to him for a moment and then he’d move on to the next. (that actually ended up being the autograph line)

What it really was, is that we were taken to a separate private room near the VIP area. A place with nice comfy seats and one chair in the middle. And then a crew member told us the rules, you know, no taking pictures, no getting out your phone to record anything,  no asking questions about Tyler’s personal life, that if the convo got stuck, she’d try and help it get going again. Things like that. And then they brought Tyler in, and we got to talk to him for half an hour, no interruptions...

This would have already been amazing under normal circumstances. Normally these things are for about twenty people, But as I mentioned in my previous post... Tyler had only been announced five days before the con.

Now keep in mind that the tickets for these cost 200€.

That’s not a small amount for anyone to find, esp. in less than a week to think it over. Or with people who do have the money, finding the time to come to Utrecht for it, and be at the con. (and there were two of those meet and greets a day on a two day con)

End result being, there were two of us who’d paid for those tickets in the room with Tyler.

Me and bohentastic (she mentioned it on her twitter, not sure if she has a tumblr)

Now she’s apparantly more used to these things, but as I said, this was the first time I ever took part in one of those meet and greets (and honestly there’s currently only two people I’d pay that kind of money for, Tyler Posey, and Jensen Ackles), so I was nervous as hell, and when I get nervous I get talky, often embarrassingly so.

(which is why I was grateful that there was at least one other person, so I didn’t scare off poor Tyler entirely ;-) )

Now Bohentastic was wearing a shirt from a band called WSTR. I didn’t know the band before, but the fact she wore that shirt, had Tyler totally excited cause he loves that band. (she pretty much made his day)

he’d already started singing one of their songs for her at the autograph line, though at the time he didn’t quite get it right yet.

aka this song:

(which really makes me want to make a teen wolf vid with it, but that left aside)

Thankfully he’s used to people like me being over the top nervous.

Anyway, one of us, not sure if it was me or Bohentastic asked about his new music, since Five North currently has only one song out. And he let us listen two two of the bands unreleased songs that he was really excited about, and that should get released soon.

I got to say, I liked those songs better than I did the PVMNTS ones. But that might be my taste in music. And I can’t wait for them to be released :-)

He also talked about why he left PVMNTS, said that it was a disagreement on what they wanted out of the band. He wanted to try new things, and his friends disagreed, and there was a constant ‘no’ going on, whenever he suggested doing something other than the style the band already had.

With the new band he gets to experiment more, try new things, new styles, and from what I got to hear of the songs, they’re definitely worth it.

Now before the meeting, I kept reminding myself, ‘do not talk about my dislike of Stiles’, so of course, after two days of telling myself this, I of course just had to mention that I’m one of the few people in fandom that  utterly can’t stand Stiles... (sometimes my mouth is faster than my brain, or common sense)

He found it amusing and when I said it’s cause Stiles irritates the hell out of me, he told me that Dylan would apparently love that. (I leave it to you to take it as him amusing me on that one ;-) )

I mentioned some of my views on the show, mostly why I love Scott, how unique I feel that Scott is. And how different Scott is from your average protagonist.

See, most protagonists are pretty generic, they’re generally characters like Derek, or the every man like Stiles. They fit stereotypical tropes, and you see them in every show out there.  (aka the broody guy or the sarcastic funny guy)

Scott’s not like that. Scott is kind, determined sure, but he listens to others. (he just doesn’t always do what people tell him to when he disagrees with what they want to do (esp to others)) Also Scott utterly and totally lacks toxic masculinity.

Scott doesn’t try to control others, he’s not brave for the sake of being brave, and his focus is on healing, taking care of others, rather than on violence or taking out the bad guys. He likes to talk things out instead of fight whenever possible.

And chars like that are far too rare, especially in today’s climate.

I was just glad that I was able to tell Tyler this, and that he at least seemed to love that I actually got what they were trying to go for with Scott on the show. 

We also talked on how dark s1 is and how it compared to s3b (ever notice how Scott in s1 goes through many of the same things Stiles goes through in 3b)

Bohentastic asked him about his tattoos, and he gave us a better look of them. And he talked about how he has a fave tattoo artist, and how he basically picks them based on what he likes, instead of trying to give meaning to every single tattoo. And how sometimes one spot will remain empty till he gets a new one. he also mentioned how they hurt, esp. apparantly ones on the wrist :-)

For the record, yes I talked too much, and I did try and check to make sure I wasn’t saying too much, cause I’m well aware of how over the top talky I get when nervous. Seems like Bohentastic has the opposite problem and talks less when nervous, after mentioning that, Tyler actually went to lie on the floor to make us less nervous, he’s so damn sweet.

I mentioned that I’m primarily a sceo and scerek shipper, and you know every other Scott ship, and he said he was all for it. My guess is that he’d have been all for bi Scott. Too bad the show didn’t go for it.

He also mentioned still being in touch with Gideon Emery, who played Deucalion, which awesome. (sceucalion is so one of my fave crack ships)

He would love to have had more scenes with Cody in s6b, though he did like the scenes between Cody and Dylan Sprayberry. (which he brought up with no prompt of mine) There was a short moment there, where he talked how Dylan was only 14 when he joined the cast, I said i thought he was 15, but I’m sure he knows better, since you know, he actually knows the guy.

We also talked on how the show was divided in 3a, 3b, 5a, 5b, 6a and 6b, so the producers didn’t have to pay the actors more. Cause now they were basically paid for six seasons, instead of the nine that we actually got.

He talked about Lost Boys, I mentioned how I was sorry it didn’t go to series, since I’d been interested in it, and it turns out he was actually not too happy with it. Seems like he felt the script was cheesy, he was told it was going to be funny though, since he gave it his best shot, but in the end, he felt he really didn’t want to play the character. So for him the fact it didn’t go to series was actually a good thing.

He also talked about ‘Alone’.  And how since there were so few actors on set, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t being an asshole on the set, cause if he had been, the entire mood on set would have sucked;

His new band will apparently also be touring in Europe, I mentioned hoping they’d come to Belgium as well, he said they might :-)

Probably missing a few things here, might add those later, but yeah, that was probably one of the best half hours of my life.

And not just because Tyler is even hotter in real life than he already is onscreen,and is the nicest guy ever.

Or because I get another two, or three hugs out of that meeting.

Or that he tried to sing that song again, and this time got it right, which he was so damn happy and excited about. I might have to listen to more of that band’s songs, since Tyler’s love for their music is infectious :-)

[starfaring-princelotor]

Ranting anon. I have a lot. I’ll try and split this into pieces. I wouldn’t say that Lotor was my absolute favorite character, but he was an enjoyable and interesting one. He was a more refined antagonist (not necessarily a villain) who had every capacity of being a great ally and friend. I won’t lie, I liked the idea of Allura and Lotor together, (1/?)

As a parallel to Zarkon and Honerva by being a Galra/Altean power couple that fought for good instead of evil. Lotor is clever and diplomatic and poised, so I honestly thought that he could help Allura cool down her impulsive nature and rash temper and help her become a good leader through example. (2/?)

But in the end, all we got was Lotor giving her an ego boost that in the end didn’t even matter because she dropped him like a hot potato in what feels like a forced “girl power!!” Moment. And I feel like that’s a big problem with how Allura’s character was handled. (3/?)

She’s meant to be this wise, kind, but fierce leader lady, but unlike say, Zelda (another warrior princess,) she doesn’t display the patience or level-headedness that Zelda does, despite people making numerous comparisons between the two. The argument that she’s inexperienced falls through halfway through the series at the very least. Allura never takes any steps to curb her temper or his pushy nature. (4/?)

And somehow no one calls her out on it! A big red flag for me was her reaction when Keith was revealed to be half galra and she just…turned fucking mean for no reason. And while Keith felt guilty for something he shouldn’t have felt guilty for, everyone else was…taking her side? (6/?)

And basically the matter is resolved by him mostly apologizing and her kind of mumbling a half-assed sorry. She was literally being racist to someone she called a friend right until she found out about his heritage. Despite him having done absolutely nothing to her. And no one called her out on it. That pissed me off. It feels like the paladins personalities suffered in order to make Allura look good. Like their moralities and personalities got tossed out the window to revolve around her. (8/8)

A forewarning to Lotura shippers, I never liked the ship in the first place, so if you are looking for validation about Lotura or even Allura herself, this rant is not for you. Allow me to pitch in my own two cents about myself, Allura, the Paladins, and the comparison referring to Zelda.

Anon, let me just say this first, I adore reading the asks you sent because all of it was basically the biggest problem I had with Allura the second she was revealed in Voltron. And the main reason for that? Was how she introduced herself by being a glaringly-obvious Princess-brat trope that does not think before she decides to speak. This was her first rash and impulsive act as a “royal” Princess.

This is why I have a hard time believing those who say Allura’s racism towards the Galra is valid because, I do not know about you, but being cryogenically frozen during the heat of war then waking up and thinking the main important thing to do is call someone’s ears hideous? What happened to “the war is still fresh in her mind”? And no, suddenly opening up a journal to remember “Oh, yeah, the war! Zarkon evil! I should be angry!” does not fly with me. 

I am not saying her trauma is not real, only her reaction to it is slightly misplaced. 

In any case, let us move on to the comparison of Allura and I being similar to Honerva and Zarkon. Oddly enough, I did not see this clicking at all in the show. Mostly because, in terms of what happened between them story-wise, Allura and I are more like Alfor and Zarkon. And this is just based off their relationship. Maybe I am a man who strives more for platonic relationships in shows aimed towards children, but I really did not feel the romance at all in Lotura. 

Not even with the sickening way she suddenly started pining after me at the realization that I am half-Altean.

And this is the big point in the show. Zarkon and Honerva loved each other not because of their race, but because they just do. Alfor and Zarkon? They both use their power as royals to achieve a greater good. Except, in the case of Allura, she chose to commit unspeakable acts of betrayal based on feelings. Sounds oddly familiar to Alfor, no? Sacrificing all of Altea to ensure she lives? Because he is such a good father, pure of heart who must protect his daughter at the expense of not one, but two entire planets. 

He loves her so much, he sacrificed his own people for her. That is why Allura is more like her father in that aspect. Both rulers let their feelings control their actions. Throughout the entire 8 seasons of Voltron, Allura has constantly gone either completely irrational or completely poised for the public, never in between. She does her self-sacrificing bit way too many times and, when she coincidentally lives afterwards, she puts herself on a pedestal as if she was right in her self-indulgent martyr actions.

Which she most certainly is not, because it is common knowledge that if you want to help people, you should be actively staying alive to do so. It is as though once she believed all “her” people died, she has no real purpose to stay around after her grand plan of eradicating all the “evil” Galra from space gets completed. I am sorry to say, or perhaps not, but she really does remind me of a terrible Mary Sue who can do no wrong. Alive or dead. 

And this shit? Gets brushed aside or ignored by a majority of the Paladins. I will go ahead and blame it that most of them are all very, very young and lack the experience to speak out against those in charge. In fact, the only two who spoke against her in any sense were Shiro and Keith, even Pidge for family reasons. Shiro when he wanted to support putting myself on the throne and Keith? Well, that is a bit more complicated. 

Anyone remember the scene where Keith kept telling Allura that he does not want to hear a lecture from her, and she does it anyways because she is just looking out for Voltron and emotionally guilting him is the best way to go about it? No? Oh, right, maybe it was because she acted like a mother admonishing him for “shirking” his responsibilities. I do not even need to go on about how much I heavily dislike one of the two female members mothering her teammates.

You know what would have been a great development here? If she supported him instead of “disciplining” him as if he stayed out past midnight. Maybe not even support him! Just be like “Okay, I know this is important for you, so tell us what we need to do to help you. We’re a team and as a team we will help you however we can.” 

In this sense, Shiro was trusting Keith and doing the right thing by giving him the space he needed to find himself. Allura, on the other hand, was pushy and ultimately did not care at all for him as a person, but him as a useful Paladin tool. If he was so revered as the Black Paladin, then should she not be, I do not know, following his orders by the T? Or is her role as a royal, Altean Princess whose spirit is connected to Voltron more important?

And even before all this, she believes her and Keith are supposedly buddies now since she gave a half-assed apology for being a racist cunt to him. No one, I guarantee you, no one forgets racist comments, regardless of repaired friendships. Especially when her cold-shoulder and outright blatant ignorance is being seen as “Oh, it’s okay for her to feel like this! What do we know, we’re just humans from Earth who have apparently never read a history book.”

Before I get into the nitty-gritty details about why comparing Zelda and Allura are the same people, let me just say this concerning Allura’s hot-headed temper and unchecked racism involving a relationship with myself. That shit does not work and Allura should have taken the time to sort herself out before mixing in a “loving” relationship with an Altean and Galran man. I am all for equal support in a couple, but she did nothing to support myself as a person because she never saw both sides of my heritage. 

Allura only saw Altean blood and hyperfixated on that alone. Which, do I even need to spell out how terrible it is to judge someone based on their appearance? Based on their race? Whether in a good or bad light, she once again goes from “I will not have some quiznaking Galra on my ship” to “Your mother was Honerva? You’re Altean!” mode. It is fine to be prideful, but she should have already known the dangers of being too prideful of one’s race. 

Considering she is a royal, considering she was raised with political knowledge, considering her father and the Emperor of the Galra Empire worked together, Allura should have been aware of her Achilles Heel and understand her responsibilities. 

Okay, now, Allura being like Zelda? 

Alright, I only played a handful of LoZ games, but even I know that Allura is absolutely nothing like Zelda, even with both of them having the Princess title. 

We already established that Allura is way too rash and irrational when under any duress. Even when shit is not going down, her way of thinking is very straight forward and linear, disregarding the bigger picture as a whole for her own closeted judgements. Allura has even ignored her royal advisor’s advice too many times to count, excusing her reasoning as “It’s the only way, Coran. I must do this.”

Zelda? Zelda does not, at all, follow Allura’s way of thinking. In fact, OoT has a similar plot to Allura and myself. Link skips 7 years of his life, wakes up to Hyrule being controlled by Ganondorf, and the Princess is MIA. Though, if any of you have played the game, then you know that the Princess was actively trying to save the kingdom. Not just Hylians, but Zoras and Gorons as well. 

And the way she accomplished this was by disguising herself as Sheik. Not because she was a coward, but because she knew the importance that came with being a Princess, the next heir to rule, and the one who has the Triforce of Wisdom under her control. Key word here: WISDOM. Something Allura did not display at all in the show. 

If we are comparing Zelda to any character, she is more like the exiled Prince than Allura herself. Both Zelda and myself have the wisdom and first-hand experience of suffering under active war. Both actively saved, or tried to save, those they came across. And both understood the political discourse that hurt everyone, not just one specific race. Everyone.

But if that is the case, then Link would be similar to Allura in the sense that they both woke up to disaster. The big difference between Link and Allura? Link would not have killed Sheik once he revealed himself to be Zelda. Not even because Sheik was being deceiving. Link would understand why Zelda had to hide for her own safety, because she was vital to the plan to restore balance to Hyrule. 

Even if Link was miffed about Zelda not being truthful? He knows that, under no circumstances, can they chance the risk to kill her over his own personal feelings.

“But that doesn’t mean Zelda never curbed her temper!”

In Twilight Princess, when the kingdom was already starting to fall under evil clutches, Zelda teams up with Midna, an exiled Princess of the Twilight world. I can not imagine how helpless Zelda felt in the face of Zant overthrowing the kingdom, but did she go off and leave the citizens to suffer for all of eternity? No. She accepted aid from those who were willing, even the Princess of the other world. 

And, on top of that, Zelda understood that Midna’s world and her own were like two sides of a coin. They must coexist with each other to achieve peace. In fact, I vaguely remember Zelda sacrificing herself to help Midna. Imagine that. Using your powers to help the “enemy” for the greater good. Tell me when Allura helped the Galra out of her own free will? Her own understanding that the Galra need her help just like every other race in the universe?

No, the BoM does not count. Not with her attitude shining through after her “Zarkon is in power because you guys are cowards!” spiel. Not when she begrudgingly helped save Warlord Lahn while simultaneously profiling him out of spite with “Did you buy those weapons or steal them?” And no, not when she built Sincline with myself with the intention to harvest unlimited quintessence then immediately turn around and aid in murdering me, the Emperor of the Galra Empire, over a weak accusation. 

Overall, Allura really is the type of person to barge into other people’s problems, claim “I am here to help you all!”, then throw a hissy fit when people ask for specific aid rather than follow her “My way or the highway” attitude. Terrible writing or not, she was always like this since the very beginning. It is kind of like…she had many chances to improve, but she just made her own situation worse and refused to stop to reflect upon herself.

[echodrops]

Can we still send ships? Midotsuyu, Kiribaku, Kataang, Zutara, JoxLaurie (don’t know the ship name, little women)

Whoa, there are a lot here, so I’ll just write a little about each one.

MidoTsuyu:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

I quite like Tsuyu and her character. It’s refreshing to see a somewhat blunt female character who speaks her mind, is responsible, level-headed, and great in a crisis. She’s not only cute in her design but also in her reactions to other characters–her straightforward manner of making friends is very endearing to me. Even though she rarely gets as much of the spotlight as she deserves, I think that she and Midoriya could be a fine ship! In particular, I appreciate that if this ship was the main het ship, there probably wouldn’t be a lot beating around the bush and awkward romantic tension such as exists between Izuku and Ochako–Tsuyu seems like the type who would come clean about her feelings fairly quickly. Ha ha, it would honestly be pretty cute to see Midoriya completely flustered by having a girl confess to him–he’d probably melt into a puddle from the heat of his own blush.

I think this ship has a lot of potential and should get more attention from fans–maybe Horikoshi should spend a little more time giving Tsuyu some ship tease with other characters! I’m kind of partial to Ochako/Tsuyu myself.

KiriBaku:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

There are some ships where you just have to ask yourself what the creator’s intent was. Like do you think Horikoshi intended for the fans to like seeing Bakugou and Kirishima together as much as we do? Do you think he sees all the fanarts and asks himself “What have I done?!” or, deep down, do you think that sometimes manga and animation artists create these characters just KNOWING that fans are going to ship them, and secretly embracing that fan reaction, even if they don’t ever actually plan on making the pair canon in actual material? Sometimes when I look at KiriBaku, I just get the feeling that Horikoshi knew what he was doing when he started drawing the two of them together.

I love that Kirishima has zero fear of Bakugou’s threats and crappy attitude, and that he also won’t just allow Bakugou to trample over others. He’s such a good kid whose gentle chiding and constant corrections seem to be improving Bakugou’s mannerisms and helping Bakugou to make genuine friends (however grudging Bakugou seems to be about it lol). Kirishima makes Bakugou a better person just by being around him! But it’s also true in reverse–I don’t know if Bakugou’s really deliberately trying to cheer Kirishima up or just stating what’s on his mind because he’s honest, but Bakugou’s supporting words have been massive motivators for Kirishima, whose greatest weakness has always been his internal feelings of inferiority.

A good, mutually supportive and beneficial ship. A+.

Kataang:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Ten years ago I was not the mature adult I am today, and although I myself was never an active part of the ship war between Zutara and Kataang, I definitely read every single piece of back-and-forth drama between these two ships that I could get my hands on and was vocally on the Zutara side. To be honest, I recall hating Kataang with a burning passion back then. I just disliked everything about it, from the stereotype schoolgirl/schoolboy crush vibe it radiated to the irritating “clingy jealous girl“ scenes that got handed to Katara… Not to mention that, personally, I’ve always found it a bit odd when girls date younger men–I’m sure this is just ingrained societal stereotypes coming out, but… ha ha, is it bad of me to say that I’ve always found men to be less mature than girls? Dating a guy who is your own age can turn into a babysitting gig if he hasn’t got his shit together… Dating a younger guy might be even worse. XD

I felt like a lot of chemistry between these characters was kind of arbitrary… Almost like “Katara has never met any young men who weren’t from her tribe before but now she met someone new and ooh, he’s so cool and different as the Avatar!” There wasn’t anything wrong with Aang–he was sweet and fun and strong. But I could never see what particularly would have attracted someone to him romantically; his vibe and attitude were so explicitly childish through the first half of the story that I never quite got a “romantic” vibe and it kind of made me, as a nearly twenty-year-old viewer, a little uncomfortable to even try to imagine a twelve-year-old in a romantic light. I feel like a lot of the Kataang shippers might have been on the younger end, and therefore more likely to see Aang as a reflection of themselves?

In any case, as a more responsible adult, I definitely have learned my lessons on shipping and letting others ship–if Kataang is your cup of tea, more power to you guys! I was never my ship, but I can respect other people’s love for it.

Zutara:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Obviously if you’re not a Kataang shipper, you’re a Zutara shipper. I don’t make the rules, just abide by them. Zutara was my bread and butter for as long as Avatar was on TV. I remember calling my friend up on the good old house phone with a cord I had to stretch to the max just to see the TV and talk at the same time, wailing about all the ship tease scenes for this ship. I still remember the heartbreak I felt when watching the ending of the last season and knowing that Kataang was incoming. I remember grumbling through every Zuko/Mai scene wondering why in the hell the creators hated Zuko so much they’d throw him together with someone so ambivalent as Mai…

I love red/blue, fire/water, opposites-in-balance ships, always have and always will. I love the imagery, I love their motifs, I love the personalities that come along with these kind of elementally-aligned characters; I love the weight and automatic tension coding two characters with these colors or other opposite features brings and how creators can bank on these archetypes to add additional depth to character interactions–there’s just something very tidy and pleasing about color-coded ships.

Not to mention all the other wonderful aspects of this ship. I really wanted to see this one in canon. Alas…

Jo/Laurie:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

LOOK MAN. I might not have read Little Women since elementary school but you do not forget the perfection that is Jo and Laurie, the most perfect ship that never was. Screw you Louisa May Alcott, I’ll never forgive you.

I feel like, when you’re young and you read books, there’s that moment where you come across your first “real” romance, the first relationship where you go from seeing relationships as “blech, something for adults” to “this is why all the adults make such a big deal out of getting married because THEY’RE IN LOVE”–in some ways, what we read or see depicted to us through media early on in life becomes our lens for viewing and judging later relationships, and having Little Women as an early example of romance has definitely had a profound effect on my tastes and definitions of romance throughout the years, I feel.

Jo and Laurie had no right to never get together. It actually feels cruel, thinking about it in retrospect. How could their destiny be denied so coldly?! I’m getting sad just thinking about this lol.

Jo and Laurie were each other’s best friends, the absolute picture of “kindred spirits”–they understood each other, delighted in each other’s wit, and supported each other through the doubts and drama. There was an air about them that they existed in a world all their own, that they were just two very different people from all the other characters, who saw eye-to-eye in a way that others couldn’t touch and who brought out the best–and sometimes worst–in each other in a very vivid and human way.

They felt real, lovable, enjoyable, and made for each other.

And then it never happened. I’m going to leave my dissatisfied fan letter on Alcott’s grave, dammit.

[heloflor]

How Chancellor Neighsay feels like a missed opportunity

Just a small post (or at least as small as a post from me can be...) to talk about Chancellor Neighsay and how, in a way, he could have been maybe better .

Note : The moment this post is made, the mast episode that aired was “Sound of Silence” (that I haven't seen so if there's stuff related to the character then I won't know) so this post will be about episodes that were made before this one. Also this is purely my point of view and it's completely fine if you don't agree with it.

So, for those who go on Equestria Daily, you'll notice something that was said more than once, and that's actually kind of true and really proves the potential of a character like Chancellor : this man is right about one thing.

Indeed, let's take a look at some of the school episodes :

- In “School Daze”, the mane 6 don't notice some students sneaking off and later putting other people in danger.

- In “Non-Compete Clause”, Applejack and Rainbow both put the children into danger by not only getting them lost but also by almost letting Yona drown, and in the end they didn't learn a thing !

- In “Marks For Effort”, Twilight accuses the CMCs on making Cozy Glow fail a test without second thoughts, considering that Twi knows the trio for years now and should know they aren't bad people. And in the end, of she does reward them, she still doesn't apologize for accusing them and telling them to stay away from the school like that.

- In “A Matter Of Principals”, we learn that they aren't any substitute teachers and that Twi's list is basically “find new teachers; good luck !” for all points that have to be done (alright I may be exaggerating here)

- In “The Heart's Warming Club”, Twi wants to punish six kids from spending time with their far away family just because one of them may have put some goop on one room; considering that it may not have been one of them but another random person who hid in one of their room and teleported away depending on who they might be; making the situation for the student 6 completely unfair. (also, even though I don't want to open a debate about that, like Moliminous said in his EEW, next to that, you have Starlight who did more terrible stuff but doesn't get punished)

So, in conclusion, Twilight isn't really the best when it comes to taking care of a school; and that's what brings a problem with the Chancellor.

Indeed, at first, this character talks about how a school should have rules to provide safety, but by the end of the first part of the premiere, he turns out being a racist jerk. And in “Friendship University”, he literally becomes a one dimensional villain who's only trait is to be racist. And that's a waste.

For those who saw the SDCC panel, or at least the first part (I myself barely saw anything from it aside from the trailers and the “Andrea Libman being a Fluttercord shipper” part, followed by the other voice actors talking shipping), there was a point where one of the writers (who I suppose was Nicole Dubuc considering she also talked about having wished to make a Discord episode and finally made one; but I could be wrong) said that she wanted to do a complicated plot. And honestly, this complicated plot was here, on a silver plate, with Chancellor's character !

Just imagine for a moment if Chancellor wasn't racist but actually cared more about how a school should be run. Now, think of how it would impact Twilight and all the bad choices that occurs within her school, choices that only proves Chancellor to be right about her inability to run a school. The events with “Non-Compete Clause” would have shown her having way much more stress. In Marks for effort, she could have been called off for what she thought about the CMCs (heck, Cozy Glow was around and that kid is EVILLLLLL). In “A Matter Of Principals”, it would have been more understanding as to why Starlight wanted the school to be exactly like Twi wished and why she would be mad enough at Discord to a point of banishing him.

Also, the timing at the end of “Friendship University” when Cozy Glow comes into the room, along with her behavior in “What Lies Beneath” clearly shows red flags on who she is and a possible connection to the Chancellor; so in the scenario of Chancellor caring more about safety, imagine her giving him informations about what happens in the school, and in “Friendship University”, since he's around, he could have mentioned one of these events, leading Twilight and Rarity to start wondering for a minute how he could have gotten such informations.

So yeah, until we see how he behaves in the finale, I believe that he could have been a greater villain than he currently is, if the staff had thought about making him care about rules first and then about the species; creating a villain who is actually right, which may provide way more stress on the main cast and so having quite of a big impact despite looking quite “weak” next to the other big villains from previous seasons.

As for Cozy Glow, if I do like how each of her appearances gives the creep because her intentions are unclear while almost everyone sees through her disguise; if I had to be a bit of a critic, I would say that, nonetheless, it's rather obvious that it's the first time the MLP staff are doing a twist villain, with her shifting from good to weirdly bad with only her “false” voice giving her true nature (like, in “Marks For Effort”, you spend half the episode being like “yeah she seems evil” but then by the end of the episode she's a nice person ??).

But again that's just one random opinion.

Edit : SPOILERS WARNING FOR THE S8 FINALE !!! If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the end of this post !

So, I saw some scenes of the finale, “School Raze” (but only some small moments that are posted on youtube and only shows the big lines of what's happening) and I kind of understand more why Neighsay is a one-dimensional character : he's not the main antagonist. I must admit, from the SDCC 2018 panel, I truly expected him and Cozy Glow to team up but the thruth is way different so, even if the character could have given more in the season by being less racist (and may have possibly made the twist more unexpected because we could have felt the Chancellor as a real threat), I do understand why they made him like that (concentrating on the students 6 helps Cozy Glow getting rid of them) and, despite the way he's depicted, I still like some details like him finding it ridiculous from Twilight to leave the school to a child (and yes, I know she let it to Starlight and then Cozy got rid of her but the point here is that he found it being an issue in the school system) and the fear he shows towards Cozy can easily go with how he reacted when the students 6 literally crashed the party in “School Daze”.

And Cozy Glow...damn, just damn...I knew from day one she was up to something but damn is she a great villain ! Seriously ! She's kinda close to Gideon from Gravity Falls with how she manipulate people and get rid of those she dislikes ! And to think she's penpals with fricking Tirek ! That kid is one dangerous villain !...Although maybe sending her in Tartarus as a punishment was a bit too much. I mean, you let around an adult alicorn, a god of chaos and an overpowered alicorn who all tried to take over the world (more or less with Starlight considering the way she talks can imply she wanted to expand her village and considering the time travels) but send to pony hell a child because she wanted to take over a school ??? (yes I know there's this “Queen of Friendship” thing but I haven't really seen a clip about it aside from when she talks to captured Starlight).

(also non related but “yay !” for the CMCs finally being in a two-parter with an important role)

[aeon-wolf]

I really don’t understand the logic behind this storyline the Supergirl writers are going with in regards to Lena, James and the Children of Liberty.

I’m writing this think piece as someone who doesn’t watch Supergirl much, watching specific scenes I want context to on YouTube. And usually reading a review or two on the episode. 

This is really long. Ignore me. I just wanted to write a think piece. Under the cut I’m talking about Guardiancorp, Lena’s likely descent into villainhood and James’ frustrating storyline thus far (as of 4x06). 

I’ve always been a relative defender of Guardiancorp, as in I’ve wanted desperately to give it a chance, unlike a lot of other Supercorp shippers or Katie/Lena fans in general. I always thought it could be a relationship that could have some intricacies and nuances that could be fascinating and lead to an awesomely written relationship. But instead, they’ve gone with, at the end of the day, it’s still Lex Luthor’s sister and Superman’s best friend, a doomed romance. 

S3 Guardiancorp was not half bad really. It seemed a little abrupt for my liking, especially because James had long been critical of Lena in S2 and never really seemed to change his opinion until he saw her romantically (much a criticism I had of Mon-El and Kara’s relationship), but I’m not going to complain a ton about that since Avalance, my #1 favorite ship, was also pretty abrupt. But there were a number of good moments in S3. And now in S4, it seems like they’ve just binned all of that growth and relationship development in favor of driving a wedge between James and Lena because they’re (probably) going to make Lena “evil”. It’s just disappointing in my opinion. 

I honestly understand why James felt betrayed by Lena when she told him that she got the DA to drop the inditement. Really I do. Thinking that something had gone your way because you, personally, handled it only to find out that your significant other, who you specifically told to not intervene was responsible for that thing and that they lied to you about it... That can cause some less than positive feelings. On the other hand, I think it was also way out of line that James berated Lena and reacted as strongly as he did, seemingly breaking up with her, especially after she told him she loved him and she did it to protect him because she was worried about him. And he basically just brushed her off. It shows that he has not really let go of the deep-seated distrust he has for her, as a Luthor most likely. I get him being disappointed and betrayed, but if they loved each other as much as they say they do, I would have expected him to at least acknowledge that she did that for him and that they could work it out. Instead of him storming off and then ignoring her later. I dislike the idea of using “I love you” in order to manipulate someone into staying (that’s a sign of a pretty fucking toxic relationship), but I didn’t get that vibe from Lena. It felt more that she was voicing her feelings, which we all know is difficult for her, because she wanted him to understand why she did what she did. 

And I said this in S3 and I think it’s even more relevant in S4, it’s really hard to take this “Lena is evil” storyline seriously after everything. I long wrote in S2 that I thought Lena could become “evil” either because after everything she’s ever done to be a good person and redeem her family name, no one trusts her still. Or that she would have a difference of opinion with the Superfriends that would make her evil™ in the eyes of the audience, but in reality, it’s less evil and more so conflicting opinions. After S3, they really made the “she’ll be evil because no one trusts her” storyline less and less plausible because she’s always wanted to do the right thing, despite what people think of her. She was at one of her lowest points on-screen when she thought she had poisoned all those kids with lead and yet she was still trying to fix it and when she couldn’t, she wasn’t callous enough to say “Well, I tried, too bad.” Instead, she took it really hard and felt super guilty. 

So it seems like they’re really going with the evil™ because she has an opinion that has been designed to be bad in the eyes of the audience. I honestly don’t really understand (and this may be because I don’t watch religiously) why the very idea that humans could have superhuman powers is such a negative. I obviously understand that kind of power in the wrong hands is super dangerous, especially with Agent Liberty and the Children of Liberty running around and if Lena creates that kind of technology, it will almost inevitably fall into their hands (because plot device). But it runs in the same vein of Lena being pro-gun (which anyone who thinks that’s out of character needs to get their brain checked). Yes, I think there is an inherent difference between having the opinion and doing something to invent a way for humans to have that kind of power, but even when Lena voiced the opinion to Kara, it was very much designed for the audience to be against that. I think, ultimately, what I would prefer if this had to be the storyline they’re going with, that Lena design/invent defensive abilities rather than offensive. Yes, you can still use defensive abilities for bad, offensive purposes, but it would make more sense with Lena’s thinking of using it for protection, not to actively fight aliens and I’d imagine that would go back to the idea of people abusing Lena’s inventions for purposes that she never intended, thus forcing her to work with Superfriends to overcome a mistake she made, and I’d imagine Lena would take responsibility for that mistake. (I do think this is one of her flaws though; shortsightedness, at least in regards to her inventions. She invents things to help people, but often doesn’t think about what would happen if the wrong person got ahold of her inventions and the damage they could cause)

They’ve created such an “us vs them” scenario, that people like Lena that want to try to bridge the gap get left behind and shoved into one side or the other, often the “wrong” side. Obviously, this “aliens vs humans” is parallel to “minorities vs whites” and likely has been very intentional in those similarities. I’ve always wanted Lena to be more of a morally gray character or anti-hero. And it seems like they’ve actually set that up, given her motives for doing what she’s doing. But they’ve also written the “us vs them” scenario so deep and hard that no one can be morally gray. If you’re morally gray, you’re evil. And that’s how its interpreted. And it’s probably just an inherent result of how culture (especially Tumblr black and white, “you do one bad thing, no matter the motive, you’re a bad person” culture) is. Given that Agent Liberty and (likely) Lex Luthor will be the true bad guys this season, Lena is perfectly set up to be in between the two sides. But often, if you’re in the middle, you’re on a side, usually the wrong™ side. Thus pushing her into the “villain” category instead of this middle ground character. 

Is Lena misguided in what she’s doing? Perhaps. Again, her inventions, regardless of what kind of powers she is able to create with the harun el, can always be used for bad things. And I feel like that’s the storyline they’re going to go with. Lena has even said, she is creating this for protection purposes, protecting humans from aliens. There’s a conversation to be had about blanketing certain actions and behaviors on one “group” based on the behaviors of a few. And Lena is certainly one of those kinds of people who would wary of, say African Amercian people, because maybe that person could be a “thug,” even when the vast majority aren’t and white people are just as, if not more so, capable of doing bad things. But in the context of aliens vs humans instead. And what she’s doing is basically saying that everyone needs to carry a gun (or at least have access to one) to protect from those “thugs” because you never know when you’ll get jumped in an alley. But people use those guns to commit way more murders than use them for protection, and there are ample ways to protect themselves without using a gun. And whatever inventions she makes with the harun el will always have the potential to be used for ill, especially with the Children of Liberty and Lex coming into the picture. So the question is, should that kind of technology be created at all, knowing that it will likely be used for things Lena never intended, especially because Lena is creating it for a misguided reason in the first place? And that, I think, goes back to one of Lena’s flaws of shortsightedness, at least when it comes to her inventions. She creates things because she wants to help people, but seems to not really think about the harm her inventions could create. And doesn’t weigh the benefits to the costs, or at least, not in the same way as the audience will and thus often creates things that we, as an audience, are screaming at the screen “NO, DON’T DO THAT”)

Then there’s the whole James thing. I feel like his arc is him trying to convince himself that he’s doing this to find information, but he really is doing this to feel like he’s having an “active” role in helping the cause. Being a journalist doesn’t seem to be enough for him anymore. Ever since he became Guardian, he seems to have taken that to be his “real” self and James Olsen is the skin he wears in public and it’s become increasingly like that in S4. And it’s irritating. Especially because it’s almost the complete opposite of Kara’s arc of “She’s Kara first, Supergirl second.” And learning to bridge that gap and not let Supergirl rule her life. And that she can do just as much good (if not more) as Kara as she can as Supergirl. Perhaps this parallel is intentional, but it honestly just makes James annoying, not interesting. I want him to have more screentime and storyline. He got sorely neglected in S2 and some of S3. But its like they’re intentionally giving James, the black man they’ve largely forgotten about for a season and a half, a storyline where they’re casting him in a rather unflattering light, especially to (what I see as) the most vocal of the fanbase of Supergirl. This is far less than he deserves. He deserves a storyline that lets him really explore his role as a reporter whilst also grappling with not being able to be Guardian. Not running around with the domestic terrorist group in the name of “getting information,” because he wants to stroke his own ego. While also getting mad at his girlfriend because she wanted to help him and protect him and instead of working through conflict, getting overly emotional, kind of breaking up with her, and running off. Then ignoring the conflict and running headfirst into danger. She shouldn’t have lied to him, but he shouldn’t have flipped out as much as he did. Gotten angry, sure I could understand that. But “breaking up” with her? That seems a little extreme. And had roles been reversed, Lena would most certainly have been seen as this overreacting, hysterical woman who isn’t appreciative of her man trying to protect her, even if he has to go against her wishes. It’s such a common theme in the reverse and it’s always expected for the woman to forgive a “tiny white lie” because her loving boyfriend was just trying to protect her. And for the reverse scenario to be any different is dumb. 

Anyways, as someone who doesn’t watch the show religiously, there’s probably a lot I don’t fully grasp but this is how I see it from someone who watched S2, got really into character analysis for Lena specifically and identified strongly with Lena. The storyline just seems somewhat poorly thought out and neglects a lot of the past content in previous seasons and is treating their characters as they are plot vehicles, not actual characters. They seem intent on fitting these characters into specific archetypes and roles, rather than taking their characters and letting them (to some degree) organically grow. There’s nothing wrong with having a vision for a character, but to go directly against the established canon of behaviors and personality traits to fit characters to speak to the desired plotline (they did this to Kara a lot in S2 and S3 and seem to have figured it out for S4) makes the story feel disjointed and somewhat empty. 

[kylosrehn]

aos for the ask meme. or, if you've already gotten that (or you just wanna do both) the wider MCU.

the first character i ever fell in love with: Skye. Or Ward. I can’t really remember which came first. Probably Skye because she was so relatable and quirky and positive but I also loved grumpy pretending-not-to-care SO Ward. 

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: Skye… or Daisy I guess. I started losing interest around halfway through S2 with the whole Afterlife plot (and then just stopped watching the show altogether after the S2 finale lol) but S3 was the one that really left a bad taste in my mouth. And the start of S4 with emo vigilante Daisy. I don’t dislike her, but it’s a far cry from the love I had for her in the early days. Same with Jemma, actually. I really liked her in S1, this cute, quirky if slightly awkward scientist willing to bend the rules when she believes it’s the right thing to do. Afterwards things got… complicated. I like her more on her own, outside of FS scenes (which, when does that ever happen?) Can she/they ever have a storyline that doesn’t involve saving the other one? For science? No?

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Hmm… I don’t think I have one? Once I decide I like something, I fall for it pretty hard. lol. I guess Daisy/Lincoln. That’s a funny one, because when they sort of started flirting in S2 I liked the idea of them together, and I thought they had a lot of potential. But once it actually happened I wasn’t into it at all. It felt kinda rushed and I just didn’t really see any chemistry between them. It was an ‘expectations vs. reality’ sort of thing for me.

my ultimate favorite character™: Oh gosh… Fitz, I guess? I mean, obviously I’m trash for Ophelia but I actually wasn’t all that fond of the whole Aida arc at the beginning… I liked her more in the Framework, and all the potential she had as a human (or Inhuman, whatever.) It’s funny because he sort of grew on me. I admittedly didn’t pay much attention to him in S1 because I was so wrapped up in Skyeward, but once they killed that storyline and started developing his character from the nerdy sidekick/comic relief to an actual, fleshed-out character dealing with brain damage, then yes I became involved. Still mourned the untimely demise of Skyeward in S2 though.

prettiest character: Fitz or Ward if it’s more ‘handsome’ pretty. Out of the ladies… Daisy, I suppose? Also Stephanie Malick because personal bias - yes I’ve loved Bethany Joy Lenz since One Tree Hill and they totally should’ve let her stick around for longer than two episodes god damn it.

my most hated character: I’m not particularly fond of Jemma. Or what they’ve done with her, I suppose. But god damn it if there’s one character I hate it’s Ruby. Really glad that arc is over.

my OTP: This one’s pretty obvious. Skye/Ward and Fitz/Ophelia. Hehe. 

my NOTP: Fitzsimmons sorry not sorry.

favorite episode: (In no particular order): 5.14, 4.16 and 1.17. Self Control and, frankly, all the Framework episodes, are strong contenders, but that’s my podium. 

saddest death: I’ve got to say Fitz. Mostly because it was so sudden and I honestly wasn’t expecting it at all. I genuinely didn’t think they’d have the balls to kill off one half of FS, especially on-screen. I was literally expecting him to miraculously pull through and just have his legs amputated or something. It felt so surreal. Of course, then they brought CryoFitz back into play so really it was all just one big cop-out (figures) but the shock factor was definitely there. It was just the right amount of sad and downright distressing and even unsettling, with the way he didn’t fully comprehend what was happening and just…slipped away. I also really liked how they didn’t cheapen the moment by making it all about FS, which was… honestly such a nice surprise? I preferred the shocked and unaware approach they took, and how he spent his last moments with… kind of the two most unlikely people - May whom he hasn’t ever really bonded with, a relationship which is made especially awkward by their experience in the Framework and the ‘super villain interrogation’ in 5.15; and Mack, who literally told him days or even hours earlier that he needs ‘fixing.’ It was all very weird and bizarre and surprising, and definitely felt like a solid punch to the gut. At least, until they straight up announced they’re going to essentially retcon it… Eh. Also, Ophelia? Maybe less sad and more just downright disturbing and gratuitously violent and graphic. 

favorite season: If Season 1 and 4.16-20 and 5.14 could somehow be merged into one season… that would be it. lol. Overall, I have to say S1. Most people hate it and call it the weakest season and, sure, it felt very formulaic and had this predictable ‘monster of the week’ format at first but it was genuinely enjoyable to watch. Every other season after that I just found myself getting angry at something. lol. I actually liked pretty much every character in S1 to some degree and because nothing was set in stone or made explicitly canon yet, there was a lot more freedom shipping-wise. There was no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ ship, or ‘no you can’t like this character because of X, Y, Z’ it was just whatever you were into. For a while it seemed like pretty much all combinations of the Bus Kids ships had a decent chance of sailing. That’s a pretty damn good feeling. 

least favorite season: Hands down Season 5. I wasn’t a fan of Season 3 either (though admittedly I did like certain episodes/aspects of it) and Season 2 could’ve done without that whole ‘Real SHIELD’ plot but Season 5 takes the cake. I mean… seriously. It was a let down, especially after the hugely successful Framework arc (the show’s strongest point so far imo.) So naturally there was a lot of expectation and it kind of fell flat. They had maybe 2 or 3 strong episodes. The rest was riddled with plot holes, blatant fan service, lines that sounded like they pulled straight from fanfic, radical and often inexplicable shifts in character behaviour from one episode to the next that could be classified as borderline character assassination, frequent lack of continuity, too much time spent on characters that ultimately turned out to be irrelevant/got quickly killed off, writers seemingly forgetting what had happened in literally the previous episode, etc. There’s really no excuse for that mess. lol. Not to mention the at times pretty obvious budget cuts and the lack of decent lighting which made the space pod downright unwatchable at times. Really feels like the weakest, most disjointed and confused season of all. Which is a shame. Because it could’ve been great. But it just really… wasn’t.

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: I don’t want to say Jemma but… Jemma? I guess part of the problem is that I feel there tends to be a discrepancy between the actual canonic on-screen representation of Jemma and fanon Jemma, at least in my experience. She (and Daisy) seem to get put on this imaginary pedestal a lot of the time and given leeway and all these concessions that other characters aren’t allowed. Sometimes I think I hate fandom’s approach to and treatment of certain characters more than I hate the actual character. Also, Mack and Bobbi? I feel like they’re pretty massive fandom faves as well and I never really got invested in them. I don’t hate them, they’re just… Meh. 

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Leopold, the ultimate trash fave. Hehe. He’s just so deliciously messed up and complex and it’s so much fun to explore all of that. He’s like the one villain AOS completely unintentionally got right. Magnetic, charismatic, complicated. Sure, he only ever really shows up in about five episodes but in those five or six episodes they build a really solid character. We’re not told or shown everything, but that’s the point. Sometimes the implication is enough - and it’s super fun to fill in those gaps. And those suits. I mean, c’mon. lol

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Literally no one on this show is a cinnamon roll anymore. lol. I think Ophelia easily could’ve had a really satisfying redemption arc if the writers were actually willing to get into that instead of just shelving their more complex characters and turning to the safe option of ‘let’s kill the baddie.’ Ward could’ve possibly been redeemed too (up to a certain point at least) but I guess part of his appeal is that he didn’t want to be? Uh… and out of the still alive ones (kind of??), Fitz. He’s had a really tough time literally since S2. I also liked Mace and Radcliffe and I kind of wish they got to stick around for a bit longer.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: Fitz/Ophelia. Obviously. I guess one of the more weirder ones is Hive/Stephanie. That’s… not remotely canon (I mean, I guess they kissed? lol) but in my headcanon Framework verse it is. Let’s be honest, there’s probably tons more because I always latch on to the more obscure stuff, but I can’t really think of anything else at the moment.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Philinda and Mackelena. I don’t ship either but I guess I can kind of see the appeal and I wish them all the best for the sake of the shippers because both of these pairings are frequently overshadowed by… well, the main ship. I can totally understand and sympathize with their frustration. 

[nightbleeder]

10 Shipping Questions

Rules: Answer these 10 questions and tag 10 people.

Tagged by @dylanobrienisbatman, who is my other half in all things Fandom <3

Tagging: @the-most-beautiful-broom, @winterhalcyon, @rocanono @mustachioedmoose, @nytzewatch whoever else wants to do this, I dunno.

Ultimate OTP: I don’t honestly know if I have one?  I have a handful of ride or die ones that have stuck with me through the years, but I don’t know if I could choose just one from that list that I like more than the others.

A ship you’ll always love: Zuko/Katara

My current obsession: The 100!  Bellarke, Marper, Minty, Sea Mechanic, Princess Mechanic, Ice Mechanic (basically I just want Raven to have all the love and orgasms, ok?), Mackson, Memori.  Also Assassin’s Creed (Bayek x Aya, Connor x Happiness), but the fandom for The 100 is way bigger and more active.  I’ve also been super into Marvel shit (Darcy/Steve, Bucky/Darcy)

A ship you never thought you’d like: Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers.  THEY’RE MY NEW FAVE I CAN’T STOP READING SHIT ABOUT THEM OMG!?  I also went through a pretty hard Jacob/Bella phase which I don’t really like to acknowledge, but since we’re being honest...

A ship you liked but don’t anymore: Linctavia.    

A ship you think should be canon: BELLARKE.  Harmione.    

A canon ship you hate: The only ship that’s coming to mind right now is CL, and I don’t think I feel that way so much anymore.  It really rubbed me the wrong way at first, but seeing the bigger picture and how few episodes they had to make it work, I see why things unfolded the way they did.  I can read fic with them in AU situations and be cool with it, but they still kind of give me the squicks in canon.  I guess I just never felt ready to forgive her the way Clarke did.     

A ship you’ve been shipping for years: Eomer/Lothiriel

A ship everyone loves but you don’t care about: There are a lot, honestly.  I’m a pretty mild shipper.  Linctavia? Kabby?  A WHOLE ton out of the Marvel fandom.  I dunno, I like who I like, I guess.  

Favorite rare pair: I like a lot of rare pairs, actually!  In fact, I don’t know if I ship a single canon ship...fuck.  Why do I do this to myself? 

[nyangibun]

I am maybe an ignorant person but ... I don't understand the Jonsa thing so ... I fou have time can you explain this to me .. ? And even if i'm a Jonerys shipper for years i would really like to know the Jonsa chemistery :)

Oh wow… 

The thing is I think shipping is kind of subjective to a degree. It doesn’t matter if it’s canon or not because there’ll always be a group who think it shouldn’t be canon and so on and so forth. I don’t know how to explain Jonsa to someone who doesn’t see it (not that I’m blaming you for not seeing it! Some people just don’t and that’s totally okay!) but I will try my best, Anonny. 

For me personally, it began in Season 6. I had no prior inclination for Jonsa or even an inkling of the possibility of them. Frankly, I was the most casual of Game of Thrones viewers. It took me nearly a year to actually finish watching Season 5 (but that’s mostly because my ex told me about the Sansa x Ramsay storyline and I hated it so much I refused to watch it). For me, GoT was and has always been a political fantasy drama with lots of boobs and blood. Shipping wasn’t on the cards for me at all (aside from my love for Gendrya). But then Season 6 happened and we finally, finally got a Stark reunion. Only this Stark reunion felt weird. 

First of all, Jon and Sansa had so very little interactions (ie. none) prior to this. They were the two most seemingly random Starks to meet. And yet when they hugged, Sansa nuzzled his face. At first, I thought ‘okay, well they lost everyone and this is the first person from their old life they’ve seen’ and even in retrospect I don’t see it as particularly a romantic action on their parts. But it is a weird thing to have the actors do. Even if they were always meant to be platonic, nuzzling is weird for anyone not involved romantically or sexually. I would never ever nuzzle any of my family members or my friends, but then I’m not the best comparison. I don’t like physical affection from anyone I’m not dating so lmao. Still, I was willing to overlook that because it’s Game of Thrones. Maybe they’re just trying to amp up the intensity of the scene. But then you get continued lingering looks from Jon, strange awestruck half-smiles and dim romantic atmosphere. The most bizarre shot for me though was the tent scene. Jon and Sansa had to stop in the middle of their arguing to stare at each other, chests heaving with candlelight in the background. This is Romantic Trope 101. If you had siblings arguing with each other, there’d be more angry yelling, insulting and storming off. You don’t pause to stare at each other as you struggle to catch your breath. 

This all contributed to my questioning over what I was seeing. I didn’t immediately think ‘oh yeah this is my ship’. I just thought ‘okay this is weird, right?’ and continued to think that for the rest of Season 6. Honestly, the idea of them as a ship didn’t really cement itself in my head until the very last episode where Jon kissed her forehead, lingered just a bit too long, stared at her lips, walked away and the immediate next shot is the reveal of R+L=J. It was like light bulbs flashing in my head, like ‘oh shit they’re cousins and cousins totally get together and is accepted as a viable marriage prospect!!’ I mean I suspected Jon wasn’t really Ned’s son, but the confirmation right after a Jonsa scene felt so so important. Not even through shipper goggles. It was what made me realise the strange tension between them wasn’t solely in my head and that this probably had a purpose for setting something up.

That’s the Jonsa thing for me. That’s literally how I began to ship them. I don’t know if this answers your question about their chemistry, but these were the moments that highlighted their chemistry to me personally. 

The reason why I’ve stayed with this ship for as long as I have, I can list you the reasons below: 

To paraphrase from a Tom Cruise film, they complete each other. I know, I know. How utterly cliched of me, but for lack of a better phrase, it’s true. I don’t even mean it in a their souls match and blahblahblah, but I mean that in personalities. Jon is the emotionally-driven, honourable, brave and intelligent military tactician, whose life has been consumed by war and physically fighting for survival. Sansa is the emotionally-guarded, brave, shrewd and pragmatic politician. Her life in contrast has been consumed by the political game and she’s had to mentally fight for survival. Jon knows the North and the dangers beyond; Sansa knows the South and the dangers there. They’re two sides of the same coin and they need each other to survive. Yes, I’d love it if it was romantically, but even taking that away, they still need each other. Together, they make a formidable team. They are Tyrion and Dani but better because there is no power imbalance. They’re equals. Yes, Jon doesn’t quite listen to Sansa sometimes, but him leaving her the North is a testament to his trust and respect for her. This is one of the reasons why I love and adore their interactions so much. You can still see how different they are as individuals but just as clearly, you can see how well they mesh together, and you sit there rooting for them both. 

They offer each other something no one else does. S7 Sansa is the most open and honest and confident I’ve ever seen her and that’s all because she trusts Jon. He might disagree, he might argue, but she feels so safe in his presence that she feels comfortable enough to finally speak her mind and demonstrate how intelligent she really is. And for the first time, she can let herself love and hope again. You see that in the soft and affectionate way she regards Jon in any matter, and that is true even in the scowls and exasperation because those emotions are still born out of her love and thus her concern for him. She wants only the best for him and for their home. Ultimately what it comes down to is Jon makes her happy, safe, hopeful and strong. His faith in her is slowly restoring her own faith in herself. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for Sansa. Even if Jonsa isn’t canon, if Sansa continues to get this, I’ll be okay. But I do feel Jonsa as a romantic pairing would be the perfect way to conclude Sansa’s story. She’s been basically sold into two loveless marriages and believes no one will ever marry her for love even though all she ever wanted was a fairy-tail romance. If her story concludes with the valiant knight (Jon) and her falling in love and marrying, it would be the perfect end, and one that isn’t too fairy-tale considering their angst and conflict over being half-siblings-turned-cousins. 

As for Jon, I personally believe Sansa’s return gave his second life meaning again. He had been so ready and determined to escape to the south and give up entirely. We don’t know whether he would’ve gone through with it and maybe he wouldn’t, but this was the lowest Jon’s ever been. He was so lost, so disillusioned, and insecure and broken, but then came Sansa and suddenly he had purpose again. Maybe it was simply family obligations, but you can’t say she didn’t inspire him to fight for his home. I don’t think Jon would’ve done it without Sansa. She also challenges him in a way no one else has since Ygritte and Jon needs that. He’s not the perfect hero; he doesn’t know everything. He’s been in the North too long to understand the political game the way Sansa does. She offers him insight into a world he had no prior knowledge in. She also offers him camaraderie, a partner with equal stakes in this war, and a friend who he can come to, someone who loves and respects him and believes in him so wholeheartedly. Yes, he has loyal knights and friends, but no one quite understands his insecurity as a Stark and a rule the way Sansa does. Their interaction in 7x01 showed us this relationship/friendship between them (the way Sansa immediately knew Jon was doubting himself and sought to reassure him earnestly even when he was being rather rude to her because the thing is she knew he needed it more than she needed his validation).

Another reason why I love this ship so much is Jon’s ferocity when it comes to Sansa. You could absolutely read this as platonic and I’m sure many do, but you can’t deny there’s definitely something visceral and primal in the way Jon strives to protect her. I’ve seen Jon kill and get aggressive, but I’ve never seen him lose control so violently than when he was beating the crap out of Ramsay. It was probably a combination of seeing Ramsay kill Rickon in front of him, but definitely also for Sansa. Then you have 7x02 where Jon chokes Littlefinger, who had been needling him and provoking him all throughout that scene, but it was the comment about loving Sansa in a sexual/romantic manner that really got him angry. The fact is there was no immediate thought to that action; it was absolutely a reactionary thing and again a primal one at that. Jon doesn’t even say anything for awhile and I think for a few seconds he really was considering killing Littlefinger. But then it’s like he comes to himself. Angry murderous kitten Jon is my favourite kind of Jon lol.

There are also a lot of Ned x Catelyn parallels that makes it hard to ignore, as well as 7x02′s parallel to Jaime x Brienne’s awkward wave goodbye. These are 2 of the most established ships in the fandom. Paralleling Jonsa with them feels intentional and important. 

But honestly, there really are so many reasons why I love this ship and why I believe in them so wholeheartedly. Maybe it is just Kit and Sophie having unbelievable chemistry, but I like to believe otherwise. I hope this sheds some light for you, Anonny. 

[lieutenantsayeko]

Ship Breakdown ask

((I wasn’t tagged, just felt like answering this ^_^))

• How did they meet?

Sayeko: "Hehe… Um, well, it's kinda complicated… Levi may have confronted me in the Grand Staircase after I was unpetrified our second year. You see, we almost ran into each other while we were both practicing our 3DMG in the forbidden forest that Halloween (but I ran away cause I didn't want to get caught breaking the rules). Hermione then convinced me to help her brew the Polyjuice potion in Myrtle's bathroom, except I refused to go anytime the boys were there. Then after we got petrified by the basilisk, apparently Levi saw my father's wings of freedom sticking out of my pocket. So he put it all together and realized I was the friend Hermione wouldn't tell them about… I guess you could say I was pretty shy back then."

Levi: "You were never shy. You were just a stubborn, antisocial, brat. Still are actually."

Sayeko: *pouting* "Well, gee, I was kinda convinced that everyone would hate me so I wonder why I avoided people like the plague."

•  Who developed romantic feelings first?

Sayeko: "I think that was me. *blushes* It was fourth year and I heard some Hufflepuff girls talking and giggling about him. I hate to say it, but it took me a couple days to realize why they made me feel jealous. I'd just never thought about him like that before and next thing I knew, I was fighting not to blush around him all the time. I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

•  Who is their biggest “shipper?”

Sayeko: "Hanji. Without a doubt. Like apparently a lot of people were hoping we'd get together over the years, but she has been the most vocal. Erwin and Mike are the only ones in the corps that know we're dating, so it's almost a daily thing hearing Hanji say something about how we 'would be so cute together.' She might just die when she finds out we've been dating for three and a half years."

•  When did they have their first kiss and under what circumstances?

Sayeko: "October 23, fifth year. As for the circumstances, that's private." ((Mun is in the process of writing this little fic(let), I just can't get one part right. Once I do, it will be posted.))

•  Who confessed their feelings first?

Sayeko: "I guess you could say I did…"

•  What was their first official date?

Sayeko: "We went to Hogsmeade together. Merlin, it was so awkward. My dormmates had been giving me unsolicited advice all week for making it a 'proper first date' and I think Levi was getting it too. Doing stereotypical date things just felt so forced and fake. We'd only been there an hour or so before we both just said fuck it and went to get butterbeer; the date was a hundred times better once we stopped acting like it was a date."

•  How do they feel about double dates/group dates?

Levi: "Seeing as Ron and Hermione are dating now and Lightning is back with Ginny, pretty much anytime we see our friends is like a 'group date.' Honestly, I don't give a shit."

Sayeko: "What he means is, we're all friends so no one is gonna make a big deal about it, we're just all hanging out. 

•  What do they do in their down time?

Sayeko: "We don't have very much down time, so if we don't have plans with anyone we'd prefer to just stay in. Talk over a cup of tea, cuddle, read, that sorta thing."

•  What was the first meeting of parents as an official couple like?

Sayeko: "Ah, now I don't mean anything bad by this, but it was awkward. See, my family is all dead, Levi's mother is dead, so that just left his father, Roland. Mr. Ackerman is very sweet, but he's not all there… He lives at St Mungo's because he was tortured when Levi was just a toddler. He doesn't always recognize Levi, or remember that he's grown up now. So it was a while before he started remembering me."

•  What was their first fight over and how did they get past it?

Sayeko: "Sina, our first fight was not pretty. It was when Umbridge started making all those fucking ridiculous rules, like that boys and girls couldn't be within eight inches of each other. Levi wasn't thrilled, in fact he was downright pissed at what she was doing to Harry, so he started breaking them just to piss her off. Which meant he got a lot of detentions with that damn quill of hers. I wasn't going to just sit there and do nothing! So I started breaking the rules too. Levi was pissed, he didn't want me getting detention with her. I wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day. But neither of us could go to bed angry so we did sit down and talk it out after dinner. Umbitch making a rule targeting me, a metamorphmagus, specifically may have also influenced Levi into agreeing with me."

•  Which one is more easily made jealous?

Sayeko: "I wouldn't say either of us easily become jealous, but Levi is definitely more likely to act on it. He won't hesitate to tell someone to back the fuck off if they're bothering me."

•  What is their favourite thing to get to eat?

Sayeko: "While it may get pretty loud at the Burrow, we can never turn down one of Mama's homecooked meals."

•  Who’s the cuddly one? What their favourite cuddling position?

Sayeko: "Levi is super cuddly. Don't let him fool you, he loves being the big spoon."

•  Are they hand holders?

Sayeko: "We do like to hold hands, but it's usually only in private."

•  How long do they wait before sleeping together for the first time? What’s the circumstances?

Sayeko: *blushing furiously* "Uh, hehe, that's kinda personal… But, well, two years? Everyone thought we'd already gone, er, 'all the way' pretty early on but we really wanted to take our time. I mean, it's a big step! We were searching for the horcruxes with Hermione, Harry, and Ron, just camping all across England. And I guess it was just that there was no knowing if we'd have another day together, if the death eaters would find us the next day."

•  Who tops?

Sayeko: "We both prefer Levi taking the lead."

•  What’s the worst fight they’ve ever gotten into?

Sayeko: "Our worst fight was the first one. We've gotten better at communicating since then."

•  Who does the shopping and the cooking?

Sayeko: "Levi does the shopping, I do the cooking. It's best this way, trust me."

•  Which one is more organized and prone to tidiness?

Sayeko: "Is this even a question? Mr. Clean freak, of course! He's always getting on my case because my potions ingredients aren't 'organized.' They're organized just fine in my opinion, I know where everything is."

  •  Who proposes?

((Levi and Sayeko are still just dating so Mun will take over from here. They're old fashioned, so he'll be the one to propose.))

•  Do they have joined Bachelor/Bachelorette parties or separate?

((Definitely separate parties. Neither are even partly involved in planning the parties, their friends just drag them out for the night.))

•  Who is the best man/maid of honour? Any other groomsmen or bridesmaids?

((Harry and Hermione will be the best man and maid of honor. The other groomsmen will be Ron and Erwin; the bridesmaids will be Hanji and Luna.))

•  Big Ceremony or Small?

((Levi and Sayeko would prefer a small ceremony, but they'll be stuck with a large wedding. They simply are too high profile in the wizarding world and Mrs. Weasley will insist on planning the whole ceremony and reception.))

•  Do they have a honeymoon? If so, where?

((They do, but I haven't decided where.))

•  Do they have children? How many?

((Despite Mun being childfree, Sayeko and Levi will have at least one, maybe two children. All I know is their first will be a boy and, if they do have a second it'll be a girl who will inherit being a metamorphmagus from Sayeko.))