#and prefer the sibling relationship

[hayleysayshay]

It is normal, typical storytelling for a character to have a ‘true love’ and that someone be the most important person to someone in the present, someone being more important to someone doesn’t mean they don’t care about anyone else. A cast member recognising the tragedy of Keyleth, who’s special person who would keep her less alone died, doesn’t mean they dislike other relationships.

Vex and Vax’s journey was then growing apart from each other. They found other people outside their codependent relationship. It doesn’t mean they stopped caring about each other at the end.

[mislamicpearl]

Wait a minute...

Teenage ninja leader falls in love with a girl with red markings on her face, finds out she's an enemy that's been playing him the whole time, tries to give her another chance, then they end up becoming kinda sorta adoptive siblings but still maybe sorta have feelings for each other?

Woah

"If I had a nickel-"

[akashis-waifu]

Nah because looking back, I feel like Urahara deliberately lied about Aizen being rejected by the Hōgyoku, only for Ichigo to see through it. The question is, why?

[aromanticannibal]

you know what I actually think it's really funny that some people katsuki and izuku can't date because it's toxic because katsuki would be abusive and then turn around and are perfectly fine with katsuki and izuku being siblings or sibling-coded. like that's still bad. katsuki can still be a toxic piece of shit if they're siblings. same with friends. like if you think bakudeku is "problematic" because it'd be an abusive relationship at least be fucking consistent

[batsinnappies]

Hello nexo knights fandom, here's some Claytro

[corethetrueidiot]

There will always be a reminder.

(IM FUCKING DEVASTATED.PLEASE IM FUCKING CRYING. YOU CANT JUST SEPERATE THEM LIKE THAT IM GOINGTO THRROW HANDS?? GHDHDHHFHFHHF)

[coye]

It really irks me when people try to argue that a ship have a sibling like relationship because they don't personally ship that pairing. It's such a transparent attempt to dismiss a ship that they aren't fond of.

Instead of being honest about the fact that they simply prefer a different pairing, these fans try to reframe the dynamic between the characters in question as being more familial than romantic. They'll insist the characters have a brother - sister thing going on, even when the interactions between the characters don't support that at all.

It's a really common tactic, especially when it comes to shipping debates. People don't want to just say "I like this other pairing better" - they have to go the extra step of trying to invalidate the pairing they don't ship by claiming the characters view each other as siblings. You can highlight the great friendship between the characters without trying to categorize them into a familial dynamic.

At the end of the day, shipping is subjective. There's room for multiple interpretations and perspectives. But the sibling angle is just a lazy cop out that does a disservice to the actual dynamics and chemistry between the characters. If you don't like a pairing, just say so - don't try to rewrite the characters' entire relationship to fit your own preferences.

[crimeronan]

"If polyamory were normalized..." SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK. You're so right that Hunter's Luz's type. If she weren't SEVERELY crushing on Amity by Hunting Palisman she'd have gone a little bit heart eyes at the sad wet cat boy. That being said. Lumity Real and Good. I feel like in the human realm the girls would sometimes have girl talks at night and Amity would ask Willow "Why Hunter of all people???" and Luz would be like "Nah i get it, he's kinda cute in a weird way"

addition to the last ask: the absolute COMEDY of "mean lesbian Amity" wanting to insult Luz's taste for saying Hunter's cute but being unable to without insulting herself. Peak Fucking Comedy

-

honestly i ship the lavender winter polycule (hunter/willow/amity/luz) like BURNING so this all slots delightfully into it. i think it's totally reasonable that the kiddos might end up negotiating more complex and/or flexible entanglements with each other as they get older, that doesn't have to mean that they end their current relationships. like maybe it's just because i'm polyamorous but this has happened with So Many Groups Of Friends of mine.

amity being like "why is your taste so terrible. i recognize that i'm including me in this but it's necessary because HUNTER????" and luz being like "i guess i just really like people who are fundamentally kind and do their best to rise above shitty circumstances :)" and amity being like [STRUGGLE] [STRUGGLE] "DON'T DO THAT >:(((("

they're. perfect. thank god.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

You know, I think what really bugs me about the "Dadworth" dynamic applied to Kay and Edgeworth's relationship is that it usually makes Kay out to be this hyperactive, slight problem child (in the 'stealing and pranking' sense rather than the 'moody and abrasive' sense), occasionally with deep-rooted daddy issues like Edgeworth has, when that's... the opposite of her character.

(This post got away from me, so TL;DR: Kay is a quick-witted and independent young woman who has worked very hard to be both emotionally and practically intelligent enough to be seen as a legitimate successor to her father's legacy. Making her out to be the traits mentioned above, so she functions as Edgeworth's daughter rather than his investigative partner and equal, undermines her character and semi-conflates her with Maya [the deep-rooted issues bit]. Also I don't like it wksgskaj)

The thing about Kay is that she's not actually in the series as much as it feels like she is, which makes it easy for her character to be altered to suit the needs of the story (which I think happens in The Forgotten Turnabout, but I won't talk about that here). She turns up in two cases as herself in AAI (as in, teenager Kay whom we're most familiar with) and shares her role with Gumshoe, Ema and Franziska when she does, lessening her appearances even further. Nevertheless, there are still concrete elements to her personality that we're made aware of right from the beginning, and the first major one which I feel gets overlooked in favour of her hyperactive characterisation is this:

Kay is very, very sharp.

In terms of mainline assistants, I'd consider her the sharpest of all (maybe after Trucy? But I don't remember enough of AJ to comment on that). Yes, she's shown to be reckless and impulsive, but, when it comes to actual investigating and reasoning, she is solid. With Nick and Maya, you sometimes get the impression that they're both fumbling along until Phoenix catches on (most of the time with Maya's usually a little accidental help, and he still has to explain things to her near every time [not Maya's fault. Following Phoenix's reasoning is like being on a rollercoaster in a minecart]), but Kay is very rarely like that with Edgeworth. Within minutes of meeting him, she can predict what he's going to say (or 'steal his lines', as the game puts it), and there are several moments after he uses Logic and is about to explain what he's connected where Kay interrupts with the correct conclusion herself:

Edgeworth: A second Blue Badger that shouldn't exist... Clearly, the true identity of the person underneath is...

Kay: Oh, I know! It's one of the kidnappers, right!?

There's even a point where she tells him off for overexplaining things to her:

Kay: Yeesh, I told you I got it! Do you feel the need to explain everything!?

And, near the end of their first case together, he acknowledges that's she's generally quite quick:

Kay: OK, what should I re-create first?

Edgeworth: ...You haven't figured it out yet?

Kay: Heh, maybe I have, and maybe I haven't.

Even if you don't take these points into consideration, the fact that she comes up with a new way to use Little Thief, and knows how to use it at all actually, shows you that she's a really intelligent girl! Continuing on a bit from the point I made earlier about her being brash, Kay may be reckless, but she isn't irresponsible. Whenever she rushes into situations, she doesn't expect other people to come save her; she's quite assured that she can and will get herself out of them on her own, and, if she needs help, she asks for it in advance. She treats Edgeworth less like her guardian and more like her investigative partner:

Kay: I didn't get permission to enter Allebahst... so we're going to go gather whatever info we can over on the Babahlese side, OK!?

Edgeworth: Alright, I'm counting on you two.

Kay: Right, and I'm counting on you and Ms. von Karma to sniff out clues in Allebahst!

...

Edgeworth: A number of pieces connect in a very complicated way in this case... It's almost enough to make one completely mentally exhausted.

Kay: Let's not over-complicate matters, OK, Mr. Edgeworth? We've been so focused, like a laser, on only what seems strange and out of place... it's no wonder nothing's clicked and we haven't unlocked anything yet. But, if we think things through calmly, the answer should come to us!

There's an independence to her proactiveness that kind of forces Edgeworth to meet her on equal grounds, and this too is an element that gets lost when the Dadworth dynamic comes in because it involves making Edgeworth responsible -- or feel responsible -- for her actions and general wellbeing when Kay has never expected nor wanted that. She does things on her own terms, and she walks the path she's chosen by herself:

Edgeworth: Preposterous! On what grounds do you suspect her of such a thing!?

Shih-na: The fact that she calls the Yatagarasu. That in itself is a more elegant proof.

Kay: Ms. Shih-na.

Shih-na: Yes?

Kay: I... have no intention of taking back any of what I've said.

Shih-na: ...?

Kay: I am the Great Thief Yatagarasu. And I refuse to allow some imposter to claim that name as their own! The path of justice that my father pointed me towards... I will walk it the best I can!

Her relationship with Edgeworth works as an inverse to that of Nick and Maya's in the way that, where Nick and Maya have deep respect for one another beneath layers upon layers of playful insults and messing about, Kay outwardly respects Edgeworth first (and expects that respect to be returned) and razes him second -- that, too, never to an extent she wouldn't with anyone else or that crosses a certain boundary. Her messing with Edgeworth is shown to be more an attempt to get him to lighten up or not take himself too seriously than an act of (platonic) intimacy as it is with Nick and Maya (which makes sense because Nick and Maya have spent years together, while she's known Edgeworth for all of two weeks) or genuine obliviousness/silliness (although it definitely sometimes is). This is pretty obvious simply from the fact that she always calls him 'Mr Edgeworth', though she's perfectly comfortable calling Gumshoe and Badd, people whom she is more familiar and comfortable with, 'Gummy' and 'Uncle Badd' respectively. Also Kay, in general, is quite polite? Edgeworth calls something she said rude at one point and she gets insulted, and, when you ask for her opinion, she doesn't go 'What?' or 'What is it?', she specifically says, 'Yes?' (this changes in AAI2, which I promise I'm not discussing here) Upon meeting Oldbag, she has this exchange with her, where Kay chooses a more formal mode of address than what is actually offered:

Oldbag: My name is Wendy Oldbag. But you can call me "Wendy", or "Granny", or whatever suits your fancy.

Kay: Nice to meet you, Ms. Oldbag! I'm Kay Faraday.

She's also had moments where she calls Edgeworth out for being 'tactless', and she's shown to feel very strongly about rudeness throughout the whole game. I'm not saying she isn't mischievous or playful, she very much is, but the point is that she's really quite respectful, and this extends to her relationship with him. Her characterisation in Turnabout Ablaze, where she's considerably more excitable/high-strung than in Kidnapped, seems largely due to them chasing down Calisto Yew. Edgeworth even comments on this:

Edgeworth: Kay, you need to look before you leap. You tend to lose your cool when it comes to anything related to that woman.

Generally, though, you can tell that she was obviously raised with an adherence to certain formalities. She's not looking for another parental figure (because she doesn't need one, which I'll go into after this), but, if she was, she'd make that clear.

Kay's a very straightforward person at heart; she doesn't hide any part of herself, even the part that should be hidden (i.e. the Yatagarasu). There are points where she suggests that Edgeworth reminds her of her father, but, in AAI, she specifically mentions that it's both Edgeworth and Gumshoe who remind her of her father and Detective Badd. It's not about her seeing Edgeworth as a father figure; it's about their and her own dedication to the truth. Even in AAI2, where her comments could be read as leaning more towards the former angle, she doesn't get cut up about him not picking up on that or really paying it much emphasis at all, because it doesn't matter. The fact that he reminds her of Byrne is just that: a fact.

Returning to the point about Kay not needing/wanting another parental figure, I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but to put it succinctly: Kay has the guidance she needs without him.

To put it less succinctly, Edgeworth's possibly the worst candidate to go for for emotional support and guidance in the first place, and by the time she meets him again, she's basically processed her father's passing and has a better handle on herself emotionally than Edgeworth does (not a brag; most characters have higher EQ than Edgeworth); what she wants isn't necessarily closure for Byrne's death in the emotional sense but in the I-want-answers-to-this-mystery-that-will-restore-my-family's-honour sense. You could make the argument that Kay becoming the second Yatagarasu and shaping her entire future around continuing her father's work prove that she isn't over his death, but I don't think that's true and more of a result of conflating her with Maya a bit.

With Maya, becoming the Master isn't something she chooses; it's given to her by Misty and Mia. With Kay, it's the opposite. Kay's decision to become the Yatagarasu and pursue the truth is wholly her own, and her approach to that goal reflects that. While Maya uses her cheery, upbeat attitude to conceal a lot of self-doubt and vulnerability (and Franziska does the same with her hostility), Kay does not. Her cheerfulness is precisely who she is; it's not a mask so much as it is a distraction. It keeps people from looking at her too closely and realising exactly how capable she is, and, while I don't think it's fully intentional (again, she believes in living her life in a straightforward and upfront manner), she does imply that it's sort of her (or the Yatagarasu's) MO:

Kay: Well! By the time everyone notices, it's already gone! That's the Yatagarasu way!

Interestingly enough, this unintentional tactic of using humour and cheeriness as a distraction from her abilities makes her a mirror to Calisto Yew, who also uses her seemingly always light-hearted nature as a disguise for what she's actually capable of (Calisto's joviality is her true self, too, or at least as 'true' as she can get). The difference between them is that Calisto delights in ironically mocking the world around her, whereas Kay finds joy in life itself, and she's stronger for it.

The only part where we see Kay attempt to mask her feelings is when she's a child, and even then she admits that she feels better after crying, which, I believe, led to her becoming more open with her emotions later in life (see how her older self has a teary sprite which makes pretty frequent appearances where her younger self does not). In any case, to me, this shows that she has people in her life already who are helping, and have helped, her confront and process her trauma. She's not looking to Edgeworth to help her make sense of her father's death and she definitely isn't looking for a replacement (again, literally dedicated to continuing her father's [and Badd's] legacy). Whenever Edgeworth even gets close to becoming parental with her, she dismisses it, unless she acknowledges that she is in the wrong:

Edgeworth: ...Kay, it's not good for you to stay up late, you know.

Kay: Yes, gramps!

...

Edgeworth: ...I appreciate your sense of justice, however... I would appreciate it if you wouldn't go running into the heart of any more raging fires.

Kay: Nngh... Yes, Mr. Edgeworth... I'll try...

Despite her buoyancy and bright attitude, Kay is quite firm that she be treated as an adult (she doesn't see her cheeriness as a mark of youth; it's joie de vivre, it's who she is, and that's that), and, throughout the game, she gets annoyed when people don't respect that (her arguments with Lang are largely over how he calls Little Thief a toy and her crow-girl). She holds her own and relies on herself while being unafraid of asking for help.

Anyway, this post has gone on for long enough and I think I've addressed the points I wanted to. I should mention that I realise that a lot of how many people portray/interpret their relationship is validated by AAI2 but that's honestly a discussion for a separate post HAHA I feel like, when it comes to AAI, the father/daughter interpretation can maybe be argued with regards to the way Edgeworth treats her? Honestly, though, I think he'd treat any young lady who suddenly becomes part of his team/responsibility in pretty much the same way. And, like, he drops the ball almost every time he's supposed to give "fatherly" advice because he's just not that great with it/children!! It's actually hilarious HSKSDHSK

Either way, yeah! I just think Kay is actually given a lot less credit than she's due when the Dadworth card gets played and I just! Want better for her!!

[dreadeves]

“kit and ash were destined to always rotate around each other, i think. but kit and i— we’re a decision we made.”

[gothkurusu]

gonna be so completely honest i hate the protective older brother headcanon for sirius.

theres just very little basis in canon for it, and i prefer regretful sirius who only realized late in life how much his parents turned him against his brother much more

growing up in a home where one child is always the one to cause issues and the other one is the one who does everything perfectly, is going to create resentment, in both Regulus towards Sirius and Sirius towards Regulus

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

No one:

Me: Okay, but what if their relationship has nothing to do with Sonic and Tails? What if Metal literatally just saw Eggman working on Tails Doll and assumed without proof that they were created for him? What if Metal quite literally attached to Tails Doll through this assumption and then their partnership progressed naturally? What if the inorganic creations fell in love as an unorthodox power couple and just so happened to resemble a famous partnership?

[yanderespamton78]

me bc i had to go ahead and hyperfixate on a bunch of minor background characters with about 3 lines of dialogue each so literally no one else gives a shit about my fav ship in the whole fandom

just warning you the tags are very rambly and dont include anything important so you dont really need to bother reading them lol

[sandu-zidian]

I'm sorry if you've answered this before but I'm super curious and I wasn't able to find the answer easily. Would you mind sharing your favorite Jiang Cheng ships? (I'm a huge Jiang Cheng multishipper and I've loved all the content you've come out with but I was curious if maybe there were Jiang Cheng ships that you don't often post about that you also like and how high the ships you have posted about rank 😀 I'm also a tiny bit curious about any Jiang Cheng ships (if any) that you might dislike altho you don't have to share those if you'd rather not lol im just curious about your opinions)

Hello! Don't be sorry! I've never really talked about JC ships in full before, and even if I have, I don't mind answering again <33

I'm gonna be honest, I find it really hard to say for certain what my "favorite" Jiang Cheng ship is. For one, my enjoyment of Jiang Cheng is first and foremost about his character as like, playing important thematic work and in this mindset I'm like ship neutral and don't need ships to have a fun time haha. I started as a hardcore aroace!JC lover, especially since I'm also aroace. My entry into JC ships came quite a bit later into my time in this fandom, so even if I say a ship is my favorite, just know that like, I'm not really a die hard fan of any JC ship. He's my blorbo because I think he's a bit fucked up and pathetic and already has enough baggage from platonic/non-romantic relationships.

Currently, I would say zhancheng is my favorite given the fact that I am like, knee deep in the AO3 tag for it LMAO. And also this is probs the ship that I have posted about the most! Which isn't saying a lot, but it is the most! I also was really into xicheng a bit back but it's taken a backburner recently, though I do still enjoy it. I've also read some mingcheng as well. I enjoy sangcheng but I haven't actually taken the time to read sangcheng-centric fics as of yet and I need to actually use the otp: true on AO3 for that ship. I also enjoy chengqing but like strangely it's not a ship I've taken the time to read fics for either. Another one that needs the otp: true on.

(This is me showing my ass as a bottom!JC enjoyer. Much respect for top!JC fans though!)

The only Jiang Cheng ship I don't really like is like, any ships with other generations, especially the juniors. Like I'm sorry those are teenagers... It's funny as a joke for juniors to have like puppy love crushes on Jiang Cheng, but I can't with them actually being in a relationship together. I'm a bit more accepting of JC shipped with older generation characters but in very limited scopes/premises where JC is much older when he meets the love interest than like. A teenager.

I also waffle on chengxian because I very much came into the fandom viewing them as brothers and that has stuck hard for me even though like, yeah they're not actually related but I guess chengxian kind of come packaged with pseudo-incest vibes that like, I find hard to navigate personally. I do like zhanchengxian but again I waffle with how I feel about chengxian. I am first and foremost a Yunmeng Shuangjie fan, and then maybe chengxian. Maybe.

There's also just like, other Jiang Cheng ships like chengyao, chengxuan, ningcheng, etc. that I don't not like, but certainly don't spend much time actually thinking about. Except for chengyao -- every so often I'm reminded of this ship and extract great amusement from just picturing the kinds of neuroses they give each other if they were ever in a romantic relationship together. I've certainly seen a few rarepairs for JC that I think are rad. There's someone on here who ships QS/NHS/JC which like, good for them I see the vision.

So yeah, this was long. TLDR zhancheng is my current fave and focus. I enjoy xicheng, mingcheng, sangcheng, and chengqing. Don't like JC shipped with people of different generations, and chengxian is like, in a nebulous place in this lineup and I am more likely to view those two as familial than romantic. Other JC ships are fine, but I don't think about them much.

[altschmerzes]

getting real tired of people who are shitting on “found family” more generally as a narrative concept and specifically named familial dynamics in fan interpretation of characters in particular because it all seems to be getting painted with a really wide and really homogenous brush. “we need to take found family away from people because they think it all has to be In Nuclear Family Terms and do you know friendship exists and you don’t have to call these characters siblings to legitimize their relationship while making it clear you Don’t Ship Them Ew Gross and THEN you sneer at people who Do ship them” cool cool that is a lot of really intense characterization and assigning of motive to other people en bloc!

like sure there’s some meaningful critique to be found in a broad trend to label every single relationship directly and specifically with terms that have very specific contexts and roles but im waiting to be told when anyone IS by the standards of people making and reblogging these very sweepingly generalized posts allowed to call a relationship parental or whatever. is that Ever allowed. who is handing out the permits. sometimes a specific term for a relationship isn’t actually about wanting an excuse to sneer about your ship (and frankly there’s a lot of projection going on there imo from people who are actively sneering about other people’s interpretation of a relationship!) and it’s because there are very specific contexts and details about a dynamic that makes exploring it from the lens of siblings or whatever very rich and compelling and interesting because words mean things and assuming everyone is just being reductive and demanding conformity to a nuclear family is, ironically, really reductive.

so like. cool it. stop being really fucking mean about people having an interpretation of a dynamic you personally don’t like or makes you feel a little weird or uncomfy because you ship them.

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

BAND AU BAND AU BAND AU BAND AU BAND AU OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

would LOVE to hear more about it!!! how does it differ from canon tsams?

RGHHH I TYPED OUT AN ANSWER TO THIS BUT I WAS AT AN EVENT AND TUMBLR DELETED MY RESPONSE-

okay so. everyone works at the pizzaplex, but only Sun, Moon, and Lunar are related. Earth recently arrives to the plex and is given charge of a performance to boost revenue for the theatre; the daycare department isn't making enough profit to justify the money poured in, and management is threatening to shut it down in a few months if it doesn't improve.

The creator just so happens to have a studio rented out (how convenient...), and Earth calls up all the other animatronics in their department to join in and help with setting up an orchestral performance (fun fact: all of them have theatre capabilities programmed into their base code, so they all have the ability to perform and play instruments!), which they do, albeit reluctantly. Finding recruits is fairly difficult considering there are no human staff and only 5 animatronics, but they make do and ask folks from other divisions to pitch in as well.

(Solar and Eclipse do exist in this au, but their backgrounds are a bit...different from the cannon security breach shows.)