#anyway this also solidifies my opinion on their ship

[rintoki]

LMAO i just did alhaitham’s story quest bc of the event aND HIM AND KAVEH BICKERING IS JUST TOO FUNNY FJKFJCJSJCN

[rindragon-from-twewy]

Mmmm forte swap au brain rot upon ye!

I've already completed designs for everyone at the NDA but I wanna space out the posts a bit cuz I don't think I'd be able to say all I'd want to in just one post!

Ramble about character info below; (+spoilers for all of mdarc)

Obviously this is based on my silly doodles for rain code ship week but I've actually started putting a lot of thought in to this now! (I've had waaaaaaay too much free time recently and I'm blessed with the ability to come up with lore/world building very quickly given enough motivation!)

So first off: Why Storm Cypher? Well cuz it's a protagonist swap! Desuhiko's now the amnesiac trainee being haunted by Shinigami so it made sense in my opinion to make this au's name reflectant of his last name, Thunderbolt. So that's where the 'Storm' comes from. 'Cypher' because it's a form of code and... well I just think it sounds nice basically! I do what I do for my own enjoyment, I don't always need to have a reason - no matter what my teachers say.

Also I decided to change some (Not all) character's last name's to better reflect their newly assigned fortes.

Anyway- It's character info dumping time!!!

Desuhiko, like og Yuma, has absolutely no memory of his past. While his personality remains fairly intact, he boards the Amaterasu Express hoping to figure out who he is along the way. While nobody there knows who he is, he instead finds he have a knack for word-play, puns and pick up lines, leading to accusations of secretly being a circus clown as opposed to a detective. This attitude is only solidified more upon meeting Shinigami, the death god with just as many innuendos to make as he does. They get along almost dangerously well, even more so when he learns she has a humanoid form. After completing the first mystery labyrinth, he decides that being a detective HAS to be his true calling, since solving the case was pretty fun all things considered, and receives his hoodie from The Chief to help keep him dry once arriving in Kanai Ward.

Yuma on the other hand, takes the place of co-star of chapter 2. At first he comes off as cool and charismatic but he breaks down almost immediately at the slightest hint of conflict. He's been a very famous musician for years prior to becoming a master detective, though he finds it hard to fully express himself through anything other then his appearance and music. The anxiety induced from an excess of fans, attention, and not knowing who to trust anymore thanks to his own popularity, he was ecstatic to be scouted by the WDO for his talents in disguises. Once it blossomed into a fully fledged forte and he was allowed to work as a detective properly though... they started regretting hiring him. Chaotic, anti-authoritatian and impossible to track down, he's more of a vigilante then a real detective. He was selected to go to Kanai Ward due to it's predicted high mortality rate, the higher ups hoping to dispose of the troublemaker without being too obvious about it. What does APAB mean you ask? All Peacekeepers Are Bastards!!! The Chief wasn't very happy to see him wearing it but permanent marker is permanent.

I haven't decided if I'll change Shinigami's humanoid design yet. If I do though, it'll probably just be more remenicent of her beta design. I haven't decided if I'll swap the Amaterasu Express detectives either though but... maybe I will. Since its forte swap though, the peacekeepers will all remain the same.

I'm hoping to write a fanfic for this, as opposed to like... a comic. But I'm partial to the idea of maybe doing an ask blog as well? I don't know yet. Either way, I'll probably post more for this tomorrow! <3

[mazzystar24]

i have so many mixed emotions, like i am fucking ECSTATIC over bi buck being canon but at the same time im feeling kinda deflated that they tried to shoehorn bucktommy in

like i genuinely think buck deserves so much better than tommy, and im not saying he needs to end up with eddie next episode, like it needs to be realistic

im just afraid they are going to go “oh buck is with tommy now and we are just gonna solidify eddie as his supportive bestie”

which feels so just wrong to me because of everything that has been built up over the years because this recontextualizes EVERYTHING that buck and eddie have. but im afraid they will just retcon all of that as a way to force bucktommy onto us because it’s easier than making buddie canon

idk this episode simultaneously made me so happy from a representation standpoint but it makes me so upset as someone who has shipped buddie for years because i have so much anxiety that this won’t lead to buddie like people are hoping

(anyway i love oliver stark with my whole heart and i am so happy that buck is finally getting his canon bisexual storyline, im just kinda disappointed that its with tommy of all people)

My personal opinion on it is that they’ve more or less established that the bucktommy thing is a brief little think on bucks journey as a bi man

You are absolutely valid in being happy to get bi buck and a little deflated to get bucktommy those things aren’t mutually exclusive!!

I’m with you there with being a little disheartened that we didn’t get the same impact if they’d had buddie canon without the inbetween man so to speak but I can see why they did it this way

Just like you can be happy to see the buck Tommy kiss and still ship buddie!!! (Which is kinda unrelated but I’ve seen some TAKES and I wholeheartedly disagree with because I’m feeling ALL those at once)

Overall tho I think that I’ve said this before the ep aired and I’m even more assured now that bi buck no matter what form it’s in IS GOOD NEWS for us on the buddie front

Because if they have the willingness to do that and also if they see how well responses are and how good ratings stay from bi buck then buddie is just around the corner and I wholeheartedly believe that

Like it makes no sense to make either buck or Eddie’s queer without setting the path for buddie canon I also said this before but it’s the same as the if one of them were a woman argument like idk if I’m making sense but I’m feeling VERY optimistic from this episode even if it isn’t perfect and we do get more messing around and tiptoeing and confusion🫡

[5and3nevermind]

hi! :)

I saw that you got into bts around 2020 (correct me if i'm wrong).

I was wondering what it was about ymn that piqued your interest in them? As someone's who's been an army since late 2015, ymn was one of the big ships from debut til 2016-mid 2017 ish I'd say.

I feel like its pretty rare to find new ymn shippers post 2017.

Hi anon! This is a fun ask because I’m always curious to find out when/how/why people became drawn to yoonmin, and I’m also interested in the “history of the ship.” Looking back at old posts, it does seem like they were a popular pair early on.

Yes, I became a fan of the group in 2020. I don’t remember the exact date/month, just that it was post-Dynamite, but before BE.

Prior to that, I’d never shipped anyone…not real people, not fictional characters. So, it’s not like I was on the lookout for a ship. I first noticed yoonmin during Be-hind Story (known in my mind as the Jimin raspberry sweater day). I thought their dynamic was so unique. I felt like Jimin was finding excuses for physical contact with Yoongi (for instance, shaking his hand and then being hesitant to let go).

Meanwhile, Yoongi seemed like he wasn’t sure how to react. He likes affection, but also values his personal space. We’ve seen him avoid contact from other members before if he feels like he wants his space. In fact, we’ve seen this from various pairs. Sometimes they just aren’t in the mood to snuggle. But with Jimin, Yoongi didn’t avoid or reject. He just seemed hesitant to reciprocate. And also…he kept teasing Jimin, praising Jimin…which told me that he didn’t mind Jimin’s attention. He just didn’t seem like he was sure what to do with it. 😉 (I know a lot of this is speculation. This was just my hot take at the time.)

Anyway, their dynamic interested me, so I started looking back at old yoonmin moments. I’d say the first three moments that made me think of them in a romantic context were Yoongi’s words about Jimin during the butterfly exhibition (2015), the birthday live “you know, I know” (2016), and their red carpet interview from the AMAs (2017). That was the combination that took them from unique to “oh! maybe there’s something more happening here” in my mind.

What solidified things for me was the number of times they’ve talked about hanging out off-camera/off-stage without the other members. Sushi dates (2015 and 2023, that we know of), Jimin meeting Holly the puppy, late night conversations, birthday letters that we never got to see, the Never Mind tattoo, “drinking buddies,” working out together, shoulder rehab, frequent phone calls…it just seems obvious (to me, in my opinion) that there is a lot more going on there than what we see in content.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question! I’d be curious to know if you consider yourself a yoonminer and if so which moments first caught your eye.

[theemissuniverse]

Hi)

I hope you don't find my question provocative, but going back to your last reply to anon, can you please tell me what you think about the relationship between Johnny and Kenshi? Considering that this ship has become VERY popular in such a short time. Do you see them as just friends or as a couple? And do you share the opinion of the majority in the fandom that Johnny is bisexual?

Oh boy….

DISCLAIMER : Despite my opinion, I in all actual reality, DO NOT CARE. You are allowed to ship WHOEVER you want with ANYONE as long as it’s legal and morally right. Please, do whatever YOU WANT. I am just expressing my opinion.

Moving on…

I CANNOT stress how much I DISLIKE the romantic ship between Johnny and Kenshi.

Once again, I feel like people just ship two people that are friends and want them to so desperately be a couple.

I understand though to some degree because there’s little to no gay relationships in Mortal Kombat. (If we are being completely real with ourselves, there is little to no relationships in MK in general.)

That still infuriates me.

Also no, I do not believe Johnny Cage is bisexual. No, this is not me being a “hater.” Johnny Cage is absolutely the type of guy that’s extremely heterosexual but is comfortable with his sexuality that he is able to call his guy friends hot or even playfully flirt with them.

Again, because I know you people, I cannot STRESS THIS ENOUGH: headcanon whatever you want. If you want to headcanon Johnny being bisexual then great! I’m just expressing MY OPINION on the topic.

I do not personally see a romantic chemistry between Kenshi and Johnny. Also, if I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure Kenshi is either taken or not over some girl anyway.

Johnny and Kenshi only become friends because Kenshi gets blind while protecting Johnny in the process, making Johnny feel guilt-ridden. So, Johnny “rewards” Kenshi with the sword. (My theory coming up) May, I add that this would have never happened if Kenshi did not become blind while protecting him. If Kenshi did not become blind-Johnny would not feel it within himself to give Kenshi the sword that is so rightfully his.

And I get the whole “enemies to lovers” trope but typically with that trope it builds up. This did not build up. The relationship was solidified by one selfless action Kenshi made which had the effect of Johnny then preforming a selfless action. (Cause and effect.)

To me, they just behave like normal friends. I don’t see the romance. I just don’t.

I know I keep saying this but again, MY OPINION. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. IM JUST ANSWERING ANON QUESTION.

[filzmonster]

If I may, this brainrot has been eating away at me, I just need to hear someone else's opinion! ✨️

At what point did you start shipping Gil and Break? What made you go, "yes, that's it!"?

What do you like most about them? I beg, share as much as you can about your thoughts on them! I need to hear it all! 😭🙏

fuck yes of course you may! Thank you so much for asking! *cracks knuckles* I've been waiting my whole life for an opportunity like this, so let's dive right into it!!

So to answer your first question - how I came to shipping them - let me start by saying that it took me a while. Tbh at first I didn't really pay a lot of attention to Break and all the cryptic things he was spewing (I have no excuse for this except that at the time I was obsessed with another manga that had a similar clown-ish character, so Break, at first, felt a little bit too much like a copy of that character for me to really be intrigued by Break).

Also, I was very much blown away by the platonic ... whatever that thing is ... between Gilbert and Oz, so I didn't really put on the shipping glasses for a very long time.

I watched the entire anime without developing any ships.

Then I started the manga and by then I was already so very, very, very deeply invested in everything, so this time around when I got to the specific moment that made my brain go oh, there was nothing stopping it from going oh.

It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? a look ...

... and solidified itself with

1.) Break caring about the fact that Gilbert supposedly forced himself to act like he was still his friend after his past got revealed

and

2.) Gilbert caring about the fact that apparently the last ten years, in which he saw Break as someone he wanted to be trusted by, meant less to Break than they meant to himself.

(I could write an entire seperate post about what it means that Gilbert wants Break to trust him and the parallels to his entire "I want to be needed" issues because Gilbert is always more focused on being the person that "is needed/trusted/wanted/etc." by the people in his life, rather than being the one needing/trusting/wanting/etc. the other person - if that makes any sense. ANYWAY --)

There was no stopping myself after that.

My brain just went oh, this is very angsty from a platonic "my friend doesn't trust me as much as I trust him" perspective - let's make it EVEN MORE angsty by changing it to "my lover doesn't trust me" and the rest is history.

After that, I went back and looked at their other recent and significant interaction:

What was, up until then, a very significant scene for Gilbert (and for me - I was shook, and still am by this scene everytime I read it tbh) in relation to his issues regarding Oz and being left behind/no longer needed, re-wrote itself in my head into something Break said to Gilbert, a piece of very important advice, something said to Gilbert by someone who understood and even shared his desire to serve a Master, someone who already went through the exact thing Gilbert was scared of going through - losing his Master - and tried to help him, tried to push him in the right direction.

Break was the first person who looked at Gilbert and said "I want to fix him".

He saw what Oz couldn't see, which as how desperate and messed up Gilbert had become with the appearance of Alice in Oz' life, and understood.

This kind of understanding is what, in my eyes, is at the core of this entire ship.

Then the gang went to the ruins of Sablier and honestly, I ate that shit up:

This showed that, even though they understood each other, there was still some kind of power imbalance between them.

At this point in the story, Gilbert was still very much Not Aware of how messed up he truly was. Break, on the contrary, figured out that there's some other, far shadier stuff going on.

Break was admittedly smarter than Gilbert and tried to guide and help him. I love that he shows he cares like that, by slowly but not at all gently pushing Gilbert towards confronting his issues. He is definitely being a teensy-tiny bit manipulative about it, but who doesn't like a little bit of toxicity with their fictional ship??

Uuuuhhhhh after Sablier, the Isla Yura/Headhunter arc happened and while at that shitshow of a party, they had a lot of very nice interactions between them - alas, listing all of them in detail would make this already escalating post waaaaaaay too long, so here's the shortlist:

They confront Elliot together, and Gilbert manages to land a hit on Break

Gilbert realizes that Break is blind, all while Vincent is trying to lure him away so that he doesn't go to help Break

Gilbert's little flashback to probably the first advice Break ever gave him: get your priorities straight

Break sort of gives up the fight against Fang and Lilly

Gilbert shows up and kicks him in the back, going all "I'm his left eye" while also saying: you're my priority, too, you idiot.

Gilberts fixes up Break's wounds and then scolds him for not asking for help even though there are people he can and should ask for help - and isn't that a fantastic parallel to the very first scene I brought up in this post? How this entire thing, for me, started with Gilbert asking, desperately "Why don't you trust me?" and now we're here, with Gilbert, again, asking "Why don't you trust me?" Only this time Break doesn't meet him with the silent air of someone who sees himself as superior, more experienced, but answers his question with a request, finally accepting him as an equal: "please help me."

And then .... AND THEN ... it gets even better:

Listen. LISTEN.

Mere moments ago in the manga it was established that Break is utterly unable to fall in line with someone, unable to work in a team, unable to be a partner. He even repeats it himself: Sharon calls me Mr. One-Man-Show.

But here's Gilbert and he says: I don't care. Do whatever you want, I'll meet you halfway. I'll keep up with you. Let me show you, let me prove myself to you. I'll have your back. Trust me to have your back.

And Break does.

And then a lot of shit went down and it's all very, very tragic.

And then this happens:

And I realize that this is not The Most Important Thing in that chapter and that what happens right after is way more important than this little panel, but I want to talk about the perspective used here for a moment.

This is shown from a frontal perspective. We see Gilbert standing in front of Oz from an outsider's POV, someone who looks at them, someone who sees Gilbert stepping in front of Oz.

This is an important scene and an important perspective in more ways than one, so bear with me for a second, please, as I go off on a little tanget.

See, this scene is very reminiscent of a later scene:

A later scene that is shown from Oz' perspective. Because this time it is important that Oz sees Gilbert stepping in front of him, protecting him despite everything. This scene is for Oz.

The scene prior to that wasn't for Oz.

It was a little bit for us, as readers, foreshadowing that Gilbert, finally fully aware of all his memories, still choses Oz. It is the promise to us that Gilbert will pick Oz' side and ultimately safe him.

It was, truly, for Break.

Break, whose first priority was to get himself between Gilbert and Oz the moment he realized the truth about Gilbert.

Break, who wanted to protect Oz from Gilbert, who wanted to protect Gilbert from Gilbert himself.

Break, who saw, and realized and had faith without even knowing the whole truth.

Now look at all of that and tell me how I was supposed to NOT ship them.

Also, feel free to tell me why YOU ship them :)

Alright, now that I've spent ... an atrocious amount of length on this post to tell you when & why I started to ship them, let's move on to your second question: what do I like most about them?

Weeeeeelllllllll ... a lot of that is already answered between the lines of the "how this ship came to be" elaboration, so I'll start with a short little summary:

there are a lot of parallels between Break's past and Gilbert's present that allow them to understand each other in this very specific way no one else probably can

they push each other to grow/be better (with Break pushing Gilbert to confront his issues and Gilbert calling Break out when he's being a stubborn idiot and refusing help)

they support each other through their lowest points, again and again.

the fact that Gilbert accepted Break, truly, for who he is. That he looked at Break and went "this guy's weird and creepy, but I'm still going to work with him, I'm still learning how to cook for him, I'm still going to try to listen to his advice even though I don't really understand it yet, I'm still going to be his left eye and stand by his side and build a relationship with him that is built on trust, and I'm still going to look at him as a priority"

the fact that Break looked at Gilbert and went "I see you, I'll help you. I'll use you, sure, but even after you've lost your usefulness to me, I'll still help you figure yourself out. I accept you as my equal, please help me. I'll act like I don't care about you, but I do, oh lord, I do. And I'm so relieved that you chose well. I always knew you could do it."

Also, the thing is - I'm a Gilbert girly, so obviously I care about him and his relationships the most.

And for the most part of the manga, the most important relationship, after his relationship to Oz, is his relationship to Break.

Sure, there are Alice and Vincent and Elliot, and even Sharon and Reim and Oscar.

But the one who keeps showing up in all his most important scenes, the ones that deal with his issues, his struggles, his choices - is Break.

And not just that, they keep showing up in each other's important scenes that don't focus on them at first.

E.g., Gilbert is there when Break asks Oz "Where are you?", a question that will haunt Oz for a long time.

Gilbert is there after Lutwidge academy, when Oz and Break have another moment together, and vice versa Break witnesses another key moment between Oz and Gilbert.

Break is there when Gilbert chases after Zai Vessalius in the ruins of Sablier. Gilbert is there when Break wakes up blind.

Break is there when Gilbert regains his memories, and he's there when Gilbert choses a side; and he's there, always there, when Gilbert is confronted with his relationship with Oz. He's even indirectly there when Gilbert gets inspired by Sharon who wants to become stronger so that she can stay by Break's side.

They play a big role in each other's lives even when they aren't directly part of a main event.

Almost like they keep thinking of each other

They grow from "let's use each other for our own benefits" to "I'll risk everything for you". They inspire each other to be better.

They understand each other. Break gets a side of Gilbert that Oz, Gilbert's most important relationship, and even though he grew and learned to understand Gilbert better in the end, will never really get.

Likewise, Gilbert manages to cement himself in Break's life as someone he can trust and rely on, something that comes very hard to Mr. One-Man-Show. I'd even argue that not even Oz managed to become an equal for Break in the end, since Break's last thoughts towards Oz are still "I have to support and guide him", and Oz can't offer him any real solace - that position, ultimately, falls to Reim and Sharon. We're totally ignoring that Break and Gilbert do not really share a last, significant scene, just go along with me please

Anyway.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that their understanding of each other is the most important thing for me. That they are able to have this relationship outside of their other important relationships (Oz & Alice and Sharon & Reim respectively). That they help each other to grow and even teach each other how to better their other relationships.

They have such a big, positive, meaningful influence on each other without ever really trying. It's like they see no other choice but to be there for each other when one of them needs the other.

I love them, your honor.

Alrightttttt, with all of that said .... I think I'm done for now?

Feel free to add your own thoughts and tell me

a) How you came to ship them and why

and

b) What you like most about them and why

Again, thank you very much for asking!! This deep dive really did a lot for my general well being and showed me that while apparently I still know a lot about Pandora Hearts by heart, it may still be time for another re-read soon :)

Also, it's been sooooo long since I've had an opportunity to talk about Break/Gilbert and it was a lot of fun!!! I'm really grateful for that and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on them! <3

[cptn-merica]

thoughts on peggy carter

i think my biggest issue with peggy carter is marvel is trying to push agendas and pander to audiences as a cop out for formulating a dynamic character. it's obvious she's supposed to be a feminist icon. that's totally cool. i appreciated that as a kid, since i was sick of women being portrayed as weak. the way i see it, peggy suffers from weak portrayal, not portrayal that she's weak.

--

before the peggy fans comment/reblog, "omg not another stucky blog posting peggy hate. leave her alone!!" i don't hate peggy, I just want a clearer picture of who she is. i enjoyed her in the mcu but i wish marvel would've given her justice within the writing. this isn't hate for hayley atwell either. she did really good in her acting, enough so i watched more movies with her in it intentionally.

--

peggy always read to me as a half-developed side character -- no matter if she's the main character. my one of my biggest complaints is that she seems to have little to no motive. motive is what drives people and your main character having consistently unclear motives is sloppy writing.

helping steve? sure, she's his commanding officer and she seemed to like him.

"win the war"? well sure, that was a lot of other people's motives in ww2. why did she even join the war anyways? what convinced her to sign up? she didn't have to, she could've done other work. what was so compelling about the war to her?

for the what if episode: why'd she choose to take the super serum?

my point here is: there are too many points where one questions why she did ___ that could have been better defined (esp in the what if series).

--

marvel can make her much more interesting (and to me appealing) character by not putting her in comparison to steve. they would be forced to solidify her character instead of wimping out and saying "well she's the love interest." I'm not saying that she can't have both a relationship and be a strong woman - many women have/are both. however, when your entire personality depends on your relationship to one person, it's not very healthy or wise.

the concept of marvel pushing for steve and peggy's relationship is fine, that's how romance novels are made. but the lax follow-through on character development removes my interest for the ship. how good romance novels bring interest to each character is by establishing them. they also used peggy as way to pander for chris evans himself - she was an easy way to get steve rogers out of upcoming plot lines. (side note: chris evans is totally justified in not wanting to work for marvel anymore, they just should've handled his character's ending less sloppily)

as for the ship - i would see more value in the steve x peggy ship if i could tell what type of person peggy is. especially when you take away steve. i see value and interest in steve and bucky because, even though bucky was made as a sidekick to steve, he has a strong character. would i want to see him even more fleshed out? yeah, ofc. would i say he's more fleshed out than peggy? yes, because in one movie you can tell who bucky is and why he's doing things. i see why people ship steve and peggy, and I see why people ship steve and bucky. both stances are valid.

i haven't seen it yet nor i do know if i will watch it due to personal time and budget constraints, but i hope that the agent carter series strengthens her character.

ultimately, peggy is the victim of poor and sexist writing.

(note:: this is my personal opinion & analysis, based on the first two cap movies and the what if series. im not speaking for anyone but myself. if you feel like her character is rich enough and you're satisfied by her portrayals, that's great, I just wanted to share my stance. again, i don't hate peggy, I just want a clearer picture of who she is and why she does what she does)

[just-antithings]

I’m gonna be honest being pro-endo is what got me away from my anti friend group at the time -i was very much non paying attention to the shipping drama because dammit I was busy roleplaying as a made up man and also not even aware of the drama (to think,,, antis all about protecting kids got me involved in this,,,the irony) but anyways the one I interacted with the most, lmao, they (I think they still use they/them, I don’t know) reblogged something anti-endo and I was like huh what even is that, and did a Google and was like so basically they’re mad at people for just . existing. in a way they personally don’t like. odd. and then I decided to take another Google, this time about the pro-ship DNI they had, and I was like, huh, okay. and then a Drama occurred where they convinced me to block a mutual friend of ours at the time because it turned out they were proship/endogenic, but I felt bad because I didn’t understand why it was bad and immediately unblocked them in secret, and I decided that felt too much like bullied excluding me for cool-points back in elementary, so I thought About it for a couple weeks, and I, being unable to leave without saying goodbye bc of ✨politenesss✨ said, in their little discord server (I still miss all of them ngl, they did support me thru a few events in my life but hey we all gotta girlboss thru the pain sometimes) “hey, my opinions on things have changed and while I’m still figuring things out, I think I’m on ur DNI now,so I’m gonna leave so I don’t hurt any of u by having a dramatic exit, but I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, thank u for being friends w me” and while I was trying to exit the channel to get to the leave server option, they said “ur always welcome to come back if u change ur mind” and while normally that seems like a Reasonable Statement it month solidified my position due to personal reasons and signified the End of An Era in my life. so while that got me out of my anti-endo stage, it also got me to find ppl who were pro-endo, which were shockingly just as Kinda Weird (like, off in the same way Evangelicals are Off) as my friends had been, and that gave me creep vibes, so now I’m pro-ship, lmao. I think I’ve said this before but anyways the point is the two don’t go hand in hand.

^i also was in a Beatles fanserver at the time (i left around the same time) and they were also antis. ??? girl ur sexualizing dead old British men, what do u mean it’s wrong of me to think about the medical complications of cannibalism???? I’m not even going to commit cannibalism and given the opportunity I would walk the heck away, I just think the impacts it has on the body is neat. (That’s not what my callout post is about but whatever*note I am not a Beatles fan I just befriended them and was excited about friendship. big mistake. )l(not bc they liked Beatles bc they were antis.)

.

[devi1sange1]

I just spent a couple hours reading through the Moriel tag and I feel nostalgic and sad about a ship I was never actually attached to. Send help.

(More thoughts below)

On a side note, as someone who’s newer to the fandom, reading through old fandom stuff is so interesting. Reading through the Moriel tag really makes me think about what’s to come. It’s interesting that it SEEMS like Moriel was the dominating ship at the post-ACOMAF pre-ACOWAR time, yes elriel existed as I saw a few people reference it, but a lot of people seemed pretty hardcore for Moriel. And you get to see the post-ACOWAR heart break when the ship sank.

I am personally of the opinion that Azriel and Mor were slated to be endgame while she was writing ACOMAF, and reading through the old posts solidified that for me honestly. It really puts into perspective how easily she can change her mind.

And of course my elriel mind finds it interesting that Moriel sinks in ACOWAR and Elriel really takes off. During this period before ACOWAR, a lot of people talked about Elriel like “Ik Moriel will happen but I just like elriel anyways.” Then here comes ACOWAR with a lot of defining Elriel moments and Moriel is completely sunk. This is around the same time that SJM would have planning for the sequel novels, as I believe the spin offs were announced after ACOMAF in 2016, which is also very interesting.

[trlvsn]

I follow you cuz I love your takes on the characters! Especially when you make a long (or even slightly big) text post about like... The relationships that they have or in general

Not just the ships! Although I do love your krisnix and narumitsu posts

And I love how they can be really fucking funny sometimes but eye opening other times and make me reconsider stuff. And somehow putting stuff that I can't solidify in my brain into words other other times

Your art is also very cool! Maybe this is a bold assumption but you seem like the kind of person to take the "a picture is worth a thousand words" line to heart and like, explicitly use art as a form of communication!

Also, it's nice to see more arospec takes on ships cuz i know they're gonna be worth it (as a fellow arospec I love taking characters and ships apart in my brain)

And finally let me just say that dahlia deserved better! Your posts put that into words really really well, and i can't not like you after that haha

i Just woke up after a really weird dream about fish and oh my god!!! thank you?? i really appreciate everything you said here, especially the fact that some of my posts make people reconsider things. i am the kind of guy that values change and arguments that result in changed opinions a lot, so to know that people listen to me enough to let some of my words affect their ways of thinking and perception is an honor, even if it's just about some silly characters.

and i do try to express multiple things at once with my art! i wish i were more skilled at it so that i could do more.

anyways, thank you so much fellow arospec dahlia hawthorne thinker, i am still thinking about the fish dream but this lifted my mood a lot!

[the-gadabout-gander]

It's important to note, as I return to this blog after over a year, that I am ganloose trash.

Anyway i was browsing inducks, as one does with a reawakened hyperfixation, and specifically was looking through the Gyro index for stories featuring Gladstone, and going chronologically.

Loved the ones I found that actually had interactions with them; there's such a fun flavor of Entitled Prince Gladstone and Pushover-With-Limits Gyro, and once Gyro hits those limits its very satisfying lol.

But in specific I noticed a neat little thing re. Those Limits between 2 stories, those being The Lost Rabbit's Foot and The Bear Tamer. In both stories Gladstone is running to Gyro with a need for an emergency invention. In The Lost Rabbit's Foot, Gyro is in his workshop with a sign stating that dreaded phrase "The Customer is Always Right". Gladstone predictably weaponizes this sign for all its worth, namely making Gyro dive down into murky water and face angry octopi while looking for the Rabbit's foot, bc Gladstone insists he won't go down there unless Gyro finds it to be safe. Gyro survives the ordeal thanks to Helper, but after that is Rightfully Peeved and makes Gladstone go down himself.

Meanwhile, in the Bear Tamer, Gladstone needs to tame a Bear for his Lucky Boy Club, and wants Gyro to make something to prevent the bear attacking him. Gyro does as asked. But this time when Gladstone tries yet again to make Gyro go ahead of him to make sure it's safe, Gyro simply shoves him in right away. While it's likely Gyro's hanger is also an influence, it's a funny bit of continuity and one I enjoyed immensely.

On the subject of continuity and older characterizations, actually, an interesting thing is Gyro's opinions on Gladstone's Luck; which is, that he seems to find the mythic regard in which Gladstone (and presumably everyone else) holds his luck to be overstated. He doesn't deny or downplay the existence of Gladstone's Luck, but he does question and challenge the stock Gladstone puts in it. (Throughout The Lost Rabbit's Foot, from the beginning even, he pushes back at the idea a Rabbit's Foot would have any unique ability as a talisman and chides Gladstone for believing it. He ends up making one from cotton and wax that works, and his comic-ending conclusion is that Gladstone gives luck to the talisman, not vice versa; in The Bear Tamer he comments, on hearing that Gladstone's Fancy Club For Lucky Boys is challenging its members to show their luck by taming a bear, that he would simply join a different club in that scenario; the story It Takes Two To Tangle is literally abt the two of them wagering over whether Luck or Smarts is more widely useful in life. The end result seems to say that both are equal, with Gladstone remarking as much, but Gyro is actually the one to end the strip on a high note, still slightly vindicated in his position that Smarts > Luck)

And idk I think it's a compelling angle for a pairing to bounce off of! Especially as, once his character and Luck became relatively more solidified, Gladstone-centric stories often come back around to the idea of his being stuck in spirals of loneliness and hollow relationships due to ppl caring more abt his luck than him, so having this early dynamic with Gyro where the latter refuses to regard Gladstone's Luck as monumental, even if he will concede to it being special...it's cool.

It's also cool to see him push back at Gladstone and yet, neither of them end their conflicts humiliated; even if Gyro "wins" in the stories it's not actually at Gladstone's expense.

And of course my favorite little meta ship fodder that Gyro's very introduction came thru an interaction with Gladstone, in a Gladstone-centered story

Tl;Dr: 50s/60s Ganloose dynamic is top tier

[unlicenseddriver]

The genuine rage that fills me abt this bro. WHENEVER I SEE PEOPLE SHIPPING JIMMY AND CURLY ALL I CAN THINK IS DID YOU UNDERSTAND ANY OF THE GAME!?!?! for the entirety of the game we see Jimmy not only as Anya's abuser (who clearly assaulted her multiple time btw if she got pregnant just putting that out there) but also as someone who manipulates the rest of the crew and continously puts them down in anyway possible. He is a piece of shit and if he never did anything to anya he would STILL BE A PIECE OF SHIT!!!!

shipping Jimmy and curly to me plays down Jimmy's actions and solidifies that regardless of what people say, curly was passive at best in the way he dealt with Jimmy's behavior. Curly did nothing to stop him, in my opinion all he did was turn a blind eye (which makes sense seeing as he lost an eye and was unable to close his remaining eye) to Jimmy's actions because in any other case the situation would have been dealt with properly. but it wasn't.

jimmy is a bag of dog shit with legs and Curly is not a good person he's just a nice guy (and most 'nice guys' kinda suck :/)

not even side eyeing anymore, it's just a full on head turn glare toward the people sidelining jimmy being a rapist and the SA of anya in favor of ooo toxic yaoiiii

[gothicwitcholive]

answering other anon’s question about the other beast x ancient ships

honestly overall I expect all of the Beast x Ancient ships to be bad objectively just by how they’ve set them up so far (both the future duos we’ll get and the remaining ones to stay bad)

For me personally though, I usually wait to genuinely judge characters and pairings when their story comes out

For the ones we have right now:

MysticCacao - “What-if scenario” scene was clearly bad, but I think a lot of people have already talked about how Mystic Flour forcing Dark Cacao (and everyone else) to give up on his life/bodily existence/identity is bad. Not totally interested in repeating that tbh but what I will add specifically for MysticCacao is that Mystic Flour is too far gone in her beliefs and outlook for it to work. Because of that, the idea of her redeeming herself through realizing “wow look at the damage I’ve done by killing everyone” doesn’t actually work if you examine her belief system because she already believes that she’s doing this for the greater good

Also just going to put this answer here because the topic is about Mystic Flour: tbh I’m conflicted on the “Shadow Milk was the one to lie about Mystic Flour’s cocoon” because on one hand, it decreases my stocks in Mystic Flour and on the other hand, it does solidify Shadow Milk and my stocks in him as a character so erm lmao. I definitely can see it happening though

BurningCheese:

We spent the entire story confirming how Burning Spice treats his subjects as if they’re completely expendable uh

Nothing I can really say more than that and that he has no qualms beating someone to death

I’m not that much of a rarepair liker anyways so no opinion on mix and match

- passerby anon

.

[olderthannetfic]

The last SNK anon got me thinking about how a lot of us interpret stories and link them with an author's beliefs. This isn't really about the anime or manga, but I think it shows a lot about what wrong with twitter and tumblr style literary criticism. People don't like a story and look for something morally wrong with it from their own interpretation, and then project their accusations onto the author. If you have criticism with a story, what makes you also believe it shows some kind of belief of the author? Isn't this what pro-shipping is about anyway, that a story is just a story and doesn't reflect a creator's views? Now I sincerely hope more people just write the blandest boring stories they can because if they're lucky enough to get mainstream success, one person who graduated from the twitter/tumblr school of media "criticism" just has to make a wild accusation and justify it using identity politics for everyone to just agree with them, and the author won't be able to respond or address it in any way or else they're "silencing x voices." It's like everyone on social media forgets artists are people too and it's way more likely someone made a mistake, if the accusations are correct but they rarely are, than someone wanting to spread bigotted ideas just because some rando online wanted attention for a day. The other anon's message just solidified it more in my head that more online users need to think before they start slandering artists online. Not just small artists but the popular ones too bc we're all people. Not liking a story or picture or depiction of something is one thing. Accusing someone of being a nazi, a nazi sympathizer, or a racial supremacist is something else, and people shouldn't say serious things like that without solid evidence that goes beyond someone's emotional feelings or anecdotes that can't even be verified online.

--

Honestly, a lot of what's wrong with Tumblr and Twitter litcrit is that having an informed opinion on art requires:

Consuming a fair amount of art

Probably over a period of time

And of different genres, styles, types, and aims

People think of themselves as The Weird One Who Likes Books or whatever, and it probably makes sense given whomever they're stuck with offline. But then some piece of text comes along that's hard to read. Maybe it's a brilliant literary work that's the culmination of a whole movement and that has so many allusions that it's confusing for a n00b. Maybe it's tortured purple prose and each sentence is a paragraph long.

Whatever is "wrong", this thing is difficult, and it challenges the self-image of Better At Books Than U. And so it must be dismissed and vilified.

Getting better at critical thinking and at analyzing art requires humility.

Humility requires self confidence.

[beepboop358]

Hey !

I‘m sorry if I sound rude but as much as I ship byler in my opinion it is most likely not happing. I think all those evidences are just coincidences or not how you interpreted it . Mileven has been some kind of main plot ( I think .. 😂) in season 1 and 3 ( also a little bit in season 2 because they showed us how much Mileven missed each other ) I think season 4 include a lot of Mileven and I sadly also don’t think Will is going to have superpowers( even tho I would love to see it ) . I think there are many reasons and evidences why Mileven Is going to be endgame ( the leaks and the show itself ) . Since what I said here before wasn’t a question I’m asking you 2 questions now

What made you believe most in Byler and Will having superpowers?

( stupid question) how would you react if byler isn’t endgame?

I am so sorry that I made such a negative ask . I still hope you have a really nice day and a wonderful weekend!! 💗

Hi anon!

You don't sound rude at all!! Totally okay to express your thoughts/feelings to me. If it's okay I'll just say a little responding to what you wrote above the questions :) I ship byler too (which goes without saying LOL) but what really convinced me that all the evidence wasn’t coincidences, was just the volume of how much evidence there is. It's not one or two here and there, it's everywhere. That being said, ST is kind of written like a book in the sense that you can analyze it the same way you would do a literary analysis (like for a school assignment). In books there are all kinds of metaphors, analogies, subtext, parallels, comparisons, etc. that are purposefully there, and the story's true meaning doesn't make sense unless you get all of those things. In ST there are all of those literary tools plus all the visual tools like cinematography usage to do parallels/comparisons, clothing that conveys meaning, and sets and props that also convey meaning/plotpoints. Plus we get to see the facial expressions of the characters, and hear the tone of their voices in TV, different to a book. All of those visual aspects are extra clues on top of the clues we already get from the writing. So there is just this huge mountain of evidence :) Another thing is that TV shows who are any good at all, don't have coincidences. Something one of my film professors told me once was never to include any unnecessary or unmeaningfull footage. Basically saying that if something doesn't absolutely need to be shown on screen (because it is crucial to the overall plot/specific character's storyline), then don't show it. Everything you show on screen should have a specific purpose when you are crafting a story. And from the 3 seasons we already have, we can see that they really take this idea to heart, from the mountain of evidence we have :) So I really believe that all of the evidence is on purpose, and that it means something, because the show is too well crafted from what we have seen, for us to assume it is a coincidence. A lot of thought and effort went into creating all those intricate details and I just think that is incredible. OMG sorry this was so much longer than I expected to write about that, I hope you don't mind, sorry!

Okay now onto your questions :)

I think the ghostbusters and the eyewitness parallel made me believe the most in byler. For me seeing the external references from other shows/movies put onto byler was huge. I was like "yeah there's no way byler is not happening now" once I saw those LOL. The Duffers and the writers are almost piecing together different parts of other media, to create stranger things. Evident by all the movie references in the show, which there are too many to even name, and the vsf board for season 4 has hundreds of movies on it that "make up the DNA of season 4" as said by the stranger writers on twitter. Anyways seeing parallels from other shows/movies really solidified for me that byler was happening. Because there is NO way those are coincidences. They picked those parallels to use for Mike and Will, for a reason. :)

I have always believed Will has powers because of how he was able to survive in the upside down when no one else was, and how he could communicate with Joyce through lights when he was in another dimension, and even almost open up a gate through the wall in season 1. And the fact that Will is a lot of the show's focus also made me think he must be special in some way, like having powers.

In all honesty, I would just be so confused if Byler wasn't endgame, since all the evidence points to it. If it wasn't endgame, I would think someone executive at Netflix shot it down last minute. I really don't see this as a possibility though, since Netflix is on board we don't have to worry about them pandering to heteronormativity (I did a post about this here) Unless one of them dies (god forbid) which I don't see as a high possibility since most of the show revolves around them, but is still a possibility since no one is really safe from being killed off LOL.

Thanks for the ask! I hope you don't mind me writing so much for this 😬 aw thank you! I hope you have a wonderful day and weekend too!! 💕

[shipcestuous]

Blanca & Roja

That's the name of the book, the names of the two heroines, AND the name of the main relationship I'll be talking about today, all in one.  (Pretty neat, huh?)

Anyway, this is a beautifully written retelling of the story of Snow-White and Rose-Red, combined with Swan Lake, with the same centralized sister bond that we enjoy about Frozen. It's a fairytale, set in a more modern world. It's rich in emotion, character, and culture, and I just really enjoy it as a piece of literature, even aside from the stuff I'm here to talk about.

But anyway, to quote the Goodreads summary:

"The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan. But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts."

That summary might give you the wrong idea about the sisters' relationship, though--despite their differences, Roja and Blanca are incredibly close. They have spent most of their lives trying to evade the swans' curse by making themselves as similar as possible, in the hope that the swans won't be able to tell them apart enough to decide which sister should remain a human and which will be taken by the curse.

Then, the swans finally arrive when Blanca is 16 and Roja is 15, and their world and their relationship are thrown off-balance.

Like with Frozen (I'll be drawing a few parallels here, because they're both peak sisters content, IMO), the older sister ends up unintentionally alienating her younger sister while trying desperately to protect her. Blanca is the favored sister, given advice in secret that's meant to give her the edge over Roja (in this case, by "getting" Barclay/Yearling, who we'll talk about in a bit).

Instead, Blanca strikes a deal with the swans that, if she can win his heart, the swans will take her and leave Roja as a human.  However, she keeps all of this from Roja--not wanting to solidify Roja's fears that she's been marked as the unfavorite sister from the start, and not wanting her to realize what Blanca's doing and try to stop it.

Of course, since they're so close, Roja realizes immediately that Blanca is being secretive. She misunderstands and believes that Blanca is betraying her and trying to win her own humanity, which leads to painful friction between them. It's so painful because, even at the height of Roja's resentment toward what she sees as her big sister's betrayal, it's tinted with the deep love they have for each other.

I mean, look at this quote from Roja's POV:

"Blanca was as much a part of me as my own teeth and blood.  We were trees with intertwined roots, so tangled together that if we tried to rip apart from each other we would only destroy ourselves."

I need to mention that, like with Frozen, there's a romance on the side here (two, in this case), but that the sister relationship comes first, both in the storytelling and to the characters themselves.

Despite knowing she's supposed to win Barclay/Yearling's heart, Blanca is actually in love with a boy named Page, who is Yearling's closest friend. Yearling ends up falling for Roja, and vice versa, after she takes care of him while he's temporarily been turned into a bear (long story).  Both ships are good, in my opinion, which makes things better or worse depending on how you want to look at it.  Either way, as I said, the central relationship is Blanca and Roja, even if these relationships matter to the story as well.

Meanwhile, Page and Yearling's relationship is set up as a parallel to Blanca and Roja's.  As I said, they're best friends, but Page canonically calls Yearling "the closest thing I had to a brother." Plus, the boys' grandmothers are a couple now, which makes them almost cousins. That's noteworthy because Yearling has a biological cousin, who is the worst, so it's nice to see him having such a positive relationship to Page in contrast.

Basically, Page is willing to sacrifice his humanity early on in the story for Yearling's sake, like Blanca is willing to do for Roja.  (It's related to the "turning into a bear" thing--Page was turned into a swan for a short time--but again, the details aren't relevant here.)  It can be argued that the boys' most important relationship is each other, in the same way that's true for the sisters.

(Honestly, I kind of ship it as a love square. Blanca/Page and Roja/Yearling are nice relationships that bring out a lot of good in the characters, even if the same--except the canon part--can be said for Page/Yearling and Blanca/Roja.  So I kind of ship all of those at once--sue me.)

In the end, Roja finally learns that Blanca was keeping secrets in an attempt to save Roja, even if it would cost Blanca her own humanity.  Out of love for Blanca, Roja learns how Yearling had transformed into a bear, and she uses that principle to turn herself into a swan so Blanca can remain human.

...As if you really believe it will go that simply, knowing these sisters.

Naturally, Blanca's horrified to realize what her little sister has done, and more so when Roja is injured by the swans because of her trying to subvert the curse. Blanca wants Page to tell her how to turn into a swan, and this excerpt is from his POV. Again, some nice parallels:

"Blanca's heart would always be trued to her sister.

...I had wanted the woods to take me so I could go after the closest thing I had to a brother.  She wanted a new body... that would let her fly after the sister she was losing."

They understand each other, in part, due to their shared understanding of that deep familial bond. Anyway, Blanca magics herself into a swan to fly after Roja. The swans are spiteful that they circumvented the curse, so they lift the curse... turning the sisters back into humans while they're high in the air. Blanca sees this as the swans trying to take her sister away from her, even in spite of the girls' defiance--giving them what they wanted, at a price.

Anyway, they fall into a bog, but Roja is badly injured. To save her life, Blanca and the boys basically give her (only slightly metaphorical, somewhat literal in a magic sense) parts of themselves. From Roja's POV:

"Where Blanca and Yearling and Page set their hands, where their palms covered my wounded places, they marked me. I became a girl who was part swan [Blanca], part birch [Yearling], part apple tree [Page].

To keep me, they each gave me a little of themselves.

They claimed me as theirs, all three of them."

I've mentioned it before, but I want to highlight again how the book doesn't place romance on a pedestal above the rest. Blanca, her family, is always mentioned foremost. Her sister's love is crucial to saving her, and so is her love interest's, and so is her new friend's. (Again, this is why I ship it as an OT4. There's so many kinds of love in this book, and they're all important.)

To reference Frozen again, it's an act of true love.  Not the kind that fairytales might make you think of as "true love"--heck, I'd argue that what Roja and Yearling have, though a crush built on friendship and mutual understanding, doesn't count as love yet as it's still so new and developing.  The act of love doesn't have to be a huge romantic thing for it to be treated as magical.

(But again, Blanca is always mentioned first. The sisters are first on each others' priority lists, and it's beautiful, and I love it.)

Anyway, everybody gets to stay human in the end. And by the end, Blanca has taken on a few more Roja-like traits, and Roja has taken on a few more similarities to Blanca, as a result of their character arcs. Although before, they tried to become similar to avoid the curse, now they've become more similar organically, just because it's who they are as people.

Tl;dr: for anyone who's a fan of sisters (or even if you aren't especially interested in that, generally speaking), I'd really recommend Blanca & Roja. The sisters' bond is complex, evolving, and unbreakable, and it always comes first. Plus, it's a good book even aside from that. And it's a standalone (which is good for my wallet) while also having enough quality content that it can stand well on its own (which is good for my soul).

///

This book sounds like quite a find! Fans of Frozen and sisters are in for quite a treat.

I love how dynamic the sisters' relationship is. It also just sounds like a beautiful story.

I really appreciate this long write-up, Anon, with so much rich detail and commentary.