#because I'm obsessed with them actually

[whatsthisascianbullshit]

I saw the "in my cups over them," so consider this a general prompt to ramble about them! Tell me anything and everything. I have to know more. 👀

Hi @halfalgorithm-halfdeity I struggle to get a lot of my Muireann and Hien thoughts wrangled down because they're tied up in the "chewing through tables over rediscovering your culture after being colonised and the systematic erasure of your culture and heritage" that Stormblood sends me through (truly, an expansion for My Interests /gestures at Ireland's 800 years of oppression BUT I DIGRESS)

Hien and Muireann meet each other at the best possible time to work but also it's the worst time for them to realise it. (on reading back I do not actually explain this - basically if they met earlier Hien wouldn't have made his own plans for sacrifice/rebellion and Muireann wouldn't have been running from her feelings and grief, and if they met later Muireann would have had a chance to fully wall herself off emotionally. But because they meet when they do, Muireann is still wrangling with her emotional mess and cannot admit that she has feelings for Hien and that makes it a mess for both of them)

THIS GOT LONG AND IS STILL SOMEHOW THE CLIFF NOTES VERSION LMAO

Spoilers for ARR through to Shadowbringers intro under the cut, mostly Stormblood.

Muireann is fresh off of Y'shtola collapsing a tunnel on herself at the end of ARR, Haurchefant fucking dying in her arms, then Y'shtola coming back but now they're both different but maybe there are feelings but it's Complicated now, and then Y'shtola getting almost killed by Zenos and Muireann goes with the contingent to help in Doma in large part to avoid all the feelings that seeing the woman she fully changes the course of her life for get cut down right in front of her and she couldn't do Anything. Muireann is going to Doma to harden her heart back up. Because heartbreak causes mistakes in her calculations and mistakes cost lives, and against Zenos that could mean an absolutely devastating loss of life.

Hien has spent the last year-ish of his life recovering from almost dying after watching Zenos kill his father in front of him. The smart move would have been to then flee but he put his people above his own life (also likely a Terrible way to cope with seeing your dad sliced open in front of you but yanno). He knows that what little military might they had before that rebellion is gone. So he makes a plan. One that only works if several extremely unlikely things happen in succession because he has this plan before the Scions turn up.

So when they first meet and Hien's response to "we have spent days changing their minds so the people ask for your sword" was "I will simply win the Naadam even though I am only a little while recovered and have had maybe a few months to attempt to get back into fighting shape" it honestly kind of short-circuited her brain. Because it was the only logical path forward but it was an incredibly risky plan with so many opportunities to go horribly wrong and it was presented as though it was simple. Because it also was a very simple plan. For the best chance of success with the least amount of lives lost they needed more fighters. This is the most efficient way to gain social standing with the most amount of people in order to make this request. It's essentially then just a process of Muireann's own feelings wearing down her bullheaded stubbornness to get her to admit the fact she has feelings to herself after she had decided that she Was Not Going To Care About Anyone Else Like That.

Hien was faced with a pretty elf that was quiet and reserved but when she did speak up it was largely related to tactics and strategy. Someone who clearly knew what she was talking about but that did not align with how she would have been described (powerful mage, vicious witch, breaker of gods). Then he sees her in battle. And she summons a dragon. To save him? Probably her brother. But maybe also him? Maybe just him?

The two proceed to flirt with each other obtusely while internally talking themselves out of the sheer notion that the other person is interested in them. The post-Naadam Doma arc for these two drives me fully insane I am obsessed with them.

When they eventually do get their shit together at the end of Stormblood they continue the trend of internally making assumptions about the other person and what kind of future they want. And so they pointedly avoid any and all conversation about the future and their feelings beyond "enjoying each other's company". At this point they're both fully smitten, head over heels, cannot imagine a future without each other. Neither of them say this to each other.

Then the strange headaches start.

Then people start falling into magic, soul-snatched comas.

Muireann initially continues to assume that she'll be fine because she has the Echo. Then during the fight at the Ghimlyt Dark where Hien, Yugiri and Lyse hold off Zenos until Murieann and the rest of her party arrive Muireann and Hien both have to face the fact that they are in fact In Love with the other person. Do they say this to each other? No. Of course not. (though in their defense this time Murieann was whisked back to Ishgard with the rest of the gang to recover closer to the rest of the Scions).

In Ishgard Muireann finds out that her brother has fallen into a coma. She's completely distraught both at the potential loss of her brother and also at the realisation that the Echo won't protect her. And she has never told Hien how she feels. She hastily writes a letter because she needs to get it out of her before the fear strikes again, and also because they have a lead at the Crystal Tower that she needs to follow up on. That letter is dispatched and mere hours later Hien is notified that Muireann has also fallen into a magic coma.

Hien then bullies convinces the remaining Scions to let Muireann's body rest in Doma. The offered logic being that if all the Scions and Warriors of Light are resting in the same spot, it would be very easy for Garlemald to blow up one building and be rid of the most persistent thorn in their side. A larger reason is because Muireann's confession letter opens with "I wish I could tell you this in person" and he stops reading. Gets her body safe in Doma. And waits.

Because there is something she wanted to tell him (and something he wants to tell her).

Anyway that's the cliff notes version of Them leading into Shadowbringers. They give me fucking Hives (I am obsessed).

Just two people piecing together what their heritage means to them in the present after attempts at destroying it.

A disaster-sexual wizard and a prince who loves women who can kerb stomp him.

[hilacopter]

normalize liking platonic dynamics just as much as romantic dynamics. normalize being insane over characters as friends and not as a ship. normalize wanting characters to be closer platonically just as you would want them to be closer romantically (I call it platonic shipping). normalize not having characters fall in love for no reason when they were already great and compelling platonically. normalize characters doing things that are usually seen as romantic but in a platonic context. normalize writing platonic fanfiction and drawing platonic fanart. "I am insane about their friendship" can and should be common actually. amatonormativity BEGONE!

[shalom-iamcominghome]

"We need more diverse queer representation!"

You cannot even handle queer jews.

[shaylai]

I would've loved it if they fought side by side 😭

[blimbo-buddy]

Guys I think there's something wrong with my copy of Mouthwashing what is this

(Misc drawings & explanation under the cut)

So there's a mobile version of Mouthwashing that you can download and it's so bad but for some reason I've grown obsessed with it. Not for the bit, genuinely into it. So I gave my own twist on the character designs to make them distinguishable enough(Also some tiny side drawings while making this)

[icewindandboringhorror]

I made a few new wax seal stamps out of clay (like the ones I did for my worldbuilding stuff forever ago), this time just of random symbols that I thought might look good done in the style of painting over the raised part of the wax or etc. :0c Some of them aren't carved deep enough to really show up that well, but overall they worked okay for being clay lol

[hyakunana]

Kekera, please 🤫 they're having a moment

+

And a little unplanned extra 🗣️

[scootersscooter]

the best friends ever actually

[kaiser1ns]

You thought it was over? It's not. I'm not done yet, understood. (Imagine Endo saying this like aaaaaaaa)

i think i have a type nom nom men with tattoo sleeves. APPRECIATING ENDO'S ARMS BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT. also adding my other man jeon jungkook because why not (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡

LOOK AT THOSE MUSCLES LOOK AT HIM OH MY GAWD IM IN THE OUTER SPACE SCREAMING HIS NAME UNTIL MY VOICE REACHES ANOTHER GALAXY, ANOTHER DIMENSION, ANOTHER MULTIVERSE.

[vynnyal]

Finally finishing totk

[honig-dachs]

there it is

[koriand3r]

Willow | Spike - Clothing

“Why are you still in costume?” “Okay, still having to explain wherein this is just my outfit.”

[tiktowafel]

do you ever think about how all you used to draw when you were 10 was ponies and that you should still know how to do that, then get an idea and proceed to draw something like these in nearly one sitting and it turns out better than any drawing you've done in the entire past month

sooo anyway does anyone have cutie mark or pony name ideas for them?? lol

[lale-txt]

glimpses from the Soft Launch pinterest boards

[fuckinart]

(they'll never understand) How could I ever understand? No, I don't have to understand. I don't wanna understand. So I will never understand. (we could have everything)

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.