#being siblings to each other is canon because it makes them uncomfortable if that's not true

[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.

[that-starry-freak]

Rate all Lunar ships

oh that's pretty easy- I honestly only really even kind of care about one Lunar ship

Lunar x Sun: 2/10, only because I've seen it written where they arnt brothers and it can be interesting

Lunar x Nexus: 0/10

Lunar x Moon: 0/10

Lunar x Earth: -10/10

Lunar x Eclipse: 5/10, only because Zee and Alex have ranted about it enough times-

Lunar x Solar: 1/10, same with the sun one

Lunar x Gemini: 7/10, has a lot of potential. I donf like how its portrayed in the show but with the characters personalities it could be really cute

So uh- yeah

Edit: HELP I FORGOT TO POST THIS THIS MORNING LMAO, I WROTE IT OUT AND FORGOT TO POST IT

[future-dregs]

The way I see Sam and Dean's relationship, even if we're going fully bare bones canon, no wincest layers or themes, is that it's very much a D/s type of dynamic. But like, a real one.

There's a matched give and take. Maybe Dean is seemingly more dominant and in control of what they do and how they do things, but that's because Sam has given it to him.

In a D/s relationship, the submissive actually holds all the cards and it's not one person forcing the other, its mutually agreed, I give up something- you take responsibility- we trust each other.

If Sam let's Dean push him around or be bossy its because he's okay with it, he's willingly handed over the reins and when things happen that he's uncomfortable with, or Dean doesn't do something that he (Sam) wants to do, he does put his foot down and make his feelings and desires known and Dean DOES concede to him.

Sam has power and influence over Dean, and he does use them, but he doesn't want to, or feel the need to all the time, because of the nature of their dynamic that he also enjoys and benefits from.

Now, is a D/s dynamic normal or even healthy for siblings to have, even if we're keeping it at a strictly nonsexual level? Idk, probably not. But that ship sailed for them long ago and the point is, that it is a mutually agreed upon, beneficial, enjoyed or otherwise desired way of living together. Sam isn't being crushed under Dean's controlling thumb (Dean and control is something for another day but I will be addressing it in time), and Dean isn't being manipulated by his evil little brother.

A D/s relationship may look strange to an outside observer depending on what tasks or stipulations are present to be seen in the first place, but a true D/s relationship, which I believe Sam and Dean to have, brings satisfaction, security and fulfillment to both parties, even though it may come off in unconventional ways.

And I'm not saying that they sat down and talked through all of this (as you should in real life), they might not even be aware of the extent of it. (The idea of them having terms negotiating talk, while possible, does not seem probable to me). But that's where they've found themselves, even if they accidentallied their way into it, and I think they're quite pleased and comfortable with it.

[erinwantstowrite]

Hi! Purely out of curiosity because I am always interested in people’s thoughts on the subject, how do you feel about “batcest” in au’s where the children were never adopted/didn’t meet until adulthood/etc? Any pairing with Bruce makes me genuinely nauseous, but I feel like I’m more lenient with situational stuff with the kids since they’re closer in age/didn’t grow up together in my very loose understanding of canon/not actually related/etc. (ie: I think Steph and Cass are cute together even though they’re both “batfam” members, etc etc)

please feel free to ignore this if it makes you uncomfortable! I just really love your writing and this seems to be a subject you’re passionate about, so I just wanted to know more of your thoughts. Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

anon in the nicest way possible, it's disgusting even then.

because it doesn't matter if they didn't know each other as little little kids, they are family in every sense of the word. it would be the same as two characters who are siblings having being raised in two different households as children getting into a relationship even though they knew each other later. it spits in the face of adopted families by claiming that they aren't actually family, and the people who defend batcest are hurting people who are victims of the exact dynamic that they're shipping. it's gross, like genuinely vile. knowing their canon relationship and "changing" it to fit what they want is nasty because they *had* to change it. they know it's wrong if they had to "fix" it in order to ship it. it implies that this person thinks they should be in a romantic pairing in canon, too, but they're trying to justify it to themselves.

and with Steph and Cass, Steph is a friend of theirs. she dated Tim previously and they are not related. she didn't want Bruce to adopt her, she doesn't consider them siblings. yes there is a found family dynamic but it's not the same as the others, who are not only legally family in most cases, but have considered each other family for years and years and years. they call each other their siblings. yes, even jason and tim. tim and jason are only a couple years apart, but jason is still family even if he died? tim considered himself dick's brother and his relationship with bruce was rocky sometimes but he also considered bruce like a father figure, and later on he was adopted so that was always there. they are siblings.

and in some of their dynamics, it's pedophilic dick and damian, dick and tim, jason and damian, tim and damian, even dick and jason because dick was an adult when he met jason. automatically that puts you in a spot where you deserve the deepest pit of hell. truly. i'm not religious but i hope they get their karma. i don't care if it's fictional, this reflects who they are as people in the real world and that's why i know these people are gross monsters. not to mention these people don't understand boundaries (shocker) and have and probably will again, ask me to include a batcest ship in LoF or to draw batcest for them. they have asked for peter and damian. one person claimed that peter and jason would be "cute" because of peter thinks he's cool and has "an innocence" about jason's life and what he's done. another asked for peter and dick. the blood related father and son. so it truly doesn't matter to them, i can guarantee it to you. the way i look at it, no matter which way they are shipped, you are automatically associated with the rest of them. nothing justifies it and it's wrong

and because i know someone is going to try to start an argument with me: i can't stop them from writing it. i know that. and you can scream at me until you're blue about your opinion on the matter, but i do not care and you will be wasting your breath. i am not pro cecsorship because it is a slippery slope and people will dig their claws into that. however. i can let them know that they aren't welcome on my page, i can talk about my opinion on the matter, i have every right to block them and say whatever i want. if you don't like this post, i'm telling you to block me so i don't have to take the time to do it myself 🫶

[tokuvivor]

Let’s talk about Huey.

He’s the responsible triplet. He tries to keep his brothers in order. That’s the weight that comes with being the oldest brother.

But let’s face it. Even he needs someone to look up to. Not necessarily as a parent or guardian, like he would Donald, Della, or Scrooge, but as more of an older sibling.

Which brings me to the main point of this post: Today, I will be discussing three characters that have acted like an older sibling towards Huey at one point or another in the show (and in the case of one, has signs pointing to that happening more consistently post-canon).

Let’s start with Lena.

In the first two seasons, we didn’t really see Huey and Lena interact one-on-one much. Then we get to The Split Sword of Swanstantine! (which we saw yesterday for Movie Night, and inspired me to make this post at all), and these two paired off together to find the blade of the Sword of Swanstantine.

I cannot say enough good things about who the writers chose for each pair in the episode (them, Dewey and Webby, and Louie and Violet), and just how well they all played off each other.

Back to Huey and Lena, though. Their main adversary in this episode is Steelbeak, who resolves to take the blade with brute force, which Lena wants to match him with, but Huey would rather take a logical approach to it. So they enter Huey’s mindscape, and after repeated attempts to outsmart Steelbeak fail, Lena discovers a mysterious door to…The Duke of Making a Mess.

It’s this wild, feral creature that lives inside Huey’s mind, and Lena sees it as a way for Huey to get an edge on Steelbeak. But Huey doesn’t want to use it, as he’s uncomfortable with that side of him. But Lena gives him some advice as the former shadow of Magica De Spell: that he can’t ignore parts of himself he doesn’t like. He’s gotta own them.

So, after embracing both the madness of the Duke and his usual, logical self to thoroughly hand Steelbeak’s ass to him to get the blade, Lena called it the most beautiful butt-kicking she had ever seen.

Just look at how proud she is of him! She really didn’t think much of anyone besides Webby in Season 1, but now, she’s not only owning her past trauma, she’s using it to help Huey with his own demons (well, demon).

Sure, she took pictures of his various disguise fails versus Steelbeak, but that doesn’t change or diminish how much she helped him out in the episode. With all of that encompassed, Lena definitely gives off big sister vibes towards Huey in this episode (and I definitely feel like moments like the Duke one between the two of them would carry on down the road). Also, they have the connection of both being oldest siblings in general.

Next up: Fenton.

Of the three dynamics I’m covering here, Huey and Fenton’s gets the most coverage over the course of the series. After their first encounter in Who is Gizmoduck?!, Huey became enthralled with Gizmoduck after he saved his life, then disillusioned by him after he essentially sold out and became WaddleDuck, but in the end, it was Huey who realized that the perfect core processor for the suit was Fenton’s own mind, because Fenton is Gizmoduck.

In The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!, Huey (along with Webby) helped Fenton with his date with Gandra at the lab (“It’s a Date!” intensifies). Even though this episode more establishes the beginning of the relationship between Fenton and Gandra, Huey’s support for his friend throughout is rather admirable.

In Astro B.O.Y.D.!, even though they didn’t really share a main storyline here, Fenton was willing to help Huey out regarding Boyd, and he was also the one that suggested that Boyd be used to fight crime in Tokyolk. This really shows that Fenton and Huey’s dynamic goes both ways in regard to one having a problem, and the other finding a way to help them out.

In The Trickening!, even though Fenton himself does not appear in the episode, Huey dressed up as Gizmoduck for Halloween, and he really went the extra mile with his costume. He even imitated Fenton’s Gizmoduck voice really well (“Halt, citizen!”).

In Beaks in the Shell!, after finding out that Fenton and Gandra are indeed together, Huey helps the two keep their relationship a secret, even going so far as having Louie dress up as him so as to not crack under the pressure of M’ma Cabrera’s interrogation. And, of course, Huey, along with M’ma and Gyro, help Fenton and Gandra take down Mark Beaks in the Gizmocloud. Even though Fenton kept their relationship secret from even Huey for so long, the fact that Huey was still willing to help cover it up just a little longer shows just how much trust the two have in each other.

Huey and Fenton are really two peas in a pod. With Fenton as an only child, and Huey as the oldest triplet, the brotherly dynamic is perfect for the two of them. It makes sense to me that as life goes on for the both of them, they’ll still show up for each other, no matter what.

And finally, Gandra.

This is a tougher one to go strictly by canon on, because Huey didn’t share any scenes with just Gandra in the show.

In The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!, Gandra was probably confused by the whole romantic setup in the lab, and thought that Huey and Webby were mostly just in the way in regards to her getting close enough to Fenton to swipe the Gizmotech for Beaks (even though the partnership was temporary). Nothing direct between the two of them in this episode, so hard to say here.

Regarding their dynamic in Beaks in the Shell!, besides the above GIF where Gandra put a weighted blanket on Huey because he was freaking out, you can also piggyback the whole “keeping-the-relationship-a-secret” thing with Fenton onto Gandra, too, since it’s also her relationship. Plus the “taking-down-Beaks” thing.

They also had a couple brief interactions in The Last Adventure!, but beyond that, it’s up to interpretation. I think that with Gandra free from F.O.W.L., whether she sticks to her own projects, works with Team Science in some way, or both (again, up to interpretation), with Fenton’s existing friendship with Huey, it’s completely reasonable to suggest that Gandra ends up forging a friendship with him, too. And Huey would definitely like finally getting to work with her.

For as much as I love fanon’s takes on Fenton and Gandra’s relationship, in the past, Gandra didn’t usually get much else in the way of stories where she connects with other characters. Huey is absolutely a missed opportunity on that front; they’d definitely have a cool dynamic. Huey just has a way of worming into people’s hearts, and I think after some time, Gandra realizes how much she genuinely cares about him. This is not meant to be a buildup to shamelessly plugging my Gandra and Huey story, Bridging the Gap, but then again, it kinda is. If you want to read it, click here.

So there you have it. Huey’s a great big brother, but if you really, really think about it, he’s also a great little brother.

[unhetalia]

Could you share some of your headcanons for the relationship between Alfred and Matthew? Like what kid of relationship they have?

These two are weirdos, first and foremost. I have a few different configurations for how they are depending on how angsty I want a universe to be. If we're talking headcanons for the relationship that looks similar to what they have in canon (they spend time together of their own volition), this is what I have.

My Matthew and Alfred's relationship can't be talked about wholly without mentioning the fact that there is an additional sibling - Maria, the eldest - and that she actively preferred Alfred to Matthew, meaning that there has NEVER been a time when Matthew felt in equal standing with Alfred when someone knows both Alfred and Matthew. I cannot emphasise how much this fucks Matthew up.

(Lack of self-awareness on Matthew's part, he also vastly prefers Alfred to Maria.)

This means that Matthew really doesn't like sharing friends with Alfred. This means he tends to be friends with Nations who actively dislike Alfred - Cuba, for one. Old English colonies who have always been bitter about having to compete with the ghost of Alfred Jones.

Alfred doesn't mention it, but this is something that hurts Alfred quite a bit, and leads to Alfred seeking out Maria and others' company more than Matthew's, which upsets him.

Matthew's blind spot is absolutely Alfred - he doesn't consider Alfred's feelings because he can't imagine that Alfred's feelings are capable of getting hurt. He truly sees Alfred as someone with a charmed life.

On the other hand, Alfred underestimates his twin. He never brings up anything Matthew does wrong because he believes Matthew "doesn't mean anything bad by it" and doesn't think Matthew can handle the criticism, thereby leading to a relationship where Matthew feels like he is a better sibling to Alfred than Matthew is to him.

It isn't just in their relationship - Alfred sees Matthew as dependent on his government, on England and France. He doesn't really see Matthew as someone who can stand on his own two feet, and therefore he doesn't see Matthew as being able to handle lots of things. (This is kind of a bigger thing wherein both Alfred AND Maria look down on Nations who work too closely with governments, as they see it is antithesis to their existence - more on this later.)

So these two have a lot of issues! Matthew blames Alfred for too many things that Alfred can't actually control instead of addressing his own issues with his self-worth, and Alfred lets Matthew get away with a lot of things because he sees Matthew as a delicate flower who is incapable of malice and can't handle criticism (or anything too hard, really).

BUT as with all familial relationships it's not all bad! These are two people who love each other DEEPLY.

Matthew doesn't love anyone more than he loves Alfred, no matter their issues. He will defend Alfred from any physical harm (see: Canadian response to Pearl Harbour - there ARE pluses to being attached to your government).

Alfred never forgets Mattie! He's on his speed dial! (Which number he is on speed dial I have not yet decided). He and Mattie have a lot of things they do, just the two of them - a lot are hiking-in-nature related. Or food related.

Matt and Al have six different secret languages - one of which is a form of sign language and three which they can use to communicate while one of them is bound and tied up and the kidnapper makes the ransom call in the same room.

Matthew has one of Al's baby teeth saved all the way from the 1600s. It's one of his most prized possessions, as its basically one of the only real proof of them ever being children that he has.

I've always headcanon'd that Al only has one home in the US, BUT he also has a cabin in Canada that he and Matthew stay in often. (Al just stays with Maria when he's in Mexico, but Al feels uncomfortable staying in Matt's house because both the Canadian AND US governments know where it is.)

Alfred remembers Kumajirou's name and vice versa.

Matthew favourite food is Alfred's apple pie - even more than pancakes. Alfred likes hockey over American football or baseball.

[miwiromantics]

ST ships and parallels - PART 2

this post is to point out similar parallels and their differences between the canon ships in the show, especially in favor of byler and jancy. this is a pro byler/jancy and anti-mileven/stancy post so if you ship the later dni or read at your own risk

most of the points here i've gotten are from the comments from this post. i will also be tagging the the original posters here (if u don't want to be tagged pls inform me to remove it)

this post includes: - byler/stancy parallel ✔️ - stancy/mileven parallels ✔️ - jancy/mileven parallels✔️ - byler/mileven parallels✔️ - byler/ jancy + canon ships parallels

part 1. part 3.

warning: !!! long post ahead !!!

Stancy/Mileven parallels:

4. Scenes

brought to us by lovely @robintheoriedbyler

there isn't anything to say further about these two shots other than that it is very similar.

in both scenes steve/el is looking at nancy/mike with sad expressions through a window. i interpret these two scenes as them looking at the other person through a glass; basically through a lens.

even if there isn't anything specifically negative about these two scenes, there is a jancy scene in the exact episode that kind of does oppose the second scene.

it doesn't say much but it definitely is something worth mentioning.

5. Privacy

one of my favorite stancy/mileven parallels. please read the original post by @bugsbenefit

this whole parallel exactly proves the point that mileven and stancy are almost exactly the same.

in the same episode

mike/steve are both welcoming el/nancy into their home and offering them new clothes because their own ones are drenched in water. the clothes are exactly the same: blue shirt and grey sweatpants

steve waits for nancy to undress in front of him but she asks him for privacy. mike hands the clothes to el and she decided to undress in front of them but mike immediately stops her and asks her to do so in the bathroom because of 'privacy'.

both Steve and El aren't familiar with the concept of 'privacy' (for totally different reasons) but only when Nancy/Mike asks for it, does Steve turn around/El changes in the bathroom.

But we know that Nancy does go against it and it immediately results in the uncomfortable stancy sex scene interjected with barbs death scenes.

both these scenes play out exactly the same in the beginning and they both clearly try to convey the same message; privacy. they are direct parallels of each other. but stancy was clearly meant to be making the audience uncomfortable and if mileven is being paralleled with them then...!?

i'll leave it up to ya'll to figure it out.

Jancy/Mileven parallels:

this is a pro-byler post but it wouldn't be fair to disregard the parallels between jancy and mileven.

1. Denying

in both these scenes, Nancy and Mike ask each other if they like Jonathan/El and they both deny it. They both then end up officially with Jonathan/El in the next season.

i don't have anything to say against this because it is a legitimate parallel between mileven and jancy. Both siblings deny their 'feelings' for the character that they will end up together with.

I think this is the strongest jancy/mileven parallel there is.

2. Reuniting

This scene isn't widely considered a parallel but i'm still going to be including this because it makes sense to do so. I think this scene moreover shows the difference between mileven and jancy and how the duffers view both of them.

similarities: in both these scenes, Jonathan/Mike run out of Argyle's van to reunite with their partners, Nancy/El. This was an especially important scene to me because these were after Steve/Will 'confessed' their feelings to them.

this was a scene showing that they're still happy to see the person their still with, El and Jonathan. This scene was supposed to show that no matter what Steve/Will said, Nancy/Mike still has feelings for Jonathan/El.

but it doesn't.

difference: how they display the following scenes after that are directly against each other. if you consider this as a parallel, then the following scenes should immediately disapprove that they are the same even if they play out the same.

how they show the character in between their ships are very different.

Will is directly in between Mike and El while Steve is shown to be passing them by instead. Steve isn't viewed as a 'threat' to Jancy while Will is to mileven. Will's confession actually holds some weight for Mike than Steve's confession does to Nancy.

Will's feelings play a very important part in mileven's relationship while Steve's aren't.

Will and Steve: this, again, bleeds into the Stancy/Byler parallel i talked about in the first post. One confession was purely out of selflessness while the other one was because of selfishness.

one more thing to support my selflessness/selfishness claim is that even if Will loves Mike, he isn't mad at El. He doesn't show his anger or show outward jealousy towards her. He isn't holding anything against her because he is clearly happy to see her. Will doesn't view El as competition.

Steve, on the other hand, outwardly displays his sadness when Jonathan and Nancy reunite with each other. It is to the point that Robin has to pet his back to reassure him. Steve views Jonathan as competition.

this is not to show hate for Steve, this is just pure observation.

I could've found a way to included this point in the first post regarding stancy and byler but i found it more fitting to use as a sort of similarity and difference between mileven and jancy.

------------------------------------------------------------

Byler/Mileven parallels:

now that we got jancy/mileven out of the way, let's talk above byler and mileven instead. these two ships are very written to oppose each other in every single way.

there aren't a lot of things to be expanded on regarding their parallels because it is so blatantly obvious.

i feel compelled to also mention that both ships are written with opposing tropes. 'friends-to-lovers' and 'love-at-first-sight' are vastly very different categories.

1. 'yes' and 'no'

one of the most mentioned opposing points between Mileven and Byler are their first words to Mike. El's first word to Mike was 'no' while Will's was 'yes'.

'no' vs 'you said yes'

i think it's sort of on the nose to mention that the first thing El does is disagree with Mike while the first thing Will does is to agree with with him.

2. 'Understanding'

the most obvious parallel between Mileven and Byler is during Mike's scenes with both Will and El in season 4.

In this scene, Mike and El are arguing because Mike doesn't tell her he loves her. She uses the line that is directly paralleled to his conversation with Will.

'you never say it' 'i say it' vs 'i didn't say it' 'you didn't have to'

this scene so simply means that El needs to be reassured by Mike that he still loves her because his actions are not saying it or even displaying it.

her asking for this reassurance immediately disapproves the argument that he just can't say 'ily' because of his parents. even if he can't say it, he can still show it through his actions. her asking for this means that he hasn't been showing her that he loves her especially with scenes like:

'what did you do' and 'she didn't look fine'

she needs to still hear that he loves her. she can't read that he does.

the whole 'i didn't say it' 'you didn't have to' scene opposes them exactly with mike saying that he doesn't need words to understand what Will was saying. Will's actions were enough for Mike to understand him.

this further proves my point when we take into account that Mike had no idea El was lying to him the whole time in rink-o-mania. he didn't clock that she was uncomfortable with Angela and her friends when they came up to her.

even when Angela took her away, mike wasn't responsive. only when Will outwardly stated that something was wrong did he actually have a reaction.

and even in this scene where mike is calling out to el but she runs away from him instead is not just her being embarrassed in front of him but also her not reading him as someone who would be able to comfort her.

he isn't someone she finds comfort in anymore. she literally wants to hide herself away from him. and even then, she begs Angela to tell Mike that it was all just a joke and that they are really friends because she doesn't understand Mike enough to know that he would still love her and regardless of it. that she would still be someone 'cool' in his eyes without all these lies.

but she doesn't.

Will and Mike, on the other hand have a whole other relationship dynamic. they don't need words to understand each other because they can read the other based on only actions.

will understood mike's expressions enough to know that he needs reassurance during the desert scene and mike clocking will enough to know that he wasn't enjoying himself in the roller rink. in the second scene, Mike uses Will's actions (rolling your eyes, moping) to determine that Will was annoyed and moody the whole day, there was no need for Will to even say it.

byler doesn't need to say anything to know each other while mileven does.

more parallels in part 3.

------------------------------------------------------------ i would like to make clear that these are my interpretations of the scenes, it doesn't mean they r actually canon. these are just observations made by me. this is part two of the parallels between ships. thank you for reading!!

[keen-eye]

What is your opinion on Wincest?

thank you for asking. i hope you're ready for me to go very in-depth into my personal opinions about the ship and about the fandom, but if not:

TL;DR: take it or leave it, but you cannot deny that sam & dean do not act like normal siblings. and most importantly, bullying is never okay. these are fictional characters

okay here we go ⬇️

if someone hates wincest they should block the tag/blog and move on, it's as simple as that. i myself had the tag blocked when i first started my rewatch. they are only embarrassing themselves by coming on here and crying about it. if fictional incest upsets you so much then i don't think this is the right show for you

jared and jensen have insane chemistry, they and the crew recognized it very quickly. so when you have two people with that much chemistry playing siblings their relationship will come across as very questionable and the audience will pick up on that. they didn't make it up out of nowhere. also, the cast and crew joke about the ship outside and within the show. it's not that serious

do i personally ship wincest? i guess technically i do. but i never watch shows for shipping, i never watch shows just for hot people. power to those who do, though. i watch this show because i've never come across a more unique character than sam (reasons too long for this post). so the content i engage in/the blogs i follow are centered around sam and his and dean's canon dynamic, sometimes mixed with this hypothetical version of their relationship because i find it interesting to speculate on. because i do believe something more explicit than what was already shown could absolutely have fit into canon. and that's the only type that i find interesting, where they are not regular boyfriends but as they already are: brothers with a very fucked up and power imbalanced relationship. but i am not actively wearing shipping goggles when i'm watching

i understand that incest makes people uncomfortable. but the show was (originally) a gothic horror. taboo subjects, like incest, are a fundamental part of that genre. emotionally incestuous undertones were ingrained into the show from the beginning. sam & dean are not normal about each other. if you think that they act like regular siblings then i don't even know what to say. and even though the show shifted genres their codependency only intensified as it went on. many characters commented on their weirdly close relationship throughout the show

on that note, this taboo has been around literally forever. it's in literature, it's on tv, it's in porn. it will never not be a subject many people want to explore in fiction. on that note, i see a lot of people say that fictional incest ships will affect reality. i can promise that it will not all of a sudden make everyone want to start fucking their family members. and if someone believes this then i'd also expect them not ship other "problematic ships" (e.g., hannigram, a relationship between a murderous cannibal who physically and psychologically tortured the other person). sam & dean are serial killers but you don't see people saying that being okay with that in a fictional show makes someone a bad person

i can't say from personal observation (because i only joined tumblr in october last year) but i have seen many mentions that more people are becoming increasingly sensitive/engrossed in purity culture compared to fandom years ago and this is evident in how they behave on social media (i can at least corroborate that last part)

for example, seeing someone's sam & dean edit and freaking out in the comments about whether it's meant to be wincest or not before they reblog. or joining in bullying wincest shippers to fit in/appease other antis. or making a post about how disgusting wincest shippers are and directly tagging wincest. i don't know if this is something from the new generation or maybe something else but i will say that when i see people acting like this my immediate thought is that they are children who never learned social media etiquette

attacking and insulting anyone over any ship is extremely wrong and immature. going after people who worked on the show for not condemning a ship is wrong. i also see a lot of people say to wincest shippers that they are probably attracted to their own siblings. once again, these are fictional characters. if you feel comfortable saying that to a real person and without any shame then that says a lot about you. people ship things and explore subjects in fiction for different reasons and it does not mean that it is a one to one reflection of their morals

and lastly, maybe slightly unrelated, saying that wincest shippers have invaded tumblr, ao3, or now rednote is dumb. they were there first, they've been around since 2005. they made these platforms what they are today and they aren't going anywhere no matter how much others bully them

if you got this far then thank you for reading

[tunamayuuu]

yoy did not see the last ask you did not see you did not see

How about Kouyou and Kyouka? :]]]

HI i said i'll answer asks 2-4 hrs ago and i lied </3 i was playing games with my sibling. anywho!!! my favs!!!

kouyou ozaki (bsd)

favorite thing about them: her role as the overprotective mother hen! she's pretty textbook example of what some real-life mothers are, seeing their daughters as extensions of themselves than their own being, and that's what pushes her to cling to kyouka so closely. because she genuinely believes what she's doing is preserving kyouka's emotional state, when she couldn't be further from correct. she's also one of my favorite character designs in the girls cast.

least favorite thing about them: the time she stabbed atsushi but that's it lol. i understood why she did it

favorite line: "Listen to me, Kyōka. I know how you feel. But... some things are simply impossible. No matter how much a natural-born assassin like you seeks light... A flower that blooms in the dark can survive only within the dark. If you pursue the light, its heat will burn you up in the end."

brOTP: her and ace bickering is comedy gold to me

OTP: none

nOTP: none

bonus interaction that's my favorite: i genuinely enjoy her putting her trust in atsushi to take care of kyouka as she adjusts to the day world. i know that it isn't 100% perfect that she still entrusts a different person to care for kyouka when she has seen that kyouka is more than capable of deciding for herself and taking action, but it's a step towards fully accepting that kyouka has left the bird's nest.

random headcanon: kouyou has definitely tried dressing kyouka a little more similarly to herself in the past. dressing her in pink, black and white, putting her hair up in a bun, and she looks back to those memories fondly.

unpopular opinion: she is Not a mommy figure to thirst after, she's not a girlboss, she's a thoroughly damaged woman that does not want her baby bird to suffer the same fate she did. also, i feel uncomfortable with bsd fans feeling high and mighty about hating her all along when there's criticism directed at her. i've never seen anyone make excuses and defend the emotional harm she inflicted onto kyouka during guild arc and it confuses me when i see fans insisting that to be the case. instead, i just don't see a lot of conversation about her story until recently when she's hated by many fans.

song i associate with them: Mother Knows Best from Tangled, Puppeteer and Done For from Epic the Musical (Circe Saga), Dance in the Dark by Lady Gaga

favorite picture of them:

-

kyouka izumi (bsd)

favorite thing about them: she's one of my favorites to draw! what i love about her is her determination to keep moving forward, she's so young and yet so assertive to her own desires. if it weren't for her attachment to atsushi and the desire for the mundanity of living as a girl and not an assassin, if it weren't for her voicing to atsushi that she didn't want to kill any more people than she already has, she wouldn't be where she is now.

least favorite thing about them: can't think of any

favorite line: "I saw a bright world. I cannot go back to a time when I did not know such a thing existed." and "My name is Izumi Kyouka, I've killed 35 people. I don't want to kill anyone else!"

brOTP: atsushi and kyouka!! they're inseparable and will always be the home to the other.

OTP: kyoukenji! i want to explore their dynamic more in canon and in the kny au

nOTP: atsukyou. i agree that kyouka definitely admired atsushi in a "crush" way when they first interacted but i am deeply uncomfortable in putting them in any kind of romantic dynamic, regardless of when kyouka grows older.

random headcanon: whenever kyouka wakes up in cold sweat from a nightmare, she knocks on atsushi's closet and asks if he could keep the closet open so they can sleep in a shared space. they don't sleep next to each other due to atsushi's awkwardness, but kyouka feels safer knowing that atsushi's always nearby.

unpopular opinion: can't think of any

song i associate with them: Warrior by AURORA, Elastic Heart by Sia, Tokyo Teddy Bear (Juby Phonic Cover) by Neru, Dandelions by Ruth B, Lagtrain and Lost Umbrella by inabakumori, Therefore You and Me by TadanoCo

favorite picture of them:

fav scene

fav image

[thesharktanksdriver]

Cabin 10: rose scented lace, seafoam perfume and pink pearls

Headcanons of being a child of Aphrodite

These might not be canon at all and mostly personal headcanons but who cares!

This goes out to all the cabin 10 girls and guys who need more attention. Honestly the Aphrodite cabin in my opinion is one of the most undervalued and underrated

To be a child of Aphrodite is to be loved from the minute your born

Aphrodite quite literally is the part of embodiment of love itself

Her gentle touch lingering in the way she shaped your cheeks and jaw

A wistful sigh as she wraps you in silken cloth and kisses your nose when she sends you off to your human home

Growing up you’ll hear stories of her from your parent, the way that effortlessly beautiful woman appeared one day

Glimmering eyes and a sea tinted perfume lingering wherever she went

They say you inherited her eyes, ones that sparkle like gemstones and the natural beauty of someone wholly ireplaceable

It’s because of this and many other reason that your told your unique

You have something that makes you different from most children that you can’t know about yet

It’s confusing but as you navigate school and life as a kid you see things that others can’t

For some reason you can tell when someone has crush on someone else

When your hair is out of place a gentle breeze fixes it

Chocolate of a expensive kind placed in your bag without any clue to as who put it there on your bad days

A single beautiful rose placed on your windowsill each birthday

It’s odd but at some point you stop questioning it

Accepting it as it is and placing the long lasting roses in a special vase, the dried petals still somehow keeping their hue

You’ll notice how people gaze at you with awe

Some are vocal in their praise and others are silent in their admiration

None dare to cross the line though of ever making you uncomfortable

If they do an untold bout of bad luck seem to occur to them

Along with this sometimes you can seemingly charm people into doing what you want

A simple shifting of tone accented with a simple please and fluttering of your eyes can make even the most stubborn of mule back down to your whim

You can’t explain it like the many other facets of your life

So you once more ignore it

Same as the times you’ll ignore the feeling of home in a woman who’ll never quite look the same but you know is at heart

She’ll appear to you different each time

Sometimes she’s a woman in an expertly tailored suit, her hair is tucked into a bun and her hands have a French tip. She looks at you from beneath the rims of Prada glasses with a soft and gentle look of longing before flashing a smile

Other times she appears as a woman in showy clothes that others look at in disdain. Despite how others discourage you about what she wears you think she’s the most prettiest person you’ve ever seen, her red tinted lips quirk up as you keep sending shy glances her way

Each and every time she appears she feels familiar and acts as a sort of inspiration to you

Whether that be finding your personal style or becoming more confident in your own skin

The woman who is never quite the same yet you somehow know is guiding you gently

Nudging you towards your path in life and letting you walk the rest of the way

Her gentle hands try and push you away from ever realizing what exactly you are but it’s only inevitable

like all half-bloods the realization of your part divinity comes quick and hits hard

Like a gunshot ringing into the night as the smoke chokes your mind

No matter how you end up at camp everyone seems to immediately know without a doubt what cabin you belong to

As do your siblings who swarm you, dragging you to your new home as they begin to look you over for injuries

You’ll find that your siblings are from all walks of life, all beautiful in different ways wether that be conventional or something unique

One of your brothers comes from a single mom who runs a bakery and he’s as sweet as cake

A sister of yours is as muscular as a ares kid and grew up in the wilderness

Another is the daughter of a up and coming designer

They all welcome you with open arms, showing you to your already made bed

A chest is in front of it, your name written in cursive and embellished with your favourite flowers, a quote, the scent of your favourite perfume

You don’t know how anyone of your siblings would know this about you

You say so aloud and get a coy smile from one of them along with

“She’s the goddess of love, but love isn’t just romantic it can also be motherly”

It takes awhile to get used to camp, but your siblings are there for every step of the way

They show you the ropes as the camp activities become something you need to get used too

Your older sisters and brothers find out your strengths, showing you the social structure of the camp and the rivalries between certain cabins

To say there’s some petty shit happening within the camp is an understatement

Ares and Athena kids are at each others necks, Hermes’ cabin is perpetually filled to the bring with unclaimed, children of minor gods and the actual children of Hermes, ect ect

Meanwhile your cabin is given the jurisdiction of “shallow” “bitchy” and essentially the stereotype of “dumb blond/bimbo”

It doesn’t surprise you but it isn’t a nice feeling knowing what other kids assume because of who your parent is

The way Athena kids scoff when your sisters paints your nails or helps style your hair

When Demeter kids scoff at the flowers in your arm given by an admirer

How Apollo kids admire you for your beauty but just that

It’s hard and it’s sad

But quickly the older of the cabin show you the upside to this

Your underestimated which makes you much more dangerous

Sometimes you don’t even need to use charmtalk to get what you want

Just act dumb and slide up beside a blushing boy to ask a question

The Athena kids don’t know how their capture the flag plans were leaked to the ares kids

But they sure as hell don’t suspect the “ditzy” cabin 10

Speaking of which both Ares and the Aphrodite cabin get along well despite the major differences between the two

And it’s not just because both ares and Aphrodite have a thing going on either

Both in the camp are underestimated and not well liked

Sure, there are reasons at to why that is but the fact still boils down to parentage

Ares is seen as just a violent brute and Aphrodite a shallow bimbo

Thus their kids are typically just boiled down to just that

Which in turn leads to both cabins relating to being seen as nothing more

Whilst Ares kids focus on the violent aspects of war that isn’t to say their just as strategic as Athena kids

Spartans were violent warriors but they were still smart

And it’s the same way for Ares’s children

In similar fashion as to how Aphrodite children see them the Ares kids also see cabin 10’s strengths

Beauty and love are such a fickle concept that causes so much destruction

Paris’s love for Helen cause the Trojan war and Odysseus’s love for his wife kept him determined to return home after 20 years

Love and beauty are dangerous concepts and it’s why love and war go together so well

Love is its own type of battlefield

It can ripe and tear you apart better than any sword or battle strategy

It’s something that even the gods fight over

It’s an unseen terrifying force that’s usually aquatinted to as something pure and beautiful

That’s not to say love isn’t beautiful

But even the prettiest flowers can be poisonous

Gemstones are still sharp

Thorns are still on roses

Love can be something all consuming and corrosive

The border between love and obsession can be a fine line that once crossed leads to disaster and ruin worse than war

And they see that

They see it better than anyone else in camp besides Chiron and Dionysus

Both of which have either seen it first hand or how truly powerful your mother is at pulling heartstrings to her hearts content

She is both Kind and can be exceedingly cruel and petty if your on her bad side

Something of which you’ll never experience because first and foremost Aphrodite is a loving mother

It’s seen in myths like Eros and Psyche

In how she curses with those who slight her babies

Her love is not physically seen but it’s through actions and gifts

Sometimes you’ll find things when you wake up that you know are from her

There’s a reason all of cabin 10 is rocked out in designer clothes

Most attribute it to being kids of rich human parents but that’s usually far from the truth

In reality It’s all from her

You’ll awake to it in the morning, a box with a ribbon tied in a bow on the chest engraved with your name

Sometimes the lingering scent of perfume and the warmth of a mothers kiss on your forehead

Pears or flowers woven into your hair

The clothes are always the ones you’ve looked at in advertisements or magazines

Hoping and wishing that one day you would have it

What’s more touching though is that some of these items modified for you

In your favourite colour, a shade that matches your eyes or even having your name on it with a small heart which is either stitched or engraved

Some of these items you’ll get date back to before you were sent to camp

The times as a kid you’d skim through a catalog in some random magazine and suddenly stop on something that caught your eyes

A thing you knew your human parent could never afford on your birthday so you kept it in the corner of your mind and memory

Along with this you’ll get small letters or notes

Some complimenting your look today

How your eyes were made by her to glimmer like the biggest of sapphires

The message of how much she loves you no matter what

And perhaps that is something other cabins are jealous of

“If you ever doubt yourself know your siblings love you.I love you.”

Even if your powers aren’t helpful in the way of battling one another just know your always safe under her watchful eye

remember hell hath no fury as a woman scorned, let alone a goddess and a mother

People tend to forget that Aphrodite as a goddess of love also has domain over motherly love

And you are no exception to that

From the moment you were born you have been loved

And you will continue to be loved

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Not to compate siblings, but I wish the zutarians could be more like zukaangers, specifically with the incessant need to make Zuko/the fire nation seem less bad. It seems like they're constantly trying to justify Zuko's actions and paint the fire nation as just 'misguided'. Zutarians refuse to give Zuko guilt for the actual things he does.

And it's baffling to me because a big theme that zutara and zukaang share is guilt/forgiveness. Zukaangers lean into this so fucking hard. They will give Zuko guilt for everything he did, everything his forefathers did, everything his nation did, hell everything the world did, and have it juxtaposed by Aang's forgiveness and reminders that Zuko is not his nation nor his past mistakes.

It feels like zukaangers have Aang forgive Zuko because he can and wants to. Meanwhile, zutarian have Katara forgive Zuko because she should. If that makes sense.

Zukaang is everything Zutarians want their ship to be.

Based on a dynamic that is actually a central point in the story and that had a profound effect on these characters? Check.

Selfless hero that looks at the villain, picks up on all the sad vibes on that motherfucker, and confidently says "If not friend, why friend-shaped"? Check.

Hero's kindness living rent-free in the villains head? Check.

CONSTANT red and blue imagery that actually has a deeper meaning instead of just being the result of the show assigning colors to each nation to make it easier for the seven year olds to keep track of everyone? Check.

CONSTANT parallels, with entire episodes and full arcs dedicated to it, including one of the characters having a dream in which they are the same person because they're THAT alike? Check.

Romantic imagery?

Motherfucking check.

I guess that's why Zukaang shippers are much more sane. Even though Zuko and Aang's dynamic with each other in the show was clearly meant to be platonic, it is so important to canon and so throughly explored by it that it becomes IMPOSSIBLE to make the ship work if you mischaracterize either of them. It really wouldn't take much rewriting to make them a perfectly reasonable endgame - and I say this as someone who doesn't ship it and prefers Zuko to be an older brother figure to Aang.

Meanwhile Zutara has nothing beyond aesthetic and "enemies to lovers is a nice trope." The characters don't interact much until the end of the story, don't think of each other at all for most of it, and are openly, genuinely uncomfortable when people think they're dating. It's all about self-inserting as Katara to date an OC they attached Zuko's name and face too, or vice versa (more rare, but it happens).

OF COURSE it's out of character, OF COURSE it completely screws up the dynamic - it was never about "How would this pairing work?", it was about shilling the idea of one of the characters involved.

[tacitusk1llwhore]

I’ve been thinking about this, and as much as I hate to say it, the lack of queer representation in media (especially MLM relationships) has kind of decimated fandom culture around found family, platonic or even family dynamics between two men.

Now before you get out your torches, I am NOT talking about fun, harmless whatever ships like Bill and Kieran or Charles and Arthur. These men are not explicitly stated to be family to one another in any way, shape, or form, even via the “brothers in everything but blood” route. Their relationships can absolutely be seen through the lens of non-platonic or even leaning non-platonically! More so, what I am talking about is things like people shipping the Robins from the Batman comics together, the Winchester brothers from Supernatural, and what you all reading this will care about, John and Arthur.

Lack of queer representation in media or good queer representation in media, period, has caused a drought of sorts and leaves people scrambling, and that’s where we run into trouble. Trouble with people seeing two men being affectionate with one another in a familial way and rushing to make it something it’s not. “But it’s just fiction; it doesn’t matter!” And that’s where you’re wrong. It does matter because, as I’ve stated before, fandom spaces hold comfort for people who are struggling. Say someone who has a poor home life or has experienced some sibling trauma regarding inappropriate behaviors, and the first thing they come across is someone defending incestual ships because…they want to, I guess? Now I don’t need to state why shipping blood brothers together is bad….I would hope….but I do apparently need to explain why shipping non blood related siblings together is bad.

So here is this unfortunate explanation.

1.) Shipping adopted, step, or even surrogate siblings together perpetuates the idea that adopted, step, or surrogate siblings are not actually family to one another because they don’t share blood. I shouldn’t need to say why this is harmful, but I will for clarity’s sake. People in these family dynamics are made extraordinarily uncomfortable by these ships and this rhetoric because a majority of the time the people writing these things do not know how these dynamics work, nor do they care—they get off on the taboo of it all. As someone with family who is adopted, that is my family. The dynamic I have with them doesn’t suddenly become non-familial or platonic simply because of the absence of blood relations. Seeing people remove this and do these things is deeply unsettling and entirely disturbing for what I would hope are obvious reasons.

2.) Removing familial ties within media that are ingrained within that dynamic is harmful towards the narrative and character itself. This one is more Red Dead focused, but changing or removing Arthur and John’s brother relationship is harmful to the narrative. John and Arthur are brothers in all but blood; they bicker, they remain distant, they argue and have spats and tease each other and do what siblings do, but at the end of the day, they will stop at nothing to help or protect one another because that is what brothers do. They were raised together, they became siblings, they have that undying familial love for one another, and erasing that entirely is a disservice to both of them.

3.) It harms actual queer ships. If you are being shown incest or even pseudo-incest as one of the top MLM ships in a fandom, it is going to do damage to the actual ships or even canon queer relationships within a fandom. This is for 2 main reasons: 1.) People cannot behave normally about ships in fandom spaces. If you say you like another ship, you’re going to get a comment on why (insert top ship) is better, and if one of those top ships is incest (looking at you, supernatural fandom), you’re going to see a lot of defending of incest as well as sexualization of brotherly or platonic relationships. 2.) It turns people away from actually queer relationships. A lot of people deny queer relationships in media, be they lack media literacy, but an equal number denies it because fandoms cannot be normal. When ships like the Winchester brothers or John and Arthur are pushed to the forefront, it is harmful to queer relationships in media because of the actual and correct taboo around the topics it puts a stain on, bringing up actual queer ships, harmless or even all but canon, because people have been exposed to queer ships being surrounded with a harmful taboo, which makes it unsettling at times.

Now, I feel the need to clarify again. I do NOT mean harmless fun little ships. Someone shipping Charles and Arthur or John and Javier together is harmless; they’ve found representation in that, and that’s fine. Fetishizing familial relationships because you see a scrap of affection between two men is not okay; it’s harmful in so many ways because, at the end of the day, fiction can absolutely impact someone’s reality.

This is also an issue you can see in non-queer ships, but as of recently, I’ve seen it sort of running rampant. As of my time in fandom, taboo MLM ships have kind of taken hold, which is because of a lack of representation, because of a lack of proper MLM relationships within media. Ship who you’d like, but PLEASE stop shipping siblings or defending shipping siblings; it is harmful. We need to address the representation problem, but adding taboo around MLM ships is not the way to go about it.

[generic-enthusiast]

Been seeing a lot of Christmas themed headcanons and not nearly enough Hanukkah headcanons, so...

Headcanons for what menorah each member of the gang would have

Darry’s is football themed because of course it is (just had the most fantastic fic idea about this... let's see if I can finish it for Hanukkah). I have one myself with a bunch of different sport players with the ball of their sport in front of them and that's where you put the candle, so this is basically the same only with just football players. They're all from the same team and have their number behind them.

When Soda got his it was just a bit after losing Mickey Mouse so it was horse-themed. This one was home-made bc they couldn't find one with horses on it. It has nine horses with a nut on their head for the candle (and also some holes in their heads bc there's no way a nut can hold a candle atop a play horse's head)

Ponyboy's was a bit harder to think of because he didn't have such a clear-cut obsession with anything. He got it for his bar mitzvah when he was sort of getting more into religion because the Curitses aren't all that religious, but were fine when he wanted to be more religious, so he got one that looks sort of like this:

Only the swirly things spelled out "khai" or however it's romanised in English that means "life" in Hebrew (in the original letters ofc).

He likes it because it makes him feel grown up despite being the baby of the family

Now I don't personally hc the rest of the gang as Jewish but you better believe they're getting a menorah anyway

Steve. Steve my beloved. He made his own menorah to match Soda's when Mr and Mrs Curtis gave it to him, only instead of horses he used cars. He had enough toy cars (that he didn’t play with anymore at the grown age of thirteen, of course) so he found a piece of wood somewhere and glued them to it and then asked Mr and Mrs Curtis for some nuts to use as candle holders.

The shema was either a toy truck or like three cars piled up on each other

Johnny doesn’t have his own because he didn’t really want one, he felt kinda uncomfortable, like he was intruding on something, so he just lights Ponyboy’s with him (they grab the shema together and touch hands hehe)

So for Two-Bit I looked up weirdest menorahs and found one that is absolutely perfect

But I don't think it would be neither cheap nor easy to steal, so HEAR ME OUT Jewish Marcia who has this bc her parents let her buy her own and Two-Bit absolutely falls in love with her it when he sees it when he came over for Hanukkah this is canon trust me guys I'm friends with his sister

As for Two-Bit's own menorah, I think it'd just be a random simple menorah he swiped from the first place he saw that was selling them.

Now all that's left is Dally.

Once, Mrs Curtis mentioned that her family has like... heirloom menorahs. But since she has issues with her family, she never got them, they went to her sibling. She described it a bit and he went "huh" and then showed up a couple weeks later having stolen one that matched her description almost perfectly. She accepted the gift (begrudgingly) but it was still the menorah Dally lit every Hanukkah so in a way it was his

(The five remaining members of the gang lit his menorah together the Hanukkah right after canon. If Ponyboy closed his eyes he could imagine it was Johnny, lighting the menorah with him like he'd been doing for years.)

[nalooksthrough]

Pe-Az Canon Analysis

I think before I start making headcanons about the Pe-Az. I should do an analysis on what the show has already told and/or shown us. I'm writing it out because writing helps me form more structured thoughts.

Be warned this is a rather long post.

General

Going to start off with their ship. It's in the shape of a pod because 'peas in a pod' and all that, very goofy. It also glows a bright green leaving behind a small green trail when they travel. Speaking of travel, they don't move in a straight line, they pilot in a zig zag pattern.

They also fly their ship backwards which is a weird choice but okay you do you.

They refer to themselves as an intergalactic peace negotiating team called the Pe-Az. So yeah, Pe-Az isn't the name of their race, it's their team name. Their team consists of a Statistical Leader (top), an Optimism Captain (middle) and a member simply known as The Closer (bottom). Who remains mute until they exhausted all other options. Basically he's their trump card. They are also call each other brother so that's sweet. Siblings working in a intergalactic peace team together.

They say that they have been setting human disputes for centuries (with pictures to prove it) and they personally have helped with 293 negotiations before the events of "Peace of Pizza". And yet somehow out of 293 disrupts they never once came across a person whose lactose intolerant or has an allergy to dairy. In fact they don't even seem to know that it's a thing.

Now I'm not sure if they mean they as in the team or they as in they themselves have been helping settle human disputes over the centuries. The three of them could possibly be centuries old.

Also want to point out that fairies are only present in the 1950 burger fry treaty which makes me think that they have only just recently started to work with them.

They also seem to be overly confident in their belief that pizza is like the key to all negotiations, that it's the universal incentive and that everyone loves Pizza. Which okay sure, good luck trying that with the Yugopotamians.

They are so confident in this fact that they even made an on/off switch for it. Their technology must to insane if they create a device to turn the concept of pizza off (and remove Italy from existence) like that's scary man.

Also they just carry around different types of pizza with them in briefcases, which might just be disguised pizza boxes. Even for non-existing pizzas like ice-cream pizza. Wonder how many other types of pizza they have hidden away?

And I guess if they are being this non descript and vague about what a pizza is than it very well could be the universal incentive.

Their written language has a lot of arrows, lines and dots. Also that's a lot of repeating characters for such a short text. They must not have a big alphabet.

They have rules when it comes to their negotiations! The only one we know of so far is that if someone manages to out negotiate them, they have to go on their side. Even is they don't want to and it ends with the removal of all pizza in the world. They have no choice.

This isn't totally related to my analysis but think it's sweet that even though they are clearly uncomfortable. They were still willing to play video games with Dev or maybe it was just out fear. Dev was the first person to ever out negotiate them. The lactose intolerant child scares them.

Apparently they are monsters and eat their pizza crust first.

They also not only managed to sneak into the Galax institute completely undetected but also none of these parasciencist are even questioning their green colouring at all? What are they even doing there anyway? Are they trying to keep tabs on what the humans know about alien life?

Abilities

Going to start with the one they use the most. Their ability to Assimilate. They can seemly sprout humanoid forms from their sphere bodies and are relatively good at mimicking the human form with only minimal hiccups. And given they are intergalactic peace keepers this most likely extends to other non-human forms as well.

But they can't seem to change their colouration which you think would be a problem but no. No one seems to question them about it, no one even seems to even question where they came from or how they got here. Which makes me think they also have a way to mentally assimilate, not just physically.

I like how even in these forms, they will naturally assume their normal stack positions. They even do it in their proper order (Stat top, Opt middle, Close bottom). They can't help it!

The next ability I'm gonna talk about is their screen projection. Which they can not only use to display written text but also screenshots of what may be their memories but I'm not sure.

At first I thought it was just Opt who could do this. But Stat also does it, so it must be something they can all do.

Another ability which might not even be an ability is their ability to teleport objects. This might just be done with tech since they don't really do this often. But it also has a similar effect to when they display another ability that I will soon mention so I can't fully rule it out.

They can also seemly float/float objects but they can seemly only do this when they are in their true form. Their assimilated forms must take energy for them to keep up or something.

And finally their weirdest and most disturbing ability. The ability to turn living beings into pizza. Which brings to mind the horrifying question of "is this where they get all their pizza from?"

This also shows that while they promote peace, they are willing to use more forceful methods if pushed. So they're not fully pacifistic.

Hello? Sir? What are going to do with that pizza slice? 😥

[paperstreetlocal]

T4T headcanons of narrator and Tyler maybe?

ok where do i start ehmmm

theyre both tmasc 2 me obviously. ive seen hcs of them as tfem post-movie and i think its a good concept it just doesnt fit with my hcs

narrators the generic truscum type of dude, has awful dysphoria and doesnt really believe hell ever be a real man. only got on t like a couple months before tyler blew his shit up, actively starves himself to get rid of any curves etc.

because he mentions his family is catholic in the book i view him as catholic, not religious per se but i think he has a lot of shame and intrusive thoughts about it. didnt get much chances to express himself as a kid even tho he felt wildly uncomfortable being a feminine girl and his mother reinforcing it (well i mean, dads not around, no siblings... no space to interact with much except his mom)

had a binder at one point but lost it cuz of tyler so he had to resort to some very questionable taping options during his stay with him-- before they came out to each other his dysphoria got like. 50 times worse He couldnt even imagine tyler supporting something like that, not even taking him seriously (worst option is kicking him out or worse) so he would just like. straight up ever refuse to strip or stop binding for a couple weeks lol

do i think his dysphoria got any better after they both found out about each other. No. i think it got somewhat worse because well, tyler doesnt even bind and looks more masculine than him. i think he had a deep seated hatred for him for not even trying, and if he got mad for whatever reason hed feminize him in his head, not that he said anything straight to tyler because hed probably get his teeth knocked out 4 it. i guess that also adds to his homophobia cuz tyler doesnt look like your typical man so

--

now for tyler i also think he has some weird ideas about masculinity (OBVIOUSLY) but its more psychological rather than physical (the narrator being the opposite) . the generic men dont cry type shit. has dysphoria but isnt like, aware of it? its not eating at him or anything he just kinda does things he conditioned himself to do to pass earlier on. gymbro eating disorder (you know the type. guzzling boiled eggs) has to be shredded with low % of fat (i draw him slightly meatier cuz i like it lol. i feel bad drawing him so skinny)

as a kid he grew up in like. a big family in texas and his parents didnt really pay much attention to him and he just did whatever the fuck he wanted half the time so he had the conditions to explore himself. also wore his older brothers clothes and he was generally messy and androg-looking. also energetic. i think he got on t without advice from a doctor in his late teens and his parents were kinda done with him .do whatever just move out

i think he binded at one point but it restricted him from doing the things he enjoyed so gave up on it. and when he got into the masc bullshit he believed getting surgery would be a cop out, not naturally manly so he learned to live with it and doesnt really mind it. only tapes during fights cuz somebody yanked on his boob once :,3

he passes so well in fact the narrator jus assumed he had gynecomastia and didnt wanna be rude about it. also got mad at the narrator for certain things he did (who the fuck uses duct tape to bind??) and his refusal to do things the narrator deemed as feminine - this is hypocritical though cuz he would make fun of him for things he (tyler) deemed as feminine so it was always a lose lose situation. calls him gay as an insult (yes they do fuck. yes hes calling him gay as a feminine insult)

OKKK all that out the way now the fun stuff

narrator has issues with giving himself t shots because of his shaky hands (and his slight disgust of needles) so tyler does it for him. he sometimes does it back to him if hes feeling brave (and i guess a weird attempt at flirting? lol)

post canon narrator got top surgery, and tyler got only bottom surgery and a hysterectomy (he just really wanted a dick tbf)

narrators hairline gets proceedingly worse

tyler got cheetah print trans tape after shaving his head :p n i think the narrator shoves socks in his pants as a packer

they dont really go to the beach but if they did the narrator wouldnt get in the water hed just suffer under the parasol. tyler wouldnt gaf if he was fully naked

tylers comfortable enough to wear more... fashionable clothes that would kill the narrators self esteem on spot if he put on (i think he did wear that kind of stuff while in control of the narrators body. yes he would look awful)

also theyre both sweaty and horny and gross cuz of the t. tyler has crazy bottom growth

[be-jargogled]

More Jericho ramblings - But slightly different

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GENITALS HERE ALONG WITH SA, DUBCON, MANIPULATION, AND TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

As much as people say that Jericho doesn't have any genitalia, and as much as that would make sense, I would like to offer a counterpoint:

The hags and Jericho had a toxic unhealthy romantic relationship. That is canon, Jericho was manipulated by them and has stated firmly that he's uncomfortable seeing them as any parental or sibling figure. He remembers them as "his best gals," also known as Jericho speech for girlfriends.

So this leads me to a few conclusions: How far would the hags go to appease Jericho's longing for affection? The answer: As much as they would need to in order to keep him obedient and in line

They absolutely (in my opinion) would give Jericho genitalia of some kind. Now what that genitalia is I honestly don't care or mind, along with how functional that genitalia is as humanoid genitalia. Hags are weird, we've seen it, we know it.

This brings me to the fact that I don't think Jericho actually cares so much about sex, or at least he didn't, until one of the halflings made a few crude jokes. So after leading them into the woods, he questions the hags about it. They look at each other and decide right then and there that if Jericho is asking about it that must mean he wants it.

Afterwards Jericho isn't sure how to feel, at least not until the hags manipulate him further, holding him close, telling him how good he's being, ect, ect.

I can't remember if Jericho actually knows about sex and all that, I believe there was some mention in the ballroom episode pre-metamorphosis??? Idk but take the hc anyways

So Jericho, unlike Marius who went the sexual aversion route of SA victims, went the hypersexual route. He craves it, thinks about it often, he wants that connection and is disgusted by how badly he wants it. When it happens again he isn't sure if he really wants to go through with it, but then they touch him and suddenly he's on cloud nine. He's being coddled and held and he never ever wants to be let go even if he doesn't really like this kind of touch as much.

Which is another reason Jericho is so upset and confused with why Marius doesn't like the duchess, why Marius never likes it when people sexualize him, because to Jericho he only ever sees it as an emotional connection.