#but its just kind of weird to me to ship them romantically/sexually | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

devine-fem · 5 months

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As someone who likes Damijon as both platonic and romantic…I don’t understand the obsession of certain antis bring up whole age gap thing when it comes to Damian and Jon. It’s getting really old and pissing me off at this point.

I can’t recall a fandom I’ve been in where antis kept bringing up an age gap between two characters.

Idk if I’m talking out of my ass but it sounds like as if antis think the fandom puts Damijon in sexual situations 24/7 when that’s not the case.

Jfc no one is forcing you to ship them if you don’t (it’s not even canon!) but don’t go around accusing the fandom as p*d*s just to make a point. ( I know in fandoms there some weirdos too but it doesn’t make up a whole)

Let the Damijon fandom enjoy whatever crumbles they are getting right now…because it’s really just crumbles at this point.

If those antis also consist of those who are our rival ships (they know who they are) like yall are getting canon content rn from DC if you’re upset with the quality of it speak with your wallet idk…???

Sorry for the rant it’s just for the most part Damijon fandom has been pretty chill (excluding Twitter that’s another can of worms) and I hate the accusations parts of the fandom love to make.

Yeah… people don’t talk about how Jon had to be 11 to Damian’s 13 before he left for space because they only read super sons, they never really look at any other source or think about their ages as more than that because tom taylor said out his mouth that they were 3 years apart when dissing the ship BUT he admits himself to not know their exact ages and that it could be a 2 year age gap.

So I just think of it as two years, and with two years I don’t really care because personally even in my youth I’ve been with people who are two years older with no issue because age alone doesn’t determine whether or not someone is taking advantage of you for obvious reasons. Age gaps are not tangible things, to some people what you consider weird is normal to someone else.

Then there’s the fact that neither Jon or Damian have birthdays. Damian was aged up for teen titans which people don’t seem to care about. Among other things like how Jon and Damian are the same age in most other universes… did you know that? Also, people like to say theres a maturity gap but forget that Damian was the immature one that picked fights. Plus, when characters grow up beside each other then it’s less ‘weird’ cause then they are expierencing similar traumas. It’s probably lots smaller then we think.

When I talk about them with a three year age gap then its probably platonic but sometimes romantic, two years then its sometimes platonic or romantic, one year, platonic or romantic and I stay between these because their age can slightly change their dynamic. It’s for fun, its exploring their platonic dynamic if it had elements of romance to it. Its interchangeable to me but for the most parts its two.

They are barbies that I play with at my own free will. They are not real people, they may imitate life but they do not infact replicate it.

So yeah… when they are young I only ever have really seen or interacted with media where J and D have not done more than maybe peck. Its just supposed to be cute and sweet.

Do people not understand the concept of the fact Jon and Damian should not be getting into a serious relationship while they are young or else it would go horribly wrong? Do they not understand that a lot of the ships appeal in the childhood friends TO lovers factor?

It kind of bothers me to be having to put the fact that I l hate Jonjay and like Daminika in my bio so people can get a feel for the type of person I am. And “rival” ships? there’s no rivalry, I don’t feel threatened by other peoples ships at all… especially if they’re canon… unless its like jonjay where the origin of the ship is inherently problematic, substanceless and built on character assassination… but we hate damijon and praise THAT? We say that damijon is worse than that? I’m sorry but jonjay to jon kent is jayroy to roy harper to me.

Twitter is very strange, very very strange people on that app to which this morning I had to uninstall because I KNEW that they would feel threatened by damijons today and hate profusely in response to it.

Although, you guys gotta put that age gap shit to bed…

Dami look 14 here to you? If Damijons are the ones who don’t read comics then how do we know that they are well in their 20s and 30s here. They are both consenting adults in main continuity that can do as they please here. You simply cannot say anything. No arguement can be supported now because now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

There was no point in hate the age gap really in the first place since time was always gonna heal it anyway???

But part of me kind of understands hating it if you experience fandom through twitter which is not a fandom app at all. Damijon stans are annoying and gross on twitter, I get it but not everyone is inherently horrible for obvious reasons.

#please read #asks #super sons #damian wayne #jon kent #supersons #jonathan kent #dc comics #superfam #batfam

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musicalmoritz · 3 days

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i’ve been following you for a little while because i’ve been considering getting back into TBHK. it was one of my strongest fixations but i was totally put off by the fandom’s reception of one part of the story until i dropped it entirely.

i thought i’d ask to see if the fandom has changed at all since i was last in it, and you seem really good at analyzing media: what’s your take on the amane/(possessed) tsukasa sa theory? i won’t argue regardless of what your opinion is! i’m just curious to see how the fandom is treating the story now. i miss the series alot ngl

Have I finally made it as a TBHK fan creator now that I’ve gotten an ask abt the SA theory?? Jk jk, that was a terrible joke I’m sorry guys

Before I get into this I wanna say thank you for being so respectful, people tend to have very strong feelings in this theory (for good reason, it’s a serious subject) and that can lead to pitchforks whenever it’s brought up. I’m going to try to discuss this as neutrally as possible but I will warn you that I’m very biased. I love Tsukasa as a character and the Yugi twins as a sibling duo so as much as I try to see both sides, I simply don’t want this theory to be true and that plays a large role in how I perceive it

TW: This is going to contain more mature themes than my usual posts. Talk of incest, abuse, sexual assault, sex, trauma, PTSD, and a very brief mention of lesbian fetishization

Starting off with how the fandom as a whole talks about it, people are very against it nowadays. When the anime first came out it was super popular, but now you can’t even mention it without someone telling you never to bring it up again. I have only posted about it once and it was a joke about Tsukasa and Teru both having allegations made against them (tho the Teru ones are way less common and only made by fans who want them to be true bcuz they hate him or ship him with his brother). So far I’ve strayed away from going in depth with my thoughts on it, writing this feels like I’m swinging a bat at a hornet’s nest. If your problem with the fandom was that they denied this theory, then I would continue to stay away from it. People on here are more open towards it than TikTok tho so if you still want to get back into the fandom, I would recommend staying on Tumblr. Someone made ONE post implying it on TikTok recently and the entire fandom was shitting on them for like a week. Those instances are rare, I like the fandom overall, but it has its toxic moments and areas just like every fandom

Okay now onto the theory itself. I’m not going to pretend I don’t see where it comes from, there are some scenes in the manga that are drawn and worded weirdly. Most notably the scene in the Picture Perfect Arc where Mei wrote “Brother Lover” on Amane’s face made me wonder if they were trying to imply something. I have since learned that other translations don’t have the incest implication, but it’s still odd to me that they allowed that in any version. Still, he just looked kind of annoyed as opposed to getting flustered like he would have if something was going on with him and Tsukasa (the way he gets flustered when his feelings for Nene are brought up). So I viewed that scene more as a dark humor joke from Mei, I don’t think it was meant to imply anything serious between the twins

There is another scene in that arc, however, when Nene sees Tsukasa clinging to Amane and Amane does get flustered. He starts blushing and says “um…we were just…” and doesn’t really finish his sentence. This made me raise an eyebrow, but I also wouldn’t take it as confirmation that there’s anything romantic or sexual between them. It could very much be viewed as Amane being embarrassed. I feel that the strongest evidence for the incest theory comes from this arc, but that’s only if you want to run with the scenes I mentioned. I also find it strange that people never use these scenes as evidence, only panels that are drawn kind of weird. Fans seem to be stuck on a lot of early scenes with this theory which weakens its substance

For the record, I will not be analyzing the scene from the anime intro. That has already been debunked, the shadowy figure wasn’t Tsukasa, it was a representation of Hanako’s guilt. Although I disagree with the theory, I’m trying to be fair to the campaigners by debunking the stronger pieces of evidence

The strongest evidence for this theory comes from the art, which is just as important to the story as the writing. With manga and graphic novels, the art tells half the story. It shouldn’t be overlooked, so I understand how some fans lean into it. Look back at the official art I put at the top of this post, it’s weird. Hanako is leaning over Tsukasa while Tsukasa holds his chin/lips and arm. They’re posed like a couple. We would never see the Minamoto brothers posed like that. In other scenes, we see Tsukasa touching Amane’s face or holding him from behind. They’re very touchy with each other, more-so than the other siblings in the series

I have two reasons for not taking these type of scenes/arts seriously in a romantic sense. One is that Tsukasa is simply an affectionate character, and Hanako is the same way. I think it’s more part of their behavior than being specific to each other. Secondly, if it’s intended to be taken in an incestuous way then I genuinely believe it’s fan service. That’s one part I don’t deny, AidaIro have certainly given us reason to believe the twins are like the Property Brothers. I just don’t believe it has any place in the actual story or their dynamic. Fan service is common in TBHK and sometimes it veers into problematic territory. Just look at the scene where Hanako possesses Nene to assault Aoi, and then Kou gets flustered by it and can’t help. A random lesbian fetish scene that is never brought up again and plays no role in the story other than moving us from A to B. I have also heard that there’s incest in some of the other works they’ve made, so it’s not a reach to assume they’d throw in a little fan service for the Yugi twins. How seriously you want to take those scenes is up to you, personally I will continue to deny it until we’re given undeniable confirmation

Back to the twins just being affectionate, we see them act that way with lots of characters. Tsukasa is clingy to Sakura and Mitsuba too, sometimes very suggestively. That doesn’t mean he’s into them. I will say that Hanako is most notably clingy to Nene, someone he’s in love with, but we see him get close and friendly with the other characters too (he sat on Kou’s side and booped his nose during their first meeting). And Tsukasa is the one who initiates their physical affection 99% of the time, Amane’s been receiving it since early childhood so him copying Tsukasa’s behavior makes sense. Romantic relationships in adulthood are determined by the way we interact with our families as children so him repeating these actions in a romantic context doesn’t indicate anything abnormal. In fact, it’s a very realistic portrayal of how our love languages and attachment styles evolve over time

And keep in mind, they’ve been that way since they were three years old, it’s just the way they interact with other people and each other. Tsukasa is a very childish character too, one who has very little concept of personal space and boundaries. So him being a little too clingy with his brother might not mean anything. Again, you could read into it if you really wanted to, but the way he interacts with Amane is nothing out of the ordinary. It aligns with his usual mannerisms, if it were specific to Amane then he wouldn’t act that way with the other characters (Amane was also clingy with Nene before he fell for her). Think of it this way, you don’t see Akane holding Teru’s hand or confessing his undying love to Nene. Characters are going to act differently in their platonic relationships vs. romantic/sexual, and we don’t see that difference with the Yugi twins

A difference we do see with them, however, is that Tsukasa isn’t physically aggressive with Hanako the way he is with everyone else. He never attacks him or tries to hurt him, in fact every time he sees him he gets overjoyed and tackles him in a hug. He has no problem hurting him emotionally and mentally, but we never see any physical aggression between the two. This leads me to believe that the SA theory is invalid, it doesn’t line up with how Tsukasa treats Hanako currently or in any of the flashbacks. If anything sexual took place between them, it would have had to be consensual, because the more solid evidence backing this theory focuses on Hanako’s side of things. He’s very possessive of Tsukasa, and he doesn’t experience a trauma response when they’re touching normally. If it’s an intense scene and Tsukasa is telling him horrible things while touching him, then he freezes in place and starts crying. But when Tsukasa is just hugging or clinging to him, he only gets embarrassed. Hanako does show some signs of PTSD, but that trauma is rooted in him killing Tsukasa. If the trauma were anything sexual, we would see him experience those same trauma responses he displays in violent scenes when Tsukasa touches him in any context. At the very least, we’d see him get way more uncomfortable than being mildly annoyed

(Note: I am aware that not everyone reacts to trauma and PTSD the same way. I do not have any trauma of my own so I am going off what I have heard throughout my life from others sharing their stories. I am in no way trying to invalidate anyone’s experiences, no matter how you react to your abuser your feelings are valid and I hope you get the help you need)

Another common piece of evidence used is that Hanako is hypersexual. I believe this is a serious misuse of the term, hypersexuality is so much more than being a pervert. People who are hypersexual usually think about sex all the time, they engage in excessive sexual behaviors and even think about it in completely normal contexts. This is a common response to many types of trauma, not just sexual. It’s a way for people to gain back control after they’ve been abused, or sometimes it’s a problem that arises from porn addictions or a weird relationship with sex. Even if Hanako were hypersexual, that wouldn’t necessarily indicate SA. He has canonical trauma aside from that, and it could also come from the pent-up frustration of being a middle schooler for 58 years

This is another situation where we have to account for the context. You can’t just take one element of a character’s canon personality and run with it, that’s the leading cause of mischaracterization. You have to consider how that behavior lines up with their other traits. Hanako is an allosexual boy who has been 13 for literal decades. Middle school boys are already one of the horniest species on our planet, it’s an awkward time when you’ve just learned those feelings exist and what they mean but you’re not emotionally mature enough to do anything about it. That usually goes away in the next few years when teens start getting into relationships. Now imagine that feeling staying with you for fifty-eight years. That’s over half a lifetime of being stuck in a transitional period. You have so many strong feelings, but you can’t do anything about them. Not just because of maturity, but because there’s no one to do them with. It makes sense that you wouldn’t know how to act when you get your first girlfriend (not excusing any of his weird behavior btw, frustration is not an excuse and it doesn’t make the way he treats Nene and Aoi okay. But it’s still important to understand his reasons, especially in this context)

I also want to note something I don’t see pointed out often, which is that most of the major scenes of Hanako’s pervertedness occur when he’s talking to Kou. TBHK has a very realistic portrayal of male friendship imo, and this is one of those examples. Having a girlfriend isn’t the only thing Hanako’s missed out on, he also hasn’t been able to make any friends his own age. He’s trying to get Kou to engage in “locker room talk” as a way to bond with him. Whether he’s trying to convince him to share his own preferences, or just wanting to mess with him, it brings them closer in a way. One of the main ways Hanako expresses affection is by annoying people, but I do think part of it is because he wants to be able to talk about hot girls with his only male friend. Sadly, he got stuck with the only middle school boy who respects women

We as a fandom tend to focus on these scenes as “omg Hanako’s a pervert,” or for people that ship him with Kou it’s “aww he’s teasing his boyfriend,” but I think the purpose is more-so to build a realistic friendship dynamic. I find it funny that the fandom as a whole leans more into the teasing explanation whether they ship Hanako and Kou or not, it’s funny to me that we all automatically go with the gay interpretation. But Hanako often uses jokes to cover up his deeper feelings, he acts like he doesn’t care when he actually cares very deeply. So him playing up his pervertedness in an attempt to make friends seems very on brand

My last piece of evidence against this theory is a bit silly and a lot of ya’ll aren’t going to want to hear this but Hanako is most likely straight

*the crowd boos me*

I know, I know, I love the bi headcanon too and I think it makes sense, but unlike with some of the other characters I don’t think it has a place in canon. He acts overly friendly with Kou sometimes but if you’re going to assume they’re queercoded, you have to assume the same about Aoi and Nene (both affectionate friendship that look a little queer sometimes). Shipping aside I read them as a purely platonic duo, if there are feelings on either side then it’s more likely Kou since he’s bisexual. Lots of people point out the scene where he flirts with Kou as a girl, and I agree that was gay af but I kinda think he was just trying to mess with him. And keep in mind that the first thing he wanted to do as a girl was look at girls changing in the locker room (yuri yuri lesbian yuri wlw gay gay lesbian yuri)

This isn’t to bash anyone’s headcanons btw, I headcanon Hanako as bisexual and I do ship him with Kou. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t bet my money on him being intended to be bi in canon. In my post about possibly bisexual TBHK characters I included him as an honorable mention, I just haven’t seen enough substantial evidence so far to believe he was intended to be interpreted that way

I’m aware that sexuality isn’t the biggest obstacle for Tsukasa and Amane, but it’s a relevant mention. If Hanako doesn’t like men, I doubt he’d want to be with his brother of all men. Even if he liked men that would be a terrible option. AidaIro have also confirmed in one of their official arts/doodle skits that Nene is Hanako’s first love, which further leads me to believe nothing happened between him and Tsukasa. You don’t get with your sibling if you’re not ride or die about it. And as I mentioned before, anything that happened between them would have had to be consensual in order to be in-character and line up with the evidence surrounding the incest theory

Lastly, I do believe the love between the brothers is somewhat genuine. It’s horribly toxic, Hanako left Tsukasa in some sort of void for decades and now he continues to keep him around as a yorishiro despite knowing it makes Tsukasa miserable. He loves him so much that he can’t let him go even when it would be good for Tsukasa. That’s selfish, it’s toxic, and on Tsukasa’s side things aren’t much better. He adores his brother but he also resents him for everything he’s done. He hurts him emotionally and attacks his friends. And, of course, Amane killed Tsukasa. Not exactly Brother of the Year

But through all of this, you can’t deny that the love is there. Fans who believe Amane hates Tsukasa kind of miss the point, Tsukasa wouldn’t be Amane’s yorishiro if he hated him. He loves him dearly but in a very complicated way. Adding romance or lust to that love frankly doesn’t make sense to me, it’s adds an unnecessary layer that doesn’t line up with the rest of their dynamic. It feels like a “yes and” to their story. I have read analyses that explain both sides, and ultimately I remain against this theory

I hope this helped you understand my perspective!! I tried to be fair to both sides but as I mentioned, I’m very biased. This is a very uncomfortable subject so it was difficult to write about, but I like tackling more complex topics. I don’t block people who believe this theory unless I dislike the way they talk about it, some people insist it’s canon to the point of hating Tsukasa for it or saying the series is bad. But for those that are more open-minded about this theory, I don’t mind interacting with them. In general though this is something I try not to think about lol

#tw inc*st #tw abuse #tw sa #tw sex mention #tbhk #toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk #ask #ask me anything #hanako kun #amane yugi #tsukasa yugi #kou minamoto #nene yashiro #yugi twins #aidairo #yugi brothers #theory

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olderthannetfic · 11 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/732112938662494209/its-always-been-kind-of-weird-to-me-that-incest

100% agree. I think the appeal of incest as a taboo in fiction is pretty obvious: people are attracted to the boundary-pushing, taboo nature of it, but they don't ACTUALLY want to fuck their relatives, they're still grossed out by that. but it's fun to watch someone else, someone fictional who is not their relative, transgress that particular taboo with someone else who is also not the reader's/viewer's relative (but is the character's relative). and by definition, there is an existing and likely complicated relationship between these characters that they can build on to create an interesting sexual/romantic relationship. the family relationship means the other person often knows and understands them intimately. there's often some degree of power imbalance. it just trips a lot of wires of things that people find exciting in romantic and smutty fiction.

it's also a particularly ridiculous thing to fixate on in terms of the supposed "real world" effects of reading idealized fiction about it. like, let's put aside the fact that we all know here that antis are wrong about what you get off to in fiction being what you're into irl, and the way they distort "representation matters" to mean that fiction always has a perfect 1:1 effect on how it influences people who consume it. for starters, incest is literally not something that an unrelated stranger can "groom you into," lol. because if they're not related to you it's not incest. and if they don't know anyone in your irl family... how would they be able to groom you that way? second, even if there were some potential that reading that would make you more interested in incestuous relationships more generally, that's only going to be a danger if there's someone else in your family who is already interested in and looking for opportunities to abuse that way.

(which, as a previous ask pointed out, is the only real "danger" of problematic fiction. yes, an abusive adult who wants to convince a teen that it's totally normal for them to have sex with that teen can probably use some fictional adult/teen romance they both like to make that seem more okay, but if they didn't have that they'd use something else. if they didn't have an adult/teen relationship, they'd use an age gap between adults - i've seen people use "well my parents were 10 years apart when they got married [as adults]" to excuse those kinds of relationships between adults and teenagers even though they're obviously different - and if they didn't have that, they'd find some other relationship that involved the characters having something in common with them. "age-gap relationships" are not inherently dangerous. abusers are dangerous, and abusers are opportunistic. shipping a certain dynamic does not make you an abuser. and honestly, probably the best people to put a stop to that are other people in that shipping community who can explain why enjoying this dynamic in fiction doesn't make it ok irl and how their feelings about the fictional vs. irl versions differ. but i digress)

honestly, i suspect that a lot of antis don't really understand what is the real "problem" with incest. they get overly fixated on blood quantum stuff, act like it's purely about the potential for birth defects and then project that same stuff on to couples where that isn't an issue (like same-sex couples, or distant cousins where the potential is significantly reduced). but the real issue is the potential for abuse. and most fictional incest either is an idealized version where that potential for abuse is not there OR if it's fucked-up, that is the POINT. no one was into shipping cersei/jaime in game of thrones because they were under the impression that the twins were NOT dangerously codependent. that was the appeal! it's the taboo of it all! it's that sometimes it's fun to watch people do things that they know are bad for them! it scratches the itch that makes you want to make bad choices yourself!

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spicybylerpolls · 7 months

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It is genuinely ASTONISHING to see how many people are against your blog because they believe “it’s bad/weird to fantasize” or they say stuff like, “analyzing is fine. fantasizing is evil.” Actually fantasization is a divine gift, a spiritual experience, one of the best things we can do as humans. And most clearly Bylers agree!

They spend all day fantasizing about Mike and Will holding hands, going on dates, kissing, even ‘making out sloppily’ but the second we on the spicy side say that we want Byler to fuck, people start freaking out. How dare you fantasize?

Stick to analysis, freak.

Can someone please tell me why sex is such a big weird scandalous taboo? Have we gone back in time? Is this an evangelical youth group? Is this Catholic school? Are we Mormons? To fight back, some say, “Oh I’m not fantasizing, I’m just exploring the character dynamics” as if fantasizing will implicate them as some kind of dirty rotten sinner, as if this is some kind of gotcha that will expose fandom nonces.

But I don’t get it. I’m doing both, unapologetically! I’m exploring Byler’s dynamics, just like we do with ever other HC and canon analysis point, AND I’m fantasizing about them fucking like rabbits until the end of time, just like we fantasize about how the Byler kiss will go or how Mike will finally admit his sexuality.

Last time I checked, sex is part of sexuality, it’s literally in the name, and it’s a Divine Gift. Mike and Will are not disembodied beings who only want to hold hands and look at flowers all day. They are gay teenage boys who are sexually ravenous for each other. It’s clear this era of Puriteens didn’t devour Reddie or Stenborough smut under the covers while giggling and kicking their feet. And none of them would have SURVIVED the Harry Potter fandom.

The other side of this are the adult fancops who are siding with the puriteens and constantly trying to cancel Bylers for thinking unholy thoughts. You can only think analytical thoughts while wearing suits and taking cold showers. Meanwhile 65% of the fandom is openly attracted to Finn, and I’m supposed to be gaslit into thinking this doesn’t translate into their experience actually watching the show? I’m supposed to believe they watched him drool over Will’s ass and then said, “No, he didn’t do that”?

“But why aren’t you fantasizing about adult ships like J0pper or JAncy or or or-”

Because I don’t care about them? No offense. I’ve never read J0pper or JAncy fanfic in my life. And this isn’t J0pper Tumblr? It’s Byler Tumblr. I’m a Byler and naturally I want to see my favorite characters rail each other romantically? And it’s very, dare I say, unnatural and unrealistic when you read fanfics and Mike and Will kiss each other and don’t so much as get a boner. One boner?

I’m so tired. It’s utter gobbledegook.

Especially giving the context of what Stranger Things and Byler represents, it’s so obvious that sexual exploration is the natural evolution for these characters in their arcs in Season 5. Self-actualization and an embrace of the queer experience in all its sensuality and beauty.

The shame WILL be on the other side.

yeah, all great points! I think people get overprotective and hyper-vigilant, and they want to make sure they're taking a strong stand against their nebulous, exaggerated, hypothetical image of the shadowy "30-year old creep" getting off to Byler smut in a dark room.

but you're right that all Bylers "fantasize" about many things, even those most vocal in the analyze-only movement. technically all of Byler is "fantasizing," since they aren't together yet and they are fictional. we're all just envisioning scenarios and situations!

for some reason tho, people are chill with people daydreaming about every romantic scenario imaginable and chill with people conjuring up sad, tragic, angsty situations involving Vecna and bullying and pain. but sex? no. sex is shocking, alarming, and frightening.

also, this is definition of fantasize:

there's nothing inherently creepy about that definition. It's neutral.

#byler #spicy byler #no poll

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scrapyardboyfriends · 1 month

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Well that was...something. Haha.

When I got to the almost kiss scene, I honestly just burst out laughing? Is this supposed to be working for us or Aaron? Cause it's...not. Aaron was right when he said John needed to work on his routine because again that was straight out of Nate's least sexy ever affair with Moira playbook.

Just..."because you know why we're both still here" is somehow a lot better than "I know what you want" which feels like Nate's "you know you want me".

Like if I were Aaron, I would have laughed in his face at that embarrassment of flirting. I would have been like "mate, does that ever actually work for you?" Except that I guess it did in their forced first meeting.

Besides the obvious, I'm just really struggling with the convoluted, contrived way they've set this all up.

It reminds me of the Ben thing too, just automatically putting this weird romantic/sexual framing on it before it has a chance to reach that place on its own.

Just like, imagine instead of his hook up app, Aaron decided to go to whatever gay bar is in Hotten these days and try and meet someone and John showed up looking to get a drink while in town for his mother's funeral. We see them meet, chat a little, maybe actually see some natural banter/chemistry and then they leave and sure, hook up in his dumb van. And then Eric's car is still in the shop because I don't know, Mack went out as Aaron's wing man, per Vic's request, and got into work too late to fix it, so he encourages Vic to drive Eric to the funeral.

Then at least they met without the explicit trappings of a hook up where it was pretty anonymous and barely had an exchange before it was like "oh well we were supposed to have sex so let's have sex".

Could also have had Aaron just run into him on the side of the road and generously helped him fix his car enough to get it to the nearest garage where oh look, he meets Vic. But they could have been flirting while he was fixing the van and then kissed and ended up having sex in the van.

Just like...anything other than this nonsense where they have this super contrived hostility based on such a nonsensical plot point of John driving off with Aaron's stuff for no reason.

And then I might buy that Aaron would actually still have some attraction to him despite everything and a scene like today might have worked better for me??

I just don't know how believable it is that Aaron is attracted enough to John that he would go there based on that kind of pitiful flirting after all of this other nonsense, after he knows this is Robert's secret gay half brother and all of those feelings came up.

Sigh...

The Mack and Aaron friendship stuff is still fun, aside from the fact that this little war they have with John is so baseless and yes, their actions are super immature. But I still like the trio of the two of them and Vic interacting. Tiny slivers of silver lining.

Also...John is just an asshole. I just don't know what issue they have with bringing in likable characters. At least Robert was a smooth talking charmer to mask his inner turmoil. John could be making the village fall in love with him with his charisma while hiding secret pain. I'd like that kind of character a lot more than angry guy.

I feel like the only people that like John so far fall into five categories: 1. Robert antis who will like any non Robert Aaron ship 2. People who just hate Aaron and/or Mack and enjoy a character who also hates them 3. Sugden fans desperate for scraps 4. People who find the actor attractive 5. And people who think this is all leading to a Robert return

I'm only really approaching number 3 and he's too annoying for me to care yet and I'd like 5 to be true but I refuse to get my hopes up because I still feel like this is all happening because Ryan said no. I think it's just going to be a terrible, flat enemies to lovers story where John's sad sad military past will come out and Aaron will end up comforting him and getting him to open up and then they'll suddenly be couple with very little relationship development. Even with Robert mentions, I don't feel like this is leading to a return or to any kind of Aaron revelation that he still loves Robert and therefore doesn't want to be with his secret gay half brother.

I'd love to be wrong but...

#emmerdale complaints corner #the john sugden of it all #fauxbert

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yuri-the-boxfox · 29 days

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it has been a long while since I talked about SIR's wonderful carnival-

Oopsie-

Just to make sure it isn't forgotten in the void of the internet and also for my own sake, I will be going over some boundaries as well as facts about the characters and series in general

Let's start with character information (just pronouns and sexuality for now, I will share more information in future posts however for now this is all you get)

+-----------------------------------------------+

SIR:

Pronouns: It/its

Sexuality:Aroace

+-----------------------------------------------+

Stormie:

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: lesbian

+-----------------------------------------------+

Evelyn:

pronouns: She/her/He/Him/they/them

Sexuality: undecided/fandom decision (although headcannons are allowed she cannotically has mutual romantic feelings for Stormie, so keep that in mind when headcanoning, also keep in mind this is my character so if I do decide to give her a canonical sexuality in the future please do not be rude about it because it goes against what you had headcannoned for them, please and thank you)

+-----------------------------------------------+

Mi-Mi

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: undecided/fandom decision (similar to what I put for Evelyn, if I do decide to give him a canonical sexuality please do not be rude because it goes against headcannons you thought of)

+-----------------------------------------------+

Snoflake:

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: she has no canonical sexuality, she is a child (none of the characters have exact Canon ages however Snoflake is a kid, FYI, she is the only character that is a canonical child in this series, the others are of an adult age)

+-----------------------------------------------+

Boundaries/rules etc:

"Can I draw fanart?": Plleeeeeeease! I love fanart/NF

"Can I make an OC?":Sure! Just don't be weird about it

"Can I draw NSFW content related to your characters?":NO! THAT IS A HUGE NO! DO NOT DO THAT! YOU WILL BE BLOCKED AND I WILL MAKE YOU TAKE DOWN THE DRAWING IF YOU DO DECIDE TO POST IT FOR WHATEVER UNGODLY REASON! IF I DO MAKE YOU TAKE DOWN A DRAWING FOR BEING NSFW, OR JUST BRINGING ME GENUINE OF DISCOMFORT IN GENERAL, PLEASE DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME OR TRY TO REFUSE, THESE ARE MY CHARACTERS AND THIS IS MY SERIES, PLEASE RESPECT THAT

"am I allowed to draw/write angst of the characters?":Yes, just please don't take it uncomfortably far, if it makes me uncomfortable I will ask you to take it down

"am I allowed to make headcanons?": this question was kind of answered when I was putting the characters sexualities and pronouns, but yes, you are aloud to make headcanons, as long as you're not gross and follow my sent rules and boundaries

if you do draw my characters, use hashtag #SIR's wonderful carnival or tag me so I can see it, tags don't bother me so you don't need to feel ashamed for tagging me in something unless it's genuinely bad or goes against one of my set boundaries

Bonus thing, please do not ship Snoflake with anyone because she's a child, and do not ship SIR with anyone because its aroace

+-----------------------------------------------+

Tagging some of my friends just because :3

@aofxxxe

@sleep-deprived-mf

@misty-sees-you

@ramencat12

@spookykittyzzz

#SIR's wonderful carnival #Original series #OCS #Please do not call this series a TADC rip off #It was inspired however I am not trying to copy so do not accuse me of that

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eldritch-elrics · 11 months

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actually i lied. i'm not going to sleep i'm going to talk about plasm wraith.

why does it want olimar so badly? here's a couple thoughts i had.

first of all, it's got a hole in its face. i wonder if that could symbolize some sort of incompleteness. (a la fecto forgo/elfilis from kirby...!) it wants olimar because it's decided that he will make it whole, maybe? bit of a stretch, but olimar does call attention to that hole so i'm wondering why it could be there.

regardless, i bet it's lonely. all the other enemies in that area turn into goop when you kill them, so it seems like it's created this whole ecosystem by itself... perhaps to keep it company? to keep olimar company? i'd say it's implied that plasm wraith is in some way sentient, so... man. that would be so sad!

the low-hanging fruit is the interpretation that plasm wraith's fixation on olimar is romantic/sexual. i think that's kind of boring. it's this weird inhuman monster; idk if it has a concept of "romance"! and i love monsterfucking & trying to make weird ships work out as much as the next guy, but eh, this relationship just seems too one-sidedly toxic. it's more interesting to choose different avenues of interpretation here imo. (though it's very very funny to make jokes about "yandere slimegirl," as me and my friends have been doing..)

personally - and i've only just started thinking about this so my thoughts may evolve later - i think it makes a lot of sense to view the plasm wraith's feelings as a twisted version of the pikmin's. the pikmin view olimar as something akin to a parent - perhaps the wraith views olimar as something akin to a child? it's very gentle with him, it "hugs" him, it forms itself into a protective shell around him... and it seems like it keeps forcibly activating his suit's sleep mode, perhaps to keep him calm or docile, or perhaps because it assumes he needs more sleep, like a baby...

"protection" is really the big theme i'm thinking about. it's not hard to read olimar's story in pik3 in contrast with his story in pik4. he crash lands on a planet, is in a sort of desperate state, comes across a weird creature, and the weird creature gets very attached to him and in a way keeps him away from others visiting the planet. though this time olimar's suit wasn't damaged, i wonder if the plasm wraith's instinct was to keep him in the oak (where there are no real monsters, only plasm clones) in order to protect him from the outside world.

(or maybe his suit WAS a bit damaged, and that's why it keeps activating sleep mode?)

as in that post i just reblogged - there's for sure a running theme of olimar's fate being intertwined with pnf404 and the creatures there. they love him so much, and sometimes it's wonderful and sometimes it's terrifying because it's a love that can't be understood in human terms. they want to keep him, because he completes them somehow.

finally, i'm wondering if louie met plasm wraith before olimar did (that's how he knows what it tastes like...) and that's why he warned him away from the oak. if so, what did the plasm wraith think of louie, i wonder?

#pikmin #plasm wraith #analysis #my post

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nordickies · 1 year

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You've spoken about your opinion on sufin but do you have any opinions/headcanons about other nordic shops like dennor and hongice?

I like DenNor, and I get why people ship it! But I just personally never really got into it. To me, they're so brother-coded. Or it may be just one of my delusions once again and me flipping the script. To me, Denmark is a ridiculous older brother, who likes provoking his younger siblings when he's bored and Norway is a more reasonable younger brother, who actually takes care of everything behind the scenes. Denmark is more outgoing with a lot of friends, while Norway is a bit weird and quiet loner. They're opposites, which makes them very entertaining!

Same thing with HongIce; I should be able to ship it. But it just never clicked. It also just never felt that natural. I know they have some canon interactions, but it still feels a bit pushed, y'know. Just taking two of the younger characters and shipping them together. Even shipping Indonesia and Iceland makes more sense to me, and it's something I'm way more interested in. Iceland is just such a tough character to ship anyone with regardless. I just really vibe with the idea of him being so detached from dating and not being particularly interested in the whole topic altogether. And even if he was seeing somebody, he wouldn't dare to introduce them to his family. I do, however, adore Iceland and Hong Kong as friends! They'd have a lot in common; having international friends is cute and fun, and I should make more content about it <3

But I do want to clarify this by saying that it's a me issue, not an issue with the ship itself. I still consume HongIce and DenNor content; I don't dislike the idea nor do I avoid them. I just don't have a strong opinion on the issue one way or another. And there are other relationship dynamics that I prefer with them even more. That's really the only reason why I don't ship them

I've mentioned it before but I see the Nordics as found-family. I always felt that bringing romantic feelings in there is ultimately gonna make it unnecessarily messy and awkward. Unless you're into Nordic polycule!

In my experience, shipping just takes up so much screen time. It doesn't leave a lot of room to explore other things in storytelling. I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way. Especially, when we're talking about country personifications. The world-building aside, you can use these characters to tell something meaningful about your people, compare and learn about different cultures and history. That's so much fun for me; I love seeing and researching topics like that! Storytelling-wise, romance adds drama and it has its place - but it's not going to be fun if that's all that there is

I have to confess that I don't really care about shipping anyway. I'm so out of that loop. Is it imagining two of your favorite characters kissing? Having sex? It probably means different things for different people but I just never felt particularly interested in that. However, I do like imagining and pondering when, where, and why these characters got together. How do they get along? What sort of obstacles they might have? Will they overcome those? It's not so much about thinking how they're together but when and why. But then again, I do that with all sorts of relationships; romantic, familial, parental, or platonic. That's probably why shipping is just a "whatever" topic to me. I get the same "kick" by seeing characters being best friends rather than romantic/sexual partners. But it's true; some characters just make sense as a couple. But DenNor and HongIce are just not those kinds of pairs to me

I am fascinated by people who are really into shipping though. Your minds are so intriguing. You really like the idea of that character getting railed blind and I can respect that. But this shows that people consume and think of fiction in different ways, and all of those ways are valid. So just because I don't ship your OTP, it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't even mean it's bad. I'm just one voice with one opinion! Also if people tag my posts as [ship x], whatever. You can consume and take my posts as you want <3

#this is an interesting look into my thought process - diagnose me /j #ngl i feel like a monster crushing children's dreams. listen they're good ships!!!!!!!!!!!!#anski talks

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2n2n · 7 months

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What do you think about terukane?

Nothing as a romantic or sexual relationship ... it's funny neither Aoi nor Akane like him. He is so swag to everyone but them, the people he is most attached to or interested in, and that is incredibly funny to write in for your central hot stuff generic blond-haired-blue-eyed-tall bishie. Like, he's a total flop, actually. Dripping with rizz to the student populace. And for what? This is possibly the single funniest thing about Teru and elevates him as a character to me. If you give him what he wants he becomes simple, what, a straightforward blond-blue-eyed hot bishie with a hot gf and hot bf? That's incredibly boring!!! Teru should stay bottom rung.

I like what Akane is to Teru, in a non-shipping sense I find their dynamic endearing-- which is that Akane is... GENUINELY so pure of heart, patient, and kind, that EVEN THOUGH Teru is such a abysmal and socially messed up person (due to his upbringing, out of his control!), he extends a lot of grace towards him and can't actually meaningfully shut him out or leave him hanging (eeeven though Teru attacks him, terrorizes him, pushes his buttons!!! BY ALL MEANS DESERVES TO BE CUT OUT--!). Akane, OF ALL PEOPLE, probably knows Teru the best, and gets to see the most sides of him, including the worst... which is, why and how he knows Teru is Not A Good Person, But Also, Pitiable And Unfortunate, and kind of doing his 'best' with how broken he is. Teru's a loser-- really! He has no friends!! He does everything for his family, and he's constantly lying to them (because they might not 'like' the 'real Teru'). He's a brocon whos brother isn't even that attached to him, who is outgrowing him!! It's sad LOL. Akane as a friend and comrade is like his consolation prize....

But I do think the Point of them is that both of them actually have different 'loyalties' you could say-- Akane would Throw Teru Down A Pit for Aoi, and, Teru would Throw Akane Down a Pit for his family--! They both KNOW they aren't each other's main priority! They're just 'assets'. HOWEVER, doing so would hurt Teru incredibly badly, which makes it interesting. I'd like to see Teru's attachment to Akane challenged, I'd like to see him have to make a decision which is bad for Akane but good for someone Teru loves... I would like to see his raw allegiances tested. I don't think Teru really consciously 'thinks' about how precious Akane is to him, or how that is his most intimate social bond? I think Teru would be a mess without Akane, I think he would feel the space he left behind forever, if Teru let something happen to him. I'm not sure when another person will ever know Teru's many sides so well. Teru could probably just, suck it up and accept he's not the kind of person who has things like that, and it was a fluke incidence of having it anyway...

My only 'real' Teru ship is Teru x Tiara HAHAHA, he certainly SIMPs for her desperately, and she's a very capable, brash girl... while Kou is useless, Tiara is not, I think she could totally wrestle all of the truths out of Teru one day, and could actually see his pathetic sides. She's stubborn and confident enough to slap him around too, he needs that HAHAHA. She feels kind of perfectly designed for him...

In a way ig Terukane feels like your typical "contentious yaoi with undercurrent of appreciation, we compete for the same girl, imagine if we could both fuck her, and maybe we have some weird tension lol" situation. I do think AidaIro enjoy it for what it is at many angles, and they like to play with it by making Akane Teru's servant and stuff in AU...I categorize it as " fujo bait" (for me that isn't derogatory). I genuinely think its only purpose is a kind of cheeky gag porno at best fkgl;jgklfgkhfk; I cannot take it seriously. I feel the worst for Aoi in the situation though, I really don't think she's attracted to Teru at ALL, but Teru is coercion aligned so... maybe sensei thinks about things I don't want to, lol.

Oh I guess as always I disapprove of when girls in dynamics are disregarded or written out in ships due to inconvenience, so any Terukane dynamic that just pretends Aoi isn't there or that Akane doesn't love her sucks ass. Akane and Aoi mean a lot to sensei, clearly-- !! They LOVE them, they pre-date the rest of the manga's debut!!! Aoi expresses some very poignant things in her story that feel very personal. The least anyone can do is involve her in the threesome--! she is essential!

#avvy's JSHK

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aspecpplarebeautiful · 1 year

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I used to engage a lot with shipping. Though frequently I got bored with the ship after a while and became more interested in their platonic relationship. I also often "multishipped" the same ship, i.e. I had fun exploring a relationship both platonically and romantically/sexually.

But since I realized I'm aroace, the way I engage with shipping has changed a lot. I have quite adversial feelings about romance, so romantic relationships mostly put me off. What I love is exploring ambiguous relationships, where there is a lot of tension, a lot of things unsaid, but that remains unresolved. When I am actually interested in exploring a relationship non-platonically, it's largely about a very fucked-up relationship, anything that antis would call "problematic" because in these kind of relationships it's not about romance. Once in a blue moon I don't mind shipping something the traditional way, even if it's not fucked up, but this is a fanon only thing. I may think it's fun to explore this in fanon but I would absolutely hate for it to go canon (which is why I absolutely hate the kiss in certain show tumblr has been going crazy about, it felt so wrong to me - not saying more because of spoilers).

This means that sometimes fandom culture can be frustrating to me because of its obsession with romance. It really sucks constantly seeing stuff like "oh there is no platonic relationship for this" or "the lady doth protest too much". Or that when I want to read about an interesting dynamic 90% of fics are coffee shop AUs. I really hate how people just rob characters of their personality in order to stick them into their bland romantic cutsey world. Like - you can just write original romantic stories. And often I will feel annoyed about people shipping something. But also - I am firmly against censorship, and SALS and Kinktomato are hugely important to me. In times like this where we're backsliding so much, it's very important for me to take a stand against purity culture. So I'm in a weird position where I'm personally annoyed people ship something, but also defend it against people who want to sanitize fandom spaces. I just wish it was easier to find fandom spaces where I can explore interesting platonic relationships with like-minded people that are also free from the influences of purity culture.

(Sorry this got so long 🥺)

#aspec antagonism #abuse cw

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castlebyersafterdark · 3 months

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'using my own sexuality against me when they're supposedly propping up a gay couple as a hobby interest through a fandom, but judging those who are interested in authenticity and the full spectrum of what relationships and 'shipping' means in fandom. Like. How dare. Hahaha'

i have realised, since being away from this fandom and coming back, that its likely there is something deeper at play here than puritanism or pro censorship. i think sexual repression and female fan shame plays a part, but these fans' attraction to/desire for/enchantment by these characters shouldnt be underestimated. the fans who gatekeep byler will also tend to have parasocial relationships with the show and perhaps the cast too, and i think at the core it's less a case of 'ugh theyre too young for sex', but rather a projected shame about their own ungovernable sexual desire combined with a sense of deep, deep jealousy. they are guarding the characters (and actors)... essentially saying: you are not allowed to think sexually about these characters, only i am (in secret). but i can't stop you, so instead i will shame your sexual attraction itself.

once i saw fandom as a kind of relationship between fan and character/actor (at the most extreme end, im sure there are fans who are genuinely convinced they are/could be noah and finn's friends or partners, or perhaps even the characters') it made so much sense that jealousy and shame would be at the heart of things. after all, this many young people surely cant be antisex - western culture hasnt reached that place yet, and they are are teens raging with hormones who spend a lot of time thinking about two rather handsome young men in romantic scenarios. im supposed to believe all these people genuinely arent fantasising sexually about byler? nahhhhh.

but a jealous lover situation? it all makes sense once you see it.

A very interesting perspective. Not one I typically consider for the characters themselves, sometimes I tend to think that in regards to some of the behavior I've seen re: the actors. But definitely interesting. Not much insight I have to add but your points are something to absolutely think about and consider. I mean, in all honesty, I do sometimes feel nervous saying certain things about the actors for fear of people jumping at me as if I don't adore the actors, too. Just in a well-adjusted way where I know I don't know them and never will know them and never want to know them. I tend to lean into humor and silly jokes and sometimes I tend to hold back because I don't want people to get upset and misinterpret that I'm just playing around about celebrities I genuinely enjoy because it's harmless. So I can see this extending to characters, too. A protectiveness, a feeling of ownership.

I saw that on twitter for another fandom, a lot of fighting over people's different interpretations of characters, like taking personal offense if they were written in fics certain ways or paired up with the wrong character or given headcanons another fan didn't want for them. A protectiveness. It was less anti-sex and more hmm. Projection based in-fighting. It was really weird. But I can see the correlation in what you're getting at here.

Here's another thought that always makes me laugh about the fandom dynamics though - since my focus and biggest interest in fandom is fanfiction. If everyone is soooo anti-sex and against spicy fic, why do those fics get big numbers of readers? Sure , ao3 is used by a lot of people who don't even participate in tumblr/twitter fandom at all, but E rated fics, even with how few there are in the Byler fandom, still get a lot of clicks sooooo. Some people are genuinely lying and are hypocrites 😌

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quietwingsinthesky · 27 days

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Unpopular opinion, people who get mad when others ship companions or literally any other character with doctor because it ‘gets in the way of Thoschei’, because the doctor wouldn’t love anyone but the master, are a bit not smart. Because the doctor is the doctor. He can love anyone. Him loving a twink won’t get in the way of thoschei.

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

oh, so strongly agree. hell, it’s not even a thoschei specific thing; this is a cross-ship, hell, cross-fandom issue that only makes the experience worse for everyone involved. people on the side of a particular ship get a fandom experience that becomes more homogenized and echo-chambery as they push out and bully anyone that disagrees with their ship, and everyone else doesn’t get to participate in a fandom they love in a way they want to without feeling overlooked or in worse cases, actively harassed by others.

and not to get on my soapbox about this, but i’d be remiss not to point out that this entire idea. this concept that somehow a character can only be allowed to be a part of one pairing and any other pairings with them are sullying them. it doesn’t just have its roots in fandom ship wars, this is an import of a culturally christian idea that a lot of people aren’t unpacking when they come into fandom because here, they can weaponize it, they can use it to “win” a ship war. frankly? gross. this is not a belief we should be reproducing. it perpetuates the belief that people have to remain “pure” romantically/sexually for a partner or else they’ve committed a sin that they must atone for.

(or, in fandom, when people are confronted with say, a canon love interest or other ship in the way of theirs. well. right now i want you to remember all the fic you’ve read and tally up how many had characters in amicable relationships with their exes (canon love interests or not) and how many had exes that were out of character bitches just to make it easier to break the pair up. that’s how it manifests, and it’s no secret that this goes hand in hand with misogynistic bashing of female characters.)

honestly, maybe i’m just polypilled, maybe it’s the multishipper in me, or maybe i just have a life, but it’s ridiculous to act as if characters are a limited commodity and shipping them with one person prevents them from being shipped with another.

AND its doubly ridiculous for both halves of thoschei when they are both canonically polyamorous AND thousands of years old!!! these are not characters who would in any way conform to the straight-laced standards of a monogamous romance in any universe!!! it is, canonically, a thing they are constantly having weird little scuffles about! the fact that the doctor keeps falling in love with other people is like!!! a factor in their relationship that irritates the master so so much that she used it against them one time to try and destroy gallifrey (clara hybrid moments)!!!

the doctor has loved so many and so much. and the master. well, honestly, we don’t think they know how relationships work but sometimes they don’t kill people on sight and that’s kind of like romance <3 but my point is. yeah. ridiculous notion. they are not confined to anyone’s interpretation of shipping them, whether in canon or out of canon.

sorry oh god i definitely got on my fucking soapbox about that jesus

[unpopular opinion rating]

#ask

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orkbutch · 11 months

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For me at least I ship Karlach and Astarion the most because I think it creates an interesting dichotomy for both of them other ships dont get.

Astarion whose used to being sexual to get people to like him and doesnt know another way is forced to step back because he cant jump straight into seductive vampire persona with Karlach

Karlach whose touch starved as hell and is in the worst dry spell is with someone who shows a clear interest in her but she cant interact on that level with. Her already being a character who wants a physical bond but has to gain a purely emotional one first

Theyre a ship where their individual issues with intimacy (physical and emotional) have an interesting mesh I think you dont get as much in Lae'zel

Interesting! I personally don't get it but again, I think shipping Karlach and Astarion is totally fine; The Whole Camp Polycule is great fun to me and I think the dynamics between every character individually are interesting. All I was saying was 16% vs 3% between Astarion vs Lae'zel is Telling imo because Lae'zel and Karlach make a lot of sense to me.

That said, my thoughts on Karlach/Astarion:

Karlach being as touch starved and sexually potent as she is makes her one of the least suited characters for Astarion in my mind. Obviously that tension is Interesting, but I think it'd get in the way ultimately. Obviously Karlach isn't going to be weird about having sex, you can play her romance nonsexually and shes very sweet, but shes still very eager and a little (ok, a lot) desperate, which is understandable. Karlach is living on limited time and wants to indulge in things barred from her for all of her adult life to the fullest while she can. Either way they could just be poly so thats not really a problem! I guess what I'm actually saying is I personally don't find sexual restraint something interesting for Karlach's character. I think it'd be kind of tragic tbh.

Karlach pretty much has to build a purely emotional bond first with Anyone shes seeing because of the engine needing to be fixed. Its something she can remark on as a change in her usual dating if you romance her. Which suits what you said, but also isn't something I see as unique with Astarion.

There is one thing I do see as an interesting, unique dynamic between Karlach and Astarion. Karlach is romantically delayed; shes basically emotionally a teenager with dating and shes playing catch up as quick as she can with what time she has. That makes her kind of gullible and earnest and quick to fall, but also aware of that, and therefore prone to shame about this stuff. Shes pretty sensitive, especially about rejection and feeling like shes special to someone.

Meanwhile, Astarion is JADED jaded, and heavily traumatised. He has layers of self protective coping strats, hes guarded, hes cold, hes unlearning a lot of shit, hes learning how to have agency of his own body while its actively invaded by a parasite. Dudes going through it! And I Do think that stark difference could be interesting. Karlach has a lightness and excitement that Astarion wouldn't have experienced in like, 200 years. Their opposite deals would bring a lot of tension, possible healing, hot vs cold, ect ect.

But ultimately, in my mind, I think Astarion would find Karlach needy and too sweet, and he'd hate that, and I think Karlach wouldn't feel very reassured by Astarion because of his flippant, glib ways. I think they'd lose patience with each other, and they'd find a romantic relationship pretty emotionally tumultuous. They wouldn't meet a lot of each others specific needs very well. But hey, thats what poly is for

#ask #bg3

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