#could be read platonic or romantic

[dandyleyen]

Post-BoTW Zelda/Link rebuilding their lives + “In Our Bedroom After The War”

This is a song I frequently associate with Link after the events of BoTW, but it’s fitting for him and Zelda. Just putting up some thoughts of how I think they’d be post-BoTW.

I think the two of them would struggle to find this peace solely because of how much they’ve faced. Zelda was alone (Albeit with Calamity Ganon) in the castle for a full century, and Link was alone practically the entire time during BoTW’s events while he was regaining memories of his former self and working to basically save Everyone.

It would be hard to feel at ease as well. They’d probably be on edge after it all. I think Zelda especially would struggle to adjust. Link had some time to adjust to their new world by the time he’s ready to rescue her and defeat the Calamity. Things are different, but he’s had some time (it helps that he didn’t initially have full memory of what things were like before the Calamity).

Zelda would probably struggle a little more. Now that she’s free and she’s home again, everything is different. She probably knew that all that time had passed while she was in the Castle, but now that she is out she actually has to face it. She has to begin coming to terms with all the loss— and just how different everything is, and even how different Link is.

This one. God.

There’s only one bed in the Hateno house but also I don’t think Link would probably have offered it to her primarily. That being said— I like to think that Zelda and Link would find comfort in sleeping next to one another at times. It would help with the possible nightmares.

Still, so early on they would probably be a little nervous about it or unsure of themselves.

We know Link was really young when he first got the Master Sword and even when he became a Knight. He lost a lot of his innocence pretty early on. Zelda was also very young even with all the responsibility she had.

They lost a lot of their childhood, but they also lost everything. They lost their families, their friends, and their old lives due to the Calamity.

In the end though, they didn’t lose one another. Not for good. They even have new friends now to count on.

It would probably take them a good while to really start recovering from the physical and mental effects of the Calamity and Calamity Ganon. They would move at their own pace, though. Not a single soul could judge them for how they were choosing to rebuild themselves after having lost so much.

They would find comfort in eachother and they’d eventually find some peace.

[sirenetica]

May I request 3rd life desert duo? :3c

Sure

[candy-heart-brew]

"Gangle's too shy to speak up..."

The way they hold their heart here when talking about Gangle is SENDING ME!

[feroluce]

I have finally finished 2.4 and oh my GOD watching Dan Heng be so protective of his friends nearly killed me, MY HEART.

And yes, the cutscene where he pushes the trailblazer out of the way and even cushions their fall with his own body, but I mean even before that! When he was already trying to protect them and March 7th from Feixiao and Lingsha!!

Because if you watch the dango trio throughout the main quest, you'll notice that they often position themselves in the same way, which is a detail that makes me super happy that Hoyo thought to include- when the three of them aren't evenly spaced, March 7th and the trailblazer tend to gravitate towards each other and stand very close together, frequently side-by-side. And by comparison, Dan Heng usually stands slightly away, and often even slightly behind them, where he can pull on their leashes to wrangle them keep an eye on them.

This is probably a habit learned through experience, since March 7th said during Belobog she is the "queen of unannounced disappearances" fjdksajfkldjsak

And of course at least a little bit of it is just done for like, aesthetic purposes. It's a video game. Things have to look nice for the player. The trailblazer and Dan Heng are the same height, March 7th is a bit shorter, and Yanqing is even smaller. It makes sense to have the trailblazer and Dan Heng stand on the ends, with March 7th and Yanqing in the middle, it just looks nicer and more balanced that way. But still! Even when they're accommodating for Yanqing in this quest, they still all arrange themselves the same way, almost every time!

But this changes after Dan Heng and Yanqing become suspicious of the visitors from the Yaoqing.

The dango trio still stand around relaxed and in their usual manner when they go to the artisanship delve and meet Skott,

but Dan Heng takes notice of Lingsha when she arrives, and he and Yanqing mentioned her specifically when discussing their worries.

Yanqing worrying so much about Jing Yuan got me right in the heart, he's such a good boy WEH

And when the four of them go out to the alchemy delve to meet Lingsha for tea, the pattern breaks. Suddenly Dan Heng is standing right up front, and even walks in and enters the scene before March 7th and the trailblazer to get to Lingsha before them. He stays a step in front of them the whole time, too.

And then when Dan Heng and the trailblazer have to go be interrogated by Feixiao! The same deal! Dan Heng walks in ahead of them and stays in front of them! Noticeably so! Enough that even Feixiao takes note and voices it!

Dan Heng is so so fiercely protective of his companions, and I love it, I adore hyper vigilance in the wake of trauma like this, I'm so excited to see what else he does in 2.5, I hope we either get to see him get fucked up or the trailblazer gets fucked up in his place, I wanna see them run through the meat grinder!!!

[improper-use-of-germx]

Imagine an alien that doesn't speak. Members of their species live largely solitary lives and never evolved the need to communicate past basic physical articulation, and in space they mostly just exist as individual workers that work alongside others, but never with.

So when a human comes aboard they don't really think about it too much. You try to talk with them, they stare at you blankly, then someone from a more social species explains the situation to you. If that's where it ended they wouldn't have given you any more thought, but then you start doing things for them.

It doesn't have to be big, either. Maybe wiping down their work area or bringing an extra snack from the kitchen doesn't seem like a lot to you, but they always notice. You work comfortably in silence with them, never trying to make one-sided conversation like others have. It's...nice. They're not quite sure what to make of it.

Eventually, they start returning the favor. Little treats appear on your desk, things you leave messy will suddenly be tidied up when you return. They like when you notice. Sometimes you smile, sometimes you glance up at them and they act like they weren't just watching you from across the room. Sometimes you mumble a quiet "Thank you." out of habit, and for once they wish they had something to say back.

It's more effort than anyone else has ever made with them. Even if it's just a work relationship for you, they appreciate it, and they want you to be happy when they watch you clock out.

[re-colligere]

Thought about how Indigo and Roz would interact in this au, so here's some sillies! I think they'd be buddies faster than Verte would consider them both as her buddies. so you know.

[gremnda]

Could you draw Etho and Bdubs or Scar and Bdubs?? :oo

Please don't separate

i really wanted to draw Etho and Bdubs hugging but i decided to go the angst route- don't worry they're okay (mostly)

[ghostofthepresent]

Why I think Shiguang can be canonically read as romantic

(I will only be using the donghua for reference, so no Studio Lan retweeting those fanarts (lmao) nor those especially gay manhwa panels (lmao x2) nor even the songs ("chase you to the end of the world, just to say your name once more" my beloved).

It's important to start off by saying that I'm aware Director Li said they ended up not making Lu Guang a girl because they didn't want romance to be seen as a must in Shiguang's relationship by the audience (and because he feels that "bros can have a good heart-to-heart connection with each other"). In my opinion that was a great move since it allows more freedom with how they write them than they'd have otherwise. I also think viewing Shiguang as queerplatonic is a great read too and it doesn't diminish their love for each other nor the importance of their relationship at all.

With that said, despite Director Li's words, there's been things that had me going 🤨 as someone who likes to adhere to canon relationships and read into the writer's intentions, so I wanted to share why I personally see them as romantic.

EPISODE 2

We've all seen this coming, right? Most obvious parallel ever, and in the second episode no less. We all know the similarities between both relationships, so I will just touch on those I consider the most important ones.

Lin Zhen and Yu Xia have gone to college together, and since then decided to start a business of their own - named after a mix of their names. They've been shown as being really close and having no romantic relationships. Lin Zhen also says that Yu Xia's happiness is her own, and then it's shown to us that she's gone through years of unhappiness just for Yu Xia. I believe you can replace their names with Lu Guang's and Cheng Xiaoshi's in your head without me writing all this again. And I'm not even going to get into the most obvious parallels like the special noodle recipe for each pair.

I think it's safe to say that Lin Zhen and Yu Xia are implied to be romantic. From that "one noodle" scene, to the close shot of Lin Zhen grabbing her hand, etc.

Now, I want to get into a writer's point of view and pose two questions:

1. What's the purpose of this episode, when even those which seem episodic connect to the overarching plot of season 1 (even the missing kid's case, as it leads to the involvement with the police)?

2. If we answer the previous question with the conclusion that it's meant to show us the nature/development of Cheng Xiaoshi's and Lu Guang's relationship, what does that say about it?

"Partner" in Link Click

Continuing with episode 2, what really got me thinking about the romantic intentions in their writing was the constant mention of marriage and anything in relation to it.

(may I remind everyone that the driver's comment was said when Cheng Xiaoshi was complaining about Lu Guang lmao)

They're telling us through "show don't tell" (for example, when Lin Zhen kept on eating the noodle despite knowing they'd kiss) and, also, connotations. They are presented to us as business partners, but then the entire episode goes on to tell us that there's more to them by tying their relationship to things percived as romantic. So what they want to really tell us is that beyond simple business partners, they're life-long partners.

And then, after establishing this kind of connotation to the word partner, Cheng Xiaoshi says this to Lu Guang in the next episode:

This doesn't stop at them. While it's the most obvious example, I think partnership in Link Click is intended to be seen as romantic, or at the very least dancing somewhere close to it. Let's go even further and take a look at our fully canon, heterosexual relationships and see briefly how their story is written:

1. Dong Yi and Xu Shanshan: both of them chose the comfort of each other's presence over moving on with their respective futures. Dong Yi had so much faith in their relationship and their love that he couldn't choose a life/future that didn't have Xu Shanshan - choosing to not go back to his family home nor go to that interview, and instead waiting for Xu Shanshan to define their relationship.

2. Liu Siwen and Ouyang: Siwen spent his entire life training with the purpose of getting his father-in-law's respect and marry Ouyang, going every year over and over to fight him. His perseverance and his undying love for her allowed Siwen to do the (seemingly) impossible.

3. Chen Bin and his wife: they're a tragedy. His wife understood Chen Bin the best, enduring feeling lonely because she loved him and wanted a future with him. But their relationship was cut short, so they promised each other to be together in a future life to make up for the time they wouldn't be in this one.

With this + the pictures I attached, it seems like Link Click has set this theme of "love is a life with you" for its romantic relationships, a partner that will fight to stay because they can't see a future that doesn't have their beloved. Going back to episode two, this applies even to the noodle ladies. When Yu Xia remembered what actually matters to her, she went back home - to the start, to her hometown. And, most importantly, to Lin Zhen.

So why is Shiguang romantic? Why aren't they queerplatonic, or just best friends, or bros or whatever else? Because besides what I said at the start of the previous paragraph, Shiguang's relationship mirrors a lot of the romantic ones. Each story and author writes romance and other kinds of relationships differently, portraying them in the way they perceive "this is what this kind of love is like". And beyond life-long partners, I think that the key elements of romantic relationships in Link Click are the ones I highlighted in bold above in the 3 canon relationships part - which Shiguang shares, too.

(I didn't mention this before with the het couples, but I find it a little amusing that season 2 happened because a man wanted to go to the past and get his wife back (still fuck you Qian Jin) and then we find out Lu Guang did go back to the past and got his boyfriend partner back lmao).

"Friend" vs "Partner"

So where is the boundary between platonic and romantic? What marks the difference between a (best) friend and a partner?

There is, for example, Liu Xiao and Li Tianchen's relationship. They aren't shown to have any kind of romantic undertones and there's even the very real possibility of manipulation on Liu Xiao's side. They're also never labeled as nor call each other partners, but instead Li Tianchen says he "met a new friend" and Liu Xiao says he's "going to meet an old friend" years later. So we could say for now that they have a somewhat close relationship (we see Li Tianchen go against Qian Jin to give the phone to Liu Xiao), but never cross that "friend" label.

We can even bring Qiao Ling and the boys' relationship. She's never labeled as a partner despite taking part in the side job and, more importantly, being super close to both of them. She is very important and a cherished friend to Shiguang, so why not call her partner too? I think it's intentional. Since she's been given a familial role already (calling Cheng Xiaoshi her brother when talking to Li Tianxi), she can't fill a partner role. I wonder why? because it's supposed to be a synonym for a romantic relationship. who said that.

So even best friends (Qiao Ling, arguably what Liu Xiao is to Li Tianchen) don't enter this close space that is being a partner. It's different, it's beyond platonic. Or at least that's what they've been showing us for the past two seasons.

I could go soo much more into this honestly, because I do think the little hints thrown here (the music videos) and there (tiny seemingly inconsequential details) are worth to be looked at too, but I wanted to get into the core reason that makes me go "woah so they're In Love fr". I hope I expressed myself well ^^

tldr; the series shows us a divide between having a (best) friend and a partner, giving "partners" romantic connotations.

[jerrythebug]

Green Lantern and Green Arrow fluff for DC for Gaza over on Twitter! The donations are closed already, but do come check out the amazing art everyone made for it!!!

[propaganda101]

it's been 3 days and I'm still fucking stuck on LAD chapter 9 somehow

[ghostycatz]

A trip to Orange Ocean! 🌊 (June 2023)

This was based off a silly idea I had that Galacta Knight is unfamiliar with the geographical layout of Popstar, so Meta Knight decides to show him around the planet's various landscapes (which I like to headcanon that Orange Ocean is one of Meta's favorite places). Though Galacta Knight had traveled often during missions, he never really had the time to take in the view of his surroundings, so the sight of the ocean leaves him in awe

[nerdynuala]

@radioroseweek day 6, on which I spent more time than intended:

Date

Sugar, spice and everything nice

Stupid ideas go brrr in my mind

[koroart]

Superlads & their Robins ✨ ( WIP )

[tunanoodlesoup]

couple more drawings under cut + yappage just so its less take up spacey haha

anyway on the topic of whiteboard and tv head heres more (im going insane) using I.V.Y's design for them because, they singlehandedly got me into painter and then i deadass forgor that the way they drew painter wasnt a canon design LAMOOO (i was literally jawdropped going through painter art 5s to see if i can find ivys tag on here and seeing that people in fact draw him differnetly bc,. its not canon HEKOFOOP ME i literally even SAW their post abt how they had 3 different headcanon ways to draw them and i ws like yeah thats cool i love art and then forgot immediantly) anyway im hungry and want cereal so idk someone holler if I.V.Y has a tumblr i can tag but either way also watch this animatic from them bc ive watched it religiously every single day and am now obsessed with the song too (this is a cry for help) also play pressure if you havent or if you have revisit it!! its goober

[confoodles]

Every single interaction Charles and Oliver had this episode was so unrequited romance coded and I will not be taking criticism !!

[lucyshypemaster]

we genuinely need more platonic male-female relationships like the one brynne and aiden have