#even when I write ship stuff I have to be aro about it

[waitineedaname]

Ten years following the Promised Day, Ling and Ed finally get the chance to talk, just the two of them. It doesn't go in the direction Ling expected.

poly rights 👍

[astxrope]

Me casually abt to loose my mind again abt how fandoms seem to hate but also want more ace/aro rep.

Like 'oh we need more ace/aro rep!' and then proceed to draw/write/say the dirtiest shit about them.

'ace people can still have s-x! aro people can still date!' shut up for two seconds please it's nkt about that it's about the blatant disregard of sexualities. I KNOW they are fictional charactersbut if you can't even tolerate someone who doesn't exist's orientation how tf are you going to react when you meet a ace/aro person irl?

And, of course, 90% of the people making those ship stuff AREN'T ACE/ARO.

You're nkt scared of aro/ace rep. You're just a wanke- (/ref)

[bloodheartz]

gimmw your gfalls hcs NOEWWW

oh god! I have soooo many but i'll put some basic ones down for the pines family rn and probably add on to this later ^_^

Dipper

◇ First of all this boy is absolutely autistic. My little autistic ass acted so much like him as a kid, I mean, what autistic 12 year old wouldn't base their entire summer around a weird book full of monsters they found?

��� I think he's a trans dude and aro/ace, and that his crush on Wendy was more comphet than anything. I'm not really a fan of any ship involving him but I think platonic dipcifica could be cute.

◇ Cryptozoology/The Paranormal is absolutely his main special interest, but he also has an sp/in in computers/comp sci (but he's honestly not great at computer stuff).

Mabel

◇ AuDHD Queen! I think her main special interest is absolutely arts / crafts, I mean look at all the silly things she makes throughout the series as well as her dedication to handmaking dozens of puppets/props/etc as well as writing and entire play to impress her crush of the week in Sock Opera. ◇ I think sexuality wise she's not straight but prefers to be unlabelled. I also like to think she's the type to collect xenogenders / neopronouns like pokemon cards. ( she totally uses a bunch of cat-based pronouns) ◇ Shortly after the series I think she'd get a little less Boys-Crazy and focus more exploring who she is as a person / her self expression. Absolutely is gonna have a mall goth/emo/scene phase (she's smushing all three of those together into one thing for herself).

(I also think Mabel and Dipper were born identical twins)

Grunkle Stan

◇ Also AuDHD, not quite sure what his big main special interest would be but he's absolutely hyperfixated on Ducktective. Also going off the story in Lost Legends I think he'd absolutely be getting into making comics / drawing in general (even if hes not great at it). Post series I think he'd spend a lot of his free time out at sea drawing in the boat's cabin. Mostly making comics of silly re-tellings of he and Ford's adventures out at Sea (he absolutely shows Dipper and Mabel these if he and Ford video calls them when they're on land) ◇ I'm a transfem Stanley truther. He doesn't really realize/come to terms with it until post-series. I think she'd just grow out her hair and throw it in a pony-tail + use she/he pronouns to transition. She'd still use the name Stanley and be fine with both masc/fem terms (ie fine be called a man or a woman). Also he's bisexual (but has known this since he was like a teen, even if he didn't have the words to label it.) ◇ I think his Popsicle addiction from the unaired pilot is real and canon. Old autistic men love popsicles just look at my dad and grandfather.

Ford

◇ oh boy its projection time (i am a stanford pines fictive) 😈😈😈

◇ Transmasc, somewhere under the nonbinary umbrella but very guy adjacent. Mainly uses he/him pronouns but I think he'd use "it" and "they" aswell. Gay and Arospec as well. ◇ Autism + NPD + Schizophrenia wombo combo. He's sooooo NPD coded its INSANE, I am going to write an essay about it in the future. Goes without saying that his special interests are the paranormal and various sciences, but I think he has a hardcore love for the arts as well. ◇ Going off both the autism and arospec HC- I think he's the type to convince himself he has a crush very easily, when in reality he just has a strong admiration / platonic love for those in question, and had strong platonic feelings for McGucket back in college that he confused for romantic ones (projecting 100000000%) (i think the Stan twins were fraternal twins)

[broadwayfangirl222]

Brief rant about Alastor and his aroace identity, cause I'm getting frustrated:

I've seen dozens of posts about how how

"Oh reminder Asexuality and Aromanticism are a spectrum. Not all aces/aros are sex or romance repulsed so it's ok to ship him or make nsfw stuff with Alastor"

and they're starting to crop up more cause Amir Talai confirmed Alastor's AroAce in the Q&A. Yes, it's true, it is a spectrum. Its not a monolith. There's no monolith for any group. However, with how so many fans go about it, it feels like this fact is just kinda used as an excuse to pretty much ignore his asexuality, even more so his aromanticism, all together.

Which, fine. Sometimes fans just want to ship or make nsfw stuff with a character they like. Nothing really more complicated than that. I don't exactly care personally. There's shipping/nsfw fanworks for pretty much every character out there. I just have issues of this happening and then the second some aspec people say they feel like the character's identity is being erased by the fandom, it gets twisted and turned around on them.

It gets painted like they're somehow harming the aspec community. That them wanting a fandom to not ignore/erase a character's asexuality and aromanticism is the same as insisting that EVERY aspec person is sex/romance repulsed. Like they're pushing some hurtful stereotype. And all the shipping/nsfw content of one of the rare few canon aro/ace characters we have is actually some huge important thing for more nuanced aspec representation, when the words Asexual or Aromantic aren't even used or even really depicted in any way (Alastor's from the 30s so he might not use those words but...other characters would. Maybe he learns those terms from them. There's ways to show he's aspec without actually using those words and like how would it affect a romantic/sexual relationship with someone if he were to have one.)

Like, have your Alastor ships. Draw/write nsfw stuff with him. Just, please don't act like someone's frustration over feeling like the fandom ignores his asexuality/aromanticism is actually some huge attack on the aspec community. Or that a hardcore smut fic of Alastor is actually somehow this great aspec inclusive thing when it's just a smut fic. It doesn't have anything to do with asexuality or aromanticism. Let aspec people have a voice on this stuff, even if/when we don't agree with the popular stance on this type of discourse.

Anyway, sorry for this rant. please enjoy a gif of Alastor being adorable:

and lastly, I personally see Alastor as sex repulsed because of his canonical issues with being touched and consistent jokes from the hunicast streams

[confused-disaster32]

Hi! So you can call this a rant or a vent or whatever I don't rlly care - I just wanted to put some of my opinions out there bc it is eating me inside out to keep my opinions on Alastor's sexuality and all of the discourse about him being shipped to myself.

Also i'd like to state that I'm writing this as someone who is aroace but has no actual wish to be in a romantic relationship and actually struggles to so much as picture what that's be like for myself. I would also like to state how I'm not speaking for the whole community and others will have different opinions to myself.

Firstly - aroace is a spectrum (as someone who is on the aroace spectrum btw) and I completely agree with ppl who say that it is a spectrum and shipping has always existed and you can't rlly stop an entire fandom. My only problem is when ppl completely ignore that he is aroace while doing this, bc to me it seems like there's so much potential to having him have to go through those types of emotions and to write him off as if he's completely allo not only can make some people feel unseen but also just isn't as fun.

Also I kind of believe that he'd possibly date someone for the entertainment - like even if he didn't exactly feel romantic attraction maybe he'd be willing to be around someone closely bc he might like the reactions he'd be getting. (example: he might've stayed in a relationship with Vox maybe not out of pure attraction but if he found out that affection could make the TV short-circuit? He'd be interested)

Adding to that, I personally do not actually ship him with anyone romantically due to his character + the fact that I am projecting my own distaste for romance on him but you do you ig.

Also, on the note of nsfw around him - sometimes you cannot stop a fandom, rule 34 exists and some people who are asexual sometimes may want to have sex and all of that stuff. Personally I think he'd probably be sex-repulsed due to the fact that he canonically has issues with being touched.

ALSO, i personally think that way too many people are brushing over the idea of putting Alastor in a QPR - like that would literally be so awesome.

Alastor x Rosie? Cute af (to me Rosie gives of aro vibes too, but more romance - favourable) like they're already besties and honestly I think that Rosie would defo help him figure out about his identity considering that he's quite obviously not all that sure about slang and stuff.

Vox x Alastor - It has the potential to be SO FUCKING FUN like, you get to experiment with how they feel for each other, maybe what Alastor's got going on bc he died before being aroace was rlly a thing and he'd be confused about how he felt about Vox for sure.

Lucifer x Alastor - I quite like it, ik that Lucifer is supposed to be with Lillith but she did take an extremely long hiatus on her family up in heaven so i think it's okay. Plus the idea of them bonding and becoming close due to Charlie is wonderful.

Even angel and Alastor - maybe after Val Angel doesn't want a super sexual relationship - maybe he's not all that interested in something purely romantic either and though I love huskerdust this would still be pretty cool.

Really all I'm saying is; be considerate. Incorporate the fact that Alastor is Aroace, even if you do ship him - in or out of QPRs - and ofc sometimes writing someone who is part of a group ur not in is difficult (coming from someone who often struggles in writing especially when it comes to romance) but taking a crack at it might actually turn out to be rlly cool.

But please don't ignore his aroace-ness, there's not a huge amount of aroace characters out there and acting like someone isn't can be annoying for ppl who want to find rep around their identity, esp if they haven't seen much before (I can relate and he was one of the first aroace characters I was introduced to after I found out what it meant).

So yeah, that's my piece.

[bindeds]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100 FOLLOWERS ! — i genuinely can’t believe i’ve come this far with posting my brainrot for hazbin. it has and will continue to be such an honor to keep posting for you guys, and to celebrate you guys i’ve prepared a little something for you guys, hehe!

requests.

i am willing to do any requests you guys might have which includes art, gifs, character ships (radioapple, huskerdust, etc) and of course character x reader ships despite generally being an x reader blog. though of course as any sane person would, i am not entertaining angel x val.

some fics along the way …

i have been cooking up something specifically for lucifer though nothing is confirmed yet except for the fact that i want to make a longer fic for him (AT LEAST 10k words long), but i’m kinda having trouble for the plot so this kinda connects to the first thing which if you have any ideas for me to write i am implore you to hit up my askbox, please! i’m gonna need all the help i can get! i’ve also gotten a radioapple worm in my head and the premise is too good not to act on though i will say it will be shorter than the lucifer fic. because of this both of these will be on my ao3 so stay tuned!

selfships.

i thought it would be cool for you guys to tell me a bit about yourself and then from there i pick a character from hazbin/helluva (depending on which show you prefer) that i think you would like/be with romantically (or even queerplatonically for the aro/aces out there)!! i’ve seen other people do this as well and they do 3-pic moodboards sometimes and i’d love to do that for you guys! or if you guys wanna go in depth i could also make short fics dedicated to you personally upon request!

get to know me + qna!

besides all the stuff that’s stated in my pinned, i’ve been writing since i was 10 (i am 18) and i’ve wanted to be a published author for the longest time, though as i grew older i realized there’s a lot of other ways i can get my stories out to the world, like screenwriting, animating (or being both the creator and writer of my own show AHEM totally not talking about hazbin) so i’m not really sure of things yet, but i will say i’ve learned a lot about writing since i first started and even though i know this is all for fun, i take the way i write things seriously, so any constructive feedback you might have will be valuable to me! anyway, i have A LOT of opinions on everything hazbin/helluva so you can ask about those or more about me! i’m a very open person so i like to give in depth responses. but yeah feel free to ask about my opinions on helluva/hazbin as well as my personal life too!

another thing i wanted to disclose about myself since i feel comfortable after having met such wholesome people after starting this blog, is that i have been through abuse very similar to angel dust’s meaning his character meant a lot to me and he was my favorite character when the pilot first came out so yeah! definitely ask me about angel too if you have anything to ask!

[alliepretends]

Something you alluded to that's a real central probably is that when you have only one character who represents a group you can't represent everyone. From a writing standpoint the very act of rendering a single individual means that some aspects of experience have to chosen over others.

You see this with representation of other identities, if there's only one female character or only one black character--if the woman is feminine then it's imposing hyper-femininity, if she's average than it's against femininity because femininity is bad (of course TV never makes characters butch). Which is why writing advice is usually to have at least 2 so you can portray more duality. Female character A can be smart and Female character B can be less intelligent without saying your holding women to higher standards of "women are more grounded and wiser" but also not saying women are stupid.

With Riz: he's only one guy. He can't possibly represent all the facets of being ace or aro or the intersections of aroace.

But at the same time it's frustrating when major parts of aromanticism are ignored. Not because the other aspects aren't real and important, but because SOME aspects are ignored with fewer opportunities to explore. Like, are there other aro or ace characters on d20? Not really.

And especially because this isn't a criticism of the actors but of the general fandom thing to performatively only care about some topics, I think it's fair to call out people's unwillingness to engaged in certain ideas. If people are qpr shipping Riz with others, while frustrating, some people might just want to see themselves represented. It's often a difficult position to be in compared.

Anyway, I didn't mean to make this so long, I was just saying, that I do feel you about the everyone fighting over the bone point

I agree with all your essential points here.

I will point out though that d20 does have other aro and/or ace characters. Liam is ace but not aro. Prince Andhera is ace and word of god arospec (although I haven't watched ACoFaF yet to know how much this informs his story). As nervous as I am about the execution of Riz's storyline, I think d20 deserves a lot of credit for the representation it has. Aro and ace are not terribly common identities on the scale of things and I don't need every story to feature someone like me. What bugs me more about the Riz stuff is the fandom culture aspect of it. Neither Liam nor Prince Andhera appear to be centered in fandom conversations the way Riz is. Plus, Liam is definitely not aro so even when he is centered it's still in a way that allows for fandom romance culture to go unchallenged and Andhera's ao3 tag seems to feature plenty of shipping.

But your core point stands, no aro character can be all things to all aro people. And absolutely it's fair that people from a wide spectrum of aro experiences want to lay claim to one of the few aro characters on offer. It's just hard for me personally to find empathy for that in the ship-centric culture of fandom.

[canonically47]

evil version of that previous anon: and what were your LEAST favorite parts of each of those seasons?

sorry i got to this so late! buuut

total drama

season 1: leshawna's elimination. just... utter bullshit. closely followed by geoff's. also utter bullshit. in fact heather's whole plot armor was meh

season 2: sorry guys but courtney's entire arc. i can't stand her in TDA. she's meh to okay at best in TDI and fine until the gwuncan stuff in TDWT, after that i just can't even. she's so annoying sorry <//3

season 3: EZEKIEL'S MUTANT ARC COME ONNN MY MAN DESERVES BETTER LET HIM BE HAPPY FUCK YOU

season 4: the all-men finale. we should've gotten a zoey vs cameron finale. boo

season 5: the fact that it exists. i have so many problems with it, it's hard to narrow it down to just one single part i hated most, but there is one! i hated how every character was dumbed down. heather just telling alejandro she had the idol. alejandro just telling mal he had proof he was evil. many eliminations. the fact that the final five was... well, that. but most, i hated mal's arc and how mike was 'cured' of DID by pressing a button. i won't speak much on it since it's nowhere near my expertise nor business as a singlet but i would imagine that is. not how it fucking works. at all and just such a sad sterotyped thing to add an eViL alter to the poor guy just to give him more substance. plus i've discussed this with a mutual before but mal just feels like max taken seriously by the narrative. yeah i hate this season there's a reason it gets trampled in my fic

season 6: there was so much potential for max to be a hero and stand up to scarlett. like. so much. i love him he deserved better. that's not the worst tho and if you're new here let me tell you I FUCKING HATE DAVE. OKAY. i have a BIG issue with that guy which is half because he reminds me of some asshole i know irl and half because he just fucking sucks. i don't get any dave ship, any dave love, anything at all. there is nothing to like about him. he is genuinely one of the very few total drama characters that i can't even make up the substance he lacks. just. fuck dave

season 7 (RR): the daters and best friends fell so flat for me in different ways. the daters were just so annoying and i couldn't have been happier at their elimination. the best friends just felt so forced to me. i mean i'm also a romance-repulsed(-ish, not always, it's complicated) aromantic but oh my goddd... they dragged on for sooo loooongggggggg

season 8: the jurasic fart episode. also how chase treated emma. again fuck these allos /j

season 9: PRILEB. OKAY LISTEN. i fucking LOVE prileb BUT i also fucking HATEEE them. they could've been so good if priya was just eliminated earlier. caleb could've had more to him than priya's misunderstood boyfriend, he could've made alliances and friends, but noooo just give him an entire miscommunication arc FUCK YOU yeah prileb could've been so good if it was good (total drama catchphrase)

disventure camp

season 1: fiore's betrayal to alec felt like terrible writing to me and i'll still stand by that. a character like fiore needs more than one side and alec was that other, softer, caring side. and they threw it all away for shock value! <//3 i really hope these two make up :( i miss them so much. oh also the downfall of tomjake like what the fuck happened oh my

season 2: some challenges were... creepy and weird to say the least. spin the wheel to see who to kiss? my aro ass could never. and when kristal indirectly outed aiden during the dares challenge? like, this yo host? trevor would never <3

season 3: whatever the fuck riya and connor, as well as tom and jake, as well as ally and hunter, as well as- FUCK IT WHATEVER THE FUCK THE COUPLES HAVE GOING ON. YES ALL OF THEM EXcept gabellie. keep going my loves you're doing great

[yarrayora]

📜Hello! We've been going back and forth for days on how to message you about this, but we wanted to say we really, super love your thoughts on Falin from dungeon meshi and the pov centric art you've made of her. We didn't know if you were interested in hearing this, but we heavily related to Falin a lot, and not just because we always choose the healer/cleric in things ;^^ We're a system, and share souls with more that one being in the same body. We had already liked Falin, but when her shared soul plot with the red dragon kicked off we felt very deeply connected to her then. She really felt like someone we could heavily relate to and wanted to see her arc blossom in the story of Dungeon Meshi. But like you said in your Falin post she gets... essentially table scraps compared to every other important character? Which honestly shocked us considering so much of the narrative revolved around her. This is a bizarre statement, but it's the only way we could describe what we felt to a friend of ours:

Also, um, hello! I'm Marcille of this system. Our own Falin (yes there's also a Falin in here) had her own timeline and interpretation of events. And she basically thought on it so hard that I sort of... popped into existence?? As what "alter type" I am, I was literally labelled "Falin's Girlfriend"... ;>.> I do so hope this ask isn't annoying or aggravating in anyway, for some reason we saw your post and got very excited and wished to talk to someone else who felt similarly to our thoughts on Falin! So, we hope you're having a wonderful day, and keep being you, please! Thank you for existing! 💌- Marcille of the Panda system

thank you for writing paragraphs about this! it's really flattering! I really love Falin and I can understand the disappointment you guys feel about the lack of resolution when it comes to Falin as a person

at the same time it does fuel my creative needs for tragedy considering her role as a reward is Prime Ingredient for that

it's also the reason I started shipping Farcille in the first place

I'm still an Aro Touden Truther but I'm the type who have multiple gender/sexuality headcanons depending on the narrative I want to tell so it's not hard for me to imagine a lesbian/bi Falin too

I like the idea of Falin finally communicating the stuff she hates to her girlfriend instead of just following Marcille's whims

We already had a glimpse of that back in Laios' flashback about his first meeting with Marcille but even then she didn't think she could just tell Marcille no and ended up dragging her to the dungeon to get Marcille's permission to stay as an adventurer, despite her being a grown adult who doesn't need her friend's permission

I'm grateful for the post-canon content showing us how she rejected Shuro's proposal, and how Shuro takes it gracefully

it's an ending that shows people have finally seen Falin as a person instead of an object of affection, or at least Shuro does, and how much agency Falin has gained after losing her free will when turned into a chimera

There's something about how she has to be turned into a beast that can't speak her own mind for people to finally hear her voice

[bandtrees]

Also Mingus. Of course

SEND ME A CHARACTER!!

MINGUS!!!!!!!! OF COURSE. under the cut lol

Sexuality Headcanon: bi :] it's ourple just like her. i don't think she especially cares for romance or ponders her sexuality much, but in less of an "arospec" way and more of a "forming human connection with her is a losing battle" way. i usually love arospec hcs and do see aro mingus somewhat often but it's just not something i really see myself.

Gender Headcanon: generally cis woman but i feel like if she learned what being nonbinary was she would try and release and trademark her own neopronouns and make people pay to use them. i do also see her being interpreted as transfem sometimes and i think that's a really interesting reading but not one that i actively subscribe to.

A ship I have with said character: ghghnmnnormingus. it's been really fuckin funny watching the tides change in the fandom on this ship - for a while i'd pondered it but never said anything, and then there was the time period where it was considered a weird cursed minority and i got vagueposted about it, and THEN mich came and singlehandedly pilled the masses and now its just, like, a ship. funny how that goes. but all of that talk aside, i just think they have so much potential in, like, every stage of their dynamic. the timeframe where norm's consumed by his completely one-sided obsession (/neg) with her is SO fun to think about, as is the idea post-canon of them forging a more normal relationship and possibly more. they're two of dialtown's most intricately-written characters imo, and it really shows in how layered all of their interactions are :'] there is so much baggage between them and simultaneously so little (with the point of "norm cares way more about her opinion of him than she even thinks about him") and it just makes the final confrontation of ch3 pay off so damn well. listen to nemeses by jonathan coulton it's THE normingus song to me. ⬇ SOOO ch3 norm @ mingus to me

A BROTP I have with said character: god her dynamics with all the mingling are so funny, i could listen to that group of people babble on literally forever. i wanna hear them talk about non-green related issues i want to hear what this room sounds like when its time to argue about, idk, taxes

A NOTP I have with said character: dialtown does not have that many options for edgelord proshittery but i have seen efforts at the one(1) they have. Unfortunately .

A random headcanon: always has some kind of headwear on, whether it be her trademark little hat or other ones she has made for her, or headbands or headscarves or whatnot. it's mostly cuz her head looks really off to me without the hat so i work in substitutes when im drawing or imagining her in more casual settings

General Opinion over said character: the height of dialtown's writing, her and everything to do with her. dialtown is already a good game but it goes from good to great when mingus takes center stage, imo. she's so interesting and also funny to watch - i think "seems silly but actually has deeper stuff going on"-type stories are best when the silly and the serious are tightly interwoven and you can't really distance them from eachother, and mingus is a great show of that as an inherently super tragic but also super funny character. there's not a word of dialogue she speaks where you don't get the impression of how pathetic and overcompensating she is, and that works both for humor and for sadness really well. i also like, in general, when typically "sympathetic" character flaws are played to be difficult or dangerous - in mingus' case her insecurity and desperation to follow in her grandfather's footsteps, and her compassion in wanting to be one of the only people left who still really care about him, it's objectively very noble- but less so when it becomes everyone else's problem rather than just hers. she has this in common with her grandfather 👍

[ijust-really-likedanandphil]

If you think it is impossible for dan and phil to be in a queerplatonic relationship, please take some time to learn about what a qpr actually is (or just unfollow me).

Things to know:

you don't need to be aro or ace (or on either spectrum) to be in a qpr

anyone can be in a qpr regardless of gender, sexuality, or orientation

a qpr is defined by whoever is in it

Liking/enjoying sex or romance is not the same thing as feeling that type of attraction (ace people can have sex, aro people can be in romantic relationships)

Actions are not inherently romantic. They can be interpreted as such depending on the relationship between people, but ultimately, the romantic aspect of an action is due to a person's interpretation or intentions

Amatonormativity is the assumption that everybody prospers in an exclusive romantic relationship.

To undo amatonormativity, you've got to understand that no type of relationship is superior to another. Romance is not "more" than friendship, unless defined as such by an individual.

Queerplatonic is whatever the fuck you want it to be. Sex, marriage, kids, living together, none of those, some of those, all of those, whatever. Depends on the people. It is the "do whatever you want forever" option. Romantic relationships can be like this, but the idea is that they come with societal norms that we are expected to follow — qprs, until amatonormativity is uncommon, are an escape from that.

The fact that you might not want a queerplatonic relationship does not mean no one else does. That's like saying you don't want to be in a heterosexual relationship, so how could anyone else want one?

On the topic of Dan and Phil specifically:

I am not claiming to know if they are or aren't in xyz kind of relationship. That's the whole point

One of the main messages of "We are in a relationship" is that you don't know everything, even if you do truly know a lot.

You cannot know something about someone's relationship until they tell you, just as you cannot know someone's sexuality or gender until they come out to you.

Again, I am not suggesting that they are in either a qpr or a romantic relationship. I am clarifying that we do not know for sure. We can be 99% sure (I personally would not have that kind of confidence in my knowledge of strangers' relationships lol), but you can never know til they tell you.

Even then, they could be lying or leaving out parts of the truth (rightfully so). You don't have the right to that information, which I'm sure most of us agree on

Them respectively liking sex does not mean they fuck. Honestly, it's none of our business what they do, but there are other ways to have sex than with the person you're living with. Arrangements can be made. Again, they very well could. Not really our business though

The "hints" that DnP may be dropping could be real. They could be exactly what a lot of people think they are. It could also be DnP fucking with you, they could also just... not be hints. They're just people. They aren't characters being written for your consumption. The thing about hints is that they aren't explicit and therefore could be misleading, especially when so many people want hints (confirmation bias)

The whole point is!!!!!! we don't know!!!!!! it's fine to think they're cute and ship them but to pretend to know them well enough is crossing a line. Write your fanfic, make your fanart, but please stop pushing the idea onto other people that you either Know they're fucking + in a romantic relationship or you're just an idiot. 'Cause the world is not that simple, there are not just two answers. You're hurting aspec people with some of the rhetoric you use, so let's try to unlearn some stuff

Final disclaimer: if DnP ever come out and clarify that they are in a romantic relationship, spill all the beans, etc then that's cool, whatever! But I won't claim to have "known" that information before they gave it to me, just like I never claimed to have "known" someone was gay before they came out. It's disrespectful

[parachutingkitten]

I have two sins that somwhat cohenside:

As a Cole stan for life I despise the Cole is gay HC and have had to abandon the tag because of its prevalence. Lavashipping is a NOTP and of all the art and edits I've seen polluting my Cole tag I still cant see any chemistry or dynamic between them besides they are both attractive. All the ninja ships are incest vibes (not just the gay ones. Looking at you Braincellshipping) to me as they treat eachother and call eachother brothers but at least there was tension and chemistry between the old days of Bruiseshipping. Lava's prevalence online had me quit for a long time as I couldnt understand why it randomly gained such traction and then showrunners made the dumb idea to try and bait fan perceptions in crystalized. I see cole as somewhat aromantic (although the term is mostly meaningless and used to describe anyone who is uncmfortable or disinterested with romance without analysing the deeper psychological reasons that might be the case) but he obviously wants to be a father and I don't see how any of his defined traits attribute to being the fans gay stand in besides the fact that fandom always has the urge to pick one to be the LGBT mascot and create content that isnt there simply for their own self indulgence. I like Coliel (if anyone remembers Seliel) as it leans into Coles obliviousness to advances while it shows off his honorable and protective personality. I don't find Cole particularly coded LGBT in any of the seasons up until Dragons rising, which the episode focussing it was badly written and OOC.

My other "sin" I suppose is I disown ALL of DR for being a horrible soft reboot that does everything a soft reboot shouldn't: messing with preestablished lore in an attempt to prop up these random new characters as just, if not more, powerful than our protagonists. The new writer has a horrible track record with character ensemble shows like TMNT 2012 and its a worthless slap in the face continuation of an ended series. The diologue is horrendously tacky and most jokes dont land. The push by the writers to add in fan characterizations and expand the lore beyond whats established is lazy and uninspired. There is so much left to explore in Ninjago the way it was. We never went to most of the continent but why try to write compelling stories and dramas with an already defined map when you could throw everything out the window and make your own sandbox, shoehorning it into Ninjago regardless on how ridiculous it looks and feels.

*exhale* alright. I lot to get through here.

there is nothing wrong with not HCing cole gay, especially if you seem him on the aro/ace spectrum. I'm in the exact same boat. And just because there are very prevalent gay interpretations of the text does not mean you have to adopt them, or watch them with that subtext in mind. The true potential episode can obviously really easily be read as a coming out allegory, and a lot of people have latched onto that. And good for them!

But it's just as easily read as a story about defying your parent's expectations for a career path- especially if that's something you can relate to. I think the episode works even better in that respect (cuz that's kinda more directly what it's about, but also) because it adds in this layer of also respecting the place where your parents came from and make their living with. Honestly, I didn't see any gay coding on my first watch through of that one dragons rising episode. I saw Cole's relationship with Geo as much more of a mentor/mentee thing, probably because he's typically taken on a father role. I thought Geo and Sora had more chemistry honestly, with that one scene where their bonding over rejection. That's the beauty of media, multiple interpretations! It sounds like you're letting the fandom color your viewing experience, and that's your problem. The crystalized kai/cole stuff can just as easily be read as brother shenanigans. Don't let fanon make things canon for you if you don't want them to.

I'm on the same page of not shipping the core 4 together. The early seasons were directly focused on their brotherhood in my view, so I get it. But, let's not begrudge people their imaginary LGBTQ rep. As far as I understand lavashipping took off cuz it's the only gay pairing of the main characters who could still potentially be canonically shipped together. Jaya and pixane are pretty set in stone, and lloyd is pretty much off limits. But kailor is very iffy in canon, and cole has never had a love interest. And even if I don't ship it, I can see the value of people having some level of hope that the show might give them some rep. But again, none of this means you have to ship it or feel bad for not shipping it.

Second, you've got some unique opinions on dragons rising. Cool. I don't think you're completely invalid or anything, but I do think some of these opinions might be a little biased?

You're mad it brought back the... finished tv show? The show that finished with crystalized? The worst possible ending of the show? Honestly, it wasn't that much more conclusive than other seasons. Ninjago has always struck me as an evergreen property- a world with endless adventures in it. To begrudge future stories for existing seems a little selfish to me. Ninjago should be a property that new kids can get into for years to come. I've got some problems with what dragons rising has done. I don't think the merge was the best way to go. I hate how needlessly small it makes everything feel. I think sora is a little too chosen-one-y. There are things to criticize here. But it's pulling a lot off. I think it's balanced screen time between old characters and new characters pretty well. It's established a fairly unique identity for itself, which can be a real struggle for sequel content. Again, I think you're coming into it with a distorted fandom lens which is making you hate it more. Not to say that you're wrong, but you're feelings associated with your opinions may be a little exaggerated.

if you have a sin you would like to confess, please direct it to @ninjago-sins

[bonefall]

hey, can i ask what your doing with sandstorm ? she’s one of my favorites in canon.

i know in better bones she’s not romantic with fireheart (bc he’s aro and that’s awesome heck yea) but he honor sires and co-parents with her. Also she’s redtail and runningflights kid and longtails sister, but i’d like to know more about her?

A thing i actually like about her that most people don’t is her sudden turn to being nice to fireheart, i mean, part of it anyways. i don’t like that in canon fireheart is just like “oh she’s nice now. hot” and doesn’t talk to her about it at all. BUT i do like that she decides to be nice to fireheart. that it’s character progression she does on her own, that it surprises fireheart.

I love the idea that as she got older, she had a moment where she realized that her animosity towards fireheart wasn’t really warranted (since she gets annoyed with how bb!dustpelt acts towards him too, maybe that’s a turing point for her here), that she dealt with her issues through self reflection, without fireheart noticing. I like the idea that she worked out most of her issues without talking to him, through her own strength, and then talks to him, apologizing and explaining why she acted like she did. and i think the catalyst, aside from dustpelt, shouldn’t be some moment like “he saves her in battle” it should just be some small act that he doesn’t even remember, that sets it all off, like giving someone their favorite food after they’ve had a really bad day, something small like that

idk i just really like sandstorm being able to deal with her issues on her own strength, showing how she’s matured, sorry for the wall of text lol

I feel you totally, this is all stuff I like about her too

100% of my problems with canon Sandstorm come from her mateship with Firestar, and the way the Erins write downright insufferable romance. I can't even have the satisfaction of being harsh towards FireSand, because it's one of the best in the cesspool of canon warrior ships.

She's great in Fire and Ice though! Something I really like about that book is how Fireheart is struggling with the question of if Clan life is really worth it, between Graystripe's distancing, the murder plot thickening, and still not fully fitting in with ThunderClan. Sandstorm is an extension of the entire Clan warming up to him, as he finally finds his place.

And something else I love, and think the romance plot gets in the way of, is how Sandstorm has her own mind and opinions. She's actually quite "traditionalist," distrustful of outsiders and unwilling to defy Bluestar’s will to stop war with WindClan. I like this about her! I think it's interesting that she isn't just Fireheart's waifu!

And that's the role I want her to have in Better Bones. She ALWAYS thinks for herself. She's an introspective and serious cat, a lot like her dad Redtail. Losing him was devastating to her, but she eventually asked herself: why DO I act like this towards Fireheart? Does he actually deserve it?

Eventually, her and Firestar are deep friends. See, Longtail is Firestar's DEPUTY, he doesn't go to him when he has a weird dream, he doesn't go for a walk in the woods and pop some rowanberries with him, he doesn't tell him about that time he tried to date Onewhisker. That's what he does with Sandstorm.

And eventually she wanted kits, and felt like doing that with her best friend was the best option. He'd raise furballs if it wasn't for her balancing his influence out.

But that aside, I enjoy her as a reliable but not ambitious warrior. She's close with her brother Longtail, lifelong friends with Dustpelt after he comes around, and a great mentor to Sorreltail

[lettersfrombeyondthegrave]

So uhh christian linke saying Viktor is asexual?

First screenshot summarizes what was said, the other three are comments from the reddit post that I find very interesting

Here's the link included in the reddit post btw

I have to preface this by saying Ive seen just few posts talking ab interviews and statements of linke, never watched a full length interview or anything of him, don't know the guy, but the whole Vi thing that ended up not being a bigger center in season 2 makes me being reluctant in believing other things he says, sorry.

Before even touching on the ace part, about the first paragraph talking about how a part of the fandom shipping Viktor and jayce had no influence to the writing for season 2:

Number one feels silly, because it seems the writers very much kept in touch with the community, and I'm a truther about Mage Viktor (very implied??? based on how you read the scene??) being a retcon and how some other scenes felt like they're somewhere on ao3, so how do I not know they still saw the community liked a lot whatever was going between those two nerds and changes were still made on their plot based on that(even if they kept it platonic). But I digress

Number two, why do I get the vibes this guy just has some personal vendetta against jayvik nation? And this is a case of "Ah! Gotcha! These guys are not gay cus uuuuh one of them is ace and I don't know the difference between ace and aro"?

To get into the ace part (and jeez this post is already getting long), I'm ace myself. That's the only representation I can speak for on Viktor, so I very much appreciate the different insights I've seen of disabled people talking about his character from their pov, even more in general.

I also don't ship jayvik so I won't discuss it in those terms.

I wasn't taking in consideration oh he's a very smart, scientific guy obsessed with his work, more on the shy, introverted side and that fits the stereotype. Oh he's disabled and disabled characters unfortunately tend to get seen through this "sexless" filter

Dint cross my mind, at least not consciously

I had a little headcanon of ace Viktor simply cus that's what my brain does with my fave characters that dont show on screen or on page or on whatever, interest in sexual attraction. And also "haha purple (from the hexcore) like the flag" is a silly joke.

But when it's in some form, in the media or outside of it, said by someone that had control over writing decisions? That feels different.

It DOES feel very much "Dumbled*re is gay" type beat. You can argue that in this show there's no rlly "I'm gay" n stuff moment, relationships are portrayed and that's it, and ace rep in this scenario can be tricky cus it's more of a "lack", more of a nothing to show than something to show

At the same time Viktor plot was booked and busy on trying not to die and then going full final jrpg boss, it doesn't feel like in the text there was actual resemblance of rep, resemblance of "oh we always meant him to be ace, actually". + Viktor isnt the only character who we don't see interested in Those Sort Of Things, are we supposed to interpret all those other characters also as ace? See, it gets tricky.

In conclusion

If I'll continue to think of him as ace, it'll be as a silly little headcanon of mine and not what feels more like someone having beef with the discourse of a mlm ship than actually confirming good representation

Because you hear him say oh Viktor isn't cold and an emotionless machine, we see a lot of his emotions and how human he is (well first resurrection arguably makes him cold and. Metallic.) so, cool ace rep. But that's not all the stereotypes are about, as also the comments I included point out, and my bro Viktor start falling into all the other check boxes.

[quietwingsinthesky]

8 and 16 for the choose violence ask

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about.

That Dean would return Cas’s love confession

Okay no actually you know what. I’m gonna talk about that. Maybe it’s just me being deep in Aro!Dean land, but I’m not seeing it. I’m not seeing at any point in the show where Dean loved Castiel. And I’ve been looking, I swear, but I’m. There’s no destiel on my screen. There is a lot more sastiel than I remember but there’s no destiel happening on my screen! There IS a lot of Castiel clearly having Problems and Issues and Angst about dean, and. Zero doubt here there that that angel wants to fuck him. But I honestly can’t imagine any happy ending for dean that revolves solely or even mostly around a romantic attachment. That man is hardwired for family being the most important thing to him, and I love that. Aro!Dean wins again.

Other notable things include: headcanoning Sam as not queer/trans because he’s too boring. Talked about that. Weird fucking opinion to have. That Gabriel is not exactly as fucked up as the other archangels, especially when presenting sabriel as the Good Sam Ship as opposed to samifer. My dudes, did we not watch mystery spot, do the reading. Also. Also. Not acknowledging the really clear character degradation of Lucifer in the later seasons/attributing later seasons stuff to how he acts in s5, just a personal gripe because whatever, people can read him however they want, but I really feel like on a meta level you gotta talk about how these are Two Different Characters who just happen to have been jammed into the same character. Okay. I think that’s it.

16. You can’t understand why people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc.)

I do not like coffee shops AUs. Actually, it’s more that im Extremely picky about AUs that aren’t canon divergence, and will drop them immediately the minute I feel like I’m no longer reading about the characters I like and am instead reading about Generic Guys who say funny quips and then kiss. Which is not a coffee shop au specific problem but the frequency with which that kind of au attracts that writing means I have kind of been turned off from ever reading them again.

if you are writing Sam into your coffee shop au and at some point he does not drop some insane backstory about the time he was kidnapped and forced to fight to the death with a bunch of other college kids, you have failed at writing this au and I am banishing you to the shadow realm /j

The other thing that I do not understand at all, and this extends into a problem with canon, I’m well aware, is how happily people will accept the idea that Castiel is rebellious/different from other angels because he was just Made Wrong. he’s too Broken to be like a real angel. that all the other angels are mindless drones and Castiel is the one good one who could learn about free will, usually justified with it being that “his love for dean is what makes him special”, but even outside of destiel circles, this kind of thing gets very annoying lmao.

And it’s just. That’s wrong. The show might have decided post-s8 that it believed this about Castiel but it’s False and Bad. I’m gesturing wildly at Uriel and Anna and Gabriel and Lucifer and Balthazar and Michael and shit what’s that one angel doing pinball I love them, them too, and Castiel is not special!!! He should not be special!!! All angels have the capacity for free will, they are living under a terrifying system of suppression that has stripped them of their ability to use it and has taught them that when an angel does something they disagree with, killing them is a mercy! (See: the implications of that one angel healer in s9 + Uriel and Cas being sent to kill Anna for falling in s4)

CASTIEL IS NOT SPECIAL. STOP SAYING HE IS SPECIAL. THE CRACK IN THE CHASSIS LINE IS BAD TO HOLD UP AS EVIDENCE OF HIM BEING UNIQUELY FLAWED.

ahem. sorry. i like the supernatural angels. i think making castiel into some separate special being who is the only one capable of rebelling and feeling love and etc does a massive disservice to the heaven storylines and angels as a whole. i think the show’s choice to never have another major angel character who wasn’t killed off quickly/made “too evil” to redeem was a bad decision and contributes to this view of cas as Different and The Good One.

[sflow-er]

You ask and shall receive

Question 1 till 21 please 😇😇😇

(Aka: pick the questions you actually want to answer 😂)

Thank you, friend, for this carte blanche!! 😂

I saved it for last because I really am going to answer all the ones I want to answer but haven't yet. Also, I can use it to link all my previous answers! Yay!

I'm putting a cut here because this got ridiculously long (as you can probably imagine).

1. Favorite secondary character

As 'secondary character' was used in this ask game to cover all non-Wilmon characters, I'm going to make a top four:

August because he is, to quote my answer to 21, "easily one of the best-written and best-acted characters in the show. It's rare to see an antagonist with such deep, complex emotions of his own, and casting a sweetheart like Malte to play him was an incredibly successful choice." Personally, I relate pretty hard to his perfectionism, and I also can't help connecting some other stuff about him to someone I know.

[Obligatory disclaimer that this doesn't mean I condone the things he did very wrong.]

Sara because her arc is one of my favourite things in the show and Frida's performance is phenomenal. As with August, I also have a personal point of reference: I too was bullied all through secondary school, and while my experiences weren't as extreme as Sara's, they did leave deep scars and a fundamental feeling of "nobody likes me for real and they never will." So yeah, I do relate to her quite a bit despite not being ND myself.

Henry because he was my inspiration to start writing again after more than ten years. I've always had a tendency to fixate on background characters, and S1 Henry was an intriguing mix of things that felt very foreign to me (his background and political opinions) and things that really appealed to me (his rudeness to Simon vs. kindness to Wille, and of course the vibe that inspired me to read him as ace). I do also enjoy him in the later canon where he is more of a funny mess, but yeah, it's definitely his S1 self I hold the most dear. Also, see everything I wrote about him and Simon here!

And finally, I also want to mention Ayub because he is just a very sweet guy whose friendship with Simon I really enjoy (he does make some mistakes, e.g. by pushing the Marcus rebound, but don't we all). I don't necessarily gush about him much, but I do like him very much. Even tried to write fic from his POV once.

2. Favorite secondary romantic and/or sexual pairing

Out of the canon pairings, Sargust. Their chemistry is amazing, and I love that their romance is absolutely integral to both their character arcs and the show as a whole. I do think they had to stay broken up in S3, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't ship them. I hope they get a second chance later in life when August has grown as a person and things between him and Simon have been resolved as well.

Out of the non-canon (or semi-canon) pairings, I'd say Walty, but I also really enjoy them as a platonic or queerplatonic pair. My ace hc of Henry is strong enough that I don't actually read many fics where they are both allo (although I do have a couple of faves, e.g. Change It And Say which is on my fic rec list linked under question 18).

3. Favorite platonic friendship

Answered here.

4. Favorite triad or polyship

Sorry, I don't really have any thoughts on this! I have enjoyed reading others' answers though.

5. Favorite familial relationship

Answered here.

6. Character(s) you have ace, aro, or queerplatonic headcanons for

To start this off, I want to say I'm really coming around to @bluedalahorse's aroallo Fredrika! Her occasionally rosy and perpetually normative ideas of romance certainly do seem very "this is romance, right?" rather than something she has personally experienced.

But as you know... Ace Henry is the hill on which I will gladly lay down my life. It started back in S1, when it felt like everyone else saw sexual attraction from him towards Stella in the exam scene, and I just couldn't. I guess that just sparked something in me and inspired me to put him under an ace lens haha.

I used to think it was just for my own fics, but then when S2 came out, all I could see was more "proof" (most notably, his very "yikes I forgot that hookups were a thing" reaction to Wille and Felice, as well as his fed-up response to Vincent's "advice"). The poor guy just wanted to live his best dorm life and partake in silly traditions to egg Sprucewood and write cringey Valentine's letters, and everyone around him kept making it about sex for some reason.

[Arospec sidebar: Also, his question on how the protagonist in Kris can be in love with someone she doesn't know can easily be twisted into a rather demi thing to say. I sometimes think demiromantic ace would suit him well.]

And yes, I'm aware that Henry implies that he's straight in S3, but that's because a) he hasn't figured himself out yet or b) he's just saying it to mess with the teacher without actually meaning to imply anything. (Or both. This is messy post-S1 Henry so it's probably both.)

7. Character you didn’t initially like/love but have now warmed up to

Also answered here.

8. Pairing you didn’t initially like/love but have now warmed up to

This is a tough one because I can like almost any pairing if it makes sense in a specific fic, but that doesn't mean I'm going to like them in every context.

Maybe Stedrika? I never disliked them as a couple, but I did dislike them as individuals and wasn't super interested in their romance when it was introduced in S2. I do like them a lot more now that I've warmed up to Stella. Although I still think it would be more interesting if they broke up in uni and had to get back to being friends so... Yeah, this is a tough one.

9. Favorite non-Edmar actor

Malte, Frida, and Pernilla. They give so much depth and allow us to understand these complex characters, even when they make bad decisions. August, Sara, and Kristina are all very challenging roles, and the actors would have deserved to win some awards for how amazingly they embodied all their different sides.

10. Favorite s1 scene centered on a secondary character

My very favourite one is August's talk with his mother on Parents' Day. There's so much meaning loaded into every line (words and delivery) and every expression. Parents' Day as a whole was when August really clicked into place for me on my first watch, but his altercation with Louise was the crowning moment. It was also a major inspiration for how I wrote his messed-up family situation in Årnäs, February 2016.

My runner-up is the scene where Smysan tries to force Felice into the Lucia dress. It makes me so fucking mad and uncomfortable on every watch.

11. Favorite s2 scene centered on a secondary character

Answered here.

12. Favorite s3 scene centered on a secondary character

It's impossible for me to name a single favourite - both because I haven't rewatched S3 much and because there are so many amazing scenes centred on both Sara and August! But my top five (not necessarily in this order) would be 1) Sara and Micke in the car and the subsequent talk with August, 2) August reading his first-year letter to Sara, 3) August and Nils talking about their initiation, 4) Sara's driving exam, and 5) August breaking down at the table and Nils and Vincent comforting him. These are all stellar scenes that tell us so much about the characters involved and their relationships.

13. Secondary character you think should have had more screentime

Answered here.

14. Any ships (crackships included) involving Simon or Wilhelm that break up Wilmon? We won’t tell!

This is also a question I don't really have an answer to. I guess maybe Simon/Ayub as others had made very compelling cases for it, but I just love their friendship so much that I don't know if I could truly get behind a romantic take.

15. Adult character whose teenage backstory would make the best spin-off series

Answered here.

16. A song that reminds you of a secondary character or pairing

Answered here.

17. Secondary character or pairing that needs more fanart

All of them!! There are far too few pieces of fanart centred on characters other than Wilmon.

18. Favorite fic centered on a secondary character or pairing

Answered here. My number one favourite is @bluedalahorse's August fic, Swell the Numbers.

19. Shout out a fanfic author for their writing of a secondary character (or characters) in a subplot

Here, I must admit that I haven't read too many fics with subplots focused on the secondary characters. That's because most of those are multi-chapter Wilmon fics, which I haven't read very many of in the last few years. I did read more of them in my early days in the fandom, but I don't think there were any such subplots in those fics that really stuck with me.

However, I did very much enjoy your take on Henry in the dark vampire fic, @willedeservesbetter! His friendship with Simon was wonderful, perhaps my favourite dynamic in the entire fic. His characterisation was also very fitting for the fic, and it really felt like you let him be a character in his own right instead of just Wille's coven member/Simon's friend.

20. Dream fanfic about a secondary character and pairing that you’d love to read but don’t want to write yourself

Answered here.

21. Most underrated character/ship/actor overall

Answered here.

Phew, that was all of them! This was so much fun, thank you again for giving me this opportunity to ramble.