#every concept every word

[silverhalla]

obsessed with how the other backgrounds are like “you had a little oopsie moment with your faction so you’re temporarily benched” and then mourn watch is like “what if this LITTLE ORPHANED BABY!!!! was left IN A TOMB!!!!! to be DISCOVERED BY UNDEAD???? and then RAISED (collectively??) BY NECROMANCERS!!!!!!, only to be taken down by THE NECROPOLIS’ SCARIEST DANGER: BUREAUCRACY”

normalest protagonist in all of thedas tbh

[edorazzi]

Page 54 of my Miraculous Mentor AU comic A Matter of Trust! In which a third Kwami makes their appearance, but not as a bearer of good news. Unless... 🦋⚠️

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[confused-stars]

i'm rewatching s1 of Arcane, and i'm sure people have already written fics about this, but the soulmate au where you have your soulmate's first words to you tattooed on your skin is so funny for jayvik because

Jayce's first words to Viktor are "Science, I guess?" and i love that for them both

[johnnyshrine]

★ 100 // “The Holy Bible”

[mearchy]

THERE'S NO MANDO'A WORD FOR REBELLION? Come ON now, I can't even find anything close. Essential vocabulary. Does anyone have a fanon word they'd like to donate...

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

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

And here's why.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's another example.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[kacievvbbbb]

You know I’ve been thinking a lot about how Mihawk probably doesn’t understand the concept of protecting the people you love. And that’s so far out of alignment with everything Shanks is, that it’s probably the one thing he can’t really reconcile about Mihawk’s *vague gesturing* everything,

[nanami-is-nanamean]

I was reading the newest chapter of this cat!gojo fic and like. It made me realize. We dont have a lot of content where NANAMI is the one that turns into a cat. Its more common for him to turn into a dog, because yeah no it makes sense--bro is like a tired family dog if you think abt it, BUT ALSO!! Nanami could make for a really regal and refined cat!! Walk with me here.

So, i did a quick looksee at potential cat breeds and fnejfjefjrk i can just see nanami ending up as a ginger norwegian forest cat. It has his temprament, that european roots that i love for him, AND it makes him so wonderfully fluffy and also kind of lowkey pushes my hairy!nanami agenda eheheheheh >:))

As a cat, nanami could live the most chill and relaxed life hes dreamed of-- napping the day away in the sun and enjoying himself however he pleases with nil repercussions. I can also see gojo just cooing and gushing over him-- you BET that gojos phone gallery storage would jjst be FILLED TO THE BRIM with catnami pics gjsjfjshrk

Theres also a lot of story potential and character exploration here because like--what would nanami do as a cat? If given the life he wished for (kind of), would he really enjoy it? Especially considering the fact that this is the main thing he's been dreaming of since forever. And also, circling back to the what would he do as a cat thing, would he want to turn back into a human? If ever, what would he do as a cat to turn back into a human? Its also just fun to imagine wtf he'd do and everyones reactions to it LMAO

Storywise, this is a pretty easy setup--put nanami into a mission and he gets hit by the curse effect. Give or take he defeats the curse or curse user that did it to him before it takes full effect, rlly depends if you wanna stretch it out or whatever and use the guy for more plot lmao. And then he turns into a cat!

I can see a lot of drama in the two situations of "he insta turns into a cat" and "he vv slowly animorphs into one". For the first one, depending on whether or not he defeats who or whatever it is that did it to him, the amnts of drama and emotion that you could get outta that thang would be crazy--i can see ijichi nervously waiting in the car and its been a touch too long since nanamis been in the curse lair of the thing and hes getting REAL nervous because nanami would be in the car by now or at least texting him that hes facing some troubles and will take longer than usual.

He decides to trust his gut and maybe send out a call to whoever the closest sorcerers are around and LO AND BEHOLD, its gojo on his way to bug nanami about getting dinner with him. So when he hears that nanami might be in a lick of trouble, he figures that he can show up all knight in shining armor-like and heroically save him from whatever curse hes facing him and then ask him on a date as thanks for saving him.

He gets there and huh. Thats a suspiciously large amount of blood everywhere. Huh. Thats nanamis cursed weapon on the floor thats also covered in blood and guts. Huh. Thats also all of nanamis clothes torn asunder and also covered in blood and guts. Huh. Well. This isn’t good. Thank god a weirdly injured and blood covered cat caught his attention before he spiraled too hard over whatever happened to nanami. Very cutesy and fluffy too, with the prettiest hazel eyes hes ever seen on a cat, because none match up to nanamis hazel eyes

[frosting-surfeit]

Okay but zim and dib would NEVER go to prom willingly

The poor things would probably be forced to attend by their school tho wouldn't they

[trenchgardens-ooc-ooc-ooc-ooc]

your mommas lyin'... what's she tryin' to do...

[brainrotcharacters]

I romanticize the werewolf mating bond a lot so imagine my delight when the non-werewolves say/infer "my mate"

I think it's a combined acceptance of culture and lifestyle, which since it's a big part of the wolves' lives, by association the non-wolves are accepting their partners too. This might be my specific flavor of intimacy that no amount of smut or corny lines can achieve.

[cakemoney]

the way they talked about sam too TT describing sam like a bright light, someone who makes everyone around her feel warm and special but makes it impossible for them to look straight at her... something something aabria saying how heroic it is for sam to keep reaching out to others and trying to connect with them when her greatest strength of being socially and emotionally intelligent makes her fully aware of how other people don't take her seriously... it feels like, in a way, sam's fear isn't that other people don't see her as a person, because she already knows that's the case, it's that maybe it's impossible for anyone to see her as a person. and maybe it's impossible because maybe they're right and there really isn't anything behind the bright light. she knows that's not true, she knows there's more to herself than what other people are able to see, she chooses to give herself the respect and love and grace she is giving other people, but that's such a lonely thing in itself, right? you're the only one who can hold your own hand?

[bedlamsbard]

500 words written today which means I actually made word count and I may, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, move on from this god damn scene. I could honestly probably do it tonight but I can feel the voices starting to go. (Also I really need to do a characterization check anyway.) Ugh, I am burned out in general and yet do not get an actual break despite this week being the last week of classes. (Conference next week, WHO scheduled Kalamazoo for the worst time of the entire school year? Why is Leeds always over the Fourth of July (because it's British, but obvs it's not great timing for Americans). Why is the SCS always the first week of January? Why are all three major conferences in my field at the worst three times of the year?)

Snippet from Of Home Near chapter 21.

“No, you’re right,” Steve said, with a little grimace of acknowledgment.  “There were other options before; those options went out the window when Secretary Ross showed up.  And I think people…people need something.  It doesn’t have to be us, but we’re here, so – I think it’s better if it’s us than anything else Ross or the President might come up with.”  He hesitated, then admitted, “I want it to be us.” Natasha glanced at him.  Steve Rogers knew more about controlling his own image than anyone ever gave him credit for, both in 1945 and in 2018.  He was better at it than she was, that was for sure.  There was something Howard or Peggy or one of the Howling Commandos – maybe even Irina – had said once back at the SSR, that the only reason there was a Captain America at all was because Steve Rogers had wanted there to be one.  Not the Captain America from the USO’s stage shows, comics, and films, but a real Captain America, one who did his best to live up to the promise of the one created by the USO and Senator Evelyn Brandt. “It has to be us,” she said.  She was less certain than Steve was that it could be anything but the Avengers, not now, not after this.

[warp--space]

Imagine your stoic/villainous F/O comforting you for the first time! Imagine the moment where it becomes obvious they're beginning to care!

Maybe something happened and you're trying to hide that you're upset and hurting. Maybe it's during a fight, and the second you become injured they pause and refuse to continue until you're well again. Maybe someone ELSE hurt you, and they demand to know who did it so they can avenge your broken bones and lacerated skin. Maybe they have to be the bearer of bad news, and after relaying the message you expect them to just leave but instead they ask you if you're alright.

But just imagine it. The moment you realize your relationship to them has shifted into something else. And you don't know how you feel about it.

Antis DNI

[insert-clever-username-1133]

caring is more important than kindness btw

[gammija]

by the nature of translating something from english to netherlands youre bound to run into words in english that dont exist in dutch, but occasionally you run into the reverse and its always boggling when that happens. like what do you mean yall dont have 'verstaan'???