#i don't like shipping real ppl in a serious way but I do pick up on their connection and it's very sweet

[loeewenzahn]

So I've thought about bojere a bit recently, and why whatever they have touches me so immensely. It's because I want a relationship like that. Someone who manages to touch me on such a profound level that it's impossible to be fake or not show them love. I don't mean this in a romantic way necessarily, but more in a queerplatonic way. Imagine the max of love you can give a person without it relying on heteronormative/amatonormative standards.

I'm unsure if I actually want a conventional romantic relationship or not, but what I'm sure about is that I lack genuine frindships on a, lets call it soulmate level. Just someone who you click with and don't hold back. I miss that, I'd like that. And that's what makes my heart ache when I see those two idiots

[copperphysics106]

For the asks : Northwest Passage and/or captain please ?

- @strogoff-era

Northwest Passage: GOODSIR!! My best friend Goodsir... Honestly I love all the doctors.. I do I do.. except Peddie (sorry babe). But Goodsir was my favourite character HANDS DOWN first time I watched the show, abso-lutely and he still sits up there in my favourite character tier list (note: every character is on the same tier bc I love all of them sm). Im such a sucker for doctor characters, I'm serious. And characters that are hopeful and optimistic and GOOD hearted. Idk why I gravitate towards those characters so much but it's definitely what happened here. Also, I really value platonic friendships in media and I love Goodsir and Silna for that (I know some ppl ship them, that'd totally fine!! I just see em more as siblings ♥️) Literally I have watched the show maybeee.. 9 times now? And every. Time. Silna comes across his body, I am a sobbing mess (my friends can testify). His death scene is so fucking heartbreaking dude don't even talk to me about it. I can't!!

Captain: I think I posted my answer on a discord server a while ago which sums up my thoughts on my favourite cold boy, which is Hickey? Though to be honest, please remember that I love all the cold boys so much .. it's genuinely IMPOSSIBLE for me to pick one but I guess I think about Hickey the most ahaha. So I'll post it here just be warned I wrote a lot. I was, in a mood that day I guess. Also everyone might disagree with my interpretation of Hickey, but, yeah. Sorry ig!

Putting aside the INCREDIBLE acting from Nagaitis, I just find Hickey SO INTERESTING to explore. He is a character you simply can *not pin down*. You never truly know what he's thinking. He can be cruel one moment, loving and tender the next, absolutely unnerving the other, insane, and then sympathetic? (get you a man that has it all?).

Like I think it's easy to pin Hickey down as a insane murderer with no feelings and NO compassion but we just see that isn't true and THAT is probalby at the heart of why I love his character so much. He has layers. He's not just one thing, he's not confined to a box, and he is incredibly hard to read and that makes it really fun! It's so fucking fun watching the show the second time and seeing him in a TOTALLY different light!

I think the entire mystery surrounding his real name and who he really is helps a lot because it leaves SO much room for speculation, like- I really lkove thinking about who he was before the expedition and stuff! Nagaitis said he read a lot of Jean Genet for his character, nI agree! The way he thinks as a character is just endlessly interesting to me. Like, there's that quote from Terror Camp that drives me up the wall: How Crozier is his great test, his soulmate, his friend--a person that has been put into Hickey's world to 'test' him, for Hickey to 'overcome', and additionally, how he thinks of himself in the world is so fascinating. Like he doesn't believe he had parents. he just thinks he appeared one day. Like that is just so fucking crazy I love it. He's just so easy and fun to hate too especially by the end. Like omfg first couple watches I fucking hated him sm. I still cheer when Tuunbaq eats him 🥳🫶

I think it's just the layers of his character that really intrigue me and make him my favourite, because I can just watch any one of his scenes and just be constantly fascinated by what he might be thinking, why he says that, why he did this and that. I also think that, despite his cruelty, he does actually have a heart. Like, I posted some art on Tumblr the other day with a quote referencing how its impossible for him to connect--and that's true I think, *at the end*. I think at the start of the show Hickey's character, despite being very mischevious, a thief, and an anarchist, actually has a rather hopeful trajectory.

So there's that, it's funny bc I find Hickey incredibly creepy post episode 7. Like to the point I had to stop watching on my first watch after he killed Irving bc it freaked me out so much lolol. But that's part of why he's just a very interesting character to me and I love Nagaitis' acting as well. I'm gonna stop b4 I clog up more.

Thanks for the ask! ♥️🫶✨

[heroictoonz]

Alright, best way to start getting into sonic in your opinion, I've only seen X and partially prime and never touched the comics or played the games?

OKAY SO! In all honesty, it really depends very heavily on your own personal interests both in style and media! Fun fact: I also started with Sonic X!! I watched it as a kid and then found Satam and the Archie comics later!! Funny enough it was a reeeeally long time till I got into/played a game.

Like I said I think it heavily depends on what you are interested in and what you have the time or ability to do.

So like, if you are more interested in the shows, I'd say X is a PERFECT start. Sonic X, tho not really seen as that canon to the rest of the franchise cause of it's creative liberties with setting, it does do a lot of stuff both from the games but also original that's super fun and great for a new audiences to get acquainted with the characters and the vibes, I think. Though if you've only seen the dub I do strongly recommend the subs. As much as I love 4kids for the childhood they gave me and for introducing me to one of my biggest special interests for most my life and other shows I enjoy so much they, uh, are not always the best with their dubs qwq Sonic is no exception they changed a lot for it that many fans think screws up some of the story. Of course I also encourage you to watch it with an open mind and form your own opinions on all of this but! Just lettin ya know!

If you wanna continue with the shows I would say Prime is a great one to keep on. There are some fans that complain that its really OOC and like, yeah I think there are some moments here or there but like also it's fun, it's pretty, and if you ship Sonadow there's some nice crumbs in there lol! (Also, personal opinion, I think going into the Sonic franchise and expecting every single media to portray the characters the same way every time is impossible. It's a MASSIVE franchise with TONS of writers both in the Japanese and American sides of Sega and who knows how many more. IDK I don't take screams of OOC to heart all that much personally)

If you wanna see older stuff Sonic the Hedgehog also shortened to Sonic Satam by the fandom is a great cartoon as well. Because of the Archie Sonic series getting the plug pulled, all of those characters are completely retired and non canonical (unless Sega does some king shit but idk if it's possible legally) HOWEVER they are still AWESOME AS FUCK!!! Sally is still to this day one of my fave characters of all time. I was at a con once and a guy at a booth asked me my fave sonic characters I told him it was probably a tie between Shadow and Sally and he was so fucking shocked I knew who Sally was that I didn't realize how much casual sonic ppl don't know the archie characters oirghierhgreui BUT its a super cool show very serious in it's plot and real interesting

TLDR with the cartoons stuff: Sonic X is my first pick for a start so you got that covered but I do recommend the subs, to keep going down the cartoon rout I'd personally say finish Prime next or jump into Sonic Satam

Now if you wanna get more into Sonic via the comics that is a whole other story. There are a few different comic runs, the big three are Fleetway, Archie, and IDW. Fleetway is like insane and I love her dearly but she's fucking bananas wild, one of those 'not a lot of games were out at the time so they did whatever the fuck they wanted' type deals. So I wouldn't recommend Fleetway as a starter but if you wanna see some wild ass Sonic content I say go back to it lol

Honestly, I would recommend either catching up with the IDW series OR start by reading the Archie comics from the Super Genesis Wave to end.

With IDW, I would also say that's the arguably best place to start comic wise. 1) Because it's the current running series. I believe the last one that came out wassss 75? I'm not fully up to date myself but whatever. The IDW comics actually start as a not-explicit-but-well-implied continuation of one of the games, Sonic Forces, but it gives enough background that I don't think you neeeed to play/watch Sonic Forces but it would make the comic start more interesting I feel. 2) Because it has ONLY characters canon to the games or original to the comics. So what you read in IDW is basically considered more or less full canon. The head writer has stated so (though as far as I'm aware no one on the game teams have) and iiiiiif I remember correctly he also worked some on Sonic Frontiers, one of the newer games. Also, again, all the major characters are all pretty standard and established Sonic franchise characters with a few IDW originals sprinkled in to make the world big and the threats interesting.

With Archie being a good start... well... okay. It is but it isn't. SO above I specifically stated to start with Super Genesis Wave Archie which, yes, is not just a string of random ass words. The TLDR (cause this story is INSANE and LONG) is that an old writer on the Archie Sonic comics got sued by Archie because they wanted to keep his characters he made for the franchise but he wanted to leave the team and make his own thing with his own characters it's a whole fucking thing the end of the story is that Archie lost and because of this over 200+ characters had to be retconed from the fucking comics. Yeah. SO to do this there was an in-canon retcon that took place where Eggman fired this weapon that restarted the universe. A shit ton of plotlines were rewritten, characters replaced, and stuff just completely taken out or added in. It was insane BUT the reason I say this would be a decent place to start comic stuff is because 1) the start of this new era makes it to where you really don't have to know that much about the old Archie content to keep up and 2) it's an ended comic so you don't have to worry about it constantly going while you're trying to keep up if that's something you may be worried about. Also, if you do end up watching Sonic Satam and enjoying it, Archie Sonic is the continuation of those characters' stories so! More Sally yay!!!!!

TLDR on starting with comics: IDW starting from the beginning or Archie starting from the Super Genesis Wave

Now if you wanna start with the games. Weeelllll. To be honest with you I watch the games instead of playing them lol! I'm terrible at video games so I watch them on youtube instead of playing them. I've only played a very small handful of Sonic games and an even smaller handful of those did I actually get every far in. Because of this where I know a lot about the games I would not by any means call myself an expert on the topic. I know more about the shows and comics, honestly

BUT if I was to pick a good place to start with the games, I would probably start with Sonic Adventures 1 and 2! I think that the Sonic Adventures games, not only are they INSANELY charming and so cute and fun but also are a perfect spot to really start to get to know the characters and the setting! In fact, you will probably notice a lot of similarities between them and Sonic X since you've seen that show! Since Sonic X was coming out around the Adventure series era they took a lot from those games! They are also the introduction of MANY popular sonic franchise characters and some pretty classic lines and moments!

Honestly, with the games, most of them are made to where you can just jump into the franchise at random. Any that make reference to past games either give an explicit reference so you can follow along or are vague enough to just not matter or be confusing. So by all means! Take a look at the games pick a random one you think looks fun and either play it or pull up a movie version up on youtube! I'm sure you will find something you love in them!!

I hope this was helpful! I know it got suuuuper long lol. But honestly have fun with the franchise! There's SO many good shows, movies, comics, games, everything!! This franchise has it all!! If you ever wanna know more just ask I love the different parts of the franchise and love when people get into sonic !!!!

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I'm going to be roleplaying with someone and they want to do a mother/son relationship, like not in the usual way. Like, what is the ACTUAL relationship between Gabrielle and Lestat? What is it really? I want to do a thread, but I don't want to trigger anyone or make it look all grim and incestuous. And I sincerely apologize if I've offended you by asking the question. I just dunno.

[By the way, I usually answer things with a relevant fanart/image/gif, but in this case, I think it’s too serious a topic for that.]

“And I sincerely apologize if I’ve offended you by asking the question.”

No offense taken, it’s a fair question! 

I am a little wary that this is a bait set out by those who see things in RP/fiction as “promoting” something in real life. A bait set to invite the kind of anti-shippers who are looking for a way to tear me down regardless of how I respond, when all I ever want to promote is:

The 3 Laws of Fandom.

(And I’ll quote a relevant piece of it from @ozhawkauthor, but please read the whole post):

“Much (though not all) fandom is about shipping. There are as many possible ships as there are fans, maybe more. You may have an OTP (One True Pairing), you may have a NOTP, that pairing that makes you want to barf at the very thought of its existence.

It’s not up to you to police ships or to determine what other people are allowed to ship. Just because you find that one particular ship problematic or disgusting, does not mean that other people are not allowed to explore its possibilities in their fanworks.

You are free to create contrarian content, to write meta about why a particular ship is repulsive, to discuss it endlessly on your private blog with like-minded persons.

It is not appropriate to harass creators about their ships, it is not appropriate to demand they do not create any more fanworks about those ships, or that they create fanwork only in a manner that you deem appropriate.

These three laws add up to the following:

You are not paying for fanworks content, and you have no rights to it other than to choose to consume it, or not consume it. If you do choose to consume it, do not then attack the creator if it wasn’t to your taste. That’s the height of bad manners.

Be courteous in fandom. It makes the whole experience better for all of us.”

I want to make it very clear that I’m answering this as someone who supports exploring dark themes and taboo topics in fiction/RP. As long as you are not violating real living person’s rights, or invading any real living person’s space*, then you are doing nothing wrong. I’ve been blocked. I try to tag for things that can be triggering/upsetting to others, but I will not self-censor to appease everyone, so I absolutely support ppl unfollowing/blocking me if what I post makes them uncomfortable.

*Posting your fic/RP with the appropriate warning tags is a form of respecting others’ space and rights. If they don’t like your writing, they can block you, too. Their dashboard is their responsibility.

“I want to do a thread, but I don’t want to trigger anyone or make it look all grim and incestuous.” 

I think grim and incestuous could be very interesting to explore; not every fic/RP can be a fluffy Coffee Shop AU! 

Re: Concern about triggering anyone, I’ll repeat myself, it is everyone’s responsibility to curate their own fandom experience and as long as you are tagging and putting content under cuts, it is their responsibility to protect themselves. If they are incapable of that, then they should ask a trusted person to monitor their internet use. 

People are triggered by many things, not just taboo and darker themed writing. This person’s triggers are Jello, Popsicles, Soup Broth, please read it! And to quote from that post, “a lot of ‘activists’ on tumblr aren’t looking to actually help anyone or make anything better: they’re sadists cruising for new victims.”

TL; DR: Anon, do what you and your partner are comfortable doing.** If RPing it as a ship squicks you both out, don’t do it. If Rping it as a ship is exciting to you both and you want to explore that taboo, go for it! Just be sure to tag it with the right warnings, and add cuts so that ppl will be protected from content they may not want to see. You can also RP privately however you like, there is no rule that says RP must be done publicly. 

**If your RP partner is pressuring you to RP something you are uncomfortable with, then I would suggest not RPing that with them, and similarly, if you are pressuring your RP partner to RP something they are uncomfortable with, I would suggest not pressuring them into it. 

Hit the jump for my response, cut for length, and discussion about possible incest between fictional characters.

“I’m going to be roleplaying with someone and they want to do a mother/son relationship, like not in the usual way.”

Is there a “usual way” to RP? If you’re suggesting in the ship way, it is something I’m sure exists.

Ppl RP with canon in mind, or without it. 

“Like, what is the ACTUAL relationship between Gabrielle and Lestat? What is it really?”

That is a question with a ton of landmines, so I’m not going to say that they are definitely a ship or definitely not, it’s up to the individual reader/RPer to decide based on their reading of canon, or diverge from canon and write the characters however they see fit. This kind of exploration is one of many ways to engage with the characters and I see nothing wrong with canon-compliant or not canon-compliant writing, either way.

Personally, I can see both sides of the argument. 

>>Not as a ship: There are some who see them purely as a mother and a son, and DEFINITELY nothing more. She does come to his rescue at the rock concert (how did she know to go to him? She has telepathy, but being his fledgling, she cannot read Lestat’s mind; she could have picked up the warnings from other vampires, or Louis might have contacted her), there are several times in canon when she asserts herself in an authoritative manner. She’s protective of him when he’s in a coma, and she slaps some sense into him when necessary. All these things can be filed under “motherly.”

It’s easy to not ship them, so I don’t really need to provide further canon evidence, they are, biologically, mother and son! There’s nothing more to add to that.

>>As a ship, Unpopular Opinion: one could argue that they can be shipped, because:

A) He becomes her maker, which changes their relationship to him being more of the “parent.” 

- During the initial phase of Lestat turning Gabrielle in TVL, as he’s taking her life, he says she’s no longer his mother (to be fair, this is the kind of intimacy a vampire feels when feeding on anyone, but still, worth mentioning):

Myknowledge dimmed and flickered and there was no mother anymore,no petty need and petty terror; she was simply who she was. She wasGabrielle.

- Then, once she’s turned, she insists on being called by her name instead of “Mother,” so some take that as proof that she doesn’t see herself as being his mother anymore, in the mortal sense of the word. 

B) The act of making a vampire is extremely intimate, it has been compared to childbirth. It’s the most intimate act a vampire can share with anyone. I believe in fanon that it creates a physiological bond between maker and fledgling, so one could extrapolate to say that the act itself could create a ship. 

Note: In most maker/fledgling relationships, there is some assumption that turning the fledgling is done to bind maker and fledgling as a ship; essentially making the fledgling into a companion for the maker and the maker into a companion for the fledgling. In this case, Lestat turned Gabrielle in order to save her life, not knowing if he would even survive the act, so I don’t think this was a factor here, neither of them necessarily intending to be in a relationship together, but the physiological bond discussed above would still be a possibility.

Also worth mentioning is that he asks for her consent, as he had not been asked for consent himself, and the question is very clear:

No words again, just the silent thrust of it, and the question, more immense than could ever be put into words, Do you want to come with me now? DO YOU WANT TO COME WITH ME INTO THIS NOW? I hide nothing from you, not my ignorance, not my fear, not the simple terror that if I try I might fail. I do not even know if it is mine to give more than once, or what is the price of giving it, but I will risk this for you, and we will discover it together, whatever the mystery and the terror, just as I’ve discovered alone all else. With her wholebeing she said Yes.

^This could be construed as him wanting her for a companion and her agreeing to it. 

C) LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX. This is a point of debate for many fans, whether the Ricean vampires can have penetrative sex. In my opinion, in canon they cannot, and while penetrative sex is NOT A REQUIREMENT to a relationship (there are relationships where there is no penetrative sex and they are no less valid than those which do have it, in my opinion), the incestuous aspect of a Lestat/Gabrielle ship is alot less squicky for me knowing that they aren’t able to literally bone in the mortal way. Some would argue that the bloodsharing is more intimate than penetrative sex, and that’s fine, but still, being unable to literally bone is just so much less squicky, in my opinion. But ppl made fanart of essentially that and it was still very funny, to me! 

Call it what you will, but the first bloodkiss shared in canon is between Lestat and Gabrielle on the night she is turned.

^^^ALL THAT SAID, I wouldn’t shoot anyone down who ships it, they are both adult fictional characters. One could argue that there is some canon evidence to support it, but canon evidence is unnecessary. 

Again, Anon, do what you and your partner are comfortable doing. If RPing it as a ship squicks you both out, don’t do it. If Rping it as a ship is exciting to you both and you want to explore that taboo, go for it! Just be sure to tag it with the right warnings, and add cuts so that ppl will be protected from content they may not want to see. You can also RP privately however you like, there is no rule that says RP must be done publicly. 

If your RP partner is pressuring you to RP something you are uncomfortable with, then I would suggest not RPing with them, and similarly, if you are pressuring your RP partner to RP something they are uncomfortable with, I would suggest not pressuring them into it.