#i just think the platonic and familial relationships between the characters are interesting too

[puckpatties]

haii everybady plugging my chilaios And accidental farcille fic friends are family, a mediocre fanfic about laios and chilchuck pining for each other Featuring wingmen marcille and falin, chilchuck tims lesbian daughters, mother senshi, and many more! if you like chilaios and found family as much as i do maybe u'll like it, i hope u do!

[pomefioredove]

may I request headcanons of the overblot boys + Adeuce reaction to a younger yuu that tells them that they’re like a big brother to them? Platonic obviously—

thank you!

awww ofc!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ brotherly (again!)

type of post: headcanons characters: riddle, ace, deuce, leona, azul, jamil, vil, idia, malleus additional info: platonic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu, short

Having been torn from your home, separated from your family and friends, and spit back out in a new place with new people, isn't really as fun as it sounds.

After months at NRC, though, you've managed to make yourself a life here. A new home, new friends, even new family.

Now, sitting close to the person you've become fondest of, you let slip that you seem him as a brother.

His reaction?

I am of the (kind of depressing) opinion that Riddle's life would be much better if he had a sibling. he hasn't really thought about it, per se, but he's always had this feeling...

so, when you tell him as much, he just... 🥺🥺 you know?

he's in protective brother mode from this moment on (for better or worse, lol)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

the bond you have with Ace and Deuce has gone unspoken, but all of you know what it is. you saying it, though, makes it all the more real

as warm and tender of a moment as it is, Ace still feels the need to make a joke about how sappy you're being (affectionately, of course), and Deuce can only hum with excitement at the acceptance and warmth between the three of you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

admittedly, Leona is a little... put off. at least, he is at first. he doesn't exactly have a great relationship with his own brother, and with no other examples to go off of, it feels kind of like an insult

he... gets what you mean, though

and, reluctant as he is to be so vulnerable, he'll say you're just as much of an annoying little sibling to him

lovingly, of course

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Azul had friends before you... kind of... but none as near and dear to him. he could never quite explain what this feeling was until you said it

ah... that's it. family. he almost feels embarrassed, being so vulnerable all of a sudden, and he can barely get out that he feels the same way

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Jamil has younger siblings already, and he could tell the two of you were forming a similar bond before you said as much. he'd caught himself treating you just how he treats his sister on multiple different occasions (for better or worse, lol), and...

he's glad that you're here with him. that's all he'll say... for now

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

many people would think you'd have to hit your head to say something like that to the Vil Schoenheit

he's untouchable! he's godlike! he's... lol. just kidding. he's quite fond of you, too, and hearing those words come from you is better than any amount of likes, any award or role. you're his favorite person, after all

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

dude, are you trying to make Idia cry??? because he will! and then he'll bubble-wrap you and Ortho so you can never go anywhere or get hurt ever

he... has some things to work through. obviously. but, really, he and Ortho have basically adopted you already, so hearing you say it... in a good way... call him cringe, but he could get a little emotional over that

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

you think of Malleus as your brother? then you must also think of Silver the same way. and Sebek... would you be interested in adoption, because Lilia-

yeah. you get it. welcome to the family, lol. Malleus has already decided you're his best friend forever and ever, and hearing you call him family... hohhh that overblot is going to hit hard when you guys get there

[xgraavyx]

I feel like a lot of people ignore Mariana's role in Sherlock and Co. I understand that the bond between Sherlock and Watson is a heavy focus in the original acd books, but Sherlock and Co is it's own thing. Mrs Hudson may not have played a large role in the books, but in Sherlock and Co she is one of the main characters. Ignoring her prominent role in their dynamic just so you can focus on Watson and Sherlock's dynamic is strange. You can still talk about their dynamic without ignoring one of the main characters. In Sherlock and Co I have always seen them all three as being like a family. Regardless of how you percieve their relationship, you cannot ignore the fact that Marianna is important to both of them. People shit on those who ship John and Mariana bc it "gets in the way of sherlock and watson" but that is such a stupid reason to hate a character. People can ship Watson with whoever they want. It isn't hurting anyone to have people ship him with Mariana.

Watson has a very lovely dymamic with both Sherlock and Mariana. I've seen people genuinely angry to see the podcast focus on Mariana and Watson for even a second. Sherlock and Watson have also had many one on one interactions. They've had a lot of focus on their dynamic and how it is built throughout the podcast. People being mad that Mariana also gets those growth opportunities despite her also being a main character is WILD. A man and woman can be platonic friends without being a threat to the "main ship" This reminds me of what happened to Mary in bbc sherlock. While I agree that Mary is a poorly written character, people give her way too much hate. Hating a character is fine, but hating a character just because she "gets in the way" of your ship is dumb. I don't like Mary in bbc sherlock. I think her being a spy was weird. Her death was only there to kickstart sherlock and watson's discord and I think that is a stupid reason to kill off a main character. It had no proper impact to the story and she only existed to contrast with Sherlock. Those are valid reason to hate her, but I don't just ignore her existance. She was still a part of the bbc sherlock canon regardless of how buchered her implimentation was. Mariana is a fun character and a lovely addition to sherlock and co. She has been given the same if not less focus than Sherlock and people still rarely include her in fan content. Yes Sherlock and Watson have a very interesting dynamic but I'd love to see more love for Marianna. She is a part of their family. Regarldess of if you see the dynamics between characters as romantic or platonic Marianna is still an important person to both Sherlock and Watson and I would love to see more of her. She is like the "straight man" of their dynamic. She handles the business aspect of their organization. She canonically eats with them at 221b very often. So much so that she doesn't even have a dining table in her flat. I love seeing different interpretations of her design. She is such a fun character and her personality flows very nicely with the others. Tldr I want to see more love for Mariana, and people who hate her unjustly get on my nerves lol. You can ship two characters without ignoring or hating on the girl character.

[joekeerys]

I find it interesting how we’ve never seen Jacaerys show any interest in women. Even in being betrothed to Baela, they act more like cousins than anything. His dance with Helaena was done almost entirely out of spite for Aegon, whom we’ve seen him show more interest in/affection toward as a child than anyone else. Then we have Cregan, whose relationship with Jacaerys in the book is…a whole other story. Jacaerys seemed quite fond of him in the short scene we got in the show too.

i’m gonna make a lot of people angry by saying this but i agree. i don’t think it’s any fault of the actors but jace and baela do not come off as a romantic couple at all. that’s entirely due to how condal & co chose to write them and their lack of scenes that would imply they’re anything other than close family. it’s unfortunate because i’d really like to see them explored more and they’ve already treated baela’s character poorly enough as it is. i highly doubt we’ll even get a kiss between them before jacaerys dies.

it’s obvious i’m a big jacegon shipper and, regardless of whether you view it as platonic/familial or not, the way they acted together as kids and the tension between them during the dinner because of that fallout is undeniable. we haven’t seen jace act the way he did with aegon with anyone else. i think some people downplay how much he looked up to aegon as a child (as they do with all of aegon’s relationships), especially considering it’s the reason why things were so tense between them after aegon very publicly betrayed him in 1x07. i’d argue that “everyone knows. just look at them.” coming from someone he admired so much is one of jace’s biggest reasons for feeling so inadequate his whole life. this got out of hand lmao but YEAH i think it’s interesting how affected jace and aegon are by each other and i do not see it as entirely platonic.

jace and cregan are a whole other story indeed. i’m not much of a jacegan shipper but cregan’s devotion to jace long after his death is interesting to say the least. i never bought into the whole sara snow thing and the absence of her in the show doesn’t bother me since it’s up in the air whether she existed at all and i take everything mushroom says with a grain of salt. i like the ship more as an idea. them seeing themselves in each other, jace finding someone he can be more comfortable with, and them finding a sort of intimacy in that. another instance where the he chemistry between them is pretty apparent and it helps that harry and tom are such good friends outside of the show.

i think there’s a reason why jace is normally written as gay in fanfics where he’s paired with a man, while the other party is usually written as bisexual. i wouldn’t go as far as to say that the showrunners write him that way intentionally because that would be giving too much credit to someone like sara hess who has called hotd “the gayest show on tv” for reasons beyond explanation.

i’ve always seen show jace at least as being more interested in men because that’s what we’ve been given. book jace is another story and harder to pin down. ultimately, i agree with you!

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Romance and love are not a distraction. They are not lesser they are not frivolous they are not a silly childish expectation added to stories for a happier ever after. You are not better for not caring about romance, you're not smarter for being more interested in the main plot of a piece of media than the main couple. Romantic love is one of the strongest bonds we have, it can bring people together in a wonderful way and a well written relationship between people who love each other, can say more about philosophy and character and growth then most grand sweeping adventure. Finding love and keeping it, having trust in someone else and showing the venerability a relationship takes, fighting for another person, it's compelling. It pushes people to improve it brings out the best and sometimes the worst in them, it is humanity in the backdrop of war and tragedy and injustices that is the centre point, that's the hope of stories. Romantic love or a persons love interest is not a weak or pathetic motivation either, it's realistic. People will go through hell for the people they care about, for the people they love, and sometimes it's stronger than the noble plot focused reason you've decided should be their motivation. Some people- most people, don't want to save the word or repay a debt or discover some power in themselves, they want to keep the people they love safe, they want to stay with the person they love.

Obviously romantic love is not the only kind that can motivate someone, nor the only kind that can be fulfilling, nor dose it have to be the main kind of love in someones life. I agrees actually that platonic and familial love should be focused on more and respected more as it can be just as important as romantic. Just as, not more. If you're fine with the love someone feels for their sister or child bringing their motivation then anything they do that is motivated by love they feel for someone romantically should be just as valid. Romance dose not make something less deserving of respect, it dose not diminish it or make it simpler and it dose not take away from the message. A focus on the love of friends and family dose not take away from romantic love, people can love multiple people in different ways in equal amounts.

You're not better or smarter or understand the text's deeper meaning more because you want a traumatised young girl to end up alone and not with the person she loves because you don't care about the romance. Good for you you don't have too. No one has to care about shipping or relationships or romantic love, but it doesn't make you better than anyone that dose. The idea that romance has no value other than silly fan service and a distraction from the big important main plot is outdated, boring, over done, and quite frankly misogynistic in its conception and undertones. You don't like romance? Good for you!! You don't have to. You don't care about the relationships in a pieces of media?? Amazing!!!! No one is telling you to. You think platonic and familial should be focused on more and held to equal importance as romantic??? Oh my fucking god I agree with you what about that. But there is this weird superiority complex around SOME okay SOME people who find no interest in romance and it's fucking stupid.

Love holds value, it's a perfectly good and compelling and realistic motivation, romance can play an important role in plot and story and character, it can be an amazing way to explore philosophy and relationships and basic human feelings and experiences. There is so so much romantic love can add to a story, it's not a necessity no, just like romantic love is not a necessary part of some peoples lives, some stories don't need it. But some do. Romance can and dose hold value, and recognising, caring about, and analysing that has never and will never take away from any other part of a story.

[wingdingery]

Hello! I really wanted to say that your writing is amazing, I always look forward to what you upload especially for Brudick, but even just their platonic readings too caught a bit of my interest! I had a question that I felt that you probably could answer. Who do you think is closer to Bruce, Alfred or Dick? I've seen this question pop up, and usually people would say Alfred, but I feel like that's not true, though I could just be biased. So, I was wondering what do you think?

Thank you so much, anon! 💙

There’s a lot of nuance to this but ultimately I would say Dick is closer to Bruce, at least under my definition of “close”. I’m also obviously biased BUT I will try to give some context for why I think so.

(This is under the cut because, as usual, I went much longer than you probably bargained for when you asked this, but hopefully some of it will be interesting to you!)

So, first of all, Dick’s overall existence predates Alfred by a few years (Batman was created in 1939; Dick was introduced in 1940, and Alfred in 1943). Dick was also clearly meant to be Bruce’s close ally and partner from the very beginning, whereas Alfred grew into that role.

Detective Comics (1937) #38

Batman (1940) #16

These early Golden Age comics have little bearing on modern canon and characterization, but as the “birth” of these characters, I think it still provides important context – particularly regarding their relationships to each other. It’s fairly consistent across retellings that Dick and Bruce are drawn to each other because of their shared grief and trauma, and the ways they help each other work through that. At its core, and from the very beginning, their bond is a highly emotional one.

Bruce and Alfred’s is not. What’s consistent across retellings is that Alfred is the family butler, and a bond doesn’t immediately develop between them once Bruce’s parents die. In some tellings, it’s presented as simple emotional distance that Alfred doesn’t know how to cross, even to comfort a grieving child:

Batman: Dark Victory #9

Sometimes, the emotional connection existed between Alfred and Thomas and Martha. In those cases, Bruce is “Thomas and Martha’s son” who Alfred watches over in their memory, but he (at least initially) cares for Bruce as a way of caring for the Waynes’ legacy, and not for Bruce’s own sake.

Batman: The Knight #1

And this continues into Bruce’s adulthood. Even as they get closer over the years and Alfred helps Bruce with his activities as Batman, he actively maintains the employer-employee relationship between them. You could argue addressing him as “Master Bruce” is habit/formality, but regardless, it creates emotional distance between them, and Alfred consistently refers to their relationship in terms of employment, even when it’s clear they care deeply for each other.

Knightquest (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #60)

I should caveat here that I haven’t read a ton of solo Bruce content so there may be things I’m missing, but from what I have read, I get the sense Bruce had a lonely childhood due to the lack of emotional connection between him and Alfred. In fact, despite Alfred’s constant presence, Bruce is commonly depicted as lonely/emotionally stunted until Dick comes along.

Batman: Full Circle

Robin Annual #4

This page in Robin Annual #4 also hints at another thing I wanted to mention, which is that Alfred usually disapproves of Dick’s presence at first, and especially disapproves of Dick becoming Robin, but he comes around to it because he sees how good Dick’s presence is for Bruce. Alfred knows that he can’t give Bruce the emotional connection that he’s lacking, but Dick can.

Robin: Year One

In Alfred’s eyes, Dick is the one who Bruce can confide everything to, who can be his light and pull him back from the brink if needed. If something is going on with Bruce and Alfred doesn’t know what to do, Dick is the one he turns to.

(Not to say Alfred and Dick don’t develop their own close relationship over time, because they do! But Alfred puts a lot on Dick’s shoulders and has a lot of expectations for him when it comes to Bruce.)

52 #30

Bruce Wayne: Murderer?

Nightwing (1996) #99

Okay, that was a lot! In summary, I think it’s clear that Alfred is extremely close to Bruce. Even when they have a tense employer-employee relationship (see: the Caped Crusader show where Bruce calls him “Pennyworth” and spends most of the time treating him like an asshole boss would treat an employee) Bruce immediately trusts him with the secret of his identity as Batman. Alfred is undoubtedly loyal, and Bruce undoubtedly cares for him on some level.

But because of the origins of their relationship, their emotional connection takes time to develop, whereas Dick and Bruce’s is immediate and visceral. I really think you can argue that Bruce’s emotional connection with Dick is the first one Bruce really experiences since his parents’ death, and it’s also what actually allows his emotional connection with Alfred to develop.

I want to end with something Scott Snyder said in a 2011 interview with Comic Vine:

To me, one of the things that's really interesting about Dick Grayson […] is that relationship is pathological at times and completely endearing at others. Dick always wears his heart on his sleeve, he cares about Bruce openly. He's compassionate and empathetic. Bruce is just a darker character, and for me, he's someone who needs that connection but won't admit it. […] The idea is that Dick Grayson is also the person who is his greatest tether to humanity. When I think about the future for Bruce, I think about him either very very lonely […] or dying in the line of duty as Batman or…you know, there aren't a lot of good endings. Dick's the person that would pull him back from the edge, or even bring him down, honestly if he needed to if Bruce really went too far in some way and bring him in.

If you want to talk about who’s been physically at Bruce’s side for longer, then sure, that’s Alfred. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Bruce feels closer to Alfred than he does to Dick. Alfred is Bruce’s loyal butler, and there isn’t much he wouldn’t do for Bruce, but he acts as Bruce’s hand.

But Dick is stated over and over again to be Bruce’s heart. So if you were to ask me who’s closest to Bruce—who he trusts with his emotions, his life, his legacy—that would be Dick, no question, every time.

Batman (2011) #11

[chefkids]

Do you think that JAW’s and Molly Gordon’s relationship will affect how the writers explore sydcarmy? Do you think that sydcarmy just may be platonic and Claire will come back into the story??

No. This is not Outer Banks. (full shade)

The scripts for Season 4 were already written before those two started fucking around. JAW is definitely not going to be the one to push back against sydcarmy for obvious reasons... Ayo, Miss 'Favorite Scene is The Table Scene', definitely was on board for them despite her desperate attempts to act disgusted at the thought of them getting together. She's a professional and would never ask them to change the entire plot for her. I don't think either of them care if Molly would be bothered tbh lol A job is a job and they were hired first. Chris Storer has been locked in on his plan. He's not going to change it for them.

Claire is definitely coming back to the story. But it's not looking too great for them so far. I'm sure they'll makeup by the end, but are they going to end up together? Hell no. Her entire character is just a plot device for Carmy to try avoid Sydney and avoid his family drama.

In order for the entire series to work and pay off it needs to get past the platonic mental barrier Carmy is in. I do not think they're going to leave it open ended, because quite frankly a large chunk of the audience is too stupid to see the obvious signs and would still say they were just good business partners and friends if Carmy doesn't explicitly tell Syd he likes her. They're definitely going to get together at the last minute.

Ironically, even though the entire series has been about Carmy trying to make something good happen and to find happiness again, I feel like very little time will be given to Happy Carmy once him and Syd work things out together and break that platonic threshold. Because TBH I don't think Chris Storer himself knows how to make the show when it is happy and continue the plot, nor is he interested in showing a functional kitchen and a healthy relationship between them for a full season. He wanted the show to be about children of alcoholics breaking out of the toxic cycles, while sycarmy has always been in the plan, I think that was more Joanna's doing and while he's on board with it, it's not what has kept his interest in making the show. I think once the Donna plotline is done and sydcarmy gets together, he's not really interested in telling the rest of their story or The Bear's, despite the fact that most of the audience and FX themselves clearly want to see it and have asked him to tell it.

[roseameilatempest]

Sanemi’s delusion, and how it affects his relationships.

or a sanemi analysis 🙏

manga spoilers

This is mainly focused on kanae and masachika, tanjiro, giyuu, and of course genya. If you ship sanekana and are uncomfortable with them being portrayed as mildly unhealthy then feel free to scroll, this is no way meant to hate on sanekana in itself, this is just my personal analysis of their relationship. Keep in mind that nearly all of this is coming from the ‘signs from the wind’ light novel about sanemi, since we didn’t get many interactions of them in the main series.

To start this off, i’m not actually going to be saying sanemi is a good person, he’s a morally grey character, he’s done bad things while having good intentions. (attempting to blind genya, neglecting him, etc) To say he is a perfectly good person would be taking away a lot of his story. Something i feel gets overlooked a lot, is the fact sanemi had a mass amount of trauma before he even had his first encounter with a demon, yes this is to do with his father. Sanemi grew up in an abusive household which definitely changed his morals and understanding of how things work. After his father passed, he was really experiencing being in a safe environment for the first time in his life. He had a lot of responsibility that he shared with genya at the time too.

Throughout his life the only person he could look up too was his mother, the fact she protected his siblings even though she was so small physically. Then all of a sudden he was met with having to kill her to protect genya. Sanemi was absolutely not okay, he was hit with another load of trauma. To cope with this sanemi made up an entire life plan in his mind, so nothing could spiral out of control. This was of course making sure genya had a family and did not join the corps and die. Which is why sanemi tried everything in his power to make genya leave. This coping mechanism is a delusion.

Because of this delusion he fails to see the trauma that genya went through as well. Sanemi himself thinks he’s too far gone, he’s too burdened with the trauma. So instead he wants genya to grow old and have a good life, and he will do everything in his power to make sure that happens and genya is safe. While this delusion is mainly focused around genya, it affects his other relationships too. The people sanemi was comfortable around reminded him of his family (masachika and kanae, masachika being his brother and kanae being his mother) the people that sanemi hated, (tanjiro and giyuu) reminded sanemi of himself.

let’s start with tanjiro, when sanemi first met tanjiro it’s about nezuko, a female family member that’s turned into a demon. Something they both have in common. As well tanjiro was actively fighting to save his sister, Even though she’s a demon, it clearly reminded sanemi of himself. Giyuu is also an interesting one, sanemi misunderstood giyuu, because giyuu always distanced himself, we know this was because he thought he didn’t deserve to be a hashira, while sanemi thought it was because giyuu was stuck up. He misunderstood giyuu because he’d rather die then show that much vulnerability openly, giyuu is unintentionally wearing his pain, and that’s pissing sanemi off, he’s a reflection of sanemi’s pain. Something sanemi doesn’t want to admit.

Now let’s contrast that with masachika and kanae, masachika was the boy who recruited sanemi into the demon slayer corps. He had to try a little but eventually he did get into sanemi’s heart, and became sanemis brother figure. Sanemi ended up losing masachika as well, he was so kind, like genya. Sanemi knew he couldn’t let genya die in the corps like masachika did. Which again just fueled his delusion, wanting to keep genya out of the corps even more. Now with kanae, people do often say their relationship is romantic, because of gyomeis view on sanemi, though, i do think they’re very plausible as platonic. with what we are given.

Every parallel between kanae and sanemi are about sanemi’s mother, her hands, the fact kanae wanted to be kind to demons, just like how his mother was kind to their father, it’s the reason sanemi was so comfortable around her because of how similar to his mother she was. He also acknowledged that she was an older sibling too, but so very different from him, she trained her younger sister (shinobu) and let her join the corps. Not only just after that sanemi talked about how he wasn’t interested in women thirsting over him if he became a hashira, and in the fanbook it was also stated he was dense to romance. At most it was a crush, if it was sanemi didn’t realize it himself.

what we know about sanemi and kanae, i don’t think it would’ve been particularly healthy ether, the reason sanemi was only so calm with kanae in the first place was because she reminded him of his mother. Which wouldn’t be getting him out of his delusion, it would be temporary pacifying him IN his delusion, sanemi did indeed need a slap to the face. He needed actual tough love, something to pull him out of that delusion, kanae was shown to be kind and not being able to speak up for him when he was acting out, in the long run sanemi’s mental health would probably end up hurting kanae too.

it’s also worth pointing out that kanae gets watered down to sanemi’s love interest, while she doesn’t have many moments she’s clearly more then just a love interest to sanemi, she’s the reason for shinobus character development. I don’t think she should be watered down to a love interest when we barely got that in the main story.

overall, this is my analysis and isn’t meant to make you stop shipping sanekana, it’s just personally why i don’t ship it and an explanation of sanemi’s character.

[pigfartsviatardis]

Does anyone else think that if Linke was so committed to ace rep in arcane - as he claims was his intention with Viktor - then wouldn’t Jayce have been a more interesting option??

I mean it’s in the name… jACE ba dum tshh 👉👉 no but seriously, linke said something about wanting to do an ace character who isn’t the usual emotionless stereotype. And I would absolutely agree that Viktor isn’t emotionless, but tbh he also doesn’t do much to push the boundaries of ace stereotypes. After the ace!viktor Thing came to light, I spoke to an aroace friend who watches arcane cause I was interested to know if Viktor gave off any vibes she’d picked up. She said she couldn’t think of anything in the storytelling that might have been trying to portray Viktor as ace, and then she said it was weird of linke to go ‘hmm I want to do an Asexual Character (and I definitely know what that word means), but I don’t want to fall into ace character stereotypes… so I’ll make it the disabled character who becomes a robot’.

Like. I have no problem with ace!viktor, but she makes a good point 😅 plus, viktor is kind of exactly what I associate the most with ace character stereotypes: he’s obsessively fixated on his one passion (science) and has very little social life or family ties.

However, Jayce actually would be kinda a groundbreaking choice for ace-spec rep. He’s not only emotional, he’s completely guided by emotion. He’s friendly and exuberant. He’s conventionally sexually attractive and successful. He’s got charisma and popularity. He’s got loving relationships with both bio family and found family. He’s got the hottest woman in the show flirting with him.

This brings me to my next point: Jayce being ace-spec would, I believe, fit well with what we know and see of him. I mean… this man had THEE Mel Medarda giving him flirty eyes for SIX YEARS, yet apparently nothing happened between them that whole time. It’s not like he’s not into women, or not into her specifically. He already seems into her BEFORE the timeskip. Everyone always talks about viktor’s salty jealous lil face in this moment (just aroace platonic bro things):

But the thing he’s reacting TO is Jayce’s heart eyes as he watches Mel walk away (fair Jayce, me too). Yet even then, it took poor Mel six goddamn years of touching his shoulder fifteen times a minute and sashaying around temptingly and telling him how special and cool he is… and EVEN THEN he was still so clueless he seemed surprised when she kissed him. I would say ‘classic lesbian’ but sadly he’s not a lesbian. However… if he were ace-spec then maybe flirting and suggestiveness and Vibes just wouldn’t be on his radar??

And it would have been amazing to have a scene where Mel is like ‘finally, I’ve been dropping hints that I’m into you for years’ and Jayce goes ‘you have???? Tbh none of that stuff ever makes any sense to me, which is why I don’t date or really ever sleep with people, but I think you’re amazing so I’m very glad this is happening’ but like a better written version by a professional screenwriter. Yknow, like ACTUAL ONSCREEN REP instead of just slapping a random label on a character after the show has aired.

Should clarify that I don’t even particularly headcanon Jayce as ace-spec, I just think it would actually fit and would be cool rep. I kinda sometimes headcanon Viktor as demi but not because of what linke said or anything in the show really, I just vibe with it for him. I mean no disrespect to the canonicity of ace!Viktor and I understand why people might be defensive of that with so little ace rep out there. I just think it was handled poorly and reads as an odd choice made for odd reasons.

[erynshouseofhorrors]

My Queer Marble Hornets Headcanons

This is mostly going to be Alex, Jay, Brian, and Tim since I'm not as familiar with the other characters. Jessica's at the end but there's not a lot, so I welcome people to add on!

Warning: Tim/Brian/Unnamed OC, Jay/Alex, Amy/Jessica, and mentioned Alex/Amy. Obviously very little of this is canon lol.

Jay Merrick

Jay is canonically gay and I think that just fits. He didn't find out he was gay until their junior year of high school, thanks to a guy whose name he has long forgotten.

Jay is definitely transmasc. I don't think they're entirely male, but not exactly both male and female. He's somewhere in-between male and neutral. I purposefully left their AGAB up to interpretation, I think it could go either way. Transmasc just means identifying with a masc gender that you weren't assigned at birth.

Jay uses he/they pronouns.

The first person outside of Jay's family that they came out to was Alex during their sophomore year of university. Alex is also the only one of his friends aware of Jay's struggle with gender identity, making their bond extra special. Eventually Jessica would also be looped in on that secret.

He thinks about using makeup, but they're too scared to actually buy himself anything in fear of judgement... until Alex bought him an eyeshadow palette.

They actually got pretty good at applying and styling makeup, and he helped Alex out by being the makeup artist (and script supervisor) for Marble Hornets.

Alex Kralie

I can't picture him dating a girl and actually enjoying it. His relationship with labels is difficult, because he struggles to tell the difference between romantic attraction and platonic love, which is mostly why he got with Amy to begin with. They broke up because Alex wouldn't take their relationship past a kiss on the cheek and arm around the shoulder.

When he met Jay his freshman year of uni, that was the first time he felt physically attracted to someone. The weeks to follow were filled with "am I gay" quizzes and articles.

Alex only settled on the gay label for the sake of convenience. He doesn't mind going unlabeled or switching labels around as things change and his relationships grow.

He probably doesn't know this yet, but he's definitely on the asexual spectrum. He feels sexual attraction, but only sometimes. I hc him as either greyace or demiace.

Alex uses he/him pronouns.

Brian Thomas

Brian uses both pansexual and bisexual to describe his sexuality. "Ass is ass, man. I don't care."

His sexuality has never been something he hid, but it also wasn't obvious to his straight peers. He'll casually bring up an ex-boyfriend or first kiss and everyone has their jaw on the floor. Almost everyone. Tim's usually in the corner of the room, smirking at their obliviousness.

Brian uses he/him pronouns, but he won't flip his lid if someone calls him something else. He knows his identity isn't defined by how others choose to perceive him.

He's definitely that friend who's known they were gay since grade school, so he's well educated on queer history and terminology. He even helped Alex and Tim out while they were questioning.

He dated Tim in their early years at uni, but split up after Tim had a mental breakdown and ghosted him for a few months.

Brian is also ambiamorous, which means he's okay with being in a monogamous or polyamorous relationship. This is partly why he wasn't too upset when Tim moved on and started dating a girl from another town. Why try bagging your ex when you can bag him and his new girlfriend, am I right?

Tim Wright

Tim never bothered with sexuality labels until he was finally free of psychosis and constant hospital visits. He was too busy fighting for his life to think and fantasize about love interests.

He was completely convinced he was straight until he and Brian shared a drunken kiss the night after final exams. After that, he and Brian were hooking up in secret, and Tim was having an identity crisis behind the scenes.

Tim and Brian were together for at least a few months before Tim ghosted him. It wasn't his fault, or Brian's. Tim's psychosis had been coming back, causing him to self-isolate out of paranoia. Whenever Brian tried reaching out, Tim replied with radio silence.

After getting better (again) he was too scared to contact Brian, so he forced himself to move on. And he did! He started dating a girl he met while working, and things just kind of took off. And then Brian enters his life again.

His girlfriend, surprisingly, was amused by Brian's flirtatious remarks toward her and Tim, and even teased back. After a long conversation with Tim, they decided to ask Brian out.

Tim still doesn't care for labels, but when asked he'll say he's bisexual and ambiamorous. Also he uses he/him because I forgot to mention that.

Jessica Locke

I believe someone working with Troy on the comics believes Jessica is a lesbian and honestly I love that interpretation. Nothing about her screams "straight" to me.

I truly, truly believe Jessica is trans MTF. She does voice training every morning to get better at sounding feminine, mostly to avoid harassment from her peers.

She's incredibly skilled with makeup, since she's had lots of practice in middle school. She was the one Jay came to when he got his first eyeshadow palette from Alex.

Jessica was there for Amy when she and Alex split. They had a sleep over for three nights in a row, ignoring the fact that they were roommates and already slept in the same building. They switched back and forth between Jessica's room and Amy's, making pillow forts and watching cartoons until all thoughts of Alex were gone. A month later, Amy asked Jessica on a date.

Honestly I think she'd be okay with any variant of she/her, so get creative.

aaaaaaa I hope you enjoyed! I haven't posted any headcanons before so I am nervous lol also fyi I didn't proofread this so oh well

[nyx-thedragon]

okay, here's the post about my thoughts on Newsies 1992 that I promised, because I just remembered that I was gonna do that.

First of all, I didn't realize that Kenny Ortega directed the movie until the credits (I did like, zero research on the cast or crew, I just knew that Christian Bale played Jack Kelly) and I think that explains why it was so fucking good (and why Jack and Davey were so gay lmao)

Number 2: this one is just a thought about the story of Newsies in general, but I do not see the need for a romance subplot at all. especially in the movie, because Jack and Sarah barely interact with each other, and the "oooh they like each other he he he" little subplot start the first time they meet ? at least in the musical, Jack and Katherine interact a lot and they're friends before the romance stuff starts. idk. it just kind of irks me when media has a romance subplot for no reason.

Number 2.5: following up on the romance subplot; it could be completely taken out and the story would be exactly the same. "but what about at the end when Jack decides to stay in New York because of his love interest?" you may be asking. simple: he realizes that he has a family already in New York with the newsies and he doesn't want to leave them and be alone. this ending emphasizes the importance of familial and platonic relationships and bonds, which I think we just need more of in general.

Number 3: I love how the movie has the time and means to go more in-depth with Davey and how he reacts to Jack's betrayal and how he keeps the strike going without Jack and everything. I know that the live version is a musical, and therefore has more music, but still they kind of glossed over all that if I'm remembering correctly (I haven't watched livesies in a while and may be misremembering things oops)

Number 4: the scene where the rest of the workers join the crowd for the children's crusade is so much more powerful in the movie, because they were able to have a ton of extra people, as it is a movie and not a stage production with a smaller cast. I genuinely got some chills when I watched that scene it was awesome.

Number 5: all of these guys have beautiful voices. I didn't know that Christian Bale could sing (if it is him singing and not someone else because I know sometimes movies do that; have someone else sing for a character instead of their actor or voice actor). The songs are different than what I'm used to with the musical soundtrack, but I enjoyed them a lot. and the choreography was great too.

Number 6: I like Denton. he's awesome. it's great that the newsies have an actual adult that helps them instead of someone who is assumed to be close to Jack's age (Katherine).

Number 7: the scene in Medda's theater when Snyder and the police showed up was so- I don't even know, I just really like it. I was on the edge of my seat watching it. also, Davey kicking Snyder in the face on the swing was so badass. I love you movie Davey you're so cool

Number 8: there was way more romantic tension between Jack and Davey than between Jack and Sarah. I'm just saying. the scene where Jack was being carried away by the police after getting punched by Snyder, when Davey reaches for him and tries to get the police to let go of him? oh he wants that cookie so effing bad. Davey going after Jack by himself when he was taken to Pulitzer's from the Refuge? Gay. (also how did no one see him??) the alley scene? they should've kissed. Davey confronting Jack after he sold out to Pulitzer? they should've angry-kissed there. the scene at the end after Jack comes back on the governor's carriage and the way they stare at each other?? my homo-alarm was going off so loud. idk they just had so much tension and I thank Kenny Ortega for that, because I know damn well that he had everything to do with that.

Number 9: THE FUCKING HARMONIES HELLO. I feel the same way about the harmonies in livesies, but the ones in 92sies are different from those, which I'm used to, and it was just so fun listening to them. god, I love music, can you tell?

Number 10: Spot Conlon. that's it, really. I like him, he's funny, "on the grounds of Brooklyn, your honor". I just love him. so much.

Number 10.5: Racetrack Higgins. he does so much more in the movie than in the stage production, and I love that. he's also very funny and has incredibly witty lines and I love it.

Number 11: I love getting to see more of the other newsies, and especially Davey's interactions with them. I don't remember getting to see much of that in livesies, and I think it really helps the viewer to connect with the characters and story more.

ummm, I think that's all I can think of that I wanted to share. if I think of more things, I will come back to share them. I think I'm probably gonna watch it like ten more times in the coming week and try to get my younger brother to watch it cause he's only seen the stage production so far (my town's high school is doing Newsies for their musical this year and he's gonna audition !!!!).

alrighty chat, that'll wrap up this tumblr post. have a great day and keep being cool :3

[pomefioredove]

i was wondering if you could do Duece, Leona, Ruggie, Azul, Jamil x Christian S/O headcanons? like reader used to be a preacher back at their world, and still kinda preaches in twst (i think rollo believes in God?) like they do all the things Christians should do but still kinda chaotic? their very respectfull and kind yk? sorry for making this a bit long and confusing lol

twst's relationship with religion is so vague and complicated and yet. I cannot imagine rollo as anything BUT catholic. look at that guy. so I believe there's some kind of similar belief systems happening there

summary: religious reader type of post: headcanons characters: deuce, leona, ruggie, azul, jamil additional info: platonic or romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader yuu, short and not proofread author's note: writing these on the basis that religion does exist in twisted wonderland and parallels religions of our own. I am catholic and admittedly unfamiliar with preaching to others, I think that's more of a protestant thing, so I kinda just winged that part?

𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐝𝐞

if there's anything for him to admire, it's your dedication

I mean, you're sticking to your beliefs and passions in an entirely different universe

with a bunch of strangers, no less!

whether or not some version of your beliefs exist here, you're committed! and quite knowledgeable, too

it's pretty impressive to him

Deuce's family doesn't seem particularly religious, though he probably just enjoys hearing the stories

the narratives of change and redemption catch his eye

𝐑𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢

he's big into all those "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God" verses

even if he doesn't necessarily believe in all that heaven stuff... it's a little funny

(he might use that one in the future, actually...)

if religion which parallels our own does exist in Twisted Wonderland, I can imagine his granny being religious

she seems like someone who'd cover the walls in symbols and art

maybe (likely) not Christian in origin, but enough for him to recognize that what you're going on about is a similar deal

he's practically used to it already

𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫

literally just falls asleep while you're talking

it's not that he doesn't care, it's just that...

wait, no. he doesn't care

sure, he participates in traditions and such with his family, but that's more for looks

Leona doesn't really see the point in blindly following something that hasn't helped him out at all

and hearing about miracles and blessings just annoys him

but, hey! you make for a great sound machine

these are basically all just bedtime stories for him to doze off to, anyway

𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨

merman religion is... tricky, to me

the existence of Hades in implies (confirms, even, if we take into account Yuu's dreams) the existence of Poseidon

but, like King Triton, these figures aren't necessarily worshipped. they're depicted as monarchs, not gods

but, then again, our knowledge on Coral Sea culture is limited

in any case, Azul might tolerate preaching

he really sees no use for it, and he's a busy man, but he doesn't really mind the company

if anyone, it's Jade who would be really interested in hearing alllll about these human stories

Floyd might tag along, too

and, suddenly, Azul finds himself wedged between the tweel's shoulders on the floor while they eagerly listen to you

...there goes his afternoon

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐫

to me, Jamil is not religious or superstitious by any means

he doesn't mind listening, but don't expect him to change his mind about any of that

(especially while Kalim is begging for more stories)

though, even he admits that having you around is as refreshing as it is entertaining

you're just always so... hopeful

and it's much different from Kalim's version of optimism (in his eyes, at least) simply because, in this world, you're at the same disadvantage as Jamil is

your autonomy is constantly in question, you're living at the mere goodwill of others...

and yet, you're hopeful!

it's strange, but Jamil can't help but crave that presence in his life

[devilsrecreation]

Since the ep is INSPIRED by POTO, I’mma point out the similarities and differences

Similarities/references to POTO:

-There are obvious parodies of the characters in the book/musical. Neema’s obviously the Phantom, Paka kinda has Christine’s role, Nne and Tano are kinda like Madame Giry, and there’s an herbivore with Carlotta’s role. Maybe a wild ass

-Neema pulls very similar stunts Erik pulls, mainly sabotaging performances. But he also has a secret lair in a water cave that he takes Kiburi’s float and Paka

-The Grasslands has a tradition called the “kupiga mpira”, meaning “masquerade ball” where everyone dresses up in costumes. Neema crashes the party lol

-Like Christine, Paka is a (rookie) performer and has a relationship with the Phantom

-I guess you could say both Erik and Neema had a hard life (granted, Neema’s past wasn’t as bad as Erik’s but still) that somehow affected their reputation

-He put Paka to sleep with a soothing melody (AKA he recreates “Music of the Night”)

-“[Why would anyone want to date a strange individual who’s killed people? That just sounds like a toxic relationship.]”-Neema at one point

-The reptiles like to refer to Neema as an “angel of music”

-Tamka brings up “the point of no return”

-Like Erik, Neema kills someone

-One of the reasons he sabotages a show is that a certain spot isn’t left for him. It’s HIS spot, no one else’s

-Neema and Erik both get exposed

-Both phantoms get affection at the end

-Neema’s point of no return is to either quit this double life thing and go back to being in Kiburi’s float or stick to being a phantom and leave his only family permanently. Although Tamka/Nduli think Neema’s gonna give THEM a choice to either join him or he’ll kill everybody, to which Kiburi shuts it down cuz that makes zero sense

Differences:

-There is no operatic singing in the episode. It has singing (the Grasslands are a musical place) but not actual opera. Also there’s no Raoul nor Persian

-While Erik loves/is obsessed with Christine, Neema is aromantic and has no interest in anyone

-Neema does not wear a mask that covers his face (except during the masquerade scene)

-Like I said before, everything between them is platonic and healthy. Though Neema DOES have a soft spot for her. If anything, they’d be QPP’s

-Erik and Neema haunt their respective places for different reasons. Erik does it cuz of his passion for opera and obsession for Christine. Neema honestly just likes the music. The hero thing just comes with it.

-Two things: it was completely platonic and Neema hummed the song since he’s mute and can’t sing. It’s more of a lullaby than a romantic ballad

-Neema isn’t jealous nor possessive. The most he does when he sees Paka with someone else is make sure they don’t hurt her. He’s more protective if anything

-my guy is not a teacher. He’s never taught anyone anything (except maybe how to stand up for yourself)

-As much as I love the scene, it ain’t happening with Neema and Paka. Way too sexual for them (and the episode fic) 😭

-Unlike Erik he killed someone cuz he was hungry, not to sabotage the show. Though everybody else seems to think differently

-He doesn’t kill anyone cuz of it, although he does cause a monkey to interrupt it by scaring him

-While Erik’s face gets exposed during an opera in front of everyone, Neema’s confronted by Kiburi’s float and basically gets exposed then

-Erik gets a kiss while Neema and Paka share a hug and a head pat :)

-Neema’s ending is veeeeeeery different from Erik’s. Neema doesn’t die like in the book nor does he completely quit being a phantom and not see Paka again. He goes back with his float in the end, but he continues to be a Phantom hero in the Grasslands.

There’s a reason Neema kept up the whole “Phantom” act and it kinda has something to do with his past. Neema was raised by strict, but somewhat supportive parents as a hatchling. He never learned to actually talk but his parents convinced him that being quiet was a good thing. “Silence is golden” they’d always say. “Just do as you’re told and they’ll like you”. It was like that for a while until the day he saved that lizard. Being referred to as a “hero” awakened something in him that day. He likes being some mysterious heroic entity, he likes playing with the Grasslanders and telling them what to do, he likes keeping animals on their toes, he likes the music the Grasslands have.

He likes being his own animal.

He’s been following and obeying his leaders all his life. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t necessarily mind it and he loves his friends, but it just feels nice to be someone now that he’s found his passion.

Nne and Tano found out when they got hungry and wanted to try something different rather than a mole rat or trying to eat animals from the Pridelands. They soon found themselves in the Grasslands and just so happened to spot Paka walking around. Just as they cornered her, Neema came out of nowhere, gave Paka a chance to run away, and began to attack the pair…until they recognized him like “Hey wait a minute…we know you! You’re one of the crocodiles in Kiburi’s float! What’re you doing here?”. It took a bit, but the pair finally figured out that Neema was a phantom and decide to join him. They never let anyone know since (until Kiburi basically forced them to tell where Neema was going).

Ever since Paka heard about this supposed phantom saving one of her lizard friends, her sleep schedule has been out of whack (seeing how black-footed cats are nocturnal) and she’s been obsessed with seeing it for herself. It only grew when Neema saved her and she went from wanting to see him to wanting to get to know him. Luckily, Neema took interest in the little feline due to her personality and shared love for music and began watching over her. He’s even led her to his water cave (where he hummed her his lullaby) and their friendship grew from there. She doesn’t really understand him so they communicate by yes or no questions until Kiburi comes along. Same with Nne and Tano.

Unrelated, but I just realized a pattern with my headcanons for Kiburi’s float: I gave them all desires

Kiburi wants to be good enough to make his dad proud like he promised

Tamka wants to be seen as more than just one thing (which is an idiot). He wants to pursue his passion and show he’s capable of doing things

Neema wants to feel like somebody. Like I said, he’s been a follower for way too long and he wants to find himself

Nduli wants everything to stay the same. He’s lost so much due to change and he doesn’t want to lose anything or anybody else, so he clings to his loved ones in hopes they won’t let go

Wakali wants to be taken seriously since her young age and albinism causes other animals to underestimate her

Even Makuu wants to show everyone that he’s changed his ways and wants to leave a legacy. It was the same thing with Pua, although nowadays he just wants to live his best life

Ucheshi got what she wanted in that Udugu episode I have-she got her big brother back :)

[hyperactivewhore]

I love your opinions on tvdu characters so... here we go...

I don't see Klaus as someone who would fall in love at first sight — he is way too paranoid for that. But I definitely think he would be enchanted by someone at the first sight and just decide he needs to have this person. Think about him and Cami: they talked once and he was obsessed with her.

I'm writing a history with a very introspective character and I'm thinking... How would he approach someone who is so isolated?

Btw this is one of the things I like the most on writing him. Thinking with myself "what he would do?" "what would he think?" It's like drowning in the character.

And I would love to hear your takes about it!

Thanks, darling!

I went on a rant, I hope it doesn't bother you, I didn't even realize your question, but it is answered regardless.

I definitely agree, Klaus is the kind of person who sees a woman with a pretty face who challenges him and becomes immediately smitten: his affections may vary depending on the woman, going from toxic and borderline obsessive infatuation, like what happened to him with Caroline, or love, like his situation with Camille, and a mix of complicated feelings that toy with the line between platonic and physical, like what happened with Hayley and him at the beginning.

I won't disagree with you about the second part, falling in love at first sight is something so out of character for Klaus, but he quickly becomes obsessed with any woman who talks back to him, and we can see this with all his love interests. His judgment often clouds whenever the new object of his attention is around: he allowed Caroline to say awful things about his relationship with his father and himself, throwing the gifts he gave her in his face, when he would have killed anyone else for it, he was more focused on sleeping with Hayley than he was with getting the cure, knowing it was dangerous for his family to do so, because he liked her and was attracted to her boldness, he kneeled for Camille within weeks of meeting her and was the only love interest of his he actually considered family, and Hayley does not count, as she was never his love interest but obviously still his family.

He prioritizes women he doesn't even know over his own family, this is undeniable and a big part of his character. I'm torn about what I think of this trait of his, as I think it's very out of character for the kind of person he's supposed to be. Do I believe he would chose them over his siblings? No, obviously not, not unless the feelings are love and not infatuation, and this depends greatly on what that person means to him. This is so away from the point, but Klaus is always pushed or forced to care for things, the biggest example of this is Hope: I personally believe he wouldn't have cared about her so much if Elijah hadn't made him.

But what if it had been his lover from a long time the one who had been pregnant? Klaus was a viking, he was raised as one and was expected to take a wife: they ran the household, the farm, took care of the children, but the men were still "the lords", and is no surprise Klaus is a sexist man: he would love the idea of being able to have all of that. And once he got over the shock of being able to reproduce as a hybrid, I honestly can see him becoming more involved because in his mind, he finally got everything he wanted: the wife, the child, practically the whole white picket fence. At his core, Klaus is a character who craves unconditional love and for him, a lover and a child would give it to him without question. This, of course, would require another better post for it to actually make sense.

But dropping this topic and approaching your question, I honestly think it depends greatly on your character, the kind of person they are and how isolated they actually are - emotionally, physically or both.

As we've seen in canon, he's not the kind of person who drops his interest in a person just because they feel uncomfortable or want him to stop. Klaus is very, very intense, and I don't think that would set a very good first impression with your character, especially because he always makes his interest in someone - especially if it's romantic - painfully clear. He also has trouble picking up some social clues, which is hilarious, and would perhaps make his relationship with your oc more antagonistic at first.

However, if he actually frightens her/him, I can see him choosing to change his approach. How he met Davina is a really good example of this, in my opinion. She was very much isolated from the world and he just made it so much worse: he tried to use her as a weapon, tried to poison her and actually got her high-school sweetheart killed, and in general, their relationship was awful, all because of Klaus and how he decided to subject her into his side.

This was a whole mess, and it did not come out the way I expected it to. Regardless, I hope it satisfied you!

[eveledoze]

Which tadc ship do you like more? Funnybunny or Showtime?

oh well long-post comes-

okay i did a little searching, since i often don't understand such ship names. if google doesn't lie to me, then the first one is Pomni/Jax, and the second is Pomni/Caine.

damn, I thought funnybunny was the name for Ragatha/Jax 💔💔

i don't ship Pomni/Jax but i find the pairing cute. i don't sense any special dynamic between them, Jax just makes fun of her the same way he makes fun of everyone else because he's a jerk (i say this lovingly). when i discovered that this pairing was the most popular in the fandom, i didn’t really understand why, since i wouldn’t say that there was anything particularly interesting going on between these two. I think the dynamics between Jax and Ragatha were more distinct, which I immediately noticed, they had tension and i really liked it x) but then, after thinking about it a little, i realized why Pomni/Jax is the most popular ship (I guess?? it's just my supposition) — people combined two of the most main characters, one of whom is a badass-tumblr-sexyman, and the second is an angsty ordinary person with whom people could identify themselves. anyway i just find it funny that so many people like this ship. i saved fanarts of these two a couple of times because i thought they were cute. to be honest, kitsch's (@ bunnyjesters/ nuzipilled) works probably influenced my opinion about this ship the most. arts with Pomni and Jax from kitsch is probably my favorite among all the other fanarts for this couple, i think that he well preserves their canon behavior and characters despite the fact that the pairing itself in the cartoon is non-canon, and their interactions in his art feel quite realistic for me! i love how kitsch draws them and how he uses gestures and body language to show their emotions, it's very, very cute. so yeah, i don't ship them, but i do find some of the fanart of them cute. i drew this a while ago, so have this if it will make you happy 🌸

now Kaine/Pomni...ahmmm, to be honest, i was even more surprised that this is probably the second most popular pairing in the fandom? :D apparently it really comes across often and haha, i don’t understand it... i’ve never been interested in the dynamics of student/teacher or employee/boss, in my understanding there can be no romance in their relationship, maximum platonic, family relationships, understanding each other. Kaine is very quirky and doesn't seem like he's interested in romance (i generally like Kaine/Moon, but i really think Kaine is just confused by Moon's behavior since he's not interested in her romantically x)). it's more like he treats all the guys in circus like friends, colleagues or something like that. so yeah, it's weird for me to see romantic stuff with Pomni/Caine, but like the first one, occasionally i might come across fanart with them that i think is cute. once I saw a mini-comic (don't remember the author) dedicated to that circus teaser, in the comic Caine suddenly appeared in Pomni's room. Pomni, out of fear, hits him sharply, after which he got upset and she began to apologize <з

if we talk about my fav ship, i love Ragatha/Jax! i don't remember this "name" for the pairing, but yes, that's them. dynamics like theirs are my favorite dynamic in couples, i just love it when characters can't stand each other lol. i love the tension between them and i'm afraid i paid too much attention to it while watching the pilot... oh my god, a moron, who pisses everyone off, with a good-natured girl, who wants to help everyone, but she has to deal with this asshole. i guess it's the "from hate to love" trope, right? i like that the first thing that manifests itself in such couples is negativity, they just piss each other off and cannot calm down. but after a while the annoying cools down and they begin to open up to each other. ofc i don't know Gooseworks’ plans, but you guys probably thought that Jax is actually not such a jerk as he shows himself to be, and in fact he is a deeper character, with his own traumas and trials? let's not turn this into a tragic sob story, but nevertheless, Gooseworks said "every tadc character has a reason why they behave the way they do" and i believe that we will be revealed that. it seems to me that to some extent Jax and Ragatha can complement each other. Like, you know, it’s like N helps Uzi cool down and be calm, and Uzi helps N to be confident and defend his positions. maybe Jax can show Ragata that her toxic positivity is not the best option and sometimes you need to be tough, and Ragatha can help him open up, share his problems and well...to be less jerk-like. and yes, of course i can't get it out of my head that Jax called her "dollface" while he gave the others rude nicknames haha

also i like Ragatha/Pomni, i probably don’t pay much attention to them, but they're good. there are cute interactions between them and it seems that Ragatha was better than the others in being able to approach her and become somewhat of a friend. Ragatha has this energy of a caring mother or something, so her desire to help Pomni get comfortable in the circus and direct her to positive thoughts is cute. at the same time, Pomni looks extremely confused, but Ragatha is the one she turns to because she seems the most adequate and friendly of the others. i liked to draw how they hug, but in i think that most likely Ragatha would not have allowed herself to hug someone without asking, at least she would have asked permission x) however, it seems to me that physical contact and kind words are Ragatha's way of support, so simply holding hands with her would calm Pomni down

also i like Pomni/Gangle and Gangle/Kinger and i don'tind other ships as well !!

[bluedalahorse]

Fandom-leaning writing residency updates! I have been watching my classmates do their lectures (I give mine on Friday) and it’s giving me some thoughts about the Characters, as always:

One of my classmates lectured on how she tried to find the line between devoted in a way that makes you go “aww” and obsessed in a way that makes you go “yikes!” in YA love interests. Of course, she pointed out that this is more a continuum than a strict binary, and that it’s worth approaching these issues with curiosity rather than condemnation. Anyway, it gave me some more language for articulating why, for me personally, Wilhelm and August exist in roughly similar parts of the devoted-aww to obsessed-yikes continuum. I can accept wilmon endgame but I have to jump through some mental hoops to get there, and to be honest? It’s about as many mental hoops as I would have jumped through for saraugust, if saraugust was canon endgame alongside it. I think that explains why I came away from s3 ready to envision second chance futures and canon divergences where saraugust would work, and haven’t really wavered from that. I don’t think I will be posting about this (Wille and August’s places on the aww to yikes continuum) on main more but maybe I’ll talk about it with you one-on-one.

Another of my classmates talked about teen boys and friendships in the YA genre, and how those are usually portrayed as very simplistic and/or nonexistent-but-don’t-worry-about-it. He had some ideas about how to approach teen boy friendships from a craft perspective that were pretty insightful. I feel like Simon and Ayub lined up with some of what he researched, and even August and Nils and Vincent in season 3 were trending a lot more toward what my classmate talked about. I think that reaffirmed why all of those scenes were precious to me. It also once again reaffirmed for me what is and isn’t working in Wille’s platonic friendship—I use the singular because it’s really just Felice that he’s platonically close with, right? And we know that relationship needs to be more of a two-way street, and that he gave her on-and-off mixed romantic signals for about half the show. Does Wille know how to get genuinely close to people outside of a romantic context? Like does he cultivate the kinds of platonic friendships that are as important for emotional support as his romantic relationship with Simon, but different qualitatively? I feel like he struggles with it. I feel like August struggles with it too obviously, but the show wants us to know that, and wants us to find catharsis in him holding on to his friends and seeking out family at the end of the show. Whereas I think Wille’s arc would have benefitted from him learning to be a better friend and the narrative actually holding him more accountable for that. Maybe I’ll feel differently on a rewatch though.

Is this a Wille-critical post? Possibly. Honestly, he’s kind of a butt sometimes.

I like that he’s such a flawed character, though. Sometimes I wanna talk about it more, instead of explaining the flaws away.