#ignoring shipping wars ignoring people being weird

[florshedworf]

HEY. WHAT

[lord-squiggletits]

It’s always very weird to me how much hate IDW OP gets in comparison to characters that are as bad or worse. Like, if hate for IDW OP was just “he’s an asshole and does xyz things,” I would get that, but the vast majority of the hate I see for him is just calling him an asshole with no particular explanation as to why. More puzzlingly, I see “IDW OP is an asshole” coming from the mouths of people who simultaneously stan characters like Pr/owl (also a cop, committed war crimes, constantly manipulates and uses people) and Mega/tron (genocidal dictator, racist against organics, generally violent and fucked up) so like???

It doesn’t seem like the problem is that IDW OP is an asshole, it seems to me like the problem is very specifically that it’s Optimus. For some reason people are just absolutely allergic to the idea of Optimus being morally gray to match a morally gray continuity. Somehow Optimus and Optimus alone is a horrible asshole who doesn’t ever deserve to be acknowledged even though the same people have no problems liking characters from the same comics who are as bad or worse? And it’s quite disappointing because it seems like in that case, it’s less about IDW OP being an asshole and more about the fact that people haven’t actually read the story and don’t care about the context/reasoning for IDW OP’s actions.

That or they just want every Optimus to be a happy silly dad or a depressed uwu dad (but only depressed in a cute and palatable way, never depressed in a way that leads to lashing out and bad decisions and social isolation), so they hate IDW OP for not being the cardboard cutout they want him to be. Instead of just... reading the OP that’s on the page and judging him based on the standards of IDW1 and the type of story IDW1 is.

[breeyn]

An essay rebutting the “bad writing” claims of s2 ofmd. Spoilers herein.

I’ll preface this with saying you’re obviously allowed to like and dislike whatever you want. I am in no way opposing that. And your reasons are your reasons. Have at. (Also - this is a collection of observations from the past few days, I’m not calling anyone out)

I AM going to rebut the idea that season two was poorly written and lost the spirit of what the show is about.

My favourite movie of all time is Empire Strikes Back. It’s been my favourite movie since I was four. I’m pretty sure it’s a fave of David Jenkins, too. He and Taika have made absolutely no attempt to hide their love of all things 80’s - Prince, the Princess Bride, Kate Bush, Star Wars, etc.

I have ancient video tapes (that I can’t play because who has a vcr) where Lucas is interviewed by Leonard Maltin? Malkin? I dunno. Who cares. Maltin asks him about the Star Wars (original trilogy) story arc. Lucas says “in act I, you introduce all the characters. In act II, you put them in a situation they can’t get out of, and in act III, they get out of it.”

That’s how it works. This is how stories and literary structures work.

Of course you’re not satisfied with season two. You’re not supposed to be.

The arguments I have read on why s2 loses the spirit of s1 is because no one heals. No one learns anything. No one moves forward properly. The person who makes the biggest move towards healing dies. The two main characters end the show doing the exact fucking thing they had promised themselves and each other they wouldn’t do. Our romantic lead still doesn’t understand his value or make any headway on addressing his tragic flaw. It makes no goddamn sense.

My gremlins in weird: it’s not supposed to. In Act 2, EVERYONE LOSES. This is how it goes.

I’ve read a lot of people saying “but this felt like a series finale, not a season finale.” We all know that outside politics play a part here, the strikes make everything precarious. I remember the last writers strike. It destroyed tv for fifteen years. Anyone remember Pushing Daisies? Some of y’all have never had your fave show cancelled with zero resolution for the characters and it shows.

Daddy J did us a kindness. He softened the blow of a tough season. After the brutal cliffhanger of s1, he gave us a little softness and hope. All those things you’re mad aren’t resolved? It’s because THE STORY ISN’T OVER.

No one on earth thinks “stuff all your trauma into a box and ignore it” is good advice. A way to actually live. This show did not have enough screen time to throw out dialogue for no reason. There was foreshadowing in s1 for s2, and there is foreshadowing for s3 in s2. This is a well-crafted story by very smart people who care very much for these characters. There is zero chance Frenchie explained the box in his head for no reason. The reason people have not resolved their trauma and growth is because they haven’t done it *yet*.

And friends - it’s not thinly veiled. They straight up fucking tell us what they’re doing.

Luke Skywalker spends the first two movies fucking up and desperately trying to prove himself and just generally being an idiot. Sound familiar? He ignores the lessons he is supposed to be learning to go off and do what he feels like doing, and loses fucking badly. At the end of Empire, Han is gone, Luke and Leia wave goodbye to the Falcon that has Lando and Chewy - the rest of their crew - aboard. Everyone has lost everything they care about. Vader is undefeated. Yoda is pissed. Nothing is resolved.

You see where I’m going?

If you think I’m stretching this too far, welp, when Ed tells Stede he loves him - the climax of the finale - Stede quotes Han fucking Solo. Like - *it’s right there*. The story structure. The reason everything is unresolved.

So yeah. They wave goodbye to their ship because they have wounds to heal (like Luke’s hand). The people aboard the ship have things to find. Ed and Stede have *not* learned their lesson about whims and how not to be like Anne and Mary. It’s not stupid that they’re doing the same thing, and it’s not pointless that we were shown Anne and Mary. It’s all relevant.

The resolution comes in Act 3. None of these people are done. The story is far, far from over. And just in case the studios want to be dicks about it, David Jenkins was lovely enough to not repeat my enduring heartbreak over Pushing Daisies.

Thank you, @davidjenks 🖤

[crookenbeer]

This (old) tweet is worded in such a weird way...? Matt didn't fake being blind, what a careless way of wording it. Too many people already think Matt isn't blind just because of his senses and shit like this definitely fueled the fire.

MATT IS BLIND, GUYS. THAT'S WHY THE SHOW DEPICTS HIM USING BLINDNESS ASSISTIVE DEVICES. THAT'S WHY HIS EYES CANNOT PERCEIVE LIGHT AS SHOWN WHEN THEY SHONE A FLASHLIGHT AT MATT'S EYES.

HE HAS NEVER "FAKED BEING BLIND".

This is why actors should just shut the fuck up instead of tweeting ableist-worded shitty takes. For what anyway? For the sake of shipping wars? Insufferable.

P.S Now why didn't she address all the times Karen has lied? But that's a topic for another day, since this is about addressing the highly ignorant and ableist take that Matt's blindness is "fake".

[mutfruit-salad]

i find the way fans are already shipping cooper with lucy over her black love interest very telling of the clueless white supremacy and media illiteracy in the fandom. coop and lucy are obviously being setup as a father-daughter duo who need to learn caution/kindness from each other to survive, but these weirdos can’t have their white-man fave without a self-insert stand-in for 1 season. and the way people are glorifying cooper’s character is a load of bs - a morally greg white guy who realises he endorsed and was sympathetic to a massive war crime/political injustice… so he goes on to indiscriminately kill/hurt more people who have no idea of, nor say in the bigger picture that he was complicit in… is sooo boring and nothing new. also, giving him a biracial daughter as an accessory to show he’s Not Racist isn’t something we’ve seen half of a million fuckin times before 🤪 the way the show back-tracked on fallout’s message of blind american nationalism and militarism being a problem to It’s All Capitalism’s Fault, seemingly in reaction to the US currently endorsing and aiding in foreign war crimes, and past ones becoming common-knowledge, is horseshit on a platter.

I find the complete lack of a character for his daughter really horrifying- how she only exists to die dramatically for the sake of his sadness. It's odd because his wife is a well-established important character, yet their daughter is not allowed to be a person.

Fallout, in general, has had a habit of completely ignoring racism- presenting the prewar world as some fully integrated post racism utopia. Which is weird when the games regularly display overt anti Chinese (and broader anti Asian) sentiments in prewar logs and ads. This is a problem both the classic games AND the bethesda games have- racism has always been a touchy subject to the devs of the series and it seems like every game they've been content to ignore it, occasionally invoking it for horror or stumbling headlong into depicting it without realizing.

The way Ghoulgins regrets his past and just takes it out on everyone around him is absurd and plays into a lot of very hostile ideas the character peddles.

People shipping Ghoulgins with Lucy is baffling to me also considering he spends the entire series physically abusing her. People just don't want to acknowledge Max's existence, I have noticed. I know her and Ghoulgins get closer by the end, but it's after he's done just unspeakably cruel things to her- and you're right that it is absolutely framed as a father/daughter relationship.

I would also like to point out that the series has always criticized capitalism as well- but would generally frame it as sort of tangled up in American imperial ambition- with one feeding into the other. They were two halves of the same coin.

Vault Tec's entire existence in the classic games was selling smoke- profiting off of the extreme tension and stress of US military buildup- a process which would always inevitably end in disaster: either with Vault Tec going under or brinksmanship coming to its inevitable end.

Vault Tec (and the entire idea of luxury bunkers as a whole) WAS a critique of capitalism, and how it goes hand-in-hand with the American military industrial complex. It was selling the fear of annihilation to the populace. They didn't need to be some secretive controlling force to achieve any of this.

Making Vault Tec the sole antagonist, and the driving force of the apocalypse, is both deeply conspiratorial AND undermines the Cold War roots the series has always had- replacing the fear of American military buildup with a sort of hateful simplicity.

[anyydidi]

N x Uzi works and N x V shippers should accept that.

Even though i’m a Nuzi (N x Uzi) shipper at heart, I like Envy (N x V). I think it’s cute and they have a great history. But…

That’s about it.

We need to realize that they are both different people now. Yes, N kind of kept his personality through it all, but he has gone through so much development, mainly thanks to Uzi. Not to mention he got his memories completely wiped out and the only reason he has/had feelings for V is because he felt the remnants of their past stronger feelings. Yes, he got his memories back, but only from the Cyn incident. We don’t have any proof of him having all of his memories from the mansion back.

We don’t even know if they just had crushes on each other. We’re not sure if they really had an established romantic relationship in the first place. Did they only have mild crushes, or were they madly in love? That’s something we’re not sure about.

And lastly, people move on. How i mentioned, they’re two different people than they were at the mansion, with absolutely different lives. It’s not wrong, or weird of N to start developing feelings for Uzi. After all, even though N’s personality didn’t really change from his past one, V has made a practically 180 turn. She’s seen as shy and reversed in the past, but ignorant, mean and murderous in the present (before her character development of course). She’s a different person from what N has fallen for. Plus, let’s be honest, V hasn’t been treating N nicely.

V has treated N very poorly. Ignoring him, pretending she doesn’t know who he is, generally just being mean to him. She probably did that to protect him, yeah, but N isn’t aware of that and really, is that an excuse to behave that way? On the other hand, Uzi has helped N grow as a person. She helps him believe in himself, she shows him what true love feels like (platonic, and now even a little romantic). She started treating him as his own person, as a person who has feelings and deserves to be treated as such. Not just some killer machine that you can use and throw around. And in turn, N was Uzi’s first friend. Someone who finally loves her for who she is. He supports her and helps her grow emotionally. They support and love each other and it’s HEALTHY.

And last but not least, NO. Nuzi is not rushed and the hand holding scene did not come from nowhere. Uzi has been shown to develop some sort of feelings for him for EPISODES now. We can see her starting to develop them in The Promening. Which is kind of a long time ago. As for N, we don’t exactly see him having romantic feelings for her until recently, we can definitely see him start to lose feelings for V since Cabin Fever. The point where he definitely realizes he feels something for Uzi, is in the scene prior to the hand holding scene, where Uzi asks him if he’s good. Obviously, he probably had some feelings for her even before, but i would say that was the realization point.

So, in conclusion, i would say both Nuzi and Envy works. The only difference is that Nuzi is in the present, and Envy is more in the past. But, let’s be honest here, does it really matter? Yes, I am more of a Nuzi shipper and definitely am rooting for them to become canon, but i wouldn’t be mad if Envy is the one who wins in the end. Both relationships have chemistry. And i think we all know that Envy is absolutely tragic and it makes me sad. So, stop the ship wars you guys. It’s not worth it. Let’s just enjoy our respective ships as they are, it is Liam’s show after all and he can do whatever he wants with it.

(This is a Nuzi defend post, I am in NO WAY hating on Envy, as i hope was stated enough. I am just tired of toxic Envy shippers attacking Nuzi for pointless reasons. Oh and btw i am a strong “V is alive, or at least comes back” believer. And that is not delusion, guys, it was clearly stated by J earlier in the episode that the disassembly drones were cloned. Glitch, I am watching you 👹👹.)

[hyperfixatedfandomer]

12am incoherent Spider rant incoming:

The fact that a huge portion of Spider fans sympathise with him because they had similar family experiences in life is low-key making me feel kinda weird about people who hate him. Like let us recap the events real quick-

Like why do you hate a kid who did more to keep the Na’vi safe than Jake through the entire movie? “They’re after us” ok? This is not just about you dumbass it’s a whole-ass war, the RDA will still want to find the rest of your tribe because they want to ERADICATE your people 😐 the fact that it took him MONTHS to realise that running will not save anyone is 😬 (though I can get behind it bc family and all)

How is it that a goddamn 16 year old was the one who carried the good guy team??? 😐😐😐 he saved tribes from getting murdered, like literally, Tonowari said that no one had died, WONDER WHY???? DO Y’ALL THINK QUARITCH WAS NICE OUTTA NOWHERE???

And then he sunk a ship. HE SUNK A SHIP BY HIMSELF????

AND THEN HE INDIRECTLY SAVED KIRIS AND JAKE’S LIFE????

“He backstabbed them” I know you’re not blaming him for it when Neytiri exists 🧍 bestie outright REFUSED to help a literal child and didn’t bat an eye when he got captured. I can get behind her putting a knife to his throat in a rush of emotion but to very clearly ABANDON him? Fuck off. If her active decision to leave him behind didn’t turn into the reef Na’vi’s literal saving grace I’d be hating on her so actively.

“He saved his homocidal dad after he promised to murder his family” first of all the Sullys NEVER adopted him and it’s made abundantly clear. You sound like a gaslighter when you use that rhetoric. 😐📸

And secondly — HELL YEAH HE DID???? I would too if I was him and so would you and so would we all because Miles is the first grown up who GAVE A SHIT. MILES GENUINELY CARED. “It’s morally wrong” NO CAP 😀😀😀 NO ONE SAYS IT WAS RIGHT BUT THE KID HAD A SPLIT SECOND TO MAKE A DECISION AND HE CHOSE NOT TO BE A MURDERER.

You know what else is morally wrong tbw? Neglecting a child for 16 years.

“B-but they had no obligation to take care of a human kid—” cry me a fucking river 😐 what they want or not doesn’t fucking matter when we are talking about the mental health of an actual living breathing being. They ALL (the scientists, the Sullys and even the mf McKoskers or whatever the hell their last name is) were morally obligated to give that kid the best they could to ensure that he wouldn’t turn out like his father BECAUSE THEY’RE ADULTS.

The fact that their collective neglect DIDN’T blow up in their face is a pure miracle. Thant kid had every right to turn evil and burn the village that rejected him to feel it’s warmth but he DID NOT. In fact he is so goddamn kind and compassionate that he sees good even in a piece of shit monster like Quaritch.

It’s mind-blowing when we consider the lack of parental love and guidance throughout his life.

☝️ THIS is the kid you’re hating on???? Bc it’s starting to look suspiciously toxic 👀💅

Pay my boy some respect. He was a literal hero and y’all act like the Omatekaya, ignoring whatever good he might do and then point fingers at him when he does something morally questionable LIKE ITS NOT JAKES FAULT??? LIKE THE REST OF THE ADULTS ARE NOT AT FAULT TOO??

Neglect makes people vulnerable. Vulnerable enough for an asshole to swoop in and manipulate them and it is only thanks to Spider’s unyielding loyalty and heart that neither Ardmore, nor Miles had pulled anything out of him in MONTHS of captivity. They had NO idea where Jake or Omatekaya were until Norm fucked it all up with his trackable ship.

Listen I love all the blorbos, but the parents dug their own grave so to speak. You fumble the bag repeatedly and then get surprised when it flies into your face? 🤨

Anyway, I’m out. Might delete this later idk.

[tcfactory]

So, I have a really silly Mobei-jun transmigrator idea.

OG Mobei gets into writing after his Qinghua dies and Bingge starts doing the endless harem collecting because he wants to get away from what is kinda turning into his personal hell and he doesn't even have a trusty retainer he can bully to let off some steam.

He doesn't plan on getting any of it published because he starts out really clumsy with his words at first and even he knows it. But after getting all his venting out in his early works he really just nails the kind of stories with AU fix-it vibes (even if he always very carefully writes different settings than their own world. Can't have Bingge think he is criticizing what the Junshang has done to the world) that a lot of people in PIDW crave as a form of escapism, actually. And it's a little bit fun to sneak around and get the publishing contract and the illustrations and everything done behind Bingge's back.

The harem is hooked. There are passionate fanclubs for his characters that change the friendships and alliances between the consorts. There are ship wars that escalate to actual murder attempts. Mobei-jun watches with growing dread as the women ignore Luo Binghe in favor of trying to find out who the mysterious author writing the books is. Nobody suspects him because in person he still doesn't talk, like, at all.

Except finally Bingge has enough and uses a relic to track down the mysterious author and ends up killing Mobei, because centuries of loyal service or not, he has stirred up the harem so bad that Bingge refuses to tolerate the distraction anymore. Mobei dies thinking that if it was to end like this anyway he really should have just written that wish-fulfillment fix-it story he always wanted.

So the former Mobei-jun transmigrates into Mo Yunbao, soon to be An Ding's head disciple, a little before Binghe comes to the sect. He doesn't have a digital System (at least at the start), he has an analogue interface: the System directly communicates with these strangely folded paper 'birds'.

It takes Mobei some time to realize that other people can technically see the papers the System sends, but only if he deliberately brings attention to them, they can't read any of the writing and then they forget about them right away. He eats a lot of paper trying to hide them before he realizes that he doesn't have to bother.

Since his complaint was essentially that "nobody was actually happy in PIDW, not even the protagonist" his task is simple: create the maximum number of happy endings without completely sidestepping the main storyline re: Binghe, abyss, the usual System restrictions. How hard could it be, right? He thinks he has a fair idea about all of these people, Luo Binghe just could not shut up about all his horrible childhood when he had a captive audience and Mobei has always been very good at listening.

Except Shang Qinghua is acting strange. Mobei dismisses it as maybe the peak lord being different with his disciples than he is with his king, even if there are other things that are not quite aligning as they should. He already knows how he's going to fix that storyline, he needs to focus on figuring out all the other things, so he just ignores Shang Qinghua.

Yeah, that goes exactly as well as you'd think. Imagine Airplane bro for a moment: he's trying to send his weird little (he's cute, like a feral kitten is cute) gremlin of a head disciple to harass Shen Qingqiu into turning in the bi-monthly financial report early so he can sneak out and report to his king, when the distracted A-Bao reminds him not to forget his fur coat this time. It's the middle of the summer! Even more shockingly a very neatly folded paper plane flies in out of nowhere and hits head disciple Mo on the head with a thwack before it falls on the peak lord's desk.

Qinghua surprises both of them by picking the paper plane up before the other can even reach for it. It's a warning for OOC violation, but no point deduction because there are only transmigrators in the room.

So both Mobei and Airplane tell their stories, they bond over their love of writing and how fucked it would be if everything someone wrote became someone else's reality (Mobei hopes that hasn't happened to any of his stories. He wrote some really dark stuff at the start of his writing career that he would never wish even on his worst enemy), somewhere along the way they bully the System into upgrading Mobei's interface to the digital one and they become allies in fixing the world one doomed relationship at a time.

It's not long into their cooperation when Mobei realizes that he really likes this version of Shang Qinghua, actually, but it would be really inappropriate for a head disciple to hook up with his shizun, so he settles for setting the other Mobei-jun up with Airplane. Airplane is a good, responsible creator deity, he deserves a happy end.

Besides, Mobei has a good life here, as a human. He has friends he can (affectionately) bully, he doesn't have to fear certain death (for a while at least), he teams up with Liu Mingyan and together they convince Shen Qingqiu to preside over a cross-peak literature and creative writing club that's an absolute blast and Liu Qingge is trying to poach him for Bai Zhan because the body of Mo Yunbao is really suited for physical cultivation. He would go too if it wasn't so much more convenient to stay on An Ding for the sake of their schemes, but maybe he can let the War God steal him away for some night-hunting dates every now and then.

They don't know yet what to do with Luo Binghe when he inevitably shows up at the sect, but he has some faith that between Airplane and him they can figure out something good.

[pansear-doodles]

RW Shipping Name Masterlist

F2U Shipping Emotes Shipping Emote Discord Server Invite Scug Shipping Tierlist maker

---

Considering the influence I have over the fandom, I will be using this position to create concrete naming proposals for RW Ships.

If there are any suggestions/reworks in mind, please reply to this post! Not all ships will be included but they can be added later by request (and I will intentionally not include problematic/weird ones). On the polyamory side of things, there are so many variations, so I'll just be grabbing some I've seen. (Feel free to suggest any too)

They MIGHT be ordered by popularity/frequency based on my observations (I watch the rain world hashtags on both twitter and tumblr like a hawk; and I also check the fanart discord channels). This isn't me saying that your favorite ship isn't popular or bad.

Ship names are best determined by how well it reads, if it rolls the tongue good enough and how frequent the community uses it. (Alternatively, there can be unique ship codes/descriptors if decided majority by the community)

This list isn't perfect of course, which is why I encourage people to contribute to it! It will be periodically updated.

Please be respectful to each other and be open-minded, especially considering that each of us have widely different portrayals of the characters. The RW Artist community is the most respectful shipping space I ever been on, and I want to keep it that way!

If shipping is not your taste, good for you! Let's respect each others' ideas of how we portray the characters in general.

Let us assume they are all adults in similar age ranges and nonrelated (until proven otherwise by canon) in this case please. For iterators, we will assume all are nonrelated (except Moon and Pebbles as they are heavily coded to be siblings). All shippers ignore the timeline canon the game gives generally.

Plain text means its not yet decided or used by one person Italicized text means its being decided or used by few people Bold text means its fully decided or considered by the majority (supported by dedicated hashtags if ever)

SEMI-OUTDATED (doesn't contains all the ship codes so please reply to this post with suggestions)

Contains Downpour spoilers

ARTIFICER SHIPS

Artificer x Hunter - Artihunter/Girls Who Kill/Cherry Bomb/Violent Lesbians/Red Velvet/War Criminals

Artificer x Saint - Artisaint/Death Pop/Argument/Pegasus

Artificer x Gourmand - Artimand/Gourificer/Popcorn/Barbecue/Gore-Bomb/Strawberries n’ Cream/Parentshipping/The Moms

Artificer x Spearmaster - Spearficer/Boomstick/Hotshot/Firecracker/Sparkler/Death Notice

Artificer x Rivulet - Rivuficer/Artilet/Fireboy and Watergirl/Missile/Bathbomb/Rarefacton Cell/Toasterbath

Artificer x Survivor - Survficer/Redvelvet

Artificer x Monk - Artimonk/Sunnysideup

Artificer x Enot - Enotficer/Paprika/La Bomba/Pipe Bomb

GOURMAND SHIPS

Gourmand x Artificer - Artimand/Gourificer/Popcorn/Barbecue/Gore-Bomb/Strawberries n’ Cream/Parentshipping/The Moms

Gourmand x Spearmaster - Spearmand/Kebab/Pin Cushion/Fruit Ninja

Gourmand x Hunter - Gourunter/Huntmand/Honeyham/Cherry Pie/Baby Back Ribs

Gourmand x Saint - Saintmand/Goursaint/Fluffball/Wooly Mammoth/Mintcaramel/Sacred Feast/Shamrock Shake/Ice Cream/Furball/Big Bush/Fat Blunt/Apple Pie

Gourmand x Rivulet - Rivumand/Gourmet/Fastfood/Seafood/Pufferfish/Fish and Chips/Bullfrog

Gourmand x Survivor - Survmand/Gourvivor/Marshmallow/Snowball

Gourmand x Enot - Enotmand/Gournot/Bathbomb/Scrambledeggs/Suspiciousstew/Black Licorice

Gourmand x Monk - Gourmonk/Cheesewheel/Big Cheese

Gourmand x Nightcat - Nightmand/Full Moon

RIVULET SHIPS

Rivulet x Spearmaster - Spearvulet/Fishstick/Swordfish/Speedpaint/Narwhal

Rivulet x Hunter - Rivhunter/Cotton candy/Fisher/Piranha

Rivulet x Artificer - Rivuficer/Artilet/Fireboy and Watergirl/Missile/Bathbomb/Rarefacton Cell/Toasterbath

Rivulet x Saint - Rivusaint/Speedscugs/Floofish/Fluffy Axolotl/Marine Snow/Waterdancers/Bubblefruit/Seaweed/Holy Water

Rivulet x Gourmand - Rivumand/Gourmet/Fastfood/Seafood/Pufferfish/Fish and Chips/Bullfrog

Rivulet x Survivor - Survulet/Tapwater

Rivulet x Enot - Rivunot/Speedrun/Ploink/ADHD/Explosion :3

Rivulet x Monk - Rivmonk/Monkvulet/Lemonshark/Banana Boat

Rivulet x Nightcat - Nightvulet/Deep Sea/Lanternfish

SPEARMASTER SHIPS

Spearmaster x Rivulet - Spearvulet/Fishstick/Swordfish/Speedpaint/Narwhal

Spearmaster x Saint - Spearsaint/Saintmaster/Spearmint/Icicles/Holy Stick/Thornbush

Spearmaster x Gourmand - Spearmand/Kebab/Pin Cushion/Fruit Ninja

Spearmaster x Artificer - Spearficer/Boomstick/Hotshot/Firecracker/Sparkler/Death Notice

Spearmaster x Hunter - Spearhunter/Huntmaster/Love Message/Thorn Bush/Grape Fruit/Grape Juice/Broadcats

Spearmaster x Survivor - Spearvivor/The Fighters/Glowstick

Spearmaster x Enot - Spearnot/Lagspike

Spearmaster x Monk - Spearmonk/Cheesestick

Spearmaster x Nightcat - Spearnight/Nightspear/Shadow Force/Vampire Bat

SAINT SHIPS

Saint x Artificer - Artisaint/Death Pop/Argument/Pegasus

Saint x Spearmaster - Spearsaint/Saintmaster/Spearmint/Icicles/Holy Stick/Thornbush

Saint x Gourmand - Saintmand/Goursaint/Fluffball/Wooly Mammoth/Mintcaramel/Sacred Feast/Shamrock Shake/Ice Cream/Furball/Big Bush/Fat Blunt/Apple Pie

Saint x Rivulet - Rivusaint/Speedscugs/Floofish/Fluffy Axolotl/Marine Snow/Waterdancers/Bubblefruit/Seaweed/Holy Water

Saint x Hunter - Saintunter/Cherrybush/Watermelon

Saint x Survivor - Survaint/Toothpaste/Mint Ice cream/Pistachio

Saint x Enot - Saintnot/Chaos/Godmode

Saint x Monk - Saintmonk/Monsaint/Peacemakers/Banana Split/Sprite Lemon Lime

Saint x Nightcat - Nightsaint/Holy Night/Nightshade/Chocolate Mint

HUNTER SHIPS

Hunter x Artificer - Artihunter/Girls Who Kill/Cherry Bomb/Violent Lesbians/Red Velvet/War Criminals

Hunter x Rivulet - Rivhunter/Cotton candy/Fisher/Piranha

Hunter x Gourmand - Gourunter/Huntmand/Honeyham/Cherry Pie/Baby Back Ribs

Hunter x Saint - Saintunter/Cherrybush/Watermelon

Hunter x Survivor - Survunter/Hunter Gatherer/Candy Cane

Hunter x Spearmaster - Spearhunter/Huntmaster/Love Message/Thorn Bush/Grape Fruit/Grape Juice/Broadcats

Hunter x Monk - Huntmonk/Monkhunter/Apple Juice

Hunter x Nightcat - Nighthunter/Bloodmoon

Hunter x Enot - Huntnot/Counterstrike/Hard Boiled

SURVIVOR SHIPS

Survivor x Gourmand - Survmand/Gourvivor/Marshmallow/Snowball

Survivor x Artificer - Survficer/Redvelvet

Survivor x Rivulet - Survulet/Tapwater

Survivor x Spearmaster - Spearvivor/The Fighters/Glowstick

Survivor x Hunter - Survunter/Hunter Gatherer/Candy Cane

Survivor x Saint - Survaint/Toothpaste/Mint Ice cream/Pistachio

Survivor x Nightcat - Nightlight/Oreo/Yin and Yang/Nightvivor/Survnight/Zebra Cake/Riceball/Onigiri/Starrynight

Survivor x Enot -Survivenot/Reversal

MONK SHIPS

Monk x Hunter - Huntmonk/Monkhunter/Apple Juice

Monk x Nightcat - Nightmonk/Solar Eclipse/Moon Cheese

Monk x Rivulet - Rivmonk/Monkvulet/Lemonshark/Banana Boat

Monk x Spearmaster - Spearmonk/Cheesestick

Monk x Artificer - Artimonk/Sunnysideup

Monk x Gourmand - Gourmonk/Cheesewheel/Big Cheese

Monk x Saint - Saintmonk/Monsaint/Peacemakers/Banana Split/Sprite Lemon Lime

Monk x Enot - Monknot/NachoCheese

NIGHTCAT SHIPS

Nightcat x Survivor - Nightlight/Oreo/Yin and Yang/Nightvivor/Survnight/Zebra Cake/Riceball/Onigiri/Starrynight

Nightcat x Enot - Enight/Enotnight/Nightnot/Error 404/Black Cats

Nightcat x Monk - Nightmonk/Solar Eclipse/Moon Cheese/Midnight Sun

Nightcat x Gourmand - Nightmand/Full Moon

Nightcat x Saint - Nightsaint/Holy Night/Nightshade/Chocolate Mint

Nightcat x Rivulet - Nightvulet/Deep Sea/Lanternfish

Nightcat x Artificer - Nightficer/Artinight/Fireworks

Nightcat x Hunter - Nighthunter/Bloodmoon

Nightcat x Spearmaster - Spearnight/Nightspear/Shadow Force/Vampire Bat

ENOT SHIPS

Enot x Artificer - Enotficer/Paprika/La Bomba/Pipe Bomb

Enot x Gourmand - Enotmand/Gournot/Bathbomb/Scrambledeggs/Suspiciousstew/Black Licorice

Enot x Rivulet - Rivunot/Speedrun/Ploink/ADHD/Explosion :3

Enot x Spearmaster - Spearnot/Lagspike

Enot x Saint - Saintnot/Chaos/Godmode

Enot x Hunter - Huntnot/Counterstrike/Hard Boiled

Enot x Survivor - Survivenot/Reversal

Enot x Nightcat - Enight/Enotnight/Nightnot/Error 404/Black Cats

Enot x Monk - Monknot/NachoCheese/Moon Cheese/Midnight Sun

ITERATOR SHIPS

Pebbles x Suns - Redpebbles/Sunstone/Hot Rocks/Fallen Suns/ Fallen Sunset/Pepper Volcano/FPS

Pebbles x Sigs - Sigpebbles/Ragequit/Gamer Rage/Rock and a Hard Place/Synthesizer

Suns x Sigs - Sunsigs/Traffic Light/Therapy Session

Suns x Moon - Sunmoon/Eclipse

Sigs x Moon - Sigmoon/Lilypad/Neuron Spam

Moon x Sliver - Slivermoon/WaningCrescent/Fallen Gods/Harvest Moon

Sliver x Wind - Sliverwind/Windy Fields

Wind x Innocence - Windocence/Content Warning User Interface

Pebbles x Suns x Sigs - Sigsunpebs/Cold Ones

MISC. PAIR SHIPS

Artificer x Scavenger Chieftain - Artiking/Regicide

Artificer x Hunter x Rot - Artrothunter/Explosive Hunting

Survivor and Monk's Parents - Mayo Ketchup/Salsa Rosa

Artificer x Hunter x Scavenger Chieftain - Artihunterking/Triple Threat/Triple Red

Robin x Carl - Corbin

MULTI-SHIPS (3)

Artificer x Saint x Hunter - Artisaintunter/Spicy Pesto/Tri-Force/Cyberbullying

Artificer x Hunter x Spearmaster - Artispearunter/Girls Night/Murdercat Trio/Murdercats

Artificer x Hunter x Gourmand - Artihuntermand/Heartwarm/Homebound/Sunrise

Saint x Rivulet x Gourmand - Saigourmulet/Seasoned Fish Fillet/Ice Cream

Artificer x Rivulet x Saint - Artisaintvulet

Survivor x Gourmand x Spearmaster - Gourvivaster/PB&J

Spearmaster x Rivulet x Saint - Spearsaintvulet/Crazy Straw

Artificer x Saint x Spearmaster - Artispearsaint/Dangocats

Hunter x Survivor x Nightcat - Survnightunter/Neapolitan

Artificer x Spearmaster x Rivulet - Artispearvulet/Ultrakill

Rivulet x Hunter x Monk - Rivuntermonk/Sonic Heroes/Red Waters

Saint x Hunter x Rivulet - Saintuntervulet/RGB

Hunter x Rivulet x Spearmaster - Huntvuletmaster/Pufferfish

Rivulet x Spearmaster x Gourmand - Rivmastermand/Fish Kebab/Luau/Seafood Kebab

Spearmaster x Artificer x Gourmand - Spearficermand/Spitroast

Saint x Gourmand x Enot - Goursaintnot/Fluffy Ball of Chaos/Digital Yarn Ball/G Fuel/Choking Hazard/Mountain Dew/Divine Dining

Survivor x Enot x Nightcat - Survnightnot/Oreo Sunday/Lightswitch (System related)/Monochrome

Saint x Enot x Nightcat - Saintnotcat/Cheats Enabled/Glitched Cycles/Ascended cycles/Repeating Fates/Starry Mint

Spearmaster x Hunter x Monk - Spearuntermonk/Juice Box/Apple Cider

Rivulet x Saint x Gourmand - Rivusaintmand/Surf n Turf

MULTI-SHIPS (4)

Artificer x Saint x Hunter x Spearmaster - Artispearaintunter

Artificer x Hunter x Spearmaster x Rivulet - Artispearuntervulet

Gourmand x Spearmaster x Saint x Rivulet - Goursaintmastervulet/Sushi/Popsicle

Gourmand x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Hunter - Gourspearvuletunter/Fish Fry

MULTI-SHIPS (5)

Artificer x Saint x Hunter x Spearmaster x Nightcat - Artispearaintnightunter

Artificer x Saint x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Gourmand - Artispearaintvuletmand/Speartigourmrivsaint/DP Gang

Artificer x Hunter x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Saint - Artispearaintvulenter/War Crimes

MULTI-SHIPS (6)

Artificer x Saint x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Gourmand x Hunter - Artispearaintunervuletmand/Rainbow/Tie-dye

MULTI-SHIPS (7)

Artificer x Saint x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Gourmand x Hunter x Enot - Artispearaintunternotvuletmand

Artificer x Saint x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Gourmand x Hunter x Nightcat - Artispearaintunternightvuletmand

MULTI-SHIPS (8)

Artificer x Saint x Spearmaster x Rivulet x Gourmand x Hunter x Nightcat x Enot - Artispearaintunternightvuletnotmand (phew... *accidentally summons satan* FUCK.)

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Hubris before the fall

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

A decade ago there was a powerful world by the name of Oma that was the crown jewel of the Omak Domain. Rich with natural resources and rare metals, it was able to establish a powerful trade network that generated billions of credits monthly leading to the people of Oma to grow fat with decadence. This led to a rapid degradation of their societal values to such an extent that they believed that they and only they were truly worthy of running galactic trade and began pressuring their neighboring governments to relinquish trade control of their domains to them.

When they finally approached the humans they sent forth a trade delegation to their parliament. This delegation did not present a sympathetic view of their stewardship, nor a presentation outlining the benefits of their management skills in intergalactic trade. No; this delegation strode into the terran parliament and denounced human trade standards as inferior and unworthy implementation between galactic powers.

No strangers to prideful boasting, the humans naturally took great offense to the grand standing of the delegation and cast them out without even hearing their full proposal. In response, the Oma began sanctioning the terran domain; isolating its trade routes and starving it off much needed resources.

For months the human diplomats tried to reach out to the Oma to find a political solution, but each attempt was met with the repeated message “Submit”.

As time passed and riots began to break out across human worlds from the lack of materials, the terran government finally had enough and dispatched a war fleet to Oma. The fleet was comprised of nearly three fifths of their entire naval power and was spear headed by the latest Herald class battleship “Saladin” with the equally famous Admiral Timmins in command.

Being comprised of mainly trade ships; the Omak Domain navy was primarily built around fast moving frigates, destroyers, and smaller patrol craft capable of catching pirates that preyed upon their shipping lanes. They were little more than a speed bump to the well-disciplined prowess of terran armada and was swept aside easily as the human ships made for orbit directly above Oma. Yet even with this encroaching ring of steel the Oma public did not panic.

Unlike their navy, the Omak Domain’s ground forces were substantially better in comparison. They had fought many ground wars to secure trade outposts, mining operations, and subjugation camps and were thusly made up of a hardened collective of veteran soldiers and automated war machines that were capable to five terran soldiers. So when the human fleet finally did position itself in orbit above Oma, the Omak military was confident they would repel any invasion attempts made by the humans; even going so far as to openly mock Admiral Timmins in a direct communique that not one human soldier would live to set foot on their world.

To their surprise Admiral Timmins agreed to those terms and began the battle.

From the launch bays of every terran ship came hundreds of heavily armed fighters, bombers, drones, and reconnaissance craft that swarmed through Oma’s atmosphere. Not a single lander or ground soldier was deployed as the Admiral coordinated a planet wide devastating air campaign of destruction.

The Omak air force was overwhelmed in a matter of hours by the constant waves of enemy aircraft and found itself further crippled as their launch sites were surgically struck from orbit by human warships. When the last of the Omak air power was expended the human air power had complete control over the skies of the planet.

Civilian targets such as cities and towns were ignored; but the precious foundries, factories, and mining complexes that had given the Omak people such wealth were reduced to little more than burnt pieces of metal and ash. The Omak rulers watched as their life blood of commerce was taken from them one continent at a time and sent countless messages to the human fleet for peace. Their reply was always a single word that none of the Omak would agree to.

“Submit.”

By a month’s end the world of Oma was little more than a smoldering crater. Gleaming cities now stood as silent watchers over miles of burnt landscapes and wasted industrial complexes. The people who had only known wealth and power were now left to wander the ruins of their former trade empire as the human fleet still held orbit over the world. Fragments of the Omak Domain attempted to bypass the human fleet to deliver supplies but each attempt was met with the humans either seizing the ship and the valuable cargo or destroying it just as it was about to land.

It didn’t take long for the previously subjugated peoples that had relinquished control to the Omak to begin rising up once more and regaining their sovereignty. Some the newly freed powers sent their own delegations to the human fleet and kneeled before Admiral Timmins; thanking the humans for bringing their oppressors low. Each time the Admiral would thank the aliens and invite them to the viewing decks so they could look down at the burnt world that had once held them so firmly under its thumb.

In a way it was both a gesture of friendship and a warning to all those that would come after; that the realms of man would never take kindly to the hubris of fools.

[ultfreakme]

idk of it's just me but i don't understand, the atla fandom, from all ships existing would just slander zukka out of nowhere. like mf i just want to see my boys being silly and in love in fanwork, why they need to be so mean lmao

I think it's because for close to 20 years, Kataang and Zutara were reining supreme in ship wars and fandom space. Jetko was the main mlm ship before but it didn't have nearly the same popularity. No other ship could even touch those two and those two continued arguing about what's best for canon.

Now though? Zukka's the second most popular ship on ao3- all of those fics and content showed up in 3 years. And suddenly the Netflix actors are pushing for Zukka practically every interview while actively dissuading Zutara(and hinting strongly at Kataang- thanks Gordon & Kiawentiio going "he/she's my.....family, yeah let's say family *wink* *wink*"). They're getting extremely popular and now fucking Netflix, Entertainment Weekly and Deadline are tagging #zukka in the year of our lord 2024(thank you for your service Dallas Liu, braver than the marines). Popular ships unfortunately get hate, especially queer ships, like just as a baseline regardless of if it's a canonically supported or unsupported ship, if it's "morally correct or incorrect".

This 'crackship' that no one took seriously suddenly feels...like a threat to these people??? Like we can joke about hahaha zukka gayyyy but we all know that's just silly gobbledygook right? (Not saying Zukka should or could be canon, but just the fact that people are seriously considering it as a ship option in fandom makes people act weird)

A lot of the the points made for "why Zukka is bad actually" are so funny though, that my initial irritation is fading and I'm just laughing at it. Some highlights that made me actually lose it:

Zukka is misogynist to Katara because, and I shit you not, they think that we think Katara is homophobic sdjfhbbgvh. I was shook when I discovered this was a thing.

Zukka bad because Klance bad (war flashbacks to Voltron)

"Everyone just wants a gay ship smh the chronically ONLINE FANDOM BRAIN HAS ROTTED THE SANCTITY OF HETEROSEXUAL-[EXPLODES]"

Zuko is a colonizer who's oppressing Sokka by dating him (i have no stats but this sounds like a white person trying very hard to sound like they're super inclusive and understand the plights of the colonized and oppressed. and the best way to do it is shit on a fake ship about lines on a page)

Zukka bad because it makes no canon sense

I think people who are Big Mad don't get that we're genuinely just chilling and making silly stuff without thinking too much about what SHOULD happen in canon. Everyone in ATLA fandom takes the show and the fandom far too seriously, like losing a fan discussion is somehow a slight upon their personal morals.

We coasted along without much hate for a good while but the increasing popularity means Zukka as a ship is going to get bashed ;_; I think the best we can do is block and ignore instead of engaging(very hypocritcal of me rn tbh, I'll try to stop).

I don't think you expected this....giant wall of text but thanks for sending me the ask and I totally get your frustration" Just let us enjoy our silly hcs and content!!!

[tvckerwash]

thoughts on wash's fighting style and his position in pfl because I can (utc because it's really long lol):

wash is very unique among the freelancers for a variety of reasons, one is that he doesn't specialize in one specific area of anything, he's a jack of all trades who is able to fill in for other freelancers if necessary. for example in s9 when york was supposed to be unavailable for lock picking/infiltration duty, carolina immediately went to wash (and we are ignoring that york is not shown to be good at lock picking!) if she trusted wash to fill in for their specialist in one area, I feel it's not a stretch to imagine that he can do so in other areas as well.

need a snipper but north and wyoming aren't available? wash can cover. need someone to get into the enemies' computer systems in place of ct, south, or york? wash can cover. need someone for stealth or reconnaissance in place of florida? wash can cover. etc etc.

wash's combat style reflects that jack of all trades, master of none thing very well too, as the way that he fights is very grounded and pragmatic when compared to the rest of the freelancers. a lot of people like to portray wash as less skilled than the other freelancers, but in truth I believe that wash being able to keep up and compete with the other freelancers despite his lack of dramatic flare is a show of just how competent and skilled of a soldier he is. wash is so good at doing what he does that he doesn't need all that extra bullshit to get the job done. sure, he might not look as Cool and SexyTM as the others while doing it, but completing the mission and surviving to live another day takes precedence over all else.

another way of looking at it is that wash fights in the same way that the odst's do, that is to say that he fights like a human who cannot plow his way through the battlefield in the same way the spartans can. wash's style of fighting is one that employs careful planning and targeted hit and run tactics—this is most obvious in recovery one and s6 whenever he's fighting against the meta.

I also feel it's important to note that wash is not a cqc fighter, he can handle himself if he gets into a cqc situations but his primary weapon is the battle rifle—which is a mid/long range weapon. if I'm being honest wash's way of fighting makes waaaaaaaaay more sense if you look at him not as someone who is trained to primarily fight against other humans, but as someone who is trained to fight against 8ft 2 ton aliens with plasma weapons that can slice through the hulls of UNSC battle cruisers (ships designed to travel through space!!!) like a hot knife cuts through butter and have the technology to raze entire planets to the ground in a matter of minutes.

I also personally believe that wash has the most military experience out of all the freelancers right behind florida, wyoming, and maine (who I hc as a spartan iii). we know that wash did his basic training in the leonis minoris system (a canonical halo system) and that system had two of the three planets glassed by the covenant in 2537, and wash directly references these events in the washed hands interview in the fan guide and the way he says it implies that he likely completed his basic training that same year. now I have some grievances with the timeline given in the book when it comes to the events depicted in the freelancer saga because it's just kinda weird, but everything prior to that bit is actually fine (though I hate the way that they decide to number the timeline lmao).

now in halo canon the human/covenant war ended in 2552, and according to the timeline in the rvb fan guide that was 1 year after alpha was sent to blood gulch. project freelancer is first cleared for funding 7 years BBG (before blood gulch), and recruits the 50 freelancers 5 years BBG. doing some math we can determine that pfl was cleared for funding in the year 2544, and the freelancers are recruited for pfl in 2546. so assuming wash finished his basic training in 2537 that would mean that he was in the military for 9 years before he joined pfl, and while wash is addressed as a corporal (e-4) in the washed hands interview he was most likely demoted to that after he was court martialed, and he was possibly going to be dishonorably discharged from the military because of his disorderly conduct.

using the current standards used by the us marine corps when it comes to rank progression, wash was most likely a sergeant (e-5) who was very close to being promoted to a staff sergeant (e-6). wash as a sergeant would've essentially been the assistant manager/co-leader of the platoon he was in while his staff sergeant was the manager/leader, and that would explain why he was able to even get into an argument with his CO in the first place. I believe wash held a similar position in pfl, as it's kind of implied that he did some management stuff in pfl (talking with internals/upper brass, him feeling comfortable with openly questioning carolina about whether york should be allowed on the sarcophagus heist, and of course he shows the ability to direct and somewhat lead south in recovery one, and him leading church, caboose, and the reds in s6, and him taking charge of the meta in s8).

even if wash wasn't a sergeant as a corporal he would've been in a position to be the leader of a fire team, so basically wash isn't some rookie who had no clue wtf he was doing as many in the fandom like to characterize him; he is an experienced and battle hardened soldier by the time he joins pfl no matter how you look at it.

to put all of that into context, carolina is born 29 years BBG, which would be 2522. so during pfl she's in the 24-28 range and she wouldn't have joined the military until 2540. I actually personally head canon that wash is the same age as carolina, but that he illegally enlisted at 15 because of a crappy home life, but ignoring my head canon and assuming that he joined the military at 18 instead, he would've been born in 2519.

[byrdblood]

I read your entire rant about how the fandom snases in the fandom and how they treat nm and killer and the others and how they treats dust and his obvious schizophrenia and as a fellow psychologically nerd I salute you and I am SO SICK OF PEOPLE IN THIS GODFORSAKEN FANDOM DEMONIZING CHARACTERS WITH 9BVIOUS NEURODIVERGENCY AND MENTAL HALTH ISSUES OR JUST COMPLETELY IGNORING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE LIKE AHHHHHHHHHH 5HANK YOU FOR CALLIMG THEM OUT like okayokayokay. I have to chill 4 a moment but THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I love digging apart the mind of undertale aus snases and figuring out how they tic but sometimes the stories make me so pissed off because their is SO so much potential like i have written quite A few analysis analysis and hypotheticals on them and argh the way people just ignore and dismiss the Canon and what's right in front of them them feels like the dismissal of their characters. I understand theirs fanon and it exist but wish I saw more Canon. Just... it a breath of fresh air to see someone like this.

here's the thing - i genuinely, most of the time, do not dislike fanon.

in fact, i think it's fantastic that there's so many flavors of interpretations, not just because it's a sign of a healthy fandom, but because it offers accessibility. there are people who cannot handle morally grey (or outright evil) characters even with sympathetic narratives, or who come home from a long day of work-hell and can only stomach something soft & easily-digestible - and that's not bad! earlier in my fandom days when i was recovering from living in an abusive household where i had no privacy (and where my bitch-ass cult-wannabe father explicitly preyed on my ocd by telling me god was watching my thoughts at all times), exploring some of these grey moralities through a christian-washed lens was the only way i could consume them; anything else would have been too much. so it's only because of fanon being so vanilla-cookie that i really got to be introduced to the fandom in the first place; i can't hate it for that!

my problem, several years later, is with canons that have fantastic, agonizingly interesting premises, but whose executions end up being lackluster, and the fact that the fandom's response has been, historically, to take that premise and shove it into the little block-shape toy box they already had even when it doesn't really fit - and i especially find that frustrating when either phenomena are clearly borne of fear, either because of the weird puritanical bullshit that's been rabbit-breeding in this fandom since the early internet shipping wars, the fear of portraying something "incorrectly" and being dogpiled for it (often by the aforementioned group), or even due to misinformation and an unwillingness to do the bare minimum of research. (maybe im a fucking nerd for loving wikipedia so much, i don't know. i watched Annihilation for the first time last night and had to pause the movie 37 minutes in to send my boyfriend voice messages - which he described as "would be fun to animate" - ranting about how the main character - supposedly a biologist - clearly had never entered a science classroom in her entire fucking life. (otherwise loved the movie! last 3/4s were - wow! horrifying!!))

i don't know. for a long time i bit my tongue on shit like this because i felt silly about it, but i don't know, man. i really like utmv; it's the one fandom i always find myself coming back to when other interests get put on the trophy shelf to lovingly stare at from afar. there's just so many good, interesting ideas in this fandom. the universe that it sets up is so wide and full of so much potential. but ive never seen a story that really... gripped that potential the way i wanted. (some that came very close! and many that didn't, but that i loved regardless!) i don't even think my OWN stories could reach my expectations, because i'm very much an amateur writer and the vast majority of my energy is taken up by work (and generally the stress of poverty/unmedicated ADHD), but i don't want to let that stop me from enjoying my hobby!

and as long as i'm making things, i'm gonna at least try my best to make them cool - and a part of that, for me, has always been trying to make them make sense, without losing their fantastical charm.

[gilbirda]

Reviewing old docs of mine, I saw a summary of a big prompt from a Jazz/Jason fic I had. I don't remember if it was mine or I copied from you to write later as insp (one day I'm going to post a fic, I swear) but forgot to link the post.

The thing is I didn't find it here, but I could swear I read it here.... So, here I copy of the post? (and sorry if I'm just bad searching if you already had it):

Danny is the rightful Ghost King, but since he's not of age he needs a regent who is a) his species, b) his family, and c) an adult. The only adult haftas are Vlad or this Red Hood guy from Gotham that he's never heard of. Since Vlad is not going to happen looks like it's Red Hood, now how to make the guy count as family...

Jason has had a lot of weird shit happen to him over the years but a woman tracking him down as Red Hood to propose a temporary political marriage so he can be regent of a death dimension until her brother is old enough to rule in his own name is a new one for him. Of course he accepted. The only other option was apparently a creepy uncle figure. He's read enough romance to know a forced marriage of a woman to her creepy uncle never ends well. A forced marriage of a woman to a crime lord doesn't usually end much better, but he's ignoring that for now. He's going to woo and romance his spit fire of a wife with respect, spontaneous poetry, his damn good cooking, and by not being a Darcy. And he is going to rock not just this whole regent thing, but also and more importantly the mentoring her brother and his new ward on how to rule this dimension. Competence is always attractive. He runs a tight ship in his crime empire, surely running a dimension can't be that much harder.

He actually already has a plan on how he's going to handle the whole 'The USA declared war on the dimension he's regent of' thing. It's simple really he goes to the next family dinner and causes chaos. The faces everyone will make will be glorious when he drops that he's lord regent of a dimension, the USA is at war with his dimension, and it's such a shame that no one can meet Jason's wife or ward till there is a peace treaty. Then he just needs to sit back and watch the entertainment as his siblings realize he has forever won the position of favorite child by being the first married and first to give Bruce a grandkid. Also you know the chaos of Bruce willing to wage a one man war if necessary so he can meet his grandson. Jason figures it will take at most a month for the government to cave.

And like a cherry on top he's going to get on a medical treatment plan for the pit. Everything is looking great for him.

Bestie don't worry I found it for you!

It's a submission to my blog!

Also... this is VERY embarrassing for me to admit but, I still have an ask from you with a fic idea and it's been gathering dust in my inbox.

I'm so sorry.

I'll post it and all the different fic ideas people has sent me. They need to be free and I thought I could add something but honestly I haven't been so hot for a long minute.

I'll try to be better about my inbox!

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep3 - Armand as Unreliable Narrator

I'm seeing a lot of posts defending AMC!Armand against fans thinking he's lying or untrustworthy or something. I've seen people point out valid things like AMC's deliberate twisting / reckless disregard of book canon; to bad takes stemming from shipping wars; to personal preferences & biases.

My reservations against AMC!Armand go all the way back to S1, when we saw those floating bookshelves and sliced pages in Claudia's diary. I've long since been of the suspicion that Armand's not necessarily forcing Louis against his will or anything THAT nefarious; but that he's definitely been taking advantage of Louis' need for someone to help stop him from going off the deep end--and more importantly, that he's been taking more than his fair share of autonomy over things Louis does/doesn't have access to--specifically: information/knowledge.

For me, GABRIELLE'S absence is the most telling red flag. Cuz the writers know good & well that they want S3/TVL; Rolin never shuts up about it. It's not that AMC isn't doing the books so we don't need to expect it to be 1:1--it's that THEY ARE doing the books! They're planting seeds through deliberate misdirection & omission.

Gab's arguably the most important/impactful person in Lestat's life b4 he meets Louis. She's Les' very first fledgling. She's there when Armand kidnaps Nicki; she's there when Alessandra explains the Devil's Road for the first time (a scene AMC was obvs inspired by with Daciana in 2x1); she's there when Les leaves the Theatre; she's everywhere.

And what's more:

Armand hates Gabrielle's GUTS.

Gabrielle's "useless" to Armand, but she was EVERYTHING to Les, and most of his emotional damage & abandonment issues come from her. Armand KNEW to weaponize Magnus' suicide & Gab's lackluster treatment of child!Les as the best way to seduce him!

Armand, like Claudia, is DESPERATE for someone to want & need him as their #1.

Louis is pretty good for this--if only he'd hurry up & get over Lestat (& Claudia) already.

In the book!IWTV/TVA, Armand dumped Louis when Lou gave up on being happy & got way too depressed for Armand to help him anymore. But Armand really wanted Lestat. Cuz Lestat is CLINGY--he doesn't pack & up leave (ie: give up) without a DARN good reason--and it's mighty sus that Armand didn't mention that Les & Gab left him to look for HIS MAKER, MARIUS, cuz Armand didn't know ISH, and doubted Marius was still alive--cuz if he was still alive, why had ARMAND been ABANDONED BY MARIUS for all those centuries, left for dead with the Children of Darkness/Satan? 👀💔

Lestat is a carbon copy of Marius, down to the blonde hair, blue eyes, and red velvet. Armand's Louis' rebound of Lestat, but Lestat's Armand's rebound of Marius.

Louis is not the only vampire who lives in a constant state of denial/delusion, running from his fears. They are both exact opposites of Lestat, who confronts his fears head-on.

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that if Lestat IS asleep in the penthouse, Louis doesn't know--or he doesn't have all the correct info. Cuz Armand's been isolating Louis this whole time in their weird cage/penthouse, with its jail bars and floating bookcases. He is ACTIVELY AGAINST this entire interview; and he encourages any & all contradictory talk of Lestat being "dead"--

--so it makes sense that he wouldn't want Louis to know anything about Gabrielle, as that would be someone who KNOWS Lestat, and would probably know where to find him (IF he's not comatose in the penthouse somewhere).

So for Armand to leave Gab out and make it seem like Mama's Boy Lestat was this cavalier playboy who cared about nothing & no one but himself (as per Louis' words to Daniel) just smacks of a highly slanted angle, that even LOUIS is ignorant of--I don't think AMC!Louis knows anything about Gabrielle's existence whatsoever. 👀 Yes, "Lestat never told me ish!;" but clearly ARMAND never told him the whole story, either. 😬🤫🤐

Then, there's Nickistat....

Plenty of interviews/reviewers already said Armand's petty, so I'm not surprised that the Nicki info doesn't add up. First off, it's a great way to garner sympathy from Louis, and create a connection, and act as an effective stimulus for Louis' own unpleasant experiences being cucked by Lestat. If Armand can convince Louis that Lestat did to Louis what Lestat did to Nicki, it just makes Lestat look worse; legitimizing why Loumand is oh-so-much-better; which they're actively tryna pitch to Daniel.

But it's a risky gamble though, cuz it also puts Armand in the same spot as Antoinette--and we see how that went. 😬💀🔥 Only this time it won't be Armand who ends up in flames, but Louis, if AMC pulls a Merrick.

It helps that "Lestat never told him ish," either, cuz Louis CLEARLY has no idea that Nicki died--AND HOW. Lestat admitted that he & Nicki "parted ways," but if that's all Louis knows, then ofc Armand can tack on that Nicki was abandoned & hung out to dry--that Lestat was giving Armand money through Roget, not NICKI; that the Theatre was Nicki's, NOT Armand's--and neatly omit everything about what really happened: that Nicki was mentally insane, thoroughly hated & resented Lestat by that point, and was eventually tortured & killed BY ARMAND and his coven when THEY couldn't handle him anymore--a la PAUL'S treatment by the DPDLs.

Armand NEEDS to come across as sympathetically as possible; otherwise he loses Louis AND Daniel to this interview--only this time he won't be the one sitting back letting it happen.

For me, Armand's unreliable not cuz cuz I hate him--on the contrary, I've said 1000 times that he's my fave character in TVC; and Assad's doing an excellent job with him so far. But I don't trust him cuz I KNOW HIM--the fandom calls him a GREMLIN for a reason. I know the stunts he pulled in TVL (telling Daniel the Children of Darkness/Satan killed themselves, when in the book Armand killed them all (except for Eleni, Felix, and like 2 others IDER--they're all Rhoshamandes' fledglings IIRC). He's reduced Nicki's role significantly; making him seem like some desperate twink, while not mentioning how Nicki was half mad before Armand chopped his hands off & forced him to kill himself when he couldn't play violin anymore.

Armand is a MENACE in the early books, and he was originally supposed to be a main TVC villain before Anne Rice realized how much she liked him in QotD and toned him TF down--same way she did with Lestat's transition from IWTV to TVL.

THAT'S why Armand is both lovable/likable and also SUS AF. At least for me. I can't speak for other fans, ofc, cuz I know some folks approach Armand from totally different angles.

[harmonysanreads]

Submission

yandere shikanoin heizou x shrine maiden!reader

wc: 1.3k+

cw: general yandere themes, some not sfw implications if you squint.

Sir Shikanoin visits too often.

A thought that was passed behind the other shrine maidens' sleeves, in hushed but made for certain people to hear voices. Her excellency, Sangonomiya Kokomi had agreed with what used to be but local gossip at one point, too. The Detective's recurring visits might've not been so strange if this had taken place even a year prior ; when the borders of Inazuma were still open for trading ships and foreigners—or, when Sangonomiya was still yet to announce rebellion.

Perhaps, it might've not been as suspicious if the Doushin's visits were simply to admire the views of said island, which would be far more understandable (but still weird) logical even so, to the locals of Watatsumi. You could've also continued with your plain life watching waves gently touch the pastel shorelines as if it were a teenager too shy to approach their adored, resorting to stolen glances and sheepish, fleeting encounters.

You wouldn't have paid any mind to the floating words around Watatsumi at present. You wouldn't have had to suppress a scowl as the detective passed by in all his bubbly and unbothered glory or have had to be subjected to the unwanted spotlight when he (much to your dismay) turned around and waved at you with the energy of a gorilla. But you knew better. The Doushin's repeated visits shouldn't have earned this much attention, too. You wished so greatly that you could ignore it, ignore everything like you know he was as well. But you can't, you can't console yourself or the locals with ruses anymore when it seemed like Shikanoin Heizou's appearances were repeated solely for you.

You could've continued your training as a shrine maiden uninterrupted, hand not shaking at the fraction when lighting up the incense every morning, as another whisper is exchanged behind your back. You might've not had to worry at all when strolling in the streets, ignoring the judging eyes that drilled your form from all sides.

You might've not loathed the Doushin as much either if he hadn't been so hell bent on bothering you from day one, if he left you alone to your afternoon poetry reading. Things could've escalated differently if he'd decided to ‘sight see’ at another time than in the middle of a civil war and after the sun had melted in the horizon.

But as with many things in life, not everything goes your way.

You couldn't blame the locals or your fellow shrine maidens. It was only natural for them to find the Tenryou Commission detective's behaviors questionable. They were normal people thinking, well, normally. Who wouldn't find a detective of all people loitering about the island stationing the resistance and simply doing nothing but interacting with just a shrine maiden instead of, oh, they don't know, investigating a crime scene? Hell, him coming here to spy on the resistance would've been far more rational than whatever this was. But after some careful watching, the Divine Priestess herself had concluded that he had shown no signs of such intentions.

So then, what other option do they have left but put the other person in question? This, you understood very well. But merely understanding never eased anything for you. How would it when you were being accused of treason in your own hometown, by the people who you grew up watching all your life? Your fellow shrine maidens' favourite pastime was now talking behind your back, the bookstore from which you'd purchased so much was hesitant to even let you in and all the people who'd asked for countless favours were reduced to a mere silent audience (were you that untrustworthy?). And so, you now had no one to blame and hate other than Heizou himself.

Your gut tells you he has some sinister intention and a part of you believes it, too. But when her excellency had personally called you for an audience and asked if his advances harboured any malicious intentions, you had abruptly stopped.

True, the detective would always pester you for a conversation or to sing him a song and even though your intuition screamed that he had ulterior motives—you couldn't speak up. What would you tell her anyway? Even Lady Kokomi knew that the Doushin had yet to spy on or sabotage the resistance or even take any action regarding that at all. He never even asked anything regarding it to you ; no matter how hard you tried to think of something, anything your mind would only remind you of that plaguing smile.

Ah, no wonder you had nothing to refute the gossips, the whispers and her excellency's sincerest queries with. Because you were guilty, too. It takes two to start a quarrel after all. Your dread increases further once you remember not pushing him away when he leaned in a little too close. Truthfully, the air of Watatsumi would not have carried any whispers if you hadn't unknowingly indulged him either, if you had rejected his requests for a song or if you bit your tongue from laughing at his stupid jests.

You, along with everyone had been too late to realize the game the Doushin had been playing all this time—huh, it's as if you'd forgotten the very vital fact that he was, after all, a shrewd detective whose mind did not function all that different from a master criminal. That was the last thing that came crashing down on your confused mind before Lady Kokomi's pitiful blue gaze was all you could reckon.

The waves this night hit the coral shores with a force you'd not seen from all your years in this island. Since when did the sea get so bold? Or was it the wild winds that had given it that courage? Although you knew that it wasn't advisable to be by the shores at the quiet of the night, that mattered little before this nightmare. 

What was to be afraid of now, the raging waters that seemed so ready to devour you, that lulled you to give up? Or the unruly winds that nudged you to give in, encouraged you to listen to the sea? Had it been the eery moonlight that made even the overlapping shadows visible? You knew you should've just headed straight to your quarters, locked and jammed the entrance with heavy furnitures and wrapped yourself in a blanket til this nightmare ended. You should've begged the Divine Priestess to protect you, to maybe send you somewhere far, far away where you'd be safe from the hands that now rested atop your shoulders in what you could feel was more of a mocking embrace and the face that was so close to your own.

“Yet you didn't do anything.”

You close your eyes, in hopes that the next time you opened them, it wouldn't be that cheeky, haughty smile you'd see first of all. But the symphony of the waves and winds altogether continued to echo in your mind, drowning out the painful revelation ; why did it all suddenly feel so welcoming?

A chuckle. One you know too well threw aside the fleeting peace you'd found and you feel something soft, like skin resting against your cheek. You still don't open your eyes.

Click.

From an outsider's perspective, this view would've been so ordinary ; just a serene scene of waves touching the shorelines and the moon spectating a moment shared between a detective and a shrine maiden—if not for your wrists that were bounded in a handcuff.

Perhaps, giving into the sea's advances and following the winds' guidance might not be so bad now—and maybe that's why you didn't shrug off his embrace, as mocking or prideful as you can sense it growing. You open your eyes just in time to see the waves subduing, the winds being reduced to mere breeze as if your submission to him were all they wanted.

How pitiful.

Guess who took Kokomi's voiceline about him and ran with it lol goodluck to every one who's pulling for the detective boi! Heizou wanters will be Heizou havers<3