#jesus christ that's a lot of ships

[nebulo-philiac]

Browsing the megastar tag is so funny because there's always one or few posters with "PROSHITTERS DNI" on all the posts and it always amuses me like ah yes, megastar, the most universally healthy relationship dynamic in all of tf and definitely not problematic and absolutely not considered a proship by 80% of the fandom

[comradekarin]

when you’re in a “shipping random white m|m/w|m ships to spite the bwwm ship” and your competition is every fandom ever like you guys fucking suck lmaoooo suddenly it’s no chemistry! heteronormativity! he’s gay and she’s a lesbian! platonic only! poor acting! she is an independent woman! even the elite ships aren’t safe for as soon as the girl looks physically different than their (usually book) canon counterpart, the people are up in arms. like suck my dick

[queer-omens-in-the-archives]

so we've spent the past three months writing MelloNear daily, and we've worked on enough different pieces in that time that i now have some Thoughts as to the narrative purposes they each tend to serve in our own works (this is not. about canon though i suppose it DERIVES from their canon dynamic. this is very much about how we personally play with the blorbos)

by and large Mello serves to drive the plot, regardless of the position he is put in within the universe. we don't even have to actively be trying to do anything with him -- even in our more Near-centric pieces, as long as Mello is present? his emotions, whims, wants are what shapes the trajectory of the story, his emotional beats are the beats that drive the plot forward. he feels, he impulses, he injects stuff into the sequence of events. things happen because Mello wants them to (or pushes Near to make them happen if/when he himself cannot).

meanwhile Near is much less of a driving force for the plot and more of a reflective force for the story. he isn't IRRELEVANT to the plot, he doesn't do NOTHING, but most of what he does from a plot progression standpoint is reactive. like, he acts not because of an inner drive, not based on his own wants or needs, but largely when his circumstances require action of him. (by circumstances i don't just mean Plot Events. sometimes what he reacts to are his own emotions, like in sweet atonement, when they are so overwhelming that he cannot put them aside to strategise effectively anymore -- the keyword here being "effectively", because even then his first response will still often be to try to strategise.) by and large what Near does do is provide space for reflection, for thought, for analysis. things happen to him, or through him, and he thinks about them a bunch, and he'd leave it at that if Mello wasn't pushing him.

so they make for super neat storytelling when you figuratively drop them together in a jar and shake them around, because it's like. Mello pushes Near into action Near wouldn't take on his own; and then Near adds weight to Mello's direction, provides a deeper sense of spacetime, fleshes out the places where Mello takes him that Mello wouldn't necessarily stop at or consider on his own. like at their core, in the way we write their dynamic, Mello Does and Near Is. and mixing them up, you get: all of the essential elements for a compelling story!

and obviously im not like, talking in absolutes, none of this is true 100% of the time or the only possible reading of them, nuance exists etc etc. but that's the general trends we're starting to notice in our own MelloNear writing over the past few months

[justablah56]

shaking violently do you guys remember how in s5e3 the idea that vr la would take less life threatening jobs appealed more to maxims personal interests than literally . the world is ending . that maxim *personally* cares more about vr la being even a little bit safer and less reckless than he cares about . the world . what the fuck guys . this is literally canon . I'm going insane .

[ithinkimauggie]

I don't understand ship wars. Like, I get why people have these disagreements, everyone has different tastes and preferences, but I just saw a post where someone was talking about how they hope everyone who ships [insert ship here] has a shit day, and it's like... Girl. Why do we STILL care about this stuff so much? 

I know this is minuscule and silly for me to post about, but the ship in question has garnered so much negative attention that I, someone who doesn't like it and only wants to engage with the general fandom, can't go one minute in the fandom's tag without being hit with a barrage of angry posts condemning it like it's some moral atrocity.

Some of these people are acting like the Steven Universe fandom circa 2016 and it's just like... Girl. Respect other people's interests and move on, it shouldn't be this hard. If you start shit with people because of something as insignificant as a ship, that's embarrassing for YOU.

[shootinwebs]

( content notes: pregnancy implied, pregnant while trans )

as much as i think fizzy and ozzie would want to have a baby so freaking badly, i also think fizz would suck so bad at enduring all the fertility treatments (and at being pregnant) because he's so energetic that he can't just... sit the fuck down or take a nap lol. especially when he gets super hyped up by telling himself "it's going to work THIS time" and ozzie has to beg him to stop doing shit like running around in circles and doing clown bullshit.

[askreverieau]

hi gourm,,,,, what do you think of the other slugcats? hows life for you?

gourmand has a lot of thoughts and feelings!!

[queenboimler]

buddie shippers and bucktommy shippers should do the 'stop acting like you're catholics and protestants challenge' because this is a fictional network tv show and not actually that serious<3

[psychmerchant]

so this week’s episode huh

[angedemystere]

Going on a limb here - I've been thinking about Jesus ships (romantic or quasi-romantic) and my views on them.

I'm gonna discuss a few and rank them as follows: Love it | Makes sense | Mmm not much there for me | Absolutely not

If there's a ship you know that I don't mention below the cut, DM me for my opinion and ranking!

Let's start with the big ones, then a few fictional ones of questionable (or nonexistent) notoriety:

Jesus x Mary Magdalene: Mmm not much there for me

I'm gun-shy about this ship because it gets pushed a lot, including by scholars, as a way to explain why Jesus would have a prominent female disciple. First of all, she was not his only female disciple - what about Joanna and Suzanna? Mary and Martha? (ok Joanna was married to Chuza so we'll let that slide).

Yes, Mary got to see Jesus first after the resurrection (according to John's gospel), which is awesome. But nothing about that encounter suggests a romantic connection, and I don't think a romantic connection would make it more meaningful. The whole point of Jesus appearing to Mary, or any woman, was to honor what society considered lowly. A woman's testimony was not valid in that time and place, yet Jesus made his resurrection evident to women first. I like when non-canonical stories explore Jesus and Mary's friendship, but a romantic connection undermines the significance of Mary's role rather than augments it.

Jesus x Judas: Absolutely not

I wouldn't be quite so annoyed about it if it weren't so dang prolific in fandom (among people who treat Jesus and his followers as characters more than real people). It's even more annoying when people try to pass it off as wholesome - y'know, apart from that little bit of betrayal for money thing. NO. At least own up that it's a tragic dynamic. Trying to whitewash it for the sake of a cute ship leaves me feeling even ickier.

Jesus x John: Makes sense

I don't consider it canon, but I'll take it over Jesus x Judas and Jesus x Mary Magdalene for a few reasons. It actually IS wholesome, and a romantic element fits with the "beloved disciple" narrative more believably (for me). I have a problem with the power imbalance (teacher-student) and subsequent age difference (30s vs. teens), but if fic frames acknowledges these elements and characters act appropriately (and in character), I'm fairly ok.

Jesus x Ana (The Book of Longings): Makes sense

Obviously the story is written with the intention of making Ana the wife of Jesus. I have some issues with the book and the relationship, but Sue Monk Kidd makes it fairly believable as an unconventional marriage of the era. I think Ana's story could have been told without her being Jesus's wife. At the same time, her relationship with Jesus develops in an interesting and engaging way. You don't necessarily think they are "in love" when they marry, but they acknowledge that they could be good for each other (and are attracted to each other), and it gives her a means of escaping a difficult situation at home.

Jesus x Tamara (Three from Galilee): Absolutely not

This relationship could have been ok were it not for some VERY weird choices made by the author, Marjorie Holmes. Significant age gap (30 vs. 15) and smacks of insta-love. They knew each other one day before deciding they were in love (after he first saw her standing under a waterfall ... yeah). Too many comparisons between Tamara and Mother Mary for me to be comfortable. Pretty much no personality from Tamara, all about how Jesus thinks he's found someone to have a "normal" life with, only to have that shut down. It's supposed to be tragic that they don't end up together, but honestly they dodged a bullet.

Jesus x Lucifer: ABSOLUTELY NOT

Yes, this ship exists. No, I don't know why. Ok, I can kinda imagine why. And I don't like it.

Jesus x Hel: Love it

I know ... I'm literally the only person who ships this.

For those who don't know, Hel is the Norse goddess of the dead. I'm writing a whole story that's a remix of the Harrowing of Hell (not denying the original Harrowing but expanding it with, "What if Jesus went to other underworlds besides Sheol, too?"). Obviously it depends on the interpretation of Hel's character - being a mythological figure, she has flexibility. Also it HAS to be slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers (for me). Would recommend to those intrigued by Jesus x Lucifer but want a healthy, not entirely heretical dynamic.

(Ok we can debate the heretical part.)

What other Jesus ships do you know?

[aboutnavi]

I never do this, and I've zero awareness of anything that is happening in the marauders fandom etc. because I actually do not spend that much time online, but now I'm pissed so congratulations, I'm mad and I will rent about it.

First of all, I won't get into the whole "white supremacist"/"fascist" allegations, because 1. I feel like you people actually don't know what fascism means anymore and I blame internet brain rot for this so I would genuinely recommend going back to school* - and yep, this is me being polite because you people truly don't wanna hear what I genuinely want to call you because calling your argument stupid is apparently stepping over the line and english also limits myself from the portuguese horizons of names that you people probably wouldn't understand; 2. Because this post about Regulus already said everything it needs to be said and I won't repeat myself - I would recommend reading but as of lately I'm actually doubting you people reading abilities, so maybe do try to read, but give it a good one ok ;)

Second of all: coherence people. You cannot come over tumblr dot com with #anti(insert ship) and then 1. expect people not to react and 2. tell people to "be polite" while you actually make your whole page about hating a certain ship. Let me give an example: I particularly don't like certain couples in the marauders fandom. Have you ever heard of me saying shit about them? Have you EVER seen a post of my on tumblr dot com pissing on people who like them? Is any of my mutuals, friends, or casual followers even knows what couples are they? No. Because when I don't like something, I shut my fucking mouth and I move on with my life, dedicating myself to things that I actually enjoy. That is called not being a bitter loser - see, now I'm actually not being polite, which is different from calling your argument stupid on a tag. Now I'm calling you a bitter loser on the actual post.

"Oh, but I miss when the fandom was like this and this and this and now is all about this and this". I actually don't even have words. Hold my hand while I walk you through this: did you ever thought about not engaging with what you don't like??? See, I don't actually engage with the Harry Potter fandom in general - there is only one couple I read from the original story of the books, and no one knows about it, because I don't make posts about it and I rarely even speak about them. I don't like the Harry Potter fandom. I don't even really respect them. Do I make posts about them? No. Do I cry my eyes out about how the fandom should focus on this one couple I enjoy sometimes? No.

Now, when it comes to Harry Potter, I actually do participate more in the marauders fandom. Do I like all of the marauders fandom? No. Do I spend my precious life hours making posts about those parts I hate and wish it was different? No! You know why? (& I know this must be really difficult to understand): Because I get my stuff, I move to the corner of the fandom where there is people, authors and ships I do like, and I thrive myself in being in the environment that I enjoy, ALL THE WHILE letting people be happy in their own little fandom-corner because, again, I'm not a bitter loser who spends time and time and time again dedicating my whole page about "how the interpretation of these online people I've never met about FICTIONAL CHARACTERS are not fulfilling my idea of "canon" or my own idea of said characters".

And I have great news!!! On ao3, you can actually filter things to not show you ships or dynamics you don't like. Crazy right? Almost like you can actually be part of a fandom and only read certain authors, ships and stories. I know, I know, super duper insane.

"Oh but I don't like the way this author wrote this characters, what should I do except go on tumblr and be a bitter loser?" Oh thank you so much for asking! Have you ever thought of opening something called Google docs? It's magic, I swear. You open and there is a blank page, and then you use your two braincells and you... (dramatic pause) WRITE A STORY YOURSELF! Isn't that great? You actually have freedom to do whatever you wish with whatever characters you like because no one really takes canon seriously and having your own story means you can exercise those brain juices and be creative and expand on the original world building and give attention to characters who rarely appeared on canon. You can even murder very bloodily that one character you really hate. And the best part? When you post, you actually can create a community with people that also likes to read the same things at you and have similar interpretations of the characters! You build your own fandom corner, isn't that so beautiful?

* I will leave it here, also, this:

[chronosbled]

{ I noticed that lots of people tend to forget that Dickson is a mentally unstable individual who will do anything that he deems necessary to get what he wants all because he speaks to their muses and such with nothing but smiles and compliments.

Dickson is NOT a kind or compassionate person, nor does he care about those that he isn't actively pursuing for the sake of genuine friendship or genuine obsession (love in his eyes). Being kind and compassionate is nothing but another mask that he wears from his various collection when he deems it necessary. As an experiment, along with his condition that makes him unable to properly form and convey emotions (which was only worsened by the experimentation he underwent), Dickson is almost 100% incapable of feeling genuine emotions that belong to him and him alone. He has a habit of using the things he's learned from others by watching them when he's trying to portray his own "feelings" towards others and that's the main issue. Those feelings aren't his ACTUAL feelings, they're someone else's, how someone else he observed for years would react.

If someone were to somehow have the ability to strip him of his masks (his "emotions" and "feelings" if you would call them that), they would find nothing but an empty and broken shell of a person who doesn't know how to do anything but obey someone's orders or someone who completely disregards himself (as in his own well-being) when it comes to endlessly toiling away at his own experiments — and despite his experiments revolving around people who have been fucked over by life, making his own attempts to somehow benefit them — his motivation for said deed was not 100% done out of his own desire to do so, but done because (once he was finally able to recall more about his parents from his childhood) he remembered how the both of them desired to use their skills for good and to help those who cannot help themselves. Thus he applied his parents' feelings to himself and uses that core fundamental as the basis of his entire existence (after his grandfather is finally dead and he doesn't have an actual purpose anymore).

Another reason why Dickson shouldn't be underestimated (and simply chalked up to be the sweet, handsome gentleman) is because of the fact he isn't afraid to use and abuse people for his own gain. He will hurt people. He will manipulate people. He will blackmail them and torture them just like he was. And above all else, he WILL kill people. Dickson is not afraid of getting his hands dirty nor is he afraid to take people hostage and brainwash them to do his bidding if he finds it too much of a hassle for himself (or simply because he won't get caught this way if others are watching him). Before Dickson was able to take care of himself and do things for himself, his grandfather had him work as an assassin of sorts (or rather a mercenary if that's what you prefer to call it), granted he wasn't great at it in the beginning because he was very clumsy and wasn't quite sure of what he was doing, but in the end, he still killed people and usually in various creative and cruel ways too if the opportunity to do so provided itself. Additionally, Dickson will also go to any lengths he deems necessary to make sure his target doesn't come out alive, such as the time he chopped off his own hand in order to free himself so he could proceed to kill his client's target.

Sure Dickson may have been more hesitant to do terrible things when he was younger, like when his late fiancée, Janus, wanted him to help her murder various people simply because she felt like it and he didn't want to participate, but that's Dickson was a lot more weak-willed and timid during his childhood. Back then, he didn't have almost any drive to do anything because he wasn't conditioned to be subservient yet. Granted he still would listen to his grandfather's orders without question, but Janus hadn't fully established that kind of FULL control over him since he'd only known her for a few years, thus that lack of control over him is what ended up leading him to kill Janus when she finally got fed up with him enough to begin beating him (that day anyway, considering she was always abusive towards him). That fear he possessed from his childhood years (something I've already established in posts before) had changed into anger (another thing I've already established in past posts) before he finally ended up snapping all together and stabbing Janus to death, regretting what he had done for only a few moments until that dissipated as well because he simply couldn't bring himself to care. The fact that he stored her body in a freezer within the basement of the Simmons Estate only serves as a reminder of how he started in his mind.

One of the biggest reasons why people should remember that Dickson isn't just a pretty face is the HUGE fact that he basically has his own servant (more like mind slave) that both he and Janus shared together when she was still alive, that he ACTIVELY participated in breaking on the days he had suffered himself (granted he was made to believe it was alright by Janus, but that's besides the point). This point here is a perfect way to represent just how broken and unstable Dickson is as well because normally Dickson was the one who tried to keep Janus from tormenting Belphegor (the name Janus decided to give the boy despite him already having a name) and was often the one trying to tend to whatever wounds Janus had created, be them physical or mental ones (though Dickson was only good at mending physical wounds). In Belphegor's mind, Dickson was going to become his savior at some point due to the fact he showed more compassion towards him than Janus did, but this sentiment ended up proving false the day Dickson murdered Janus. Dickson's once gentle and caring demeanor towards Belphegor ended up changing into something more deranged and it only proceeded to get worse once Carla died as well — gentle gestures of affection soon became more aggressive and agitated, once soothing and comforting words became accusatory and possessive, promises of better treatment and freedom became guilt-tripping and manipulation — eventually leading for Belphegor's mental state to be completely broken down to the point he became a puppet for whatever Dickson desired.

Now, you're probably thinking "but hey, doesn't this contradict everything you've posted about Dickson before? You know, the stuff about him not wanting to be like his grandfather and such?" And in a sense, yes, I did contradict myself, but at the same time... I didn't. Why? Because Dickson didn't want to become like his grandfather or Janus or any of the people who tormented him for the entirety of his life, but when you are basically a prisoner within your own home and are subjected to abuse for so long, you generally end up developing Stockholm Syndrome and that's basically what happened to Dickson. The abuse and torment are what lead up to Dickson basically becoming his grandfather and Janus, but he only realizes this once he joins the BSAA and meets Chris and his team. Why does he realize this? Well, that's because of the simple fact that they all treat him like an ally and not a tool. They slowly begin to make him realize that he isn't just an object for someone's desires nor is he just a toy that will be endlessly used until it's broken and tossed away. They made him feel something that he's never felt before: human. They made him feel like he was an ACTUAL human being and not a monster, that he wasn't some kind of murderous and heartless creature, but instead was their close friend and even a part of their little family, which is something that Dickson has always wanted so desperately deep down inside of his very being. Not his grandfather. Not Janus. Not his mother or father. Not Carla. Dickson. Something that HE wanted. One of the very first and only things he's ever wanted in his life. Granted he still wears his various masks around them, but that's because he doesn't know how to stop nor does he want them to know just how inhuman he really is.

^^^ And this whole above paragraph really does help to show just how broken Dickson is and how even just a little bit of love and care towards him can make him into a completely different person, especially if we jump back to this line here in the first paragraph: "Dickson is NOT a kind or compassionate person, nor does he care about those that he isn't actively pursuing for the sake of genuine friendship or genuine obsession (love in his eyes)." The only reason he cares so much about Chris and his team is because of the simple fact they tried to develop genuine friendships with him to the point he had become obsessively in love with each and every one of them (some in platonic ways: Chris, Philis, Finn, Jill, Steve, and some in romantic ways: Victoria and Piers).

But back to the topic of the mind slave, due to the fact that Dickson had finally come into contact with people who... understood him in a sense for lack of a better word... he began to think that he could actually be something other than a tool and because of that, he also believed that maybe Belphegor could be more than a tool as well. Of course, due to being completely broken by Dickson, there wasn't much that could be done for him in the ways of... fixing him so in the end, Dickson simply continues to use Belphegor for whatever he deems necessary but instead of treating him as badly as he had before, he now somewhat treats him as he used to (though he can still be rather harsh when he isn't in the greatest of moods).

So with all that being said, I advise you all (especially those of you with muses that are seeking out romantic affairs with Dickson) to proceed with the utmost caution when doing so because there may come a point where Dickson doesn't care about your muse anymore and simply chooses to discard them (minus Crystal of course because that's his wifey). }

[themyscirah]

Started thinking about the Amanda Waller + Ben Turner relationship again.... fuck, I'm gonna need a minute

[universalsatan]

kinda wanna set up a betting pool for the ao3 ship brackets. i don’t even know who with, i just wanna be right

[captainshadowgirllostfan]

Okay I had my daily fill of bullshit from the #Anti Sasuke Fandom tags...a tag I have never ventured to till today and have found a majority of it comes from the general Naruto opinions blog and general Naruto shipping opinions blog (which I couldn't care less for)

I am starting to think this blog doesn't post "general opinions" rather than start drama and misinformed gossip within the fandom. Especially towards stans of characters, particularly Sasuke and Sakura who I interestingly mentioned in a reply to one post that claimed Sasuke stans hate Sarada. I know some that do but I didn't think anything wrong with that. Why? They're fictional characters and 2. When Sakura and Sasuke were the same age, a majority of the fandom hated them too. Hating 12 year old characters is not new and if you're going to wag the finger on one part of the fandom for doing so, which is false (more on that later), then a majority of other parts of the fandom deserves that finger wagging too.

Just because some do hate Sarada, not all do. Labeling an entire group for one some posters do, well what else can we expect from the Naruto fandom, am I right? This fandom justified genocide and complained against a group that talks about it because they're bothered by it. Bitch I will talk about real genocides and fake, the fake ones are just easier to talk about because the real, oh God the real, it breaks my heart and is hard to read but I try at least. And at least the Sasuke fandom can read a book and can compare fiction to reality. If they wanna do that, then let them. And if you're bothered, then what the hell are you doing in their blog? Go dwell on your escapism. No one is stopping. Do we complain about that on a general Naruto opinion blog to start toxic drama? No! We stay in our own turf, you stay in yours.

[queerofthedagger]

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