#just in case someone actually is curious why i don't like the ship

[crimescrimson]

First and final warning guys! Don't tag my stuff with any type of Cleon tags please! Someone just did and the ship makes me very uncomfortable! I don't like blocking people because of this kind of thing but I have and will do so if you refuse to listen to me. It's the one and only boundary I have for now when it comes to my gifs, please respect that!

[lucyskywalker]

I’m actually very curious to know why you don’t like jonsa! my reasons for example are: their fandom is acting way too insane for a ship that never happened and won’t ever happen; kit harington is unfortunately ugly. what are yours?

There are so many reasons that I dont even know how to begin with.

Alright. Let's go.

1st reason: It is only solely based on the show, and I really mean that. When you get to read metas and posts surrounding the ship, u realize these people never opened the books, while traying to pretend they did. I'm not being entitled. It is just obvious with what they write. Everything is taken out of contest. Especially surrounding Jon's pov and his lack of relationship with Sansa.

+ I despise the show. The only good thing about D&D's creations were the Dragons CGI and the dothraki and valyrian language, and it ends there. Out of it, everything sucks. They have rewrote all the female character in such a sexist and ridiculous way that I can't even start explaining for you.

2nd. I ship jonrya. Ik it is not everyone's cup of tea, but I do. And no. Idc if they become canon or not. I like the concept. I love their relationship. And I love what they can become. Now why the fact I ship Jonrya actually matters? Well, specially after season 7, a lot of Jonsa fans started taking things from Jon PIV that were about his love for Arya, and make it be about Sansa, with ridiculous excuses for their takes. The most commun and easy example being "What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?" When Jon asks Melissandre, he is referring to Arya. And no. It is not a different interpretation. It is about Arya he is talking about. Another one was "Would you bed your sister?" And Again Jon thinks about Arya, but when you read Jonsa's metas; they say he is thinking about Sansa. Another common Jonsa take is that Jon died for his men in the books, or for Sansa, when again, this is not the case. He died for Arya. And that is explicit on the text with no room for other interpretation. No wonder why the last thing he tought was about her.

Jonsas straigh up lie about what happens in the books to support their takes, or they just read metas here on tumblr and believe it. Idk and neither do I wish to know.

Not only that. They started behaving as they had a moral high ground over jonerys and jonryas... when they don't, it is still incestuos and still problematic to modern standards - not only that, they behave entitled to this day, and attack Jonrya shippers and Jonerys shippers in a real coward way.

Many, many times, I received anon hate telling me to *kms*, slit my wrists. Someone even wished for me to get raped over a fictional ship.

My disdain over the ship is not only with the ship itself, hence taking a lot of Jon's dynamic and bound with Arya to give it to Sansa, which is really important in both of their stories and arc, but mostly about the fandom, and how I was affected by it. If it was treated only like a crackship (what book wise, actually is), as my beloved hitsukarin from bleach, I would have no problem with it.

But the community is far one of the most toxic ones I have ever seen or been in contact with. Actually, dealing with them heavily impacted my mental health.

3rd. I really didnt like Sansa way before dealing with the fandom. Since my favorite is Arya, the way Sansa treated her never vibed with me. (And no. It isn't normal sibling behavior. I am an older sister. I would never do half of the things Sansa have done, not even on 11). After book 1, I felt pity for her, but she still was the last interesting character for me, even if her Vale story was.... I guess, more berable.

After getting into the fandom, tho, Jonsas and Stansas ruined Sansa for me in every possible way as well to the point I read her chapters and I won't feel any kind of enjoyment in her journey or her character. She is my least liked character, not because "she is the most horrible person in the books" (she is not. She is far from being that. ) but because her fans made me feel terribly bitter about her. It is not logical or fair, but again, I'm not trying to be.

[total-drama-brainrot]

TD World Tour Alenoah AU... Where Noah is immune to Alejandro's fake charm... Instead, Noah gets charmed by the true Alejandro's quirks and dorky interests like dinosaurs and puppets... How would Alejandro feel about Noah only liking Alejandro, when Alejandro is being himself?... Especially since Alejandro's family shuns him for being himself? 🦕🦖🦕

Now you're speaking my language.

One of the most common running themes in all/near enough all Alenoah central AUs is having Noah be the first person to see past Alejandro's persona and actually appreciate the person he is, or at the very least prefer the real Alejandro to his mask of perfection. It's one of the draws of the ship itself; the idea that Noah, being the blunt person that he is, can and will wage a war of attrition against the walls Alejandro has built up around himself- not just to keep others out, but also to repress the more authentic aspects of himself to himself- in order to reveal the person beneath.

I touched on this a little bit in a previous post concerning this AU, but Alejandro and Noah both see glimpses of the other that they try so valiantly to hide- in Noah's case, Alejandro sees hints of the scheming mindset he's pretty much supressed under layers of apathy and sloth (as Noah's laziness is one of his biggest character foils, alongside his snarky attitude), and in Alejandro's case he reveals tid bits of information about the Real Alejandro, not the persona he's usually portraying himself as, which is enough to humanise him in Noah's eyes.

They both become People Of Interest in each other's eyes, because they're both puzzles to be solved. Alejandro's curious and competitive to a fault so he'd dedicate himself to unravelling the layers behind Noah's stony exterior, as he'd see Noah's continued distance as a challenge. That's a given. But the topic at hand here is Noah's interest in Alejandro.

Because Noah's not exactly competitive, so why would he be so interested in unveiling the real Alejandro? That's simple; Noah values authenticity. Look at his friendship group, it consists of people who are unapologetically themselves. Noah is also unapologetically himself, in all of his sarcastic glory. So of course he's see flickers of the real, authentic Alejandro and his natural inquisitiveness would be piqued- a novelty for him, as Noah's staunch apathy generally tends to override any semblance of curiosity.

So Noah goes out of his way to make notes of the small interests Alejandro offhandedly mentions at one point or another, like palaeontology or puppetry or even his fifteen-step skincare routine- things that Alejandro shows genuine excitement or passion over that shines through the cracks of his perfect persona. He sees the dorky giddiness Alejandro experiences when Noah lets him ramble on about how Jurassic Park was incredibly inaccurate from a scientific standpoint but monumental for people's interest in palaeontology (or something along those lines, I don't know I'm not a dinosaur nerd) and suddenly the annoyingly flirtatious faker he's spent the better half of his time on the jet is A Whole Ass Person with interests and passions and a sense of depth he's been so bereft of until now. Suddenly Alejandro's more than just the antagonist of the show Noah's working on, he's an interesting person that the bookworm finds himself wanting to know more about. And, perhaps, he finds himself growing genuinely fond of the person behind the mask.

And he uses those notes to prompt Alejandro into sharing more of himself, the real authentic Alejandro, in the privacy of their interactions.

At first, Alejandro's fairly oblivious to what Noah's doing, since he's so caught up in his own enjoyment of Noah's company plans to essentially do the same to Noah that he barely notices his own tricks being used against him.

Of course, he's also just elated at being able to infodump to someone who isn't outright penalising him for doing so; not that I think Alejandro is even aware that what he's doing is infodumping, nor the fact that he's so obviously autistic, because his family is a particular brand of awful that would never let him get a proper diagnoses and in all likelihood forced him to mask/supress his symptoms.

It isn't until Alejandro realises that he's shared a lot of information about himself that he (as a Burromuerto) is expected to keep close to his chest, and he sees the glimmers of satisfaction in Noah's intelligent eyes, that the archvillain catches on to the fact that he's been played. But the thing that really catches him off-guard isn't the trickery, it's the fact that Noah's done nothing with the uncharacteristic displays of vulnerability.

Alejandro can't understand why Noah hasn't taken advantage of his "weakness" yet. Inevitably leading to him confronting the assistant, as Alejandro isn't the type to "let sleeping dogs lie" so to speak, and he's still very much so in the one-track mindset of winning the competition- thus he assumes that any show of vulnerability can and will lead to his untimely elimination. But when he practically demands that Noah reveal what he's been planning, why he's been sneakily collecting information on him, all Noah can do is shrug his shoulders and say;

"I guess I just like seeing the real you. That's all."

And Alejandro doesn't know how to respond to that. No one's ever wanted the real him, he's always had to play the role of the perfect son, the perfect brother. He doesn't understand.

And like most people when they're faced with a foreign concept they have no basis of behaviour for, he lashes out.

[creative-kny-fics]

Are you taking requests? 

If so could you do lee!tanjiro and ler!giyuu? I don’t have anything particular in mind, just something fluffy and light hearted.

I understand and it’s totally okay if u don’t wanna do this :)

Ur work is amazing and keep it up! <3

Aaaaw thanks! Sorry for the delay, for the moment, I wasn't taking requests, but now I am!

(Note: The fic is set in the future)

Ler: Giyuu Tomioka

Lee: Tanjiro Kamado

Tanjiro narrates: Finally, a world without demons, a dream longed for from generation to generation, I still don't believe it, we have lived so much, but at the same time, lost so much...

Sometimes I wonder, what would have happened if maybe, and only Perhaps we would have met in another context?

The only thing that kept us in "contact" was the objective of exterminating demons, but after the dissolution of the brotherhood, each one took their own path, for example, Shinazugawa-San left, we don't know where, I usually send him letters but, he doesn't answer them, at least it makes me somewhat happy to know that I am still close to Tomioka-San and Uzui-San and his wives.

'Giyuu-San! Hello! How are you doing?!'

'Huh? Hello Tanjiro! Good morning. I'm fine, I'm still getting used to this, but I'm fine'

'It seems like I came at the wrong time, going somewhere? ?'

'Actually, yes, but you can come with me. I don't think Uzui will mind you accompanying me, after all, he appreciates you, right?'

'I suppose I can accompany him. I trust that Nezuko will be in good hands with Zenitsu and Inosuke. Let's go there!'

Tomioka-San, he looks so different now, I'm glad he smiles more now, his smile is pretty, of course, every smile is beautiful (NOT SHIP)

Giyuu Narrates: Who would have thought, before I used to stay away from my hashira companions, but not anymore.

'Uzui-San! How are you doing?!'

'It's you Kamado! Wow, I think Giyuu brought you with him, I'm glad!'

'Tengen-Sama... Shhh... The baby is asleep... Hello guys, excuse me, but could you please lower your voice...?'

'Oh, sorry, let's go talk somewhere else, shall we?'

'Uzui-San, do you have children?'

Oh, what a shame, I had never told Tanjiro about it, although of course, I found out some time later.

'Hinatsuru-San, you look tired, would you mind if I take care of the baby for you?'

'You're very kind Tomioka-Sama... But, I can handle it...'

'Hinatsuru, love, you haven't slept well these days, I'm sure Giyuu can take care of the baby, after all, she's asleep and she's someone heavy sleeper'

'Well, maybe it's also a good time for Tanjiro to meet Himiko...'

Oh, right, I forgot. Himiko is Suma's daughter, but I don't know what happened, apparently she is still not used to it, that is why Makio and Hinatsuru help her.

'Wo-woah... She... She is just like Miss Suma...'

'Right? Although, it is not yet known, she may end up having Uzui's behavior hahaha.'

'Yeah, I guess...'

'Does the baby weigh you down? If that's the case, I can...'

'No, no, it's okay. It's not the first time I've carried a baby'

'I realize that, the baby seems to feel very comfortable with you'

Tanjiro narrates: It's been a long, long time since I've seen a baby, at least not this close.

I usually saw them but I didn't have time to spend time with them, so when Giyuu-San handed me the baby, I got nervous, it had been a long time since I had held someone so small.

'Looking at her better, she looks a bit like Uzui-San... Is her hair a bit white or is it the reflection of the sun?'

'I don't think so, maybe you're right and the baby has some white locks like Uzui'

'I think so... And... What color are her eyes? Do you have Miss Suma's eyes or Uzui-San's eyes?'

'Someone is very curious hahaha. But, to answer your question, she has a mix of both, they are a shade of red, maybe next time you come, you will find her awake and you will see her eyes'

A shade of red...? I thought... I thought I had already closed that episode in my life... I know I can't relate the slightest thing to my family, but, I can't help it... The last time I saw red eyes in a baby, it was in Rokuta, the youngest of my siblings...

I, I hadn't thought about it... They are no longer here but their memories are clear in my mind...

'Tanjiro, is everything okay? Are you crying'

'Hu-huh? I'm sorry, I guess, I have mixed feelings, I'm fine, I swear.'

Giyuu Narrates: I think something I said has hurt Tanjiro, I don't know exactly what, but for his tone of voice to have changed so drastically, it must be something painful.

'Tanjiro, you don't need to lie. Look, I don't know what happened or what made you sad, but I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.'

'I know, Giyuu-San, I know. They're just my thoughts... Don't worry...'

'Can I try to cheer you up?'

'Huh... I think I know what you mean, sure, I guess, but what about the baby?'

Smart guy, although he had a point, the baby couldn't be left unattended, what a dilemma.

'E-eh...! Gi-Gihiyuhu... The ehehehe bahahaby!'

'Kid, I'm just sliding my fingers up and down your neck, is it that bad?'

'I-I mhmhmhm dohohohon't ahahahaha knohohow...! I'll le-lehehet yuhuhu ti-tickle meeee, buhuhuhut when the ba-baby isn't aslehehehehep!'

'Well, you promised. Honestly, I can't consider this tickling. You know well that I tend to be much worse than this, it's not even a warm-up, you're just too ticklish.'

'Yohohou tohohoho... Aaaah!! Gi-Gihu-Gihiyuhuhu!! Ahahahaha!!! Pleheahasehehe!!'

'Think better about your words when you address me, Kamado Tanjiro.'

[parkminijiminie]

This fandom is fucked now. No one comes forward to correct anything about the translations. I do believe that op was lying about the translations now. People told her in comments too that she was changing the subtitles 2 days later and lying but it just irritates me so much that no one comes forward to give the exact correct translation who knows Korean too...lol she wasn't even coming forward by herself to tell those who are saying she is lying to confront them. If she's lying... someone should come forward to tell us that who wants to know and don't understand the language. That op was also a jkkr. There is no one on twitter on any social media who is ot7 and a true person who can give us the correct translation without any manipulation?? It sucks. No one you can believe really. They all are manipulators according to who they ship and it makes you feel like a puppet when you don't know the language.

( i just wanted to know bcz I'm curious otherwise I don't think it's gonna change anything when jk also said...."we wouldn't met either if it's not for this show..." So I don't think a line will change anything when he literally said this next)

I agree on this. I have many asks in my inbox about the translation, but I don't know what to tell you guys. I don't know who to trust, and I am not a Korean speaker.

The official translation was: "When you were busy and I was free, you never called me. When I was busy and you were free, I never called you. " Which means they didn't meet up because both of them didn't put the effort. To which JM replied: "I called you."

Since JM said he did call, that led people to believe it was actually JK who didn't stay in touch, which makes JK's previous statement like he was trying to make it seem like both of them were at fault when in reality it was more him.

Now, if we are to believe people that the translation is wrong, things do change somewhat.

People are saying JK actually said this: "When you were busy and I was free, you didn't call me. When I was busy and you were free, you didn't call me. " It sounds a little bit confusing and like he is repeating himself, but in fact he is trying to point out that whether JM was busy or free didn't matter, in either case Jimin didn't reach out to him.

This translation actually makes a lot more sense in the context of everything else we saw at the time - JM working and hardly mentioning JK. JK alone at night and always mentioning JM.

Both translations mean that they didn't look for each other a lot, but in one case, it was a mutual fault, maybe more on JK (because JM said he called) and in the other case, JM was the one to blame. I am sort of inclined to believe the new translation as it makes more sense with everything else. It would explain JK's body language and attitude in the car. He makes sense for him to be more abrasive if JM had put him on the back burner for months. He seemed a little bitter.

One more thing that sort of proves it to me is the fact that JK said with a serious face that they were supposed to meet up for a drink, to which JM replied with a laugh "staff like this happens". It leads me to believe there was, at some point, an arrangement to meet up, but for whatever reason, JM canceled it, and it never happened. If you look at JK's face at that point in the conversation, he definitely looks peeved. More than once, he sounded accusatory to JM. It seems like JM called from time to time (JM said that he did), but not enough for JK and it didn't lead to anything more.

When JK said, "we wouldn't have met if it wasn't for the show." Everyone took it as confirmation that they didn't want to hang out with each other, or JK didn't at least, but why would JM travel across the world for a little weekend if this was true? Why would JK agree to it this proposal so out of the blue amidst his crazy schedule unless he wanted it (or was forced by someone, but JK is a guy who can't really be forced into things)?

To me, when JK said they wouldn't have met, it sounded more like he meant given the schedule he knew was ahead of him and JM's own ignorance of keeping in contact. I think both of them realized this physical distance wasn't doing them any favours, and since it was JM who was maybe more at fault for it, if we believe the new translation, it was also him who decided to resolve it by taking a chance and going to NY.

When JM said the "this is why I came", I believe he meant exactly this. He knew it was time for him to do something or they would have drifted seriously apart. Especially that by this point in time, JK shedules were just beginning and MS was coming up, and even if they were already thinking about enlisting together at that point, which is debatable, they didn't know for sure. From JM POV at the time JK was getting busier, MS was approaching where they could be separated for 2 years and their relationship was in danger, so the first chance he actually had and was free, he acted.

And it seems this was exactly what JK was waiting for. That's why he responded with "I know. You're here. You're here. You're here. Finally".

[darklinaforever]

It's funny that you accuse the greens of not being able to accept their characters as villains, but you can't accept your unhealthy kinks yourself, and come up with a billion excuses for why violence against women, pedophilia, zoophilia, incest and other shit is NOT WHAT IT SEEMS.

I think it's especially you who has difficulty differentiating fiction from reality...

I have never condoned violence against women. At no time (I have made entire posts to denounce the gratuitous violence against women shown in the HOTD show).

Neither had any particular kink about it.

I've already literally contradicted this shit in an entire post. But you are obviously turning a deaf ear.

These ships are simply called "enemies to lovers". And where I have tons of them who are LGBTQ+...

So how does you delusion of me specifically liking violence against women (by men of course for people like you) work when in fact, it's a dynamic that I appreciate on no account what type of ship does it matter ?! Man & Woman, Woman & Woman, Man & Man, etc etc. Hannigram and Loustat salute you !

See, it has the word enemies in it. You should see what the definition implies and usually it expresses wanting to harm and kill each other at some point. That's the point of the trope !

It's an entire genre of literature / fiction since its beginnings ! There's nothing shameful about liking it.

Besides, to like it, someone has to write them. Once again, complain about those who write these stories rather than the public who enjoy dynamics made to be appreciated.

And then sorry, but why don't I recognize that some of my ships are with pure villains ? You clearly must have missed a lot of my posts. Just one of my last ones I'm talking about ! Darkness is a villain, Dracula and Sauron are villains too ! (Spoiler, I also love Alicent and Aemond as villains from Fire and Blood !)

I never made excuses for incestuous relationships either. It's you who has trouble simply accepting the historical context involved in a story, and or the magical blood that prevents there being an effect on genetics on top of that for the Targaryens.

When there's nothing magical about it, it's simply called loving a ship, and knowing how to differentiate it from reality. Again, that doesn't seem to be your case.

And damn, again the accusation of zoophilia with two bullets compared to the last Planet of the Apes with Noa and Mae ?! Once again, lots of creators ! And also, you don't have to understand anything about the films to see the monkeys in them as pure animals...

Also I would be very curious to see what ship of mine you consider to be pedophilia. I imagine it's Daemyra, Sareth, Sessrin, and probably Beetlebabes since they're the ones I'm showing off the most at the moment. Ships which... actually have nothing to do with pedophilia.

I swear media literacy is getting lost these days, especially with people like you.

[joannerowling]

predictions for her next strike book (or even the hinted "earthbound scifi" novel if you feel so inclined)?

Let's go!

Strike 8 aka The Hallmarked Man : So far we've had a few clues - a Freemason hall picture which served as Jo's header on twitter, a series of three emoji (the most mysterious of them being the symbol for DNA), and the title itself. Beyond the general idiom, a "hallmark" is specifically used in jewelry to mark an object's value (usually in silver). JKR's titles often have multiple meanings. On one hand, if Freemasons are involved i can't see her portraying them as the cultish, vaguely antisemitic "we rule the world" cliché, she'd probably subvert this trope hard. That being said, she has not done "secret society / deep state" yet. Jo's said in the past that she tries to do something different with each of the Strike books. So far, there's always been a murder, but it doesn't always happen at the start and isn't always the reason why Strike and Robin are hired. I think in THM : 1) the dead person will show up at the start and it'll be a man (just because we've had three murdered girls/women in a row, and TRG was a missing person's case first) ; 2) it'll be someone important but, for political reasons, the circumstances of his death will have to stay secret. Maybe for a reason tied with the DNA emoji choice. I don't know but i'm getting James Bond vibes from this one. My second theory is that the Hallmarked Man is actually a statue or some other kind of valueable art piece. Again, so far we haven't done the art world and it's RIPE with potential weird murder cases implicating very powerful and dangerous people, possible fakery, money embezzlement, etc.

Other future Strikes : No idea for book 9, but book 10 has GOT to be about solving Leda's murder. The cycle must be completed!!

Mystery sci-fi book : All we know is it's "earthbound" and "not a space opera". The thing is, all JKR's books so far (including The Ickabog! possibly not The Christmas Pig, i have not yet read this one) feature lots and lots of characters and that tends to be a trope of space operas! Whereas more grounded sci-fi is more likely to be more intimate, or even a solitary affair. Sci fi stories with many characters that are NOT space operas tend to be about humanity, survival and the construction of something… usually in space, or an "alien" environment (trapped in a space ship, trapped on a foreign planet, etc.). I don't have a more definitive theory but i'm curious about what she'll do!

[destinationtoast]

Toastystats: F/F, F/M, and M/M on AO3

I'm starting to post my deep dive stats that started out as me looking into "F/F vs. M/M on AO3" -- it has turned out to be really useful and interesting to include F/M in most of these analyses (I'd like to also look more at other categories eventually; see further discussion about nonbinary characters). Here are some of the topics I'll be covering: Length, Ratings & Smut, Dark content, Tags & tropes, Growth rate, and Case studies of parallel-ish ships of different genders.

You can read the intro & fanwork length chapter now, and more will be posted soon! You can also listen to me discuss a bunch of the data on the latest @fansplaining episode, Femstats February.

Below are some excerpts of the fanwork length chapter -- but please click through to AO3 for elaboration/clarification/corrections, as well as for descriptions of the images.

---

(Terminology: "F/F-focused" means I filtered out every other relationship category else except "Gen," so as to remove ambiguity, and similar for F/M- and M/M-focused.)

A few observations:

These breakdowns are a lot more similar than I’d expected. There are differences, but they’re not overwhelming. It’s not like F/F is mostly just drabbles.

F/F does have the highest proportion of short fic, followed by F/M, and then M/M...

But the long fic end of the scale isn’t what I expected at all! M/M is the least likely to have works over 50K words (this graph doesn't actually show the decimal points due to lack of space, but M/M only has 2.0% of its works above 50K words, while F/F has 2.4% over 50K). And F/M is the most likely to have [works over 50K words]!

....Next, I wanted to look at reader response to long fic.... First, let's look at the word count breakdown for the works with the most kudos...:

We can see that, probably unsurprisingly, many of the works that receive the most kudos are long -- but I was surprised how strong that bias is. Nearly half of these popular works in the F/F and F/M categories are over 50K+ words (I -- or someone else -- should follow up by further subdividing the "over 50K" category, but I haven't done so yet; for now I only used the same word count buckets that I used previously.). Surprising to me is that M/M has a lot more shorter works that get a lot of kudos; only around 1/3 of the M/M works with the most kudos have over 50K words. I'd be curious to hear any theories about why this is.

....Okay, so lots of popular fic is long -- not too surprising. But now let's flip things around. instead of looking at how long popular fic is, let's look at how much reader feedback long fic gets, and see if any category clearly gets the most or least feedback.

For this, I took a very specific slide of [long fic]: works 100K words to 101K words long. I did that because I wanted to compare long fic of the same length across the different categories. But these specific numbers are therefore not accurate for most definitions of "long fic," and should not be taken too seriously -- hence the asterisks on the following slides (Edit to clarify: I did also look at a couple other long slices to check that these general patterns seem to hold... but I haven't confirmed it for all long fic). I did this just to try to get a rough sense of the ranking or the categories. Let's take a look:

Wow! I was surprised to see that F/F averages the most kudos! And that F/M gets the least of all these types of feedback by quite a lot!

Is this because readers don't seek out F/M as much as the other works? Or is it because F/M readers don't tend to leave as much feedback after they read something? To answer this, we need to look at the number of hits (views) that each category gets:

Fascinating! F/F long fic gets the largest number of hits on average. (Maybe this is because F/F works are the rarest, so more people seeking out long F/F fic view each fanwork, on average, as compared to the other categories?) And we can see that F/M long fic gets the fewest hits per fanwork. (Again, maybe this is because there are a lot of long F/M fics out there, so there's less scarcity, and fewer people view each one?)

Okay, so to follow up on the question of whether F/M readers are less likely to leave feedback after viewing a work -- we can compare rates of feedback. For each work I calculated kudos/hits (I actually looked at kudos per 1000 hits to make the numbers easier to think about), and then I took the median of all those numbers to find average feedback rate. I did the same for comments and bookmarks:

The main takeaway here is that the reader feedback rates are remarkably similar. (Again, this is based on one narrow slice of long fic, so I wouldn't take the small differences here seriously.) More people view F/F long fic on average, and fewer people view F/M long fic -- but the rate at which they leave feedback appears to be roughly the same across all categories.

---

Read more on AO3 (including analyses of drabbles and one shots)

[thatonebirdwrites]

You can answer for Supergirl, Legend of Korra, both, or any other fandom you're into; I don't mind. And if you can't decide, just default to LOK (just in case). Questions: Fandom: 1, 2, 5, 8, 14, 17, 19, 20

(Also off-topic, so feel free to ignore but I am curious and its second season is just coming out. Have you seen or plan to watch "Arcane"? Any feelings on it?)

For Legend of Korra:

...the moment in the story that I started shipping my OTP from this world.

I honestly shipped Korra and Asami from the moment they meet. Korra does a double-take with Asami. And describes her as pretty to the Airbender kids. Then Asami does that dramatic and way too flirty climb out of the pool right in front of Korra just to ask Korra to come race with her. Like, okay, Asami, you are dating the wrong fire ferret.

Then Asami fights with Mako over him being a douchebag, and she outright says, "I like Korra." Asami, yes, you are very loud about it.

And everything she does in Season 2 -- 4 is for Korra. Like Korra asks for help? Asami says yes immediately. Korra needs transportation? Asami gifts her a whole damn airship. Korra is in the spirit world but her body needs moved to safety? Asami is ON IT. Korra gets kidnapped? Asami destroys all Red Lotus in the way to her girl. Korra asks for help again in Season 4? Asami is ON IT. Korra wants to go to the Spirit World? Asami is like, "YES PLEASE."

That girl was in love with Korra from the start. It just took Korra until Season 3 to finally realize she was in love with Asami back.

.2. ...my three favorite characters and why I love them so much.

Korra, Asami, and Jinora.

Korra is so wonderfully drawn. Like this girl grows so much throughout the course of the series. Her arcs are amazing, and I love that for her. I could go on, but I'd end up recounting the whole series as for why I love her so. (I honestly really love her PTSD arc, and thought the show did a very good job of doing justice. For someone who has PTSD myself, I related to it a lot.)

Asami was sadly not given the arcs she deserved. Most of her arcs happened off screen and were sort of told to us. (This is one of the many reasons I leaped into writing Korrasami to fix this injustice). I adore her though because she knows what she wants (Korra and engineering), but we also see her struggle with very relatable things (trauma, loneliness, trust, etc.). There's a lot of room for more depth that sadly the show didn't do her justice (partly due to not enough episodes. They really needed more episodes to dig into the side character arcs).

Jinora because she's such a fascinating teenager. We see her grow into an airbender Master, and see her come to terms with her Spirit World affinity. She also has some amazing arcs, and she's honestly a kind kid. We see her complexity with her siblings and how she struggles with being such a young Master Airbender. I honestly loved her arcs.

.5. ...the scene from it that lives in my head rent free.

The Very Dramatic Climb Out Of Pool Scene Asami does in front of Korra.

Asami did you really need to be that flirty? Like that was overkill. If this was Mortal Kombat, that scene alone would have been an instant KO on Korra. Asami cannot subtly flirt even if her life depended on it. Like how do we not ship them after that scene? It's unforgettable.

I swear, that scene will just randomly enter my head about once a day, and I'll once again be like, "Asami, you are so not subtle."

8....a quote from it that means a lot to me.

"Your problem is, you've been disconnected for too long. Disconnected from the people who love you and disconnected from yourself," Toph says to Korra in Book 4. I don't necessarily agree with what Toph says Korra can learn from her enemies, but I do agree with Toph that Korra was stuck in her mind fighting her old enemies as that is what PTSD does to you. So Toph then shows Korra how disconnected she is. How her trying to heal on her own has actually gotten her stuck.

It's only when she reconnected with loved ones that she makes progress. We cannot heal in isolation. We require the love and support of those around us. We must choose to heal, and choose to allow our loved ones to support us. Otherwise, we will become stuck and stagnate (or hurt ourselves in self-destructive ways as we see Korra do).

14. ..if I think the largest majority of fics I crave for it are fix-its, nobody-dies-everybody-lives, fluffy fics of my OTP, pining fics for my OTP, or plot heavy Gen stories?

I tend toward fluffy fics of my OTP to be honest. There's enough trauma and angst in my life. Adding to it by reading a very angsty fic often causes me to spiral in real life. I will sometimes rush through the angst to find fluff. I have to be in the right mindset for any angst.

Now, I do love a good fix-it fic, but there isn't much in Legend of Korra to fix. Ha, I say this, and yet I wrote a fix-it series with Shared Moments, where I rewrote seasons 2 through 4 (in-progress still) because I wanted Korrasami to happen sooner and to end Makkora sooner. I also wanted to give Asami the arc she deserved.

But beyond that, the only fix-it fics I read are ones that write out the comics. I can tolerate Turf Wars for the most part as parts of it are absolutely lovely (the Spirit World adventures I adored). I hate Ruins of Empire. Erase that one entirely please. I'll always read fics that write out Ruins of Empire and replace it with something that makes sense and isn't Kuvira-apologist nonsense.

Kuvira attempted a genocide. She had deadly work-camps. She tried to kill her so-called family and her boyfriend/fiancee, and started what basically amounted to a world war with a hell of a lot of war crimes. And I'm supposed to find her "redeeming arc" believable? Because she saves the Krew once and then admits she's guilty? No way, that's hogwash. That's not even redemption. That's bare minimum. She hasn't done any redemption actions yet. Anyway, the only good scene in that entire comic was the one page we got of Asami and Korra in the bedroom, where we learn they share a bed -- omg, yay! bed sharing! -- but beyond that, the comic as a whole should not exist.

17. ...the world-building aspect of the story I have the greatest admiration for.

To be honest, Legend of Korra suffers from too-few-episodes-syndrome. They rushed the story and world-building because they simply weren't allowed more episodes to really give us the depth the writers and directors seemed to want. This is entirely Nickolodeon's fault, as Nickopoopeon (as I like to call them), kept trying to cancel the show because Korra is a woman with brown skin. The directors fought tooth and nail to get all four seasons, and then fought to end it with Korrasami. (They couldn't get the kiss scene in so instead they have Korra and Asami mirror the wedding stance to make it clear they are now a couple).

So the best worldbuilding that we got in the show?

It's mostly a tie between Zaofu and the Airbenders. They did a really good job of exploring a communal-like society that is focused on science and engineering. The design of the city's domes is absolutely brilliant, and the train system is well done.

Now, up to this point, the worldbuilding is okay but doesn't dig as deep as ATLA had, but it's entirely due to lack of time. They still managed to pack a lot into the episodes via the details in the background and carefully written dialogue, so I have great admiration for what they pulled off considering their constraints.

I wish I could say technology as a whole for this question, but there's the... hummingbirds....

In the Art Book for Book 4, the creators admit that they made them up for the cool factor.

But if you look at the technology level of the show and what would be needed for the hummingbirds to fly, it would require tech that is so far advanced that it is legit not possible for it to exist yet in that capacity.

Asami may be a genius, but that is a lot of creating ideas from scratch with no known precursor tech. Generally tech has an evolutionary tail (for lack of a better term), so you can trace how prior ideas were expanded, retrofit, redone, and made anew based on new theories, new resources, experiments that reveal new uses, etc...

We don't see that with the hummingbirds. Asami just has an idea. Draws a great sketch. Gets annoyed at Varrick like always. And somehow magically makes it.

The amount of small parts to make those wings flutter like they did? In real life we did not have that tech until the 70s. But Legend of Korra is meant to have 1930s/40s equivalent technology. The hummingbirds don't fit the tech period at all. It was MADDENING.

I can deal with the giant mech as there's some precursor to that at Zaofu with the domes, and it actually moves slowly and honestly highly inefficiently. It doesn't have very good movements at all, and with its size, there's not a lot of small parts. So yeah, I can see it mostly fitting the tech period.

Anyway, point is, up to this point, the show had done a relatively decent job with technology and have it fit the lore.

But then we get the hummingbirds, and I facepalmed myself into the center of the earth.

Cool factor indeed.

19. ..one behind-the-scenes trivia fact I've learned somewhere and my thoughts on it.

Well. Um. I already answered this in the prior answer. The Art Book of Book 4 literally uses the term "cool factor" as the the reason for the hummingbird's existence. See above for my thoughts. LOL

20. ...exactly how little or how much headspace this fandom takes up in my brain at any given point.

It's honestly a little embarrassing. I think about Korrasami almost as much as Supercorp, and I think about that multiple times a day.

Like when I saw Legend of Korra for the first time, I was just obsessed with it and it dominated my thoughts and writing. It's actually how I began to heal from what my abuser did, where I was finally able to write again.

I may not be able to write my original fiction yet, due to that trauma, but I can write fanfiction. Which is all thanks to Korrasami and Supercorp.

Thank you for asking! :)

As for your question about Arcane, I actually cannot watch it. It's too triggering. I've only seen the first episode and part of a second but had to stop. I'm told it's good, but to be honest, I never liked the League of Legends universe (talk about triggering lore in those games). I do like there is a lesbian relationship that's canon in it, so I can appreciate that from afar.

[gemini-magic17]

Entanglement Chapter Four

After a long agonizing five days at sea, we finally make it it to Tir Asleen. From what I could see from the ship it was beautiful, grassy terrain, clear blue skies, and lively people. It almost reminds me of home and makes me believe that I could actually have a happy life here. As we approach shore I can see a few guards waiting to great us and bring us to the castle.

"So, are you ready for this", James asked.

"Kind of. I'm still nervous but this place reminds me of home in a way which helps."

"In that case, you should accommodate quickly", my mother and father came up behind me.

"I don't think it will be that smooth of a transition but hopefully it will be alright", I said with concern and worry.

"Don't worry Y/n you got this", James said confidently.

As we dock I end up in almost a trance as I take in my surroundings looking at Tis Asleen's magnificent kingdom. I hear the sound of a crate dropping making me jump pulling me out of the trance I was in. It seems one of the crew members had tripped over one of the ropes dropping a crate of my things.

"I am so sorry Princess it was an accident", he said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it they are just things. Are you ok", I said.

"Yes, Princess I am fine thank you."

Smiling I head with my family onto land where we meet the guards saying that they would bring us to the castle. The journey didn't take too long maybe it just seemed that way because I couldn't stop thinking about how my life officially "starts" today.

"Hey, Y/n", my brother whispers to me trying not to get our parents attention.

"What is it, James"?

"It seems we're here. I have never seen so many smiling faces in one place before. Do you think their faces are starting to hurt from doing that", he said.

"Perhaps, although James I do remember a certain someone who couldn't stop smiling the entire time week of the Drakas festival", I said. "Well it was a festival who wouldn't be happy and all smiles during a festival!"

I laughed at his overreaction to what I had just said. Looking out the carriage window I see someone or rather a smiling someone. The way she smiled could light up a room and the way she walked off without a care in the world made me curious. All I could focus on was her at that moment and once she was out of my eye of sight I just couldn't stop wondering who she was.

I made my way back to the castle after training with Jade again just to remember what today was. I still think it is absolute bullshit that I have to be the one to marry this so-called Princess. I mean Airk is going to be king and if this is such an important alliance between our kingdoms why can't he just marry her. With the constant battle, I had going on in my mind about this I bumped into Boorman.

"Woah Kit what's the hurry", he said.

"Sorry, I am unfortunately in a rush to meet some guests that my mother invited", with evident disdain in my voice.

"Oh, you mean the Princess Y/n who is your soon-to-be wife I take it", he says with a knowingly look.

"How do you know about it? Did Airk tell you? I swear he can't keep his mouth shut", I exclaimed.

"No, when I meet up with Jade yesterday she told me about it."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I'm sorry kid I know how much you and Jade care for each other", he said sympathetically.

"Thanks, but I told Jade that nothing is going to change between the two of us. Even though I am going to be married it doesn't mean I am going to stop having feelings or seeing Jade."

"Kit, you getting married isn't that what you are supposed to do? I know you love Jade but what about Y/n she is innocent in all this. Are you really going to subject this girl to a life where she isn't going to be miserable having to see you and Jade together. You don't even know her yet give her a chance before making her life what is going to seem like to her a living hell", he said.

"Knowing her or not won't make a difference. My mother knows how I feel about Jade and she went ahead with this betrothal knowing that she could have made this alliance between Y/n and Airk. Instead, she decided to subject me to marriage I don't even want."

"Kit, before you do anything you regret just give her a chance. You never know you may end up liking her."

"Yeah, sure whatever you say Boorman," I give him a jokingly smile.

Heading back to the castle again I see a carriage past me. Paying no attention to it I made my way to where I was going. On the way I see Airk and he informs me that our mother insisted that he would walk me to our destination.

"Let me guess, she is afraid that I won't show up so she sent you like I need you to look after me like a child", sounding pissed off.

"It's not my fault that our mother trusts the fact that you will follow her rules", he said.

"Hold up, let me get this straight your saying if you were to be getting married right now and mother was just telling you about it there would be no problem."

"I never said that. However, I have heard the rumors that the Princess is quite beautiful and I would not have too much of an issue with the betrothal."

"You sicken me", I say.

We arrived at the meeting spot and I saw the carriage from earlier stop in front of us. Before the carriage even opened my mother of course had to say something.

"Remember Kit this is to be your future wife and in-laws be respectful", she says with that warning tone in her voice.

"Whatever you say mother", I said sarcastically.

As the carriage doors open I see an older woman and man step out first which I only assume are the King and Queen of Zemira. Next came the Prince who had little to no expression on his face whatsoever. Lastly, the Princess made her appearance where she was helped out of the carriage by her brother. From what I could see she wasn't horrible looking Airk was right when he said the rumors were that she was beautiful. Although, that doesn't matter much to me seeing as I have no interest in getting to know her in the slightest.

My mother walked up to them all smilely pretending that we are going to be one big happy family. Well I have news for her this will be no happy union.

"Welcome your majesties to Tir Asleen I hope your journey was well", she said.

"I was fine Queen Sorsha the seas were very kind", my mother said.

The queen made her way through the King, Queen, and Prince until she finally got to Y/n.

"Princess Y/n, you are even more beautiful than your parents described you."

"Thank you, Queen Sorsha and my mother did not do you just when she talked about how kind you were."

I couldn't help but snicker at that remark. Of course, everyone heard and I got a scowl in return from my mother. Trying not to laugh again I bit my tongue to keep quiet.

"Kit, come greet our guests", my mother said.

Walking up to them I hid the look of despise on my face. As did my mother I greeted everyone once I got to the Princess. It took every ounce of my being not to say something rude or just high tale it out of there.

"Welcome to Tir Asleen Princess."

"Thank you Princess Kit", she said.

Once we said our hello's my mother informed us that our betrothal would be made public at tonight's celebration. If I wasn't mad before I was definitely fuming now. She couldn't even make it a week let alone a day to announce my impending doom to this girl. Just perfect now hell begins for me.

[alexandersfyp]

Hi, I follow you on Instagram and I just wanted to ask you a small question, why do you dislike Alexaniel? I'm just a bit curious I think that it's the most popular ship in this fandom and I just wanted to hear an opinion on it from someone who doesn't like this ship at all, I hope that you are comfortable enough with this question.

Don't worry, that's a good question actually and I shall respond to it.

First I just wanted to say that I'm fine if you ship them or like this ship in general I can fully accept that, I am a very tolerant person if you ask. But in my case it's simply just not my thing and this ship simply gives me an ick, in fact it kinda always did for me being in this fandom for technically 7 years.

In my opinion Alexaniel completely waters down and erases the character traits for both Alexander and Daniel. The main motivation of Daniel during the game is to murder Alexander not to fuck him, both of these characters has a VERY toxic relationship between eachother. Alexander used and manipulated Daniel into literally killing and torturing people and Dan naturally wanted to take his revenge on him, he literally walked through the entire castle after losing his memory and with monsters around him all because he wanted to MURDER Alexander for everything he had done to him.

That because it is mentioned that Alexander at some point felt remorse about Daniel doesn't automatically mean that he was in love with him sorry not sorry. Alexander still in fact manipulated him into committing horrible things and the toxicity between both of them is huge.

My main reason now; I'm absolutely sick and tired of Alexander's beloved erasure in this fandom I'm aware that there are a lot of different interpretations on this matter but by my point of view Alexander clearly meant that he had someone who he really loved having them as a main reason why he wants to come back to his homeworld. No one will ever convince me that Alexander would choose a random British twink he knew for about 2 weeks over someone to which he wants to return for HUNDREDS of years. As someone who studied Alexander's character arc for a long time, it really pisses me off.

Xander's desperation to return to them (her in the case of my point of view) drove his actions for centuries, he clearly longs for them living in anguish because of that. (And that's a HUGE part of his character arc)

I'm pretty much sure that the SAME and only desperation Xander had, driven him into manipulating Daniel and overall treating him the way he did in the game. He doesn't (romantically) care for anyone else only his love for which he longs for, for hundreds of years, and in a case if he had to he definitely would kill Daniel if someone told him that by that he would see his beloved again.

Daniel wants to kill him as revenge for the way Alexander manipulated him into killing people and for the way he used him for his plans. Alexander had some scraps of remorse for Daniel, he cared for him but not that much because his desperation to come back to someone who he deeply loves and wants to return for years was always the main trait in his mind. Daniel wants him dead and Alexander feels a bit of remorse for ruining the psyche of a young man due to his sickening desperation but that's literally all. Alexander does NOT (romantically) love Daniel any slightest and vice versa.

Also if you have an Au sort of stuff where it all looks different for the purpose of shipping them it's alright. I'm just sharing my opinion why I personally dislike this ship and I strongly doubt that anything will change my opinion on it ever.

[luxurydumpsterfire]

My thoughts on Huskerdust.

I don't really understand why people ship these two. And I don't mean that in a I-hate-the-ship-way. I'm genuinely curious.

The aesthetic is there,sure. Grumpy bartender x Flirty 🌽star? Yeah,okay,I can get behind that.

IF husk had actually been into his "flirting." (cough,cough,sexual harass).

The show makes it a point to showcase that husk doesn't like the advances Angel makes towards him.

That was one of the main points of this ENTIRE scene.

I just don't understand how people think this is okay.

"Oh,but Angel just does it as a coping mechanism!"

Okay? It's still sexual harassing. Look, I understand victims of this sort of abuse have different ways of dealing with it. And that's okay. As long as it's not hurting them or anyone else, I'll completely understand.

But in this case, it's hurting someone else. And Angel dust doesn't seem to care.

"Oh,but I only started shipping them after Loser,Baby."

Okay,now that's a whole different situation. The song was about how,instead of shutting down and isolating yourself ,like Anthony does,it would be good to try and find comfort in the company of others who are also struggling (even though Angel's situation is far worse in comparison but I digress). It was about how it's okay to be vulnerable and about how you don't have to face these struggles alone.

It's a good song with a sweet sentiment behind it,I will admit.

Still, that's not really enough for me to ship them. I will continue to view them more as having a student-mentor situation. I personally just feel like that makes more sense. It would be nice for their dynamic to be more like:

"I'm just not interested in you in that way." "You know what? I'm okay with that."

That would show true growth from Angel and I would prefer that by a lot.

This isn't to say you can't ship them. Of course you can. Knock yourself out! I was just surprised by the amount of people who did. This post was just made to communicate why I'm not one of those people 🤷

[prof-ramses]

Helluva Boss Apology Tour review

In retrospect, it's pretty funny that my expectations for this and The Full Moon ended up being reversed, the episode I expected to by focused on character interaction ended up being more action focused, while the episode I thought would be action focused ended up being mostly character interactions.

For those who just want my thoughts on the plot developments: Once again, I'm pleasantly surprised by how Stolas is handled, with a few moments sticking out for currently neutral reasons (it'll make more sense later).

Now, do get to the details:

I felt the opening sequence was slightly longer than needed, but I feel that was somewhat intentional, evoking a sense of unease.

The montage of the bulk of Blitz's apologies is a lovely tribute to what amounts to the first third of the show, this is easily the most callback heavy episode, but I'd say it feels earned given its place in the story. And I simply can't gloss over the brief acknowledgement of all the people who ship Martha and Mayberry, for someone like me, who has a love of those tongue in cheek fandom gags, it's a real good treat.

Speaking of references, don't think I missed Grandpa's cameo when Blitz gets to Earth, oddly enough, it's not even the characters first interactions with the hellaverse, as Brandon's channel has a sketch of Blitz and Moxxie going after Grandpa.

The song was perfectly serviceable, even if I'm not a fan of Bryce Pinkham's voice in general. I'll also take this opportunity to say I loved both the joke of an actual Blitz plush being burned and the brief shot of the last "party" Stolas attended.

The major point of the episode is obviously the conversation between Blitz and Stolas at the party, and I certainly have some thoughts on it. The first moment that stuck out to me was Stolas saying he wants someone to care about him and want him in their life, only for him to clarify a moment later that he meant it romantically feels like it was done to show that he's, at least on some level, aware that he's neglecting Octavia, which I can't wait to see catch up with him, hopefully by the end of the season. The second is when her doubles down on wanting to be wanted, the exact moment when I came up with this question:"Stolas why do you think no one wants you in their life?" And this is exactly what I hope is built on, Stolas has drowned himself in self pity for so long that there's very little to him as a person to the point that no one sees any real benefit in having any relationship with him, not just romantically, but platonically as well.

This is all building to my point, I'm genuinely starting to think that Blitz and Stolas' relationship will ultimately end on a mutually respectful break up, and if that does turn out to be true then I might genuinely end up somewhat respecting this plotline, despite the major road bumps in the first half of the season.

The last major point I want to hit is Verosika, who manages to be both more extreme and more subdued than before while still feeling completely natural. While I don't have any concrete ideas, I am very curious to see where her character goes in the future.

In conclusion, while I think I prefer The Full Moon, this is still a better episode than roughly half of season. I just hope they can keep it up in the last three episodes as well as the three shorts we'll be getting in July, August and September, which are indeed a thing, in case you weren't aware. That's all for now, feel free to leave any of your own thoughts below.

[katniss-evermeme]

Some disjointed thoughts about the SOTR cover/synopsis reveal from this morning under the cut:

The longer I look at it, the more I don't actually hate the cover? From the response I had seen on Panem Propaganda's post this seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I think the cover actually works. The "nightlock purple" (as one commenter called it) is a good choice since it foreshadows the poisons in the arena and Maysilee's use thereof, and it could possibly hint to how Snow got rid of Haymitch's family after the Games (poison is, after all, the perfect weapon for a snake). The way the snake and mockingjay are joined together + the spikes in the middle make me think of the crowns they give the victors, but it also reminds me of a lyre, which could be a nod to the theme of music in the previous books if intentional.

I do think the snake returning from the TBoSaS cover is significant, especially since the mockingjay is drawn in a similar style. This could just be to keep consistency in the prequel covers, but personally my current theory is that it's an allusion to Lucy Gray. The snake and mockingjay are connected, yet they almost look like they're fighting with one another. Which, of course, brings Snow and Lucy Gray to mind once more. I'm not saying that Lucy Gray did or didn't survive in the prequel, but if she did I think she's likely to make an appearance here (whether Haymitch recognizes her for who she really is or not). Even if she doesn't make a physical appearance, and she truly is dead, I think we'll continue to see her memory haunting Snow at the very least, especially since this is the first time a tribute from Twelve has won since Lucy Gray. It could even be an additional reason why Snow chooses to use Haymitch as an example for the other victors.

Despite being a Haysilee shipper back in the day, I'm really interested in finally getting to see what Haymitch's girlfriend was like. That one has been eating at me since... 2014, maybe? It's going to be nice seeing him have someone around that makes him happy before we have to get a full box of tissues and bawl our eyes out, I just know that one is going to hurt a lot.

That being said, I'm curious to see which of the female tributes mentioned in the synopsis will end up being Maysilee. I showed the synopsis to one of my siblings, who assumed the opposite one that I did, which in turn made me realize that it could really go either way. On one hand (though less likely, in my opinion), there's "the young friend who is nearly a sister to him", who it would make sense for him to ally with (especially since Katniss doesn't mention Haymitch having any other allies during Catching Fire). That said, it sounds like this girl may be in the 13-14 age range; I'm guessing she'll be a bloodbath victim, which is why Haymitch doesn't have the chance to ally with her. But if this does end up being Maysilee, it would be a really sweet twist on their dynamic compared to how many people jumped right in to shipping them without considering a platonic explanation (guilty as charged here, not even going to try to deny it). On the other hand, there's "the most stuck up girl in town". If she ends up being Maysilee, I think it's going to be really fun. Maybe that's not how I've always characterized her, sure, but it could always be a case of Haymitch getting a bad first impression of her too. In either case, I'm picturing a reenactment of What Is This Feeling from Wicked, and it's glorious. Which is certainly a fitting comparison, because the two of them later becoming allies means that we'll get to see them get closer, which will be really sweet as well since they got off on such a wrong foot. Either way, I'm excited to see their dynamic be explored, regardless of which tribute she is. It'll be nice to have more than just a few pages to go off of for Maysilee's characterization now too.

There's not much to say about the other male tribute, but I can already tell he'll be at least a little fun to read about. I definitely think his description of a "compulsive oddsmaker" sounds like someone for Haymitch to bounce sarcastic comments off of, so that's something to look forward to for sure.

[aeternallis]

KPTS Fic Trope: Kim should grovel / Semi-deep dive commentary of the breakup scene

I've seen a number of fans complaining about this trope, so I wanted to talk about it. XD Before that though, I will admit that I myself don't fully understand this trope--or rather, I'm not really sure what this trope fully entails? Because ngl, it sometimes also feels like readers/writers don't actually mind this trope, just only up to a certain extent.

And for anyone curious, I'm firmly on the camp that KimChay should yell/fight out their problems in the most unhinged manner possible like feral beans with lots of sexual tension to muck through AND with no one else involved cuz for the majority of the show, they were off in their own little world anyway~

But I may be on the minority in that, lol So, I digress.

From what I've gathered of this trope though, I'm assuming it's basically: -Kim begging Chay to talk to him/forgive him/ give him a second chance -Kim's own brothers takes Chay's side -VegasPete is somehow in Chay's affections and gets one up over Kim? -Basically no one is on Kim's side, lol

Depending on the execution of the fic, all or some of these points may be featured in the story in order to get these two lovebirds back together.

And honestly? I think the reason why this trope is so popular but also has its share of detractors is because people are looking for the payback or shall I say, "equivalent exchange" of this scene in particular:

It's arguably their most heartbreaking moment in the series, and I will admit, for some people who've had a bad breakup or two in their lives, it may hit a little too close to home, yknow?

And see, I've brought up the opinion before and will reiterate again that what the audience understands about KimChay's circumstances IS NOT what Chay understands as the character that makes up one half of this semi-canon ship.

And based on your understanding of this (as well as your preference, ofc) lies the difference as to whether you like/hate/feel neutral about this trope.

Sure, we can say that Kim did nothing physically to hurt Chay. We can say that Kim did what he had to do in order to keep Chay safe and not draw him into the dangerous world of the mafia, that he was looking out for Chay's best interests. There's just enough of Kim acting like a simp for Chay in the show to get this point across.

But be that as it may, Chay is not the audience. He's not a mind reader, especially not towards someone like Kim who's already closed off and hard to understand to begin with. Lol

And Chay not being able to read Kim's mind or intentions is not a failing on his part as a character; on the contrary, it's what makes him more human and sympathetic to the audience. There's a difference between emotional intelligence and having confidence in another person's motivations. In which case, I think herein lies the other distinction, if you, as the audience, are either willing to give Chay too much credit, too little credit, or just enough to get the ball rolling.

I think what tends to be forgotten about Chay's character at times is that for all his bravery, boldness, and intelligence (which deserves all the praise in the world, because holy moly, if only I had half his guts, I would get a lot more shit done), Chay is also someone who deeply respects people's boundaries. He's a noble character in that way, and why I think in particular Porsche did such a wonderful job raising him.

And we've seen this a number of times, from their very first meeting. He was brave for asking Kim to be his teacher, but didn't push to persuade him otherwise when Kim couldn't say yes. He was bold in tracking where Kim lives to serenade to him, but knew when he had to back off. And even when he confessed to Kim, there was no expectation of his affections being returned, only that he had wanted to show his gratitude to Kim for letting him do his best, and hoping perhaps that the time they spent together would always remain special to Kim.

In this regard, Chay remains loyal to himself and his steadfast nature without ever pushing for more than what Kim could give. But what made the breakup scene painful I think is not just because Kim made Chay believe that he had never loved him, but also because Kim muddled Chay's understanding of the boundaries between them. I would maybe even go so far as to say that what Kim did to Chay was basically a form of gaslighting.

And in muddling that crucial understanding between them, the full scale of the implications in regards to what Chay must have felt in that moment, in my opinion, cannot be overstated:

-the abject humiliation of having believed that someone had returned your feelings, only for it to be implied otherwise by said someone, no matter what Kim's meaning was with his "I'm sorry" LOL -the doubt and lack of confidence in yourself due to misunderstanding someone, without even knowing it -the fear of having shared so much of yourself, when the other person may not even have wanted nor cared for what you had to share in the first place -the loneliness that comes after having experienced all of these emotions, particularly for Chay who was already feeling left behind by his own brother

It's not a surprise tbh, why Chay chose to pull away from not only Kim after this scene, but also from Porsche, at least on an emotional level. Negative emotions like these tend to spill over to the perception of other relationships in one's life; it's hardly ever only contained to the relationship they originated from.

All of these things are painful human experiences, not just something that fictional characters go through, yknow?

And this is why I think this trope is so popular with the KimChay fic writers to begin with. I imagine that those who have written reconciliation fics that feature this trope are highly sympathetic to Chay's plight due to their own lived experiences, and why, while I myself am not necessarily a fan of it, also choose not to judge it.

It's basically wanting to find that sort of satisfaction in fiction that otherwise isn't always found in reality, using said points in the trope.

Ultimately, Kim is the one who muddled that important understanding between himself and Chay. This being the case, Kim has to be the one to untangle them now, imperatively so for some writers, to the point it's at the cost of losing one's dignity (the begging part) and standing alone (his own brothers don't have his back).

[utilitycaster]

(this might be a silly question, and please take this in the best possible faith, i don't mean it to be any kind of a gotcha or a trap, okay now that that's out of the way) i'm a cr fan who hasn't started c3 yet (still trucking through c2 and loving it) but i've been a quiet observer to whatever tf has been happening in the tumblr tags for it and have enjoyed your takes/opinions. so, asking this as someone without context who's not trying to comment on any recent ship developments (don't worry about spoilers though, not trying to avoid any), are there parts of c3, either characters or plot or backstories or whatever, that you do really enjoy/find compelling? (you might have already answered this, i've only been following you for like. a week and a half.) thank you!

Hi anon!

Yes, there definitely are! I completely get where you're coming from for this question, too, but I appreciate the context because I have gotten questions before where I feel like someone is trying to corner me and say CAN'T YOU BE POSITIVE??? Anyway, more on that at the end because I want to get to the things I do like, because there are, in fact, a lot. Also, because you've been vaguely following stuff this is chock full of spoilers just FYI.

Ashton, Chetney, and Fearne are all great characters. There is a lot of thought put into all three by the cast members who play them, I find their backstories and their inner lives rich and interesting, I am actually pretty patient with the Hishari plotline because Ashton has so much else going on that while I'm curious, I don't feel deprived. Chetney is just a great concept (for real people need to play older adventurers more often) and Travis is perhaps an unparalleled generator of interesting plot hooks, and Fearne constantly surprises me with her emotional depth and mischief - after two campaigns of Ashley playing characters who were often more, if not subdued, restrained or thoughtful, it's wonderful watching her let loose and be chaotic and cause problems.

Imogen is tricky because she's a character archetype I love, but her closest relationship does nothing for me. I would really love to see Laura lean into the darkness and moral ambiguity more. With that said her relationships with most of the rest of the party are great and I'd like more of them, and her family dynamics are also fascinating. With Imogen...I do want payoff but there has consistently been enough to keep me going.

Orym and FCG are interesting cases because I always liked Orym well enough but he was extremely Just A Guy - he delivered consistently but never wowed me - and I could not stand FCG earlier on. However, Orym's current arc is phenomenal. Liam's style doesn't always work for me but when it does, it really does, and the past few episodes have been top-tier Orym content. Similarly, after FCG learned of their history and met Dancer, they have been on an upswing that has not ended. I have never before turned around on a character to this degree but I love what Sam is doing. So if you're early on and FCG pisses you off: valid, but he gets good around episode 31 and then keeps being good.

The party split arcs are great. I love Uthodurn, I love Molaesmyr, I love getting to see some of Issylra, there's some great combat, the guests are all fantastic, it's a standout Laudna arc (quite literally part of why I've been recently frustrated with Laudna is because it's like every scrap of character development vanishes when she's within 15 feet of Imogen, like the dumbest paladin aura, but episodes 59-63 Laudna you will always be famous.

Earlier on, everything while Dorian is there is a fun time. Eshteross is precisely up my alley as are the Green Seekers. I also love the Twilight Mirror Museum heist.

The Bassuras arc is rough because there's a lot of good stuff going on but the plot is all weird and slow and I did not enjoy the guest arc. That said: some great interpersonal conversations, and also the Deathwish Run is a fun time if, like me, you love combat.

Yios casino episode, also a good time. The best way I can put it for someone watching through is that like...episodes 1-23 are typical finding one's characters/figuring out what's going on early campaign stuff, enjoyable overall, and the flaws within them can be attributed to that. 24-38 have plenty of bright spots within them (some of which I talked about) but it's a real slog at times. 39-42 are great. 43-45 are nonstop lore dump time, which isn't to say they are bad - there's some good stuff in there - but after 24-38 being lore dump and weird setup city it's a bit exhausting. Once the party goes to the feywild in 46 things get good and stay good. Like, for all the current romance isn't doing anything for me it's also, at this point, literally 2 minutes in an episode that otherwise fucking rules.

So just to get back on the bit about positivity: I tend to talk a lot more about what isn't working than what is. Some of this is because I firmly believe complaining is an art and a skill and is more fun to write. Some if it is also because I think if I like something, I just...like it! I can probably figure out why I like it if I want, but there's something very enjoyable about, well, just enjoying something. But if I don't like something, it's important for me to try to tease out why. Sometimes it's just that it doesn't work for me. There have been past CR characters who, while I can talk through the things I find I don't like about them, in the end it really comes down to "I think this personality is annoying, and that's valid and also a personal opinion." But sometimes I can frame it in terms of lack of narrative weight or momentum, or mechanically suboptimal builds that don't fit in with the character, or what have you, and I think it's valuable to be able to say that instead of just "wow this sucks." Like, there's meta to be had in why I don't care for something, whereas, for example, Fearne's incredibly clutch moves in the most recent episode were things I called out in my liveblogging but I don't have much to say other than "Ashley made some baller combat choices."