#just my two cents on these relationships

[soviet-supersoldier]

Women who I think fall into the calculated, take charge, unafraid, comfortable with giving orders and brilliant category for Arkady:

Sage

Anastasia Illyevna

Lady Deathstrike

Arkady has been shown to get along with each one of these women very well in the comic issues they've appeared together in. They're each strong, assertive in their own way, and have proven to be good guides to direct his behavior in -- if not a more positive direction -- then at least one with purpose. The partnerships feel like a partnership of two equals. Arkady is not getting completely dominated by the other's personality, despite taking orders from them. He still gets to shine on his own even while being a supporting partner in the dynamic.

Men who I think fall into the think they're brilliant category:

Sabretooth

What can I say about Sabretooth? I know a lot of people seem to like the idea of him with Arkady (and I know I may upset some people by saying this), but I just can't bring myself to agree with that position. They may have some things in common, such as a history of being made into a weapon, and they did get along in Weapon X, but that comic run is an outlier, not the norm for their dynamic. It only really was able to work because Sabretooth was not acting the way he normally would, he was magicked into being a better person which resulted in him thinking in ways -- more sympathetic ways -- than he ever would normally. Outside of that run, he and Arkady just don't get along. Sabretooth backstabs and leaves Arkady in the lurch. He uses Arkady and loves getting one over him whenever he gets the chance. He throws insults at Arkady and doesn't care in the slightest about his share in the responsibility he had for ruining Arkady’s life. Sabretooth is always looking out for number one (himself) while always remaining focused on his ultimate prize: Wolverine. Everything and everyone else ends up getting sacrificed for that goal. Creed's standard behavior of self-centeredness and arrogance leaves him giving Arkady the short end of the stick more often than not.

I don't think Arkady deserves that. He doesn't deserve to have someone who treats him as second and who can have the tendency to overshadow him in the narrative (Arkady barely gets anything to do at the end of the Weapon X run and is kinda just there after he joins the team). I think Sabretooth would have to go through a lot of personal growth or change to ever really be a good partner for anyone, let alone Arkady. Given how much Marvel loves to have him fight Wolverine and carry such a fixation on him, however, I doubt they will ever let Sabretooth change so dramatically. I think Sabretooth War really hammered that final nail on the coffin. Sabretooth will always remain trapped in this cycle of being focused on Wolverine and refusing to ever change into a better person. That's just who Marvel wants 616 Creed to be.

With all this in mind, I think Arkady is better off with the women and that out of all his potential relationships, one of those actually stands a chance of being allowed to get properly established as a romance of some kind. They can be built up from the groundwork that already has been established and don't require an extreme change of character to get them to work well together. Their past is positive and has been left open in such a way that reconnecting and continuing where they left off wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Sage would be the best one of the options offered as she is 1. Alive, 2. Currently possesses her own personal drive that Arkady can match well with, and 3. As a heroic character, being with Sage would allow his redemption arc to continue and could allow him to be used more consistently in stories, ones which actually develop his character and personality rather than just remain focused on him being a bad guy to punch. He could actually grow, which is something I would really love to see for him.

Gleaning what we can from Arkady’s past interactions and partnerships with other people, I can gather that his type is either

— women who are calculated, take charge, unafraid of him, comfortable with giving him orders and are utterly brilliant

Or

— men who THINK they’re utterly brilliant.

[royalarchivist]

Pac: You know Ramon, maybe one day you can start doing farms here? I would appreciate it! And I can pay you in chocolates and diamonds, you know?

Ramon: pay me by marrying my dad

Fit: No, hey– [Stammers] Ramon! Ramon!

Bagi: YES!!! Yes, Ramon, yes!

Pac: [Laughs] Nooo, Ramon! You got me- you got me right on the spot!. Dammit! Ok... I will consider! I will consider. [...] Let's make a deal: I will do that when you become a dragon. 😉

Ramon: 😑

Fit: [Laughs] Yeah, when you become a dragon, Ramon! That sounds good to me!

[ Full Transcript ↓ ]

—

Pac: Yeah, Ramon knows about Create. You know Ramon, maybe one day you can start doing farms here? I would appreciate it! And I can pay you in chocolates and diamonds, you know?

[Fit and Bagi laugh]

Fit: That's a good reward, yeah!

Bagi: Chocolate and diamonds!

Pac: Yeah [Laughs]

Ramon: pay me by marrying my dad

Fit: No, hey– [Stammers] Ramon! Ramon!

Pac: "Pay me by marrying my dad"? Oh– [Stammers] Ramon! Ramon! Ramon!

Bagi: YES!!! Yes, Ramon, yes!

Fit: [Fit uses his chainsaw to break the sign and accidentally hits Ramon] Oh, sorry– I was trying to break the sign, I'm sorry, Ramon.

Pac: Ramon! [He does the "falls to pieces" emote]

Fit: Baby steps, Ramon! Baby steps!

Pac: Baby st– Ramon, remember–

Bagi: Yes, Ramon, yes!

Pac: [Laughs] Nooo, Ramon! You got me- you got me right on the spot!

Fit: [Laughs]

Pac: I'm gon– props- props on you, you know? It was a good– yeah. Dammit! Ok... I will consider! I will consider.

Ramon: [Nods repeatedly]

Fit: Yeah, you can't rush these things Ramon, you know? Like, it's- it's– You know? I mean– plus, you know, w– we got our own things we're working through!

Pac: [Leaning into the mic] You can't rush on love.

Fit: Yeah, exactly! Like– yeah. You know? We're working on ourselves. Yeah.

Pac: Yeah.

Fit: [Weakly] Yeah...

Ramon: [Spins in a circle wildly]

Pac: Baby steps!

Fit: Baby steps, baby steps.

Pac: One day– ok, let's make a deal: I will do that when you become a dragon.

Ramon: [Stares at the ground, resigned]

[Pac and Fit both laugh]

Fit: Oh yeah– Yeah, when you become a dragon, Ramon! That sounds good to me!

Ramon: [Tosses a potion of swiftness on them]

Pac: Woooo! Baby steps no more– I'm just kidding.

Fit: [Laughs]

[seventeenlovesthree]

So I've been discussing the idea of "having a hard time" diving back into old shows - particularly those I was obsessive about in the past.

One of those shows - was Bakuten Shoot Beyblade. I believe I've mentioned it a few times before, but from approximately 2003 to 2009, this was my absolute JAM. After Digimon Tamers, it was the very first anime I was "active" about in German forums, I wrote RPGs, I wrote fanfiction, I drew fanart... You name it. And while I thought I had the main cast down to a T, I am pretty sure that, after being out of the series for so long, I would analyze them a little bit differently today. Heck, I think even my preferred shipping choices have changed somewhat from how they were back then... (To be fair, I have always liked every single combination between the main four, but I would definitely say that some of those are more dear to me than others.)

I think I'd really like to write some character analysis for them at some point. I always enjoyed taking apart their respective tropes and see how their traumas unfolded. And, looking at how even modern depictions of them go, I seem to not have been that far off after all!

To keep it as shortly as possible:

Takao may, at first glance, strike you as your typical shounen protagonist who loves to eat a lot and believes in the power of friendship to succeed - and while these aspects about him are certainly true, it's interesting to watch how it all unfolds between the first and third season. There is a fine line between his genuinely good heart, a passion for what he loves and an ego he has to overcome sometimes. I would even argue that he is one of the most misunderstood characters out there; because due to his family background, he does have severe abandonment issues, fearing to be left behind and thus he doesn't react well to situations like that - either he turns into a wounded puppy or covers it up with a mask of cockiness. He can be brash and hotheaded - but he genuinely loves his friends and believes in the good in people (and thus he really gives me magical girl vibes). He knows how to pull others with him, has an incredibly charming and attractive energy and other people feel naturally drawn to him... It's beautiful.

The stereotype Max has always been dealing with was that of the "sugar high ray of sunshine" - and I am delighted to see how wide-spread the idea has become that, while he absolutely IS a positive, open and physical person, he is also masking a lot of his own insecurities and abandonment issues with cocky phrases and a never-ending smile. Because he feels like he has to - to keep the band together, to not lose the sense of togetherness and to not be abandoned and replaced again. Just like with Takao, family-related trauma is at play here. His defensively smart Blading style is oftentimes ridiculed and overlooked, thus kinda playing into him trying to overcome his own inferiority complexes. Both him and Takao adore their newly found family to the core and it's no surprise that they easily click with one another - and that Max seems to have an easy time getting through to almost everyone in the team as well.

Rei - oh my Lord, I will try to keep this one short as well, because he was definitely my fave back in the day. And what's not to love about human-cat-hybrid (good old Neko-Jin days, how I miss thee) with a yin/yang theme going on who has a hard time choosing between his mind and his heart, traditions and freedom, and continuously gets himself into trouble because of that? One may also argue that he's getting the shortest end of the stick because of his inner and outer conflicts A LOT... And despite that, he is just as prone to cockiness, probably also trying to mask his own attachment issues by doing that. The burden of expectations that are constantly thrown at him drives him to the need to find his own path - so he tends to run away and changes direction a lot. Like a true cat does... Man, I love that absolute disaster child, always torn between his values and needs, who, even though loyalty absolutely does play a role for his character, has an even harder time conveying how much his found family means to him. In that regard, he is only topped by one particular character (no pun intended...).

Kai, oh Kai. Edgelord of the century, or, like we used to call him, mister ice cube. Essays upon essays have been written about his character - the cold exterior that was formed by years and years of child abuse (at least in the anime, the manga is an entirely different beast to cover, but even there, the subject of abandonment issues is present again). A cold and cruel mask, a brilliant Blader with an aura of, dare I say it, sadistic fun when it comes to destroying his opponents... And yet, there is that other side of him. The side that is incredibly protective and, in his very own way, supportive. Giving advice through harsh words, claiming that he only has his own interests in mind... But is that really the case? Isn't he, deep down inside, just as smitten by these dorks he is "stuck with"? Obsessed with beating those he claims to be his rivals until his very last breath... A twisted sense of love he probably hasn't fully understood himself yet... Or has he?

Long story short - they are all cocky teenage boys with a passion for spinning tops that play off of each other incredibly well and actually love each other a lot and are probably all bisexual disasters to different degrees, but I will get deeper into sexuality headcanons later.

[shoot-i-messed-up]

…ngl the Ilana & Rick dynamic was more interesting before they fucked

[klutzytomb]

I never thought I'd say this, but there's no way I'm one of the only ones here that isn't chronically online. Right? Right??

[stardust-moth]

You accurately assessed that Mike is not best with words, that he does better with quiet reassurance and physical touch. So why didn't he do any of that when El was crying and begging for him to love her? Why couldn't he go over to her and put his arm around her to comfort her, hold her hand, kiss her? Why did he maintain such perfect distance even after it was clear she hadn't found someone else and she desperately wanted his love?

If it was just the words he struggled with, why couldn't he show he loved her in his own way to ease her worries? It's not like he's never kissed her before. They are in a relationship and it wouldn't be unexpected.

And you can't say El wouldn't want him to, because she was literally begging him to prove his love to her.

I assume you mean in that moment, after the "you're a superhero" "not anymore" lines...

First of all, there's a narrative that needs to be told. Can't really get around that. There needed to be that little bit of a barrier, a little bit of conflict for Eleven's part of the story to progress. Like I said before-- the point of that conversation was not about Mike's feelings for her. That conversation was about how El felt about herself, and how she believed everyone else to feel about her. Even if he did try to hold her and kiss her and do whatever else might "convince" her that he loves her, I don't think she was in a mental state to accept it. She already believed she was unlovable now, long before he even came to visit. In that moment especially, with emotions running so high, I fully believe she would have just shoved him away if he tried to push her, even if that was what she wanted most from him. (PTSD does crazy shit sometimes, trust me.)

I don't think Mike would have wanted to push that boundary, either. Both out of respect for her and out of fear of making it worse. He's too insecure already about his own worth, especially now that she is pulling away from him-- and has been pulling away from him for months, apparently-- and a good portion of what we see of Mike for the rest of the season is him battling with that helplessness he feels. He talks to Will about it several times how he wishes he could have the courage to love her openly. A more confident boy might have swooped in and made it all better right away, but he was scared. Someone more suave might have been able to charm away the tears with poetic words and kisses on the hand, but we all know Mike is no Casanova, and as nice as it would be to be able to do that so easily, it's not realistic, and he understands her enough to know it wouldn't work like that either.

It's almost exactly the same as how Lucas approaches Max, to be honest-- trying desperately hard to get her to understand that he supports her and cares about her, but not so insistent that he just kicks down those walls for her anyway. (Given how hard Mike was grilled by Max in S3 for being possessive/overprotective/not letting her be her own person and handle things on her own, regardless of how wrong Max was contextually, I'm pretty sure he learned his damn lesson.)

Also, as always, the plot gets in the way before they get a chance to properly communicate. If the police had not whisked El away immediately after that scene, and there had been more time for emotions to settle and for them both to find the right words, they could have worked it out. El could have calmed down enough to be receptive to the things Mike was trying to tell her, and probably accepted any hugs or kisses or cuddles he offered. In a perfect scenario, that could have happened. But for the purposes of the story, and the self-acceptance obstacles that both characters have to face, it just doesn't play out that way.

[sysig]

Coming in to play! (Patreon)

[buddiedaydreamer911]

okay i can’t stay silent anymore

i don’t like tommy. i have had a bad feeling about him from the start, meaning back to season two and it hasn’t gone away.

i’m not hating on any bucktommy shippers, i’m not judging anyone for liking the ship and/or character, i respect the bucktommy shippers opinions.

i tried hard to ignore the parts of him that made me hesitate to like him. i tried to like him but i just can’t. i could mention the things he’s done before and after he started dating buck that i can’t ignore but i won’t, ill only mention this one.

i absolutely HATED that little “i hope you do.” comment when buck asked him if he thought buck had daddy issues.

after seven years, i feel like we finally finally got Buck admitting/acknowledging his father/son relationship with Bobby. I thought it was beautiful on how he referred to Bobby as “The Father I’ve Never Had.” yeah, tommy reminded buck that his actual father is still alive, but (unless this has happened before and i’m just forgetting about it) we finally have Father Figure Bobby canon.

it was heartwarming to hear buck say that, but then tommy went and tainted the moment with a sexual innuendo about daddy issues.

i don’t care if buck and tommy have a canonically sex life, we all know he had one with all of Buck’s exes- that part didn’t bother me.

what bothered me was that particular moment got sexualized when it shouldn’t have.

[renjirukia]

i've brought this up before i'm sure, but byakuya being sooo self-involved during the ss arc and so myopically obsessed with rukia's execution and how it relates to him and makes him feel etc... that he just doesn't clock the massive government conspiracy going down opens such a juicy can of worms for characterization.

[nebuvoid]

I beg to differ to anyone in the tag saying My new boss is goofy is 'cute BL bait' - there's a big difference between bait and queer media that just doesn't focus on direct romance. Just because they aren't shwinging around big yaoi dicks doesn't mean it's not clearly gay. Sometimes it doesn't need to be in your face, gay things are allowed to be subtle without being dubbed as bait or censored. ...though you really can't call this show subtle, there's literally something homosexual happening every 2 minutes. Hell it doesn't even matter if either couples get into a stated relationship - they clearly have no problem mentioning ex-boyfriends or dates with men. That's gay.

[fadelikeclouds]

Diving into Tai’s mind: actions do not speak louder than words

First of all, I will say that I was upset with Tai at the end of episode 10. I am fine that Tai didn’t want to talk to Patts outside on the street. He was probably shocked and frightened by Patts angry outburst, and he wanted to put some time and distance between them so that they could cool off and talk more rationally later. What I’m less fine with is that Tai still refuses to say anything after Patts shows up at his door. And yeah, Patts probably shouldn’t have shown up drunk outside Tai’s door, but he is in pain and needs some comfort, and he tells Tai this. So why doesn’t Tai say anything to reassure Patts?

And now we come to the reason I am writing this. I don’t like staying upset at people, so I try to understand them. After thinking about things I am still frustrated with Tai, but a little less so. Here are the results of my musings.

Tai has been struggling with his parent’s divorce for over 2 years now. It’s easy to say that, but what does it mean? He is a romantic, and seeing his ideal of love crumble before him was frightening because it made him doubt the existence of love and happiness. Soulmates guarantee nothing. Love doesn’t last. Families can break apart. That’s a pretty dismal view of the world. Despair is never easy to cope with. He had his faith in love broken, so of course he wouldn’t talk to his soulmate, because why create a relationship that will only break your heart?

Then he sees Patts, and he starts to hope again. But he’s still hesitant. He’s still scared. He knows that there is no guarantees in relationships, soulmates or not. This is how he goes into his relationship with Patts, fighting against his doubts and fears the whole way. Throughout the beginning Patts is patient, kind, charming, and Tai begins to be more open to the idea of a relationship with this soulmate of his. Then the whole situation with Nara happens, and his fears and doubts about love come up again.

He talked with Nara; he knows how much she loved Patts, and he even cheered her on when he didn’t know Patts was her ex. They honestly loved each other, and seeing them kiss makes him question, again, what makes a relationship last. Confused and panicked, he decides to talk a walk to the Doi Mae Pliang in an effort to figure everything out... which doesn’t work. But he talks with Patts after he finds him in the ditch, and after being reassured that Patts does love him and would choose to love him even without being soulmates his mind clears. He knows he loves Patts, and all of Patts words and actions make him believe that Patts reciprocates that love. So he (nonverbally) agrees to officially date him when Patts asks him the next morning. At a glance, what’s the big deal? That’s only natural. This is a romance, of course they’re going to start dating. But as a character, this choice means that he is willing to face all his fears about being in a relationship, a big shift for the guy who ran away from his issues by remaining silent for 2 years. To be clear, I don’t think his fears go away, but Tai has the resolve that this relationship is worth it, that Patts is worth the risk of heartbreak.

And even then, he’s not ready to go the final step and have sex with Patts just yet. That is another level of vulnerability that Tai eases himself into, something that he doesn’t take lightly. In this episode, when he says he’s ready, to him it’s another way of showing how serious and committed he is to this relationship. He loves Patts, and is willing to face all the fears that comes with being in a relationship with his soulmate.

All of this is a big deal to Tai. These are very large steps that he has taken forward as someone who chose to very litterally suffer in silence every time it rained. Now, does he talk about this with Patts? Not in any great detail. That’s part of the problem.

To Tai it’s not even a question of whether to choose Patts or Lomfon. He loves Patts. All of his actions show just how much Patts means to him. And I think it hurts Tai that Patts doesn’t understand him. Because in Tai’s mind, he’s crossed oceans of fears, fought uphill battles against his skepticism, just to get here. Having Patts doubt Tai’s love makes him feel that Patts belittles all the pain and fear Tai’s endured to get to this point in the relationship. And that hurts because in a relationship, you want to be understood by your partner so that you can share in the joys and pains with them.

But what Tai doesn’t see is that Patts is in pain right now. Patts is scared and needs some words of reassurancs because he is human. He has his own fears and insecurities. He watched as his last relationship fell apart because he has a “soulmate”, something entirely out of his control. And with the appearance of a second soulmate, having Tai lie about seeing Lomfon, catching them at the perfectly wrong moment to see them kiss, Patts loses it. He’s angry and afraid because again, he could lose someone he loves because of this soulmate thing that he has no control over. That fear grips him, and when we’re like that, we can’t think calmly. Sometimes we need the support of others to help us through the dark avenues of the mind.

But instead of helping him, Tai feels like he’s said everything Patts is asking him to say, and he’s upset that Patts can’t hear him. And I get that. It’s frustrating when you feel like you’ve been saying something over and over again, and the other person just doesn’t seem to get it. What’s the point in trying to communicate when nothing you say will be understood? It feels as if all your efforts are just futile. But communication is a two way street. Being understood is an important part of a relationship, but it is equally important to try to understand the other person, which is what Tai is missing here. Tai has spoken through his actions, but what Patts needs are words. He needs to hear that Tai does love him, that he does choose him. We say that actions speak louder than words, but at times words are absolutely necessary.

[lesbianjackies]

i feel like a lot of the fandom really misunderstands the black brothers’ relationship with each other.

i have a sister and i hate her and she hates me. there’s not really a way to sugarcoat it. we hate each other. yeah, we love each other too, but that “but they love each other too” doesn’t soften it at all. it makes it all the more intense and brutal because it’s so hard to love someone and hate them at the same time. and the more you hate them the more you love them and the more you love them the more you hate them. there’s no “i love you so i’m going to try to fix this and protect and care for you even though i don’t like you” it’s “i love you so much why are you treating me this way? why do you hate me? fine. i guess i’ll hate you too” and you take your love and you twist it and you use all the things you know about the person because you’re so close with them against them and it’s a venomous cycle because they feel the exact same way about you.

that’s the black brothers’ relationship. not the cute little “we fight a lot but like we love each other so it’s basically okay!!” that the way a lot of black brothers’ interactions can be boiled down to (i know it’s usually more intense than that but it feels like it’s just an overdramatized version of that to me. and when the black brothers, whose worldviews directly contradict each other and have conflicting personalities and were raised in an abusive household are portrayed more healthily than me and my sister?? that’s how i know there’s something wrong with that characterization.)

(these tags are from @lesbianmckinnonn — disclaimer: i am not coming at you zandra ilysm i just disagree with this and want to discuss it)

the black brothers are not going to patch up each other’s wounds. they are going rip at each other’s skin and tear each other’s hearts out and then sit in their rooms alone sobbing, and it’s not just because “my brother hurt me” but also because “i hurt my brother”. and even though they are aching they will not apologize and they will not let the other know they care. because they each believe it’s too far gone.

that is the black brothers’ relationship.

[tarohonii]

duke and gahin relationship be like: they're friends for the political benefits. they despise each other and can't stand the other. they are physically attracted to each other but it is never acknowledged. they have a strange sort of implicit understanding of the positions they're in and the costs that comes with they're lifestyle. they barely actually ever hold meaningful conversations beyond information trading and shit-talking. rumors could say they're hooking up every night or refuse to touch a single hair on the other's head and they'd both be correct. they were not the only real thing they had to each other; rather, they were a representation of everything they hated and strived for the in the awakeners world- another chess piece, another potential knife in the back. Gahin said "he never guessed Duke would betray the academy." That was a lie. If there was any capacity in which they wanted each other, it was in the only way they knew how; the greed of wanting something unobtainable, or the raging jealousy of tearing down something above them. They acknowledged each other, just never enough.

[shoot-i-messed-up]

One of the hardest things about writing superlantern is figuring out what’s the deal with clois in this universe…they’re literally soulmates….why is clark with hal and not lois….

[madforhoran]

funny how there's no discourse around Gale in terms of "no, you cannot romance him as a man cuz Gale is so obviously straight"

[silverspadesss]

i think the pacing in ep 7 definitely could have been better, and i really think those missing two episodes in comparison to last season aren’t doing it any favours.

but ed and stede are ‘whim-prone’. that’s already been established. and they’re very new into this relationship and both still quite immature, and i do have faith that everything’s going to be fine.

stede was bullied as a child and has felt inadequate and left out his entire life, and now he’s being recognised and celebrated as a pirate. he feels like he fits in now. and for someone who’s spent his entire life feeling like the exact opposite, it all comes crashing down on him at once. and predictably, he doesn’t know how to handle it, and so he gets arrogant and a little selfish. stede is currently caught up in the rush of being the person that he thinks he always wanted to be, and being liked for what he sees right now as who he really is. and now with the english upon them and much bigger things at stake, hopefully he’ll be able to realise this. hopefully he can snap out of this high caused by sudden social esteem and realise what - and who - truly makes him happy.

and meanwhile ed doesn’t want to be a pirate anymore. just like when stede left him on the dock, his feelings of not being worthy of stede and the life that stede apparently now wants to live are bubbling up again, and we’ve seen how in tune with his emotions edward is and how much things can affect his mood and self-esteem (and that’s not a scathing endowment of his character at all), as someone who’s still working on making himself feel lovable. that’s why he wanted to take it slow, and that in my eyes is why he made that snap decision to leave. because he’s impulsive. he’s whim-prone, as much as stede is for immediately changing himself for the sake of feeling good about himself and admired by people. and right now he’s crashed from an incredible high - rebuilding his relationship with stede and the crew and becoming the person he wants to be - to an incredible low - suddenly feeling out of place again and that who he wants to be doesn’t fit with stede.

and to his mind that means of course stede is going to grow tired of him. he’s going to leave him again. if they had a proper conversation, which i hope they will, ed would realise this isn’t true. but as someone who suffers from extreme anxiety i recognise that thought pattern building, and it’s had time to build and fester inside ed’s brain because while stede has been basking in his fame, ed has been alone with his thoughts. and now those niggling fears have in his mind turned to absolute unwavering truths - that he is not good enough for stede bonnet anymore. that stede does not need him. and so he must leave before he gets left, as he cannot go through that heartbreak again.

there is probably a better way to word this and i am aroace and know nothing about relationships so bear that in mind but to everyone panicking about david pulling a good omens on us, it’s much less likely to happen. they just need to communicate, and hopefully realise that being with each other is what allows them to grow as people. their relationship is what helps them become the person they both want to be, not superficial fame or emotionally distancing themselves for what they perceive to be as for their own good.

tl;dr - there is still hope for stede and ed’s relationship to turn out happy and healthy by the end of this season. keep your hopes up, fandom. it’s not over yet, and their relationship is far from ruined forever.