#katya x sophia

[cafeleningrad]

Fandom has issues with female characters, even more so with F/F ship.

Therefore it's amazing how from all possible stories a Scorsese movie got tumblr to spend an insane amount passion into an F/F ship. Like, don't get me wrong, Scorsese never writes women in an offensive way but when it comes to agency and personality they're more reflections on how machismo badly affects the male protagonist's life, including his loved ones - but for all my love for Marty and his work, that's the best that can be said about him writing his female characters. (Or they're entirely non-existent.)

So it's amazing, that Katya who gets a similar treatment like Karen Hill, in terms of appearance, and Sophia who's at best a side commentary on women in mafia structures (only appearing with short dialogue and only ever with Mario in the same scene) receive so much fandom love and passion. Usually that's only reserved for blorbofying tertiary third characters in other fandoms. Amazing, good work! This movie brings out the best in you!

[ship-my-pants]

ROUND ONE

[kabuwu]

The piece I did for the @goncharovzine which is available for free download !

[girlbossgatekeepgoncharov]

I have an idea! Starting a little serious but heading in a playful direction, I promise. TL;DR: it’s the blonde.

Quick recap of existing convos on why specific m/m ships are popular—and which pairings within canons rise to prominence. Writing from a us perspective here. Fandom has a collective history of

- selecting white characters for ships even when non-white characters are present in canon (applies to both major and minor figures)

- depicting characters as white when race or ethnicity are not established in canon (in the us context the default extends to depicting characters as anglo and christian)

– pairing “the dark-haired one and the light-haired one”…there’s a whole history of conversations about slash here that i don’t know how to summarize, hmm. criticism of individual fanworks or of fandoms at large might say oh, you’re just swapping out one pairing for another, where’s the characterization? or critical conversations in the academy might ask, hey so what’s going on with this large group of primarily cis women who make and consume m/m romance? and what is up with these tropes? etx etx.

OKAY SO where am I going with this? @beelzeebub’s November 18 poster cast Cybill Shepherd as “Katya.” Blonde. And I wish I had a cool timelapse to show how Sofia coalesced but very early on it was clear that she would have dark hair.

Taking that poster as a starting point for canon facecasting, the m/m options all have dark hair. Many fans couldn’t distinguish them—I saw multiple primers and even corrections issued re: de niro and keitel, for example.

yes, I am half-seriously positing that the F/F pairing is most generative because a general audience can immediately tell Katya and Sofia apart. This makes me laugh.

I hope people keep thinking expansively about the Goncharov characters with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, historical context, disability, gender, age and more. I’ve seen some truly badass fanworks with Sofia in particular. And some really smart, fun yes-and-ing to shake up the rest of the cast.

(Personally I’ve thought a lot about Eritrean history—after all, Zeudi Araya was working in Italy in 1973.)

I don’t want to skip over this: having “the dark-haired one” be a character trait ties into genuine questions and necessary conversations about racialized characters (and so much more) in art! Particularly as fanworks and fandom spaces default to antiBlackness and antisemitism (again speaking from the us context—that’s not all). So much to actively contend with. “The discourse” isn’t our only recourse, though!

One of my favorite things about Goncharov has been people creatively engaging with fandom history, media literacy and critical thinking in their creative expression. This is fun for me. Having fun with praxis = praxis?

@korechthonia and @destinationtoast ty for your posts. Can’t wait to see what November 2023 brings.

Have you noticed how much Goncharov fic is femslash? it's a lot. the whole phenomenon is wonderful, but this is probably the most fascinating thing about it (to me, at least)

I have noticed, and it is fascinating! To update some of my Goncharov stats from 3 days ago, now that the AO3 fandom presence has grown from 40 to over 500 fanworks (!!!):

With those smaller numbers a few days ago, I was really just goofing around (you can't conclude much about which ships are "winning" with only 40 fanworks, but I wanted to contribute some fun graphs to the Goncharov phenomenon anyway). Now that there are so many works, femslash is clearly leading the fic world, even though a lot of the meta and articles I see people sharing primarily mention the Andrey/Goncharov homoeroticism.

This is really interesting, and I wonder what all is driving it. Do the actors who play Andrey & Goncharov not speak as much to slash fans as the actors who play Katya & Sofia? is it the particular scenes that the women characters are in that speak to the fans the most? Was there some particularly inspirational early F/F fic or fanart that spurred more? Are "imaginary canons" (such a goofy genre name!) more likely to generate more femslash than other canons? And/or are there other reasons? Would love to hear theories.

[yuribracket]

With that, the Maligned Yuri Bracket's preliminary round has come to an end!

There are some things I wish I'd set up differently in retrospect, but the results stand!

It will take a while longer to build a bracket, but for now, I present you with the final list of pairings that will be included in the competition!

Winners of the preliminary round:

Kay Faraday/Ema Skye (Ace Attorney)

Susato Mikotoba/Haori Murasame (The Great Ace Attorney)

Aiho Yomikawa/Kikyou Yoshikawa (A Certain Magical Index)

Ichigo Hoshimiya/Aoi Kiriya (Aikatsu!)

Annaliese/Erika (Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper)

Talia Al Ghul/Selina Kyle (DC Comics)

Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain (DC Comics)

Kazuha Toyama/Ran Mouri/Sonoko Suzuki (Detective Conan)

Erika Satonaka/Chiyoko Shiraishi (Kamen Rider OOO)

Aurora/Mulan (Once Upon a Time)

Elesa/Skyla (Pokemon)

Nemona/Penny (Pokemon)

Cyllene/Zisu (Pokemon Legends Arceus)

Setsuna Higashi/Inori Yamabuki (Fresh Pretty Cure!)

Saki Hyuuga/Mai Mishou (Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star)

Yuko Omori/Hime Shirayuki (Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!)

Bibury/Ciel Kirahoshi (KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode)

Reika Aoki/Miyuki Hoshizora (Smile Pretty Cure!)

Hosshiwa/Sasorina (Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! and Heartcatch Pretty Cure!)

Laura La Mer/Asuka Takizawa (Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure)

Sora Harewataru/Mashiro Nijigaoka (Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure)

Elena Amamiya/Hikaru Hoshina (Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure)

Amane Sumeragi/Hina Yayoi (Waccha Primagi)

Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose (RWBY)

Hotaru Tomoe/Chibiusa Tsukino (Sailor Moon)

Sayaka Miki/Kyoko Sakura (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Nao Egokoro/Reko Yabusame (Your Turn to Die)

Tomoyo Daidouji/Meiling Li (Cardcaptor Sakura)

Aizawa/Ichigo Momomiya (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Hitori Gotoh/Kita Ikuyo (Bocchi the Rock!)

Goombella/Vivian (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)

Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus (The Locked Tomb)

Katya Michailov/Sofia (Goncharov)

Jenny Dolittle/Lynn Lambretta (Mouretsu Pirates)

Sophia Ascart/Katarina Claes (My Next Life as a Villainess)

Bloom/Stella (Winx Club)

Misa Amane/Rem (Death Note)

Nobara Kugisaki/Maki Zenin (Jujutsu Kaisen)

An Lili/Yona (Yona of the Dawn)

Mayura Ransaika/Urara Ransaika (Akane-banashi)

Irisviel von Einzbern/Artoria Pendragon (Fate/Zero)

Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Rise of Kyoshi)

Lain Iwakura/Alice Mizuki (Serial Experiments Lain)

Svetlana Sergievsky/Florence Vassy (Chess)

Rin Hoshizora/Nozomi Tojo (Love Live!)

Ranma Saotome/Akane Tendo (Ranma 1/2)

Morena Prudo/Theta (Hunter X Hunter)

Marcille Donato/Falin Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Rei Ayanami/Asuka Langley Soryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Shirayuki/Kiharu Toghril (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime)

Karen Aijo/Mahiru Tsuyuzaki (Revue Starlight)

Foo Fighters/Jolyne Cujoh (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Shanoa/Laura (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia)

Sagiri Yamada Asaemon/Yuzuriha (Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku)

Sun Jing/Qiu Tong (Tamen de Gushi)

Pairings that received multiple submissions:

Riko Ayano/Shirakaba Yuki (Catulus Syndrome)

Mako Mankanshoku/Ryuko Matoi (Kill la Kill)

The Boss/Strangelove (Metal Gear Solid)

Quiet/Venom Snake (Metal Gear Solid)

Marika Katou/Chiaki Kunihara (Mouretsu Pirates)

Rikka Hishikawa/Makoto Kenzaki (Doki Doki! Pretty Cure)

Haruka Haruno/Yu Nanase (Go! Princess Pretty Cure)

Rin Natsuki/Nozomi Yumehara (Yes! Pretty Cure 5)

Mari Maya/Moe Morita (Samurai Flamenco)

[italianrpgstuff]

Sophia Lillis x Katya Sitak 💖

[carothehotmess]

Goncharov has fallen from the number 1 trending spot because of Wednesday, Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off. And its mostly taken over that trending spot because everyone is shipping Wednesday and Enid, two girls who are polar opposites but are forced into spending time together by external circumstances (school + parents) and become very close friends and whose relationship is sprinkled with more than a few hints of romantic tension.

Ya know what was trending for days at number 1 right before Goncharov? Warrior Nun. A show where two young women who are polar opposites meet and are forced to spend time together due to external circumstances (demons + the church) and who become very close friends and whose relationship is showered with more than some hints of romantic tension, and who eventually confess their love for one another.

So if you’re following the trajectory of this site, the priorities of its users goes:

WLW Ship -> group daydream about homoeroticism in fictional film -> WLW Ship

Further proving that this site is absolutely run by the girls, the gays, and the theys.

[jelliclebellsthatjelliclesring]

Majority wlw fandom

Katya x Sophia is the oldest lesbian ship within media that I am aware of (at least that is based on vaguely canon material (Home video releases mostly))

Fandom: Goncharov

Sample Size: 755 stories

Source: AO3

[lykoiii]

Here she comes You better watch your step She's going to break your heart in two It's true

[i-m-crazy]

Avatrice in first episode:

[epitome-of-an-openbook]

Since the recent talks surrounding a remake have been going around, I thought it might be fun to do a fan cast, so here is my Modern™ fan cast for Goncharov (2024):

Goncharov: Michael Fassabender

Im not saying he could ever replace Robert De Niro, because truly Goncharov is one of his best roles and he played it so extremely well, but visually Fassabender feels right - plus we've seen him play tortured and lovelorn and morally ambiguous so i think he'd be a good recast.

Andrey Daddano - Oscar Isaac

I dont know, it just feels right- and again, while Harvey Keitel did amazing... just imagine this man in an eyepatch

Katya Michailova - Amy Adams

Who better to play such a complex feminine character than multi-award winner Amy Adams, I feel like she could really provide an incredible take on the character of Katya.

Mario Ambrosini - Keanu Reeves

No one could ever out do Pacino in this role, no one at all but someone I think could at least try is Keanu.

Sophia - Rachel Weisz

now she might be leaning a bit old for the role but i just feel she would give this character its due and she would do it well.

And finally everybody's favorite...

"Ice Pick" Joe - Brett Gelman

I don't know why, but I feel like Gelman could really match the energy we received from John Cazale's performance.

[ozuzo]

The clock ticks on and on... and all that was bewitching turns into venom and blood

[dikdikpronouncedxylophone]

The appeal of Goncharov x Andrey and Katya x Sophia

[haematicartwork]

„Temptation, Sofia, is the one sin worth dying for.“

Katya my beloved.

Time taken: 7h 8m

[yassifiedautism]

Say what you will about Martin Scorsese and Matteo JWHJ 0715 but it was incredibly progressive of them to show not one(1) but two(2) gay kisses onscreen in Goncharov, a film that came out in the 70s. Even more impressive that nobody seemed to have anything to say about it until now, almost 50 years after it was in theatres.

[disghasting]

Is anyone else obsessed with how subtly important eye contact is in Goncharov?

Have you noticed how many times he says some form of “look at me” to katya? How, whenever andrey is in a scene his eyes seems to slowly maneuver from object to person to object, as if he’s scanning meaningless information, UNTIL goncharov is in the scene and suddenly his eyes follow him like he’s something worth studying? And what gets me most, how katya, the person who refuses to look at goncharov in the eye unless he all but begs, the woman who has never had the opportunity to yearn for a man because the men do all the yearning for her, looks at sofia like she’s hung the stars and moon, to the point sofia even says something!!! THE DIRECT PARALLELS BETWEEN GONCHAROV’S “look at me, why can’t you ever look at me” AND SOFIA’S “you can’t look at me like that, why do you insist on stopping my heart,” like yeah it was probably meant as a throwaway gag, the way it was said after sofia found katya drunk (don’t even get me STARTED on how katya hid the fact that she was prescribed medication for a preexisting condition from goncharov because she refused to be seen as weak but as soon as she sees sofia’s face in her weakest moment she collapses into her arms and sobs, like???) but that aside it paints such a lovely picture i can hardly stand it.

Heteronormative speculation in the film critic industry has always painted that scene as proof that katya really does care for goncharov because of the flashbacks to him in the middle of her talking to sofia and moments before The Kiss™️, i’ve seen the same take so many times “she was hallucinating that it was goncharov in front of her, not sofia,” but that makes literally no sense considering the way she acts around him for the rest of the film.

The flashbacks were all times that we’d already SEEN in the movie, except the beginning few which were of a younger goncharov, before the beginning of the movie, perhaps before they’d fled russia even. It showed a story, each change in memory was one of him mentioning her always being in her own head, or not paying attention, or even the one scene everyone knows and loves where he asks her what she’s thinking about. The way the first few were grouped together, then became broken up by glimpses of sofia, because the answer to the question “what are you thinking about,” changed as soon as sofia stepped into the picture. She used to dream of freedom from familial pressure, from her husbands line of work, from her countries political agenda, but recently freedom feels less like a pair of wings and more like long brown hair and warm eyes that she can’t help but stare into.

Katya’s character being so underdeveloped in favor of goncharov and andrey mentally fucking for a few more minutes is absolutely deplorable, all i want is for her to find gay peace!

(Btw if you remember any scenes that have to do with the importance of eye contact in the movie that i forgot to mention here, feel free to add on!)