#oH sHe HaS fLaWs AnD sHe FoUgHt WiTh My FaVe fight me!!!!! physically!!!!!!!!!

[autisticlancemcclain]

why! are! there! so! many! allura! haters! in! this! stupid! fandom!

[ravenhilarious]

sometimes I fear that Logan is becoming the Hermione of this fandom

elaboration under the cut. this will discuss the Harry Potter fandom, the sanders sides fandom, and some comparisons of my personal issues within them. there are some mentions of violence, abuse, bigotry, and death, and it is very long.

that’s what they said

disclaimer: I love Harry Potter even if jk is a bigot, I love Hermione, I love sanders sides which fortunately is not created by a bigot, I love Logan, so there’s no intended negativity about any of these

now, back to the point. I repeat: I fear that Logan is becoming the Hermione of this fandom

which should be a good thing, because I love Logan and I love Hermione. being “the Hermione” shouldn’t be seen as something negative, but the reason I'm referring to it as that is:

there was a time where Fanon Hermione basically became, for a lack of a better term, a Mary Sue (I know this term can have problematic and misogynistic elements but I couldn’t find a better way to describe it)

lots of it was based on the movie adaption’s version of her. lots of her flaws were either stripped away or justified – she became more fearless and confident, her condescending attitude towards mainly Harry and (especially) Ron was exaggerated, and, again, seemed more justified here. and of course, it didn’t help that she was played by the gorgeous Emma Watson. 

then came the fandom portrayal of her. while her movie counterpart was definitely more “perfectilized” (is that a word? now it is) than her book counterpart, she still had elements of being a teenager, and, well, a human. but on the internet, there were so many claims of her being the sole reason that Harry was alive, and that she was way out of Ron’s league, and lots of other stuff. if you’re in any way familiar with the Harry Potter fandom around... well, anywhere before like 2016, really, you probably know what I'm talking about. she was basically this “perfect does everything right keeps saying everyone the best at everything” kind of character. that was kinda annoying, both to people who didn’t care that much for Hermione as a character in the first place, and for the people who enjoyed her (more flawed and realistic) book counterpart

and don’t even get me started on the dr4m10ne shippers who claimed that “she deserves better than Ron (or Harry, or Neville, [heteronormativity was still a big thing back then] or really anyone who treated her with respect) and dr4c0 would be so much better for her!” 

and oof, the “Hermione joins the dark side” au’s where her actions were still justified by the narratives (why would a muggleborn join the people that discriminate against her lol)

during the last few years, she’s gotten some backlash because of this. more potter heads started realizing her flaws, or stopped justifying them. the shocking realization that the fan favorite was not perfect made a large part of the fandom go in the opposite direction. which I understand.

now, I am still able to enjoy the (canon) character Hermione Granger, despite the sue-ification she went through (maybe it’s the autism that helps me not to get so affected by public opinion, idk), but not everyone is that lucky. so many potter heads had gotten a very good character ruined for them, which is sad.

I don’t want the same thing to happen to Logan Sanders. 

Now, he wasn’t always one of the faves – in an early episode, he literally gets told that he’s the least popular character in the series (which does get played off as a joke, but I assume – I wasn’t in the fandom back then, so please correct me if I'm wrong – that for many fanders back then, that was very much the case) and I wouldn’t say he’s a “fan favorite” the same way that Hermione used to be. 

however, he has by now gained quite a large fanbase here on Tumblr. which is great! I, myself, really enjoy Logan, and most of his fans are really cool.

but there are some stans who, in my opinion, have started to give him The Hermione Treatment. who claim that he is the one constantly helping Thomas. who feel the need to bash some of the other sides in order to prove that Logan is the best. the main complaint being that “they ignore/silence him too much”. and yes, they definitely don’t listen to him nearly as much as they could and should. I agree with that.

what I don’t agree with is when fanders start wishing for him to “snap” at the others. I'm putting “snap” in quotation marks, because what they usually mean is just him straight up verbally abusing them, sometimes being physically violent toward them. all because they... didn’t pay enough attention to him? 

it gives me the same vibes as when Hermione’s acts of violence (I'm talking about, like, the bird attack toward Ron or the acne scars she forced on Marietta Edgecombe [another thing that got removed in the movie adaption], not the “fighting death eaters” parts) were considered “girl power” or something by the internet. 

now, I'm not saying that Logan in canon is super aggressive and violent, but he definitely has his moments – and that’s fine. a character does not have to be nice 24/7. but the fandom seems to, idk, romanticize (for lack of a better word) these moments, his outbursts of anger and violence, both the canon and Fanon ones. 

furthermore, there seems to be a double standard, in that lots of the things he’s praised for or that gets ignored about him, are the exact same things that would (or do) get criticized when other sides do it.

Patton gets flack for being controlling and guilt-tripping the others, which, yes, that is true, but Logan can also be controlling (Growing Up, Why Do We Get Out Of Bed In The Morning, arguably in Moving On too) and guilt-tripping (”not that any of you care, but I am unharmed” in Putting Others First)

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that fanders have started seeing the less perfect aspects of morality. Even cinnamon rolls can do not so nice things at times.

Roman is considered to be too proud and condescending, and yeah, he is, he is literally Thomas’ ego. But Logan? “I know I'm smarter than everyone else”? nuff said.

Virgil gets criticized for being too aggressive, and boy is that true, but again, you can not bash one character for a trait that you praise (or even wish more of) in another character.

now, I know that there are fanders who also give Virgil a free pass for violence etc. (he was the ultimate Fan Favorite for a very long time), but they seem to be fewer today than they used to be – which is great! it’s just sad that instead of disappearing completely, this character treatment has now moved towards Logan.

(funnily enough, these certain Logan Stans tend to be less critical of Janus’ and Remus’ flaws too, which I will cover later on)

no, I do not want Logan to be flawless, just like I don’t want Hermione to be. I just wish this double standard wasn’t so common in the fandom.

unlike with Hermione, however, the narrative (and the writers) doesn’t seem to favor him over the others – the sides get a relatively equal treatment in that way. but the biggest problem with Hermione was not the writing, or even the movie adaption (though that definitely played a factor too), but rather the fandom. the fandom was the one who claimed Hermione to be some perfect goddess, talented in every way, too good for this world, etc. And I really don’t want this to happen with Logan!

another parallel I'll bring up is the “going dark” thing, more specifically, “going dark because the light is not good enough for me”. I mentioned dr4m10ne earlier, and Hermione joining the death eaters because Harry and Ron and the rest of the “good guys” weren’t good enough. not smart or talented enough. didn’t appreciate her enough. because Ron would at times make fun of her nerdiness, because they sometimes bickered. 

but for some reason, these dr4m10ne shippers and dark!Hermione Stans would gloss over the fact that Dr4c0 made fun of her heritage and that the death eaters literally fought for genocide of people like her (which, imo, is a bit more serious than “haha ur a nerd”)

similarly, it’s become common to head canon Logan “becoming a dark side”. now, I am in no way trying to imply that “the dark sides” are in any way similar to death eaters, or that Janus and Remus are anything like Dr4c0.

but there seems to be, yet again, a double standard. Patton, Roman, and Virgil ignore or silence or under appreciate Logan? oh yes, they definitely do. 

but so do Janus and Remus. I see so many au’s of Logan joining the “dark sides” because they are more likely to listen to and appreciate him, which, if we go by canon... is not true? Janus literally excluded Logan from the courtroom, and Remus has repeatedly threatened and physically harmed Logan because he didn’t like what he was saying. but people gloss over that because ????? 

I don’t really have a conclusion or anything, I just wanted to get this out

[the-evolving-falcon]

YutoRuri, RinRuri, and ShunYuto for the ship meme, please. :)

YuutoRuri

8.5 = I REALLY like this ship but it wouldn’t work out in canon.

I am perfectly aware of how shallow that makes me sound, but Iactually only started to consider this ship after Ruri’s design hadbeen revealed and I just love how gorgeous and classy these two looknext to one another. However, the more I was thinking aboutwell-written Yuuto and alternate Ruri, the more I began to take thisship seriously and even think of scenarios/AUs for it.

If there is one reason I could never bring myself to likeBraceletshipping, it’d be that the only reason for Yuuto beingprotective of Yuzu at the beginning was that he mistook her for Ruri,and that the conclusion of their only interaction that was trulypositive was Yuuto telling her that she had a lot in common withRuri, meaning all Braceletshipping scenes were never truly aboutYuzu, but about Yuuto’s bond with Ruri, and Yuuto really isn’tmentally weak enough to use any other bracelet girl to replace Ruri(I still have a slight weakness for onesided Braceletshipping withYuzu having an unrequited crush on Yuuto, though lol).

I mean… what we ultimately got for them in later canon iscomplete and utter garbage – you will never hear me deny that fact,but I can still dream of scenarios about them having shared a strongbond from their childhood, and about Dennis’ betrayal and Rurideveloping a crush on them actually having and impact on theirrelationship.

Other than that, I’ve always wanted Ruri to be a wordsmithfascinated with myths and tales, and Yuuto being fond of metaphorshimself and carrying the demeanor of a knight (minus theself-righteousness and the two-dimensional usually associated withthe archetype itself) would make interactions between these twopleasing on many different levels, and there are plenty ofpossibilities of playing around with their contrasting life/deaththemes and giving them an interesting spin.

Emeraldshipping/Cageshipping

Platonic:

9 = I REALLY like this ship and it should be/is canon!

Seriously, I was personally offended when it was revealed thatRuri and Rin had been locked up separately without making any kind ofescape attempt that nearly succeeded, but I wasn’t actually surprisedeither, given how they were both needed as token damsels.

However, since I have elected to disregard post season one canonalmost in its entirety, there’s absolutely nothing stopping me fromthinking about how Ruri should’ve manipulated Leo into imprisoningRin together with her as soon as she learns about her capture bytricking him into lowering his guard – and convinced her to joinher in her plan to escape.

These two would’ve made such a badass combo, with Ruri beingresponsible for designing the plan itself and for its psychologicalaspects of fooling Leo and their guards and Rin being the one tothink about how to actually implement it with their limited resourcesand to build the tools and devices necessary for their escape.

(My fave canon divergent HC about their escape attempt is thatthey only failed due to Serena attempting to escape mere minutesbefore and causing the guards stationed around the island to be onhigh alert)

Other than that, their personalities’d just mesh really well, andI could definitely see them forming a deep friendship and grow to careabout one another a lot- whether in canon divergent scenarios or inAUs.

And their character designs just look so incredibly gorgeous nextto one another

Romantic:

7 = I like it, would read a fanfic with them if it was well written.

It took me till last month or so to even consider it, as I tend toHC these two as mostly straight and already have three romantic shipsfor Ruri that I adore. However, I’ve been pondering the question ofwhich partner’d be worthy of Rin from the moment I began to like herand as a result dislike Appleshippingcause strongly belief that Rindeserves a better partner than dumb and childish Yuugo thinkingparticipating in the Friendship Cup is the Greatest Thing Ever andAbsolutely for Rin’s Sake while Rin is in captivity XX___XX

Well, the conclusion I’ve ultimately come to is that Ruri’dactually be an incredibly good partner for Rin and Rin for Ruri,making them one of my very rare platonic ships that I don’t mindpeople shipping romantically as well. Still, one of my biggest petpeeves surrounding romantic Emerald/Cageshipping is people portrayingRuri as physically and emotionally weaker, but as long as that tropeis avoided, I am totally fine with this ship :)

ShunYuuto

Platonic:

8.5 = I REALLY like this ship but it wouldn’twork out in canon. 

Oh gooosh TT__TT Platonic ShunYuuto is an incredibly strong bondbeautiful in the way their deep mutual respect and affection ismaking up for their relationship’s deep flaws in the way they don’tfully truly understand one another. Ep 24/25 in contrast to ep 21 isa wonderful example of this. In episode 21, Yuuto misinterprets Shunattacking LDS members as him not having understood that LDS doesn’thave any ties with Academia rather than seeing an ulterior motive tohis wreaking havoc, and temporarily blinded by the few remains of hisotherwise discarded ideals, Yuuto knocks him out as Shun, too,initially mistakes Yuzu for Ruri and momentarily lowers his guard.

However, shortly after, Yuuto shares what he knows about Yuzu notbeing Ruri with him and after the implied rest of their conversation,understands that Shun’s aiming to take Reiji hostage and use him as abargaining chip in exchange for Ruri – and as a result, he becomeshis accomplice as Shun goes after the the LDS trio, though it can beargued that he cares just as much (if not more) about not gettingmore “innocent” civilians involved. Still, it is a veryrealistic pursuit of his ideals that is ultimately beneficial toShun.

In addition to that, I just love Shun’s good grasp on the exactextent Yuuto’s abilities. While he did want to rush to Yuuto’s sidein his duel with Sora in ep 35 (after all, Shun’s pessimism does runvery deeply, and he always takes the worst case scenario intoconsideration), he relents rather quickly when Reiji doesn’t want himto, as he has fought Sora himself before and knows that Yuuto isperfectly capable of defeating someone like him and handling thesituation on his own. Even when Yuuya intrudes into their battle andturns the duel into a 2 on 1 duel, Shun doesn’t lose his calm – hehas seen Yuuya duel as well and is positive of Yuuto’s victory (andlets be real here, Yuuto’s strategy and tactics are far superior toYuuya’s).

However, as soon as the camera feeds are cut and the arrival ofmultiple Academia reinforcements turns into a possibility, Shun is onedge and desperate to come to Yuuto’s aid – even more so once itbecomes clear he is dueling Yuugo, an unpredictable duelist using asummoning method the Resistance isn’t used to fighting against andsomeone Yuuto has struggled against before. I don’t necessarilybelief Shun was positive of Yuuto losing, but his worst casescenarios have become far more tangible in this moment due to thechance of Yuuto winning having been reduced to a 50/50, and my heartalways shatters thinking about how Shun basically had to chose Ruri’slife over Yuuto’s as he was leaving the observation room, as to goagainst Reiji’s words and rush to the scene of Yuuto’s battle’d meanletting go of his only means of saving Ruri TT___TT (Seriously, thisis one of the three moments Reiji is in a dire need of a punch inthe face in season one)

If I start talking about Shun’s quest for the truth surroundingYuuto’s disappearance, my rambling’ll become even twice as long, so Iwon’t be doing that now but eh, watching him search for clues sodesperately should be enough to see just how much he truly caredabout Yuuto.

Unpopular opinion here, but I would’ve preferred a friendshipbetween Yuuto and Ruri ultimately turning into Shun + Yuuto + Ruriover than the nonsense we got in later canon and I actually likeimagining Shun and Yuuto officially meet after the invasion and onlybecome best friends after Ruri’s disappearance. It’d make for someinteresting meta surrounding Yuuto’s transition from someone Shun hasto protect (because Ruri cares about him) to someone he can rely on,and scenarios about the two of them gathering information on theirenemy and operation as a team are always A+++

Romantic:

5 = It’s alright, I ship it a little perhaps… 

Used to be my one and only OTP whileHostage was a NOTP (the irony), but once I’ve gained a deeperunderstanding of Shun’s character, I simply couldn’t see it anymore,as a romantic relationship wouldn’t add anything their friendshipdoesn’t already have. Most importantly, however, I no longer see themas equals in strength and intellect, and as people on the samematurity level, and for someone like Shun to truly be content in aromantic relationship (or to be willing to enter one in the firstplace), his partner’d have to fulfill these criteria.

However, as much as just about allromantic Shun ships that are not Hostage gross me out on a deeplypersonal level, ShunYuuto is the sole other ship I will at least acknowledge.