#or this dynamic anyways but for that reason that trope for confession is why i like it

[themeaningthemeaningthe]

can’t sleep for other reasons and my brain can’t stop thinking about a post i saw and initially ignored but keep having thoughts about. i didn’t comment on it or anything and now it’s lost to the ether and i don’t wanna go looking for it but these thoughts gotta go somewhere.

this will be long and rambling and probably a little incoherent cuz it’s 3am.

the post was someone saying that they finally picked up gideon the ninth after years of seeing locked tomb posts and griddlehark, then dropped it after like 2 chapters bcuz they think the dynamic between gideon and harrow is abusive (which is fair when u first start it) and they can’t believe people are into it as enemies to lovers. on the one hand, people are totally cool to just not like something for whatever reason, i myself just have thoughts about the Nuance that i didn’t express on the post that i now must here.

lots of important spoilers for GtN!! (and maybe accidentally ones to HtN)

ok here’s the rant.

that’s the point!!!!! that’s the point.

they are terrible to each other and they have always been. the growth and the development of their character dynamics together explores how this thing between them that has always been sharp and seething and spiky must buckle under the weight of outside pressure beyond anything they could have imagined.

in a very important pool scene (one that is ubiquitous in fanart and i have to believe this poster saw at least a few times) we get an explanation from harrow! and not only does this give us a more full look into the context of drearbruh outside of gideons narrow point of view, but it also makes more clear why they were like That.

i’m sorry but literally harrow is 200 dead kids that her parents killed to make her, and gideon is the one kid they couldn’t kill. and gideon realizes once told this, she is the living reminder of the war crime committed to save the house, and no one who knows can forget it.

and harrow has known the truth of her origin since she was old enough to comprehend anything!! so yeah, a traumatized child who knows she’s the entirety of a generation of her house is gonna lash out at literally the only other child on the planet who she happens to also have power over.

and i feel like the book makes this pretty clear!! this was bad!! but also, these are two traumatized kids growing up in a dying, creepy, planet that is lowkey hell.

the other key thing about the pool scene, is that it is a Confession. these books are sooo steeped in catholicism. harrow isn’t just explaining the true history of her life, she is Confessing all of the sins that make her up and all of the sins she has committed. bearing the entirety of the wretchedness of her soul for gideon judge. expecting her only friend whom she has made miserable for years to kill her.

and i know we joke about gideon being lesbian jesus, but there’s a reason for that (besides the obvious). bcuz after hearing her Confession, gideon baptized harrow in that pool.

one flesh one end, bitch.

and also like yeah griddlehark is an enemies to lovers in some ways, but i feel like also not in the typical way you would think about that trope?? bcuz correct me if im wrong but they never really become lovers (and i personally am not sure they ever will). yes they love each other and make the grandest gestures of love imaginable. but that love is inevitably fucked up in some ways and it’s impossible for it to not be.

god that was way too long. anyway. some Nuance is necessary.

[sasaranurude]

For no reason other than I like the sound of my own voice (...sight of my own typed words...?) here's the character dynamics in 18trip that have managed to intrigue me from just the promotional content. Some shippy, some not. In no particular order

Akuta and Kiroku. Oh my gooodddd the sunny one and the gloomy one are friends... No way... And the way Kiroku smiles so softly when he talks about depending on Akuta for support!?!?!? Adorable!?!?!?

These two were simply made for the softest silliest slice of life shipfics. You know in your heart that they should be written walking around town getting ice cream together and having almost-confessions that get interrupted by a seagull stealing Kiroku's ice cream so Akuta tries to chase it down and get the ice cream back.

Renga and Liguang. They seem to have a bit of a rivalry going. Renga in general seems real fun as a character since he's trying so hard to be such a haughty celeb but even in his two minute interview he failed so bad at it, fumbling over his words and struggling to do basic celebrity things (bro you should be able to give some fanservice lol? The high schoolers are beating your ass). Love the bit about how he wants to live up to part ward mayors, he seems like a guy who desperately wants to be more than he is but doesn't know how to. Liguang is said to be the type who sees through facades to discern someone's competence, so there's so doubt that's why he's zeroed in on Renga. Excited to see where that goes--I hope we get Liguang tearing Renga to pieces so that Renga can build himself back up more confidently. That kind of dynamic can be super fun.

Kafka, Yukikaze, and the MC. I love that the MCs have a preexisting relationship with Kafka and Yukikaze. And it's both of them! Because they're siblings! I love that! Kafka can absolutely be a childhood friend for both of them! And obviously Yukikaze would be a cousin to both of them LMAO. (I don't know if we have concrete ages for the MCs, other than the male MC Kaede being older than the female MC Momiji, but I thiiink--just to make the writing smoother between gender choices--they'll probably put both of them in the 21-24 range between Kafka (20) and Yukikaze (25). I'd guess Kaede is 23 and Momiji is 22 bc again, the closer in age they are the more similarly they can be written so it's just for the sake of expedience, but I'm pulling these numbers out of my ass.)

ANYWAYS, ages provisionally established because those few years gain a bit more importance when you deal with characters who knew each other as kids... about the dynamic--Kafka's quotes in his quiz results MAKE this one. He likes the MC lots ("you're my number one, too", "guess I'll have to plan a strategy to become your number one") to the point that he's competitive about it with Yukikaze, their older cousin. Just, ohmygod, sickly little Kafka who cares about his childhood best friends so much, watching them look at their successful pro figure skater older cousin in awe, hoping to god they'll look at him with that much admiration and affection, and when a risky surgery finally saves him and he can get out there and be successful--he'll do anything to get his friends to look up to him the same way he used to look up to them, the way he saw them look up to Yukikaze--IT'S GETTING TO ME. We don't know how Yukikaze feels about any of this, but I kinda suspect it's a one-sided rivalry on Kafka's part lol. We'll see, it could be fun if it's a mutual rivalry for Kaede & Momiji's affection too. Also, mentioning it at the end since I know it squicks a lot of people, but the "cousin as first love" trope prevails in Japanese media, so there's also a reading of this situation wherein Kafka sees Yukikaze as a romantic rival. If this game takes off you will certainly see doujinshi where it's a love triangle lol. Since both siblings are around I like the idea of Kafka having a bisexual crisis because he realizes he's in love with BOTH the Hamasaki siblings, WHAT DOES HE DOOOO!! The more I write about Kafka the more I like him.

Muneuji and Ushio. I mean, I just spent way too much time talking about some childhood friends so I'm certainly not going to ignore the OTHER childhood friends. I like how both of them play around a bit with gendered expectations, with Muneuji looking feminine and speaking softly but wanting to hide his appearance entirely via his interests (space), while Ushio looks and acts like a rough lil delinquent but his main interest is being a patissier and fudanshi. Oh my god they're narrative foils, ykwim. Other than them depending on each other lots, we haven't seen how their dynamic will play out, so I'm interested to see how that goes. Like, does Ushio take Muneuji's helmet quirk in stride? Does he try to make him remove it, or maybe the opposite and will protect him from the fangirl helmet-removal gang to get his helmet back on? Either could be cute! We'll see! Oh, and I'm not sure how to word it, but there's also something I like about how their interests clash--space is, while, space, it's out there, can't get much farther from earth than space, and Muneuji engages with it by hiding himself and separating himself from the world. Sweets on the other hand are very much an in-your-body thing, forcing you to sit down and experience your own senses and be a part of the world. There's something nice that could be done with that contrast. Basically, what I'm saying is that if you wrote a BL about just these two, it could be SO thematically rich.

Toi and Ryui.

Yeah. Also on top of the codependency their theming goes crazy. An angel fortune teller with psychic acuity and a devilish charm-maker who's possessed by a ghost... Bro...

Nanaki and Kuguri. WHAT IS GOING ON BETWEEN THEM THAT NANAKI CALLS HIM KUGU-NII

KUGU-NII?? KUGU-NII?!?!?!?!?!? LIKE ok Nanaki is a musician from a musical family and Kuguri is an accomplished pianist. So it's not hard to imagine how they met. But becoming close enough that Nanaki relies on him and calls him Kugu-nii... Oh my god... I need to know...

Lightning round "character pairs I'm excited see interact but I have either very little or no basis at all for wanting that"

Nagi and anyone. I like Nagi. I like how he makes jokes with a flat affect. I want him to say strange things to people.

Netaro and anyone in day2. He's weird. I want him to interact with the children just for funnies. Especially Muneuji, I wanna see how the space kid and the alien get along.

Kafka and Toi. It's interesting that Kafka likes fortune telling. I won't psychoanalyze him about it again, but I could.

Netaro and Kinari. It's the engineer and the android and I need it. TEAR THAT ROBOT APART! PULL HIS GUTS OPEN AND SEE WHATS INSIDE!!!!!!

Chihiro and Toi. Toi's admiration for Chii is adorable. I wanna see how Chii interacts with a fan.

Chihiro and Ryui. Ryui, you're allowed to kill Chii if you get jealous of how much your brother likes him. I give you permission.

Liguang and Yukikaze. I want Liguang to treat this professional athlete who's older than him like a pet bunny. Who said that

Yodaka and Liguang. I like that they play mahjong together.

Yodaka and Netaro. I think if they talked the conversation would very very quickly leave the realm of the waking world and would simply not be comprehensible to outsiders. But they understand.

And ok eh yeah that's enough for now. Who knows if any of these will end up going how I'm thinking about them, or if more sides to the characters will be revealed that change my assumptions :)

[bluedalahorse]

Hi ! 😊

What do you thing a romcom between Sara and August would look like ? What trope do you think fit them the most ?

Hi Margot!

So. Startling confessions ahead…

I’m not sure if I’m an expert in romcoms and romcom tropes? Like, genuinely not sure. I’m more of a romantic drama (RomDram?) person than a romantic comedy person, in terms of what I purposely seek out, but I do read/watch a lot of things that are romcom adjacent and I have some romcoms I like quite a bit. Plus I read a lot more romance novels now than I ever did ten years ago.

That said, I’m going to try to answer your question. And I will mention some love stories I like along the way!

I actually have two scenarios for you. The first is more a sargust scenario that I could see happening after the future of canon. The second is a canon divergent sargust scenario that could happen in an alternate universe. And then I might mention a bonus scenario or two, just for funsies.

Scenario A: Canon Compliant-ish Future Sargust

My vote for sargust-in-the-future is a second chance romance road trip romcom. Now that Sara can drive, why not use that as part of the story?

My thought here is that Sara and August have to drive across Europe together for whatever reason. Maybe one of the Icelandic volcanoes has a big eruption, and the ash in the air is disrupting flights all over European airspace, and August and Sara both happen to be… somewhere. Let’s say the south of France. They’re not there together, but they both happen to be there when the volcano erupts. And maybe trains are a difficult option because of rail strikes or they’re overbooked. Sara and August have to drive from France to Germany to Denmark to Sweden so they can get to Simon and Wilhelm’s wedding on time.

The nice thing about a road trip romance is that the characters on the trip have a lot of time together to talk through things and get to know one another. (Or in Sara and August’s case, get to know the adults that they’ve both become, and how they’ve matured and how they’ve stayed the same.) Trips also bring unexpected challenges, so that could give them a chance to work together on tasks and bond over their successes. Especially if August has just left the monarchy and there’s public buzz about that, they might have to ditch paparazzi. And maybe at some point their car breaks down and they have to ride horses for the last part of the journey? There will absolutely be horses.

Given that road trips involve stops for the night, you could theoretically also bring in Only One Bed as a trope. I’m not as much of a fan of that trope myself (I love it when characters choose Only One Bed instead of having it thrust upon them) but someone who’s interested in it could write it.

In terms of mood and structure, I’d actually love to see this story be similar to Jab We Met, one of my favorite Bollywood films. One of the things I like about Jab We Met is that it starts its characters as archetypes but deepens them gradually over the course of the film, and it also balances out how much they’re able to help one another grow. Geet and Aditya are very different from Sara and August, so some of the dynamic would be different, but I still like the idea of them traveling together. (Although, part of Aditiya’s plot is about him reconciling with his mother, which is also something I want for August, so there’s that.)

Scenario B: Canon Divergent Alternate Universe (and it’s softer, and a little silly!)

What’s the trope where you’re helping someone win over a potential partner? That’s like a variation on the Cyrano story, right? I’ve never really read the original Cyrano, but I did read She Gets The Girl by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick, and that was cute, so.

Anyway. For some reason Scenario B takes place in an alternate universe where Sara goes to Hillerska but Simon chose not to join her and is at Marieberg. Sara wants to make friends and fit in and live in the dorms, so she’s looking for opportunities to do that. (This ends up being a much softer universe than actual YR, but romcoms are supposed to be softer, right?)

Yeah, anyway. Status quo at the beginning of the movie/miniseries: Sara wants to fit in and live in the dorms. August wants to date Felice. Felice wants to not have to deal with her temperamental horse Rousseau, and instead secretly practice her cooking and baking skills without anyone at school (or her parents) finding out.

Felice finds out that Sara is a non-res, and talks Sara into inviting her over to use her household kitchen. In return, Felice will let Sara into her friend group. But over time they become real friends. (Maybe Wille becomes Felice’s sous-chef eventually, and that’s how Wille and Simon become the beta pairing in this story.)

Meanwhile… Sara learns that August can talk the board into letting her into the dorms, somehow. And everyone knows he wants to date Felice. And Felice is like “ugh, my horse is so temperamental, I’d totally adore someone if they’d just deal with my horse for me.” So Sara goes to August and is like I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO TAME ROUSSEAU SO YOU CAN WIN OVER FELICE AND IN RETURN YOU MUST GET ME A DORM ROOM. And August is like, OKAY GIRL-SOCIALIST YOU HAVE A DEAL, because like I said, this is a far softer universe than canon and no one films anyone at any windows!

So anyway, Sara and August start sneaking into the stable so Sara can teach August how to tame Rousseau. And August is the jerk rich boy of course, but soon softens up because he’s learning to take care of a horse, and he and Sara are opening up about their family situations and such, and oh no! They are catching feelings! But neither of them thinks the other one likes them back! Even if at one point Sara misses the last bus home from Hillerska and August is like don’t worry I’ll escort you and they ride horses back to Sara’s house. (And Linda is very much like. What. Is happening.) And Sara’s like SIGH WELL I BETTER HELP AUGUST WIN OVER FELICE WITH THESE HORSE SKILLS HE’S ACQUIRING. THE VALENTINE’S BALL IS APPROACHING AND HE’LL WANT TO GO WITH HER.

There are, of course, Misunderstandings, because this is a romcom and that is how they work, but by the end all is resolved and Sara and August go to the dance together in their 18th century costumes. Wille and Simon are also together and Felice ends up with either Rosh or Ayub. I haven’t decided.

Bonus Scenario C: I’m not even sure how this one works

I have no energy left for scenarios but I bet sargust could pull off a reasonably excellent Academic Rivals To Lovers story. And someone should write that while also drawing inspiration from Rachel Lynn Solomon’s Today Tonight Tomorrow because it is absolutely one of my favorite books to ever exist.

Honestly, even if all people get from this post is that they should watch Jab We Met and read Today Tonight Tomorrow, I’ll be a happy dalahorse.

[ovaryacted]

Hi, I promise that I'm approaching you out of kindness, but does all this mean you don't hate joellie fans anymore? A few months ago you were saying "everyone point and laugh" about joellie fans in the comments of an ask to perotovar from someone surprised that she bashed joellie fans after defending artists writing problematic content when that confessions blog was happening. The comments on that ask were so mean, and now I'm seeing many of the same people decrying censorship and defending the Joel incest fic that's making waves (which is good people are defending it!). I dunno, this website is so confusing sometimes. I know people can grow, which is why I'm here in kindness, but it's so hard to keep track of everything. A lot of people seem to morph into antis as soon as their own personal boundaries are crossed. You don't need to answer this, or you can vaguepost about it, if you think it's gonna stir shit up for you because everything truly is exhausting right now, but food for thought I guess

Hi anon! So I’m gonna try my hardest to articulate this the best way I can without potentially saying something wrong since my brain is mush, and I’ll take your inquiry as coming from a place of good faith so I really hope it doesn’t start shit when this is a conversation. (Sorry if this is long btw!)

1 - I will say that my instant adverse reaction towards joellie as a concept initially was because it did test my personal boundaries and even my perception of that dynamic. I’ve been a fan of TLOU and those two since I was a teenager, I hold them close to my heart and only view them in the grumpy older man turned father/cargo turned surrogate daughter trope. The thought of shipping them even the slightest bit just didn’t come to mind, I wouldn’t even imagine it. So the fact that there were people who did see them like that shocked me, but also challenged a lot of things from how I initially perceived them and fictional characters as a whole, hence I didn’t take it seriously and viewed it as “adversely wrong”. But after listening to other people, reading more on the thought process behind liking these things along with the history of taboo art and challenging what we consider to be our own morals, my opinion’s changed. That’s not to say that it doesn’t make me uncomfortable viewing those two together in that way, but at the end of the day it’s fiction, nobody has a gun to my head forcing me to like or engage with that content, and I can simply filter/block it out so I never have to interact with it again which is what I do. But I do apologize to how I reacted when that happened because it was reactionary and not logical.

2 - I do think that a big reason as to why it made me uncomfortable in the first place besides the fact I’m emotionally attached to them is because Ellie is a minor in the first game and also technically a lesbian, and because Ellie’s deemed as “attractive” she was heavily sexualized from incel bros which happens really in all games. But when it comes to the joellie dynamic, I can see why people may want to view them in that way despite not sharing the same feelings myself. For the same reason we like strong male characters who are capable and/or paternal in some way, the same can be applied to those two so yeah, I get it.

3 - It would also be hypocritical to fully try to shut down something like that when I’m a big fan of Game of Thrones which is notoriously known for SA, anything related to the abuse or exploitation of children, and incest in this medieval fantasy world, and those themes are not foreign to writing or history anyway. I’m also a fierce defender of kinks especially CNC and get exhausted when people generalize those who have the kink or engage in it as predators/assaulters which is a dangerous and harmful assumption. So I just kinda grew up and realized some things are not gonna be for me, but that’s doesn’t mean I have to completely shame people for what they may find enjoyable to engage with because that’s none of my business.

At the end of the day, when it comes to censorship, proshippers and those that engage in the taboo and DDNE and “morally questionable”, these people will be your biggest allies in fandom spaces, and with the way people are moving like the moral police any time it’s convenient, we need that support now more than ever. And like you said: A lot of people seem to morph into antis as soon as their own personal boundaries are crossed. You’re right, and that was how I was moving at first, and I didn’t want to give off that impression. I have moots and friends on here who write things I wouldn’t read, same how others probably have that towards me, but that doesn’t make any of us bad people for writing and engaging in content we enjoy. Nobody wins when censorship rises, and once you hop on that train it never stops, and I don’t want to feed into that. Hopefully this answers your questions or provides some clarity of things

[heartberrydog]

having read all of your analysis/opinions, and the most recent one, of that hanahaki fanfic, I see /well, more fully that just after reading the fanfics/ and I like your perspective on the soukoku relationship. It's an interesting one and dare I say quite informed by your own aromanticism. I see where you're coming from, I think for me the superposition soukoku are constantly in and their ineffability, unspoken things that lie between them are also one of the most interesting points about their relationship

I think where a lot of people are coming from, when they see this inaffability, it's like a free, in your face, character arc - two people who mean the world to each other but never speak of it, rarely acknowledge the "it" between them, never cross any lines and have clear problems with intimacy in relationships in general - what make them grow? what would be fun to force them to do? to finally say something, of course. to acknowledge. to do something with it. to get over themselves and start living together, confess their love, start dating, or having innuendos, idk, depends on the fanfic/piece of art/interpretation.

frankly, I don't love a lot of those interpretations - some make soukoku too hard on each other and too hateful, some make their relatioship too obvious (which I fuck with sometimes but I don't actively like this trope lolol. but also it's played for comedy a lot of the time so anyway), some make their relationship too defined by one clear emotion/dynamic/behaviour when their relationship is too complicated and multifaceted for that. sometimes complicated emotion are on point but the overall interactions and dynamics are not enjoyable, to the point where you don't understand what soukoku even have to do with each other here.

at the same time idc - interpretations are interpretations and I read fanfics to see two idiots fall in love in a lot of different ways, not just one. if the overall premise and prose are on point, if my interpretation is at least loosely followed, it's ok.

I don't think soukoku have to date, in the end, or confess, or have any number of semi-conventional (bc nothing with them is ever truly conventional) romantic relationship check points. they don't need it, they're relationship will forever be incredibly meaningful - both in universe and from a liteterary standpoint.

at the same time, i don't think them acknowledging their relationship or going through with making it "oficially" romantic will lessen them - we disagree on this one. it's not neccesarily something that they need for them to work - but it may be something that they'll want.

dazai is a person created of dualities - he finds human existence miserable and at the same time tries to find reasons to stay all the time, he finds humans themselves foolish and horrible and yet they amaze him to the very core, there's not a thing that he loves more than humanity. he craves being noticed and acknowledged and known and at the same time it scares him to the the very core of his being, he hates it, he finds himself too wretched and inhuman to ever truly be payed attention too - that's why he and chuuya work so well, he can go through with a terrifying ordeal of being known without it being explicit - without either of them saying everything they think and yet it works, they have an incredibly profound understanding.

but...dazai, secretly, wants to be "tied" to other people in some ways. he doesn't acknowledge odasaku as his friend until after the other dies, and yet it was so incredibly important to him. he creates intentional emphasis onto chuuya's and his partnership - and greatly wants to be acknowledged as such. same goes for kunikida, even though the nature of their relationship is less intimate (he doesn't truly understand dazai while he and chuuya are like crooked mirrors of each other) but not neccesarily less important to dazai himself.

same goes for chuuya, though in other ways - dazai was the first person in his life to treat him completely as an equal. to be his equal, even. he craves the understanding and ease that comes with such a relationship.

dazai, through wanting chuuya, may want to be acknowledged. want to be called something in a romantic sense. not neccesarily a "boyfriend", but acknowldge that what they have is intimate on romantic level. maybe a lover, or maybe just a partner again. in many ways, it just would be an extention of what they have now - always having each other backs, being there when no one else was, pushing each other forwards, being understood. dazai craves labels just as much as he wants to hide behind silence and being understood without words.

well, at least that's what I think.

i don't know if they ever would be ready for a vulnetability of an acknowledgment - dazai is certainly far from acknowledging his wants and needs and love for other people, explicitly. but I personally think that putting things he doesn't want to say or describe into words would be a point of growth for him. because avoiding it is another way of staying safe, of avoiding vulnerabily that comes with wanting something - and everything he wants dissapears the second he allows himself to want it - acknowledging that he wants something would mean acknowleding that it may not come to last, that it may cause him pain and accepting it. and I want him to accept it. because being content with scary reality of everything being fickle and still maybe having a profound impact, maybe being beautiful, important, amazing - that's where one of the main faucets of happiness lie.

speaking of romantic acknowledgments, soukoku and interpretations - it's worth to mention that I'm not an aro person, so your milage may vary. I don't think the potential "acknowledged" relationship between them has to be strictly romantic - queerplatonic soukoku are very cool as well. I think they are very close to that anyway.

how do you see soukoku, well, in current timeline or after it? you don't want to see them dating, but do you want them to become more intimate with each other in some way shape or form? maybe spend time together from time to time?

can you see them going on dates? don't have to be traditional dates, just...spending time together, doing something vaguely intimate that has romantic implications.

can you see them living together? or being each other life companions?

if they're never gonna date/acknowledge each other in another way and never gonna find another mmm, life companion, because well, it's them, do you think they're just gonna hold their weird and profound relationship close to their heart for the rest of their lives (and fuck occasionally)?

how long would their lives last, in your vision?

wow, it's a lot of text... I surely felt emboldened to write by your encouragement not to worry about troubling you😭but if asks these long do bother you, let me now please...

hope it didn't felt rude! I love your thoughts and would love to hear them again. thank you for your work.

HI HI HELLOO!!! (≧ヮ≦) 💕

Yeah, I don't really like any of the popular renditions of these two, honestly. Though I can always stand them genuinely hating each other and being meaner to each other a lot more than them being anything resembling softness.

I would call their relationship a 'situationship' at most, but I feel so weird using that term publicly because that word has a million definitions, and not in the good way. Personally, I love the version of it that means an unidentified relationship which molds itself to the people's needs, instead of society's needs. I like that concept because it presents a good and highly needed middle ground. But, there's a large group of (predominantly straight) people that view it as a one-sided love kind of spiel? A relationship born out of a single person's lack of commitment and the other person, despite wanting something else out of the relationship, going along with it because they can't let go of the person?

I feel like these are literally contradictory definitions, which makes the word unreliable because if it can be viewed as literal opposing concepts, then it also can everything in between, and so this word can mean literally everything in the relationship scope. It's so confusing??? And I don't think it's a coincidence that predominantly straight people, which created the conventional model of a relationship anyway, are the ones viewing this concept as inherently negative because they think anything that doesn't become THEIR version of a proper romantic human connection must be unhealthy and fundamentally flawed and unsatisfactory. I'm so fascinated by the ways queer and straight people's viewings of relationships differ, honestly. Because queer relationships live off this unconventionality, I feel. We were forced to build our relationships in this much deeper, secretive way because they could never be shown, the same way straight ones could. We generally put a lot more value on the actual human connection than the exterior expression of it. Just... Putting the romantic relationship evolution of queer and straight people is so interesting because straight relationships, due to many factors with a big accent on religion, have historically been about making that relationship official in the eyes of others. Arranged marriages, marriage as a concept, in general, courting. Everything is about how this relationship appears to someone else. People married (and still do tbh) without even knowing who the other person was, or with minimal knowledge of them. This was never about love. And as such, I feel like, at its core, the concept of what the straights view as the pre-marital phase—dating—isn't either. Or, at the very least, it's within the second plane of importance. So much of what I see straight people, even nowadays, talk about in terms of relationships is so shallow?? I have this... acquaintance, can't say we're friends because we're not at all, and when she was asked how her relationship is going the FIRST thing she thought to say was that her boyfriend bought her this really expensive bouquet of flowers. That's insane to me. Like, I get appreciating that, to each their own and whatnot, but why is that the most important aspect of your relationship? My friend's boyfriend made a joke that those flowers couldn't be better than the ones he gets from his edge-of-the-block market, and she looked at him with such disgust it was insane 💀 Like... Have you maybe considered that not everyone expresses their love through material objects?? That the price of some flowers isn't the highlight of everyone's relationship??? Maybe????????

So many married couples don't even know the person they're married to. These people don't talk, they don't actually form proper connections to one another, and simply have a pretty bow to wrap around their relationship. I feel this is partially because marriage has always been within their right, and they take it for granted, and also partially because of how said marriage has been historically treated. Meanwhile, gay people had to fight so hard for the right to love and to be married that we generally appreciate and value them a lot more.

This is not to say that these are restricted to straight and gay people. This is just an overgeneralization I made because of my personal experiences and views of how sexuality can definitely alter people's perception of what romance even is. There are definitely straight relationships, even marriages, that are very healthy and have good communication, made of people that actually love each other, as well as unhealthy gay relationships built on a very shallow foundation. There are also relationships that follow a more conventional model, both straight and gay, that are perfectly fine and well. And, of course, gay people date and are capable of doing so openly now (mostly. kind of), which is great, don't get me wrong. Unlike some people I'm not here to define other people's relationships by my personal relationship model, so even though I will never get married because that's glorified ownership to me, and I also don't fuck with the idea of dating either, despite feeling a lot of romantic love, since I feel like everything it means and the immediate array of expectations that mere concept creates in the average person's mind isn't something that resonates with me and a relationship I'd enjoy partaking in, I'm not going to say any given person is wrong or that their relationship is unhealthy/shallow/whatever for getting married, or for dating, or that it means X, Y, Z about them, etc. I'm speaking in generalized terms because these are such common types of relationships I see, and patterns do exist, exceptions don't deny patterns.

What I'm talking about here is how romantic relationships can exist and have existed without ever being 'official' and that doesn't take away from their worth, if anything we should be more concerned about the way so many 'official' relationships don't actually have anything behind them. Love is not transpired in the label, and sometimes label literally take away from the love, whether that's because of the way the labels have been watered down in a way that some people (such as myself tbh) don't feel like that label is enough anymore, that using it is forcing the love into a box which it cannot fit in and leaving the excess which pours out in order to close said box behind, or because that kind of commitment isn't something either party is looking for, or because what society has made of these labels is so estranged from the actual core of the relationship and is instead so highly focused on all these expectations and pressures that the people have no interest in participating in, or whatever else.

But again, in general, straight people are predisposed to taking love a lot less seriously, and thinking about what that relationship can offer them in terms of material, instead of emotional gain. Even though I believe everyone is able to choose for themselves and do what they want (but even so, the mere existence, don't even get me started on the frequency, of such relationships saddens me so much because FUCK you could spend your life with someone whose presence you actually enjoy and who makes your quality of life better through mere presence instead of ways they can serve your financial/material/whatever needs, but so many people have either been conditioned to think that the genuine kind of love is the temporary and shallow one, or that material gain is more important, or simply, genuinely can't afford this kind of spiritual peace at the expense of proper living conditions and AGHHFGSHHG THE STATE OF OUR SOCIETY ENRAGES ME), but these people so often act like their model of a relationship is the correct one everyone should strive for??? And that any relationship that doesn't fit this model is fundamentally flawed and ruinous?? (again, the situationship thing) And the fact that this so often extends to fandom, with its historically gay roots back in the times when we didn't have the right to exist in pieces of media so creators had to do mental gymnastics to transpire those romantic feelings in a way the straights wouldn't catch onto, and the way they did that was LITERALLY by making these things implicit and subtextual so the people that were supposed to realize it would be able to, and started creating their own content outside of the public sphere??? The literal reason why the concept of enemies and violence are so romaticized nowadays is because this was one of the first ways gay subtext and queercoding gained existence, because people "fighting" and violence gives characters excuse to be incredibly close to one another, and being "enemies" gives excuse to think extensively about the other person, and justifies obsession. Because we were always only allowed to exist in metaphor and now that we are capable to exist outside of it, people take said metaphor and strip it of its very meaning so they can then make that a trope which ultimately places the 'completion' of the relationship riiight back at the finish line. Why are trope-ifying our roots in such a fucking surface level way and erasing the very CORE of them, instead??? Why is the direction we went in "romaticize enemy tropes based on the inability to show love in a conventional way, but paradoxically still put basis on the conventional 'completion' of a relationship" instead of "now that we are able to transpire love directly, there is a way to express those feelings of love through various relationship models, not just antagonistic ones". OU'RE TAKING AWAY THE WRONG FUCKING MESSAGE!!!!! THE WHOLE REASON THESE TROPES GOT CREATED IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS TO ALLUDE TO THE LOVE IN AN ACCEPTABLE WAY!!!!!! LOVE WAS ALWAYS THE IMPORTANT PART, LOVE WAS ALWAYS THE NUCLEUS!!!!! FUUUUUCK!!

The ability to canonify a relationship and have your word taken as gospel by the demographic is precisely what makes straight relationships so boring most of the times. They skip the actual love and human connection part and jump straight to the 'official label' because they can. This is not a writing shortcut, this is writing slaughtering. Same thing as when the love exists and is so beautifully transpired, but upon gaining a label that relationship gets immediately molded into the basic romantic relationship archetype, because, fuck, of course it does. Those labels are deeply conditioned to mean a single thing and a single type of relationship, and once a label gets slapped onto something both the audience's and the creator's sense of familiarity kicks in and that switches off creativity in such a heartbreaking way. This is a big reason of why I, personally, am against the use of relationship labels at ALL in fiction. I don't care about real life, use whatever label you want, but I believe using them in fiction is fundamentally detrimental to both your portrayal and the perception of that relationship. Labels come with their gigantic package of expectations, and even if you manage to fight your own preconceived notions and not water down the relationship... High chance the audience won't. Relationship completion not being never verbally acknowledged, not only stops the viewer from assigning that relationship any attributes, while watching, at the very least, but it also forces the writer to find creative and more profound ways to express that relationship and the love behind it, in a way that communicates the specific and very particular kind of love those characters have, without the viewer actually assuming what said kind is based on a label and its history.

Sure, the easiest way to do this is through stereotypically romantic actions like kissing or fucking, or alluding to wants regarding them (faces being very close, staring at lips, leaning in, checking someone out, sexual touches), which I believe in themselves are much better than slapping a label onto it anyway, but I think being capable of communicating romantic attraction even in the absence of those kinds of things is a GIGANTIC skill and one of the most honest ways of communicating these things as an artist. It's probably one of the things I aspire to do well the MOST, as a writer. I'm not there yet, I think, but I hopefully will be someday.

Bottom line is: On top of everything I've mentioned in my previous rant(s), giving a certain fictional relationship a label comes with a whole package of expectations and assumptions about that relationship that can lead to both a lazy portrayal and stomped audience engagement. While not using one allows for a unique portrayal of a relationship that is specifically catered to the characters themselves. And also I'm biased because I think dating a concept is bullshit. So, you're kind of right, basically. My aromaticism definitely has quite a lot of influence.

Dazai definitely yearns for importance (and exclusivity) in other people's lives, yes, but I don't think he could ever be capable of resonating with society's depiction of... anything. And especially not with relationships. His relationship with Chuuya doesn't need to be defined for them to be tied together in the way Dazai wants. And even so, I think calling their relationship a 'partnership' works really well because 1) that label can literally mean anything they want it to, it's customizable in ways I believe 'boyfriend' isn't 2) that label was assigned to them by an outside source, it is not something he particularly chose to call Chuuya, and while that doesn't take away from its significance between the two of them, it takes away from its significance to the outside world, which Dazai wants. The thing that is so special about the two of them is that whatever they have is so wholly implicit, nobody but them can understand it. This gives Dazai a feeling of higher importance in Chuuya's life than being an official couple ever could, because Dazai believes he is wholly replaceable, and having this kind of intimate, invisible connection to someone grants him as a specific individual, worth. Only he and Chuuya understand what they have, what the word 'partner' really means between them, and Dazai thrives in that because it means Chuuya cannot have what he has with Dazai with anybody else. It's exclusive, yes, but not visibly so. The world doesn't need to acknowledge what they have, he doesn't need to flaunt Chuuya around and Chuuya doesn't need to flaunt him around so it becomes real. It is real to them, and that's what matters. It's not necessarily lack of acknowledgement, but lack of explicit acknowledgement, I guess. Because, truthfully, they're aware of what they have in an implicit way, but there are no words to properly describe it without watering it down, and they don't need to anyway. There are only two people that need to understand it, and they already do so without explanation.

I honestly don't think Dazai craves labels at all, but to each their own. He knows best out of any person just how shallow and distrustful words can be, and he doesn't need them. What he may need is the astute certainty of something, but that doesn't come exclusively through verbal communication, and especially not communication to anybody but the people involved in the actual relationship.

I think the fact that he only refers to Oda as his friends after his death supports this more than anything? They didn't need that label while he was still alive, because he understood what Oda was to him, and he understood what he was to Oda too—the word wasn't necessary. But after his death, that connection got severed, or at the very least put on hold, and so without the mutual understanding, he needed a substitute, of sorts. And also, he uses the word friend in order to explain that relationship to somebody else, that's the easiest, vaguest way for him to do so. As such, I believe he also likes the label of 'partner' for Chuuya because of how vague it is, and how it can be misinterpreted in a way that still leaves the actual nature of their relationship something strictly theirs to know about.

And also his relationship with Oda was generally more open, to be honest.

Okay, yeah, Dazai acknowledging things—especially verbally, giving them physical form and undeniable meaning—would be a big point of character growth, and huge step towards him becoming healthy... But I don't think he needs it. I don't think every story needs to be about the characters tackling all their flaws and becoming healthy, not that there's anything wrong with that, this is just a personal preference. I really don't want Dazai healthy. At all. I want him as unhealthy as possible most times, actually. There is such profound humanity to be found in either an 'evil' or a depressed character with proper psychological reasoning behind their every action, and Dazai had the potential to be both before his semi-redemption arc. I could go into SO much detail about this actually but I already have a gigantic rant in this response and I'm a bit too tired to dig through my brain for every micro-reasoning for what I believe/like, at the moment, so I'll leave that for another day.

...I really dislike the notion of queerplatonic relationships 😔 That's sill too much of a Label to me. I really like the ways qprs are usually represented in media a whole ton, but I probably dislike this label more than I dislike any other label. Again, another thing I could rant about for a million years, but no longer have the energy to. Ugh. Someone remind me to make a grander statement about both of these things someday 🙏

I also believe skk's relationship is romantic in nature, so a qpr doesn't even fit them in my eyes.

I honestly don't want them to become anything more than what they are. Or to do anything different to build up to that, for that matter. In my personal interpretation of soukoku, intimacy is already a constant. It's just not really... normal intimacy. Fighting together is intimate, and Corruption is intimate, and their understanding is intimate, every single one of their interactions and talks and everything happening away from prying eyes (lightnovels 💕) is intimate. Outside of the actual canon, I believe they have various interactions where they're touching and holding each other in very intimate ways. As their 22-selves, and beyond that, I think how comfortable they are with touching one another will escalate, though. Like, as teenagers, that intimacy was definitely only allowed if it had some reason behind it—tiredness, drunkness, comofrt, sadness, one of them being injured, and so on. But I think as time passes they just naturally get better at allowing themselves to do these kinds of things.

I don't need the canon to ever show me that. I feel like being an artist really... Changes your perception of art, as well as the intentionality of it and what it means. I don't need canon to show me absolutely anything, actually. Because interpretations and opinions are given rights of any and every media consumer, and as long as they are genuine, they're valid. It is actually impossible to misinterpret any given piece of art if you're doing it genuinely (as in, not doing so pretentiously/superficially for X, Y, Z external reason, or not misinterpreting something [oftentimes intentionally] to fit an agenda/bias), you're just finding an unintended meaning, otherwise. Also, of course, we are all inherently biased, but there's a difference between interpreting something to fit a bias, or interpreting it based on personal experience. Having a unique personal experience that gives you a proportionately unique lens to view the story through is fundamentally different from viewing the story through a crooked lens precisely so it fits you/whatever you want it to fit. People do do this subconsciously, but that's out of lack of self-awareness, and therefore not genuine in the way I'm using the term here.

Even surface level analysis is valid, if it's genuine. There was this one situation that enraged me beyond belief where an adult who was doing analysis on tiktok made a video about how BSD is not for people under 17 because they won't get it. They got a comment from a person that was around 14, I think? Saying that even if they probably don't understand the deeper themes of the story, having watched BSD was really comforting for them because they related to Dazai a lot through their shared suicidality.

THIS MOTHERFUCKER. MADE A RESPONSE VIDEO TO THAT FUCKING 14 YEAR OLD'S COMMENT SAYING THAT THEIR COMMENT PROVES THEIR POINT BECAUSE "Uhm ackshually 🤓☝️ Dazai doesn't want to die, he wants to find a reason to live. He's not 'just like you fr'" And while they were technically right, because, yeah, Dazai doesn't want to die, that doesn't discredit the relatability of his situation and the way a teenager might find comfort in his, specifically teenage, character. That person was viewing Dazai through the lens of their own teenagehood—which is valid—and came up with the analysis that lens required. Is it an incomplete analysis? Yes, definitely. Does that make it wrong? No. Through being Dazai's age, at the time, and LITERALLY, genuinely in his position, this person was able to get into Dazai's head in the precise way one would be capable of hearing their own thoughts. As in, that is what Dazai thought about himself at that age, too. Do you seriously think Dazai's internal monologue at 14-15 years old was "I don't actually want to die, and I am 100% aware of that and what it means for me, but through my looking for a reason to live, which is what I am aware to be my core motivation, I will still illogically pursue an idealized version of death, which I am also aware will not be able to bring me the catharsis I desire. For the lolz. ". NO IT FUCKING WASN'T!!! THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS ANTITHESIS OF DAZAI SEEKIG DEATH DESPITE HIS MOTIVATION BEING A HUNGER FOR LIFE IS THE FACT THAT HE HAS A MISCONCEPTION ABOUT THE WORLD THAT HE IS NOT/ONLY LOOSELY AWARE OF WHICH TAINTS HIS ACTIONS!!!!!!! PEOPLE AREN'T AWARE OF THE WHOLE PSYCHOLOGICAL CHAIN REACTION THAT DRIVES THEIR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS!!!! THOUGHTS ARE IRATIONAL SOMETIMES. OFTENTIMES. FUUUUCK.

Due to being 14, that commenter was able to understand Dazai's direct point of view, and relate to him because of that. This makes them MORE like Dazai, than anything. Most suicidal people don't actually want to fucking die. This is why Dazai is such an universally relatable character—even if the analyser doesn't understand the whole reasoning behind it, his seeking of a painless death and the glorification of it as the peaceful escape from suffering is a verry common mindset in suicidal people, especially so teenagers, and that will obviously be relatable in itself. If a teenager interacts genuinely with the media, they will understand this, on a surface level, yes, but it is still proper, accurate understanding. This is why Dazai is honestly such an amazing character to follow as a suicidal 14 year old (speaking from experience). He has that very unique, very real view of suicide that resonates with the viewer through their own misunderstanding of the self. While growing up and developing proper analysis skills, they are able to delve into their own psychology and teenagery misconceptions and therefore into Dazai's too, and vice-versa. They are able to live vicariously through him and create their opinions about their existence through a piece of media they love. This is a beautiful thing, you dumb fuck. DON'T TAKE THIS AWAY FROM THE KIDS WHO NEED IT!!!!

Anyway. The point was that canon doesn't mean shit because the beauty of art is that it is up to interpretation. Canon isn't gospel. There are things every creator implements without meaning to, or at the very least that the creator only implements subconsciously, without a concise explanation of it. As such, the creator's word is even less gospel than the actual text. Everything Asagiri says about his story is bullshit. I never listen to a word of it. He doesn't understand it, and that happens often when it comes to pieces of media. Artists are capable of having innate talent that they don't understand, but following it will create a good story, nevertheless.

It pisses me off to no end when people make posts like "canon is what I want it to be" and the like. No, canon is what the author makes it, but canon shouldn't be your frame of reference in this particular scenario. Intention is not the same thing as interpretation, and that's okay. And that doesn't make interpretation any less valid. Something doesn't need to be canon to be true.

How did this even start? Oh. Right.

Generally, I believe soukoku would be capable of doing all of those things. I believe they already did them as teenagers, but their natural development was forcefully stopped at a certain point due to Dazai leaving. They cannot continue from the point they left, so they're starting from scratch. It might be a slower process, it might be a longer process, it really depends what angle you're viewing it from.

Also. I would never call any soukoku scene a 'date'. Ever. That is so icky to me. For a lot more of the same reasons I keep yapping about, but also because not every instance of two people that are romantically interested in each other spending time together alone is about the romance?? Though my perception of what a date is is definitely up for debate so I'll shut up.

Yeah, pretty much. I think this weird thing between them will last however long it is allowed to, and it's definitely enough for the both of them to feel fulfilled. Even if they do have a fallout, for whatever reason, that doesn't... That doesn't mean they'd have to find another romantic partner?? Living with someone for the rest of your life is by no means mandatory, and neither is it for that to be a single person, or a person you are romantically interested in.

Fuck if I know 😭😭😭 A characters life span is not something I ever think about? What would the defining factors for any given answer even be?

It didn't seem rude, no worries!! Sorry if I seemed rude at any point shjhhsjv After writing that first rant I became really determined to finish this today and so this is a bit more. Unfiltered than usual. Not that I tend to have a filter, but this is more stream of consciousness-esque, I guess? Whatever.

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY AND NEVER WORRY ABOUT THE LENGTH OF YOUR ASKS!!!!! (๑ > ᴗ < ๑)°♡ . ° . !!

[captain-hawks]

i'm sitting at the airport terminal in the middle of the night and something wild just happened to me and my first thought was "is this miya twin coded?" so i popped over here because 1. you're one of my absolute favorites. 2. i was just re-reading your kita piece for all the glorious emotional smut. and 3. you also <3 the miyas. please excuse me as i process this.

in senior year high school i went to a weekend-long statewide competition and met these twins in the elevator. one of them definitely had more swagger, more teasing confidence (the kind that guys who are usually successful with ladies have) and the other one was a little quieter, seemed a bit more sincere even though he talked less. we hit it off in conversation and they asked me and my friend if we wanted to grab food with them. i wasn't entirely sure but i thought maybe they were flirting? i was pretty sheltered up until that point and didn't want to assume incorrectly. towards the end of the comp the quieter twin asked if he could come visit me in my city and i, confused, asked "why??" spoiler alert: i ended up dating him for ~2 years.

i found out early on in our relationship that after our "casual dinner" that night when they got back to their room, Swag twin wanted to try his luck and see if he could get with me, but Quiet twin said that he would FIGHT HIM because Quiet really liked me and genuinely wanted to ask me out and he said he wouldn't let his brother ruin that by trying to hook up. Swag was apparently used to usually getting his way, so he realized how serious Quiet was to threaten to beat his ass so i guess he backed off. I didn't find this out until after Quiet and i started seriously talking/dating.

I went out of state for college but we maintained the LDR until halfway through my sophomore year. classic breakup reasons: growing pains/long distance was taking its toll/i wanted to explore life. but we remained on good terms and consider each other friends! we rarely talk, but he still let me use his netflix login for the past 11 years. when he was moving into a corporate role a couple years ago i helped him with interview prep, and when i was looking for a new job he sent me reqs he thought were a good fit.

he's had at least a couple relationships in the near-decade since we broke up (we don't talk about dating but i had seen on social media at some point). i've dated and had a few situationships and am now in a 4 year relationship with my bf. however, he most definitely doesn't know this because we don't chat often, i'm rarely on socials these days and my bf is a very private person.

i'm so sorry for how long this has been. all of this context is to say...i am chilling in the airport on my way home and I GOT A CONFESSION FROM QUIET?? something about i'm the one that got away, he feels he'd won the lottery by meeting me and having me in his life, he referenced the fight he had with his brother all those years ago and said he'd fight the same fight TO THIS DAY. i am flummoxed. i think it is a sign from the great spaghetti monster in the sky that i need to log off tumblr because my very first thought was "what in the fanfiction trope is this?" does this shit actually happen irl? now i need to go deal with this.

anyways thank you for reading this if you got this far! idk if it's just because it's twins and their dynamic is vaguely similar to osamu and atsumu but i was like...have i been isekai'ed into a miya twin fanfic? the sleep deprivation may be catching up to me and i may be entirely unhinged idk

first of all, ily and i’m so flattered you thought of me and ran over here to share this story. i literally read this while brushing my teeth because i was running late for work this morning, but i was so invested i had to read the whole message before i left.

anyway, EXCUSE ME????? i actually can’t get over this. how does it feel to have lived in a real life miya twins fanfic? are you taking interviews at this time? HE SAID HE WOULD FIGHT!!!! HIM? THE ATSUMU/OSAMU DYNAMICS i cannot believe. somewhere an author is on their knees (it’s me, the author). AND NOW THE CONFESSION???? OVER A DECADE LATER? i almost choked on my toothpaste. (i feel like there’s also irony to be found in the inherently symbolic nature of getting that message in such a transitionary, liminal space like an airport in the middle of the night.)

nonnie, i hope you have safe travels home and can get some much-deserved rest after that absolute bombshell. if there ever happens to be a future update or footnote to this story………..you know where to find me.

[borgialucrezia]

Regarding your post about their kids, I remember thinking how odd it was that they just discarded Juan's child/heir (and wife) in the show, given the Borgias were a close-knit family in all the ways possible. But then again, they also got rid of Geoffrey at some point and literally never spoke of him again, so I guess it was par for the course. I get it that it was essentially Cesare's story, but they could have still focused on him without creating so many plotholes/underdeveloped character arcs.

i mean look i'm never strict when it comes to historical accuracies because adaptions tend to offer different interpretations for the sake of drama. but honestly i feel like neil jordan fumbled a lot of opportunities in the show (considering it was originally intended as a limited godfather-style film which is why he didn't have a clear vision for the show and remained inconsistent and improvising as he went along).

for instance, joffre faced the "ret-gone" trope. he was pretty much erased because when s2 was airing, showtime's official website even stated that vanozza only had 3 children. i really don't think jordan would've known how to handle juan's child anyway. just look at lucrezia's son, who, for some reason, is still a baby in his crib !! and then there's juan's wife, who historically raged against cesare and accused him of killing juan. her presence could've added soooo much intrigue within the family, especially since they became more distant in s3. (one could argue that the family dynamic felt empty because juan was really the glue that held them together and without the common chaos he caused they all grew apart.) but understandably, they didn't want to drag out the tragic drama of the expendable dead second son even into s3, knowing how bleak his fate was and how quickly it was wrapped up to focus on cesare, his rise to power, and his wrecked relationship with his father.

it doesn't take a genius to realize that the diminishing of characters, underdeveloped arcs, and plot holes all seem to work in cesare's favor, i mean ok, we love him clearly, but jordan was unwilling to take any risks with his character even though we would still embrace everything about him nevertheless. he didn't even trust cesare to carry the show authentically without manipulating narratives or massacring other main characters to prop him up. for instance, the fratricide arc felt incredibly weak despite being built up and marketed as cesare's transformation into what françois describes as “a power hungry vain monster.” yet jordan had no faith in the audience to still side with him so he ultimately whitewashed it by failing to make the audience believe that cesare weaponized juan's flaws to justify his deadly hatred (which is objectively his true motive alongside his vindictiveness against their father for his unwillingness to grant him command of the papal army). instead, he twisted the narrative to throw juan under the bus in the final 5 minutes by portraying him as a "hopeless and ailing evil that needed to be put down" (with a haunting final heartfelt confession as a saving grace) like it weakened the entire impact of juan's death and allowed cesare to walk away unscathed by the narrative without being tested by the audience, which is incredibly ironic since cesare is a fascinating character in his own right and françois has an undeniable rizz. but like...if you're gonna say out loud that you're basing cesare's characterization on machiavelli's the prince, at least commit to it and highlight and frame cesare's selfishness and cruelty as negative qualities in the audience's eyes without any justifications but alas.

all that being said, the borgias is still a masterpiece to me and will forever be my favorite piece of media. though my criticism stems from deep love for it as a comfort show. i still think jordan is brilliant and i'm really grateful for his work. but when he drops the ball, he really drops it. however i give a lot of credit to the actors who pushed for and improvised such creative choices for their characters and their dynamics with one another.

[evilmenenjoyer]

I can't wait for your mujin × jiwoo fic, uhh it's canon compliant huh?? I guess their tragedy is very integral to their overall dynamic. Uhh.. their dynamic is so complex..

(Ok a bit of a confession- I love all the ships of My Name, all the characters have really compelling dynamic with one another, but I just can't help but think about Taeju and Jiwoo, doesn't make a lot of sense I know but they fit the enemies to begrudgingly friends then lovers then enemies again trope so well because Taeju is loyal to mujin first and foremost and Jiwoo will let nothing stand in her way of avenging her dad.)

I have going through your blog (genuine interest, not a creep), loved Gratitude, can't wait to read more of your works.

yes it is canon compliant. i'm a huge tragedy lover, i think that's the whole reason i like this ship so much 😂 but i sure love to imagine a future in which they ran away to a beach house together and they're living happily ever after haha

the way i'm immediately 👀 i'm so intrigued by their dynamic. the thing about my name is with it being a limited series they did the best they could to fit the whole story in the amount of episodes they had, but if they'd had more time i reallyyyy wish they'd shown us more interactions with jiwoo and taeju cause there was so much potential there, like with taeju not trusting her and her not knowing why, being forced to tolerate each other anyway, even the fact that jiwoo clearly gets more attention even though he's been loyal to mujin for so much longer lmao. i admittedly never thought of them in a shippy way before but you've opened my third eye here, i loveee hate ships and enemies to lovers back to enemies so much. it's such a damn shame that there are no fics for them, maybe i should add this to my growing list of wips. like imagine a scenario where they had to work together for some reason, or him being tasked to look after her when mujin is away or something like that

thank you so much for reading my fics, and also for taking the time to send me a message! it truly means a lot to me ❤️

[bluebunnysart]

Ok since this is where I post my fandom stuff now, I'm just gonna write it here. But I miss Sumikeke from LL Superstar so much lol

I just finished rereading one of my favorite fics ever about them and it's such a masterpiece. Still so amazing today. It contains so much yearning and feelings and depth that even though it's like at least 30k words long, it ends way too quickly and I'd happily read more and more.

It's not like I can't keep shipping Sumikeke now, but I was going through the tag again and another tumblr user put it really well: their dynamic and characterization was absolutely ruined in season 2, which is also why I felt really unpleasant watching it and had no idea how to react to the canon confession scene. It's nice that it happened at all, sure, but by that time, my love for the ship had already begun to fade (for reasons) and s2 seemed to just confirm my annoyances, frustrations, and fears.

I loved Sumikeke though. Don't get me wrong. I actually don't regret any of the time I spent on them at all, and I truly had so much fun indulging in this love of mine. They were great and brilliant, and I know people have different feelings about it (even going as far as calling it abusive :c ), but in my opinion, there was a method and an art to smkk that I tried to convey when I spent those times in college writing actual fanfiction for them lol.

First of all, and this is a big reason why I fell out of love with it, smkk is a bickering couple, but there's a line and nuance you need to have, otherwise it does turn abusive and boring and not romantic at all. When I first watched season 1, I was drawn in by how kind and gentle Sumire could be (big sister-like, taking care of Keke or giving her soft looks) and I latched onto that immediately. I dunno how fast it took to show up, but maybe by like episode 3, I was already eyeing them and wondering what kind of dynamic we'd have there.

As for Keke's antagonism towards Sumire, there was an obvious reason for that. Sumire was looking down on and using Liella to bolster herself, but to Keke, Liella and school idols were everything. It's a natural conflict that arises from people whose goals and opinions differ and who obviously clash over ideology and dreams. Keke would tease or snub Sumire, but it never crossed into actual bullying or anything, last I saw. Just the expected bickering between someone who actually might not like the other and Sumire, who knows she messed up and tries to make up for it, but it's fine if relationships aren't all sunshine and rainbows. Actually, I used to really love the tsundere trope and tsundere-like couples, so when I shipped smkk, I liked them in a more tsundere way. As the anime progressed, their relationship clearly improved and even had plot relevance and all that, and I was really impressed by all of it and fell in love and wanted to give back as a fan by making as much delicious smkk content as possible.

The method to the madness is Keke is childish, demanding, and even annoying maybe (I liked Keke tho lol), but Sumire loves her and since they're teenagers, they eventually grow out of such childish behavior/bickering but the fact remains that they love each other and it's really sweet and cute to see. Sumire was my fave Superstar chara (probably still is? idk), and I just looved her love for Keke and completely enjoyed coming up with story ideas that would showcase that. It's liking someone and having a crush on them even if they're kinda annoying but since you like them, you can look past that. It's that kind of love...!

But anyway. To be quite frank, the fandom ruined smkk for me, and I'm sad I let it happen. If smkk is like 50% arguing and 50% fluff (which is kinda a high percentage, I'll give you that), the fandom kicked it up a notch where it was like 90% arguing and 10% just deciding to make out after saying super cruel/dumb things to each other. I saw a lot of unpleasant things I really disliked (including straight-up immoral SA stuff) and I saw that my excitement from checking the tag eventually turned into aversion and eventually dislike/annoyance/irritation/frustration/anger.

Season 2 having them continue to bicker for bad reasons didn't help things and it felt like the anime was on the fandom's side in that regard. It's fine to give the fandom fanservice, obviously, but that's when I kind of lost interest for good and moved on.

But I truly had a fun time loving smkk, and it had so much potential and was so good. I really truly enjoyed it and that's why I miss it. I think with the release of SIF2 and seeing smkk in there, I was reminded a bit of my old fire (my old love), but in short, it's really unfortunate when fandom (or the show itself) ruins something for you.

I could say the same about my immense love of Shioriko and how I was really disappointed how they wrote and treated her (in the anime and side materials like Nijiyon too), but part of that's personal bias. The true Shioriko I like is probably SIFAS Shioriko and the other Shioriko's exist as their own entities, but since they're all supposed to be the same chara, it's hard to love her in the exact same way if you get what I mean, especially when I had such high hopes and expectations. It's ok though: such is life.

Anyway, I obviously like loving and affectionate ships a lot more than, like, bickering ships. Smkk was just special to me because when two girls act like that canonically, it's a lot easier to claim they're into each other or hiding feelings for each other. I also want to add that I liked the idea of Keke being embarrassed of her feelings for Sumire and that translating a bit into aggression-- obviously as Keke gets older or her feelings are reciprocated or her friends accept her for who she is, she gets less teenage-y about it.

That was a trip down memory lane though. I really care for LL, even though it breaks my heart sometimes. "Expectation leads to resentment", they say, so maybe I shouldn't expect anything at all?

I miss these girls and hope they get better writing. I'll still love yuri and shipping girls for as long as I live xD

[aquaaquila]

While I also disagree with the notion of Hunter being this protective big brother, and I understand where you are coming from when calling him out on his toxic tendencies, which is fair, I do also want to point out that he didn't, in fact, blackmail her to keep his secret. He genuinely, though harshly, asked if confessing the truth is really a good idea and asked if Luz had tried it herself to back it up. Once she got hurt, he felt bad and softly asked her not to tell them. Also, his running away in panic shouldn't be summarised as him ditching Lz to do his own thing as if it was an intentional action on Hunter's part and not an instinct and decision made in the heat of the moment.

Hunter did occasionally protect Luz, but not in the sense of emotional support, but actively ensuring she doesn't get hurt on a battlefield as her ally. He did defend her from blasts from Kikimora (he didn't have to), and it was up to him to create the giant vine wall that protected Luz (sure it's thanks to Luz's jacket, but come on, as smart as Luz is, she didn't plan it this far ahead, she hoped she'd rather manage to pull him out, not that he would dig out himself with her glyphs), along with helping Willow take out Abomaton and ensuring the alarm doesn't go off. Does are not instances of brother protecting his sister but of an ally defending his fellow ally.

Hunter and Alador having beef can be explained by self-loathing on both parties' sides over what they did.

Also what a shocker that a teenage boy raised in a shitty environment comes off as shitty even when not intending to be. Almost like his final arc about acknowledging other people's feelings and supports would ring hollow if he was supportive, treating everyone always fair, and emotionally intelligent right from the get-go. (Sorry if this part is too snappy, but the point would still stand regardless of which other character would commit Hunter's crimes, regardless of their skin color, gender, sexuality, disability, and so on. If someone never had a good example on how to do a good relationship, then treating their failure as intentional is just unfair.)

Hunter never accused Luz of not being there for him, it genuinely was about not believing in him, like don't exaggerate, Hunter's bad actions are bad as it is, they don't need to be worse to drive a point. He also once again made a hasty decision fueled by his emotions and not by common sense. He didn't abandon Luz in the woods on purpose; he was literally getting possessed at that moment and was panicking out of his mind while chasing Belos's illusion.

Also let's be real, Luz at that moment already thought that people would hate her anyway if they would know the truth along with her own self-loathing (girl really needed her talk with Camila), it would fly right above her head that Hunter is acting out of line at this specific moment, doesn't mean he was acting with her like that 24/7.

Also, preach about Gus and Hunter, they're literally EVERYTHING the fan base wishes Luz and Hunter were like, even when it comes to the annoying younger sibling trope with how Gus teases Hunter from time to time (honorary Hexolio anyone?).

People REALLY shouldn't latch onto season 2 dynamic of Luz and Hunter because these two don't even like each other until the end, they're not friends nor family at the time, so drawing inspiration for their "sibling bond" from that period acts more like a recipe for excusing sibling abuse more than anything. It especially gets bad when people are inclined to believe that Luz would have stabbed Hunter in the dream sequence from Watching and Dreaming even though Luz doesn't even know Caleb got stabbed by Philip so she wouldn't be able to recreate it anyway, along with several other reasons on why Luz would never do anything like that...

Like the point stands: Luz and Hunter aren't siblings, and their friendship indeed was toxic, and they didn't even have proper time to make it work, unlike Gus and Hunter.

            It’s ironic that everyone hypes up Hunter as this protective, supportive older brother to Luz, when that’s not really how he interacts with her at all? If anything, it’s kind of the opposite, on top of Hunter being low-key toxic to Luz?

            Because looking at their actual interactions. We have Separate Tides, which is self-explanatory. Hunting Palismen is really more about Luz trying to be supportive of Hunter, getting him to come out of his shell, saving his life when she could’ve easily looked the other way and gotten an enemy who’d already threatened her and her loved ones, and an innocent creature and its child, out of the way; Esp with the Emperor’s Coven continuing to gain prominence.

            Of course, Hunter ends up betraying Luz, and doesn’t really get to go through with it because of Kikimora interrupting him. Then in Reaching Out, Luz does try to get Hunter to offer information on Belos’ plans… And it’s Hollow Mind, where Luz does seem eager to do this again. But then they both go through Belos’ mindscape together, and… Hunter isn’t really helping or protecting Luz.

            In fact, it’s Luz who saves Hunter; She sacrifices her coat and the glyphs inside in an attempt to protect Hunter, which leads to Luz being alone with Belos when he drops the big reveal to mess with her. Hunter does escape and save Luz, but only because Luz had given her glyphs to him earlier; So it’s really Luz that saved them both, and in doing so, at the cost of her own mental health.

            And then Hunter immediately ditches Luz at the Owl House to do his own thing. When both have calmed down, Luz tries to be supportive to Hunter about being a Grimwalker, encouraging him to come out with it to the others by treating it as something she doesn’t have any issue with! Now obviously, Hunter read on Grimwalkers as seen in Labyrinth Runners, so his fearful attitude seems based on a historical context that is implied. Luz doesn’t have that context.

            Regardless, Hunter taking the moment to essentially emotionally blackmail Luz over her own secret is just. Wow okay. He heard that and instead of trying to support Luz about it after everything she’s done for him, threatened Luz with this knowledge. Later that episode Hunter sees how everyone doesn’t even think to give Amity flak over her biological parent being a terrible person who supports Belos in genocide.

            They’re not even taking time to be angry with Alador, who actually did choose to support Odalia to a degree, but then changed his mind when he saw how far she was going! Again, makes me think of Dana’s art paralleling Hunter and Alador, I imagine because they were both abused but were nevertheless complicit and stood up to defy both these things. Of all people to have beef with Alador, it’s actually Hunter.   

            Luz is the one who sees how Kikimora plans to get Hunter killed by handing him over to Belos, so she risks herself not just for him, but for the entire Boiling Isles, to once again isolate herself with Belos, just under the hopes of potentially talking him down. So Luz takes Hunter’s face and place, and in the end… It doesn’t quite work out; Her plan fails, she just gets more traumatized for protecting Hunter from Belos, again. It does lead to King following Luz to the skull and meeting the Collector, so Luz’s work did pay off!

            But it led to a godlike entity who apparently already committed genocide against King’s species, now having domain over the Boiling Isles. We see how all of these things drive Luz into a suicidal depression. When Luz and Hunter talk about their secrets again, they’re obviously reeling from that as well. But Hunter doesn’t try to support Luz over her secret by at least acknowledging how Amity was accepted for her blood relation. He instead shifts the topic to HIS secret and how HE feels guilty.

            And while Luz isn’t actually guilty, it’s a bit absurd to treat a bloodline relation to someone awful as on the same level of tangibly giving Belos what he needed to rise to power, restrict a society’s magic, and then nearly kill them, culminating in the two discussing their next course of action in the Noceda household.

            Then for two months, Luz continues to feel worse and worse until she’s idealizing the concept of killing herself, while Hunter feels better and better until he actually IS okay with being a Grimwalker, now! And when Luz and Hunter talk again, it’s… about Luz comforting Hunter, supporting him emotionally as part of the found family. While Hunter offers nothing to Luz; She tried to make him feel better about his secret, he made Luz feel worse about hers. Now he does feel better and she’s making him feel better. But there’s still nothing.

            Keep in mind that Luz actually did suggest they go and get help from the others before confronting Belos!!! That was a thing she tried to do! It’s Hunter who insisted they do it by themselves, and further enabled Luz’s tendency to isolate herself and handles thing on her own, rather than ask for help! Granted we find out later how Belos was subtly influencing Hunter, so maybe that’s what happened. But his eyes didn’t glow in that moment either.

            Likewise, Hunter accuses Luz of not believing him (of not being there for him, like she hasn’t always been correct about whatever Hunter believes) when he later brings up Belos’ survival, despite her not actually saying it, and then runs off and ditches Luz in the woods, forcing her to figure out a way to find him. Again, potentially Belos influencing Hunter but man. It’s kind of in-line with everything else, tbh… Luz did notice something amiss with Hunter being harsh with Flapjack, but not with his behavior towards her, which um. Implies things doesn’t it?

            Really, the only time Hunter ever acts truly emotionally supportive of Luz is when he finally tells her at the end of Thanks to Them that no, what Luz did wasn’t her fault, and if anything it’s an opportunity for Luz to prove herself and protect everyone. But this is only after Hunter has seen that it’s Socially Acceptable to give Luz grace over helping Belos.

            There’s that moment after where Luz and Willow are happy to make actual progress; Luz has been agonizing for months over all the harm she’s caused, intentional or otherwise, how she makes everything worse. How her time travel adventure made everything worse. But there’s a moment when she and Willow get her memory of the teleportation glyph from it, and Luz can actually be happy for a moment, actually think she has this! That maybe this memory is for good, can be used for that! And Hunter, who knows damn well how much Luz has been haunted, can only be snappy and impatient about their success, like they’ve been wasting time getting this done when he contributed nothing to that process.

            Is it any surprise that his next and final storyline is about Hunter focusing so much on his own problems that he rebukes someone who IS trying to be helpful and supportive, and in doing so makes them feel even worse and self-loathing to a potentially suicidal degree? Before finally realizing, Oh hey this is what I’m doing, I can’t expect this girl to keep performing emotional legwork for me because of my tragic background while I offer zilch! I need to acknowledge that people ARE trying to help! Hunter makes himself better than his uncle, granted he’d have to dedicate his whole life to intentionally trying, to be even a fifth as bad. But still.

            My point is that in the end, Hunter was kind of a toxic person to Luz from Clouds on the Horizon onwards. Throughout their entire dynamic, it’s always been Luz trying to help and support Hunter, often suffering for it, as her actions with her other friends result in Hunter being given what he needs. But Hunter himself doesn’t really offer the same, and even directly makes Luz feel worse and contribute to her baggage. So it’s kinda telling that fandom once again attributes all of the work a girl of color puts into this dynamic to the bare-minimum contributions of the white boy.

            Anyhow Gus and Hunter are RIGHT there if you want Hunter being a protective older brother. Because while Gus does emotional legwork for Hunter, Hunter does the same, and they just have way more of an onscreen, casual, emotional bond than Luz and Hunter ever did. So my other point is to stop sleeping on Gus.

            And my other, OTHER point is when you look at other ‘difficult’ characters like Amity and Lilith, their harshness towards Luz was still ultimately juxtaposed with them becoming legitimately supportive and validating of Luz afterwards; The work Luz puts in to cultivate that bond pays off, they make Luz feel better! Whereas Hunter… Like I suppose part of it boils down to the Shortening, and we did NOT need another Hunter scene in S3. Dana did mention she entertained the idea pre-Shortening of Hunter staying at the Owl House and befriending Hooty like Lilith before him, so Hoo knows? But in the end Hunter never did properly apologize to Luz for all of that, and it seems that Luz suffered more from helping Hunter, than she did Amity and Lilith.

            When you combine this with Luz and Hunter not actually interacting that much, nor really having that deep or emotional of a bond, esp compared to their other dynamics it’s like. Yeah I don’t believe in Hunter as Luz’s protective older brother. In fact I don’t see them as siblings, period. Just two people who knew each other a couple times but had better friendships to focus on. The ones who know each other the least, because their shared, toxic secret is not enough.

            None of that stuff is canon y’all. Luz and Hunter aren't siblings. In fact he's not even a very good friend to her, despite how much she tries and has done, and lost for it. Obviously you can take into account the inexperience and influence of his abuse, but then again Hunter did way more for Gus... And unlike Vee, Hunter didn’t do it just one time, nor did he have multiple onscreen chances to make up for it. He wasn’t even really hurt by the Shortening like Luz’s actual sibling, who tried to sacrifice herself on some level so Luz could have her human life back, who actually is there for her throughout the timeskip, per the photos.

            By the end of the day Vee had to compete with a lot of other priorities, whereas Hunter was a more prominent priority and tbh I’m aware that like with others mentioned this is a feature of the character and not a bug, and could enjoy it more if fandom didn’t overhype Hunter as X when he’s Y, in addition to overhyping him in general. I think fandom needs to be humbled a little with this point because its tendency to gloss over it plays into a larger recurring trend that I take issue with.

[elegyofthemoon]

💫 favorite love confession trope

maybe its just cuz i do like my knight/lord dynamics so bad but damn that vow of loyalty that masks a love confession slaps a little too hard

whats your favorite💫ask!

[stannienight]

Hi, I hope you are well 💗

I was wondering if you could do Saiki K x reader, where reader and Saiki are best friends (and he secretly has a crush on them) and reader just got out of a bad relationship and thinks nobody will ever love them again, so Saiki tries to help them feel better and hint that he likes them ?

☮️&❤️

let me tell you, i love this ask sm. it has so much potential. for now i just spewed out whatever i could but this is such a lovely trope, especially for someone like saiki

❤

saiki k x best friend reader (after your breakup)

- okay listen. saiki is bad at being subtle. especially when you're so oblivious. it just leads to So Much Chaos

- the fact that you just got out of a relationship makes it hard to pick up hints okay - anyways, saiki isn't focused on getting you to like him or anything. his "hints" just happen to slip out - but it's not just that, right? you're also best friends. SARCASTIC best friends. combine that with your self-deprecation and saiki's inability to handle romance and there's a disaster waiting to happen - you: ugh what if no one ever loves me for who i am? saiki: am i a joke to you? you: yeah saiki: fair enough - you: i hate my ex. i'm going to devote myself to making him regret this saiki: didn't you waste enough time in the relationship? you, now woke: holy shit you're right - you: saiki help me glow up saiki: there is literally nothing i can improve you: IS THAT A DISS? saiki: - he helps you through the breakup, too. in true best-friend fashion, when you call him in the middle of the night with the news, he's in your room within a second. he brings ice cream, a blanket, and for some reason, a cat. you don't even know where he got it from. but you needed it - for the next few days he buys you gifts (which you keep telling him you don't need) but he wants to remind you that even he can do the job of being a boyfriend better than your ex - all your mutual friends are like, how oblivious can she get? and since when is saiki so bold? - saiki has no idea this is a romantic thing to do. "i'm just proving anyone can be better than he was wdym it's just a statistical thing?" - your friends find this whole dynamic hilarious- chiyo especially, the romance fanatic, who has never seen saiki exhibit any emotion - every time you spend time with saiki, kaidou and aren pointedly leave you two alone (dragging a nendo as oblivious as you along with them) whispering and giggling. you're so confused but not complaining - honestly, half the school already thinks you're dating? everyone except the two of you has just accepted it as a fact that you're a thing - dude: so saiki, how's your girlfriend saiki: what girlfriend dude: y/n? saiki: she's not my girlfriend dude: oh really? then maybe i can try confessing to her- saiki: dude: why am i in florida? - yeah okay he's just the tiniest bit possessive since the breakup okay? he doesn't want you getting hurt again - and don't worry he brought the guy back from florida ❤ i had so much fun writing this ong i canNOT imagine saiki being subtle at all or even understanding the line between close friendship and romance. it's all so objective to him and my guy's probably so confused send me asks for hcs, oneshots, or anything in general, even if it’s unrelated to anime or writing! saiki k and haikyu for requests but maybe go through my profile before requesting for haikyu <3

[aha-chuu]

Alhaitham ships I like and respect

I realise I typically only post about Kavetham but I actually love a lot of Alhaitham ships (my mans deserves all the love). Here's a list and my reasons for shipping them, because I just got home from uni and I'm bored. These are all ships that I like, the rating is just "how would this realistically go?".

1) Kaveh/Alhaitham

Getting this one out of the way cos <3 we know. I really enjoy their bickering dynamic and they both have very strong personalities, which I adore. That's why I feel the need to be more picky with the fics I read, actually, cos sometimes people write one of them very uncharacteristically just so they don't have to deal with writing two characters with uh *checks notes* personalities lol.

They are both babygirl and they are both Problems. I think their relationship would be undefined but exclusive - neither of them say they're dating, but they've also never sleep around with other people. I kinda like the hc that Kaveh got around a bit more before they met/started their situationship, but I also vibe with the idea that he lied and told Alhaitham he was "oh so experienced" just to one up him.

Rating: 9/10

2) Cyno/Alhaitham

Hehe this one's an oldie but a goodie. So here's the thing: back in 3.1, this was The Sumeru ship. Cynari was also there , definitely, but there was a loud fandom quite obsessed with the enemies to lovers trope. Which! Some people call Kavetham enemies to lovers, wrong, they never had a fistfight; they're just rivals and lovers.

Anyway, Cyno and Alhaitham are a great ship cos we have battle boyfriends with an eventual soft dynamic. I especially love in Act 5 of the archon quest, when they continue to disagree but they're on the same side - Cyno is very against Alhaitham's reckless plan. They have a lot of contrast in their approaches to life, but at this point they have mutual respect for one another that I think could develop beautifully.

The only issue i have with their dynamic is that I struggle to imagine how they would end up together. Maybe after a fight, one of them almost dies and so there's a dramatic kiss?? I don't think Alhaitham would be so romantic tbh, and Cyno is more likely to be very straightforward with a confession, but I think he might not be honest about his feelings in order to focus on Justice™.

Rating: 7/10

3) Dehya/Alhaitham

Yes. I also occasionally like f/m ships. My issue with this one is simply that I ship Dehya with Dunyazarad more, so I think this would be a more one sided crush on Alhaitham's part. I have a hc that he's just, into claymore users. Dehya serves cunt and beats people up and Alhaitham is like "pls come back to the Akademiya, you're so so cool <3".

Maybe I have a crush on Dehya. Maybe that's the issue hm.

I can't see Dehya dating him or Alhaitham really wanting to date her - just a little crush and then a good friendship.

Rating: 10/10 for vibes, 3/10 for practicality

4) Nilou/Alhaitham

Consider: Nilou is cute. Alhaitham is cute. She thinks he's a cool treason-man and he thinks she's the only person as crazy as he is for immediately agreeing to the dangerous plan everyone else took 80% of the run time complaining about.

Would they actually ever date? I think they'd hold hands once, but then figure out very quickly that they have almost nothing in common. Alhaitham would want a more headstrong person to counter his bluntness, and Nilou would find his introversion frustrating in a dating context.

Rating: 4/10

5) Tighnari/Alhaitham

I sort of see this dynamic as the healthiest version of opposites attract on this list. Now, they're both stubborn bastards, however - where I think Alhaitham and Kaveh lose all braincells upon being in the same room, I think Tighnari and Alhaitham maintain their intelligence.

I like the idea that post archon quest they shared an infirmary room in the Birmastan (Alhaitham via head trauma, Tighnari for his untreated lightning strike lol). They both quickly get fed up with their friends' overprotectiveness and kick the likes of Cyno and Kaveh out. They are both Akademiya graduates who've kind of denounced the Akademiya, Tighnari by quitting to become a forest ranger and Alhaitham by phoning in his entire career :')).

So they get to talking since they only really knew each other through Kaveh previously, and then they vibe doing their own thing when they get bored of conversation. I think they'd understand each other pretty well, and Alhaitham would brush off Tighnari's nagging and Tighnari find Alhaitham's abrasiveness endearing, since he's not an idiot.

Rating: 7/10

However, the context I most like them in is -

6) Kaveh/Alhaitham/Cyno/Tighari

I am an 4ggravate girlie. I love a good poly ship and these guys work very well.

Basically just a combination of everything I've already said:

Alhaitham & Kaveh and Cyno & Tighnari are both in situationships. These are open relationships.

Alhaitham and Cyno (who didn't previously know each other well) start seeing one another in a new light when they're stuck in the desert together for a month fighting against the sages. Feelings ensue.

After the drama, Kaveh realises he wants to make the situation with Alhaitham more concrete because he was worried. He also hangs out with Cyno a lot after Alhaitham and Tighnari kick them out of the infirmary.

So many high stakes and the close companionship makes it so they're all sort of on board with trying a poly sitch. Tighnari seems the type to bring it up first, to Cyno and then to Alhaitham and Kaveh.

Cyno likes the idea but worries a bit that Kaveh and Alhaitham's dynamic would get in the way of an actually healthy relationship.

Alhaitham is a bit iffy cos like - free time, introversion etc, but he does think it would be a good idea to test it out.

Kaveh is pretty totally on board cos all his friends are super hot, though he says "I should have tried using a foursome to force Alhaitham out of his shell ages ago" which actually delays the process quite a lot :'))

Rating: 10/10, Alhaitham gets three boyfriends I cannot see any issues

[ponytailzuko]

apologies, i literally just saw this because i haven't been on tumblr at all. i'd probably change the entirety of season 5 to be honest. before that even. but definitely everything that happened in season 5. its 4 am so sorry if im being really mean to ml. i actually really love her guys im serious. miraculous ladybug is my pookie. anyways i suppose here are some of my grievances:

marinette's main civilian conflict that drives almost every episodic plotline is the fact she just absolutely sucks at confessing to adrien. shes just truly dogshit at it. so one would think that if the first season set this up as her main Problem, she might change on this subject by the end. perhaps she would either learn to move on, or she would learn how to confess. no, the show makes adrienette the side that is canon and also marinette isn't the one to confess! adrien is the one who does it. at least adrien has some development here where he reevaluates his feelings in some way, but adrien confessing is absolutely nothing new for his character. i have been watching adrien confessing his love for ladybug for seasons. it isn't a conflict for him.

chat noir not being at the main fight with hawkmoth is actually crazy. im sorry. i don't care the justifications everyone has. "it has more seasons." it is just genuinely unsatisfying to set up a magic system with yin yang powers built around the romance/partnership where the whole point is that they're equals, and then allow one of them to wield both of them?! when the whole point is that hawkmoth is WRONG for wanting both of them, to want to use the wish at all. wielding both of them at once, quite frankly, should have serious consequences. they just shot every theme they ever set up in the foot. ignoring the fact chat noir is also hawkmoths son, it just doesn't make sense for him to not be there.

honestly they just wasted every potential fun dynamic they ever could have milked out of gabriel and adrien by killing gabriel before adrien OR gabriel learned anything about each other. there were so many avenues for interesting storytelling, but they decided to go with two au episodes to say "if gabriel learns adrien is chat noir, adrien is akumatized and the world ends." why do an au! why not ACTUALLY akumatize adrien in the main timeline, and make him possible to defeat? the world did not have to end, that was a writing CHOICE. how fascinating would it be for ladybug to assemble a superhero team because her partner was akumatized? or chat blanc to be a multi-episode or even a season antagonist. or use the sentimonster aspect in an interesting way. or vice versa, have adrien learn gabriel is hawkmoth and be genuinely conflicted about what to do. literally ANYTHING other than both of them never learning anything until gabriel kicks the bucket. every drop of that conflict was wasted. big L.

this is a nitpick but the entire point of the love square is that it is a subversion of the love triangle so why did they introduce two love triangles and then not even commit. why did they break up lukanette and adrigami in one episode. they ruined the subversion of the trope for shit that didn't even last. sorry that is so small but it makes me so mad for no reason.

uhhh develop the class in some way or cut them. i cannot take ladybug's entire squad its just too many of them and they're all archetype and one-note. and their superpowers are eh. spending a bunch of episodes giving the class jewelry was not fun for me. sorry.

Tell me, is there anything about Miraculous Ladybug that you wish had gone differently?

everything

[wonipeun]

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༉‧₊˚ enhypen as romantic tropes !

pairing: non-idol!enhypen x gn!reader | genre: fluff, bit of angst warnings: mention of break up (? (please lmk is there's more !!!)

a/n: i'm back 😃 omg- i'm so sorry for this ETERNAL wait, i know it's been a while, i hope you can forgive me. thank you so much for all the support i get daily!!! i will try to update more often from now on :)))

ps: not very proud of this post,,, anyways- still hope you like it!

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이희승 · lee heeseung ‧₊˚

boy next door. you could hardly believe it when your annoying neighbors decided to finally move out, but it was a thousand times more shocking to see that the person who would be living next to you from now on would be that tall black-haired handsome boy with shy bright eyes.

no, he didn't knock on your door to introduce himself. and no, he didn't leave the house much so you could hardly see him (much to your disappointment), but somehow the constant meetings in the elevator and many attempts on your part to strike up a conversation got heeseung starting to having a crush on that cute person living next to him.

it was fun to hear his screams of frustration on the other side of the wall when he lost at games, yet you would always prefer the nights he rang your doorbell with any silly plans to hang out together. who knows… he may one day get up the courage and ask you out, but please be patient, he is doing the best he can!!!!

"have you ever been to that italian restaurant near here? you haven't? that's a shame, it's really good! we could go for lunch together someday if you want… and you know, get to know each other better."

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박종성 · park jongseong ೀ

박종성 · park jongseong ೀ

one-sided love is finally reciprocated. your friend jay has been in love with you since you were little, so you grew up with his constant confessions of his everlasting love for you and his thousand and one attempts to get you to go out with him. you always thought it was the dynamic of your friendship and that jay really got over his crush on you a long time ago, just wanting to continue the joke.

but the truth is that jay never stopped loving you for a single second. he grew up next to you, and along with his height, his feelings for you grew as he saw you become the most precious person in his eyes. he had confessed so many times and in so many different ways that he didn't know how to make you understand that the only thing he wanted was to be with you for the rest of his life.

and you were… confused. you didn't know at what point it happened, but your heart started to race when he was around. that's why one day you simply decided to… reciprocate one of his confessions. the last one, specifically. from now on, he could confess his love by calling himself your boyfriend.

"wait… are you serious? are you agreeing to date me? don't lie to me, i won't let you change your mind later!"

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심재윤 · sim jaeyun ˖ ࣪ ⭑

brother's best friend. jake had been your hallway crush from the moment you laid eyes on him. his brown hair and adorable smile made you fall for him instantly, however him being one year older than you made it much harder to see him.

that's why the surprise was enormous when you saw him enter your house for the first time accompanied by your brother, and let me tell you that he thought exactly the same thing about you.

jake liked you, a lot. and as much as he wanted to respect his best friend, he knew it wouldn't be possible having you around much closer than usual. he'll probably go to "drink water" at the same times as you and "casually" start a conversation in the kitchen. he will try his best to hide how nervous he is and even flirt with you when he feels it's opportune (respectfully, of course). little by little jake will be coming to your house more and more often, and we both know that the reason has nothing to do with your brother.

"from one to ten, how likely is it that your brother will kill me if i kiss you right now? (...) it's okay, i can take it."

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박성훈 · park sunghoon ⊹ ࣪

athletic rivals to lovers. in ice figure skating, only one can be the best. only one can represent the country as "the nation's best ice skater" at the olympics. and for several years, park sunghoon had been the only opponent who had made you doubt your abilities to become that.

he always managed to get on your nerves with his perfect way of doing every single move with that stupid pretty face of his. the feeling was mutual, of course. sunghoon also saw you as his rival from the moment he saw you on the ice ring, unable to help but judge your posture and facial expressions. who would have thought that you two would end up being paired for a duo?

you hated skating next to the perfect park sunghoon, especially since you couldn't help but stare at each and every one of his features closely the moment you were near him. why did he have to be so good-looking? he also hated skating with you, because even though his mind lingered on the feeling of hatred, his heart couldn't help but race when your bodies came closer, intertwining your fingers.

it was all about practicing a performance, but why didn't either of you wanted it to end?

"you've done it wrong again, how can you be so bad? here, take my hands. i'll show you how it's done".

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김선우 · kim sunoo ౨ৎㅤ۫ ㅤ֪

first love. there is no love purer than the first. you and sunoo fell in love at the same time, but it was him who took the first step and decided to confess his love with a beautiful handwritten letter. of course you reciprocated his feelings.

your relationship was the desired relationship of many, especially because you were both perfect for each other. you complemented each other perfectly and everyone envied it with jealous glances, although you were so immersed in your own bubble that you hardly noticed what was going on around you.

sunoo loved you, loves you and will love you as long as time will allow. he wanted that feeling in his chest when you were together to last forever. because he was your first love, and he certainly wanted to be your last.

"stay with me, forever. i promise i'll make it worth it"

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양정원 · yang jungwon ׅ ࣪ ✧

love triangle. jungwon had fallen in love for the first time, and unfortunately it had not turned out as well as he thought it would. especially because of the fact that in your love story of two, there was a third person interfering. and worst of all, it was his best friend.

his friend spent weeks and weeks telling him about you, how nice you were and how much he liked you. he kept insisting for several days to jungwon to help him get your number, and in the end he finally agreed. jungwon went over to ask for your number, and even though he succeeded it, he couldn't help but lie to his friend and say that you rejected him, falling in love instantly and wanting to keep your number all for himself.

he felt terrible for texting you behind his best friend's back, but the rapid beating of his heart when you texted him back made him forget all his worries. maybe he was a bad friend, but he didn't care much if that meant he could be the best boyfriend for you.

"i may have taken longer to realize what i feel for you, but i know i'll treat you better than him. choose me, y/n."

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にしむら りき · nishimura riki ♡   ֺ  ׅ

second chance. you and riki, despite being young, had dated for a while a little over a year ago. it was no surprise to anyone that it didn't work out, especially because of the immaturity of both of you and your lack of experience in love.

the relationship ended after a few months and sadly you never spoke again. it was a relationship of immature teenagers, but it was still sad to see the genuine love you had for each other slowly fading with each passing fight. you and riki loved each other, of course, but you didn't love each other in the right way.

you both ended up hurting a lot more than you expected, the days getting harder and harder. you learned to deal with the pain, but ni-ki didn't. he showed up back in your life a year after the breakup, promising to take proper care of you, to love you and talk things over like adults. he couldn't be without you, and losing you helped him realize that he was a big part of the reason for the breakup. he forced himself to change. for both of you.

"please, fall in love with one more time. this time we'll do it right."

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taglist! (open): @love-4-keum @zeesondiary @tyunni @lovr4lix

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[sneezemonster15]

Hi! What do you think about this?

Is it true? Or ss shippers spread lies as always?

Hi.

It is legit. And he isn't wrong. However, Sakura is not really the heroine in this story, Sasuke is. One of the anime's directors also said this btw, lol. It's very hard to not see it. But Kishi obviously cannot say that in his interviews. He can't openly talk about the gay love story that he wrote in shounen. Sakura is a girl in the same age bracket and in the same team and she is used as a plot device to develop Sasuke and Naruto's dynamic. So she is given the epithet of heroine when the truth is that Sasuke gets all the tropes and visual imagery that a heroine gets in a love story. Naruto and Shippuden are love stories. And that's just a fact.

Kishimoto also said that he wrote team seven as a love triangle. SS think that Sakura is the centre of this love triangle when the very evident truth is that it's actually Sasuke. Lol. But they just conveniently skip anything that does not act in their favor, they are cute like that. They twist everything in the manga to suit their insane theories and when that doesn't work, they use novels.

Anyway, the excerpt of the interview you shared doesn't really speak in favor of SS. All Kishi is saying is that he felt embarrassed writing that scene. Honestly, Sakura WAS very cringe in that scene. She is obviously a fangirl, always was. She rebukes Sasuke because he doesn't share a single word with her, doesn't tell her anything. I find it very funny when people hype up team seven dynamic when one of the members doesn't even willingly talk with the other but is always ears for the third one ie Naruto. I don't know what makes SS feel so proud because the truth is Sasuke doesn't show a willingness to talk to Sakura at all. It's Always Sakura who tries to get his attention or get in close physical proximity with him.

Regardless, at first Sakura does seem like she is handling it maturely, without trying to manipulate him.

She is right when she says revenge in itself won't bring Sasuke happiness. Sasuke also understands this, and it thaws him a little towards Sakura. Which is why he relents and explains in more words than he has ever said to her, that his goals are central to his existence and he must do everything to make them materialize.

Kishimoto deliberately makes it cringe after this though. Sakura keeps talking about Sasuke as if they were a couple. Sakura says - "Revenge won't bring anyone happiness, neither you Sasuke, nor me."

Lol. How exactly does she figure what she feels is important to Sasuke when he doesn't even talk with her? Lol. Why and where does she think she fits in this whole equation? Sasuke is right, him wanting to avenge his clan has nothing to do with Sakura. Or Naruto. Or Kakashi. So why does she think it would matter to Sasuke how she feels about it? And so he tries to explain it to her because he is a kind boy and doesn't deliberately want to hurt her feelings for no reason.

But she really makes it worse after this, by making it all about herself.

She compares her loneliness, she who has parents, friends, and teachers to care for her, with Sasuke's loneliness. Who has no family. And none of the people in Konoha understand what he has been through, no one was there to care for him when he went through hell, all alone as an eight year old. Being with Naruto starts to heal him, like Oro notices very keenly, but then Itachi's visit happens and everything is unraveled.

She compares her apples with his oranges. Seriously, she has no sense of proportion, does she? What an insensitive thing to say to an orphan. And then, when Sasuke is not affected at all, she confesses to him. So. Much. Cringe. First time I saw this scene, I was like, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? I was just trying to reconcile to the fact that you mocked Naruto for his orphan status, and then you say this to Sasuke?

I am sure everyone here knows people like her who make everything about themselves. It's quite exhausting to talk to them. But Sakura reminds me of this character, hardship one upper. Lol.

Kishi is such a sensitive writer when it comes to writing emotions, he writes the emotional scenes, especially with Sasuke, with such nuance and delicacy. And then here's Sakura, just crowding up the station with her freight train like confession that morphs from caring about Sasuke's feelings to caring about her own.

It started with - Sasuke you won't be happy even if you got revenge.

To - I won't be either.

To - I won't be happy if you left because I would be as lonely as YOU if you did. (And no, it's not the same as when Naruto tries to stop him from leaving, because for one thing, their love is mutual.)

To - Because I love you. So stay in the village for MY sake.

To - Or take ME with you.

Which is really sad. Because the reason why Sasuke mocked Sakura and called her annoying in chapter three in the first place was because she compared her predicament with Naruto's. She really has no sense of proportion, does she? What does she even know how it feels to be in Naruto's or Sasuke's shoes?

Which is exactly why Sasuke mocks her back. Which she remembers and even reminds Sasuke about it.

This is so ironic. It's her core memory about Sasuke and yet she really learnt nothing from it. Nothing. Sasuke schools her about the difference between her predicament and Naruto's back then.

And he schools her even in this scene.

Sasuke realizes that Sakura has not changed at all. She does the same thing here that she does in chapter three. She fails at understanding both Naruto's and Sasuke's feelings. And makes it about herself both times. Well, she is consistently portrayed as a self absorbed, narcissistic and entitled girl, who must acquire whatever she wants, even Sasuke, who doesn't want her back. Because blimp sized ego. She was trying to manipulate Sasuke so he would stay, for Her sake. She constantly overestimates her importance to both Naruto and Sasuke and fails every single time. Lol. Like when she fake confessed to Naruto thinking Naruto would jump at the chance to get it on with her and quit Sasuke and then she gets rejected lol after which Naruto confesses to Sasuke on the bridge and pledges to die with him. She again attempts to confess to Sasuke at the end of war arc and she again makes it all about herself. Because Sasuke's wish to get justice and reform the world is equal to her wish to have him stay with her because she can't help loving him. Lol. She is such an embarrassment man.

Finally Sasuke has had enough, this was a very satisfying panel btw. Idc if people take offense. But it's not a coincidence that every single time Sasuke gets triggered and calls Sakura annoying, it's always in response to her saying something very selfish, insensitive and disproportionate.

SS can give however many ridiculous (non) reasons, painfully twisted beyond recognition, but lol, they are just trying to cope.

Sasuke is a very perceptive person, deeply attuned to how different people think. He knows Sakura's true nature. He knows how shallow and self centred she is and that her treatment of people is full of artifice. That is why Naruto stands apart and one of the major reasons Sasuke likes Naruto is because there's no artifice in him. What you see is what you get, warts and all, his closetedness is also a part of his personality. Naruto is honest, raw, unrefined and gritty. He doesn't mix words, he is not really very skillful with them. And he doesn't care. Because what matters to him is his emotions, he wears his heart on his sleeve proudly, and Sasuke is in awe of his emotional generosity, just as Naruto is in awe of his intensity and resolve.

Coming back to the interview, Kishi is talking about how fans could perceive it (and SS have) as if they were lovers because Sakura gets so weepy and mawkish, announcing her confession in such a cloying manner. And this scene uses the common trope of the aspirational male character leaving the village to accomplish something and the heroine trying to stop him from leaving, punctuated by heavy emotional beats. But that's just the surface level reading of this scene isn't it? Kishi loves his parallels and his foreshadowing. He is very careful about the way he develops his characters and he won't write them to deviate from their characterization without a reason. Sakura has given Sasuke no reason to actually like her, in fact, she only underscores her inherently shallow and self absorbed personality with everything she says, which has undergone no change whatsoever till date.

Kishi painstakingly keeps her character consistently unchanged even in Boruto. She is the same manipulative, emotionally violent, self centred and egotistical person in Boruto, Gaiden at least, who treats her own daughter so badly when she asks Sakura uncomfortable questions about Sasuke.

Anyway, concluding this winding answer, this scene is quite cringey and Kishi is right in saying that it was embarrassing, because Sakura makes it so. Every. Single. Time.

It's so funny to me that fans simply ignore the fact that the emotional core of this story is based on the concept of truly understanding each other and empathizing. Sasuke doesn't give up till the end and only relents after Naruto lets him know of his feelings that finally resonates with Sasuke. Which finally makes him realize that he is not alone, and it makes him cross over to Naruto's side. Naruto makes a fine profession out of it for heaven's sake, his talk no jutsu being the tool of his trade.

Sakura never understood Sasuke. She never even attempted, she always kept on about her own needs regardless of how Sasuke felt about her or even generally. No one understood him, not Sakura, not Itachi, not Kakashi, no one. Until Naruto. That's why the story ended with their reconciliation. And not the war arc. Because the story is about them.