#platonic relationship intended!!

[iicomet]

(pre-reincarnation!chung myung & reader)

(In which you meet him for several times.)

The first time you met him, you remember thinking one thing.

‘What a small child.’

Cold autumn air pricks at your skin, puffs of condensed air surrounding your lips, your warmth sourced from the bundles of scarves you had wrapped around yourself. Curious eyes watched the wrapped child being held in your elder’s arms; small hands, already so beaten and bruised at a young age, held back the temptation to hold him and fascinate in awe over the smaller being.

Despite being one of the older children, bearing witness to the numerous people who had joined the sect, you were still so fascinated at the younger ones being brought in. Even as you grew up in the walls of the esteemed sect, hearing people come and go through the wide doors, red painted wood opening and closing with a loud creak— You always seemed to miss the exact moment of their entry and departure, always so caught up in the swings of your wooden sword; each swing harsher than the rest, each stroke softer than before. Gaze boring into the tip of the blunt weapon as if it had wronged your entire bloodline; your mind dazed as you watched your own body be controlled by the memories of a practiced dance, over and over again. It was like you only had eyes for the sword, and nothing else. 

Yet this time, you caught a sight of something else for the first time.

And that just so happens to be the first time you met that child, on October 10. Blue skies tinted with a yellowish hue, the clouds passing through the gates of the sect, watching the newest addition to the family you had grown to love over the years. Hiding above the tall pink trees that decorated the grounds, you didn’t dare to reveal yourself despite the waging curiosity and interest in your heart.

Perhaps you were afraid of dealing with a younger child, afraid of hearing it cry so suddenly in your presence; or perhaps you were afraid of being found by your seniors for slacking off, the height of your rebellious stage beginning to peek through the cracks of your innocent exterior despite being years away from reaching the peak of your adolescent adventures. They had always said that the quieter ones were the most unexpected ones, after all.

So, you continued to watch from afar, the scent of plum blossoms beginning to feel overwhelming as you surrounded yourself in it, drowning your shadows in a pink sea.

–

The second time you had met him, it was when you were assigned to take care of him, when he could barely even walk. You had wondered what kind of person he will grow into, holding chubby little hands in your bigger ones, squishing the flesh with an amused smile. He was so weak, so defenseless. Even though you were the same, merely a few years difference between the both of you, you still felt a sense of protectiveness over the boy, wanting to shield him from the harm the world could ever bring him.

At that moment, you allowed a promise to be made, to swear by a self-inflicted oath to protect the child before you. Why would you do something for someone you had just met? A child, whose only life was behind the guarded walls of the sect and surrounded with the warmth of a family, had no idea how valuable a life was.

Even so, you gave yours to him. 

You gave yours to them.

A sudden tight pinch alerts you from your thoughts, flinching slightly from the death grip this child has. You tried prying off your fingers, fearing it might break, but his grip was too strong, and you didn’t want to hurt the child.

You sighed. You were never expecting a younger child to have such a monstrocious grip strength. 

Maybe, you didn’t need to protect him after all. Maybe, this child was someone who might be the one to protect you in the future, instead. 

You chuckled. 

As if. 

Even if this child grows up to be the savior of the world, you were still his senior. As his older senior, you would do your best to accompany him, so he wouldn’t be lonely. As his older senior, you had a duty to guide and protect your younger sect members. Just like how your seniors did to you, and just like how their seniors did to them.

You were his senior. You had a duty to fulfill.

–

The one hundred sixty-eighth time you had met him, he was running from his sect brother. You, who remained diligent in your training, bumped into him after a long time. Or, well, he bumped into you, causing the little findings in his hands to drop and spill onto the ground.

“Ah– There you are.”

You picked him up like a stray cat, his expression morphing from a mischievous glee to a nervous smile. He still greeted you as always, his voice abnormally innocent and kind. Cheeky little one, you bemused. As an expert is able to discern an amateur's lies, you weren’t a fool to trust his facade, having experienced the same scene that played before them over and over again while still in their youth.

It was like you could hear the sighs of your fellow sect members, shaking their heads as they hear you speak like an elder despite your young age. They would joke that perhaps an older spirit had possessed your body, causing you to act like a matured grandpa whilst adorning a teenage face. You, in turn would just solemnly nod and bemoan out loud whenever it rains, complaining about your aching knees and tired back to run from training. At first, it would work, but people soon stopped believing your act of compliance towards their jokes and forced you to return to sword swingings. What a pity.

Of course, as the kind and mature senior you were, you were about to give him advice on how to act better and let him off if he were to share with you his findings, but was unfortunately disrupted by the voice of another sect brother who came running towards the both of you, obviously exhausted. You pitied him, for a moment, deciding to continue your mask as the reliable senior instead.

To be honest, you pitied yourself more; for losing the opportunity to share a drink underneath the moonlight with your fellow disciples. 

You smiled at him as he spoke words that flew from one ear to another, your mind too occupied with the devastating fates that separated you and your beloved wine. Disappointment leaks through your expression, causing your juniors to freeze.

Chung Myung-ah, you should’ve ran faster.

Placing him down, you acted as nonchalant as possible, seeing another opportunity to grab and pick up the bottles, leaving the both of them behind. You silently applauded yourself for the genius idea that appeared in your mind in the spur of the moment as you walked away, promising yourself to pay your junior back for giving you such a wonderful chance.

–

The five hundred and twelfth time you had met him, he was working hard in the training grounds you once found yourself in nearly every day, taking your place in his diligent training. You were merely passing through, taking a break from your own practices when your eyes caught the familiar tuff of black hair, standing amidst the neatly arranged crowd of disciples. Wooden sword in his hand, it reminds you of the ones you broke countless times during your past, before you were sentenced to cleaning the halls because of one too many losses.

It’s not your fault the wooden sword couldn’t handle your strength, you thought, pouting slightly as you mopped the floors clean. Unfortunately for you, the elders thought otherwise. Maybe that’s why they had you banned from using the wooden swords for a short period of time, and why they decided to exclude you from the practices right now.

…No, that’s not it. You were clearly just slacking off by telling your instructor that you had to grab the specialized sword that the sect elders made for you just to stop you from continuing to cause any more losses to their savings. Obviously, you did grab it, but you just went for the longer route to go back to your training. If they asked, you would just blame it on your weak knees.

Your attention returned to the shouts of your junior brothers as they swung their swords, eyes filled with determination to perform the best in their group. You smiled, watching the younger ones repeat the same dance you had forced yourself to do a few years back, the same fire burning their limbs underneath the sun after hours and hours of non-stop swinging.

As you walked away, footsteps softly resounding across the cobblestone pathway, the already quiet paddings underneath your feet deafened by the passionate yells from your juniors, you wondered how long it would take for him to grow stronger and become like you. 

You silently hoped that it would never come. 

—

The five hundred twentieth time you had met him, it was night. The moon shone above the both of you, the birds long returned to their homes and quietly entered their slumber, just like everyone else in the sect. So, why were the both of you staring at each other wide-eyed, hands holding something the both of you shouldn’t be holding?

A look of recognition was passed between the two, a silent nod and approval of each other’s action. Who would’ve thought that the senior that everyone thought was a stickler for rules was such a troublemaker? Who would’ve thought that the growing prodigy in the sect was such a troublemaker? (The latter was quite a known case, but the former was still quite a surprise to those who were not of the same generation. What a well-kept secret, indeed.)

Before the two could even do anything, a sudden flicker of light appeared from a corner, causing them to bolt into different directions, the shouts of an elder close behind them. The younger one, who was nearly caught, found himself being grabbed by the back of his neck and pulled towards a secluded place, where another senior looked at him in surprise.

Three of them stayed quiet behind the walls, their breathing soft and quiet despite the harsh beatings in their heart, the bottles in their hands nearly breaking from the sheer pressure. The seconds felt like years, the stress from being caught causing them to age several years, but it was by luck that the elder was too tired to look closer. Perhaps if he did, he would catch three delinquents with one too many bottles of wine in their possessions, staring right back at him.

‘Maybe this is why senior was always complaining about having grey hair,’ Chung Myung thought.

A soft sigh escapes your lips, the feeling of relief flooding your veins as you slowly slide down the walls and sit on the floor. Nervous hearts pounded with blood, before the adrenaline rush dies down and you find yourself chuckling, giggling softly at the excitement this brings.

It’s true when they said that laughter was contagious, for the small corner was soon filled with childish sniggerings, three unruly disciples enjoying the stolen fruits of their labor in the night together. Underneath the moonlit gleam, you shared a drink with your fellow disciples, raising your glass high in the air, cheeks red from both the alcohol and joy.

-

[chocobje]

Will Toodles be turned into a twisted in the Toodles au?

I don't think they would let that happen..

[serenpedac]

Similar observations have probably been made before about A & N, but I wanted to write this down anyway.

To start off this year, I'm reading The Other Significant Others by Rhaina Cohen. The book has a section on historical same-sex friendships that reminded me very much of A & N. These quotes in particular:

Men in the eighteenth through early twentieth centuries had same-sex friendships that---in one historian's words---"verged on romance."

And:

Not only were forms of affection out in the open; the emotional intensity and physicality that we now associate almost exclusively with romantic relationships was then a hallmark of friendship.

There's also a part about how students at women's colleges would basically woo each other if someone caught their eye, sending notes and gifts, "until [...] the two become inseparable."*

Thinking about A and N, who have lived through these periods, it's easy to see the signs of this kind of relationship in the way they interact with each other: all those touches between them, how they know each other so well they can hold entire conversations by exchanging a single look, how comfortable they are with challenging each other when they disagree (there's a lot of trust involved in being able to disagree like they do at times, I think) etc.

Their relationship blurs the lines between different forms of relationships (platonic, romantic), because their existence spans across centuries, all with their own views on and customs regarding those various relationships.

*Considering the history of erasing queer relationships, I think it's important to note that some of these relationships were sexual, but, as mentioned in the book, we shouldn't overcompensate and assume that all of them were.

[offonaherosjourney]

At some point Kazuki is going to vent to a mom from daycare about how hard parenting is and how he wished Rei helped more around the house and the woman is going to nod understandingly and ask Kazuki how long he and Rei have been married and Kazuki is going to give her a puzzled look and say "married? we're not even dating??", and that woman is going to laugh because haha turns out that Kazuki the failed stand-up comedian does have some good jokes after all.

[myloish]

(suddenly remembers that one time fjord was getting killed on the ship and caduceus couldn't reach him and it was the angriest anyone had ever seen him get) wogh

[imtrashraccoon]

This is actually the longest chapter yet, somehow?? I think I just got really into it. What can I say, I like writing little character introspections.

@owl-bones

First, Previous, & Next Day

Bad Sansuary II: Dust - Restrained

Word Count: 2,094

While you had been able to run away, you knew the guards would catch up to you eventually. They knew what you looked like and, because you were an obvious outsider, would soon track you down to the tavern. You hadn't encountered any other dog monsters in the city either and even if you had, once news spread, no one would be willing to hide you. The other problem was that you had a feeling getting out of the city would prove impossible.

So what should you do?

This was the first time you had had a run in with the law. You had looked up to soldiers your whole life, believing they served an important role in keeping order, and for a time you did your best to do the same. Ever since choosing to abandon the Klasical Kingdom and stay with your soulmate, you knew you would eventually end up in a sticky situation like this. You knew your comrades weren't good people and, by choosing to align yourself with them, neither were you at this point. This new reality was difficult to come to terms with, but now wasn't the time to contemplate such things.

Using natural handholds, you hauled yourself up another wall and then up to an overhang. After resting for a moment, you climbed onto the roof of the building, finding yourself across the street from the tavern. You could even see your room's window that you and Reven had climbed out of earlier.

For a moment, you stood there under the open sky, staring at the building. The rain had picked up again and your armour was soaked, but you barely registered it. The mission was a bust. You hadn't learned what was going on with the weird eye symbol and now Reven had been arrested. If he hadn't resisted too much, there was a good chance the guards would keep him alive while they looked for you, but after that, his fate would be a grim one.

The punishment for murder was death. Some kingdoms had different methods for how the death penalty would be carried out, but the result was always the same. It didn't matter if the guards knew just how many murders Reven was responsible for or not. When the guards caught up to you, they would probably charge you with accessory to murder which, while generally considered a less serious offense, would likely mean execution for you as well.

You sighed and ran your fingers through your sopping wet fur. You had two equally difficult choices. Either you could hide until they eventually found and dragged you off to jail, or attempt to rescue Reven and restore your honour. There was a high chance you would die no matter what you chose, but to you, the right thing to do was obvious. It was far better to fall in battle than to die a coward's death in a futile attempt to change your fate.

You returned to your room long enough to gather up whatever gear you had left behind, namely your rucksack and your bow. They would have gotten in the way so you hadn't been bringing them along on your nightly escapades. Besides, if you couldn't see your target in the dark, you certainly weren't going to hit it.

You picked up the sound of footsteps and raised voices downstairs as you were slipping back out the window. It looked like you had just managed to get out in time. While it might have been entertaining to wait around and watch their reactions to finding the room empty, you knew better and decided to make yourself scarce.

After making sure you were a safe distance away, you crouched down on a roof to figure out your next move. You would need to figure out where Reven had been taken, but you also knew that the longer you waited, the harder it would be to rescue him. Even if you knew where he was, going in now would likely also prove to be a bad idea as it would be swarming with guards. It seemed you would have to handle this situation with the utmost care if you wanted to have any chance at succeeding.

~ ≈ V^ᴥ^V ≈ ~

You watched a guard exit the barracks, silently counting the seconds as they walked away. You were perched on a roof where you had a clear view of the door but still out of sight from the street. From what you had observed, word had spread pretty quickly among the soldiers and they were out in full force searching for you. Luckily, they weren't expecting you to be here and were out scouring the city.

You had been here for a few hours now, just observing and memorizing their movements. Your keen ears had picked up a few snippets of conversations between a few of the guards about "a crazy paladin" so you were confident you had found where they were holding him.

After a few seconds, you dropped down next to the door and carefully turned the knob, finding it unlocked. With a quick glance around, you crept inside the building, closing the door behind you again.

The room seemed like an office of sorts but thankfully there wasn't anyone in sight. There was a desk with some papers and what looked like a book for record keeping. You also noticed a few rough wooden benches against one of the walls and two doors, one behind the desk and one near the benches.

The door near the benches was more heavily reinforced and you surmised that it led to the dungeon. Unfortunately, it was locked but you found a key hidden in one of the desk drawers that thankfully fit in the keyhole. You figured it must have been a spare for when whoever owned the desk was away.

Beyond the heavy door was a set of stairs going down. Pocketing the key, you took a deep breath before beginning to descend into the dungeon. You kept low, being careful not to scuff your paws on the stonework and give yourself away.

The deeper you went, the more obvious it was that you were in the right place. The air smelled stale with a hint of blood and other bodily fluids, and occasionally, you could hear the sound of metal on metal, like chains being rattled. You couldn't hear much movement though, so there was a good chance the guards were still away.

You reached the bottom of the stairs and carefully examined your surroundings. The only light was from a nearby lantern hanging from a nail and a flickering candle in a room off to the side. Slowly, you crept forward, peering around the corner.

There was a man lounging in a chair facing away from the door. He was wearing a similar uniform to the guards but lacking the helmet, which you noticed sitting on the table in front of him along with an opened bottle of spirits. You were debating whether you should just sneak past, when you noticed a ring of keys on his belt that presumably would open up the cells.

Drawing your dagger, you tiptoed forward until you were right behind the jailor. In one fluid motion, you covered his mouth with one paw and slit his throat with your weapon. While you couldn't help but silently revel for a moment in the small burst of energy from absorbing his EXP, you knew you had limited time before someone came to check on things. Carefully, you propped the man's head up so it would appear as if he was asleep and swiped the keys.

Now you just needed to find Reven.

There was only one other prisoner, but they seemed to be asleep or maybe too out of it to care what you were doing. Maybe if they had noticed, you would have been willing to let them loose as well, but as it stood, you couldn't afford to have any extra liabilities.

Reven was chained up to the wall by his wrists in the farthest cell. His gear was gone, leaving him in a pair of tattered pants with his upper half on full display. His bones were littered with small cracks and scrapes, several of which were leaking small amounts of dust, but you noticed there were several older scars across his ribcage as well.

Despite your best efforts, the keys clinked together as you fiddled with the lock, but Reven only looked up when you managed to get the door open. At first, he just stared at you, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing was even real. Only when you hurried to his side and started working on the wrist irons suspending him, did he even attempt to say anything.

"you shouldn't have come..."

After unlocking his restraints, you pried open the metal bands, letting him ease himself down onto the stone floor. He was weak and you didn't even want to imagine what he had gone through in the hours since being captured.

"...i deserve what comes next," he muttered, slumping against the wall.

You shook your head. "No, don't give me any of that. You're a valuable member of the team and I'm not about to abandon you, no matter whether you think you're worth saving or not."

He stared at you, a mixture of disbelief and shock in his eyelights. His gaze briefly flicked to your left, focusing on something unseen and he mouthed a few words under his breath, but you couldn't understand what he was saying.

You could tell he was in no shape to run and you didn't know any healing spells. Then you remembered that you had packed a health potion before entering the city, just in case something happened. You quickly fished the small vial out of your rucksack and pressed it into Reven's hand.

"It's not much, but we're going to need to move quickly and I can't carry you the entire time."

He blinked, as if he'd been shocked back to reality, before popping off the cork and downing the potion in a single gulp. The effect was immediate and most of the cracks across his bones began to close, although the old scars remained untouched.

"why do you care so much?" He rubbed at his eye sockets before adding, "i thought i made it clear from day one that i didn't like you..."

You nodded, "Oh I know." Holding out your hand, you smiled at him and added, "I don't need to be friends with you, just knowing you have my back is enough in my eyes."

He grasped your hand and you helped him to his feet. When he stumbled, you quickly moved to support his weight, wrapping your arm around his shoulder blades.

"i'm surprised you trust me not to stab you the moment you turn around..." he murmured.

You clicked your tongue, slowly helping him out of the cell. "When I served under Captain Undyne, we had a saying. It went like, 'No one gets left behind.' While I no longer take orders from her, I still follow that rule." You paused for a moment before adding, "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have even left the Dark Fortress, let alone snuck into a city with you."

Reven said nothing.

By the time you reached the jailor's room again, he had gained back enough strength to walk on his own, but you still stayed close by just in case. Thankfully, his gear was still stashed away in a chest meant for prisoner possessions and nothing seemed to be missing. You stood guard at the entrance while he donned his armour again.

"Any chance you could teleport both of us out of the city?" you asked when he finished.

"i wish." He huffed and shook his head. "i'm pretty low on mana, but i think i could do it over a short distance, like through the gate."

You sighed and ran a paw down your face. "I was afraid of that... I guess we'll have to get there first, huh?"

Reven chuckled and started to climb the stairs. He glanced back at you over his shoulder, a manic grin stretched across his skull. "if you still trust me after this, i'll buy the first round next time we're in a proper tavern."

"Not if I have to carry you out in pieces, you sorry sack of bones," you responded with a snort.

[halfhissandwich]

Hehehehehe Roman and Virgil doing things together would be really nice :)

Virgil’s introducing Roman to Marcus the spider!

[paperglader]

Jackie and Shauna are definitely winning at most fucked up canon wlw pairing at the moment... Just watched heavenly creatures for the first time and some things are clicking.

Once you realize that Jennifer's body and heavenly creatures set the tone for those two from the start everything sort of makes sense.

[byoldervine]

Connor would jokingly ask if he gets to kiss Kennedy at midnight on New Years and she’d agree purely to watch his brain fry. It does

Come midnight he quintuple checks that she’s genuinely cool with it, then pecks her cheek despite the opportunity to go in for more. It’s not romantic, just playful and friendly, and that’s just how the two like it. It’s the only reason Kennedy went along with it in the first place

The pair know each other too well to do something the other is genuinely uncomfortable with, and they know that, despite how it may look at times, they both want the same thing out of their friendship; Connor’s flirting is only a tease and Kennedy’s annoyance is only surface level. And both fuel the other in this, since their boundaries are made clear and align with one another’s

[monstrousvoice]

Sometimes I see posts about how having Alastor being in a relationship means its "taking away" his ace rep...and I swear I feel a little part of myself die of frustration.

Yall know that ace people (and yes aro people too) can find connection with someone that isnt based on sex, right? Yall know that we can agree to being in a relationship with someone with a romantic label because we care deeply for that person and it would make them happy, right? Yall know that we can even have sex and one night stands and get married and any other such things because while being aro/ace means we don't feel attraction, it doesnt mean we cant still enjoy those activities, right?

yall know that sexuality is fluid and that its not a one size fits all type of deal, right?

From,

A tired ace/aro person who just wants to enjoy bonking her favorite fictional characters together.

[foggyjune]

Me, this morning: I refuse to let this show emotionally manipulate me again -

FUCK

[nunyverse-scribe]

I think once we, as a (western, could be different for other) society, move past the idea of lip-kissing being restricted for ONLY romantic relationships, and allow it to be something friends can do, we will be able to move forward.

And, by extension, once we as a (western) society recognize that being romantically affiliated doesn’t mean you can just expect your partner to want to do lip-kissing (or other forms of physical contact) just bc you’re romantically attracted to one another, we will be able to move forward.

[lovely-v]

One of the many things that makes me insane is that Thelma and Louise literally kissed in that movie and NOBODY views it as a romantic film when I watched that I was so blown away and I asked my parents like wow nobody told me they had a romantic thing?? No one told me this movie was kinda gay? And they were like yeah I guess I didn’t ever see it that way. They kissed on the lips in the most climactic scene of the film?????

[jerreeeeeee]

the thing is i very much understand the appeal of lupcretia narratively bc they are foils who betray each other and then forgive each other because the force of their grief and guilt brings them to an understanding and i also understand the appeal of blupcretia bc its a three person relationship who disagree on something major and split apart leaving one party feeling abandoned when the other two agree against her and what does that mean for the fact that the rest of their lives outside a horrible timeloop are supposed to start soon Because of that decision and disagreement like i get it narratively its interesting!! but here’s the thing: i just have an unshakeable belief that lup is straight

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[poniko-w]

ive seen a few people say that adukin and jack have a cat/dog type relationship but i think they've just got a little dog/big dog relationship. adukin is like a really angry tiny dog and jack is like a relaxed big dog to me. but also adukin should forever be drawn as slightly taller than jack because shes earnt it