#she doesn't need propaganda so I won't tag it as such but look at this julia propaganda anyways

[groan-taire]

Julia Ortega past and present

[capn-twitchery]

OC smash or pass!!

Rules: pretty self explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc).

tagged by: @esteemed-excellency & @the-dye-stained-socialite (sorry double tag)

ok grace's turn 🫡 (is it cheating to use the arctic explorer art bc he looks cooler in it? i'm gonna anyway)

name: lieutenant edward grace

age: mid 30s somewhere

gender: just a guy

sexuality: aroace but he doesn't know that

🌨 pros:

will be so niceys to you. and everyone else. you can bring him home to your grandma and she will approve of him bc he is very polite

courteous, chivalrous, wants to help in any way he can. ridiculously eager to please

surprisingly romantic!! but old fashioned about it. hand kisses, love letters, little gifts, that angle. you will be getting pride & prejudice-ass letters if you're with him long enough

flexible, but usually a service top. his letter signoff is "your obedient servant",,,,, you get the picture

that one "i like kissing polar explorers they kiss like they're hungry" post that lives in my head 24/7

fine military carriage the Tits™

❓❓vague mystery class zone

needs to be wined and dined first, sorry, he is shy & too much of a gentleman. but it should be a nice enough date

shy. takes a bit to warm up to people before he stops being a stuffy victorian era stereotype

mutton chops

🌨cons:

he's awkward. he is trying his best but he's still awkward. :( negative persuasive modifier. sorry grace

haunted by the horrors 24/7. nightmares 8. anxietyx10000. melancholy 100. terrible sleep. his ass needs to be in the royal beth. no he won't talk about it tho (he's fine!)

self confidence does not exist. eaten by guilt

people pleaser to the level he entirely forgets about himself

stands like a pigeon (it does mean he wears a corset tho. silver lining!)

[pearlescentmoonshippingbracket]

I don't know if you're aware of this or not already but Pearl has said multiple times that she is incredibly uncomfortable with people shipping her, whether it be her real self or her characters. I know this is supposed to be "for the fans" but personally as a fan I find it kinda gross that people who are supposed to be fans will still purposefully go against boundaries that she's made clear many times over, fully knowing how uncomfortable it makes her. even if you go to the lengths to make it that much more unlikely that she'll see it, you can't guarantee that she won't see and/or hear about it.

I'm going to try to explain my thoughts as succinctly as I can because this is a mentality many people have and I feel like providing the viewpoints of the other side of this discussion is important.

I understand that it is important to respect the boundaries of CCs and to not actively make them uncomfortable. But the thing about boundaries is that it only applies in spaces where we are interacting with the CCs.

Boundaries are set to avoid CCs from coming into contact with uncomfortable situations in their personal spaces where they are interacting with their community. It's there to make sure their environment is comfortable for them.

I haven't mentioned this blog to cc Pearl in any way, shape or form. I haven't entered into her personal spaces to inform her about this bracket, or the fact that people ship her or anything to do with shipping, thus I have abided by her boundaries. Respecting Pearl's boundaries is not mentioning anything about this to her and not invading her spaces.

If you believe that abiding by her boundaries is by not making any of this then I disagree. Because fandom isn't her space. Fandom is a place for the fans. It's in the name, fan-domain. This is a place where fans exist and interact with each other and discuss things related to the creator but it's not for the creator. This isn't a place created for the CCs and the CCs aren't obligated to enter fandom spaces. If they are engaging in fandom spaces it's because they chose to and thus they need to understand that fandom doesn't operate on their rules, because fandom is a shared space and so they don't operate on any rules! Everyone enjoys content differently and it's not up to us to tell other people what's the right and wrong way to enjoy something. Fans shouldn't be expected or forced to make and share things based on what a small handful of people feel comfortable with because in that way it's them invading our personal space.

For example, a person shouldn't be forced to use an ingredient only in the way the manufacturer intended nor should be forced to listen to what a chef thinks is the right way to use it. If they like putting cheetos on a cupcake then they should be allowed to do that, sure some people would find it weird and the creator of cheetos wouldn't have intended it to be used that way but if they enjoy it then they enjoy it and if they post it on their socials saying how much they like it then they should be allowed to do that!

@/codgod's diagram is a good way to visualise this

Pearl does have a Tumblr that she is active on so as a way to prevent Pearl from finding this I don't use #pearlescentmoon for any of the shipping content (polls, propaganda or prizes) which is her main tag that she actively looks through, instead I use alternate side tags which allow people to find stuff related to Pearl while not being seen by her, thus I am not invading her space (I don't just do this with Pearl, if a cc is actively on Tumblr I make sure to only use their side tags). The event is also over which further reduces the chance of her finding it, and if she does find it, she can block this blog.

Blocking this blog will allow Pearl to not have to see any of the content here thus making her space comfortable again, she has every right to block me and shouldn't feel the need to tolerate seeing this blog on her dash. The same applies to you, if you don't like what's on this blog or my response you are more than welcome to block me, you shouldn't force yourself to interact with me if you don't like the space here.

This is also a really good post about this topic

This response isn't me justifying shipping, or me trying to persuade you to agree with me, it's just me showing my personal opinion on this topic. Honestly I expected an ask like this to come at some point and I don't blame you for not understanding why people continue to ship mcyt characters. I actually used to not like mcytshipping too back in the day, but I learned more about the community and realised shipping exists because of love for a CCs content. We see the stories they make and the interactions the characters have with each other and expand upon them. We get curious about what would happen if the characters developed feelings for each other, how would that affect the story, how well do their personalities balance each other, would their relationship be better if they were put in a separate context.

Creating new stories and new dynamics for these characters, and expanding them in ways the original media didn't isn't gross, it's beautiful.

At least that's what I think

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda under the cut

Relena Peacecraft

She made the mistake of having a crush on the serial killer/child soldier lead character, and also wearing pink. Like, she's one of the OG characters to have a "-bashing" tag on FFN and then AO3. The other half of the yaoi pair was a boy with a butt-length braid, a fake American name, and a priest outfit. Poor Ms Peacecraft never stood a chance.

Relena is a very competent and accomplished character with her own plot lines and goals in a series full of complicated political and military upheavals. The main characters are 5 teenage boys who pilot Gundams, and each boy has at least one potential female love interest counterpart (all of whom are interesting characters in their own right). Relena is the counterpart to the main pilot, Heero. Her importance to Heero and the story is substantial enough that yaoi shippers often feel the need to kill her off specifically, while other female characters get to play the roll of supportive fujoshi friend to the yaoi ships instead. The hate for Relena was truly vitriolic in the height of the yaoi fandom in the mid 90s/early 00s, so much so that the memories of her tortures live on in my memory to this day…

she suffers the indignity of being an implied LI in the most fujobait season of gundam ever and for that she had to die (in fanfiction) just look at any 1x2x1 fic on any platform, be it ffn or private website or anywhere, she gets vilainized to hell and back, if relena does not win this fuckign poll i'm goign to jump off a bridge she was villainised SO FUCKING HARD have you ever tried looking for any 1x2 fic that doesn't have relena bashing. it's impossible. she deserves a hefty victim's compensation from Big Yaoi is all i'm saying.

Ada Wong

A mysterious and capable agent of a shadowy bioterrorism organization, she has a romance with government agent Leon S Kennedy spanning multiple games and movies. No one knows her true loyalties, but Leon trusts her. But, who cares! Leon and Chris argued once and that means they must be in love. Ada has also been convicted of fandom high crimes of lying to the fandom's babygirl and doing morally grey things while not being a man. 

lots of explicit romantic chemistry with leon kennedy but large parts of the fandom treat her like a heartless monster who only hurts him and uses him for her goals so that they can pair him with a guy (its hard to be a girlboss)

She has a will-they-won't-they relationship with Leon in Resident Evil 2, 4, and 6. But since m/m ships like Chris/Leon and Luis/Leon are really popular, she's usually written out of fan content completely or, in rare cases, she's seen as a "mean lesbian" or antagonist to Leon's potential yaoi moment. I love her so much she doesn't deserve it :(

[thetavolution]

OC SMASH OR PASS

Tagged by: omgkalyppso (thank you!)

Tagging: Any of you who want to do it!

Rules: Include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. The “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idk).

Vaira

QUICK FACTS

Height: 5'6"

Age: 31

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

PROS

Upfront with what she wants. She does not beat around the bush and she will tell you outright what she expects, and she expects the same in return.

She's gith. She's not like your typical gith, but she's still tough as nails. She's not afraid to take control and she's a great domme.

Honest to a fault. You will always know where you stand with her.

She's not averse to taking a submissive role. She caves faster for someone she likes sooner than you'd think. She respects people with dominate personalities, too.

Vaira is actually a big softie. She might pretend she isn't romantic, but she's not fooling anyone.

Enjoys being tied up or doing the tying up.

Not opposed to BDSM, but doesn't need it.

She's protective. She is a paladin of devotion after all.

CONS

Doesn't understand a lot of traditions and customs. You will have to explain some things to her. Flirting often goes over her head.

She's gith. Her idea of rough might be too intense for most.

Honest to a fault. Tact isn't always her best friend.

Might challenge you to a fight if she likes you too much. But it can lead to fight sex, which might be a pro?

She does not like to share. Threesomes or more are out of the question.

She gets jealous and a little possessive.

Repressed trauma incarnate. Vaira has not unpacked her childhood or young adulthood. She comes from what is more or less a dictatorship that demands brutality. It's messed her up a little.

If you're looking for a one night stand, you're out of luck. She won't admit it, but she falls fast and hard. She also doesn't really like to sleep with people until there is something between them.

DETAILS

Vaira doesn't fit in with most gith. She's brutal by Faerûn standards while being "soft" by gith standards. On the upside, she doesn't share in their xenophobia.

She does still really hate ghaik.

She will make someone soap or mend their clothing but refuses to admit it was because she likes them. She does this for friends and romantic interests alike.

When overwhelmed, she stares off into space.

She's doing her best to learn how to cook Faerûn dishes. (I have her romancing Gale so she's a bit spoiled in not needing to cook.)

She can drink most people under the table.

She sees her varsh, Ja'adoc, as a father figure. She would eventually want him to come to Faerûn with her. So, unlike a lot of gith, she comes with a father-in-law.

Her best friend is Lae'zel. They are ride or die besties.

[knights-unwelcommentary]

I think I did get the general vibes of the tags haha. I don't agree with folks that turn the conciliatory quadrants into platonic relationships either, like they're explicitly a romantic category in a romantic system there's not even interpretation required there. My post doesn't mean to invalidate that but to remind people that apart from romance they're functionally pillars of the Alternian society and trolls can enter one of them for the wellbeing of their social groups

(yup, exactly)

There's a possible point of debate here. We might have different definitions of quadrants being enforced by the empire, we know from Jane's experience with the Condesce how entrenched in everything the Alternian propaganda gets (They Live 1988 refrance) and we also know that trolls are looking for their destined partners for every quadrant (Serendipity 2001 refrance)

"In short, their belief is that for each quadrant there exists a pair or triad of trolls somewhere in the cosmos that were… MADE FOR EACH OTHER."

Enforcement with trolls doesn't seem to be as straight forward as with humans, where we have a few institutions dedicated to it and civilians are not required to do any enforcement of their own. With trolls everyone's dedicated to enforcement in a big barrel of crabs pulling each other down

I do wonder how the concupiscent quadrants could be enforced but not the conciliatory ones... Like, how would the drones be able to tell that someone isn't really in a long-term reciprocal quadrant with their contribution partners? Would other trolls have to snitch about it?

My running theory is that the quadrants (a well established system of romance that trolls have evolved with) are being exploited to keep trolls together in their quest for serendipity (so they can work together later on without killing each other too much) and everything else is being used to keep them apart (so they can't join forces and overthrow the empress)

So imo there is imperial enforcement for all the quadrants, in a systemic way with heavy interpersonal consequences

On to the other point. Every brood of trolls is a generation of siblings, though? And contributors to the slurry are intentionally kept removed from the children it spawns through exile and waiting long after the contributor has died for their genetic material to be introduced to the equation (the later one was also implemented by the Condesce on Earth). They don't have a concept of and don't need human families, true, but they would have a sort of family given a different set of circumstances

Like you mentioned, the word for friend is the same word for enemy in Alternia. And we've seen the beta trolls have to walk on eggshells so their actions towards their friends won't get misinterpreted as a romantic advance. That's how I think they're not allowed close friendships, the beta trolls did the bare minimum of not killing each other for a few weeks and that was nothing short of a miracle to some of them

My line of thought was more akin of how Earth B developed under the Condesce's reign and how that extrapolates to her previous policies which we didn't get to see at all because of how on a need to know basis the Hivebent section of the story was

The job to do quote pops up three times in act five, the first one is by the narrator about Nepeta regarding Equius, "If not you, then who? Everyone has an important job to do." The last time it's brought up it's about Feferi having to keep Eridan (someone she doesn't feel romantically attracted to) from causing trouble before entering the game, and through that conversation the phrase gets recontextualized. I feel like the callback is purposeful (thinking about it now it almost sounds like a slogan, or a catchy jingle) but I might be wrong. I do agree that it's specifically about the relationship that's being addressed and not about the quadrant as a whole

The romantic system Alternia presents doesn't translate perfectly to human romance, and it also seems to have mayor differences with the Beforan one so incompatible situations are to be expected, I guess. My position is that all of the quadrants have an use to the empire and that results in the romantic part of it falling to the wayside sometimes. The romantic part is of course predominating on the romantic system as should be but the functional one is often completely forgotten in a lot of fan content

( I just went past my bedtime xd, thanks for the link)

I think that an important thing to keep in mind about quadrants is that, while they can be entirely romantic, on Alternia they're a public service first more often than not and on occasions they can be a public service entirely

[fanmoose12]

a little something for @bruciesnat :) i know i've promised it like a lifetime ago, sorry for the delay! oh, and i decided to combine it with a prompt i also received a long while ago <3

Mike doesn't know why he's doing this. Doesn't understand how he agreed to it, can't comprehend why Erwin would make him do it. Mike doesn't know what he had done to deserve this- this punishment.

He's- he's a good man. An honest one. He serves to ensure the future of humanity, he risks his life to give others a better one.

He's good at it too, he's excellent at fighting and slashing and scouting. He was the best one at it, before- before the annoying midget came.

The same annoying midget, who is insanely strong and easily irritated. The same annoying midget, who has a crush on their adorable Hange. Hange, who Mike has to seduce to test Erwin's theory that Levi, insanely strong, easily irritated Levi, truly has a crush on their Hange.

Mike swallows heavily as he sits next to Hange, just a little too close as Erwin instructed. He smells that it won't end well.

He cringes, as he puts his arm around her shoulders.

Mike likes Hange, a lot actually. Sometimes he feels like they're siblings that were torn apart by some bigger entity. So yeah, he likes Hange. But definitely not like that.

But, oh well, anything for the cause, right?

"Hey, Hans," he murmurs, adopting his most seducting tone. He hopes that his smile is charming enough to captivate their dear scientist. "Are you free tonight? I have two tickets to the theater perfomance," he leans in closer, lowering his voice to what could probably (Mike is an eternal optimist!) be called an enticing whisper. "They're showing the creation of the the Walls tonight."

Somewhere on his periphery, Mike can see a swift dark shadow that oozes the smell of detergent. That shadow, it grows closer, its aura becoming more menacing.

Mike can only hope that if Levi attempts to kill him, Erwin would intervene.

Although... knowing Erwin, he'd just write Mike's death off as a necessary sacrifice.

He takes his hand off Hange. The shadow retreats a few steps back.

"Sorry, Mike," Hange shrugs with a small, apologizing smile. "I showed that play to Levi a few weeks ago. I had my fill of religious propaganda for now. But if you're looking for someone to accompany you," she winks and turns around. Mike's heart sinks. "Levi really liked going to the theatre! He'll be happy to tag along, right, Levi?"

Mike meets Levi's eyes, and sees nothing but desire for murder inside.

Mike quickly scrambles to his feet. "You know, I'll just ask Gelgar to go with me. I'm sure he doesn't have anything better to do."

And they can get wasted afterwards. Mike really needs that after this conversation.

Just as he retreats, Levi takes his place, sitting down next to Hange, also just a little too close.

The mission had failed spectacularly, but, Mike consoles himself, at least he learned that Hange and Levi went to theatre together. And sometimes intel is more important than the victory, right?

Ah, if only Erwin would share his opinion on that.

***

Erwin's second attempt is even worse than the first one, but, at least, this time it doesn't directly involve Mike. Still, he's an unwilling spectator to it, and, just as the last time, he doesn't like where all of this is going.

He already feels bad for the poor guy Erwin hired to hit on Hange during the annual military ball. Where did Erwin get the money - did he take them from the Corps' funds or his own allowance, Mike doesn't know, and, frankly, he isn't sure which option is more disturbing.

At least, the actor is handsome, Mike doesn't know if Hange would like him, he doesn't know if she has a type, and if she does, he hopes it's not annoying midgets, but the guy is handsome, there is no denying that.

Hange has cleaned up fairly well too, the white suit looks excellent on her, bringing out all of her best assets, demonstrating her wide hips and lean, long legs. The hair, gathered in a neat bun, shows her long, gorgeous neck, and the light make-up make her even more gorgeous than usual.

When she and Erwin walked through the front door - him in his blue suit and Hange in her white, symbolising their Wings of Freedom, everyone had their breath taken away.

Even Mike was a little shocked to see Hange dressed up like this, and Levi, who stood right next to him, was completely blown away, staring at Hange with wide-eyed, lovestruck look.

Thanks to Levi's ridiculous expression, Mike now understands why Erwin goes to such length to bring their resident weirdos together. It is delightful to watch Levi behave like that, and Mike longs to see more of this side of him.

Soon after Hange and Erwin make their grand entrance, their guy makes the first move.

He approaches Hange, his eyes bright and smile so charming it makes Mike envious that Hange is at the receiving end of it. He kisses her hand, whispers something in her ear.

"He praises her recent experiment. I thought it was a good place to start," Erwin explains quietly to him.

"Ah," Mike nods. So Erwin thought every detail through? Not surprising at all. "Think this would have an effect on Levi?"

"It already does," Erwin says, pointing to a furious cloud of black hair and suit that is approaching them at a rapid speed.

"Has four-eyes lost all shame?" Levi practically growls, his eyes throwing flames. "Is she seriously flirting with a fucker from the MP?"

"He's not a soldier," Mike answers, reciting a legend Erwin created. "He's actually a wealthy merchant from the South. Heard he sells apples to the King himself."

"And since when Hange is interested in someone like him," Levi crosses hands on his chest, his glare turning even darker, as Erwin's actor takes Hange by the hand and leads her to the dance floor.

"You know, you can ask Hange to a dance," Erwin advices with a pleased smile. "Then she won't be able to flirt with others."

Levi scoffs. "I would rather fight a horde of titans than dance with stinky four-eyes."

Maria, Rose and Sina, Mike thinks. They're worse than children.

"Hange has taken a bath before coming here," he tells Levi.

Levi rolls his eyes. "And now she looks even more awful than usual."

Mike shares a look with Erwin. Does Levi prefer usual Hange, when she doesn't bath for days and her eyes water from the lack of sleep? It almost sounds cute.

"This is the last time I'm attending this shitty ball," Levi swears to Erwin. "Even wine here is shitty."

He marches away immediately after that, heading to the table with wine. Mike can barely stop his laughter, as he watches Levi take a glass of wine, drink a few large gulps of it, and then wince, his mouth moving as he probably murmurs violent curses. He doesn't take his eyes off Hange and her dance partner, and relaxes only when the song ends.

Both Mike and Erwin watch intently as the actor kisses Hange's hand once again. Hange blushes, and Mike almost coos. Levi grabs another glass of wine.

When the actor starts leading Hange away, in the direction of the balcony, Levi starts moving too. He intercepts them just at the edge of the ballroom.

Mike knows he should have expected something like that, knows that Levi doesn't exactly possess the best of manners, but pouring wine over someone? Over his own colleague and friend? Mike certainly didn't expect that.

He's delighted to see what happens next, though.

What happens is that Hange's gorgeous white suit is ruined and Levi wraps his hand around her wrist and drags her to the bathroom. He sports a unusually pleased expression and Hange is laughing herself silly.

Not a bad ending to this endeavor, Mike thinks.

"Another disaster," Erwin sighs.

***

Third time is a charm, or so Mike hopes.

This time Erwin decides to take matter in his hands, and that another sign that this plan will succeed.

The plan is simple, yet, hopefully, effective. Erwin is to whisk Hange away to some remote location, create a scene that would look like a moment between lovers, and Mike is to call Levi there and make sure he witnesses it all.

Erwin is a brave man, Mike thinks, as his Commander explains the plan to him. He would never dare to do something like that to humanity's strongest. To awaken his jealous streak... Mike is glad he's not in Erwin's place.

One sunny afternoon, the plan is set in motion. Erwin takes Hange, and Mike goes to find Levi.

He finds him fairly quickly, in the middle of cleaning Hange's room. Man, he could at least try to make his crush be less discreet. But that's beside the point now, because Levi is cleaning Hange's room and not watching Erwin and Hange. Mike confidently strides up to him.

"Levi! I've just been looking for you."

"What do you need?" he asks boringly. "And have you seen four-eyes? I can't find her all day."

Erwin prepared some legend, a reason why Mike needs Levi, but in the heat of the moment, Mike can't remember a single word. So he just yells "Come with me!" and hope that Levi follows.

Thankfully, he does.

Mike leads him to the stables, where Erwin is already at it. His palm is on the wall, next to Hange's head, and from Mike's point of view, it certainly looks like they're in the middle of... something naughty.

Next to him, Levi tenses, and Mike can practically hear his teeth grinding.

Mike prepares for something very ugly, but then...

"I- I didn't know that Erwin and four-eyes-" oh, fuck, it sounds like Levi is genuinely sad, like he's heartbroken or something. Mike feels a strange desire to hug the little guy and pat his head. But then he remembers that he and Erwin are the reason for Levi's distress right now, and... remorse starts kicking in.

"Levi, listen, it's not-"

"Levi!"

As always, Hange is the one to save the day.

She breaks free from Erwin and sprints to Levi, a wide smile on her face. "You won't believe what Erwin had just told me! He gave me permission to go in the town's library and bring back all the books I want! I'm in dire need of your muscles, humanity's strongest, you'll go with me, right?"

Levi still seems grouchy, but under Hange's sunny grin, his angry facade crumbles. "I don't know if Commander will allow it..."

He doesn't even try to hide his bitterness and irration. Mike disguises his chuckle as a coughing fit.

"Erwin!" Hange turns to him, eyes pleading. "Can Levi go with me?"

"Sure," Erwin nods. "Take all the time you need."

Hange yells in triumph, loud enough to make Mike wince. She grabs Levi by the hand and drags him away. Erwin watches them with a wistful smile.

"I don't think we should get involved in their relationships," Mike says, as he approaches Erwin. He stands close to his Commander, their shoulders pressing against each other. "We should let them figure it out themselves."

"Agreed," Erwin says. "I'm sure they'll manage well enough even without us."

Mike watches Hange wrap her arm around Levi, and is inclined to agree. They will certainly manage without them both.

Or, at least, Hange is able to manage.

And that should be enough.