#shipping analysis

[seventeenlovesthree]

Questions to be covered are:

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

Already covered up until today:

[Taichi/Koushirou] [Iori/Mimi] [Takeru/Hikari] [Koushirou/Hikari] [Iori/Sora] [Ken/Daisuke/Miyako + Wallace/Daisuke/Miyako] [Koushirou/Iori] [Takeru/Iori] [Daisuke/Mimi] [Daisuke/Sora] [Taichi & Hikari] [Ken/Hikari] [Jyou/Mimi] [Taichi/Mimi] [Jyou/Taichi] [Sora/Hikari] [Koushirou/Mimi + Yamato/Mimi] [Daisuke/Miyako] [Koushirou/Takeru] [Koushirou/Meiko] [Taichi/Yamato] [Taichi/Sora] [Yamato/Sora] [Daisuke/Ken] [Koushirou/Miyako] [Takeru/Sora] [Koushirou/Ken] [Taichi/Takeru] [Miyako/Ken] [Jyou/Sora] [Jyou/Koushirou]

Currently still in queue:

[Miyako/Hikari] & [Jyou/Yamato]

[amaramiyu]

[Analysis] Richette (Richter&Annette)

Sometimes a ship can sneak up on you unexpectedly and it ultimately ends up consuming you. That's exactly what happened to me with Richette (RichterxAnnette) from Castlevania: Nocturne. After pondering for a couple of weeks, I've decided to do an analysis of their relationship because not only do I enjoy them as characters individually, but there's so much nuance and complexity to their relationship and so much to discuss. So without further ado:

First of all, I need to talk about these two gorgeous character posters (pictured above) of Richter and Annette. Color theory time!

On Richter's poster, he's all serious, stern, and means business. The color blue is heavily utilized and in color theory blue is considered a cool color. The color blue typically has the following meanings: calmness, honesty, trust, stability, and responsibility. Furthermore, the color blue is also usually associated with the sea, trust, the sky, stability, tranquility, and depth.

Interestingly enough, Annette's poster is sort of the opposite of Richter's she's coquettish and looks slightly playful. The color yellow is greatly emphasized and in color theory yellow is considered a warm color. The color yellow typically has the following meanings: happiness, creativity, mental stimulation, impatience, and cowardice. Furthermore, the color yellow is also usually associated with energy, sunshine, brightness, cheerfulness, and joy.

Episode 1

Richter first meets Annette after she saves him from a Night Creature while he is suffering from his PTSD (childhood trauma witnessing his mother's horrific demise by Olrox). I love Annette's soft smile towards Richter.

Richter is impressed/amazed by Annette's magical abilities.

Annette not only demonstrates her magical abilities but she also showcases that she's knowledgeable about Night Creatures and the Vampire Messiah. Initially, Richter's hurling many questions at her and he's frustrated until she answers them. Richter becomes a little sheepish when it's revealed that Annette and Edouard are looking for "someone called Belmont" and he's the Belmont in question.

Episode 2

Richter's definitely intrigued by Annette as Edouard and Annette are discussing her lineage. Richter plays up his confidence and contentment with how he's perfectly fine with his knives and his family heirloom the Vampire Killer whip to kill vampires. But the mood changes once he brings up magic and his mother due to his childhood trauma.

Annette: Where's your mother?

Richter: She died. Some vampires do magic too.

As we will learn later, Richter's and Annette's respective mothers being killed by a vampire is something that they have in common. You can see the sympathy displayed in Annette's eyes.

When Edouard was being overtaken by the vampires and Night Creatures. Annette was distracted and frozen with despair, but she needed to regain her focus to finish creating the bridge for them to escape so that they could live to fight another day.

This is an all too familiar scene for Richter the grief, pain, and loss of a loved one. The heavy pouring rain adds to this somber moment.

Episode 3

The next day Richter comforts Annette stating that their only option was to retreat. They were surrounded and it wasn't her fault regarding what happened to Edouard. However, Annette feels like she abandoned him and that he wouldn't have abandoned her. Edouard was like family to her and all that she had left after her mother died.

Richter: I know what it's like to watch your mother die. I fled...but I guess you couldn't do that.

Here comes the nuance Richter acknowledges the similarities between Annette and him losing their mothers. However, he also realizes that he was able to flee get on a ship, and travel to a whole different country across the ocean putting distance between him and the vampire that haunted him. But Annette couldn't do that she was stuck on the island of Saint-Domingue having to pretty much almost every day confront her nightmare.

Annette as she's recounting the slave uprising in Saint-Domingue we get this commentary:

Richter: It sounds like an epic battle.

Annette: Freedom was sweeter than the sugar we harvested.

There's also this parallel last episode when Richter mentioned some vampires can do magic. This episode during the flashback:

Annette: Vaublanc changed into a bat. What other magic can they do?

Annette: He was so brave, so committed to our freedom.

Richter: We'll avenge him. I swear.

Their resolve to take down the vampires and the Vampire Messiah is even further strengthened.

During Annette's rousing speech in the town's square, Richter is mesmerized and captivated. He's actually listening and paying attention hanging on to her every word. He even cracks a smile.

This is a stark contrast to earlier in the season when during one of Maria's revolutionary gatherings he admitted he wasn't really listening and was basically nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

Episode 4

Annette's still shaken up from witnessing Edouard as a Night Creature in the last episode. I must say Richter's quite chivalrous towards Annette in this scene. He's checking up on her asking if she's all right. He also lays out the facts and reality of the situation as harsh and grim as it might be.

He stresses that they need a plan because he doesn't want a repeat of what happened at the chateau. However, Annette's impatience and impulsiveness are getting the best of her.

Annette: The Abbey's made of stone. I can bury them in their own church, bring it crashing down around their heads.

Richter: A proper plan, not walk in, make a few snap decisions about who deserves to live or die, and then turn everything to rubble.

The conversation takes a turn towards cowardice and being afraid.

Richter: I've only been afraid once in all my life, and I was 10.

Annette: You know what it's like to watch your mother die, you said. She was killed by a vampire, wasn't she?

Annette connects the dots and here's some more nuance. People are shaped by their upbringing and the type of environment that they grew up in. Annette states that Richter and Maria are not cowards it's more so that they are just children with no experience of the world, no experience of the hard choices that adults have to make.

There's great teamwork demonstrated here as Richter protects Annette while she's doing her incantation.

When Richter comes face to face with his nightmare (Olrox) years later he reverts into his scared 10-year-old self and flees. Annette's shocked, disappointed, and furious at how he just abandoned their plight.

Richter Belmont is the person that her mentor Cecile told her to seek out and that would be able to aid her in accomplishing her mission. Even though he couldn't use magic anymore, she said that they'd make do, but now he ghosts them this definitely does not go over well.

However, Annette will later come to understand his perspective and situation even though as of right now she comes across as insensitive towards him.

Episode 5

This episode showcases the aftermath of Richter's actions towards the end of the last episode. Annette can't sit still and wants to free Edouard from his chains instead of regrouping and waiting for Richter to return.

Tera tries to make Annette understand Richter's behavior and actions. Olrox is the vampire who killed his mother after all and the nightmare that still haunts him.

Annette: We all have nightmares. If I'd let my past terrify me, I'd never be free of it.

As I mentioned earlier, Annette, unlike Richter, has come face-to-face with her nightmare(which also includes slavery) just about every single day on the island. Richter hasn't physically confronted Olrox in almost a decade. Annette's able to face her nightmare(Vaublanc) head-on she isn't afraid of him anymore. We witness this later in the episode when she confronts him. She doesn't allow Vaublanc to get under her skin or break her. She conquers and defeats him.

Richter as of right now, doesn't have much fight left in him, but he'll eventually regain his resolve and turn things around.

Episode 6

Juste and Richter share many parallels they both experience a blockage to their magic after witnessing the traumatic loss of their loved one(s) due to a vampire before their eyes. They both blame themselves for it as well. Juste has such a defeatist attitude, and Richter could've ended up similar to Juste if he wasn't able to work through his blockage.

Annette calls upon her mentor Cecile for guidance. She expresses how Richter ran away but Cecile reminds her that everyone starts by running away. Annette ran away too at first but she eventually got to a point where she didn't cower in front of her tormentor, it's not something that's going to happen overnight it takes time. Cecile also advises Annette to learn to hear her ancestors. There's light in the darkness.

At his lowest point, before Richter regained his magical powers he thought of the people who he loved and wanted to protect. Annette was included alongside Tera and Maria. Now, not only has his magic returned but so has his resolve.

Episode 7

Richter has finally returned after being m.i.a for a few days and he has to clear the air between Annette and himself.

Immediately without wasting any time or putting it off, Richter goes to speak to Annette. He is nervous as hell and bracing for a storm, so he was surprised when Annette said that she knew he'd be back and that she was more concerned than she wanted to be.

Richter's like oh, really? And starts joking, "The muscles, huh?" The tension in the air diffuses between them and blushing ensues. Annette talking to her mentor really helped her ease up; she's not being driven by anger, and it's reflected in this moment between Richter and her. They've come to understand one another.

Richter reaffirms that they're going to get Edouard out of his cell. He shows Annette that his magic abilities have returned. Richter talks about remembering what makes him who he is and the type of person he wants to be...a Belmont. Living up to the legacy of his family's last name was also something that he was grappling with during the season as well.

When Richter mentioned the love in this house it stood out and resonated with Annette. Annette is overall dazzled by Richter during his speech it's adorable.

Richter: I won't let myself be afraid ever again.

Annette: But we are afraid. It's not always bad. It just means we have something to lose.

Being afraid and fear are natural human emotions but the reasons behind why we are afraid can differ. We can be afraid because we have something or someone that we want to protect and not lose.

The current atmosphere and mood are romantic during this moment. Richter and Annette are staring deeply at each other. Richter also sneaks glances at Annette when she breaks eye contact with him.

Can you feel the love?

Later on, they're calm, cool, and collected putting together a plan of action this time around. This is an improvement from Episode 4 where they also needed to formulate a plan of action.

Episode 8

Annette: Don't burn the place to the ground.

Richter: Good point. And try not to reduce it to rubble.

Would you look at that? Some fun light banter before a big battle. Their lines are also a callback to earlier episodes in the season. Remember in Episode 2 Annette talked about burning the chateau to the ground. Also in Episode 4, Richter said the turn everything into rubble line. The difference here is in the context, tone, and delivery.

You can really see the growth and development even further by this stage in their relationship.

Richter: We had no choice. Did we?

This scene is so heart-wrenching. Richter's tone and delivery of the line and his glance over to Annette for reassurance. Tera is now going to be a vampire. Our heroes just can't quite catch a break can they this season?

Congratulations! You've made it to the end. Even though this took many days to put together I had fun creating this. I may have missed a few things, but I feel like I touched on the main elements.

Thanks for taking the time to read my analysis.

[dentos-wife]

Idk if anyone's ever pointed it out before, but you were spot on your analysis about the amourshipping kiss back in 2016. It's like you predicted everything to a T. From them pretending the kiss never happened if Serena got a cameo to no ship ever becoming canon lol

Oh my gosh a Pokemon ask it's been so long!

Aww thank you anon! I deserve no credit though I just thought what would make the most sense in the narrative and hey they pulled a fast one on me too, she did appear but with another character and only met Ash for 5 seconds just so they didn't have to deal with the consequences of the kiss, brilliant really.

I also foolishly assumed Pokemon would never end and...well they got me there haha

For no ship being canon they are ten year olds, Ash isn't interested in romance at all and it would be ooc for him to ever have the interest. He'd have to grow up right? They'll never do that, he's an eternal 10 year old therefore the most they can do is hint at it. I will say I think Pokeshipping is dead in the water canonically just because MPM did absolutely nothing, but MPM also ripped Brock's goal right out from him and I'm mad about it.

But yeah no ship is canon, Amour is still the most implied because they never went back to Pokeshipping but it's a very small implication you can still ship what you want and you can pry Negaishipping from my cold dead hands.

People really need to stop fighting though, and Liko isn't Ash's daughter I hope the fanbase lets that go soon

[btsandvmin]

BTS&Vmin analysis pt. 1 - An introduction

I have written a lot of analyses about Vmin over the years, but wanted to write something that truly shows how much there is in regards to their relationship. Vmin don’t have a lot of analyses made about them, but it’s not because there aren’t things to talk about. If anything it seems people might have not bothered to look deeper because you already see so much at the surface level.

I decided to put together a series of posts to give as much context as possible to my views on shipping and Vmin, while also showing the problems with shipping analyses and how convincing they can sound. I think that what other big ships have that Vmin haven’t had (at least not to the same extent) is a full narrative and scale. If you start adding things up it will always look very different to just noticing a singular moment on it’s own.

Before we start I want to be clear that I think shipping should be done for fun and that all relationships in BTS are great and definitely worth loving. I also want to say that I think the odds of a ship being real in the sense of an actual romantic and/or sexual relationship is probably not that big, but not impossible. However I also think the chance that members of BTS could be part of the LGBTQ+ community is very high, but that being queer doesn't mean they automatically will date each other.

As for shipping analysis any shipper can pick moments that fit their narrative and build theories based on what they want you to see. As a consumer it's important you know analyses are made by biased people with the purpose to make you see something in a ship or moment. If you watch or read analyses about several ships and they make sense remember that they are supposed to make sense. But something making sense doesn't have to mean it's real. Try instead to be open-minded but critical.

All analyses are created to make sense, so is mine, and the main point is that you can make any ship seem believable to various degrees considering the immense amount of content and BTS’s closeness alone. You just have to be good at bending the information we have (while also excluding things that might go against the view) interpret it and present it in the way we want to make it seem possible that a ship is real. That's why at this point almost all BTS ships have not just shippers but fans who truly believe different members to be together.

That being said, of course some analyses can turn out to be true, but we have no way to know unless confirmed by BTS themselves. Even if some things might be true; like hiding in rooms, singing songs about each other or other suspicious looking things, that still doesn't necessarily prove what kind of relationship those members have. Including Vmin of course. Even if parts of a theory is proven to be real, like sharing a room, it also doesn’t mean everything has to be real, like them being in the room because they are a couple. A lot of people interpreting BTS have already decided that reasons for certain behaviors can only mean one thing, which is what they want it to mean: MY SHIP IS REAL/SUPERIOR/THE MOST SUSPICIOUS.

Remember to be open to the possibility of being wrong in your own ideas and interpretations, and that the person whose analysis you consume might be wrong.

Reality is complex and changes all the time. Some things might seem simple in theory but work completely differently in reality. Especially if feelings and desire are involved.

Remember that all of BTS love each other!

Shipping doesn’t mean you get to make other people rivals or act as if they "get in the way" of the ship you prefer. If you have to make another ship look bad to make yours look better it's not going to make people like or believe your ship more. It’s only going to result in unnecessary hate between shippers and division in the fandom. In short, people should be supportive no matter what the truth may be and accept the BTS members no matter who they might love.

Some shippers have interesting points and could be right, but letting shipping affect how you act towards others in a negative way is never okay. Attacking other shippers online, or even pushing it at BTS themselves is going too far. Then it isn’t shipping anymore, but something else, something that we can call toxic shippers or even believers (to various degrees). So, in short: be careful with all people who are convinced, think they are right, or have the only truth in some form. They likely have a bias and emotional attachment to being right. I know I have a bias and you likely do too.

Acting like you know all the information and have all the answers is in my opinion not possible with the restricted and edited view we get of BTS. If a ship isn’t public they aren’t public for a reason. Just be open minded in general and if you want to show them that it is okay to be LGBTQ+ do it in a more inclusive way and not strictly connected to a certain ship. Don't be a x ship supporter. Be a LGBT+ supporter no matter who it concerns.

I think there is a big difference between speculating and presenting something as facts. Therefore I want you all who read this to try and keep in mind what are the facts, and what is simply a narrative built on facts.

I don't have all the information about Jimin, Taehyung, BTS and Big Hit etc. But I have been a fan of BTS for years (since 2016) and have followed other idol groups closely for over a decade (since 2008). This is my take on things, not facts. I know people want certainty, but I am not here to give you that. In fact, I would be happier if what you take away from this analysis is a feeling of being less certain about your ship, no matter what ship that is.

Remember that shipping should be for your enjoyment and is not the same as trying to spread the agenda that a ship is real. You can read my post Normalizing Vmin or “Vmin” for some more insight on the topic of how trying to expose a ship won’t be in their interest no matter if they are a real couple or not.

That being said I don’t think there is enough to expose any possibly real ship in any way (likely because there are none), and personally I don't think there is enough about Vmin that we have seen to be sure of anything other than that they love each other. Thus I feel the topics and speculations brought up in this text should not be able to harm them (though I have concerns it might develop into worse theories or turn people into believers).

Especially considering the amount of believers there are for other ships I feel I rather present this in a way that makes you question going from shipping to believing in general. My hope is that you can come out of this with a sense of responsibility to not act toxic no matter your view.

To me Vmin does a lot of things I can’t help but notice and question. I think it’s possible that there could be something between them. Maybe a relationship, maybe feelings, or maybe they are simply incredibly close and platonic soulmates. My point from before still stands, that I can’t know, but I still want to talk about my thoughts about Vmin.

I love Vmin no matter what their bond is. I don't need Vmin to be romantically involved and I don't mind if they are actually together with other people. It's their lives, not mine. I know they love each other and that's enough. I hope after reading this analysis of Vmin you will feel the same.

I will go through a lot of topics in this series and I hope you will find it an interesting and perhaps even enlightening read.

Background and writing this Vmin analysis

For me there are many things about Vmin’s dynamics that are interesting but seem to either be ignored or not noticed. I want to collect these things and talk about them. Even if everything brought up in this analysis is actually platonic it should give you plenty of reasons to understand why Vmin is a good ship and just as shippable as any other (in a romantic way). I will use examples and moments with Vmin but that doesn't mean they have to be exclusive to them. As most of us already know, moments can be common between many members, and I don’t want to ignore that, however in this analysis I will simply focus on these moments when it comes to Vmin. In some parts I will do comparisons, but it is not to downplay other relationships, but simply to represent my views and interpretations on them if I think it highlights a point I want to make about Vmin.

I do this partly because I find it enjoyable and interesting and also as a way to openly show some problems with ship analysis and hopefully make people a bit more open minded no matter what the actual truth may be. I hope you all enjoy my thoughts and perhaps reflect a bit on my theories.

I want to be very honest here and say that while I do think there are a lot of things to question about Vmin, I also know enough about other ships and relationships Jimin and Taehyung have to acknowledge that there are other ships that could be "real". Or of course no ship could be real.

I have to say that there are things that might contradict Vmin being real, and I worry that writing analysis will make more people delusional simply by the information I might present, even though I personally think there are good reasons to doubt any ship in BTS being real. I see a lot of ship analyses being made by people who don't seem to know a lot about BTS as a whole or ships other than their own. Their focus on one ship in combination with lack of information and then paired with confidence in their own ship does not mean their ship is more likely to be a real couple. But it does make them sound more convincing to those that might be exposed to these ideas, perhaps especially if it's early in their time of being a fan.

I am to some extent scared to share some of my theories because I have seen other things I have written get taken as fact, or the information gets shared in a way that makes Vmin look more likely and convincing. It starts as theories but over time turns into facts to more and more people. This is something all shipping communities seem to do at some point, which then slowly makes shippers so confident that their theories turn into beliefs. I am starting to see it with Vminies too, and that worries me. So please, I ask you to remember that when you share theories, do so responsibly.

I am a person who loves all members in BTS, who fell in love with their music and the BU theories and them as people. I ship Vmin and see real potential in their relationship as something romantic. But I am biased and watch Vmin more closely, and get my thoughts heard and repeated in the Vmin community by other people who love Vmin. I don’t know everything, not about Jimin and Taehyung as individuals, not about Vmin’s bond, not about BTS and other ships, not about the Kpop industry or Korea and so on.

Any shipper acting like they have the full picture is both ignorant and misleading. We can never trust in a view expressed by an outsider and that includes my own. I have interpretations, but I don't trust my own interpretations completely either. Because I know I am missing a lot of information and base my views on feelings and speculation.

Admitting I don't know something instead of trying to give an answer without much basis is my choice, but most analysers don't from what I have seen. It might feel better to hear a shipper be confident, but that doesn't make what they say more true. I avoid certain things or present things in a way that makes more sense for my ship and other shippers do the same. Unconsciously or on purpose they have a narrative, a narrative that they build to be as logical as possible. I sometimes get the question “Is Vmin real?” and honestly there is no point in asking any shipper this question. No matter their reply it’s simply not something they can know.

I am aware of other ships and see some as more possible than others. I won't say Vmin is definitely together or that other ships have no possibility to be together. I remain open to most possibilities because there isn't enough to go on regarding who BTS is dating or not dating. It’s important to not get too attached to theories and rather accept whatever might be real. If I am wrong about my Vmin theories it won’t change reality, it will just mean I guessed incorrectly. In the end I believe that Vmin loves each other no matter what their relationship status is, and even if another ship might be real that doesn’t change Vmin’s bond. Love is love no matter what kind it is.

I tend to write rather carefully and thus often repeat myself to get a point across or to not get misunderstood. I know some have had a difficult time with my style of writing, as well as with the length of my posts. I would love for you to read it all, but I also understand if you might choose to only read the parts that you find interesting. 

Either way I want to say thank you for being patient with me and waiting for this long analysis which I have been working on for literal years.

[fifiophobia]

Please do Soriel for the analysis:3

Alright gamers

My time has come.

Its time to find out why goat mom X funny sad skeleton dude a popular ship (romantic or platonic). Why is their relationship so endearing to many people? And; more importantly, what can their relationship tell us about ourselves?

Chapter 1: Aesthetics (for the shippers who ship them because they look cute together)

Let's start with aesthetics, because why not?

In general, height differences is a pretty popular trope within shipping.

Some popular ships with height differences include:

- Joyce and Hopper from Stranger Things

- Kokichi Ouma and Shuichi Saihara from Danganronpa

- Yaku Morisuke and Haiba Lev from Haikyu!!

Sans and Toriel are no exception, since they are shown to be completely different heights.

On another note, the two work well together compositionally because you have a tall, aloof (I know it's not presented above, but anyone who's seen her fight knows what I mean), feminine figure put against a small, lighthearted, chill guy. At the same time, the two share a similar softness in their appearance that ties them together despite their differences.

In a way, its kind of funny how one of them is this god of dank memes and the other is a soft, mother-like figure.

Chapter 2: The Dynamic

Typically, with the right amount of differences and similarities in two or more character's personality are; their pairing will become popular because their personalities balance each other out. As an example:

Toriel and Sans are both hardworkers for their family BUT this is shown in different ways. Such as Toriel working harder in an obvious manner (like baking pies, making a learning schedule for Frisk, etc) while Sans works in more subtle ways (like working multiple jobs to support his brother, and silently looking after Frisk).

(If you want a better explanation on Sans hidden worker side and why he appears lazy; check out ♡Miss_Ruby♡ post: Why Soriel Works, right here.

(In fact, the following post goes into more details about their relationship rather than why people ship them. I fully recommend checking it out as their post helped give me some insight into soriel)

Another example of their dynamic is:

Toriel and Sans act like dorks around each other. Undyne revealed in the winter clock anniversary that they played hockey together like two idiots via hitting their sticks together playfully. Also, Toriel and Sans have some silly banter about Papyrus's favorite food (like how Toriel refers to Sans as a goblin in an endearing way) in the Undertale Post Pacifist Ending Q/A.

(Side note: other characters appear to view the two as having a close bond. When Asgore sees Sans getting chummy with Toriel, he starts crying. Undyne soon comforts him by using the good old phrase: "There are plenty of fish in the sea.")

Moving on from that, lets talk about green flags. A green flag in relationships is when you improve yourself for the other person (as in changing your unhealthy habits for each other. Not changing who you are as a person to appease a hypocrite) The wholesome change made from their relationship is present in Toriel and Sans.

Some examples includes:

- Sans being inspired by Toriel to bake even when he might not have the motivation or energy

- Toriel cheering up from her personal demons after adopting San's sense of humor

In a way, their relationship actually reminds me of Jessica and Rodger rabbit

As in: a tall, calm lady with a hidden sense of humor who becomes close with a short, goofy man because of their personalities and humor.

(Side note: Rodger and Toriel both deal with chaotic children, while Sans and Jessica both bond over their respective buddy because they think they are funny. Evidence for this includes the comment San's made about Toriel's Old Lady yodel joke shown below).

Chapter 3: The Shippers Themselves

A while back, I read an interesting post on tumblr that stated that

"The real ship dynamic is yourself X your type"

Sadly, I forgot who made the post (if you can find the original creator please tell me so I can credit them)

OP has a point with shipping. I've noticed that active shippers tend to have a "type" that strangely correlate to something in their lives

(Though, please be aware. Not everyone who has the same ship is going to act or think the same. Everyone has their own reason for liking a certain ship. I just wanted to point this out)

So, what does this have to do with Soriel?

Well, the following post reminded me of another post where a soriel shipper explained that a major reason they loved the ship was because they could relate to both characters. They explained that, in a way, the ship gave them hope for themselves. If two lonely and grief stricken characters could find happiness (and potentially love) in each other, then maybe they could find love.

(Like the previous post: I couldn't find the post that talks about this. If you know who made that post please tell me).

Based off of how well received the original post was; it seemed like a lot of people resonated with OP's statement.

TL;DR: Soriel became a popular ship because a lot of people resonated with the wholesome aspects in their relationship.

And you know what? I'm not complaining! It's an adorable ship that makes me laugh.

(PS: I'm sorry if this post seems jumbled. I just had so much on my mind for this post that I had difficulty putting my thoughts together)(Also, if you don't ship them or you think that it would be impossible for them to get together; that's perfectly ok! I just made this for fun and because I like analyzing stuff).

[lesbian-vmin]

Vmin vs. The World (A Shipping Analysis)

No one specifically asked for this analysis. It’s less about analyzing anything Vmin did or said, and more about analyzing how people pick and choose which moments to focus on and how to view those moments to fit their own narratives. And this is why I always say to view original sources for yourself (and why I try my best to link original sources to most of the moments that I talk about on my blog). Anyway, this is partially inspired by some asks that got sent to my blog, and partially inspired to posts and comments on videos/posts I’ve seen around the internet.

(Below the cut)

So first, let’s bring up some general points that shippers love when it come to their own ships.

Hand holding

One resting their head on the other’s shoulders

Looking at each other

Smiling at the other

Laughing because of something the other said or did

So much as mentioning the other’s name

Piggy back rides

Kisses, if they ever happen

So, let’s talk a little about each of these things, shall we?

So, I’m pretty sure that everything listed above, excluding the last point, is something that can be used to “back” whatever 🐶 or 🐯 ship you like the most. For 🐯, kisses can be used for every ship, pretty much, since basically all of the members kissed him in that one Army Zip thing. (x) I personally don’t think that’s a moment that can be used to “back” a ship because they all did it, and it was clearly scripted. Because...they all did it. Anyhow, I don’t make the rules on what can and can’t be used as “proof”, so do what you will with that moment.

Hand holding

So, let’s talk a little about hand holding, and how people use this as evidence that their ship is real. I am positive that you can find any and all ships of BTS holding hands at one point or another for whatever reason. People will take these moments to bring up reasons as to why they think it makes their ship “more real” or “more valid” than other ships. So. Let’s look at a list of examples that I don’t think holding hands is any sort of “proof” as to why certain ships can be real.

If one member is holding another member’s wrist/hand to drag him somewhere and show him something/do something with him, it’s nothing special. All members do this together.

If all the members are standing on stage, bowing at the end, it doesn’t really count. It’s pretty natural for performers to hold hands while bowing at the end of a performance. Every sort of performance group or club that I’ve been in has done this. It didn’t matter if it was a group that met regularly or a group that did one show together and parted ways after. We’d always hold hands and bow at the end of performances, so that means nothing. Also, if they’re holding hands with other members, how can it count as “proof” that your ship is real? And no, they might not all seven be holding hands every time they bow at the end, but still. Holding hands and bowing at the end doesn’t mean anything romantic is going on. They’re performers. That’s what they do. Regardless of how “real” you see BTS’s bond, all performers do this. So it really doesn’t mean anything.

Because it’s scripted. Take 🐯 and 🐱 in every Run episode where they held hands because they were disagreeing or because they lost a game in which they were partners. Moments like that (no matter how soft I am for 🐯/🐱) don’t really count as moments that prove them to be the “real” ship. Another example of this kind of scripted hand holding would be the episode in which they were playing...badminton? and they had their hands tied together. All the members held hands with each person they were paired with because it made the game easier for them if they were holding hands. Instead of just being tied together at first, like 🐱 and 🦄 did before the director told them they could hold hands. (x)

If they are on a team, them holding hands while “wishing” something good would happen for them (such as waiting to hear the results on if they won or not) doesn’t really count either. Because I think this kind of “hopeful” hand holding is pretty common for people, and I’ve seen several pairs of members do this, too.

Moments that would count as...I don’t wanna say “proof” but a reason to question a little more or look further, would be if they are casually holding hands while walking. I don’t mean so much in the way that 🦄 and 🐰 (despite the fact that I think they have real potential...I’m very critical of moments that give me “reason” to believe something) were in BV when 🐯 said (probably jokingly...everyone acts like his words here actually was him meaning something, but I really don’t think he was serious in this moment....I think he was just playing along the same way 🦄 and 🐰 seemed to be playful) that it was weird for two men to hold hands. It seemed to me that 🦄 and 🐰 were just playing around while holding hands rather than just freely and casually holding hands in an intimate/romantic “i love you and want to hold your hand” kind of way.

An example would be (focusing on vmin because this is a vmin blog) 🐶 and 🐯 holding hands while walking (in the airport?) but waiting until they were pretty well out of the way of the camera (and in a crowd) to do so. It’s not “proof” that they are real, but there’s no reason to mark this off the list of things that make you wonder. Because (1) they weren’t on a show. There may have been a camera, but like I said, they waited until they were well away from the camera before holding hands. (2) It didn’t look like they were just being silly, like the 🦄 and 🐰 moment mentioned above. (3) It couldn’t have been fan service since it wasn’t on stage or during an event. And again, they waited until they were well out of the way of the camera and in a crowd to even hold hands. (4) This seemed pretty casual and natural for them. And it seemed to me like Jimin was grabbing Taehyung’s hand to keep him close because they were in a crowd. Which very well could be friendly, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be romantic either. Because I think it’d be pretty natural for someone to want to keep their friend or boyfriend close to them while walking through a crowd, and holding hands is a solid way to do that.

I’m not saying that 🐶 and 🐯 don’t have moments of holding hands with other members that can be taken the same way. I’m just choosing a vmin moment specifically because (1) this is a vmin blog and (2) it’s the most natural moment I’ve seen of any of the members holding another members hand in this way. Again, that’s not to say a moment like this doesn’t exist with 🐶 or 🐯 and some other member. And, if a moment like that between them and another member does arise, then it’s something worth considering for that specific pair, too.

One resting their head on the other’s shoulder

So, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that this is something that all the BTS members do pretty naturally. And, this seems to be a natural thing for Korean’s in general. All of my female Korean friends would rest their head on my shoulder when we were just lounging around or if we were waiting in line for something. They’re often more clingy and cuddly than Westerners are, so this is just about understanding the cultural difference. It’s not a BTS thing. It really is a Korean thing. And I specified my female Korean friends because my male Korean friends wouldn’t act the same way toward me. I’d often see the male Koreans doing the same to each other, but that type of skin ship seemed reserved for same-sex friends. If a male and female were caught acting in such a way, the others seemed to assume that they were dating.

So. Yes. It’s possible that this type of skin ship can happen between boyfriends, but people often ask about this type of thing in regards to jealousy. If this is something that’s common to do with same-sex friends, then I don’t see why a boyfriend would be jealous of his own boyfriend doing it with other male friends. That’d be like an s/o getting jealous of their own s/o texting their friend “good morning” every day.

My friends from England also told me that “xx” (kisses) are pretty common to send in text messages to friends in England. I’m sure I have readers from England, so if this isn’t true for you or your country culture in general let me know. Because I’m aware that a few people don’t speak for a whole country. Anyhow, one of my English friends were actually gay and in a relationship with a girl. Yet she still sent kisses in her texts to friends, and her girlfriend wasn’t jealous about it.

So, basically, resting one’s head on someone’s shoulder is a cultural thing, and isn’t really solid “proof” of anything going on between two specific members. Especially considering they’re all males, and that same-sex type of affection is common for Korean people. Which is probably why you can find at least one example of any member resting his head on another member’s shoulder. It works for every ship.

Looking at each other

Now, this one is a little bit of a tricky topic. Because looks very well can be intimate, but they’re typically not? It’s not uncommon for humans (social creatures) to look at each other. It seems that shippers will take every single moment in which their ship looks at each other as “evidence” that they are real. Even if other members are looking at one of them (probably because one of them is talking). They’ll edit and cut it and make the focus on that ship to fit their narrative.

I think looks very well can be a reason to look closer at any ship. But these are the things I take into consideration when analyzing the looks that someone gives. I’m going to be using 🐶 and 🐯 (speaking theoretically and not about specific moments) for these examples. Because, again. Vmin blog. And I think using specifics is better than saying “this member” and “that member” because it gets a little twisted around without using names.

If 🐶 is looking at 🐯 (or the other way around) while he is talking, that moment can’t really mean much. Because it’s pretty natural to look at the person who is talking. And one could make an argument about the expression in the person’s eyes, but I’ve seen both 🐯 and 🐶 (and many of the members) look at each other (or any other member) with complete and total admiration. I mean. Just look at the way 🐱 looks at 🐯 sometimes. They’re cute moments worth pointing out, sure. But not really “proof” considering how much all of BTS seems to admire each other and give each other the “obviously in love” kind of look.

If 🐯 is doing something silly that grabs 🐶’s attention (or the other way around), this might be a cute moment worth pointing out, but it’s not really a “reason” I’d look closer at Vmin (or any other ship for the members involved). Because it’s pretty natural to look at someone who is doing something out of the ordinary or something that stands out. While I’m at work, I often get caught staring at and smiling fondly at one of my analysts who are in their own little world, jamming out. We all do it.

When they are looking at each other because they are talking to each other. Again, a pretty natural thing. Also pretty natural to look at someone if you are talking about them, so these moments won’t go under much analysis when they do come up.

When they are looking at each other while answering a question or talking to the camera....it’s not usually something that would give me reason to look closer and analyze further. But it’s something that gets put on a list of cute moments that are worth noting, without actually being “proof.” The reason I don’t want to call this “proof” is because it’s pretty natural to look at a person you feel comfortable with while talking. My sister, who is very anxious, does this to me a lot. When she’s talking to other people, she’ll often look at me while talking to someone else she’s not so comfortable with. When I interviewed for my position, I focused more on my direct supervisor rather than the supervisor above her because I’m more comfortable with my direct supervisor. I see her more often and talk with her more often, so answering interview questions while focusing on her was less intimidating than focusing on her supervisor. By now, BTS are pretty comfortable talking to cameras and to the fans, so it’s cute when they look at each other instead of the camera when talking. But it’s still not something that would seem “suspicious” to me.

The looks that draw up the most questions for me, and that I look into the furthest, is when they are looking at each other for no apparent reason. Maybe 🐶 will be looking at 🐯 while 🦊 is talking, and 🐯 might be paying no attention to 🐶. 🐯 also might not be doing anything to grab 🐶’s attention other than just sitting there, existing. So, why is 🐶 looking at 🐯? These are the moments that bring up the most questions, although they may not necessarily be “proof” either. They’re just the ones that make me wonder the most what can possibly be going through their minds.

🐯 staring at 🐶 and looking away when 🐶 looks back doesn’t really say anything either. (This goes for all the members and ships). Staring at someone doesn’t mean you are in love with them. If that were the case, I know a lot of people who are in love with a hundred different people, their own brothers/sisters/children included. It’s a cute moment, sure. But I don’t think it hints at anything. Sometimes you might just pick a person to focus your attention on. Often we don’t realize we’re staring at someone until we meet their eyes, and that’s why we look away. It doesn’t really hint at anything.

All the members have moments where they’re looking at each other for some reason or another. And I think about what those moments can mean when they’re brought up, but looks hardly say anything. People who study human behavior (especially amateurs in the field) may disagree because human behavior says something. And it does. I know. But honestly, humans aren’t an exact science. It’s simply not possible to be 100% accurate about someone the way they show you in TV shows like Criminal Minds.

Human behavior is very complex, and I don’t think there’s a person in the world who understands it on a level of never questioning why people do the things they do because they just know. Anyone who claims that knowledge is just trying to justify their own narratives. Because humans aren’t that simple. They’re just not. And you especially can’t read that much into the lives of seven boys whom you don’t even personally know. Only get content they choose to share with you from a margin of their work lives, and see mostly their interactions with each other. Yeah. We get to see how BTS interacts with fans and other artists on occasion, but these aren’t normally people they’re as familiar with as they are with each other. We don’t get to see how they interact with other people they are that close with, so we can really only compare based on a margin of their relationship. Anyone who claims to be ‘all knowing’ about human behavior to be able to judge something based on the fraction about them that we know is full of shit.

Smiling at the other

Step one. Google “Fond smile”

I rest my case.

Anyway, are we really so desperate to prove that a ship is real that we can’t even let someone smile at a person without claiming that they are in love with them? This goes right along with the “obviously in love” look that I mentioned before. All of BTS really adore and admire each other, and you can see that in the way they look at each other and smile with all the love and affection the world can give.

Laughing because of something the other said or did

Yeah, it might be the case that laughing at everything a person does is a clear sign of affection. But I also know that laughter if a sign of happiness. I laugh and giggle at a lot more things when I’m in a particularly good mood, and this is why people often think that laughter is a sign of being in love. Because that feeling of being in love is ONE of the things that put people in a good mood and make them all giddy and happy.

Also. People are allowed to find someone funny without being in love with them. 🐶 can laugh at everything 🐰 does, and 🐶 / 🐰 shippers will bring that in as evidence. Even if, in the same video, 🐶 is particularly giddy and laughing at other things. (They’ll highlight the moments when he was laughing at 🐰 specifically) Or even if, in the same video, 🦄 is laughing at everything 🐰 does. Because he does. 🦄 thinks 🐰 is the funniest fucking shit in the world, and its downright adorable, and also ignored because he’s not 🐶. You know what else is ignored by these shippers? When 🐶 (maybe in the same or maybe in a different video) is laughing at everything 🦄 does. Or 🐯 does. Or 🐱 does. Because it doesn’t fit their narrative of 🐶 / 🐰. Let’s not forget that 🐶 and 🦄 tend to be the members who are the easiest to get to laugh. They are so full of laughter and happiness and it’s downright precious.

So much as mentioning the other’s name

Times in which I think it’s cute for them to mention each other is when the one being mentioned isn’t in the room at all, and they seem to bring them up just because they want to. Not for any particular reason (such as fans asking about them or such).

This is one of those things that can be used at reasons to look closer sometimes, but just downright ridiculous to use as shipping material other time. Most of the time, I think it’s a “cute thing worth noting” but nothing meaningful to the point of proving romance between two of the members.

Not much to be said here. It’s not weird for people to talk about those they know. And the members will often talk about each other to us because they know we know the other members. And they’re less likely to talk about people from their personal lives. So, yeah. When 🐯 or 🐶 bring each other up in lives a lot, it’s worth noting. But it doesn’t prove anything. Because, in real life, they might have some s/o they talk about way more than they talk about each other.

And me saying that doesn’t nullify the fact that I see potential for romantic vmin. It’s just me being aware of the fact that we only know a fraction of what goes on in their life. And a lot of it is what they WANT us to see.

Piggy back rides

🐶 / 🐰 shippers use this as evidence for their ship a lot, even though there are plenty of moments where 🐶 piggybacks on 🐯 and the other way around. 🐶 / 🐰 also have moments where 🐰 is holding 🐶 in bridal style. And their shippers use it as proof for their ship. Even though 🐶 and 🐯 also have moments like that.

Regardless of the ship, these are cute moments. But since it’s a thing that happens between different pairings, it can’t really count as evidence for a single pair. At least not the simple act of the piggy back itself.

Kisses, if they ever happen

When it comes to kisses, vmin has any ship beat, i think. Because 🐶 has kissed 🐯 that one time in BV that I bring up a lot. And it wasn’t scripted. It wasn’t fan service. It was a natural moment of him comforting his friend. It may not be ‘proof’, but it’s certainly only something I’ve ever seen vmin do.

There was a 🐯 / 🦄 punishment kiss, where they actually kissed on the lips, way back in their debut days. (Rookie King show). There was the Army zip where all the members kiss 🐯. And 🦄 seems to tease the maknae line a lot by kissing (or pretending to kiss) them.

To this date, the only “real” kiss that I’ve seen between any members of BTS is the one with 🐶 kissing 🐯 on the head in BV. If I ever find any moments of any other members kissing in such a way, then it will be considered. But when it comes to kisses, specifically, I think Vmin kind of has the key.

****

And now. Let’s talk about painting pictures and writing narratives.

This is going to be quite short because I think you’ll get the idea with this one quick thought on how people twist things the way they want to see it for how it suits them. But I’m going to talk about it some.

🦉: *gives Vmin “the look”*

Everyone: Oh, he’s third wheeling. He’s like “really guys? In front of me?” He’s warning them to watch how they act. Etc. etc. (because v / mon and min / joon aren’t popular ships)

🐰: *gives Vmin “the look”*

Everyone: He’s jealous. (because it fits t/k or j/k narrative)

And this is why I really consider all angles of things. If we look at 🦉 or 🐰 or 🐱 or 🦄 or 🦊 giving Vmin “the look” then the common denominator is Vmin. I think all the members, but the Hyungs especially, try to tone down vmin specifically.

It’s like a lot of moments when I see 🐯 or 🐶 being jealous. They seem to get jealous when the other has a moment with another member or another person in general. And the common denominator will be 🐯 or 🐶. But shippers of a specific ship will say look 🐯 was jealous of 🐶 because of this moment with 🐰 and 🐯 wants to be with 🐰.

I’m not saying that my observations can’t be the same kind of biased. Because it’s very well possible that other pairs get “the look”, too. And it’s possible that 🐯 might show jealousy when 🦉 has a moment with someone such a 🦄. I’m not so attuned to those things, so it’s really possible that I’m just not observing it.

But I really do try to pay attention to all angles and see things from different perspectives. I often pay attention to common denominators and patterns. Because I’m an analyst. It’s literally my daily job to do so. But that doesn’t mean I’m right. It’s why I welcome evidence from other perspectives. Because I have to challenge my views and look at things differently. It’s how I keep from getting “too invested” or delusional about something.

This post isn’t about me trying to prove that my point of view is the right point of view or the best point of view. It’s about me trying to point out how people take the smallest things in regards to their ship to prove they’re real.

I admit that I may be a little biased toward Vmin, but I’m open to every ship and arguments as to why Vmin might not be real.

The point in this post is also to talk a little about why I refer to some moments as “nothing” or “fan service” even when it’s a vmin moment. Because this is something I’ve been asked about (to the point of people accusing me of being a secret anti-vmin) since I sometimes refer to their moments as “fan service” because sometimes it is. And I’m aware of that. But I’ve also analyzed moments that have real potential, while also being obvious fan service moments (such as the Vmin mama rose moment).

Basically, I hope this helps you understand better how I make my analyses and the things I focus on. And I also hope it helps you be more critical of what you perceive from what other people (myself included) say. Always, always be critical of any information you are given.

If I’m going to build a case for my reason to question something, I’m going to critically analyze anything that comes my way to build a strong case. Not use every tiny grain of salt I can to build a weak case.

Anyway. Sorry for this slightly unprompted analysis that hardly had anything to do with vmin specifically, but this is just something I wanted to talk about. Because of a mix of asks that have been sent to my box recently. And, like I said in the beginning, posts and responses I’ve seen around.

This might seem off topic to you, but it’s on topic for me. If you understand my point behind adding this in here, you’ll understand how it’s on topic.

One of my favorite examples of biased analysis is the idea of needing glasses and sitting close to the TV.

So, we know pretty well that sitting close to the TV won’t cause you to need glasses necessarily. The light may straight your eyes and make them tired and give you headaches, but it wasn’t damage them to the point of needing glasses. That’s a myth. Why did that myth come around? Because there were children sitting closer to the TV because they had to since they couldn’t see. Rather than saying they needed glasses because they were sitting too close to the TV. The actual case is that they were sitting too close to the tv because they needed glasses. It’s why not every child who sits too close to the TV ends up needing glasses. Because that’s not what caused the need for the glasses.

And this relates to reasons behind shipping (and basically any other analyses you can make) because it’s related to bias research.

Rather than saying “why do these children sit close to the tv” the question was “why do these children need glasses?” Rather than researching and collecting data on children sitting close to the TV, they were collecting data on children who needed glasses. Does that make sense? The information would have been more useful if they were looking from both perspectives.

Another example is “you’re more likely to die from a vending machine than a spider bite.”

Who’s more likely to die from a vending machine than a spider bite? Not me. I don’t beat the crap out of vending machines or go near them regularly. However, I do live in an area with a lot of poisonous spiders. Just because there are more vending machine related deaths per year than spider bite related deaths doesn’t mean that every individual is more likely to die from a vending machine.

It may be true, however, that if you are crushed by a vending machine you are more likely to die from that than a spider bite is likely to kill you.

When you work in data science and analysis, you learn to be critical of information like this. And I think it’s a useful thought process for people to have in general. Especially in a world where lies spread faster than the truth. We have to be critical of information that is given to us.

[ladyaj-13]

Endeavour fandom relationships

Top relationships by number of works, per year, in the Endeavour fandom. Blue bars are romantic, red are platonic.

Year one (26th April 2013 - 25th April 2014)

Year two (26th April 2014 - 25th April 2015)

Year three (26th April 2015 - 25th April 2016)

Year four (26th April 2016 - 25th April 2017)

Year five (26th April 2017 - 25th April 2018)

Year six (26th April 2018 - 25th April 2019)

Year seven (26th April 2019 - 25th April 2020)

Year eight (26th April 2020 - 3rd August 2020)

[pedanticat]

This was a video I made during the break between season 2 and 3. Reblogs are appreciated :)

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

I’ve seen a lot of people talk about the Seamista scene in “Princess Prom”, and how it’s a really good example of showing just how much Sea Hawk obviously loves Mermista. And everyone who talks about that part is absolutely right to gush about that aspect, because they are right - it is adorable and good example of them really showing his very obvious love and devotion to her. 

However, I feel like that moment also really helps to show that Mermista definitely does return the feelings, and not just because of Sea Hawk confirming that he was indeed her plus-one to the Prom, and not just her ride. They’re definitely more subtle than Sea Hawk’s outright displays of affection, but they are definitely there.

To begin, there’s how she responds to the song itself. If you really think about it, she probably responds better than most people would probably expect she would. Sea Hawk is making a scene, drawing attention to the two of them, and while Mermista gets a sort of annoyed/flustered look on her face when he first starts singing...she doesn’t actually say anything in protest to it. She facepalms, but that’s the most she does that we see; she doesn’t even seem to groan at all, which seems to be a good indicator of her not liking something. 

And, of course, when he wraps his arm around her shoulder, she blushes a little, but, again, does nothing to stop him and doesn’t protest in any way. Of course, that changes a moment later, when Adora kind of teases Mermista about Sea Hawk being her “plus-one”; but it’s also worth nothing that, in the shot immediately before Mermista pushes Sea Hawk away and tries to claim that he’s just her ride...he’s gotten very close to her. Like, he is literally nuzzling up her her, looking comfortable and content as can be, and she doesn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest about this...until Adora seems to tease her about the situation.

Finally, there’s her expression when Sea Hawk comes back over and seems to be agreeing to play along with her claim that he is just her ride. It’s almost a split-second thing, but I can only describe the way she looks at him when he comes back over to her as almost apologetic. Almost like she does feel bad about denying that she does like him, but can’t exactly help herself...Of course, he kinda ruins it by immediately just flat out telling Adora that he was Mermista’s “plus-one”, and not just her ride. 

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Sorato are a very interesting and - at this point in time - unique case in regards to canonically confirmed relationships in the Digimon universe. Despite the fact that they had been shown to have started dating through the course of Digimon Adventure 02 - with the epilogue showing them to have two children together -, the ongoing course of the series post 02 is... Incredibly vague about them to say the least. Disclaimer: I am not intending to bash the ship, this is a personal analysis post in which I am trying to analyze it from my point of view based on what we're being shown. And I want to thank my dearest @dutchforstrangers and @jamesthedigidestined for all the input I got over the years to put this into words!

First of all, Digimon Adventure presented Sora and Yamato as very interesting parallels to one another, hinting at a certain family angle in subtext. To summarize it: They're both prone to try and handle things by themselves, hiding their true feelings behind masks as they both believe that they don't have what it takes to activate or even deserve their respective Crests at first, Love and Friendship. This is in part thanks to their shared familial trauma and strained relationships with their mothers. It’s why they’re so prone to being engulfed by darkness, why their dark caves are dangerous manifestations of their declining mental health, self-doubt and fears. That is why the soul-searching is needed, repeatedly so. It’s why they understand each other’s need to be left alone - which is something we will see throughout the entirety of the Adventure series for both of them. By the end of the first season, Sora had already been on her way to reconciliation with her own mother and, after everything she went through, was able to reassure Yamato that he could go on to find his own path as she did hers before, believing that he could do it too. In return, Yamato had been put - and eventually also put himself - in the position to pull Sora out of her own state of darkness as well. Because he had been there himself, he was finally able to put things into words. (Which may or may not be influenced by Yamato also perceiving Sora as a motherly figure, reminding him of his and Takeru's mother, according to the novels.)

Them being the way they are is also why they need Takeru’s softness and Taichi’s persistence (as well as Jyou’s support and Mimi’s reassurance at different times) to get it back together again. They have to be reminded that they don’t HAVE TO be alone in all this (even if they often choose to).

I want to underline Taichi's importance in particular here - because even though he reassures Sora to go for Yamato in 02, encouraging her to actively pursue what and whom she herself wants for once... Canon is very reluctant to openly state that they're actually a couple and the ongoing debate on whether or not the Digimon staff was ever fully settled on them being endgame or not doesn't help matters. (I will not open that debate once more, just know that this is still a thing.) On one hand, there is official art depicting them as close, with him usually having an arm around her shoulder, so "show don't tell" does apply here!

But on the other hand, the 02 audio drama "Armor Evolution to the Unknown" has a very... Debatable way to refer to them. "Daisuke’s Great Valentine’s Day Plan" has the other girls gossip over how they think that Yamato must really have a hard time enduring Sora's wrath and that they probably won't last through a fight; "Armor Evolving in Chaos" implies that Sora is asking herself why Yamato has been "so cold to her recently", causing him to desperately sing a love song for her...

It all feels very awkward and rocky. And to get back to Taichi here: The aftermath of 02 mainly shows us a somewhat dysfunctional bond between these three friends and it's very unclear what is even going on between them. For example, there is their portrayal in Diablomon Strikes Back; the way the picture of Yamato and Sora gets leaked causes the group to react in shock, followed by awkward silence... And the way Sora eventually leaned towards Taichi instead of Yamato, to this day, is reason for the fandom to debate on what the - at that time - current state of Sorato is. The writers of Tri even mention that "no official relationships are going on between [Taichi, Sora and Yamato]", which begs the question as to whether or not it had worked out in the end. We don't know if, when or why Sora and Yamato broke up, what their stance is towards each other. Just like the foundation of the relationship itself, we do not actively hear what they mean to each other outside of weird, non-canon audio drama humour - and all we get is vague subtext and a forced (somewhat fanservice-y) love triangle that was never supposed to be one in the first place.

I say forced, because in usual fandom portrayals of the "traingle", it's Taichi and Yamato "fighting" over Sora's affections, which is, never, not even once, confirmed to be true - and while Sora is being put into a position in Tri that implies that she has to pick between them (aka Yamato's concert and Taichi's football match)... It never actually happens. Instead, in the end, Sora and Yamato both appear to be more likely to have feelings for Taichi than for each other, but that is a whole different box of pandora to open up.

Long story short - canon has never settled on how to commit to them and thus, the infamous Taiorato fandom wars had never really come to an end. Which is a shame, because the initial set-up in Adventure would have allowed for a lot of mutual growth and healing potential due to Sora's and Yamato's shared experiences and view-points. Unfortunately, the anime decided to never really SHOW them spending actual screentime for the sake of bonding together post their scenes in Adventure, neither in 02 nor in Tri. And if they talk to each other - it is usually about Taichi. Tri does include little nods towards them (hands on shoulders, little reaction shots, mostly on Sora's behalf), but is equally prone to depict a visible distance between them, culminating in Yamato not noticing that Sora, by the end of the series, had cut her hair even shorter than before (so he's getting called out by Takeru for not being very observant). Kizuna at least implies that Yamato knows what Sora is up to - but the only scenes that actually include her have her be concerned for Piyomon and Taichi instead...

The epilogue itself had also always been reason to speculate for decades by now; in comparison to Miyaken - which had actually gotten quite a solid foundation in the most recent movie -, there had been a visible physical distance between Sorato while talking to their children, which heated up fan speculations as to whether they're still together at this point in time...

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

As I haven't been able to keep it shortly up there after all, you may be able to tell that I am somewhat frustrated with their portrayal. Whether production quarrels got in the way or not, whether they've been trying to undo the damage by keeping things as vague as possible throughout all these years, I am not able to tell. What I do know is that - Digimon never shied away from giving us realistic interpersonal relationships. We've seen it all, between friends, siblings, parents and children, married couples... The sad part here is - that also includes relationships that are not meant to last.

And as much as it may sting, as promising as their initial parallels may have been... To refer back to my previous analysis post, maybe their mutual tendencies to "pull back and isolate themselves" had been (one of) the reason(s) why they were not right for each other in the long run. Do not get me wrong, I support the idea that Sora had developed feelings for Yamato as a teenager - they were 14 years old, they had been through life-changing events together and related to each other due to their strained mother-relationships... Again, we never really hear how they feel about each other, but: Why wouldn't Sora feel drawn to Yamato as a kindred spirit, someone who could understand her and already proved to be able to give her the space she needed in the past? Let's also not forget that we're also still talking about Sora Takenouchi here - she's a born caretaker, even if she doesn't want to be reduced to that role, she is still naturally loving. So it also makes sense for Yamato to fall for her, to feel cared for, loved and wanted? To get the affection he had always craved while simultaneously being able to live out his own protective side? Heck yeah! In theory - it makes perfect sense! Let teenagers experiment, have fun, figure themselves out!

But canon also shows us that they - and Taichi - actually turn out to be quite... Dysfunctional young adults due to a LOT of unresolved self-esteem issues, mental health problems and a lack of a clear identity path. Adventure and 02 had shown them to be on a good way, but... Puberty apparently didn't allow them to work on their issues in healthy ways, which applies to all three of them - which, once again, is mirrored in the dysfunctional bond between them as well as in the fact that THEY were chosen to be the ones shown to lose their partnerships in Kizuna.

For some reason, Yamato and Sora had drifted apart and, as far as we can tell, were not able to rekindle their initial romantic attraction by the time of Kizuna/The Beginning. Instead, there were, apparently, a lot of confused feelings for Taichi involved... And an inability to open up to themselves and each other about their dreams, aspirations, paths. They tried to become "performative adults" - and lost themselves in the process. Sora is the literal embodiment of the "I'm going my own way by myself" as of Kizuna, distancing herself from literally everyone once more while she still follows in her mother's footsteps - and Taichi and Yamato did very similar things.

My impression here is that, even if Sora and Yamato did eventually get back together again at some point, maybe after doing some more soul-searching and getting in touch with themselves again, getting their Digimon back... I'm not sure if they'd last. Especially if you consider Yamato's career path as an astronaut, who'd spend quite some time away from home, whereas Sora would not only be tasked with her own, probably very time- and energy-consuming career as a fashion designer; she'd also have to take care of their two children by herself... Which kinda delegates Yamato back to his initial lone-wolf-persona he never even wanted to have, literally forced to keep a physical distance, probably doomed to follow in his own parents' footsteps of being incapable of maintaining a happy, balanced marriage... It's not that he doesn't WANT to break through generational trauma, quite the contrary, he is a hands-on person after all, especially when he has set his mind to something - but he's not always the most observant and vocal when it comes to the subject of his own relationships and we know how he tends to deal with conflict, he either gets unintentionally hurtful or... Leaves. And since Sora can also very easily lash out when she feels cornered, Yamato might not be capable to give himself or her what they need - just like the silly audio drama once implied. Especially because after everything she went through, Sora needs as much reassurance and validation as he does - and living through a marriage in which her husband would be away just as much as her own father used to be in his marriage might... Not be the healthiest approach.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

Whether or not we'll ever retcon the epilogue or not - my personal verdict is that Sorato could have been a great opportunity to show that dating as teenagers can be super fun and nice, but you may not be compatible long-term. But it's okay to break up and move on and maybe be a little awkward for a while, but since you still have that history and a deeper understanding for each other, you still get out of it stronger and with a bond that is just as meaningful as a romantic connection. I feel like it could really have been great like that and I do have a very soft spot for their potential - especially as parallels to Taishirou, there is nothing more fun than having these four go on adventures and silly double dates together IF everything is well executed and functional and if people actually TALK to each other for once. I have a billion set-ups in the back of my mind in my AUs where they would end up moping about their mothers and about Taichi and teasing each other, Sora would actually enjoy collaborating with Taichi and Takeru to get under Yamato's skin, but she also knows his gentle and soft and cheesy side, they adore each other, even if they're incredibly dense about it and Mimi would forever roll her eyes at them... I could go on.

But even if things stay like they are in the epilogue - the "Sorato is actually divorced in the epilogue, but still on good terms and take care of their children like responsible adults who successfully broke through generational trauma" approach can be pretty nice and enjoyable as well (especially in a scenario in which Yamato would end up with Jyou and Sora with Mimi, because I feel like these two get them the best - or both of them actually end up with Taichi, so the triangle can FINALLY be resolved in a satisfying way. The comphet memes about them from back in the day also really spoke to me, because I them getting together could also have been them trying to compensate for their attraction towards their own gender - OR because neither of them thought they could have Taichi in the end, but... THAT'S just a theory after all.) Either way, they care deeply about each other in every reality - even if I personally believe they might work better platonically.

[dentos-wife]

What do you mean by amourshipping is canon and not canon at the same time?

Excellent question! And you know what I’m going to tag this because the war from both sides is going too far. So first things first. I neither ship Pokeshipping nor Amourshipping, I ship Negaishipping the like 5 of us that exist. So I’m going to talk about the kiss from a writing perspective and as a member of neither side. Just call me Switzerland 

1) Why Amour is now canon:

A little history lesson if you will. Pokemon was originally planned to end after season 1 and Ash and Misty was going to be endgame. And so Misty was written as a typical 90′s tsundere with a crush on our main protagonist. What was going to happen is the show would have ended and flash forward to the future where they would have been together. 

But something happened. Pokemon blew up, Pokemon went on. But that didn’t change anything, because Pokeshipping was still the original endgame. Other ships came and went but Pokeshipping held it’s spot. This was her ending, the handkerchief she gave him was her way of stating her feelings. She was the only main companion who had a crush on our protagonist and so Pokeshipping held it’s spot of “closest to canon.” Sure we had other girls on the cast, but none of them had a crush on him like Misty. And we had other girls not in the cast that crushed on him but that’s not the same as having feelings and being on the main cast. Therefore Pokeshipping stayed for almost 20 years.

Until now. Enter Serena.

Whatever you want to say about her writing, and trust me I said my fair share, she was in Misty’s spot now, a girl with a crush on Ash. An even more blatant crush than Misty’s. But would they take her crush anywhere? Would Pokeshipping lose it’s closest to canon status now that we had another girl or would the crush be lost as she developed. Let me just say first of all I was completely wrong on my prediction. I thought she’d lose it as she grew to get a new goal but it wasn’t and it grew stronger until we got our kiss.

-”But Jane!” You state, “Other girls kissed Ash too!”

They have. Melody and Latias (I will argue until the day I die that wasn’t Bianca) On the cheek. The fact they didn’t show this kiss tells me all I need to know; it was on the mouth. This was different than those. And even if it was on the cheek which I will argue wasn’t due to how it was presented this was the first time a main girl kissed him. That’s a big deal. And it’s not just the kiss it’s everything with the kiss. Yes, Ash reacted the exact same as the rest of the kisses, he got surprised. It’s certainly not two sided, but neither was Pokeshipping. Pokeshipping was only two sided when they thought it was going to end, and then they stopped. Just like Pokeshipping was set up to be endgame when it ended Amour is now set up to be endgame now that XY is over. That kiss especially in an airport is a romantic trope end of series trope. Just like Misty giving him her handkerchief is a romantic trope. Years later we fast forward and we see them as a couple, Had this been any other anime that would have sealed the deal. Her dialogue was deliberately written to be read both romantic and not romantic the closest to a confession the show ever got and was meant to read both ways. Making Amour the new endgame ship for Ash.

2) Why Amour is still not canon:

POKEMON DOESN’T END. Pokemon will end when we’re all dead and gone and even then it could still be going for all I know. That’s why Amourshipping is in the spot it’s in. It’s the new endgame in a never ending show. It’ll never be realized but Pokeshipping has had it’s spot taken from it after almost 20 years. And as Pokemon continues on I bet 20 years later we’ll have a new endgame and so on and so forth. There is one thing that can take Amour’s endgame status from it though and that’s if we see Serena again. 

Here’s the thing, Misty giving Ash a handkerchief is really subtle so she can in fact show up again, compared to Serena’s not so subtle airport kiss. Meaning if Serena cameoes after her big damn finale and they act like nothing ever happened….it’s ruined. Amour loses its canon status. Because the way that trope works is the kiss will be the last thing you see of them. Until you see them in the future again it’s basically the only way you can endgame a onesided ship if you will. Bring her back it’s over the trope is no longer in effect Amour is back to not being endgame.   

3) What this means for you:

Absolutely nothing. Both sides are right. Amourshippers do have a canon ship, but if you don’t ship it it’s not canon either, it’s in what I call ship limbo. If you do ship it though you better hope she doesn’t cameo because like I said it’s status will be gone. Which is ironic to me because if you hate the ship you need to hope she, the person you probably hate shows up again. And if you love the ship, you have to hope, she the person you love never shows up again. Shipping is such a funny thing that way. 

Pokeshippers have now passed the crown. And that’s okay. Because truly no Ash ship will be canon, he’ll still be an eternal ten year old who will never age and continue on region to region. Years later it’s possible Amour will pass on it’s crown to whatever the new endgame ship will be and so on and so forth until Pokemon finally ends.

Pokeshippers I understand why you guys are salty as hell it sucks you have to pass on your crown, but it still means nothing to you continue to ship like you been have. But DON’T attack the Amourshippers and don’t hate on them be happy they get to feel what you felt so long ago. And yeah I get it you never got anything like this and you’ll be bitter forever I get it! My cast is the only cast to get a sucky goodbye and I’ll be bitter forever too but the adult thing to do is accept it and try to be happy for the other side. And remember it really doesn’t matter anyway, Pokemon will never end, no Ash ship will actually ever happen. Take solstice in that.

Amourshippers congratulations not giving up until the end paid off for you. But don’t rub it in the faces of other shippers either, especially Pokeshippers who are in a delicate spot right now. Almost 20 years they’ve been untouchable after all respect them. And remember that even though your ship is now canon no Ash ship truly ever happens either so calling your ship canon, while it’s true isn’t true at the same time. Continue to ship like normal, be adults but truthfully this isn’t a competition there is no winner okay?

Advanceshippers, Pearlshippers, Negaishippers, and soon to be the SM shippers hey. Nothing really changed for us we’ve never been in this “endgame in an anime that never ends spot”, just keep doing what you’re doing and have fun shipping.

[btsandvmin]

I love how you answer. I love every analysis of yours. Because you don't try to push the vmin is real agenda. You make sure that your post doesn't look like you are trying to prove something but instead gives a broader meaning to vmin moments.. idk if I'm makung proper sense here lol but love your blog. P.S I hope you answer by music bank ask.

Thank you! <3  It warms my heart that you appriciate it, because I know some would prefer confidence and me just stating things as facts, especially when some theories look very possible and logical. (I can even see some tendencies in how the more “delulu” a post of mine sounds the more traction it gets and I totally get that... I am drawn to that type of posts too.) I am also glad that  you seem to think my posts open up to how we could view Vmin moments in a broader sense. :) Really, thank you a lot.

I really think trying to stay as “non delusional” and not being confident in my theories is very difficult but in the end necessary. Because if I am wrong, but say something with confidence that might convince other peope... The ones suffering in the end are us who are proven wrong if we truly start to believe something (I’ve talked about cognitive dissonance before). Strongly believing or hoping for something and then to get it disproven can hurt. And for that reason alone no matter how convincing something might seem, I won’t become a person who 100% believes in Vmin being something other than platonic soulmates (unless they say something themselves to change that label). 

I also know with the lack of full context we get that the margin of error becomes even bigger. (Not to mention all the other problems and difficulties that come with trying to do analysis of real people from far away that are part of a different culture etc.) I mean, there are different shippers for all pairs in BTS that has gone from just shipping to actually beliving their ship is real. Just this morning I came across some Jin/kook shippers who seem convinced their ship are together romantically for real. It’s not like all these people are idiots. In fact some of them are really smart, which makes it more likely for them to convince other shippers as well. It’s simply an example that shows how strong the power of our brains wanting to believe what we want to be real is. But all of these people also can’t be right, especially since most of them go against each other. That being said, we could all be wrong.

Even educated guesses are still guesses you know? So even when I feel confident in something (and it honestly might be very difficult not to turn too delulu... like have you seen the amount of stuff there is to find with the song analyzes and Vmin?) I need to hold back my words. I find Vmin suspicious for sure... But there are too many things that could be misinterpretation mixed with wishful thinking. I also look so much closer at Vmin that it makes it easy to miss other things. So, I have to be careful.

If Taehyung came out and had a girlfriend I would be suprised, and it would obviously affect the way I view Vmin. But I wouldn’t stop liking him or Vmin. The only thing it would “ruin” is all the hours spent on Vmin analysis. So, that’s why I need to stay open. For my sake, for your sake and for the sake of BTS’s lives being theirs and me not knowing even half of what might be going on in them. After all I rather see them be happy than me being right.

As for your music bank ask, I’ll get to it in a moment, but I am not sure I have too much to say. Still, thank you so much for your words and I am really glad you feel this about my approach to Vmin and doing analyses. :) <3

[roger-sexual]

bill/jack tho

as it is, i don’t know how exactly a romantic entanglement between these two would flourish on the island but

idk if ever, i don’t think they’d be all lovey dovey off the bat. it would develop really slowly; from a weird, passive aggressive antagonism to mutual appreciation/pre-friendship to platonic (or not) admiration that they’re extremely reluctant to admit

i don’t think they’d be too impressed with each other during their first meeting (during choir auditions, probably.) bill would think jack an annoying upstart, and jack wouldn’t even notice bill, not really.

but as time passes, he does end up noticing bill (read: his mistakes in singing and in general.) at first, he tries correcting bill in front of everyone (because jack knows best and is so fucking helpful, goodness knows what the choir would do without him), which turns out to be more harm than help as bill doesn’t handle being humiliated in public very well and starts actively snubbing merridew and being an overall jerk when they’re forced to interact.

jack takes this as well as you’d expect, which is not at all. there’s a point where he’s sick of bill’s passive aggressive shit, and directly confronts him about it. (anyone else see an ironic “why do you hate me?” scene?), this leads bill to confess that he’s actually really jealous of jack’s talents, his singing, his ability to manipulate lead others, to be noticed and admired by other people. he’s angry at jack because jack knows what he wants and he gets it; unlike bill, who only wishes to be recognized yet still can’t be remembered for shit. he’s mad because jack acts like he’s so fucking perfect, when in reality he’s anything but. but mostly, bill is upset with himself for getting cross with jack who’s only ever tried to help him out. (to be fair, jack had alternative motives at that time, but bill’s too busy beating himself up to notice)

predictably, jack’s overwhelmed by this as bill never really shows what’s on his mind. (he’s part of the lucky lot that jack can’t get a good read-on most of the time.) he sympathizes with bill (more on this later), and admits that while he is perfect most of the time, he does screw up more than he’d like to admit. bill says, “i know that, you prat” but he doesn’t sound as bitter, which jack takes as a good sign. he offers bill one-on-one lessons on singing, and bill raises his eyebrows and asks if this is jack’s way of asking him out. bill doesn’t know if the blush on jack’s cheeks is the result of embarrassment or indignation or what else, but jack’s vehement denial makes bill accept his offer anyway. besides, it sounds like the beginning of a beautiful yet not necessarily romantic relationship.

while they initially act as though they’re walking on eggshells, their newfound insight/sensitivity to each other pays off. jack relates to bill’s dislike of public humiliation, and sorts him out in private (in a considerably less arrogant tone, which bill appreciates.) though bill always tried to be helpful to his fellow choirboys (usually in secret; he does have a reputation to maintain, you know), he begins to do so in a manner that’s beneficial to jack, i.e. telling them to quiet down when jack’s speaking, hitting them when they goof off too much during practice etc, which jack appreciates in turn.

it’s these little bits that make them begin to realize certain things about each other. jack appreciates bill’s initiative (which doesn’t seem to threaten jack’s own authority because bill’s grown loyal to him), his usual deference and his ambition to prove himself. jack sees pieces of himself in bill (both the good - such as their shared drive and determination - and the bad - examples being their stubbornness and willfulness to shed their respective façades.) he sees bill as someone he can depend on in most situations and considers him a good friend (and a better pawn ;D)

meanwhile, bill sees jack both as a person to admire in a way (it’s better than envying at least), yet he wouldn’t interact with merridew if he, bill, couldn’t be of assistance in some way. like jack, bill relishes the feeling of being needed; he thrives on it because not only does he think it will be his ticket to recognition, but it gives him a purpose. (he actually does grow to care for the people he helps, but it’ll take ages before he admits it.) jack’s a very effective leader who gets shit done, and bill appreciates that and does his best to help jack make it happen. granted, there are some traits of jack he doesn’t like (his controlling, overly uptight nature for one), but bill tries to help jack get over it. (more on jack’s reaction later.)

at the moment, they have a fairly strong friendship going on, but not without some hitches. sure they aren’t as close as jack and roger or bill and harold, but it’s much better than they can say for jack’s their other relationships because jack is an immature, overemotional baby and bill is a complete and utter spaz.

should they start to take a romantic interest in the other, i’m pretty sure bill would try to hide it from jack by avoiding jack in general. of course, this would lead to jack to confront him about it, prompting bill to awkwardly confess his feelings. talk about deja vu. except this time, it ends with jack cutting off bill’s self-deprecation with a kiss (because as much as jack likes making bill flustered, he really is a grade-A idiot) and actually asking him out. (oh no, it’s starting to sound cute.)

this stage of their relationship would start out with a blast. in between a competition of making each other blush, it would be passionate snogging and supportive, caring acts with that wonderful epiphany that they’re with someone they can trust and depend on.

bill would give jack all the attention in the world; he’d move the ends of the earth to make him happy, and jack would love the feeling of being priority and of being taken care of. in turn, jack would be showing bill off to the world, and while bill would enjoy the attention initially, he’d start to feel unworthy. he feels like he’s only known for being jack merridew’s boyfriend, which is not only kind of pathetic, but also makes him totally undeserving of being jack’s boyfriend when he can’t be his own person. bill needs to become someone jack can be proud of, but he can’t do that as merely as jack’s boyfriend. (totally a paradox, i know.)

so he starts burying himself in his work, tries to make a name for himself. while jack likes bill’s ambition, he is also self-absorbed and prone to jealousy. jack would question why being his boyfriend wasn’t enough for bill. he’d start to think that bill wasn’t satisfied with him, that bill’s trying to do and be better than him—which is the exact opposite as bill is trying to be as good as him. but jack doesn’t listen, he never listens to anyone but himself. bill grows sick of this, he’s an honest person by nature and he can’t pretend that jack’s as perfect as he wants everyone to think. he can’t help jack get over himself if jack doesn’t want to.

overall, it would become a very trying and emotional mess of a relationship, unless they start maturing and listening to each other. they both need to get rid of their respective “masks” and as corny as this sounds, be true to themselves. they have a lot in common and definitely have an interesting dynamic, but they’re just immature, insecure boys who need to mature in order to have a functional relationship with anybody.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Boy, do I love to refer back to "Butterfly" and how it basically framed Taichi as the male main character and Sora as the female main character throughout. One might argue that this is a combination that has been occurring in quite a lot of anime - particularly kids and Shounen related - back in the 90s and early 2000s, so... Asking whether or not canon provides input on them is like asking if water is wet. They've known each other since elementary school, have been in the same class ever since (and will continue to be classmates until graduation) and even attended the same football club for a while. They start the series as "almost telepathically connected" football club duo (basically a novel quote right here), adventurous and hands-on plot drivers, the courageous leader and the tomboyish but caring voice of reason right by his side. You instantly get the impression that they are familiar and close with each other and it's a theme that continues throughout the entire first season; not only because they consistently jump into action and call out, care for and protect each other, but because they, their bond, their loyalty and development are basically responsible for the fact that the kids get through everything alive in the end.

Trying to describe the extent and depth of their relationship would probably end with me writing a whole novel, so I will try to keep this brief, because... You know them. Similarly to Taito, Koumi and Takari, Taiora has been a staple in the shipping scene ever since the conception of Digimon Adventure back in 1999 - and for good reason. As mentioned, there used to be - and still is - a trope to pair up the main boy and main girl with one another and this case is no exception, considering how well they play off of each other, supporting and saving each other time and time again. Digimon Adventure is a special series though - a series whose creators intended to break through tropes and stereotypes, turning those on the head whenever possible. So while Taichi's and Sora's bond may be so significant that the idea of them ending up together seems inherently plausible - this is not how their story ends.

The tomboy, who struggles with her sense of femininity and identity, cannot deal with her best friend gifting her a hairclip - and while they seem thoroughly devoted to and on each other's minds, they develop in different directions. There is a theme of miscommunication between them as they grow older, little quarrels here and there - but at the same time, there is still an incredible sense of mutual fondness and protectiveness that, despite a growing physical distance, never completely vanishes. "If you love someone, let them go", is a quote that may come to mind when you take a look at the screenshot above and are aware of its context. Whether that kind of love was romantic or platonic at this point? We may never know.

This is the story of two close long-term friends, who were not meant to be together - wrong time, wrong place.

... Which doesn't mean that there isn't a potential "right time", right...?

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

What I mentioned above seems to be somewhat cryptic and what I'm about to outline may or may not break canon to a certain degree, but HEAR ME OUT.

While this headcanon is, for now, nothing more than a headcanon, but I am a big supporter of @dutchforstrangers' interpretation of the epilogue, leading to the idea that Yamato and Sora might not remain together/married. This post is not meant to be Sorato slander in any way and I will not go into detail here as to why I think this is a valid headcanon - just know that there are a few subtext aspects in regards to their behavioural patterns and body languages that leave room for speculation. And that's all there is to it: SPECULATION!

The point I am trying to make here is, once again, that Taichi and Sora may not have been ready to be in a relationship early in life - because they first had to come to terms with themselves, their real dreams, aspirations and needs. They had to become comfortable with themselves (particularly after the loss of their Digimon partners) to bridge the (physical and emotional) distance that had festered between them through the years. Because if you think about it, due to their underlying insecurities, they both chose the same approach in their early twenties: Isolating themselves from the rest of their friend group. And I feel like they both have to come to the conclusion first that this is a state that could never bring them long-lasting happiness. They're both social beings that shrivel when they're left alone for too long. (They may also need the encouragement of their friends - particularly Mimi, Koushirou and Hikari - to get there though.)

So it may take a while, weeks, months, maybe even years, to reconcile, step by step. Rekindling their bond, making up their minds about their true passions and career paths, rediscovering old and finding new hobbies and similarities along the way; whether it's about their shared love for their friends, football, adventurous and sporty activities, probably therapy???, whatever it may be... Until they'd reunite with their partners and, with a gleeful but weary smile on their faces, realize that they just had to grow up to this point to eventually find each other as well.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

In case the way I've been talking about them hasn't made it obvious yet - I do love Taiora a lot. While I hadn't started actively shipping Digimon characters until I started watching Tamers, I always had an incredible soft spot for them and up to this day, Taichi and Sora are my second favourite choice for each other. You could say that, in every possible universe in which Taich doesn't end up with Koushirou, he WOULD end up with Sora if I had anything to say. It's also no secret that Taikoura is my absolute favourite OT3 and I really think they COULD work out beautifully together. In the end, both romantic and platonic Taiora is absolutely beautiful to me - especially because it brought some very special, wonderful people into my life. Long story short: As long as their closeness persists in any way, shape or form, I'll be happy.

I also still maintain that the reboot timeline could potentially go there, but I will not get my hopes up... Yet.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

The first Adventure season is very adamant about making sure that the viewer identifies Sora as the "mom/big sister" friend of the group. This becomes mostly apparent when she is consistently protecting and/or taking care of Mimi and Hikari - but also Takeru. As I had pointed out in the post about the family angle between Sora, Yamato and Takeru, the latter functions as a bridge between the broken family dynamics they all appear to have at this point. Since Takeru is the youngest member of the group for the majority of the season, he is the most vocal about Sora basically being a motherly figure - which is even more blatantly stated in the English dub version where he straight up tells her that he doesn't "miss his mom so much" when she is around. And it makes sense that he perceives her that way, considering how she took everyone under their wing, including him, functioning as the voice of reason to prevent the others from fighting - especially when his brother is involved -, supporting them in the back however she could. And since Sora herself is struggling with her own sense of obligation, questioning her intentions and ability to love - is it really surprising that, the moment someone like Takeru finally reassures her, tells her that he likes her and doesn't want her to disappear, she immediately stops crying? Finding her composure again, regaining her positive outlook?

Both Sora and Takeru need validation, this becomes quite clear and is an ongoing theme between them through the course of Adventure - there is a reason why Takeru immediately becomes more serious and determined once Sora (and Taichi too) tells him to take care of and protect Hikari. He craves to be needed, he doesn't want to be a burden and actually being trusted by someone like Sora (and Taichi, again!), someone he greatly admires, is a huge boost for him. Maybe even the central motivation he needed (aside from Yamato's reassurance) to not give up, to "fulfill his responsibility", on his way to let Angemon evolve to HolyAngemon. Just like Takeru's words may have been a little stepping stone for Sora to activate her own Crest as well...

After Adventure, there aren't a lot of visible cues that indicate the same/a bigger level of closeness between these two (even taking into account that Sora and Yamato had been dating through the course of 02), but there are little tidbits here and there that do indicate care between them. It's when Takeru protects her from a Snimon attack in 02 (once again showing that he is responsible and protective!), it's when Sora calls him to ask whether he is okay in Tri (still showing off her caring attitude towards him!)...

One might argue that all of these framings are entirely familial, since there is so much focus on the family angle, especially when you keep the age gap of three years between them in mind. However, the reason why I chose the screenshot(s) above may indicate another meaning after all... Because similarly to my previous Daiora analysis, people tend to mainly focus on Sora's romantic potential with Taichi and Yamato - even though there may be other candidates who are potentially just as - if not more - emotionally compatible with her...

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

A famous callback Tri pulled on Adventure is the awkward silence between Sora, Taichi and Yamato in the fourth movie - mirroring the scene in which Sora runs away from the group, unable to tell them why she wanted to be by herself and why she considers herself "unable to love". In Tri, both Taichi and Yamato are at a loss, they have no idea how to deal with her. When they were still kids, all it took was for Takeru to approach her, thank, reassure and tell her that he "likes" her - which is probably why Yamato's instinct as a teenager at this point seems to be the following: "Shall we ask Takeru?"

Takeru, as opposed to his big band leader brother, has a so called "ladies-man-persona" in Tri, he's got a reputation of having dated several girls and appears to be very friendly with Meiko, much to Hikari's jealousy amusement. However, romance is not Tri's strongest feat - and just like we never learn whether or not Jyou's girlfriend is real, we also don't know what exactly Takeru has been doing all this time. He's famous for wearing a mask consisting of smiles and one may or may not be worried about him developing unhealthy dating habits that never result in long-lasting relationships....... OR we stop assuming the worst and take things at face value for once: Takeru Takaishi is a very kind person at heart, and even if he hides behind a mask, has a very big soft spot for reassuring girls around him.

Do you know who also has a soft spot for reassuring others while hiding their feelings behind a mask at times? Sora Takenouchi. They are both incredibly observant of the people around them and very keen to put them at ease, mostly through words - and just like we have seen above, they NEED that kind of validation. It's why Takeru notices that Sora got a new haircut and points it out to her, whereas his brother hadn't seen it at all. It's why Takeru tries to keep track on everything that is happening, not only because he's on his way to become a novelist, but because he cares and even if he probably still can't be honest about his own feelings - he knows that it doesn't hurt to notice and compliment others, he knows that he can make others feel good by being kind like that. Just like Sora is proooobably aware that her caring nature may not be the healthiest self-care approach, but at least puts smiles on everybody else's faces.

Again, this may not sound like the most stable foundation for a relationship, but I could actually see it working out for them. I'm not saying that I want them to "parent each other", but maybe together, they could reach a state where everything gets a little bit easier. Crying together, opening up to each other about how difficult it had been to always uphold that friendliness because they may have felt responsible, even if there were moments when they both would just have wanted to curse and scream... They both love their friends dearly, but may crave to allow themselves a shoulder to lean on. From someone who understands the struggles. I think it could be a great lesson for both of them as consenting adults, trying to live their own lives - having Sora tell Takeru that he doesn't always have to be the strong one to keep everyone together, that he is loved for who he is and that he won't be left again (because his abandonment issues may still be pretty strong). And simultaneously having Takeru tell Sora that she needs to look in the mirror to realize that she deserves to be loved for who she is as well (especially because her flight instinct might still be pretty strong). And that she deserves someone who actually TELLS her that...

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

I had thought about Takeru as analogy to Yamato before, simply because he is so much more vocal towards Sora. And while the age gap and mother angle may make things a little bit difficult and even though I had never thought too deeply about the romantic side of Sokeru... I can understand why they used to have their niche here on tumblr. Art of Takeru protecting Sora for once ("I am not a kid anymore!"), art of him letting loose in front of her... The appeal is definitely there and I am a big fan of mutually reassuring ships, so while I usually go for them platonically, I do have a bit of a fondness for their romantic potential now! So it would be nice to see how their relationship may pan out in canon in "the future".

[dentos-wife]

I hate it because a lot of fans can pretend they ship same sex pairings but their "endgame" couples are always straight (and married with childrens on the top of that) and they same sex couples are the "failed" ones. It's like same sex couples are something to grow up and settling with someone of your opposite sex and reproduce is the adult thing to do.

I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to this is got buried in my inbox!

But I agree with you and I think that has something to do with the values society puts in us. Therefore even if you are one of those same sex couples, bi or asexual you’ll still be more likely to do the nuclear family when pairing up characters because those values are so deep inside you, and subliminal messages are always feeding those values that you may not do it with yourself but others you put into that perfect heteronormative box. It’s not your fault because it’s buried there but eventually you do have to realize that’s your rationale

And yes it really bothers me when I see, “sex is a totally normal thing all couples do!” As an ace that bugs me, normal? all?

And don’t even get me started on the fetishing gay couples not everyone does it and most ship like any other pairing but the ones who do its not cool