#shipping analysis

[theromanticscrooge]

The Shipping Corner: Voxman, A Balm for Capitalist-Induced Angst

Note: I'm sorry this took as long as it did. I've been in a pretty bad slump recently and am just now coming out of it.

Lord Boxman is the black sheep among his peers. This is first established with Professor Venomous' initial distaste towards him and the later reactions he gets when he unexpectedly shows up at Billiam Milliam's villain yacht party. The only kinds of relationships Boxman has with other villains amount to strictly business transactions to create their robot minions. The shareholders that directly fund Boxmore are especially skeptic of Boxman's destroy the Plaza side venture and see this as a misguided, Snidely Whiplash-esque escapade. He's just a Saturday morning cartoon villain and they're the respectable big leagues. When Boxman funnels so much time, effort, energy, and resources towards the Plaza attacks, it takes precious time away from robot production; the one thing he does they consider valuable or worthwhile. They threaten to cut off their support if Boxman's production doesn't increase and then gladly replace him with Darrell when the opportunity arises. Darrell fits the exact mold they need for a CEO: he focuses exclusively on production.

There's no respect. There's no interest in or concern for Lord Boxman as an individual. The dislike is mutual. Of course Boxman doesn't get along with other villains. Most of the known names and faces on screen hold the purse strings and by extension, the fate of Boxman's entire operation. He feels like he has to put on his best face and performance to keep his business afloat. Without Boxmore, he seemingly has nothing and loses everything material. After Boxman was fired by the shareholders, he becomes absolutely depressed and floats around for awhile until Venomous finds him in his trash can. As much as he hates answering to corporate interests, he's locked in as a "robot manufacturer" as much as an Average Joe is stuck at a 9-5 job because of bills, a mortgage; and most frustratingly, how easily someone can fall into the trappings of letting a job define their self-worth or sense of self.

--

When Professor Venomous gets introduced, he's partly in Boxman's mental bucket of shareholder/necessary business relationships. Boxman goes to great lengths to hide K.O., Rad, and Enid after accidentally booking his business dinner on the same night as an antagonize the Plaza event. He's scared that his 'hobby' would dissuade Venomous from buying any more of his robots and break their already tenuous business deal. Instead, Venomous starts to see Boxman through literal rose-tinted glasses and becomes interested in Boxman's ongoing Plaza rivalry but uses the robots as a continued excuse to check in again on this weird, intriguing man.

Another interesting precedent is that Boxman is more fond of Venomous from the jump. When interacting with other business partners, Boxman is over-the-top and eager to please in video calls and plays the oblivious idiot in casual settings, but behind closed doors, he's bitter towards them. Boxman won't hug his own children and scoffs at open displays of affection. Yet he wants to touch or hug Venomous as often as he can reasonably get away with. Part of his behavior is the same eager to please facade he gives other interested business parties, but the bigger part is a legitimate interest in developing a more personal relationship with Venomous.

The pink shoujo sparkles and elevator eyes Boxman has for Venomous are a blatant indicator he finds him attractive. That's a surprisingly huge part of what kicks off his interest. Look at how he reacts to Dr. Blight in the Captain Planet crossover. Boxman initially shows skepticism and disinterest towards her crazy plans, but the second she flirts with him, the flip switches. The promise of romantic interest grants her access to the full power and force of Boxmore. When she leaves at the end of the episode, Boxman is disappointed. He wanted to continue their partnership, especially their potential interpersonal one.

In Venomous' case, he gets extra points for joining in the fight after the Plaza brats interrupt dinner. He asks about the design and Lego brick-esque connectivity of the Boxbots. He's not above participating in the Saturday morning cartoon skirmish. Rather, he misses that kind of fight and yearns to experience more exploits like it. Venomous is the only on-screen character outside of Boxman's kids that shows a willingness to listen to, try to understand, and engage with Boxman in a more personable, intimate way.

--

Professor Venomous fell into villainy after he lost his powers and realized how overbearing he found the moral code heroes have. Being a villain comes naturally to him; he likes the fruits of his labor in the vast amounts of wealth, prestige, and material power that he could gain. Fast forward to present-day in the series and he's the picture of a successful villain. He figures out the easy button for amassing stupid amounts of money by threatening a Congresswoman with a death ray. He's sought out for deals involving his scientific prowess. He's respected and liked among other villains to the point he's invited to Billiam's parties. Though while he has a comfortable position, he's become jaded.

Enter Lord Boxman. Compared to the villains Venomous is used to, Boxman dances to the beat of his own drum. He's more interested in defeating the Plaza than an endless vie for prestige, wealth, or power. He says he doesn't care what the other villains think of him and how he does things. No matter what happens, he's going to carve out his own path as a villain and do what he wants to with his life. Somehow, Venomous got tied up in a new, different kind of bureaucratic process as a villain. As a hero, he felt like an outcast and a loser everybody looked down on without super powers. As a villain, he has everything he thought he wanted but it was more of a means to make up for what he lost. It was more compensating and filling in an existential hole vs actually taking meaningful control of his life. In stark contrast to that, Boxman knows exactly what he wants and puts his all into every pursuit, consequences and obstacles be damned.

Collaborating with Boxman is an epiphany. Dreaming up new schemes and plots to challenge the Plaza is fun. It's fulfilling and satisfying to Venomous in a way that heroics and solo villain ventures weren't. There's one scene in particular after Boxman and Venomous join forces for the first time and lose spectacularly. Both of them are smiling; it's joyous. Boxman was down and out without Boxmore, but building Fink's attack trike was a spark of hope that he can rebuild even if its from the ground-up. Venomous just lost his nice house and all of his current material possessions because Boxman blew everything up. But then Boxman turned around and presented the exact existential solution Venomous didn't know he needed by suggesting attacking the Plaza. It's the dinner party attack, but this time, Venomous was a full part of the planning phases. He gets to share in and fully experience the devil-may-care and more whimsical parts of being a villain he thought were long gone.

Venomous offers to buy out Boxmore and root out the shareholders. Finally, Boxman is free of one of the bigger obstacles between him and his all-time favorite venture. Not only does Boxman have free reign, but also the equal partner he so desperately desired; someone that's on his same wavelength and as invested in his kind of villainy as he is.

--

Another important dimension to Venomous' character is his destructive spiral as Shadowy Venomous. Finding that 'missing piece' in Boxman and Boxmore respectively isn't a magic solution. There's significant baggage in how much emphasis Venomous placed on his need for power. This was such a huge quest and chunk of his life that its difficult to give up on the idea entirely. Its similar to how some people spend so much time chasing after a specific job title or promotion that this elusive thing becomes an important part of what defines them or contributes to their sense of self worth. Venomous left Carol because of a gross misunderstanding that she saw him as weak. He was missing the value he assigned to super powers for so long that every new solution was always a band-aid or a stop gap.

Someone can find a thing or circumstances that significantly improves their life, but they need to see and recognize this psychologically too for it to be completely effective. In other words, Venomous needed to recognize the real-time changes and results from joining Boxmore, then figure out how to weigh those continued changes with his own self-discovery or improvement.

Boxman started improving on being a more proactive parent. Unfortunately, Venomous started getting lost in his own head and pulling away from his other responsibilities or general life. A change as big as a new partner, surroundings, and blended family would be enough to kickstart depression; especially because Venomous hadn't appropriately addressed why he needed this abstract concept of what it meant to be the 'most powerful being.' Success and self-actualization weren't included with the previous accolades he achieved as a villain. It wasn't obvious and forthcoming with Boxman either. The lack of introspection and vulnerable talks with Boxman or anyone else is exactly what led to the wind-up and eventual "I'll destroy everything if it means getting rid of the years of resentment and frustration."

--

Both Venomous and Boxman have some sort of adult trapped in the shitty corporate world element to their character writing. In a nutshell, Boxman struggles with the existential threat of losing who he is to one specific job he performs; Venomous finds villainy gratifying as more of a hobby or extracurricular activity vs a full-time job. He's successful at it but the version he's successful at is more of a distraction or a means to fill in a missing part of himself than true interest in his corporate role. Boxman's approach to villainy is considered juvenile and worthless. Venomous still loves villainy but he wants the freedom to have fun and go all-out without worrying about reputation or meeting the specific standards that comes with his current position.

In 2024, after the various rise of corporate buzzwords trying to guilt employees back to pre-pandemic work standards and inflation vs stagnant wages, there's new weight to the Boxman and Venomous character allegories respectively. These two are that success story of Boxman giving the middle finger to a crappy boss and Venomous making that leap of faith from an empty, soul-sucking job to the more wild, out of pocket thing. Venomous' ill-obtained funds becomes that treasured pile of "fuck you" money that so many people dream about having and using to take a risk on something personally, meaningfully valuable to them. Or just having a window of opportunity to enjoy life the way they want to without having to worry about bills and necessities.

More importantly though, while they describe themselves as business partners, it's two single, lonely men building a life and trying to healthfully blend their families together. Part of this life is making space for someone new that makes the other man want to work on becoming a better, more thoughtful person. Regardless of where a person sits in their job hunt or even at the height of personal achievement, the most important part is the support network they come home to or regularly interact with.

Thematically, Boxman and Venomous are the opposite side of the coin to the more straightforward found family K.O. builds and maintains. It's a reminder that no one has to be lonely. They can and will find someone that brings meaningful, valuable things to their life; someone that makes them want to change and grow. While this is about an explicitly romantic pair, the message applies whether that hypothetical person and relationship is romantic, platonic, or a new addition to a found family.

[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.

[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.

[watermelonsloth]

Why the Hell Do I Ship Royai???

(TW: brief mention of suicide and allusions to unhealthy relationships)

I know nobody asked but I find the fact that I ship Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye so interesting because, on paper, I shouldn’t ship them.

First of all, I don’t like straight ships with dynamics like the right hand man or ships that have the male character as the woman’s superior. It’s not the dynamic itself that bothers me, it’s the predictability of it. When it’s hetero, I immediately think “of course those two are gonna get together.” It feels like low hanging shipping fruit.

I also don’t like stoic badass x absolute clown (competent or otherwise) ships. I almost always end up wondering why either side likes/puts up with each other. Especially since the badass tends to be an asshole and/or emotionally unavailable while the clown (forcibly) takes on their baggage.

Lastly, I don’t like relationships where one or both sides are codependent on the other. “I’ll die without you”, “You can’t leave me”, “I refuse to go on without you”, “You’re mine/I’m yours”, “You’re my other half (seriously)”, etc. ships have never been appealing to me. I understand why people like them, but I just can’t get over how gross it makes me feel. Like, I promise the planet will continue spinning after they’re gone, get some self confidence, I’m begging you. Maybe it’s because I’m not a romantic, maybe I’m overthinking it, maybe I’ve heard too many stories of codependent relationships going south, who knows?

By all means, I should look at Royai and think that it’s an incredibly unbalanced and unlikeable relationship (at least in a romantic sense). But I don’t. And I think I know why: Royai took what should’ve been an incredibly one-sided/unbalanced relationship and balanced it.

First, it avoids coming across as predictable (because it technically isn’t canon) because the series goes out of its way to expand upon their relationship's. It doesn’t absolve the predictability, but it counters it. It avoids being forced by being taken seriously and being given serious time to develop.

Secondly, both characters are developed in ways that avoid their relationship coming across as overly cliche. Namely, they’re given reason to like each other and both are charismatic/likeable enough that they aren’t annoying (I know this isn’t much, but the bar is in hell for shounen romance. Especially background character romance). Hawkeye has her lighter and nicer moments and Mustang knows when to be serious. The problem of the stoic character having exponentially more baggage or the clown forcing that baggage onto themselves is also avoided by both of them having a lot of baggage and (something FMA nailed as a series) boundaries.

My last problem is avoided by both of them staying their own characters. They can both function without the other, the other doesn’t fill their every waking thought, they’re capable of and willing to call the other out on their screwups, and whatever pedestal they put the other on doesn’t impede their judgement (for the most part) or make them ignore others to a concerning/upsetting extent. Even after Hawkeye says she’ll take her own life if Mustang dies, it somehow avoids being ship-ruining/frustrating/ disturbing. It’s tragic, but it doesn’t make me want them to not get together (it makes me want them to work through that shit and then get together). I’m gonna add that this is probably helped by the fact that Mustang never takes advantage of her vulnerability and he doesn’t come across as the type who ever would. It would’ve been so easy to make Mustang the stoic badass in charge with enough baggage to fill an airport with Hawkeye as his softer/more lighthearted right hand woman with a concerning level of dependency on him, but the author didn’t go that route and I will be forever grateful.

[the-music-maniac]

I'm relatively new to ORV, I got into it a while back and then ran out of time to continue (the novel is long AF lol) but as I'm getting back into it, I've realized that ORV is one of the most main character centric fandoms I have ever encountered before.

And tbh I think that's why I've been having so many issues getting invested in ORV fanworks. Specifically shipping ones. It's super rare for me because usually I love reading fanfics.

Before I start talking about my thoughts I just wanna make a disclaimer that I'm not trying to attack anyone. You should interact with media and create stuff however you wish to! Lord knows that I'm not exactly unbiased about my blorbos (I would die for them and you can tell from my posts) but I just kinda wanna talk about this because it's such a unique experience. Never before have I encountered a fandom that is so centered on one character.

Like I hope y'all know what I'm talking about and that I'm not just talking out of my ass. Everything in the ORV fandom is super Kim Dokja centric. On one hand, I really do get it, he's a great character. He's not my favourite character but he's a lil rat bastard and I think he's so fucking neat. And how centred the storyline and moreover the people in the story are on Kim Dokja is to a certain extent, canon. He's their leader and also the person keeping them safe. He's the one who reached out in their darkest moments and pulled them to the light. And he's a traumatized little bitch. Oof. A certain amount of hero worship and protectiveness is valid.

What I can't really wrap my head around though, is the lack of development between other members of the group in a lot of fanworks. This is specifically fandom interpretations of the characters btw, I haven't finished the story fully, so I can't speak on how they are canonically but I have seen people's stories and thoughts. And this isn't always the case of course, I have read fics before where our protagonists all appear to have relations with each other outside of their care for Dokja but it... wasn't as much as I was expecting. Which is weird to me because ORV is super good at writing like. Well written and thought out characters that would be super fun to play with in writing. In developing connections and care for each other - creating a found family. At the beginning they're all tied in by the need for survival and circumstance, they don't even necessarily like each other, and so of course they all gravitate to Dokja, that's to be expected, that's who they're familiar with. But eventually I expect they would learn to care about each other too, y'know? It's difficult to not get to know each other when you're living together daily, fighting alongside each other to survive. I don't believe that they wouldn't develop care for the other members of the group, and people who care about each other don't tend to genuinely threaten each other anytime Dokja gets hurt, especially when it's not anyone's fault - like usually it's in response to one of them "not doing enough to protect him" which makes no sense to me. You don't guilt trip people you care about for things outside their control. Moreover, Dokja is his own person - he will do what he will do and you can try and prevent it because you care about him, sure, but it's also unreasonable for others to expect anyone to be his keeper enough that they get angry when Dokja gets hurt due to his own actions or to situations outside of their control. People in general also don't have their entire character and world centered on loving one person. There are fics I've read where all the characters don't even seem to have any hobbies outside of spending time with Dokja, and I say this because they all literally fight, tooth and nail, over Dokja's time. It feels out of character to me. And yet this characterization is also so common???

I don't usually mind fics that so clearly have a bias towards one character because it's valid to write what you wanna see, but I think it's how saturated the fandom is with those types of works that makes me feel weird. It makes me stop seeing all the characters as individuals in their own right. Having no wants or needs or hobbies outside of Dokja makes it seem like they're just accessories to the story of Dokja's life. The story itself becomes less compelling to me, because it becomes less of a narrative of how Dokja has helped these people and their responses, and more of a world that bends over backwards to worship this one character, using all the other characters as tools to do so. Because if this is meant to convey gratitude and love, its illogical to how it usually works. Specifically in that, you don't lose your own identity or your connections to other people because of it. And I find it hard to interact with this level of saturation of those tropes because at a certain point, I start losing sight of the canonical writing of these individual characters as their own people. I start losing the idea I have in my mind of their canonical personalities. And I don't like that feeling. And because Dokja also isn't my favourite character in this story - I still like him, don't get me wrong - I start feeling indignant on the behalf of all the other characters that are not getting development BC of the concentration on Dokja.

I also don't like it when the banter goes away. Like you can care about people and still enjoy messing with them, I'm not sure why caring about dokja translates to hero worship??? I annoy my friends all the time, and they do it back. It's fun. Like that thing the group does where they can't see Dokja's face and just unanimously decide to tell him he looks bad when he asks about it? That's peak friendship. Peak messing with your sibling energy. As far as I've seen Dokja isn't self conscious about that either (then again I haven't read the entire story yet), so like. What gives? It's canonical that they mess with Dokja - but a lot of fics just get rid of that element.

I also find it especially hard when it comes to shipping, specifically Joonghyuk and Dokja. The reason why I love Joonghyuk and Dokja's dynamic so much in the first place is because they view each other as equals. It would be very easy to place either Joonghyuk or Dokja onto a pedestal - but they don't do that to each other. They know each other pretty damn well and they care about each other even though they're so in denial about it. And you know that thing they do where they act like the other is the worst person in existence and then negates it all by repeatedly devoting themselves to saving them? That's my shit. That whole "you're so fucking annoying but if you died I would kill everything in this room and then myself." The whole "what was that?" "Affection." "Disgusting. Do it again." THAT SHIT. I love that about them. And like the platonic relationships, a lot of shipping works get rid of that type of banter when they shift to a romantic relationship. Like yeah, sweet talk and honesty is important. You should let your partner know you love them. But that's not gonna be all there is. I don't see a need to get rid of the banter because as the story goes on, it's clear that even in canon, eventually the harsh words they say to each other stop being genuine because their actions negate the words. They don't mean them in the first place, so why would that banter change once their care shifts from a platonic to a romantic one? And I could perhaps be okay with that shift from banter to sweet talk if it was MUTUAL, but too often I see a situation where Dokja continues to insult Joonghyuk but he doesn't return it in kind. Joonghyuk is very blunt about his love for Dokja - which is good - but Dokja doesn't do the same back, and for some reason that's fine, and then Joonghyuk also no longer has those very human moments of annoyance when Dokja does some stupid shit. Like I guess I could understand the characterization of Dokja being emotionally constipated cause he's kind of a traumatized control freak and I can see how getting him to talk about his feelings is like trying to get a cat into a bathtub, but it's not like Joonghyuk isn't also like that? It's not really as much of a compelling relationship if one person is telling the other everything, giving care in words of affection and the other person isn't returning it. And you could depict that returned care in other ways, absolutely, but again I don't see it in other ways either, because those stories are still so Dokja centric.

Another factor is that I find that I can't really like a ship in a work where one of the characters is elevated to a point where they can't do anything wrong. Where their own needs are always at the forefront and their partner is always catering to it. Like a relationship is a give and take. We focus a lot on Dokja's trauma - which I love, that man needs sO MUCH THERAPY and it's an interesting topic to explore - but we don't focus on the amount of shit Joonghyuk has had to go through. I very rarely see a shipping fic where Dokja tries to address Joonghyuk's trauma or his hurt. Physical hurt sure, maybe, but that other shit that Joonghyuk bottles up?? Never talked about. My man has had to keep living lives over and over again. Has had to see people he love die, make hard choices. There is no way he's not traumatized to shit, and I'd like that to be a focus some of the time, y'know? Moreover, of all people, Dokja would be the one to understand him the most? One, he's the only one who really knows the whole truth about Joonghyuk, or as much of it as you can, and two, they both have taken on very burdensome leadership roles in a situation where few would be able to understand their position - it makes sense for them to lean on each other mutually, and so far there's a very prominent skew, only an exploration on one side.

And I pretty much haven't seen a shipping fic with Dokja and Joonghyuk where Joonghyuk has recieved any form of platonic comfort from the other characters. I've seen plenty for Dokja. Where he gets comforted/helped by both Joonghyuk and all the other characters. But not for Joonghyuk. If y'all have any recs where Joonghyuk has that, PLEASE recommend it because I need. And sure, it can be argued that Joonghyuk is a hard man to know considering his prickliness but regardless, he DOES have canonical platonic relationships. People who care for him. Who would be protective over him if he were to get hurt. That is not something only Dokja has, and yet it's something I only ever see written for Dokja. Y'all need to remember that technically Dokja doesn't act like any less of an asshole sometimes than Joonghyuk. He's more outwardly approachable sure, but he's not necessarily sweet 100% of the time - he has grit and he's a rat bastard and that's my FAVOURITE FUCKING PART ABOUT HIM. The fact that he's a rat bastard and the fact that not everyone likes him. His interactions in a world where he does have to make hard choices or say things that put people at odds, or hurts others when he didn't mean to. I love that about Joonghyuk too. They suck and they both have so much capacity to be kind despite all the shit they've gone through, but they're not able to see that in themselves and they do bad things because they have to, and I think they're so fascinating.

Y'know out of all of this, I think what cracks me up is, knowing Dokja's character, he would be absolutely appalled at how centred all of it is on him only. Like. Like that's literally the opposite of what he wants 🤣🤣. Like I get that makes people want to do it more because he deserves it and whatnot which is valid but like. He would be quite disgruntled 🤣🤣🤣

[pedanticat]

Reblogs are appreciated!!!

[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

[my-little-wraithlings]

Headcanon Requests

Hello my little wraithlings.

I really want to start giving you content again but this semester is a nightmare already. So, we're gonna play an ask game. I will list several things with an emoji attached to each one. You send in the emoji and I'll write up 3 headcanons for the attached topic when I scramble up the time.

____

Character Analysis/Headcanons:

Ash Williams - 🎯

Herbert West - 🧪

Dan Cain - 🥼

____

Ship (sfw headcanons):

Ashbert - 🩸

Danbert- 🩺

Danashbert (dan/ash/herbert) - 🧫

Jason Voorhees/Harry Warden - 💌

Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers - 🪦

Dave/Mike/Debbie (Killer Klowns) - 🤡

Evil Ash/Ash Williams - ⛓️

Ash Williams/Linda - 💝

Ash Willams/Amanda Fisher - ❤️‍🩹

Ash Williams/Chet Kaminski - 🍻

____

Ships (nsfw headcanons):

Ashbert - 🌌

Danbert- 🏩

Danashbert (dan/ash/herbert) - 🔥

Jason Voorhees/Harry Warden - ❣️

Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers - 🎃

Dave/Mike/Debbie (Killer Klowns) - 🎪

Evil Ash/Ash Williams - 🪞

Ash Williams/Linda - 🥰

Ash Willams/Amanda Fisher - 💘

Ash Williams/Chet Kaminski - 💗

[descendant-of-truth]

Shipping is fun and all but I swear every single time someone makes a comment, whether as a joke or in a legitimate analysis, about there being "no other explanation" for a pair's interactions, I lose just a bit more of my sanity

Like, no, you guys don't get it. Romance is not about the Amount of devotion, it's about the COLOR. the FLAVOR of it all. a character can be just as devoted to their platonic friend as they are to their romantic partner, and they don't love either of them more, just differently.

But because the majority of people still have it stuck in their minds that romance exists on the highest tier of love, I'm stuck seeing endless takes that boil down to "these two care about each other too much for it to NOT be romantic" as if that's the core determining factor to how literally any of this works

In conclusion: stop telling me that I don't understand the story if I don't interpret the leads as romantic, I am TIRED

[neo--queen--serenity]

Marcille is actually one of the biggest reasons it took so long to pinpoint which Chilchuck was the imposter in today’s episode.

The Senshi and Marcille imposters had their own reasons for being hard to decipher, but that was a joint effort on the party’s part. Chilchuck was the only example where a single member’s bias actually swayed the others so strongly that it made them all doubt themselves.

Ryouko Kui did an excellent job of giving us a rich background on how different races interact, and how they may descriminate against each other. Each of the races in this series struggles with these prejudices. Our main characters are not exempt from this, and we see it clearly in the way the shapeshifter manifested as each party member, showing us how the others percieve them.

Marcille knows Chilchuck well, and cares deeply for him as a friend. But she’s not immune to assumptions and biases that come from her elven background. The Chilchuck imposter we are faced with, when it’s down to two of them left, is Marcille’s memory of Chilchuck, Marcille’s perception of how he behaves.

One of the first manifestations of this bias occurs when shapeshifter Chilchuck can’t get a jar open.

The real Chilchuck knows that this would never happen—at least not in this way. Chilchuck is proud, yes, but he asks for Laios’ help all the time. Laios is actually one of the party members he is the most likely to ask help from, given how long they’ve known each other, and how much mutual trust exists between them.

However, the whole scenario isn’t right. Chilchuck wouldn’t give up so easily on opening something; his whole job is opening and unlocking things. He would never quit an attempt like this within 5 seconds, then run to Laios so that “big strong adult tall-man” can open it for him.

Marcille is the one who asks, “Huh? Why do you say that?” because Marcille is partially right. Chilchuck does rely on Laios, and Marcille knows this to be true. But she fails to realize how he relies on Laios.

Chilchuck respects many of Laios’ talents, but the most important ones are his combat skills, his emotional fortitude, and his quick thinking when delegating tasks. He trusts Laios as someone he is comfortable following (he literally said to him and Shuro in the last episode: “Laios!! Tell us what do!! Give us orders!!” when chimera Falin was quickly overpowering them).

So while Marcille almost understands Chilchuck’s confidence in Laios, she tends to accidentally infantilize him in the process.

She immediately believes that Chilchuck B (the imposter, who is specifically using her own memory as its base for Chilchuck’s personality) is the real one, and says so, because she’s blinded by her perception of him as being childlike and adorable because of the very common racial prejudices that half-foots deal with all the time.

She dotes on the imposter, and is open with her affections, as usual (again, her care for him is clear), but doubles down on that bias, on her own assumptions of Chilchuck’s behavior shown through her own lens.

And ultimately, Laios was able to tell the difference, but only because he watched how the Chilchucks handled other minute tasks. Marcille’s stance on which Chilchuck was real truly did throw the others for a loop, at least until the threat passed. And honestly, that’s part of what makes the shapeshifter so terrifying. Its strategy almost worked.

[4aceclover]

This is so cute… also it explains Rantaro's love hotel scene a bit more (in how and why he lets Shuichi call him big brother and is Never uncomfortable about it) but I think he and Kokichi just stay as playful Brothers

Maybe that's just my bias talking

Off topic but do you ship kokichi with anyone other than shuichi (and maybe chihiro) and what do you think of kokichi x rantaro?

i do like him with chihiro, and also a lot with ryoma (kokichi is my partner's blorbo so i must mash him with my blorbos. it's a bonus they're actually adorable pairings ssldnf). i like him with kiyo under verrry specific circumstances. rantaro babies him which i think is endearing,

and there's THIS official art so i did end up kinda shipping that too gnsdlk rantaro totally lets this dummy flop all over him and will never bat an eye

[kandelia-mangrove]

Can we talk about how in the show Lestat and Armand are framed as narrative foils. Armand and Lestat who are both so aggressively theater kids, but Lestat who acts, who draws in the attention and holds it, and Armand who directs, who shapes and manipulates the narrative. Armand and Lestat's obsession with Louis and his love and frustration with his melancholy over Lestat and Claudia respectively. Who both felt second in his heart. Who fear loneliness above all else. Lestat taking what he wants to excess - no impulse control, and Armand letting things happen to him and trying to manipulate situations to get what he wants but never taking it. Armand, who even in the end, so much more powerful, never physically imposes himself on Louis. Armand who seeks complete control in subtle insidious ways. Lestat who seeks control in the physical. Armand and Lestat brought into vampire life in horrifying ways tangled up with SA. Armand who still talks about his maker with reverence, Lestat who hates his maker. Armand who pours all of himself into his partner, willing to shape himself into what they desire but ultimately needing control to feel safe. Lestat who pours all of his love into his partner but unwilling to change himself and ultimately cedes control in moments to maintain the relationship. Armand who clings to his breaking apart relationship for 77 YEARs, Lestat who let Louis go. Lestat and Armand who watch Claudia die, but one as a father and one as a murderer. Lestat and Armand so intense in their love but Lestat so painfully external and Armand so painfully internal as characters. Both constantly acting and putting on a face. Lestat as Mozart and Armand as Salieri (in the flashback scene!). Armand who loves routine and structure and repetion, Lestat who craves change and excitement. The calling cards are echos, who learned from who. Armand teaching Lestat the vampire gifts, Lestat teaching Armand a new way to live. on and on....

[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.

Jyou and Koushirou, mostly thanks to their connection to Iori, often get paired together as "left-overs" in official art portrayals; this also happens when "the main fighters" (Taichi & Yamato), "the girls" (Sora & Mimi) and "the angel siblings" (Takeru & Hikari) get paired off as well. At first glance, there isn't much more to it than that (especially because there are also variations of them being paired off with Sora and Mimi respectively too), especially because their roles in the series actually aren't as "tropey" as they appear to be at first glance. But their relationship is still interesting to look at regardless:

The creators of Digimon intended to "throw you off the usual, conventional track" by the way they depict their main characters. Kakudou himself refers back to Jyou and Koushirou to make this clear: "The oldest one would be the most unreliable, and the smartest one would be one of the third youngest." Reading that, you would assume that our studious Jyou, being as keen to become a doctor as he is while dealing with occasional self-esteem issues, would feel rather intimidated by Koushirou. Koushirou, who is depicted as naturally smart and, during one of their first interactions in the Digital World, easily solves a math problem that Jyou struggles with.

However - this is literally NEVER an issue between them. There are exactly two occasions where it's played for laughs: First, in the stageplay, as Koushirou is overall blissfully unaware of Jyou's despair over his grades. Second, in the reboot, but even there, it only happens during their introduction and is never brought up again.

Overall, the series is mostly subtle about their stance towards each other. But Adventure and 02 also make sure that, when they do interact with each other - as rarely as it happens -, you KNOW they are on good terms with each other. It's when Jyou trustfully follows Koushirou through the crowd of Tokyo while they wonder where the others have vanished to; it's when Koushirou tries to protect Jyou from being assaulted by a literal adult and ends up getting thrown down a bridge because of it; it's when Koushirou cries because Jyou willingly sacrifices himself to get him to safety, even if it happens in vain; it's when they call each other for arrangements through the course of 02 because they know they can rely on each other; heck, it's when the English dub makes Jyou shout out things like "DON'T START WITHOUT ME, I WANNA HEAR IZZY'S THEORIES, I LOVE IZZY'S THEORIES."

So you can tell, they are generally valuing and supportive of each other. Tri is, unfortunately, a little bit more divisive in this regard; as mentioned here, the topic of romance is a touchy one for our resident "nerds". Which is, unfortunately, a trope they both have to deal with, as Jyou is involved with a girlfriend we never see and know if she's real - but he still gets kinda boastful about it, so his "advice" towards Koushirou ("At least take a shower or the ladies will hate you") is... Not exactly taken well by him, quite the contrary. Koushirou is stuck trying to save the world while fighting with the girl he has complicated feelings for - thus he seems to be feeling belittled by Jyou and shuts down.

But fear not, the stageplay and Kizuna are here to save the day! The former in particular is excellent at showing us the extent of how much they simply value and adore each other: All comic relief aside, Koushirou straight up voices his delight over Jyou being with them on their camping trip and while he tries to maintain a harsh demeanour towards Jyou being potentially "fake", you can tell that the possibility gets to him. Jyou on the other hand kinda seems to enjoy the little bickering between them to an extent, it's all pretty lighthearted after all - and, most importantly, he is the one who manages to reassure Koushirou during his lowest moment. Telling him that, even if he doesn't believe in himself, Jyou DOES believe in him - and judging by the screenshot above, you can tell that this does something to Koushirou. Overall, it may not be the MOST VISIBLE friendship in the series, but their bond is definitely there - and persists, as Koushirou still seems to manage to stay in touch with Jyou during Kizuna.

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

I'll be real, I am incredibly torn when it comes to the romantic potential between these two. It is fascinating to see them bounce off of each other the way they do - especially if you consider their age difference and that even the little instances of bickering between them still don't feel like either of them feels really inferior or superior to the other in the long run. The potential to have them fight over "intelligence" and "girls" in a typical "nerd fashion" had been there - and I'll give kudos to the writers for not succumbing to that, but instead making their bond incredibly valuing and supportive.

And I'll be real again... The fact that Koushirou's bitter reaction to Jyou telling him to "shower or the ladies will hate you" does have the potential for subtext... Because personally, I still believe Tri in itself is a metaphor for Koushirou trying to figure out his preferences in more than one sense. So despite everything, what if it weren't the "ladies" he wanted to impress - and the reason why he got mad at that statement wasn't so much that Jyou was right, but that he didn't even think about that...

Thinking of Jyou and Koushirou through a romantic lense is both difficult and interesting, because on one hand, their Tri portrayals give off very blatant "bickering bro vibes" while simultaneously trying very hard to push them both in a "strictly straight" direction. And yet - the gentle, fond subtext that Adventure, 02 and the stageplay offered at least gives room for an entirely different set of feelings towards each other. It could be a story of them masking their preferences, being heavily in denial and learning how to overcome their comp-het phases - together!

I have no doubt that they will stay in touch way into adulthood, since both their careers are intertwined with the Digital World and they may ask each other for information and advice a lot. So the opportunity to bond and get closer through that is definitely there. One might argue that they both need more contrasting forces in their lives to pull them out of their comfort zones (such as Mimi, Yamato or Taichi), since we saw Jyou wasn't exactly capable of doing that for Koushirou (yet)... But if they manage to actually listen to each other and get over themselves, they may be able to make it work. Slowly but steadily.

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

Not gonna lie, I love to imagine these two as adults going on Digital World strolls with Taichi, moping over adulting and their respective jobs giving them headaches - even though they all love what they're doing and are probably closer than ever. I usually do think of them as complementing friends who trust each other without a shred of a doubt and call each other when something urgent is up - including the moping. While I do believe that Taichi would be Koushirou's and Yamato Jyou's gay awakening respectively, I feel like they could be a solid fit for each other - but like with many other ships, they're more likely to find each other when a lot of other people are "out of the picture". So I mostly prefer them to be platonic, absolutely do not deny the subtle romantic potential though!

[watermelonsloth]

It’s Your Turn SNS

It’s been a while since I first talked about making this post and if I’m being honest, it’s because I couldn’t think of what I could say. For a while, I thought I was gonna have to throw in the towel and say I only don’t ship SNS because I choose not to ship it. But I also know that I don’t tend to simply “choose” not to ship something, at least not without reason. Especially since I shipped it in the past and had no reason to suddenly stop (it’s not like I stepped away from the series). So, I kept thinking about it until I’ve come to a conclusion:

SNS may not have anything I consider major issues, but it does have a lot of small problems that add up quickly.

Bring in the bullet list.

It’s very clear that they're meant to have a brotherly bond. I know this is beating a dead horse so I’ll keep this quick. They argue and compete like siblings, Naruto refers to Sasuke as his brother like he refers to Iruka like a father, they are reincarnations of brothers, and they are literally based on siblings. Reader interpretation is more important than authorial intent, but this is rather big elephant in the room for me. Especially since it’s easy to see their relationship as purely familial (easier than seeing it as romantic in many cases).

They have vastly different perspectives. Yes, the story is about them finding understanding, but that also means that most of their interactions show off all the ways they don’t understand each other. They may have both been lonely growing up, but they were lonely in very different ways. Naruto never had a family and was ostracized for no reason, Sasuke watched everything get taken away from him and self isolated. Sasuke had a point during VotE1 and the Pain arc doesn’t nullify their differences. Of course you can get with someone without having identical childhoods, I’m just bringing this up because it’s relevant to them having clashing views of the world. They both want to do good, but they believe in different ways of going about it. It’s not just that they look at the world differently, it’s that they’ve come to different conclusions about how the world works. While this can be a positive, it more often than not causes fights between them in canon and I don’t have enough evidence to believe it wouldn’t cause just as many fights in fanon.

Their fandom can be so annoying. This isn’t actually a point against the ship itself and it’s not fair to hold the fandom against it. But I'm only human and this happens to play a role. I’ve already talked a little about why I don’t like this particular branch of the fandom and I have too many more reasons to reasonably add here, so I’m gonna end this here.

It perpetuates the idea that male relationships can’t be affectionate. Again, this isn’t the ships fault but it plays a role in my opinion so I’m mentioning it. I promise to keep it brief. There’s this idea, at least in the west, that only relationships between two girls can simultaneously be affectionate and platonic. Any relationship that has a boy involved (boy-girl, boy-boy) can’t be because people insist that there has to be some romantic/sexual edge. Insisting that Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship has to be romantic/sexual just adds to this.

They share almost no meaningful conversation. I am a crackshipper so canon isn’t everything to me, but it’s not like I’m burning canon either. I still use it as a reference for characterization and dynamics between characters. Canon makes me question how good of friends these two are and tells me that they can’t work through conflict without throwing hands. They have two canonical, meaningful conversations and they only had one of them because they were too tired to start fighting again. This also isn’t because they as characters struggle to be civil. Naruto and Sasuke have plenty of nonviolent interactions with members of Konoha (+sand siblings) and team Taka respectively. Their relationship is more based on actions than words (which is fine), but can’t they at least share some more words? At times it gives off the impression that they don’t like talking to each other. This is in part due to the genre and Kishimoto skipping over team 7 bonding so I can let this slide, but I’m not gonna forget this.

Their dynamic is more symbolism than substance. This is an add on to my last point, but it’s different enough to separate. When you pull back and ask “what is the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke?”, there’s a slight trend in their relationship having more thematic and symbolic importance than character to character importance. Now, I’m not gonna pretend I don’t like when ships have a lot of symbolic meaning behind them, but I see that symbolism more like sprinkles. Sprinkles are nice to have on the cake and they certainly make it easier to sell the cake, but they aren’t a replacement for the cake. Sometimes when I’ve had a bad day I’ll take a handful of sprinkles, but I prefer a more cake to sprinkle ratio any other time. Granted, this might be due to me not having watched/read Naruto in a while, so maybe I’m forgetting some interactions or some details from certain interactions.

Naruto didn’t actually “save” Sasuke. I’m gonna say something controversial: Naruto and Sakura didn’t save Sasuke, he saved himself. Naruto and Sakura first set off to save Sasuke from Orochimaru, but he left Orochimaru himself. Then they wanted to help him against Itachi (their intentions were actually a little unclear), but Sasuke took out Itachi alone (with a little help from team hebi). Then Sakura went off to kill Sasuke to help Naruto and Naruto wanted to keep the Raikage from having Sasuke killed (though he was more interested in understanding Sasuke at this time), and both failed. Sasuke pulled himself out of his mental crisis and left Obito/Zetsu’s influence, Sasuke took steps to understand his brother, Sasuke asked the Hokage about the village (with the help of taka), Sasuke chose to help the Allies Shinobi Force against Madara/Obito/Kaguya, and Sasuke went on a redemption quest to better understand himself and the world. Naruto wasn’t irrelevant to Sasuke’s journey, but how much did he really help Sasuke? Naruto and Sasuke do influence each other, but it’s almost always passive rather than an active effort to help the other (at least in regards to the times they do have a positive influence on the other).

I’m not certain they could help each other with their problems. Moving outside of canon and into fanon, the question becomes “how could Naruto and Sasuke help each other grow?” The answer is: I’m not sure, actually. According to my interpretations of the characters, these are their greatest remaining flaws as of the end of the narrative: Naruto struggles with prioritizing (this includes prioritizing his perspective over others, the few over the many, and others over himself to the point of detriment) and Sasuke still needs to find a sense of peace. While it’s not impossible that they could help each other, I’m gonna press x to doubt. Sasuke isn’t the best at prioritizing either, but, more importantly, because of his different perspective, his solution would probably involve Naruto changing his values. Naruto doesn’t need his values to change, he needs to figure out what he wants and what’s most important to him. Also, Naruto is a good person to go to to make you question your life, but I don’t think he’d be the best at helping anyone find peace, especially someone as different as Sasuke. Yes, Naruto and Sasuke are capable of improving on their own (if they’re given a push in the right direction because neither are all that introspective), but is it so bad that I’d prefer them being in a relationship that helps them improve if they’re in a relationship at all?

So, yeah.

I’m sure I could come up with an additional point here or there, but those would probably edge even further into personal taste (I say as if this isn’t all according to my interpretation and opinion). In conclusion, the ship is fine, I guess, but it isn’t my cup of tea. It just has too many points going against it for me.

[mashounen1945]

Preserving tags:

#I chose 'mashing action figures together'

#but I admit to being somewhat picky about which action figures I choose to mash together

#good narrative and not being super-unhealthy are major details

I've noticed a bit of a language-barrier and am very curious, so-