#so basically i think the ship that appeal the most to me is when they have tragedy going on

[arcane-ish]

Nobody is forced to ship it but imo the biggest "pointers" are:

Some people see their jackets hanging together as a Brokeback Mountain reference (= a famous movie about a gay love story).

When Viktor looks into Vander's mind the first thing that pops up in Vander's mind is him and Silco as miners followed by an incredibly sappy "rose colored glasses" picture of young Silco looking cute with a little smile on his lips. It feels like a shorthand from the writers "this is the person Vander loved the most". It makes sense for the character of Vander to be haunted by how he attacked Silco so things like the nightmare picture of the disfigured Silco. But this memory of Silco just seems very cheesy and not very "back in the gold old times when my bro didn't hate me".

The line in the AU where Vander says Ekko should run this place which leads to Silco to pop up and say "So there's a chance for us yet" (imo refering to him and Vander based on body language) To me that just reads like a couple making plans.

Back in season 1 one if the animators went to Twitter and said that they were given a neutral script but chose to interpret them as bitter exes.

We know from season 1 that apparently Silco talked *excessively* about Vander even though Vander has been dead for years. So much that Jinx gets annoyed by how often he does it. "You told me a million times. [...] he was like a brother to you, and he turned his back and blah, blah, blah. Did I miss anything?"(and we know that whatever he told her about Vander made her think that it would have made a huge difference if Silco had found the letter.

Again you are not forced to interpret it like that, but imo that's why I think there's a good chance it is meant that way rather than just "I like it that way".

The reason why I like it that way was in season 1 that you had these two sisters who desperately wanted to make up but were at odds and Silco was sort of a symoblic of Jinx and Vander as a symbolic of Vi in what drives them apart. So those two opposing forces making up and creating a family again and healing the thing that imo clearly haunted both of them was just appealing to me. And Season 2 just takes it further into "Jinx has two dads" territory where Silco of course meant a lot to her, but apparently so does Vander so it's just cute that the happy AU is where Powder has two dads. I just think they would be two fun dads together who tease each other (Bozo no 1 and Bozo no 2).

So that's why I like it, but jackets, watercolor Silco and just the way Silco and Vander act with each other in that scene in the AU verse makes me think it might actually have been meant that way or at least be highly open and suggestive of that interpretation.

And in the end, people who like characters are just prone to shipping what they think makes the character happy and that AU shows them at their happiest and it with them together (rather than "AU where Vander or Silco married Felicia")

Basically, feel free to not ship it, but don't try to police people who do. For example, I also ship Ekko/Jinx and I also thought there were signs in season 1 of there being more to the story. Season 2 of course made it sort of canon. But even now there are people who don't like them even though we KNOW that Ekko is romantically interested in her and she likes him back in at least one universe. But people are still allowed to not like it or prefer another ship. They then go that it's just a phase or that Ekko doesn't really love Jinx. And people have a right to their other preferences. Just don't be an asshole to people just because they chose to see Ekko and Jinx as this tragical potential love or as just a dumb detour.

People are allowed to see different things as cute.

It seems everyone thinks Vander and Silco were in a relationship at some point. And they believe the alternate universe proves that.

I don’t see it though. I’ve always read them as best friends who were practically brothers. Is there somthing I’m not seeing? Did the creators confirm it and that’s why everyone is shipping them? I’m so confused. Even my sibling is saying they thought the were just brothers so it’s not just me.

I mean no disrespect but if someone could help me see what everyone else is seeing, I wouldn’t mind a conversation. I just personally don’t see it at all. I just see two brothers who had a terrible falling out and only in another universe did they manage to reconcile.

I really hope I don’t get shit on for this 😭

[maburito]

The fact that for years no ship ever had the same intense grip on me that Monochrome/Checkmate from RWBY had

And the first time I actually start feeling the same type of brainworms, it's for a ship where one of them is already dead zoxnzoxksos

[cyranonic]

I feel like one of the exchanges in S2 that fucks me up the most is this one between Louis and Madeleine that is so pivotal and yet happens basically in the background. It just says so much about who Louis is at this point in his life and why his relationship with Armand is so essentially tragic for them both.

For Armand, the ship has already sailed on betraying Louis and Claudia. He is seconds away from letting the coven ritually murder them and so NATURALLY that is the moment when Madeleine finally confirms the thing that he could never be certain of, the love that he wanted and yet could not quite trust was real. We see that in his face; the misery of that realization.

For Louis, it just devastates me to think about how much of his life has been about hiding his true self, afraid to reveal his softer feelings. In the first episode of the show, he tells Daniel that before Lestat he had never allowed himself to emotionally connect to another man. A big part of this is probably the homophobia of the time period when he was raised. Lestat seems to recognize this when he turns Louis, offering him the chance to be true to himself.

But even after Lestat, we see that Louis still struggles with this. He can allow himself to feel connected to Claudia because she is his child and then his sister. In his mortal life, Louis took on the role of provider for his family, allowing himself to show affection to his mother and sister through his role as a caretaker. Even with Paul, he is both brother and father, caring for him due to his mental illness. Becoming a vampire separated him from familial love, leading him to beg Lestat to turn Claudia so that he can yet again have that love that he connects to being a caretaker.

With Armand, Louis expresses sexual interest, but never emotional closeness. Their dynamic falls into the pattern of dominant and submissive, but without the openly expressed care and security needed to make that relationship work. Just as with Lestat, Louis has a pattern of withholding affection as a form of self-protection. He doesn't want to be vulnerable. He can laugh and joke about the sexual appeal of his partner, but is immediately uncomfortable when Madeleine brings up his deeper feelings.

I think a part of this is derived not just from Louis' queerness and his response to a homophobic society, but also his blackness. In New Orleans, he is constantly emasculated and infantilized by white men. Being called "boy" or being praised for "doing a good job" is a tactic that white supremacists use to remind Louis that he is vulnerable. And after that, combined with the trauma he experienced during his relationship with Lestat, Louis is sick of being vulnerable. So even when he is falling in love, even when his partner is a POC, Louis can't share those feelings. Louis' final words, "he knows," indicate that his withholding isn't malicious or manipulative. It's a hopeful rather than true statement. Louis wants Armand to know, but he shies away from actually having the conversation.

Anyways it's such a gut-punch moment to me that foreshadows how Louis and Armand's relationship had some potential for genuine love within it, but it was also pretty doomed from the start.

[andy-wm]

AYS Behind the scenes: behind the paywall

Now that the Disney+ episodes are complete (sob), my attention is firmly fixed on my mailbox as I wait impatiently for the AYS photobook and QR code.

I was always going to buy the Jikook photobook, even though I doubt there will be much we haven't already seen in the episodes. But the inclusion of the QR code was the clincher.

I must admit, Hybe locking up the behind the scenes for AYS was not on my bingo sheet.

Making behind/additional clips available on Bangtan TV would have been more in line with their regular MO. We don't generally have to pay for what really amounts to outtakes.

Okay, yes, we have to pay for behind cuts of Run BTS, but the actual episodes are free. With everything else the behind clips are included when you buy the series (I'm thinking of BV, ITS, and concert boxed sets).

In fact I can't think of any other time a behind/ bonus clip hasn't been available to fans who pay for the main content.

Maybe it is because Hybe was only contracted to deliver 8 episodes to Disney+ and the price was fixed. Maybe they saw an easy way to make the series more profitable.

We know they will take any opportunity to lighten our wallets.

But I think there's more to it

Let's talk business:

If Hybe wanted to make money from this, having the sale point directly on Weverse would make more sense. That way anyone could buy it any time without having to buy the photobook as well. Even if they charged just a few $$ for these extra clips, the return could be substantial over time. Long tail products can be very lucrative and Hybe clearly knows this - they have heaps of old footage for sale on Weverse. Since they're hosting the content already, it makes sense to keep that 'buy now' button active and let the dollars trickle in.

So why reduce the potential pool of buyers? Why limit this to those who buy the photobook??

Well, let's consider who is going to buy the photobook?

Who is going to fork out US$28 plus postage for a keepsake of these two on their third honeymoon?

I doubt OT7 ARMYs would buy it. Even ARMYs who bias JM or JK - if they aren't part of the SGMB they probably don't want it either.

Solos sure as hell don't want it - they are probably wishing the whole thing never happened... sucks to be them haha

Who really wants to see these two living their best lives together?

We do!

And by we, I mean Jikook supporters.

People who want to see more of this:

and this

And this

We are the people who will buy this photobook (and probably never look at it more than once, let's be honest)

But let's get back to the topic at hand....

The photobook/behind combo seems like a chicken/egg situation to me.

Which came first - as a concept - the photobook or the behind clips?

Did they decide to offer a photobook, and then think of adding the extra footage to make it more appealing?

Or vice versa?

Did they decide to make the behind clips, and think of the photobook afterwards?

Hard to say, since behind clips have always been a thing and recently Hybe is putting out photobooks for everything.

But I think I have a fair idea

Consider the price point for this photobook - it's the same price as most of the others produced recently: +-US$28.

AYS photobook & behind is the same price as the Photo-Folios, Tae's Type 1 (magazine version) photobook, and the Beyond The Stage photobook

🗣 So they aren't charging any extra for the behind footage?

No, they aren't. They're basically giving it to the buyers of the photobook as a gift.

🗣 Could they be making money off it?

Yes, the could.

Long tail, remember?

Looking at the profit-making potential, it makes WAY more sense for Hybe to offer the behind footage on Weverse for a few meagre dollars and... wait for their ship to come in...

See what I did there? hahahhaha (laughing by myself)

They really aren't making any money off this!

how unlike Hybe...

So why go to the effort of setting up QR codes and putting it behind a paywall? It costs money to host content this way. They are in fact SPENDING money to bring us this footage.

Not only through the hosting costs there are also production costs to consider.

Wouldn't it make more sense to just freely share it with ARMY via Bangtan TV? Or not release it at all?

Yes, it would...

So there's only one logical answer...

Hybe has chosen to make the content available - but also make it just that little bit more difficult to access.

This whole exercise seems to be about releasing additional footage without releasing it to the general public. It's being shared specifically with those of us who support them.

Does that mean we'll see slightly more personal content?

Maybe it's a little more revealing of their undeniable bond and their hot chemistry...?

Whatever they contain, these behind clips are definitely for a limited audience - and purposefully so.

The only reason for it, that I can think of, is to safeguard Jimin and Jungkook from too much scrutiny and criticism - from within the fandom (unfortunately) and outside of it.

We will find out in a few days I guess.

In the meantime, I'm camped out by my mailbox

[hollowed-theory-hall]

hello! i was wondering whether or not you can envision someone as better suited for tom/voldemort since i remember you saying neither harry nor hermione would be a match — them being the most popular two characters shipped with tom. and on that note, what do you think about bellatrix and voldemort? pro/against?

i tend to get a bit blindsided by the sheer obsession she has for him, honestly. i mean… i feel like she would be willing to shape herself down to the last atom to what appeals to him, if he ever were to show any true interest, and that’s very… sad.

Hello 👋

Thank you for the ask and as with all ship asks, ship what you ship, these are just my subjective opinions.

Now, what I said about Tomarrymort is that I don't think they would realistically get together and have a functioning relationship, I didn't say it wasn't fun. Like, I love Tomarrymort, but only if the relationship is a messy push and pull that makes everyone (both involved and uninvolved) miserable.

Now, as for Bellamort...

Do I think they had sex at some point in canon? Maybe. Like, that's not the most absurd thing about CC for me, so I consider it plausible.

Do I think Voldemort actually likes Bella romantically? Not really.

Do I think their relationship works like an actual equal functional relationship? Not one bit.

Do I think their relationship is entertaining and interesting? I mean, clearly, many people do, but I don't like Bellamort.

Like, it really doesn't interest me. There's a reason I only like Tomarrymort when there's a push and pull and Harry and Tom are portrayed as the equals they are. Like, I don't like Tomarrymort where Harry is completely submissive to Voldemort and Bellamort for the same reason — these aren't the kind of relationships that make Tom interesting.

I like both Tom and Bellatrix a lot as individuals, but I don't think a romantic and/or sexual relationship between them pushes their characters to interesting places. They are both stagnate in this relationship and, for me personally, that just doesn't interest me.

Like, Bellatrix is completely submissive to Voldemort nodding her head excitedly and panting after him: "Yes my lord! Whatever you say, my lord!" And this is not the type of dynamic that'd push either character towards growth. They don't push each other into a character arc, which is what I usually like my ships to do.

Additionally, this dynamic basically means Voldemort always gets what he wants, and Bellatrix is happy with it, as you said, she'd shape herself for his every whim. This isn't a relationship between equals. It's a relationship where she worships him and he doesn't respect her or care about her as a person. Like, at all.

The dynamic we see from them in the books gave me the impression Voldemort cares about Bellatrix. He doesn't want her to be hurt or to die:

Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes began to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.

(DH)

But he cares about her like how you care about your favorite pet. He relished in giving her orders and having her submit completely:

“Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!” sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort’s feet as he paced slowly nearer. “Master, you should know —” “Be quiet, Bella,” said Voldemort dangerously. “I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?” “But Master — he is here — he is below —” Voldemort paid no attention.

(OotP)

He doesn't actually care about her being hurt if it's not too bad, he doesn't care about her feelings or apologies, especially not when Harry is right in front of him — his obsession, his one failure. Bellatrix takes a backseat, basically always. He doesn't care about her all that much. He cares and respects her like a loyal dog, not like a person he has a relationship with.

He also relished in humiliating and embarrassing her. He likes making fun of her in ways Bella clearly does not enjoy, which isn't something you'd do to someone you love:

“I’m talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And your, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud.” There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks, a few thumped the table with their fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant where that at Bellatrix and the Malfoys’ humiliation. Bellatrix’s face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.

(DH)

she's desperate to please him, to tell him everything she thinks he wants to hear and she happily lets him treat her like fucking dirt. I don't find a relationship like that compelling, as I said, Voldemort would never change for Bellatrix and Bellatrix honestly deserves better than this. He even lets other Death Eaters jeer and laugh at her, this is not a romantic relationship.

Like even if he had sex with her, it was purely physical as he just doesn't care about her as a person like this. As more than a faithful servant (which he enjoys making fun of, as he does so for many of them).

And he is unwilling to show her real, unintentional weakness or ask her for help:

“My Lord, let me—” “I do not require assistance,” said Voldemort coldly, and though he could not see it, Harry pictured Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand.

(DH)

He does trust her with one of his Horcrux as the cup is kept in her vault and she seems to know what it is:

“Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!” She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at the silent prisoners. “If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed,” she muttered, more to herself than to the others. “The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself. . . . But if he finds out . . . I must . . . I must know. . . .”

(DH)

He trusts her loyalty, and she is one of his preferred Death Eaters (he doesn't hate her like he does Wormtail, Tom appreciates courage and loyalty, which are both traits Bellatrix possesses) but he clearly doesn't trust her with his backstory in the first war:

“Shut your mouth!” Bellatrix shrieked. “You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood’s tongue, you dare —” “Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” said Harry recklessly. Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. “Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot he’s pureblood?” “STUPEF —” “NO!” A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange’s wand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered. [...] “He dared — he dares —” shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. “— He stands there — filthy half-blood —”

(OotP)

She doesn't really know who Voldemort is. She worships the persona of Voldemort. She loves his lies and masks. She doesn't actually know Tom Riddle. And I don't think she could accept and love the real Tom Riddle behind the title of Voldemort — the poor but brilliant nerdy half-blood who craves recognition. She would find him pathetic.

It's basically Hinny, isn't it?

She adores his persona and fame and what people think he is without actually knowing or understanding him. She changes her personality to fit what she thinks his girl needs to be because she is so focused on being with him. And He likes that she doesn't get in his way and lets him do and say whatever without crying about it but doesn't care about her or her feelings nearly as much as people think.

Bellamort is just Hinny with a different skin, and I never liked Hinny.

Like Hinny, they don't know or understand each other, and it's clear Bella and Ginny care about Voldemort and Harry more than the boys care about them. Like, yes, Harry would be devastated if Ginny died, but he'd get over it way faster than he did about Sirius. Same for Voldemort, he cares about Bella, but not as an equal he understands and cares for the feelings of. Voldemort got over Bella's death fairly quickly as well, he's way more focused on Harry.

So, with all of this, who do I think is the best pairing for Voldemort?

If we're talking about canon characters who are actually characters in the books? Then Harry is my top choice. Harry is the only one Voldemort would see as an equal and can actually push and change Voldemort as much as Voldemort changes him. There is no other character in canon, I believe, who would be able to do this to the level Harry could. Their dynamic is just so mutually obsessive and tense that a relationship like that can't not change both of them in a myriad of interesting ways.

Though, I was thinking about it, and Severus/Voldemort have potential. Voldemort clearly respects Sev and his opinions more than the average Death Eater:

Snape did not speak. “Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen.” “My Lord—”

(DH)

He cares about him and regrets having to kill him:

Harry saw Snape’s face losing the little color it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake’s fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. “I regret it,” said Voldemort coldly

(DH)

Voldy is willing to forgive Sev for things he'd kill most for. They have so much shared experience (poor, muggle childhood in incredibly abusive environments) that would allow them to understand each other. They probably both get frustrated over pureblood idiocy. Both are intelligent and share many interests, like they're both magic nerds who'd talk all night about magical theory...

So, I think, under the right circumstances, Severus is a pretty good pairing for Voldemort.

The only real downside is that depending on when they get together, they'd push each other to be more extremist and overall worse. Like, they'd push each other to have less empathy for other people if they get together, say, during the first war. Well, it might not be a downside. It really depends on how you look at it.

If they get together in the second war, it's different, and in my opinion, more compelling and interesting for both of them. Like, pairing them up after Voldemort's return and after Sev already turned traitor opens so many interesting avenues. I mean, Sev was someone Voldemort actually regretted killing, that was remorse there, wasn't it? It means Severus could push Voldemort to change in a way Bellatrix doesn't. Because Voldemort respects Snape in a way he doesn't respect Bella. I mean, think about how many times Voldemort shut Bella down when she kept insisting Snape is a traitor — it's clear he values Snape more than he values her.

If we're also looking at side characters we don't know as much about, then we have some more options.

@iamnmbr3 has convinced me that Alphard Black/Tom Riddle is an option, and I have been very compelled by it. We don't know much about Alphard, but that never really stopped me because what we do know is interesting.

We know he is Sirius' uncle. He was born after Walburga but before Cygnus, probably closer in age to Walburga. So, I headcanon he was born in 1927 and was in the same year as Tom Riddle.

We know Alphard was a Slytherin since Sirius mentions all his family was in Slytherin, which would include his uncle. And we know Alphard was burned off the family tapestry when he gave Sirius money when Sirius ran away from home.

This leaves us with a character, who's cunning, capable of listening to his older sister Walburga go off about whatever without making the fight worse but has a spine to stand up to her bullshit when it's actually important. This gives him the right characteristics to be able to wrangle a character arc out of a romance with a younger Tom Riddle (and perhaps the older one, too).

He's a pureblood who's open-minded enough to support Sirius and not hate muggleborns (probably). He likely has the subtlety necessary to fix Tom without Tom feeling like he's being fixed. Alphard, used to his very eventful family, is an expert in dealing with dramatic people (like his siblings) and how to undercut their drama instead of pushing them further into their position (which is what Harry would do, for example. Harry and Tom would keep pushing at each other while someone like Alphard would be able to just remove the heat from the argument and allow it to not get as extreme).

Again, it's not much to go on, but it has so much potential.

(Also, @iamnmbr3 has this post about how Voldemort’s violence became worse in 1979, which happens to be the same year Alphard Black died, and while I don't agree with all the points made there, I find it to be a super fun concept)

Voldemort/Lily also has potential. She's smart, stubborn, academically inclined, and has the right rough edges to have the kind of push-and-pull dynamic with Voldemort that I like with Tomarrymort. Lily is probably the kind of witch Voldemort could grow to respect as well. I don't think he would've agreed to spare her for Snape if he didn't respect both of them. JKR also said he tried to recruit James and Lily, so, he was aware that she was talented.

I think, though, Lily/Voldemort would be slightly better than Harry/Voldemort in some aspects. Lily isn't as hot-headed as Harry. Lily's anger is usually much colder, which I feel would work better with Tom just because she wouldn't push all his buttons (just most of them). She would still push him into a character arc, but it would be a gentler nudge than if Harry did it.

My only real rule when shipping Tommy Boy is that he can't be shipped with someone mediocre, he'll just steamroll over them completely, and that's not as fun, in my opinion. He needs a partner he can grow to respect and see as an equal (or close to it) and that has the spine to stand up to him, otherwise, he'd just keep getting what he wants, and I think that's the opposite of what Voldemort needs in a relationship.

[questionablemorally]

Sebagni hcs that nobody asked for but I will provide:

Sebastian probably fell first, though Agni fell harder

At first noticing his… strangely more intense feelings towards Agni, Seb tried to ignore it best he could. This could be seen as weak, something demons are NOT, clearly. Eventually, he comes to terms with it and doesn’t think of it as a weakness as much anymore (in his mind it doesn’t stop him from performing his duties, so it shouldn’t matter)

When Agni realised he’d fallen in love, he basically cried for 3 hours straight out of happiness, and immediately went to tell his prince on how best to confess

Agni is the only human that Seb decently enjoys cooking with, everyone else he’ll push out to have the space to himself (cough cough Bard)

When Agni sees Seb having a particularly rough day, he’ll give him a thoughtful gift or combine the efforts of the servants to give him a break from chores… even if just for an evening

Seb doesn’t fluster easily at all, but Agni’s sweet/soft, out of the blue comments just don’t mix with his demon brain used to hardcore flirting, so he trips over his words or has to look away… small things, but big for him (the servants, especially, have never seen him act like that)

As soon as Soma heard of Agni’s affection towards Sebastian, he was obnoxious about it. Trying to be sneaky by leaving them alone as often as possible, or talking loudly about how amazing Agni is whenever Seb is nearby, or almost confessing to Seb for Agni… needless to say, he’s over the moon about it and is very intense

On the other hand, Ciel hardly noticed until Seb almost missed an order from him while engaged in conversation with Agni, and then he loved to tease him about it. Anything used to embarrass or gain the upper hand on Seb is useful, in his mind, so he uses it to his advantage to practically blackmail the demon occasionally (not that he needs to, he just enjoys it, and Seb goes along with it to please him)

Marriage isn’t something that really appeals to Seb all that much, but Agni sometimes mentions wanting to get married in passing, and Seb would bring him the universe on a plate if he asked, so he wouldn’t mind so long as it made Agni happy… besides the ‘eternal bond’ thing sounds somewhat nice

Sebastian likes his personal space, so it’s a huge sign of trust for him to let someone into his space willingly or see him in a vulnerable way. He appreciates Agni’s respect for boundaries, and so Agni is one of the few people he actually lets be in his personal space and/or see him vulnerably

Classic Sun/Moon dynamic in my opinion

They definitely share recipes from English/Indian cuisine with each other, and Seb sometimes makes Agni some of his comfort foods as a gift

I love the idea that Seb brings little shiny things he finds to the people he loves the most, so when Agni keeps finding coins and other random trinkets in his room…

If you want more please lmk! I try to keep them within character (to a degree, obviously it’s unlikely any of these would happen) and if you have any requests for other ships for me to do, lmk too. (Also I WILL write a sebagni fic… at some point)

[multixsposts]

The Jock

Context-> Suguru Geto is y/ns sneaky link and he demands you tell no one about the relationship. Because outside of you two fucking, you mean nothing to him.

Warnings-> Geto is basically a bully to the reader, name calling will be mentioned.

a/n-> This is a college au if you aren’t fond of strong language, name calling, or sexual scenes then this is not the story for you. Thank you.

Fandom-> Jujutsu Kaisen

Ship-> Suguru Geto x Fem!Reader

This story will contain Sexual Content. Minors Please Do Not Interact.

I DID NOT RE READ THIS.

therefore if there are any typos i’m sorry !.

You were running around your dorm room making sure you got everything for you next class that starts in 20 minutes. You’ve never been late to a class. Ever. and you weren’t about to start now.

Gathering your things you rush out of your room and dash to your class. You don’t think you’ve even ran this fast before, the door to your classroom is approaching so you slowed down a bit to a jog not even bothering to check your surroundings which causes you to bump into someone.

You fall onto the floor, the papers that you had in your folder scattered out in front of you.

“watch where the fuck you’re going, freak.” you look up at the familiar voice only to make eye contact with the schools very popular jock.

Suguru Geto.

Someone you know all to well. You two have been sneaking around for a few months, after the first time you’ve hooked up you came up to him the next day at school and that was the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done.

It was humiliating

He acted like he didn’t even know you, he spat at your feet.

he called you a disgusting pig and told you to get lost.

All while his friends laughed.

everyone laughed at you.

so now..

you don’t know how to end this…thing the two of you have.

You can’t say you don’t enjoy the way he makes you feel when he fucks you.

In fact, you enjoy it so much you almost, almost forget how he treats you outside of the sex you have in the janitors closet.

“s-sorry..” you whisper out as you collect your things that covered the dirty tile.

“tch.” he scoffed as he watched you down at his feet trying to get the folder that was underneath his sneaker.

“um..” you look at him hesitantly. “sorry..but do you mind…l-lifting your foot?.” you ask and his eyebrows bunch together in an irritated expression.

“are you telling me what to do?.” he asks as he squats down to your level. His face close to yours.

A feeling you’re to familiar with yet you could never remember what his lips felt like.

Sometimes he wouldn’t even let you face him while he fucked you stupid.

Let’s just say that the back of your head was more appealing to him.

“oh- n-no it was just a question.” you whimper, as your eyes drift to his friends behind him, their smirks letting you know they’re enjoyed this.

“…whatever.” you hear him grumble out as he stands up quickly- his foot moving off of your folder and you don’t hesitate to grab it.

you stack your things together, keeping your eyes on the floor in front of you only to see a folded up piece of paper.

hm..

you grab it and look up, watching as geto and his jock friends leave you in the empty hallway.

you open the note.

‘after practice meet me underneath the bleachers.’

this was…new. He never left you a note. Usually he just drags you away when you’re alone.

and this was also a new..location. this was out in the open..anyone could see.

he’s not this stupid is he?..



You’re underneath the bleachers just like the note said.

You got here a bit earlier, your anxiety eating you away at what he could possibly want..

This is to public of a place for the two of you have sex. You wouldn’t allow it…

So as you sit, a book in hand, waiting for the football player to join you.

“what’re reading?.” a gruff voice asked to which you jump a little.

Your eyes find his and you smile a bit.

“ah..little women.” you tell him and he looks at you confused.

“you’re reading a book about little people?.. are they fairies or somethin’” he respond and you laugh lightly..

you didn’t catch it but your laugh made the corner of his lip quirk up into the tiniest smile.

some days aren’t as bad as others, you two have conversations every now and then, but the majority of this relationship is no talking and just rough sex. These are the days that make you forget what kind of person he truly is.

“no..it’s not.” you tell him as you stand, dusting the grass and dirt from your jeans as you stuff your book back into your bag.

“mm.” he hums out as he grabs your wrist and starts walking.

“S-Suguru?..” you question.

“what is it?.” he asks, not looking back at you as he continues to walk to the parking lot by the football field.

“where are we going?..” you allowed yourself not to panic as you watch his car grow closer and your staring at the passenger side seat as he holds the door open for you.

“you gonna get in?.”

“uh..w-where are we going?.” you ask once more and ‘tchs’

“it’s a surprise.” this is new. this is all to knew to you.. You have never been with him outside of school.

You have never been inside of his car.

yet you get in and so does he.

The drive was quiet and quick but what you weren’t expecting was..woods.

You two were in the middle of the woods.

is this his way of killing you..

shit.

Your heart rate was starting to pick up.

he helps you out of the car.

“relax.” you hear him say, in a voice so calm you swore it was a different person.

“i-i am relaxed.” you tell him and he rolls his eyes as he grabs your hand. leading you further into the woods.

As you make your way through you hear running water..

you get closer only to see a waterfall and your eyes widen.

“it’s beautiful..” you say with a hushed tone and he smiles a little as he watches you. Noticing how your nerves relaxed as you watch the water flow from the hill down the pool of water below.

“that it is..” he responds as he sits down. You taking a seat next to him.

“how’d you find this place?.” you ask, your eyes never leaving the water.

“i..was just wondering around one day and stumbled upon this. I come here sometimes to…think.” he reveals and you turn your head and look at him.

“why..did you bring me here, suguru.” You ask and he looks at you.

“just..thought we could use a different scenery when we have sex.” you don’t know why you felt your heart sting at those words.. honestly you shouldn’t have expected anything less.

“and…think of it as an apology.” your ears perk up at those words.

“yknow..for all the times i’ve been a douche.” he says and you smile a bit.

Suguru Geto..just gave you an apology.

you couldn’t believe it.

“thank you suguru..” You tell him as you lean in and place your lips onto his.

Things started to escalate pretty quickly as you ended up underneath, Your clothes thrown to the side as he brushes you hair back.

“you’re beautiful..” he whispers out and your eyes widen at such kind words..

He’s never complemented you in this way..

So you blush and he kissed your forehead.

You gasp as he pushes his dick inside of you.

Your nails immediately leaving marks on his back as you need something to grip onto.

“fuck..” he grunts out.

“i’ll never forget how tight this pussy grips me.” He says lowly as he starts to thrust in and out of your wet cunt.

This is completely different from the other times you’ve had sex. He’s being so gentle..so nice…

what’s going on?.. maybe he’s had a change of heart..

“hey..focus on me.” he slaps your cheek lightly as his thrust grow harsher..

“y-yes...sugu~” you moan out, not realizing what you said. As you focus on the way his dick fits perfectly inside of you.

Filling you up so good that your legs shake as you wrap them around his waist.

“f-fuck..princess. Don’t call me that.” He groans as he feels you squeeze around him. Him on the verge of cumming inside of you at your choice of words.

“sugu~..f-faster…” you say not caring how he told you not to call him that. You feel his speed pick up as you hold onto him tightly.

“s-shit..baby…gonna cum..” he moans out as he feels you getting closer to your release.

your heart fluttering at the nicknames he’s using.

“w-where..” he asks

“…i-inside.” your reply makes him stop. and your eyes shoot open as you look at him, panting.

“w…what?.” he says.

“cum inside me..sugu~” you tell him and you brush his hair back.

His pace starting back up quickly as you both cum together.

You moaning as you feel his hot cum spurt out inside of you.

To you this is the best sex the two of you ever had. You silently thinking how different things will be tomorrow..How you’ll be able to talk with him in public, maybe hold his hand.

you couldn’t wait.

but to Suguru Geto..

The way he felt when he saw you smile and laugh at his jokes, made his heart and his head confused. He doesn’t really know why he brought you to his spot. He refuses to believe that these feelings mean anything..so to him this is just a normal day and nothing is going to change.

He’ll back to ignoring you in public and fucking you in private 

This is kind of sloppy and i apologize, but nonetheless i i hope you enjoyed. 

-M

[eddiezpaghetti]

Okay, so my experience with Stranger Things is a weird one.

I didn't care when it first came out, started to watch it out of "might as well" in 2020, wasn't interested in it enough to make it past S2, forgot about it outside of going "oh, hey, cool, there's a lesbian in it now, I guess," in S3, got really annoyed when "Running Up That Hill" got popular from it because it was a song I listened to on fucking loop after one of my best friends died in high school and I fully expected its appearance in the show to ignore the whole survivor's guilt theme of the song (and was very happy to learn later that it did the exact opposite of ignoring the lyrics), saw people drawing Eddie, suddenly got a lot more interested, watched just the fourth season like a fucking psychopath because I was seriously only there for Eddie, then got interested enough to start the show over properly, having mostly forgotten what I did watch of the show before.

And let me tell you something from the perspective of someone who started with the complete fourth season, who wasn't there from the start, who wasn't tainted by ship goggles or this internal battle of hope and despair, who wasn't theorizing about what the painting could be or expecting Mike and Will to kiss when Volume 2 happened or rooting for Mike and Eleven's relationship to go down in flames or whatever the fuck. Just someone who went blind into Season 4.

It's really fucking obvious that Will and Mike are gonna be endgame.

Like holy fuck. It's so fucking blatant I don't even know why people are nervous.

No sane fucking person would shoot this scene this way if they wanted the audience to care about El and Mike as a couple. Despite being all blurry in the background, Will's reaction to what's happening here is smackdab in the fucking middle, clearly showing that the important part is what's going through his head here. What he's feeling. It's like the opposite of that scene from Kingdom Hearts II where Sora and Riku reunite and Kairi just fucking vanishes into the aether while it's happening because, despite the fact that she was standing between them when the scene began, she doesn't matter to the scene, so she's just kind of gone when the camera angle changes. Will could have been behind one of their heads, or so far in the distance he blends in with the background, but he's not. He's so obvious that despite being massively blurred out, he's still the first goddamn thing you look at. What, you think that's an accident? You think he's in the middle of this dramatic fucking scene because of a mistake? He basically has a big flashing neon arrow pointing at him with "THIS IS THE POINT" being screamed through a megaphone.

And then this?

They're paired up like they're taking fucking prom pictures. Each one of these pairs is so fucking close to one another and so fucking far from everyone else. It's not, "Oh, they're standing vaguely near each other in a group shot," it's fucking Noah's Ark out here. Again, there's no way to take this as an accident. It's not just a framing issue. If they wanted to make the shot look balanced while still not hiding anyone else behind El, they would have scattered people around much more naturally. Even if they wanted to keep Nancy with Jonathan and Hopper with Joyce, there's so much room on that hill for three people to stand on El's left and three on her right. But they didn't do that. They put Mike and Will together on purpose in the most obvious way possible.

Like I get that coming up with crackpot theories is fun in and of itself and I'm not blaming anyone for having fun. I totally get the appeal of arguing a point and reaching for every stupid little thing to pull into it because it's like a game, okay? I've done that. But if you're trying to actually convince someone (whether it's someone who wants to believe or someone who's pissed at the very idea that Mike and Will could be in love), stay away from blue and yellow lights, stay away from costume design, stay away from the existence of closets in backgrounds. And don't worry about whether Mike's gay or bi when he's in love with Will either way. I'll give you a little tip about persuasion: You're only as strong as your weakest argument. Even if you've got strong stuff in there, too, the person you're trying to convince is going to dismiss anything you say as complete insanity the second you start going on an entire tangent about the shape of a character's fucking pocket.

Sometimes, clothes are just clothes. Sometimes, there's a closet in the background because it helps establish that a character is in a bedroom. Sometimes, blue and yellow are just a couple of colors that look nice together. And sure, it might be set designers and costume designers and cinematographers smirking and winking at the audience from behind the camera. But if the show was just those things, instead of those things in the context of everything else, they wouldn't be saying anything of note.

But this?

This tells a story all on its own. Someone with no context can look at this and automatically assume that each paired person is standing with someone they care about deeply, seeking comfort as they watch some sort of disaster unfold. And yeah, romantic couples usually come in twos, and we live in an amatonormative society, so that's going to be the first association anyone makes seeing a bunch of people paired off.

It's the same reason you look at this

And go, "Oh..."

"Those two are probably a couple."

And I genuinely don't understand how people could have watched S4 Vol. 2 and gotten scared. Because as someone who went in with no investment whatsoever, I just looked at these two--

--and went, "Oh, those two are a couple. Good for them." And I moved on. Shut up about the trees for five seconds and just see the forest for what it is.

Oh, and if you're still nervous? Little thing from a storyteller here: You don't leave a hanging thread like "Will confessed his romantic feelings for Mike by projecting them onto El, but Mike either didn't understand or at least didn't say he understood," without coming back to that later. That's Chekov's gun hanging on the wall, babes. It's gonna fire at some point. If Mike was going to reject Will's feelings, if they weren't relevant, they would have had that discussion in Argyle's van. There'd be no reason to leave you in suspense.

[do-you-ship-it-polls]

Following this blog is making me realize I really don't think I get what makes shipping appealing to most people.

Like, whats all this about character dynamics being more important than gender? How do you get invested in and want to see a relationship if your not attracted to at least one of the characters? Are there really straight dudes and lesbians out there reading / watching yaoi & straight girls and gay dudes out there reading / watching yuri?

Also not sure why people get invested in ships between characters that basically never interact or both have incompitable orientations or especially one where both have a mutual hatred of each other in canon.

Like, unless it has the potential to appeal to a very specific kink or fetish I have, I think almost all the ships I've submitted here involve at least one character that canonically has a one-sided crush or attraction to the other.

Is this the reason people think im a pedo for shipping child characters with eachother :(

If you need to find at least one of the characters attractive, it probably means you're shipping in a self-insert way, or like... to wank to them or something. I think most people just like exploring character dynamics in writing, their imagination or art.

That's also why it's so much fun to ship enemies together. There's so much more to explore when you think about the path they would need to go on in order to date, rather than a couple that are already attracted to eachother. At least in my opinion. (And enemies tend to follow the same patterns that people with crushes do, since they're obsessed with the other person). Light and L want eachother dead or in prison and they are probably the most popular death note ship because of it. Those two think about eachother 24/7.

And for characters that don't interact in canon, it's fun to imagine "what could have been" or what could happen post-canon, pre-canon etc. And sometimes it's just for fun. Shipping in general is just for fun and doesn't have to be taken seriously.

And if we're going into my personal experience - i'm mostly attracted to men but I think yuri is fun to read/watch. I also like gay romance, and sometimes straight romance. Romance is romance. yknow. It helps to imagine that heterosexuality isn't the default for everyone. A lot of writers miss out on good pairings because they make their characters strictly hetero. (just a personal opinion, writers choices should be respected, etc etc)

It just sounds like you're shipping with your hand down your pants.

(Also if anyone wants to respond to this, please write a comment or a reblog instead of sending me an ask!)

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Ok I know there's already anlther DYB ask for Akainu and no one ever votes for it but I have to send my own anyways because the fact that anyone finds this man attractive is baffling to me

So first of all, look, I get why people find villains and stuff hot even despite committing horrible atrocities and I'm not gonna be like "oh but he killed ace!" or whatever even though that was a complete dick move (like insulting the whitebeard pirates was so uncalled for dude chill) but also he Did commit genocide. Like there is a reason the O'Hara incident had only one survivor. Like it wasn't only him but he did order the destruction of that ship

But ignoring that, because, again, I understand characters can be hot in spite of or because of the atrocities they committed, he's just... not attractive? Like I'd get finding him hot despite the stuff he did if he had an entertaining personality or was physically attractive but he really Does not.

Like his personality is basically just Absolute Justice personified which just kinda makes him a dick and not in a particularly fun or entertaining way

And appearance wise? He just has nothing going for him. Like he's better post timeskip with the scar, the facial hair, and the cigar, and I like his hawaiian shirt, but he's still not hot aside from the literal sense. Like, I guess he's an old/older big buff dude but like. One Piece has characters thar fit that description that are actually attractive? Or at the very least more attractive than fucking Fleet Admiral Sakazuki

So he's just very "go girl give us nothing!" a complete asshole with 0 appealing qualities. The only good thing about him is he mentored the best marine in the series but that guy isn't even canon and it doesn't really make Sakazuki any more attractive. And straight up, barring Ryokugyu, all the other admirals, both pre and post-ts, are genuinely hotter than Akainu

Also I don't find this relevant but people seem to bring it up sometimes in DYB so I guess I'll do so too? That man would NOT be good in bed let's not kid ourselves. And that's if you could even get him there since he's way too busy doing paperwork and when he's not doing that he's probably killing pirates

Like idk I think Sakazuki fans just need to take the L here

Defend Your Blurbo #59

Please remember this post is about curiosity and genuine fandom discourse. Be kind with your answers because this is not a debate essay, this is a discussion between fans

Meet Sakazuki, aka Fleet Admiral Akainu from One Piece. He ate the Magu Magu no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit that allows the user to create, control, and transform into magma at will, turning the user into a Magma Human.

This will probably be our most controversial dyb to date. He is perhaps one of the most despised characters in one piece due to his unforgivable sin of killing a beloved character. So this one's going to be interesting, but I do know he has fans who are thirsty for him, including me. So, One Piece fandom defend your blorbo.

[adamnablelittledevil]

I'm excited for Devil's Minion but I hope the Lesmand aspect isn't undermined in its favor. That ship may not be endgame but it's so important to both Lestat and Armand.

I only know Devil's Minion content from what I've seen on the tag, but I share the same feeling! I also enjoy Armand and Daniel's dynamic on the show. I can't wait to see more if it (and any possible duo, romantic/endgame or not, because they're all so appealing) and I hope they did have something in the past as well (and I think it's highly possible), because both Eric and Luke are great. And, well, this chemistry is too extraordinary to ignore.

Sure, this scene wasn't a positive one, but tell me they don't have potential to deliver the romantic content?

So, about the books, I'm still on chapter 5 of The Vampire Lestat (I'm leaving IWTV for last), but so far I don't see how they could reduce lesmand. I guess you could say there is some romantic aspect to them, but there's so much more than that too. Now, I might be interpreting this wrong or things will naturally change over the course of the books, but I believe they have this soul ties/mirrors/foils/two sides of the same coin aspect. It's only been a little over one chapter since Armand was firstly introduced, but their dynamic already feels so important. They're so similar and yet so different, they're fascinated by each other, they see parts of themselves that they don't like on one another, they see things they can't understand but want to, there's empathy, there's protectiveness, they're attracted to one another and not even just in a physical/romantic sense, but there's some genuine curiosity, admiration and magnetism there, but they're still afraid of each other, they still despise one another, they hurt each other, they know it's better to stay way, but don't really want to so it challenges them to the point they also HATE each other... I even feel like it's more frustration and projection than actual hate, but still... They're very INTENSE, in every sense of the word. And it keeps fleeting all the time, sometimes it's warmer, sometimes it's more explosive, sometimes they have similar reactions to one another and sometimes they don't... Which leads to different types of tension that is entertaining to play with. Plus, they have the best conversations and arguments for me. They touch on some really relevant topics about each other's existence, their collective existence as a species and as individuals (which is part of their conflict). Basically, we can call them whatever we want, but they're never boring.

So I can't see them being able to change that even if they want to? Also, because Armand is the first vampire Lestat meets after his maker and fledgling. Magnus kills himself shortly after turning Lestat, Gabrielle and Lestat are almost on the same level when it comes to powers and knowledge about vampirism. Armand exists out of their sphere, has been a vampire for a while, has more abilities/knowledge than them... I feel like you need that in order to 'shake' things up on the flashbacks instead of just being in the bubble of Lestat and his fledglings or using Armand as a small character.

And Assad is one of the main actors, he's paid for main actor screen time, so it would be a waste not to use him as such? And, like you said, it's so important for both Armand's and Lestat's arcs, and this is a main character + main character dynamic, it's not like a side plot with a guest star. It would be killing multiple birds with one stone, because you'd find a way to use two fundamental characters, tell the story in a proper and also engaging way. Not to mention they would be insanely stupid to waste this.

Yeah, I know this is different on the book, but my point is that the enigmatic chemistry they're supposed to have is there and Rolin should make the most of it. Like, I'm still a bit frustrated they didn't play a little more with Jacob and Assad's chemistry too.

So let's not do it again? I mean, this is the first show I watch where everyone has amazing chemistry and good reasons to have lots of scenes together because they live forever and need to have more than just one company, lol. I say let's explore all of it, whether something is romantic/endgame or not.

Anyway, I believe we'll see a lot of Armand in the 1700s flashbacks and that lesmand will be top 2 of Armand's dynamics on season 3. Depending on what they want to do with armandiel, they might even explore more of lesmand next season, since that's 'Lestat's' season and they can have all future seasons for armandiel? I mean, I can see something kind of like season 2, when we had loumand, but dreamstat was still a significant presence and then the big scene at the end. Plus, I'm expecting Daniel to have a lot of screen time with Louis and Lestat, respectively.

Btw, sorry I deflected so much, I just had a lot to say, lmao. Thank you for the message. :)

[anghraine]

this is entirely unprompted on your end, but i love your darcy and faramir takes and wanted to get your opinion on aragorn/faramir as a ship.

i'm salivating over it and nobody. cares. but i just love how it can show the possibilities of book faramir being a "threat" to aragorn's kingship in a way that nobody else is...how they can relate through their shared ancestry but the entirely different ways it impacted them in their respective lives - something about aragorn being the heir of isildur, growing up surrounded by elves, arnor. something about faramir being distinctly aware of the legacy of the stewards, his numenorean heritage and how it's fading away in the world of men, gondor (my fav world in lotr, you are so under-appreciated, gondor.) i personally adhere to the stewards-were-most-likely-also-royalty headcanon because of that extra juicy tension. throw in the i-knew-your-father-as-a-young-man aspect, the whole steward-quite-literally-serving-in-wait-of-the-true-king aspect? it's everything.

i dunno. the natural cause and effect of "return of the king" & "departure of the steward" is so interesting to play with in a romantic context, especially if it keeps both of them in the limelight when naturally, it should only be one of them? i think it's the aragorn ship that pushes his character and ambition the most, and in the same way, it can push faramir to show more machiavellian traits, more of him utilizing his political power and/or personal strengths. especially since his canonical fate is extremely satisfying but also...very conclusively an *ending* if that makes sense.

i might just want to see faramir clashing with aragorn wanting to wage more war. let him cook! let the man speak about "queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves"!!!!

also must admit that it's my contrarian ass wanting to rebel against the fanon "aragorn never ever wanted to be king" + "faramir is a pathetic meow meow" headcanons. the existing faramir x aragorn fics i've read all adhere to it which is frustrating.

anyways, any thoughts on this ship i randomly latched on to?

Anon, this is my #1 Tolkien ship and actually one of the only m/m ships I've ever been super into. I used to guiltily sneak-read Aragorn/Faramir as a teenager because I grew up in a conservative community and hadn't come to terms with my own queerness at the time, and was still figuring out how to get by in that community just as a Democrat, much less a lesbian.

Anyway, I got a huge kick out of your ask because it's basically point-for-point my own feelings about them. If you haven't seen it, I even wrote a ship manifesto for them over ten years ago.

And unfortunately I do also agree that the (very PJ film-inflected) fanons around both characters have made it very difficult to find fic for the ship that isn't deeply OOC for the original versions of the characters (tbh the last time I looked, it was hard enough to even find F/A fics where Faramir had black hair, much less his deeper canon characteristics). Add in the fanon depictions of Gondor and the Stewardship, and a lot of what appeals about the pairing is lost for me. I read some good ones a longggg time ago, but wouldn't begin to know where to find them now.

(I know I should be the change I want to see and write some myself, but apart from the AU f/f and m/f/f versions, I think the closest I ever came to it was this post about a mostly-the-same-as-LOTR AU only with Faramir/Aragorn and this feeling explosion about "Faramir actually does accepts the dream-visions obviously intending him to be the one going to Rivendell but also it's Faramir/Aragorn.")

And if you haven't found it yet, my ship tag is #otp: love was kindled.

I hope you enjoy <3

[msmargaretmurry]

wait no get on your they DO make sense soapbox about matthew/leon please!!!

okay, just for you and @irrelevanttous and the several anons who asked once i said no one had asked about them yet ❤

to be clear, obviously this is a ship i enjoy a lot and find very compelling, but i'm not going to try to talk other people into liking it. i just find this kind of stuff interesting and fun to talk about. i know it's the annoyingly popular ship and if someone has decided it's too annoying or not for them at this point, they're so valid. as a person who wasn't into basically every other super popular hrpf ship in the past 15 years i know intimately how it feels to not be into the popular ship so like. godspeed and good luck 😂

what i DO want to talk about is how i see people throwing around the ideas that as a ship it doesn't make sense, it's not based in anything, it's not the kind of ship that's ever been popular in hockey fandom before — because that all feels ahistorical to me? and i just wanna babble thru my feelings a little, please bear with me.

so first of all, rivalry ships are foundational to hrpf and sports rpf in general and like. fandom in general, you know? sid/ovi, sid/claude, mceichel are the big examples that come to mind but even smaller ones that got a lot of chatter but not a lot of fic like ladd/kesler back in the day. enemies to lovers is a classic trope for a reason. people love that shit. people have always loved that shit.

it is imo unexpected that the ship kept going so strong after matthew got himself traded to florida and we mostly stopped getting content, but also when a ship gets really popular it's not weird for it to mostly run off vibes instead of canon content. you see it in media fandoms all the time, and i would actually say all of the past really popular hockey ships at a certain point were running more off fanon vibes than "canon" content even for teammate ships. and people complained about that with those ships, too, so matthew/leon is not unique in that way 😂 like, it's fine to think it's annoying or wish the fic were more closely aligned with your own headcanons or perceptions of real life. but it's not a unique phenomenon at all!

anyway, on the "it doesn't make sense" "it's a ship based on nothing" front... it is extremely based on things though? i know a lot of people got into the ship after matthew's trade to florida or toward the end of his time in calgary so i think it's very possible that they truly just don't know that when matthew was in calgary, every battle of alberta was content. the ship is very much based on a very observable and specific interpersonal rivalry dynamic that developed over six seasons and had a few highly notable public moments!

obviously it doesn't have the same level of "canon" content you'll get with a ship between good friends and teammates but that's fine! it's a rivalry ship! mceichel was built on way less. sid/ovi was built on barely more, but the heyday of that ship ended while the rivalry was ongoing so it wasn't as noticeable. rivalry ships are not about "look at all this content that proves they're in love," they're about "wow those guys hate each other. it would be hot if they fucked." which is as equally valid a reason to ship something as anything. with matthew and leon, it's helped by them being guys that a lot of people also find individually compelling and so the idea of constructing narratives to explore that relationship (or make them fuck nasty) is really appealing. if it doesn't appeal to someone, that's also fine! but that doesn't make it based on nothing.

(sidenote though to say that i also think it's fine to have ships based on nothing. you're allowed to smush any hockey men you want together for literally any reason. this is rpf. the most "evidence-less" ship is just as fake as the most "canon" ship because there is no canon. it's rpf. it's all fake. none of that is real. shipping is not a contest. everyone please remember that it's all fake and the showrunners won't make any of our ships canon. except willy and pasta, apparently.)

(also sidenote to say i think it's actually fine when mattdrai fans themselves joke about the ship being made up. it's just self-awareness — with a rivalry ship you do have to do a lot more work making up the trappings that keep your guys together for your little stories! doing that work is part of the fun!)

anyway. matthew/leon does not need me to defend it, and that's not what i'm trying to do here. i don't need people to like my ship, i liked it plenty before i knew how many other people also liked it. but i have been a little irked by those narratives flying around because, you know, they're not true? you can dislike the ship and ship other things without doing lies on the internet about it? so i needed to speak my truth. and like, if someone is sick of matthew/leon and wants a different matthew ship or a different leon ship to be the next big thing, i hope they pour themselves into writing for that ship and find friends to join them! so that i (a person who will read almost anything) have a wider variety of stuff to read about my guys!

i do have a lot of thoughts about matthew/leon as a ship and as a trope dynamic and as individual characters, and the different ways people write them and feel about their dynamic and characterization, but we will save that for another post. because this post is already so long 😭

[notafragilething]

Buck/Tommy Late Night Ramblings: The Data (the 24 hour update)

We've passed the 24 hour point of the official 911 ABC Instagram posting the Buck and Tommy hospital kiss and holy shit, it performed better than I anticipated. Views have slowed, which is to be expected, but not as much as I anticipated. So let's get into the numbers.

If you want to take a minute to review what they were last night, check out 5/5 nightly BuckTommy ramble post here.

First major news is that multiple other videos were uploaded today, which brings the total number of reels on the official account to 113 with the average view count of 379k (so that has remained unchanged).

The hospital kiss has, as of the time I'm posting this, had 791k views, 75k in likes and 2k in comments. When we compare that to last night, it was an increase of 256k in views (so roughly a quarter million on it's second day), 19k in likes and 500 additional comments.

Overall, it moved from being the 22nd most viewed reel on the Instagram to 9th most viewed reel. The fact it was able to break the top 10 already shows just how much engagement this video is getting.

I also went down and broke down the top 11 videos so we can look at those closer.

Happy 1-18 Day (15 weeks ago): 4.1 million views

Trailer for Season 7 - Day of Premiere (7 weeks ago): 2.2 million

The Bachelor Promo (4 weeks ago): 1.4 million

The Bachelor Promo 2 (4 weeks ago): 1.4 million

Wedding Cliffhanger Scene / End of Episode 4 (3 weeks ago): 1.3 million

Happy Holidays from Angela (19 weeks ago): 1.1 million

Oliver Making a Basket on set of episode 4 (5 weeks ago): 927k

Name the Season Episode Title (1 week ago): 926k

Buck and Tommy Hospital Kiss & Coming Out (1 day ago): 791k

Buck Coming out to Eddie (3 weeks ago): 764k

JLH Song for Wedding (3 days ago): 753k

So a few observations about these:

I include 11 reels because I don't really consider the Happy 1-18 a good representation of the top videos. That clip is only a few seconds long and loops really quickly. That explains why it has 4 million views compared to everything else.

Most of these videos have been up 3+ weeks to pull these type of numbers.

I think it's interesting the Madney/Chimney song video is pulling very similar numbers as the Buck/Tommy kiss in the same time frame. This, to me, suggests a similar appeal to the ships in regards to how fans are engaging. Which is a very, very good sign. It also passed the Buddie coming out scene which honestly surprised me. I didn't anticipate that happening so quickly.

Comments also remain overwhelming positive.

I'm gong to update the numbers tomorrow night but I don't predict a huge movement in it's overall place. As you can see, spot 8 and up are basically at the million and higher mark. I do have confidence that this video will eventually hit that but when that will be is determined by how quickly the views slow down (which naturally occurs as we get further and further away from the date it's posted).

I've also decided to keep doing these nightly BuckTommy rambles so please follow, comment and send me ideas of what you'd like me to talk about.

[pro-sipper]

What do proshippers generally believe about shipping real people? Stuff like creator x creator or celebrity x reader?

That it falls under the umbrella of "you should be allowed to write anything you want". Once again, it's not my personal thing. There's no real life pairing I read for, and the whole "blank x reader" is not appealing to me at all.

But I have no problem with people writing that stuff, or knowing it's out there. I saw someone a while back say that it's basically just writing about another character, and I agree with that. No matter how much a creator posts or how open a celebrity seems with their personal life, we're still only seeing a tiny snippet of their lives. We have no clue who they are when the cameras aren't recording because we just don't know them. And whatever someone chooses to write about is mostly stemming from that particular persona that they happen to put on for the world and that's it. It's completely separate from our reality because they're basically just writing about another made up character

The problem I have, and it's what I imagine most proshippers also take issue with, is when people start blurring the lines between fiction and reality. To me, there's a world of difference between posting something on ao3, and speculating on secret relationships in the comments of someone's youtube video. Or between talking about something on tumblr, and tagging the person directly on twitter.

I just don't understand people who condemn rpf and talk about how gross and invasive it is, but think it's funny to tag celebrities on twitter to bring up (what they think is) cringe-worthy fanfic tropes that people have written them into. Or people who print out fanworks to shove into an actor's face at a meet and greet and ask them what they think about it. That's where the lines get crossed, to me.

I think ao3 and tumblr still have an air of mysticism to them. A little secrecy, a little privacy. In the sense that someone in the public eye would have to put in a little work to find this stuff for themselves. They'd have to go to the site and search themselves up to find anything. As opposed to just about anyone in the world being able to force this content in their line of sight with a simple @ on a site like twitter.

So to me the problem isn't that this content exists. The problem is when people don't know how to keep fandom stuff private. Write all the rpf you want but remember at the end of the day these are real people, not your blorbos. You don't know them. It's inappropriate to say these things to them personally (which yes, also includes tagging them on twitter or in the comments of their videos). But it's also inappropriate to run up to them with other people's content just to say "look what these FREAKS wrote about you!!" And I think people either forget or just genuinely don't care about the latter.

[always---wrong]

Okay, so I wanted to discuss the situation with Alastor, his canonical sexuality, and fans.

I have seen the two sides alot.

So one side ships Al with numerous characters and sees this as casual fun.

And the other thinks this is disrespectful cause he is ace, or Aroace.

(I believe that he is Aroace. His va said so, his character has shown no interest in romance, and Viv may have confirmed it at some point)

Now, I am sex repulsed ace and I'm aro. And I have strong opinions. Alastor is my favorite character in Hazbin Hotel, he is also the FIRST confirmed ace character I've seen. (This doesn't include subtly implied characters) Because Al is the first and I care for him he is very important to me.

My opinion is really mixed because on one side it's; yeah, it is a fandom, and fandoms ship. It's what they do. Its also kind a rude to judge someone for their favorite pairings and stuff, in my opinion.

On the other side though I'm hurt. I am a queer person with basically no rep. And I hadn't realized how upset I was by this until I saw discourse over this character. I had FORGOTTEN that it was possible to have confirmed canonical ace characters. I had gotten so used to that just being a head cannon. And not only just an ace character but also an Aroace character. And not just that but a seemingly non sex favorable ace character. I would even argue he is sex repulsed.

My real problem with all this is:

Yes, I KNOW ace characters can have sex. But do you know who else can? Literally every single allosexual character. I KNOW aros can date. But you know who else can? Everyone else. The appeal of ACTUALLY having characters with the same sexuality as me is that they would be like me. Cause I and other aces like me never, ever get stories like that. So many times in media I would be enjoying a character who had shown NO interest in sex/romance and would suddenly be partnered up with another just for the heck of it. This has happened SO many times it's not even funny. It's incredibly frustrating.

So, the point I'm trying to make is that; YES, there are aces who have sex. HOWEVER, a large number of us do not. And it's like everyone forgets that. Your not writing Alastor having sex with Angel cause your showing the vast spectrum of asexuality. Your most likely writing it cause it's sex between two hot characters. It's simply maddening.

(One thing I wanted to say was, despite the fact that Al is ace i don't think it's bad to find him attractive. He is very pleasing to look at so I understand allos finding him hot. However I'm not sure where I stand with people sexualizing him. I think I'm leaning towards, 'please don't do it'.)

Now, the worst thing though is when I'm looking for content to enjoy. When I found out Al was canonically ace I was so happy and excited. I'm pretty sure this situation wouldn't make me nearly as frustrated if it weren't for the overwhelming amount of sexual content for Al. Some would be fine. I could just scroll past it if this were the case. But it is not. Content for Al is MOSTLY sexual. That's why I don't believe people when they keep saying they aren't invalidating aces because almost every time I go looking for a fic I have to scroll for HOURS just to find few non ship fics.

I can't even use the Asexual Alastor tag because all that does is bring me to a bunch of fics where the author is like 'he's ace trust me,' then proceeds to write smut.

Why can't I even use a tag made for aces without being drowned in smut. It's so frustrating! Like I'm getting to a point where I wish the authors would stop using the tag and openly admit they made him not ace for the story. Like I know your trying to not throw away his canonical sexuality but I mean at this point I think it'd be better if you did. And if someone is going to write sex favorable ace Al then please leave it to the aces. I trust us to at least weave it into his character instead of stating it and acting like it's there when it's not.

So basically: I don't mind if you ship him, just don't say he's ace or Aroace if your neither of those in ship/smut content. I'm sick of trying to find content that isn't sex/romance in Aroace tags!

I don't want to judge people for liking a ship. But I'm really tired.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE, I would love to see content with Al and Lucifer. Like them hating each other to like frenemies. It would be so funny.

Anyone have any platonic content with Al and the rest of the cast???