#tbh I like their platonic relationship more than the ship itself

[zinnie-zoloft]

The idea that Roy Harper wouldn’t be friends with Jason Todd because he’s murdered people and attacked his sister once is just blatantly inconsistent with everything we know about Roy

He is constantly befriending, one time even having a child with, people who have tried to kill him and his friends and/or have successfully killed several others

He’s in love with an assassin and let’s murderers babysit his daughter, and people actually think he’d draw the line at his best friends little brother because he went through a revenge phase?

It’s not like Roy hasn’t murdered people either, I think he of all people would understand Jason’s perspective and be willing to give him another chance

[bluestarjay]

After being on Tumblr for I think nearly a year, and making a fuck ton of posts and gaining mild popularity on certain posts and gaining a whopping 21 followers, I've never made a Hinata Harem post. So yall are finally lucky enough to hear my takes on it ❤️❤️❤️

So first of all, I kinda love the hinata harem thing bc it's actually so funny, but strangely, in a way, it's realistic. Not very well written most of the time, but realistic as a concept.

Bc like he gets along with basically the entire cast, and he sometimes compliments characters who are not used to being complimented, and that character may blush of embarrassment, and then the fandom takes that as shipping material, like with Goshihina. And it makes sense! Imagine you're rarely complimented, and you strive for validation from your peers, especially upperclassmen, and then suddenly, the cutest boy you've ever seen compliments you like you're the only person on the planet. And so then you purposely try as hard as you possibly can to make said boy continue to compliment you. Take this, then multiply it by 100, because I think that's how the harem trope, in Hinata's case, works.

This isn't meant to be in the way that he can be shipped with every single character because truly, he can't. Shipping Hinata with 3rd years, in a typical high school setting, is, at least imo (and not bc of the age gap itself), weird bc of the maturity difference. You shouldn't date a senior as a freshman bc you're on two separate maturity levels. And regarding all of the many 3rd years (tendou, daichi, suga, bokuto, etc), it's really the same exact thing just platonically. Bokuto is literally Hinata's older brother!! He adopted him as a student *and* sibling, bc he felt the same things everybody does, just in a *different* way.

The hinata harem, to me, is the display of hinata's character in reference to every other character, yk? To me, these select few people are actually in love with him, and these people have a "crush," which is more so a platonic feeling, and these people find a true, deep *friendship* with him, one that they've probably never experienced before, and therefore may look like a crush or love to an outside viewer. And, in these different relationships between hinata and other characters, they all love him. They all feel a loving connection with him, like how people would think in a harem, but it's not quite so because all of the people who love hinata love him in different ways.

Now, with how this harem is portrayed in fanfiction actually scares me bc half the people there are much older and mature than him (gen question why do ppl ship him with 3rd years /in high school/, like, I love Brazil Oihina sooooo much but hs Oihina is 😧😧😧) , and tbh it just gets out of control.

And alot of times I see Hinata reciprocate?? With multiple people?? Which is fine to an extent, imo like I love poly ships, I've seen a lot of really cute ones and some more interesting ones, and it's totally normal to have a crush on a few people at once but istg some people make him a goddamn player,,,

I recently read a harem-ish fic, which was much more similar to how I personally find it to be like, it was essentially people having a crush on hinata, or realizing it, and it was cute, but at the same time, Hinata asked one of them on a date, cuddled with like two other guys (which, normalize cuddling platonically but in the context of the fic it wasn't suuuuper platonic but wasn't suuuuuper romantic either iykwim), and the part of that that kinda icked me was just that he was getting on with so many people at once (the fic took place in the span of like a week, and there were like 5 people i think??). And a lot of other fics that are post time skip are just Hinata hooking up with the entire cast at some point???

Idk tbh but I do really like fics where everybody LOVES hinata, but only a few people are IN love with him. Just the balance of like ~5 people having a crush on him, half of the rest of them have adopted him in one way or another, and the other half have just found their new bff.

Btw I think that second to last paragraph is worded a bit poorly I just don't really know else to describe the fic so sorry if it offends anyone I'm free to edit it n if anyone wants more ship related stuff I got you (ALSO GIVE ME GOOD "HAREM" FIC RECS AS LONG AS THEYRE SFW AND COMPLETED!!) 💪💪💪

[tsururoach]

The thing about Ryomina (mlm or mlf) is that I hesitate to say I "ship" it because I don't really consider them solely in the 'romantic' side of things.

Like, to me their whole deal is more on the conceptual scale of things. They exist on many planes, they can be romantic, they can be platonic, they can be the same person, but there is still emotions there regardless of what you do.

Death delivers all, death is all encompassing, death lived inside of them until one day, it leaves. Something that was in them for 10 years leaves him. It should've felt empty, like something wrong. And yet that thing, that concept, that person was no longer stagnant. It saw the world from you, and it grows. It becomes a person, it becomes human. (You also, learn to become human)

It starts off someone who knew only that single point of view, to someone who was able to change. Change themself- and change you- no longer restricted by that tie to you. And yet, the bond you have was strong enough that he was still led back to you.

I think the 'love' that would hypothetically exist between the two of them would be the 'love' someone could have for a concept. An Abstraction and mixed with simple human affection. The love of the life that lived next to the protag. The protag to me would love Ryoji, the way one would love life.

Funny how that is: Loving death like life.

V ADDING A DISCUSSION ON HAMUGIS AND RYOMINA SECTION HERE V

I consider Hamugis more generally romantic than Ryomina but thats also because they also have less fuckassery. But i still also do consider them in that nebulous relationship status area.

Don't get me wrong. I love love love hamugis. Actually let me add a sidetwt doodle here while I can.

Okay heres the thing about my preferences in Persona 3 ships. I'm actually okay with most of them tbh. Like generally I usually don't get other people's interpretations of certain ships, but i still on some level kind of like. Get it.

The only one is like. Junpei and anyone who isn't Chidori; or at the very least with anyone who redacts chidori entirely. I like jundori okay. I like Junpei. Junpei's #1 defender.

But I do on a level instinctively prefer the mlm ver of ryomina over mlf, and the flf ver of hamugis over mlm. (I do actually overall prefer aigis x protag over ryomina in general in the normal terms of 'ship' but we already talked about that)

Now I'm well aware technically I could make the protaganist's character whatever but we've come far enough that a lot of "insert" protagonists already have a general kind of personality okay. I do sometimes err away from canon portrayals, yeah but hey.

Anyways I feel like... Hamuko and Aigis form a stronger bond together. It's not just the difficulty of the love itself that changes things. It's the approach. Hamuko is generally portrayed as more headstrong and more outwardly optimistic, which, yeah.

I feel like... While Aigis benefits from someone reaching out to her, inversely, Ryoji benefits from reaching out to someone?

And then when Aigis is forced to reach out...

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is I feel like the bond overall has more meaning. Like I did say Aigis' relationship with the protagonist is also still in that conceptual air, I'm kind of rehashing what I said before. Aigis is coming to terms with her own humanity .

I lost the plot of this psot.

[specterthief]

for the meme, joe and cherry's dynamic in general >:3c

reverse unpopular opinions

I ACTUALLY REALLY ENJOY SO MUCH ABOUT IT IS THE THING, i think their antics are really funny and they serve a perfect purpose as foils to the younger characters (and having characters who are largely static to balance out the very tumultuous drama that reki/langa/adam/tadashi have going on was a really good choice and roles that they serve really well.) i love the contrast between their apparent life-long constant bickering rivalry and the fact that that still means they've been friends for 20 uninterrupted years. i love the difference in their outlooks on that relationship and what that says about their respective emotional maturity, with joe being very conscientious about how important that friendship has always been (and how adam is hurting for not having someone in his life like that) compared to how cherry seems to take joe's constant accommodation for granted. i think the fact that the series makes a point of how important platonic connections are while actively acknowledging (and not condemning) m/m romantic attraction as an option (unlike a lot of sports anime about Really Intense Friendship) adds a really interesting vector to how their relationship fits into the narrative. in particular i think the fact that for joe, a character who's openly very poly and loves flirting and dating and hooking up with girls, that his longest lasting and most emotionally significant relationship is a friendship is an interesting characterization beat itself, especially in a series where he's surrounded by messy unrequited love that Does Not Fix Anyone who doesn't also have strong friends and community to lean on. joe being very open and confident and having blurry boundaries between S and his day to day life compared to cherry's strictly locked down divide between his work and his true self is also SO GOOD for The Allegories, and the fact that this is the one place where joe doesn't really get it is an underrated point of tension that i really want to write something digging into sometime.

i'm really curious to learn more about their youth in the OVA and i'm ESPECIALLY curious if their popularity in s1 is going to lead to them getting more devoted character arcs in s2, since i think there's a lot that could be done with them if they actually get a chance to grow and be challenged by a narrative they're more central active players in. i think cherry in particular could really go some tasty places as a character from being put in a situation where joe as a constant stable presence is actually tested and cherry has to be the one to Be There and work for their friendship. put them in the plinko i would love to see it

also because i can't talk about their dynamic without talking about the shadow of adam looming over them: the contrast between the way they both relate to him (cherry being far more forgiving but not understanding adam at all, joe understanding adam better than almost anyone else but not personally forgiving him, the whole way that forgiveness is decoupled from sympathy, aaaaaa) is delicious, i am so excited to see how things shift between the three of them after the finale and how joe and cherry's own relationship might change now that their relationship as a trio seemingly will.

unironically one of my favorite dynamics in the series, i just don't talk about it very much because i have been a victim of the wizard's curse (really really specifically into it platonically or exclusively one-sidedly in the past) so i appreciate the chance to go off about all the stuff about it i do love about it, thank you lmao

and tbh maybe s2 will shake up their dynamic in the right way to get me into the ship, utsumi and okouchi are unhinged so i'm not ruling anything out

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

Sorry if this is more of a redundant question or related to one that you already did, but what is your opinion on people claiming that ships with little evidence or up to interpretation are "canon"?

I believe you mentioned this somewhat with FranFlam, but what about with other ships that you like where this seems to be common with like Metadede? Or is it the case of "it's fine as long as they aren't attacking people who think otherwise"?

under the cut! nah totally valid q anon i love talking about stuff like this:

tbh i think kirby is just a series that should not have romance in it at all. innocent things like ribbon and kirby in 64 is like fine because i personally dont take kid relationships too seriously but like anything else i just dont think its the place for it. for metadede in particular, ofc i love shipping and i like to scream with other shippers and pick out things and see it in a shippy context but i absolutely dont think metadede is canon, will ever be canon, or even particularly Should be canon actually. im just gonna stick to metadede and franflam like your examples for this because you dont really see people trying to claim any particular (fanon) m/f ship as canon in this fandom but hey even tho i think a lot of us can agree nintendo makes some great games, nintendo is also a big soulless corporation that does not care about us. if youre someone desperate to find a cake in the crumbs on the floor in terms of canon main/major character queer rep, anything nintendo is absolutely not the place for that

to answer your question, that sums up how i feel about other people who try to make canon ship claims too. i try to think the best of people because the lines get really blurred when a lot of people just like making jokes about ships being canon vs Actually genuinely thinking that, but for anyone who legitimately does try to push their ship as canon its just kinda like Mmmm. that gets a thumbs down from me... its not like problematic in of itself (unless you try to claim that people who dont like the ship are homophobic by default or something. youre getting thrown in the grain silo and you probably need to go outside) so like technically i guess i dont care, but i sure do think its obnoxious as hell and also absolutely REEKS of "FRIENDS dont DO that!! people who arent dating dont DO that!!!!! so they must be dating!!!!" and then the thing in question is the two characters like holding hands sometimes. of course theres something to be said about Writer intent but cmon this is a series where people kiss each other on the lips platonically all the time i cannot take canon ship claims seriously. why is so much of peoples worth in a ship staked in whether its "canon" anyways? it just comes off as wanting a reason to lord over others why a certain ship is better than everyone elses. unless two characters make out in a cutscene complete with blushing afterwards prefaced by a lot of romantic tension through the entire game previously its not canon. thats my hot take lol. we have a rare series where canon romance isnt in your face and shoved down your throat every moment and yet some bad folks in the fandom will try to do that for you still. unbelievable

[saltlickmp3]

9th doctor

:DD thanks cath!!

how i feel about this character -

tbh i don't have quite as many super strong opinions on nine, i think cos we don't see him for quite as long, but i still really really like him hehe. he's often portrayed as the grumpy one which isn't exactly inaccurate but also i feel like he gets a bad rap for just not being as immediately likeable yknow? even though he does still laugh & joke around he's far less emotionally vulnerable & quick to get to 'you humans are all stupid', even in his first episode, although some of this is probably a self-defence, having literally just destroyed gallifrey which is, yknow, a massively traumatic thing to happen, & he hasn't had a companion for a bit, & in any case is just a bit more sarcastic than other regenerations. but also you know that feels deeply he just tries to cover it up. but also truly no one is doing it like the ninth doctor, some of the stuff he does (telling a dalek to kill itself) like ten wouldn't say that unless he was really at the end his tether yknow? but also the absolute joy at the end of the doctor dances!! 'every body lives rose! just this once everybody lives!!' and telling the kid 'pop music in 20 years you're gonna love it!' and his smile is so fun hehe he really does just :D & he has some really wonderful funny bits as well hehe. also he has THEE BEST leather jacket

all the people i ship romantically with this character -

imo all the nuwho doctors are some variation on aroace & i really Really don't see him in a romantic relationship with rose (or jack. though the would be a little bit fun hehe) but i feel like nine is the kind of person who, had he been allowed more time in that regeneration would slowly start to feel both romantic & sexual attraction. just that in the situation he's in, The Horrors are kind of more immediate things to deal with. like he just doesn't have time for that. also he probably thinks that anyone who gets to close to him will die horribly which is why he's a bit brusque. but yeah if he'd been allowed more chill time without the Horrors & time to process Everything he would be gradually more accepting of his own attraction to people and willing to do something about that. just where he's at he simply doesn't feel attraction & it doesn't even cross his mind that that's an option.

non-romantic otp for this character -

Rose. yes their weird qpr-situationship has it's issues ('i feel awful about my planet being destroyed, to show off on out first playdate i'm gonna take you to see your planet being destroyed') they just work well together hehe. BUT he would be Excellent with donna noble methinks OUGH if only they got to meet. the sarcasm would be tangible

unpopular opinion about this character -

idk really know what the popular opinions of nine are but. he could have been a bit nicer about having accidentally dropped rose off a year late. just a little.

one thing i wish had happened with this character -

honestly i wish we'd got more time to see him develop. like even one special would have been nice. one! just one! i feel like we leave him behind too quickly. it would have been nice to see him & rose do something chill together & not have to worry about dying or the planet dying.

my otp -

idk?? like probably rose but if we're talking romantically i don't think that would really work. idk why it just doesn't.

crossover ship (platonically) -

does it count as a crossover if it's a dr who character from later?? cos like i think he would get on really well with donna noble hehe. but from an actual different thing - nanny ogg & granny weatherwax from discworld, i can just picture the three of them sitting down drinking tea & bitching about some stupid supernatural/alien entity that tried to disrupt their day AGAIN yknow?

headcanon for them -

i think nine would like old arcade videogames. & he'd make a point of maxxing them out so some little kid would be astounded by his prowess at pacman or something. & he'd get mad when he lost as well. idk i can just picture him yelling at an old video game hehe

[orcelito]

💥🤩💎

HI DANI ❤️❤️❤️

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Hfkshfkshfksbd I'm gonna answer p5 for this one bc BOY that game has some issues. If I could only pick ONE thing, it'd have to be the godawful handling of its own themes with regard to Ann & also the adult romance options. Like. The ENTIRE first arc is about beating up a teacher that's been sexually harassing the female students, including Ann. Then the game turns around and Uhhh sexually harasses Ann, but this time as a JOKE so it's OKAY see it's a JOKE (bitch). And then lets you, playing a 16/17 year old, romance adult women (INCLUDING YOUR HOMEROOM TEACHER. THE DOUBLE STANDARDS!!!!!) anyways me and every other p5 fan have complained about this extensively already so this is nothing new. Just sometimes I think about it and get SO very angry hfksbfksbdkd

🤩 What led to your interest in the fandom?

Since I answered trigun for the last one I'll answer p5 for this one! Fandom itself is uhhhhhh also not great lol, but there are some really great people around, still! I have an assortment of Treasured Mutuals from the fandom (yourself Included) that I enjoy seeing around on my dash :') and tbh that's all you really need to enjoy a fandom. I've loved the persona series for a long time, so it's still really nice to me that I have people I can talk about it with. I went a solid 7 years being a persona fan with No Persona Friends, so writing fic for p5 was one of the best things I could've done for myself. I hate the fandom at large lol, but you guys? You guys are great

💎 Do you often write about a relationship or focus on an individual?

Hfkshfkshf well ok I like many other people in fandom am helpless against the call of The Ship... but also I think I focus more on the individuals and also their other relationships than a lot of other writers do. Like as much as I like the romantic ships, I also love building up their platonic relationships as well, and ALSO their identity as an individual. & as a longfic writer I have the time to Do That. So yes it's been 94k words of writing for ITNL (so far) and there has been no wolfwood (aside from the Brief Cameo). But it's okay, bc im busy exploring Vash as a character and his friendship with the girls. Wolfwood will be here when he's here, and I'll enjoy him very much when he is. But for now. Vash Time 😎

Ask game here!

[erinaceina]

My mind seems to go blank whenever I'm required to think of tropes, but uhh here goes...

Soulmates Enemies to lovers Fake married Found family Amnesia

Soulmates: A-. Done right, this can be a favourite trope of mine but I have specific things I want from it. I want to feel the characters’ connection beyond the soulmate thing. I want to feel them pull against it. I want them to be soulmates who are chosen as well as made. But ooh, the delightful angst potential of mutual pining with ‘they wouldn’t like me if we weren’t soulmates’ but they would and they do.

Enemies to lovers: C, I guess. It’s a bit of a weird one because my first impulse when someone says enemies to lovers is a favourite is a visceral nope, especially if they still feel like they hate each other once they become lovers (hate fucking will make me nope out of a fic so fast, especially for a favourite ship, especially if the hate is genuine rather than something they’re trying to convince themselves of). But so many of my favourite ships do have an element of enemies to lovers (Lymond/Philippa, Wangxian, Eugenides/Irene etc). When I like it, I really, really like it. The gradual getting to know one another, the realisation that someone you thought was awful is actually amazing, the way it can explore the idea of getting to know someone utterly, the guilt and confusion because this is your enemy, damn it… So yeah, a true C in that it depends massively on how it’s treated.

Fake married: B. I think I prefer forced marriage/marriage of convenience to truly fake married (i.e. pretending for reasons) because I tend to think of those as angstier (oh no, I’m stuck with someone who I can’t love/can’t love me) and fake marriage as more comedic (oh no, all our friends believe it too, how will we tell them the truth?) The need to support each other in a difficult situation, the gradual building of trust… But fake married is still fun and still has the potential for pining in close quarters which…oooh yesss.

Found family: B. A hard one to rate again. I love found family and I find stories in which the ship ends up happily together but without (found) family/friends viscerally upsetting - e.g. scenarios in which WWX and LWJ head off into the wild blue yonder and cut all ties with the cultivation world. I’ve never seen anyone do something like that with Lymond and, honestly, Richard would just chase him down with a big butterfly net at this point. Something he should have considered earlier in canon tbh. But anyway, I love seeing the development/fulfilment of platonic emotional bonds but, at the same time, I never think to filter for found family and I usually want the fic to be doing something else as well.

Amnesia: A+. Heeeeeeeeeee yeah. I love it so much. So much angst, so much confusion, so much vulnerability, so much doubt and fear. All the hurt/comfort! It’s sickfic turned up to 10. There are so many different ways it can go, poking at trauma and trust, exploring the possibility of healing damaged relationships and getting to see aspects of a character which they usually keep hidden. It’s a trope which lends itself really well to a close focus on the characters and their emotions. I especially love it when the amnesiac character doesn’t understand why the others are treating them so well and has to go through the process of learning to be vulnerable all over again. I might have to go and find some amnesia fic now…

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

On a more personal angle, of myself through the different fandoms

I think it has more to do with joining Tumblr than the fandoms themselves, but the one thing I do miss about my time in the Genshin fandom was how unserious everything was. We just vibed and did whatever

Dream SMP onwards I've felt a lot more pressure to get characterization and themes right, and never do anything just for the sake of cute or silly or wtv. Just this vague looming sense of judgement all the time that I picked up somewhere along the way that I could really do without and have been trying to unlearn as of late

One thing I really don't miss about my time in the Genshin fandom was the weird dichotomy of "you have to ship this guy with this other guy because everyone does" vibes vs The Homophobes. Because for some reason that was also a thing, at least on Hoyolab in 2020-2021.

Also the weird character age shipping discourse thing. The Lumine/Childe shipping discourse where no one could agree on which of them was too old for the other was kind of hilarious ngl

... I also got far too much of my sex ed from the memes in that fandom (that's where I learned about balls! Don't ask me how I didn't know about them before then, I have no idea). It was probably the most horny fandom I've ever been in actually, now that I think about it.

I've never once considered the possibility of accidentally stumbling across NSFW fanart when trying to find references for an MCYT, but it was common knowledge that that was all you'd get for certain Genshin Characters. You couldn't look at the Hoyolab fanart page without seeing several shirtless dudes, and you couldn't google Mona without seeing her but and boobs all over the place

Warrior Cats also had less pressure for accurate characterization ime, but that might've just been because the parts of it I interacted with just didn't care about canon at all, it was entirely fanmade clans full of OCs with their own storylines divorced of canon. Also it was on Scratch, and everyone there was like 6-12 years old and the worst crime they could conceptualize seemed to bee tracing art. There was a lot of drama around tracing art, actually

I was also still in the Catholic Christian part of my life at that time, and was in an odd space in learning about queer people of not being queerphobic per se, I never really was tbh, so I did like everyone else's gay kitties in their own Warriors games, but I never made any myself and generally coded everything to be exclusively heterosexual. Which was truly a tragedy in hindsight, almost makes me want to make a new one someday, with considerably less heteronormativity and amatanormativity

I also honestly wouldn't mind returning to the DSMP fandom to explore the new more open mindedness to shipping that's been coming about with the fading popularity, tbh.

I'm still intensely aroace, not terribly interested in joining in with general shipping culture, and don't particularly like many of the individual new ships I've been seeing coming about, but I do think it's very interesting to watch and I wouldn't mind seeing some more variety on beeduo and emduo interpretations specifically.

Plus I'm just glad we're all getting over that specific toxicity 'cus it was really cheapening the platonic wonderland it could've been if it weren't such a coerced phenomenon. I hate it when people only do nice things because they're afraid of judgement, rather than just because they like doing them

TMA has also been pretty interesting, with the number of fics exploring relationships and sexuality through a lens of asexuality thanks to Jon's canon ace-ness. I'm solidly not into reading sex itself, but the contexts surrounding it can be pretty interesting to me, and TMA feeling like a safer, more ace friendly place to take some peeks at it has been a nice reassurance that I'm not secretly a prude, and let me see all sorts of different ace and non-ace angles to the whole thing, which is great for my curiosity

I'd love to take some of this nuance with relationships in fandom and fiction as a whole that I've picked up and take it back to Warrior Cats again ngl. If I suddenly get over my project commitment issues there is a good chance I'll actually go back and make a new Warrior Cats game or simulation, either back on Scratch for old times sake, or maybe even with actual coding and stuff to practice that some more, now that I've got some experience with that

It would be kinda neat to make one of those Warrior Cat Life Games the ones so popular back on Scratch, and weave it full of themes about the varieties in relationships and love and family and queerness and stuff,,

The differences in cultures and behaviors between different fandoms is so fascinating to me, I love just musing on the various differences

Back in my Warrior Cats phase on scratch there was barely an single fanart of canon characters, everything was original characters and original clans.

During my time in the Genshin Impact fandom people would play with the various canon character elements to make new characters but there wasn't quite the level of wholly divorced from canon stories there.

There was shipping tho! An absolutely unhinged amount of shipping. Every single character who wasn't a literal child had at least one, maybe two default/mainstream ship partners that most people shipped them with, then a handful of rarer ships as well

Then I moved to Dream SMP 'cus I heard that it had a lot of platonic relationships that were so popular that they made it into the top 100 ao3 ships multiple years in a row, and I was getting pretty romanced out by Genshin at that point so it seemed like a perfect choice.

And it was! Dream SMP had the best platonic relationship representation of any fandom I've been in before or since. But it has the dark flipside to it, where the reason was partially because the fans were freaking off the rails toxic and hostile to the mere suggestion that any character might ever be attracted to another

The Hermitcraft and Life Series are better with platonic relationships than Genshin Impact, but nowhere near as good as DSMP, with the return of a handful of mainstream ships, but not the pressure to have a ship for every single character

Then there's the fascinating ways MCYT fandoms had every characters' designs and even species up in the air and it's common place to just make any random guy part any random animal, which is incredible fun

But then OCs in the MCYT fandom are a whole other thing, as they tend to come most in the Warriors style where they come out of fanmade servers and tend to be fairly divorced from canon most of the time, only generally inspired by the setting

And now in the Magnus Archives fandom we've got the canon ships, with one specific one vastly dominating the whole fandom to even more extremes than any singular Genshin ship ever reached, which I've gathered is a pretty common experience in other fandoms but this has been my first time actually experiencing it first hand

And TMA has a similar thing with Warrior Cats where it works really well as a set of world building that can be shoved upon other fictional characters for some fun AUs, which was never really a thing with MCYT (though I think it kinda was with Genshin Impact, to a degree, where people would draw other characters in Genshin splash art style and assign them Visions and all that.)

Warriors is by far the most extreme of these, up with My Little Pony in terms of how you're almost guaranteed to see at least one fanart of the characters in any fandom drawn as warrior cats/ponies

And then there's the popular AU types! Genshin Impact was chock full of highschool AUs. Dream SMP had Foster Family AUs and Superhero AUs galore (especially with SBI), but it also had a smaller Humans Are Space Orcs / Alien AUs phenomen that I've not been able to find again in my other fandoms since. I never read enough Life Series and Hermitcraft fanfic to get a good grasp on their popular AUs, but various flavour of Modern AU with the characters assigned random jobs seemed common, and they had a lot of Superhero AUs spawned by HoTGuY. TMA is mostly everyone is happy AUs, like No Paranormal Nonsense AUs and Happily Ever After Post Canon AUs, but also a whole heckin' lot of Time Travel (usually fix-it fic) AUs, which is something I never really saw in the other fandoms

I don't have a good ending to this post as there's no real point to it, it's just me babbling about fandoms

[citrenecult]

Heket headcanons? Or more NariLamb ones!

Can the Lamb cook

Heket

-Heket is really strong. She may look like a fat frog but under that fat is muscle and she can definitely throw a hard punch. Is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and doesn’t like using weapons all that much.

-She was the first sibling Shamura adopted and definitely missed the days where it was only them two. She does love her brothers but sometimes she longs for Shamura’s undivided attention.

-I mean we all agree that Heket gives off lesbian vibes right?

-She had a great voice for singing and wrote many lullabies for her brothers when they were still babies. She also enjoyed playing the lute and it would often accompany her songs.

-She is a patron for children, though that was not always the case. It took her a long time warm up to the idea of other siblings but once she grew to love them she dedicated Anura to being a safe haven for mortal children. She defiantly has a soft spot for them, as they reminder her of simpler times when her brothers were still babies and toddlers. Though that does not stop her from having an occasional child sacrifice from time to time.

-Believes in the fat. Fat is a compliment. Be chubby and be proud!

-Is into fashion and has an extensive wardrobe. Likes fluffy or silky scarves and gloves and wearing jewelry. Kallamar often steals borrows her clothes and never gives them back, much to her dismay.

-After Narinder’s betrayal she became emotionally distant from the rest of her siblings. She may not have had the best relationship with Narinder before hand but him turning his back on their family hurt her more than she ever thought it would. Becoming distant gave her comfort in thinking that, should something happen to her siblings , it wouldn’t hurt as much. This made the bond between the bishops fragile and fighting was becoming commonplace. It didn’t matter much, as her devastation over Leshy’s death hurt just as much if not more than Narinder's betrayal.

-Heket became Shamura’s caretaker after they suffered their head injury and took up the mantle of head of the Old Faith in their stead even though she was not in the right state of mind to do so.

-She blamed herself for Leshy’s death. She was still grieving for him even while fighting the Lamb and while her emotions made her more lethal they also made her accident-prone, resulting in her loss and death.

NariLamb

tbh completely honest I ship them more platonically than romantically but I’ll try to provide headcanons that work for both

-Lamb’s love language is physical touch while Narinder’s is words of affirmation. Lamb is kinda sorta definitely touch starved and desperately wants a hug while Narinder wants to hear that he’s enough or if he’s doing a good job at something.

-Lamb and Narinder are listeners rather than talkers so they make for great ears when it comes to talking about issues. Lamb is the one that offers advice, however. Narinder’s advice is awkward/well-intentioned but poorly worded most of the time.

-Narinder wants his crown back. Lamb is not giving it back.

-Lamb helped a lot with Narinder physical therapy when he was still a newly indoctrinated follower. They came up with an exercise regime that kept Narinder in shape and slowly helped build his strength up. Narinder didn’t like it at first, it felt patronizing but warms up to it eventually.

-Narinder hates water because cat. Lamb absolutely loves pushing him (safely) into ponds. Narinder hates it in the moment but there will come a day when he’ll look back on it and laughs even though he still hates it.

-I can’t imagine them really getting officially married but it taxes were to become a thing (ie, the cult itself gets taxed for whatever reason) I can see Lamb going up to Narinder and asking, “Would you marry me for tax benefit?” And Narinder would absolutely say yes because fuck taxes.

-Lamb cannot cook very well (I mean have you seen the food in game? I’m worried about the Cultists diets) but can prepare pufferfish correctly and with ease so hey that’s something! (A big something)

[reginarubie]

For the brutally honest ship opinion : Rhaenicent, Daemyra, Alicole and Harwin/Rhaenyra. Also, this has nothing to do with the ships, but I desperately need you to validate my hate for Corlys. He's an incredibly sexist man preferring strong bastards over his own granddaughters, but has the audacity to complain that the realm was just as sexist to Rhaenys. Also, he's so spineless, you think Rhae killed you son and your brother and you're still supporting her anyway? The latter

Ciao anon!,

Let’s start by the ships!

Rhaenyra and Alicent

Tbh, with the way they have acted and are framed in the show? Totally dig it, wether as some sexual tension, emotive tension or simply two souls who love each other but are torn apart by duty, flaws and conviction.

It has emotional depth. In book canon I understand things were pretty different, but using show as canon it is interesting and I can see why people would ship them. The friends who love each other (be it sexual or platonic) and are torn from each other because of society, duty, flaws and conviction … not only because of the world around them but because of them themselves… it’s interesting and I personally loved this change from the bookverse.

So, 8/10 as long as it remains true to the plot of the story and the characters.

Daemon and Rhaenyra

We have no respect for a grooming disrespectful meow meow in this household. For how cute he may act, all headnudges here and there, he is a grooming manwhore who was better off exiled for good.

And whilst I agree the actors played their part right (perhaps playing much in the direction of what fans had wanted Jonerys to be) I still can’t look past the fact he basically groomed her (and her whole “I am not sixteen anymore” line drives the point even more home) and Laena (who might I remind you is younger than Rhaenyra).

He also killed his first wife, ignored his second wife’s wishes and made her daughter feel inadequate because she was not a dragon rider and put hands on Rhaenyra.

Noh. Sure he supported her claim to the Iron throne (also because he himself thrives for power, look at the Black Queen until Rhaenyra gets Lucerys’ death’s news, he tries to force her hand and only backs down when she is forcefully pulling rank on him. He tries to be the head of the entire campaign, and she has to command her son to make sure Daemon’s commands are not followed without her say so which tells us much of how much she trusts him).

-100/10

Alicent and Criston

Chanson de geste ship, the eternal knight and the lady he champions passion filled gaze and pining and angst. Filled with the dark hues of the world of F&B, totally dig it despite their flaws and the way Criston changes during the years.

It makes sense.

Can I have more, ma’am and sir?/10

Harwin and Rhaenyra

Possibly the only not toxic relationship Rhaenyra has with a man.

They’re both adults, they have a consensual relationship with which both seem happy with (they are tear stricken when they have to separate) and tho it’s obvious Harwin would’ve liked to be more open with his children the rumours were there exactly because he acted very much like a father, more than Laenor did anyway. Harwin seems to accept Rhaenyra with all her quirks and flaws and loves her anyway.

Truly, I like them and despite the whole dishonourable matter caused by the marriage with Laenor and the society itself, forced to be lovers instead of man and wife in the context they are, I think they make a fine pair and he’s very supporting of her and she seems very earnest toward him, defending at least in private, what little rights she could give him.

8/10

Now onto the Corlys dislike know this. I am with you. I actually have another ask about him and Rhaenys and his whole character, so look out for that too because I am going to validate your dislike for him by my own opinion (for how validating that may be), so look out for that.

Corlys and Rhaenys, brutally honest opinion also why Corlys is NOT the new Ned, ffs.

As always thank you for the ask, hope you have an amazing day! Sending my love as always ~G.

[kismesisheadcanons]

hii idk if you do hiveswap but um. kuprum & fozzer

yeah i do that now. just finished the game.

Though, there's a little more information in hiveswap friendsim, which I've also previously played.

bear with me here, I'm fresh off the research presses, lacking of sleep, and with the motor control skills of someone who somehow survived the electric chair. this one might be formatted a little different

KUPRUM AND FOZZER AKA KUPZER/FOZRUM/ I COULDN'T EVEN BEGIN TO THINK OF A FUNNY NAME ASIDE FROM RA RA RASPUTIN WHICH SUCKS BUT WHATEVER

lets cover the basics

kuprum maxlol. hope aspect, prospit sway. redditor, essentially. extremely powerful psionic, trizza simp.

fozzer velyes. heart aspect, derse sway. gravedigger, cemetery tender. former revolutionaire, now royalist, tragic victim of doc scratch being a fucking kidney stone of a man. fozzers route made me a little bit sad tbh.

into the dynamic.

while having some things in common, they've also got a few key differences i believe may be conducive to a rivalry, and a few that aren't.

-royalism. both know where their loyalties lie. with fozzer thinking there couldn't be a better system out there, and kuprum generally just being the number 1 trizza fan on Alternia. he seems to believe that he's going to be the gold to power her ship, and honestly if all goes as is designed, i dont doubt it, considering the purpose of the moiraillegence he has with folykl. he knows what happens to the greatest psychics, and is "sincerely thrilled" (>mfw car battery and loving it) to have that happen to him.

fozzer... hm. his opinion on this, i suppose, could go one of two ways, or possibly could cause some conflicting opinions if you wanna take bits of both.

He could be like "ah_yes_fellow_loyalist_I_too_am_thrilled_about_it_or_some_shit" yknow, in agreeance, or, he could hear some of kuprums weird bullshit about getting brainfucked tentacle ways and be like "woah_that_is_an_EXTREME_PERVERSION" but honestly, I'm going to go with the latter. in which case, we have our

respect

from fozzer, at least, the part of the relationship that keeps a rivalry from being just straight up platonic hatred (other than the concupiscent feelings of course, among one or two other things). on kuprums end though? I don't exactly see that being enough for kuprum. I think he'd need a little more.

now, I imagine fozzer, as someone who digs in the fucking hard ass dirt all goddamn day, may possibly be jacked as shit. and I imagine the exact opposite for fucking omegalul headass. then again, he does have that big ass backpack and also carries his moirail around everywhere, but there's also the fact that the muscles used to carry a backpack and the muscles used to do active work with a shovel and maintain a graveyard are very different, as one set is for lifting with your back and shoulders and the other is for warfare against the Dirt And Rocks so that the very ground beneath you yields to your attempts to surgically implant a forever box in it.

I'm not sure if kuprum subscribes to alpha male strength brainrot though. in fact I'm pretty sure he doesn't, considering the little prank he and folykl pulled on those blues. but if you think otherwise, be my guest to incorporate "why is this burgundy physically stronger than me" i guess, which would be conflicting feelings of both respect and

rivalry.

this is getting a little bit long, so sorry about that.

i can see their rivalry being mostly stoked by the fact kuprum is a shit-stirrer, maker of problems.

list of shit that could possibly stoke some annoyance

-pranks. his pranks tend to be uhhh. in the spirit of alternia. can range from mildly infuriating, extremely inconveniencing, or downright dangerous.

-general reddit behavior. speaks for itself

-motherfucker likes to delve out roasts like he works at arbys, he HAS the meats, (not the oblong meat product kind like diemen) and could possibly cause one to develop some beef about it.

i can, actually, believe it or not, also see fozzer retaliating with a subtle jab when provoked, maybe.

summary.

in summary, despite the counterpoints ive brought up, i think these two could possibly form a rivalry that would make sense. if not, i can at least see some sort of unrequited pitch-pining. possibly from kuprums side, believe it or not. vriska at aradia style.

if you have anything you'd like me to add, and that goes for any of you not just the asker, put it in the notes and I'll add and re-evaluate.

[contagious-watermelon]

@aroosprey yeah ofc

I'm not sure exactly if I'm gonna be putting my thoughts into words correctly, as I've been trying to express my thoughts/feelings about this for a while and haven't really been able to properly nail down my thoughts on it

But basically it seems to me, as someone who's not interested in any kind of partner (romantic or otherwise), that all of the aro spaces I've been in (which are largely online bc it's so hard to find stuff irl) seem to have replaced the pressure to have a romantic relationship, the holding of romance as more intense/more meaningful/more important than other kinds of relationships, etc., with QPRs and the yearning for them.

And I wouldn't necessarily be that bothered by people talking about their QPR yearnings — although it's rather annoying when they tag them as aromantic when their posts have nothing actually to do with being aro — but I've also noticed a lot in online aro spaces that people like to push the idea of a QPR on people. Annoyed by rampant shipping in a fandom community when you want to discuss other aspects of the plot? Oh, it's okay, we can just ship them in a QPR instead. Feel isolated and alone being aro while all your friends are getting into relationships and leaving you as second best? Just get a QPR, problem solved. Worried about not being able to have kids or afford a house or anything that societally favors couples? Oh, you can marry someone platonically, that's no big deal.

It's like, as a response to amatonormative societal structures which harm aromantic & single people alike, the aro community decided that instead of fighting for our rights, that it was okay to just replace a romantic relationship with a queerplatonic one. It seems like they're trying to add queerplatonic into the hierarchy of relationships up at the top with romantic, wanting it to be taken just as seriously socially, instead of tearing down the hierarchy altogether.

(This is kind of a tangent but tbh it seems like what's happening to QPRs is very similar to what's kind of happened to nonbinary. Instead of challenging the idea of the gender binary, which is harder, people at large would rather add a third gender and then not question any of their assumptions about gender itself. In much the same way, adding a relationship type that (some) aromantic people can also access is easier for people to accept without having to change as much of their worldview than would be completely taking down the amatonormative structure of our society. And, of course, like nonbinary, many people can't even handle just that little bit of change.)

Idk, especially since QPRs trigger my romance repulsion in almost all the same scenarios as romantic relationships do, it feels even more alienating to have the same experience inside the aro community as I do outside of it.

am i the only one who feels like the online aro community has turned qprs into amatonormativity 2, aromantic edition

[ultimate-ranger]

for ship bingo!!! gondham (gonta/gundham), sondham, soudham, and miodham (Ibuki/gundham)?

HELL YEA thank u beloved mutual <3

this got long so all the ships are under the cut!

[send me a ship for ship bingo!]

Gondham:

So I never thought of it, but after viewing their little interactions in the UTDP and Summer Camp, they make SUCH good besties. It's something I'd like more platonically, but it doesn't bother me romantically so!

---

Sondham:

Okay they're CUTE, I can't deny that, but there's just something missing that makes me ship them romantically. I think it's just cause it was so, like, obvious? Idk how to explain it, but like with Gondham, they'd make GREAT besties, and I'm not opposed to it as a ship itself!

Also, I kiiiiinda hc Sonia as bi leaning towards women

----

Soudham:

Ok imma come out and say it: this is a sandwich I wanna get between KJFHSKDJHF

The trope of "trying to woo the girl but ending up falling for ur rival instead" just really gets me bro

I relate to both of them in a way, plus I always envision their relationship to be like this meme LMAO

----

Miodham:

I see where people would really like this, but tbh I see them more as sibling figures than a ship, yknow? Similar looks and aesthetics, but HUGELY differing personalities; and Ibuki would make the perfect "annoying yet protective sister" type, change my mind

[val-aquenta]

1,4, and 22 for the salty asks?

Hoo boy, this is just enabling me to rant lmao. But thank you so much for the ask. <333

1. What OTP's in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Gotta say Obitine. Uhh... I didn't get it when I first watched the cartoon, and I hated the implication that they gave Obi-Wan a romance to make Obi-Wan more 'human' (something I've heard other people push on the narrative.) I do like that it kind of showed the choice between being a Jedi and being in a commited relationship, but beyond that nothing. I also don't really like how most of Satine's whole story is determined by her romance to Obi-Wan. She's killed because of their relationship, most of the arcs with her surround the 'are they still in love and going to get with each other' narrative, and frankly it bores me. I am personally not into shipping in general, and I prefer more platonic and familial relationships like the Jedi-Clone and inter-Jedi relationships, so ships are kind of meh in general to me. I also didn't even see the appeal of their 'romance' tbh. They just seemed to argue a lot, and their confessions kind of came out of nowhere to me. If they did love each other, it really must have been a long time ago. I don't see it working?

Uhmmm off the top of my head are a few that I don't get, but I don't feel as strongly about. Qui-Gon x Shmi (never really understood why?), Rey x literally anyone lol (especially not our genocidal buddy kyle), Rose x Finn (not developed enough and then completely forgotten lmao, Ahsoka x Lux (ok this one is basically a notp tbh. Just... ew), and basically every Obi-Wan ship that I know (look he doesn't need fucing romance ok.) I didn't really want to go in depth with these because if we did heh yikes, we'd be here forever.

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

Hah. Anidala lol. From the top of my head, I think it's a very selfish relationship. I mean Anakin cares more about his feelings to Padmè than Padmè herself, and I feel like Padmè wants the clandestine romance vibes that come with being married to a person who is meant to be a neutral party. Especially during a war. Anakin's willingness to commit genocide for his 'love' for Padmè isn't a large sweeping romantic thing. The idea that he'd do anything for his love is pretty scary and I'm pretty sure Padmè, to some degree, knew of it. The fact that she continued to stay with him and live this double life means that she doesn't care about the consequences really. Idk I just feel like this relationship brings out the worst in both parties. The fact that Padmè is willing to deny that Anakin's fallen even when Obi-Wan comes to her door and tells her that Anakin killed Jedi could be that Padmè doesn't think Anakin capable of doing such a thing, but due to the fact that she was with him for the Tusken massacre and the whole Rush Clovis shit (and probably other tcw I don't remember) makes me think otherwise. Imo, I think that had the war ended and Palps been aprehended and everything gone well, their relationship would not have worked, because a large part of it was the fact that it was a secret thing, and that Anakin was not with Padmè that much. I don't see it working without outside factors imo, but whatever.

And, similar to many things, a lot of anidala fans are not willing to confront this truth that their relationship is built on lies and deceit and therefore will not continue to hold strong. So many of them ignore how Anakin broke his oaths as a Jedi to be impartial and place others over single people, and we all know that he did not do that when it came to Padmè. I know a lot of anidala fans aren't like this, and I'm not particularly vehement about this. This notp is more me not wanting to read anidala fics or see anidala art, and I've filtered it out. But yeah, some fan's vehemence that this was the one true thing and that if Anakin had been able to love openly (like he could... he just didn't have to be a Jedi to. Dang he really wants to eat his cak and have it too) and whatever he wouldn't have fallen just makes me... cringe a lot. Also I can't really separate what their relationship caused with the relationship itself.

22. Popular characters you hate?

Oh... uhh... this one makes me nervous ahhh. Well there are a few that I don't like as much as most people do and only a couple I hate hate. I really hate our lovely boy kyle. Uhh... mass murdering manipulator who tortures Rey and co, dude who stands by as entire planets are destroyed, and a genocidal maniac overall. I'm scared of some of his fans because yikes they're really fervent and trying to make kyle a morally grey character because of his 'redemption' during tros. Like... I don't care. You can say the same about Anakin/Vader tbh, but I think a lot of my hate for our buddy kyle comes from his fans and r*ylo stans who are very... intent on excusing Kyle's shitty actions. At least most Anakin/Vader fans know he's a shitty person and don't try and morally grey-ify him if you get what I'm saying.

Jango Fett too. I mean, I haven't read any of the books featuring him, but I'm gonna say it. Jango decided to enter that contract to create the army of clones. Essentially, he signed them up for the army in that contract with Dooku, so idc about your 'but he'd be such a good mand'alor and dad to the clones' bs, because he really wouldn't. He's incredibly selfish, and idk a lot of people seem to think he's the next best thing since sliced bread. I guess I should add Bo-Katan as well, because she's very hypocritical. the whole 'shouldn't you care about my sister' thing was not a good look because Bo-Katan, who helped bring the group of people there to destabalise her reign and kill her? Did you think deathwatch would just let her go freely? lmao with these two it's more I just don't like them that much. It's not like I hate them a whole bunch.

[sirdust]

OK BUT SAME ABT THE ANGEL/HUSK THING. cannot get into the ship, i don't see the appeal or the chemistry (which, yeah i KNOW we've only got the pilot, but tbh considering the fact that it's taken off so far with only the pilot for basis, i think NOT shipping it is honestly less surprising.)

to be fair the reasoning seems to be that they have a lot of potential, which could be true but as for me the fanon explorations i've seen haven't spoken to me and feel like a big leap from the pilot characterization if you get what i mean? i know one popular interpretation is a more bickering/bantering approach but we haven't seen that interaction in canon with them yet and while i like that a lot more than husk just silently being forced to tolerate angel's advances (or even secretly enjoying them which i find kind of gross), i think i need to see it executed in the show for it to sell me

i see it compared to stolitz a lot but aside from superficial similarities, the characters' personalities, history, and chemistry are very different, which is why i love stolitz but still feel indifferent to angel/husk at best. and i don't want to make it sound like i'm annoyed at other people for enjoying the ship, but i do find it a little grating when it drowns out a lot of other character or relationship explorations for those two

i glossed over it but i'm much more interested in exploring husk's platonic relationships than any potential romantic ones, or even just his character by itself. i think he and niffty have the potential for a really sweet friendship and his dynamic with al is ripe for comedy. as it stands it's difficult to find husk content that isn't him being paired with angel. while i'm a bit more open to exploring angel's love life, husk is still not my first choice for that personally (not speaking on canon because the ship will most likely BE canon and we have to wait to see if it's executed well, but on a fanon level)

i also think vivzie's old drawings might be a factor since she paired them up a lot in those, but i've seen her older stuff and it still doesn't really sway me towards the ship. i do have a couple ideas for how the ship could be executed well, but at the same time they're not really anything i'm excited about, just concepts for how it would work without taking me out of the story (since there's not really a solid basis for it yet in canon, aside from angel flirting)