#to other fandoms we seemed to have gotten what a shipper could possibly wish for but did we?

[buckingham-ashtray]

BBC Sherlock, The Final Problem (x)

[eisforeidolon]

You seem to have been in the fandom for quite some time and I was curious has the factions in the fandom always been at odds with each other in regards to the actors and the story of SPN? It just seems like the hellers are trying way to hard to take over this show and it irritates me that they insist on a story moving forward that looks drastically different from what we got from this series. I really hope if there is a continuation of some sort that both Jared and Jensen stick to this story being about these two brothers because I would hate to see that diminished by delusional fans with an agenda to just win and prove themselves right. Misha continues to frustrate me with his pandering and now Jensen is having to try and navigate "gotcha" questions to prove his character is actually bi. It just seems like some fans are not enjoying this show for what it was and now I am in the camp of hoping no reboot happens. Maybe J2 can do something else together. I would enjoy anything at this point to get away from Destiel and crazy shippers.

Someone else may be able to give a more thorough picture with detailed history, because I haven't been here the whole time, just since about season 8 or so. The general impression I've gotten from my own observations and previous discussions on the topic is that it was a cumulative thing, though.

A lot of people are squicked by incest and RPF, which is entirely fair. So there was a certain portion of the audience prior to season four that was desperately looking for something to ship that wasn't either of those things. Then Castiel came along and stuck around for more than just one or two episodes, and they were off. Obviously there was some shipwarring over that. No fandom over a certain size is actually very peaceful and there had already been some back and forth between Samgirls and Deangirls over who was The Worst or The Woobiest in the early seasons. But it started out as just typical shipping stuff at the beginning. You know, writing fanfic, making gifsets, talking up certain scenes, enjoying the shipper teases, coming up with wishful scenarios that could happen. Just shipping something that isn't canon which fandom has been doing basically forever.

Except somewhere along the line, some of those shippers started to take their own fan activity way too seriously. It wasn't just an interesting possibility to read that scene as intimate, the writers totally intended it as intimate, how could they not? That joke? Wasn't really a joke, it was the characters' hidden feelings trying to come out. All those things that could be very, uh, creatively associated with sexuality/a romantic relationship? Were secret signals for the Real Audience aware of the Real Story that had to stay hidden for now for Reasons, but would obviously be Endgame! No one they acknowledged the existence of cared about Sam & Dean & the family business anymore. Except maybe a couple lingering creepy wincest shippers, and ew, nobody likes them! It just kind of built on itself over time. It wasn't as intense when I joined the fandom as it was by the end, because each secret hint they convinced themselves was actually there, each lie and misleading hint Misha told them? Built on itself to where they convinced themselves they had a mountain of evidence rather than a house of cards that was all jokers scribbled on by a five year old.

I don't know exactly why it happened or what any more specific tipping points may have been, although it has been a more general trend for fanon ship shippers to get very demanding of TPTB as those people have become more accessible on SM. Still, I don't know of any faction that are still going nearly four years after their canon ended like hellers are. Is it the conventions? Is it that they were already talking revival as it ended? There are some interesting questions there, but I don't think anyone has really delved deep into all the specifics of the whys and wherefores.

Regardless, I really don't see any universe in which Jared and Jensen agree to a continuation that isn't about Sam & Dean, given everything they've ever said about those characters and their story. I can't even see any kind of additional attempt at a spin-off including D/C. It's just not a canon thing (according to anyone who hasn't been shown to have a hidden agenda). Even Castiel's final scene interpreted as romantic? Is just about Castiel's feelings, not the ship being a thing. Jensen may have decided it's not worth trying to talk people out of their wild interpretations, but that doesn't mean he's actually decided they actually know the show or his character better than he does.

On the other hand, I don't see any continuation that doesn't involve hellers eagerly convincing themselves they're getting secret signals through Dean's eye blinks up until the very last second that the ship will happen ANYMOMENTNOW! And then wailing in bafflement about how they could be so wrong and screaming about homophobia before self-soothing each other that surely it will be canon next time. Surely the Sam & Dean show has to stop being about Sam & Dean sooner or later. It's not like not having a revival is going to stop them, clearly.

I'm not actually against a revival, I'm more ambivalent, but I would actually rather see J2 together in something else given the choice. I don't really need more SPN, especially SPN of the same caliber as the last several seasons, and I think it would be really interesting to see what kind of dynamic they'd have together as entirely different characters.

[thetaekookcloset]

The thing with Jennie and Taehyung is that the latest pics may not be real but the Jeju Island ordeal seems to be likely.

- Even before that car pic was release, there were some people mentioning sightings of them together . Then the flight attendant episode. So, it’s possible there are two different things happening. Tae and Jennie may be dating and were together in Jeju Island.

- Someone decided to blow up the rumor by editing pics.

I agree that Taekook as love story is way more enticing and beautiful as all love stories that involve ‘forbidden’ and ‘us against the world’ kind of relationship. People feel good thinking they are supporting a star crossed love story and I think the appeal of Taekook has a lot to do with this.

On the other side, although Tae and Jennie are obviously cute and seems to fit the story that most people expect ‘Popular Prince meets Popular Princess’ , it is really the most predictable, cliche kind of romance that happens in this business. I don’t even understand how people talk about this rumor as ‘dating scandal’ as there is nothing scandalous about a hetero, single, equally rich and popular pair dating. If he was a bad boy, maybe it would be something more exciting but this is really the most ‘Ken and Barbie’ kind of matching that people could expect.

That being said, that is exactly what could be happening. I understand the disappointment and sense of loss people may have after believing they were supporting something for 9 years that turns out to be something else ( a very beautiful friendship). I think there is also some hurt pride, especially because other shippers will certainly use the opportunity to glee over Taekook proven wrong …. But a reminder that this would be all that it is… a wrong opinion of the kind of relationship they had.

Taehyung still will be happy, Jungkook still be happy. Maybe it would be even better to finally find out Taekook as romance doesn’t exist because it means then that there were never suffering the pain that involves a secret relationship. If Taekook was real, it means 9 years of pretending, hiding, watching other ships be pushed to hide, constant fear of being found out, maybe lies to family and friends …. If Taekook as romance was never a thing, there is some kind of relief that comes with it. Relief that they didn’t really had to go through all this.

I wish Taekook fandom prepare themselves for the real possibility that Tae and Jennie were a thing and maybe this perspective would help. Being in a gay relationship in SK for 9 years means a lot of pain for them. If Taekook romance was never there, then we must rejoice that it means that at least these obstacles also never existed for them as well.

Most important: even if not romance, Taehyung and Jungkook have one of the most beautiful and close bonds in BTS.

I do agree with a lot of what you’re saying and I think it’s a good perspective to share.  I also think the Jeju Island stuff was likely separate from the photo drama we’ve gotten recently, though to be honest I still don’t think it’s likely that Tae and Jennie were there together.

It didn’t sound like the timeline made sense for them to be there at the same time, why would they be flying on a budget airline, and I think the car photo was probably genuinely just different people who happened to look a bit like them, because honestly I don’t think either person in the car looks exactly like Tae or Jennie.

Plus, from what I understand, that photo came out because someone saw the two people in the car, took a couple photos, and then sent them to a big kpop fan account on Instagram, which shared the photo and then deleted it pretty quickly because people really thought it was Tae and Jennie but there was no proof.  I think someone just saw a couple people who they thought looked like Tae and Jennie and the photo got shared around a lot, but for me, I have doubts that it was actually them.

Beyond all of that though, I agree that there’s always the chance that Tae or JK could be dating anyone else, or no one.  Whether they’re in a romantic relationship with each other or not, they still have this same beautiful bond that we’ve all picked up on and enjoy.  If it turns out that we’re wrong about the nature of that bond, like you said, in the end it’s just an incorrect interpretation, a wrong opinion, and it’s not the end of the world.

Taehyung and Jungkook will still go on living whatever lives they have lived all along, and they’ll go on having the same beautiful relationship that we’ve seen.  I’ve actually been thinking about making a post about why I wouldn’t be bothered to find out that they’re “just” friends, to talk about a lot of these same things, because even if there’s no romance to their relationship, there’s still so much adoration and sweetness, which is lovely to see in a friendship.

Finally, while it’s true that I would never wish suffering or pain on anyone, especially because of who they fall in love with or feel attracted to, and I would be glad to know that Taehyung and Jungkook didn’t go through that sort of pain, I also can’t bring myself to say that it would be a relief to know that they were never together for that reason, because that would make me feel like I’m saying the pain of being queer isn’t worth the beauty of it, and that’s not something I can do.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, anon!  I think you’ve got a good way of thinking about this and I’m glad to have your perspective here for people to read.

[silvia7272]

Miraculess Ladybug Salt AU: You Always Liked To Play With Fire ~ The Prologue

Hey everyone, this is a new story I wanted to introduce to you all.

I’ve been putting everything in a massive word doc because I had so many ideas and finally settled on putting it out today because it's my birthday. 29th, I may have updated it late.

Yay.

So as a special treat, here’s a new series with a few original characters, ones you know or have been changed ever so slightly to fit, in a Miraculess world. (haha, you see what I did there? No… I’ll leave)

Also for anyone new, I’m a multi-shipper so I ship my characters with a bunch of other people, as I like Lukanette (Fandom Version), Daminette (Fandom Version), Felinette (PV Fandom Version), Marichat (Fandom Version) and I guess Rosannette. What’s Rosannette? Well, I guess you’ll have to find out, won’t you? (also no that’s not a typo, it is Rosannette)

Also, I guess this will just have the usual salt, maybe more, I don’t know. I kinda want it to just be about these two.

Word Count: 3912

Note: I haven’t tagged anyone just in case, this is a different series from my other, I just got really excited and wanted to write it. If you still wish to be tagged for this story please say and specify.

Also: This is a salt story, it will have OOC moments from everyone so it will be classed as an AU. If you don’t want to read that’s fine, and have a nice day.

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy it.

This is for all the people that might prefer Rosinette (like from the songfic) instead, I don’t mind but it won’t be in my main series, so I hope this will satisfy you.

(Word of warning, I believe this will be an AU where the Miraculous don’t exist, and non-canon to my official story and I believe mentions of a panic attack might be lightly mentioned, don’t know if it is, but if someone could check and I’ll make the warning clearer that would be nice)

Summary: 

(Fire doesn't exactly have anything to do with this story I just really liked the title)

Note: This book contains OOC scenes of Miraculous Ladybug as well as a ton of salt, so if you don't like that stuff you may scroll past and have a nice day.

In a world with no Miraculous, no Hawkmoth and no Ladybug, how does our little heroine do?

Well, it usually would be hanging out with her friends, as any other teenager would do...

But, of course, this wasn't normal. 

This was reality. It was cold, hard and definitely not welcome.

So, when this girl wishes to have some kind of adventure in her boring, mundane life...

How long does it take for her to regret it?

***

Memories, it's such a simple word yet it holds so much meaning. One could either wish to forget everything from their life, and simply move forward so they could pursue their dreams. Or, simply relish in the past when they remembered how great it was, all the friends they had made, all the moments they had which were too good to let go.

.

But, I guess sometimes, you did have to let go. But let go of what exactly? Let go of all the happiness once you knew how it would end? No that would be too harsh and you’d turn bitter. Let go of all the sadness? But, wasn’t it an important life lesson to learn, sometimes, you just have to be sad because of the situation at hand. No amount of croissants or macarons would be able to lift your spirits back.

.

Or maybe that was too much of a specific example.

That was what Marinette had thought, staring at an empty glass so intently the man behind made himself disperse from the amount of time the unblinking woman just stared and never flinched.

She guessed it hadn’t all been bad, she at least had some form of happiness before it was violently ripped away, but part of her wondered, what would’ve happened if she never felt that type of happiness before? Would she have felt like she had for so long, was it the fact that she knew what being happy was like before worse? Because, as depressing as it sounded, if she hadn’t been as happy, would she have been as upset?

She would never know, she couldn’t go back in time since that was impossible, but the thought always came and went whenever she was alone with her thoughts.

So… Maybe it was for the best, that she was able to remember what real happiness felt like.

The tight feeling in your chest, butterflies in your stomach, face being so red anyone would worry if the bluenette had caught a cold instead-

Wait- this was an oddly specific kind of happiness she felt, surely she must’ve gotten mixed up with some other felling right?

Right!?

So, how come she was feeling this- incredibly bright heat from her cheeks when she felt a hand on her shoulder?

We may need to go back several years.

***

In a classroom in Collège Françoise Dupont, a young pigtailed girl sat at the back, tears silently falling onto her knees and bawled up fists. She didn’t see any use of wiping them away, since they would just come back anyway, and it would be useless to just repeat that endless cycle. She hadn’t looked around to see anyone else’s faces, they would either just ignore her, or taunt her for just crying, for just being human.

Now you may be wondering why she was so upset? What possibly could’ve happened to make our very cheerful and sunshiny girl become so hunched over she was practically crying her eyes out? Well, the answer lies on the one girl at the front. The one girl sitting in an all too familiar place. The one girl who just ruined all of her newfound friendships.

Lila Rossi.

And boy had she hated that name.

She couldn’t stand that smirk, that thief, that scandal!

And what exactly did she do?

.

She lied.

Now you may be thinking that may not have been all that bad, but it was.

Every time she opened her mouth, everyone would fawn around her, even Alix, the one who seriously couldn’t care about anything to do with glamourous celebrities, was hanging on the edge of her seat to hear one of Lila’s so-called stories. She just had to guess Lila held up a treat over her head to keep her being obedient enough.

She hated Lila so much because she was just using everyone to get an easy life at school, the fastest way towards popularity she guessed, but why she thought this was the fastest way was beyond her.

She hated Lila because she had spread so many lies, so many rumours, all about her. All so out of the realm it was such a surprise they all believed her without a shred of evidence.

It had happened so fast, one day, they were all friends, smiling and laughing like there was no tomorrow, the next, she was surrounded by those faces, those faces of disgust and hatred. As if she had committed even the worst of crimes, more so than Chloé, speaking of, who was absolutely enjoying this show.

But undoubtedly. What she hated about Lila the most.

.

Was that technically, she didn’t have to do that much.

After so many sessions of crying, and just not believing that they could possibly leave her, a friend, like that, she started to reason with herself, that maybe it wasn’t just Lila that pushed them all away.

She thought back to before.

Before they were friends, before Alya even came to Collège, she had been alone. Chloé had always gone out of her way to relentlessly bully her, and no one wanted to be friends with her with Chloé around. So she accepted it, just hoping one day, karma would seek justice and she’d be put in her place.

So she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And-

Gave up.

She accepted defeat after all the years. After the meaningless conversations with teachers that she should try and be the bigger person and rise above all of her hatred for her. Simply because they couldn’t do anything. They had no power over the mayor's Daughter. So they just let her continue her reign over the school.

She didn’t have any powers to stop her.

.

But then, a light of hope came.

The new girl, with ombre brown and red hair, glasses and hazel eyes. A striped t-shirt and an undeniable Aura that reeked of confidence.

As Marinette was being targeted by Chloé yet again, she came in, and for once, stood up to her. Chloé! No fear in her eyes as she, Alya, grabbed her, Marinette’s, hand and walked off to the desk at the front.

She couldn’t believe it, someone stood up to Chloé! She thought it had only been a myth, a legend, but that right there, it was real.

They became friends faster than the speed of sound.

And soon, she too was able to stand up for herself. Reclaiming her original seat back, and citing a quote her new friend had said… Then everyone had wanted to become friends… And, she felt ecstatic.

Finally. It finally came. The day she had prayed for had come. She felt nothing but pure joy.

And she didn’t want that feeling to go away.

She was terrified that the feeling would go away.

So, she thought of making sure that feeling wouldn’t go away.

That’s why she made so many ‘spare’ macaroons to give away, she didn’t spend her free nights staying up and making them, no way.

That’s why she provided so many free gifts to her friends. What? Her hand has a plaster, no she just tripped and hit herself, it had nothing to do with the gifts. Don’t worry, try your gloves on, do they fit?

That’s why she was late for class. Huh, no I’m fine, I’m not tired… But I might just rest my eyes for a bit, wake me up when something important happens.

That’s why she was so happy to realise Adrien wasn’t as bad as Chloé, the small gentle soul that he had, to graciously provide her with his own umbrella, how selfless.

And that’s why she held onto the idea of Adrien so much. The idea that he was perfect. The idea that she was in love with him.

So, she held onto it.

No, she clung to that idea because she didn’t want any chance to let go. So, she may have gone a bit overboard, with the whole, schedule thing, and the phone… And the schemes. But she believed it was harmless. No one else seemed to have any problems with it, so she believed she was in the clear.

Until she wasn’t.

And Lila used that to her advantage.

She remembered that day so vividly, just like all those other memories. The day she came. The day she would find herself in the same predicament from before, it hadn’t been that long since she had been friends with everyone in fact. She was still getting used to it, and her feelings grew as each day passed by.

She remembered when Lila introduced herself to the whole class, and at first glance, anyone would just think she was an innocent little girl. But behind that smile, behind those eyes, held a sinister intention.

She, in less than an hour, had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

Even her.

She’d been on a private jet?

Had a song written about her?

And saved Jagged Stone’s cat?

There was no way Adrien would fall for her now.

…So maybe she had been jealous of that girl before she had done anything. But she had every reason to. She, Lila, was pressed against Adrien who was happily talking to her. The love of her life! She had to do something, even if Alya had given her a disappointed look she just had to stop them from confessing their love to each other, it was inevitable now, so she followed after them to the park. If they even got too close, she was sure she could just conveniently interrupt, she just had to wait for the perfect moment, she only had a couple of hours before they would fall in love, get married, have three kids and a hamster named-

“Wow Adrien, you’re so nice to me. Y’know I really thought moving here would be just like all the other times. But you’ve really made me enjoy my first day Adrien.” She smiled so sickly sweet Marinette wanted to hurl, how dare she just hold onto his arm like that, so affectionately!

“Its no problem Lila, that’s what friends are for.” She smiled, hugging him so fast they almost lost their balance from sitting on the bench, before seemingly giving him a quick peck on his cheek, only for Adrien to turn his head towards her.

And they kissed.

However, it wasn’t a simple quick kiss, by all means, Adrien should’ve realised his mistake and pulled away.

But he didn’t, what felt like forever lasted a minute. One minute to realise that it should’ve been an accident. But they stayed like that.

It- it was over, wasn’t it? This wasn’t her being melodramatic, she just knew how it would turn out. They were going to fall in love so soon, she wouldn’t have a chance.

If only she had seen the look Lila gave, spotting her retreated form from behind a small trash can, the smirk would’ve given her shivers.

***

Getting back to Collège had taken longer than expected. Maybe it was the small amount of dread knowing she may have lost her love for good. Sure, there might have been Kagami as well, she had tried to sabotage her chances with Adrien too, but it always worked out in the end, Adrien always smiling as Kagami’s cheeks burned with redness. But to say they were friends afterwards.

Marinette would cringe at the fact she always felt so relieved afterwards reflecting years later at her choices. But she had always believed she would still have a chance.

Until today.

Lila came, and took him away, within hours.

And she couldn’t stop it.

Walking along the stairs to her class she had to keep her head held high, if she showed weakness, that would mean she was sad, she wasn’t sad, she couldn’t be sad. She still had all of her friends after all.

Maybe now, they could do more activities, after crying and eating a ton of ice cream of course with cheesy movies to brighten her mood up.

But, this would only be the beginning of that negative feeling.

Opening the door, she would be fully aware of something terribly wrong. At the front of the classroom, a crowd had formed, and a crowd that would soon become a routine in this classroom.

But a crowd formed around a girl, the new girl, Lila. She had seemed to be covering her eyes, water dripping down her eyes, no wait they were tears. What had happened?

She didn’t realise she had spoken those few words before heads turned around, looking- no glaring at her, why were they-? What had she done?

“Marinette I knew you could be a tad jealous but to actually do something like that” Huh? Oh no, Lila must’ve noticed she followed them, how embarrassing, and definitely not the best first impression she could’ve made.

Before she could apologise, before she could explain she really didn’t mean any harm. She didn’t have time to.

“To threaten her to never talk to Adrien again because she likes him. Well, I never thought you’d put your jealousy out like this.”

What!?-

No- she didn’t- she, just saw them kiss.

She didn’t even speak with her.

Why would she say this?

Why didn’t she say anything?

Why wasn’t she defending herself?

Why was she letting them believe that so easily?

Why

Why

Why.

.

Why was it so hard to breathe?

Running out of the classroom was easier than looking at all of those faces. Those accusatory faces. She hated it, she couldn’t do- defend- explain.

She- just-

She-

She-

She-

She was in a room?

The bathroom.

It didn’t matter why, as long as she was alone, she could cry to her heart's content.

The fear seeped over her just like that first time, knowing Chloé had won and would never stop, she had lost and lost everything.

Everything she had worked so hard to obtain.

Everything she had worked so hard to keep.

To make sure she didn’t have to let go.

And now it had gone.

Because it was then Marinette realised. That girl, those tears hadn’t been real, there she saw her eyes hadn’t been red or puffy, the tears’ dried up rather quickly, and the inconsistent wails made it very likely she was only doing them for effect and sympathy.

That girl. Was lying!

That must’ve been it.

No way could she be telling the truth. And no way could ‘I saw her around me and Adrien’ be translated to ‘she threatened me, I’m so scared of her’

Maybe, maybe with that, there was hope.

If she could just simply convince her friends that she was lying, then everything would be all sorted.

And maybe she and Adrien-

Wait, she was getting a little ahead of herself there.

Wiping her tears away she proudly opened the door, ready to face her fears.

Too bad her fears were much much stronger.

No matter how many times she would try to prove her innocence, it became worse.

When she tried going to the teachers, they bat an eye with her responses. Obviously not taking her seriously, and just believing it to be some teenage drama, she was pushed out of the classroom and told to try and just be nicer and make friends with her.

That was harsh but expected.

She tried talking with Alya, she turned away from her. Not wanting to hear anything come out of a crazy stalkers mouth.

That had hurt.

She tried talking with any of her other friends, y’know, the ones who ‘always’ had her back.

They too turned from her. Believing Lila without a doubt, I mean, they knew how jealous Marinette could get, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think she would jump to that, considering the situation.

That felt like a punch to her gut.

She tried talking with Adrien, even if she did stutter and always lose her words around him. But this was more important, than a silly crush.

.

She wasn’t used to saying that.

But, the way he looked at her, it felt like- pity.

He told her he already knew.

He already knew? Wait- then why didn’t he say anything?

Because, as the naïve little boy stood so tall and ‘innocent’ he simply wanted to help her through his own way.

“She was only lying for attention,” He said.

“Once she finally makes some real friends, she’ll stop,” He said!

“In the meantime, you should really drop this, it would be just awful if you were to hurt Lila again. After all, she hasn’t hurt anyone, she doesn’t mean any harm”

.

.

She stood in shock.

This was the boy she had fell for?

This spineless- foolish- Son of a-

“So please Marinette, don’t cause too many problems for her, you shouldn’t be so harsh on her. If you really value our friendship, you’ll do it.” He smiled before walking off, leaving her to her thoughts.

That felt like someone had walked over to her, ripped out her heart and squashed it in the palm of her hands, all while grinning.

Why, why wasn’t she able to see before? Did her heart want to deceive her by falsifying all of his qualities? Was she just blind to bear witness to him not being as perfect as she made him out to be? Was it because she just couldn’t entertain the thought of letting go?

She didn’t know, she just hated this negative feeling. It felt so familiar. She wanted it to go away.

Unfortunately, that feeling would only grow for months.

And it was about to be worse.

“Huh? Marinette? Why are you crying? If this is about what happened this morning, don’t worry, I’ll forgive you” She was crying? Huh, when did that happen?

Whatever, more importantly.

“W-What, no you don’t have to forgive me because I did nothing wrong” Lila’s worried expression faltered for a bit before she grew ‘scared’

“H-Hey, I didn’t realise you felt like that. Oh, you poor thing” Her eyebrow snapped, she seriously didn’t like being called a thing.

“Save it, I can’t prove it but I know you’re just lying to everyone here. And you need to stop, you’re going to hurt everyone when they find out. You need to confess” Her face faltered again, but it never recovered, her once innocent eyes hardened as she smirked, a look that seemed almost natural, as if she had perfected it by looking into a mirror countless times.

“Oh, so you’ve finally figured it out? Figures, I was told you were the smartest one, and it seems like I wasn’t wrong”

“What?” Lila sighed, maybe she had put too much faith in her being the smartest.

“Ugh, you’re so young Marinette. I haven’t told the truth all my life, why the hell should I start now?” Marinette was stunned, why, why was she telling her this?

“Honestly, and I thought Adrien was naïve. Look, I’m not here to play games, I have this whole routine wrapped up. So just sit back, stay out of my way and I might consider making another lie that would benefit you.” It was an offer any reasonable person wouldn’t refuse.

Unfortunately for her, she didn’t want a reasonable offer.

Marinette stared, she was- she was fully aware of what she was doing?

“B-But you’re going to end up hurting everyone, you need to stop, please!” She begged.

Lila frowned.

She was just like all the rest.

“I don’t care”

Huh?

“I said I don’t care, seriously don’t you get it yet? I’m here to win by all means necessary. You were in the way so I took you out. They are just little trophies to remind you of my victory. You had your chance”

She stood still, this situation felt so familiar, but she had to stay strong, she couldn’t give up now. If reasoning with her won’t work, then maybe understanding might, and she could work with that.

“Why are you doing this, do you really not care about when you get caught? About how everyone will feel when they know you promised nothing in the end?” She hoped she would see some sense. They were good people, they shouldn’t be manipulated into this, she was sure they would’ve been friends regardless of what she had promised.

“It’s because I can”

.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean, dear sweet Marinette, is that because I am able to, I can. I’ve had years of practice with this, and the result always has me at the top, all that oppose me either stay at the bottom or beg for mercy from moi. It's always a delight to see their hope diminish. To realise they would do anything but to be alone.”

Alone- that word, that word stuck with her so much.

She didn’t want that- but she didn’t want her friends to be tricked either.

“Besides, you made it so easy for me, in reality. You only have yourself to blame”

“What- I didn’t even-” A finger was wagged in front of her face.

“Ah ah ah. You really should know better than that. A calendar full of Adrien’s schedule? A box full of presents for Adrien? Sabotaging dates? You’d think I’d have made it all up, it only made the end result so much greater. Seriously Marinette, I don’t even know if I’m the bad guy here, what you’ve done really isn’t appropriate behaviour. But I do know of a great therapist, they helped me through such a hard time” Lila continued to talk as Marinette zoned out. She was the bad guy? No- no that couldn’t be, that was just a harmless crush, that was just what normal teenaged girls did.

But- if it was. Then why didn’t anyone tell her it was wrong, she didn’t mean for it to be wrong. She just didn’t want them to leave, she just didn’t want to be abandoned again.

Why didn’t they say? Why didn’t she realise?

Why did she know?

Lila must’ve seen the shock as she giggled, not at all innocent.

“It was so easy manipulating all of them into telling me about this ‘crush’, once they realised just how crazy it actually was, they had no problem seeing you for the crazy stalker you are.” Lila flicked her hair up away, only for it to come back, but it didn’t matter, she made her point.

Not having the energy to look up, she would’ve noticed Lila had left her behind, laughing too, because no one had been there to overhear their absolutely private conversation. Her overall plan would not be undiscovered today, tomorrow, or the next. It wouldn’t be discovered ever.

Because she was in control.

Marinette, wasn’t in control.

Just like before, that hollow feeling from before, it was back.

And so much worse.

.

She hated Lila, because she made her realise, she was right. All along. And she just had to accept it.

And gave up trying.

She reverted back to how she was at the beginning of the year.

The quiet girl that no one paid attention to, alone, in the back, with nothing but her sketchbook.

Gone were the childish pigtails, it was for the better, no one said anything about then anymore.

Because she realised.

She wasn’t a child anymore.

She couldn’t be, not after this.

***

Hey, so I guess this was more like another prologue, so I’ll have to apologise if it seems just like the other one, but the premise is still the same so yeah.

And I think I might like the idea of a non-Miraculous world; it seems interesting since I feel like Marinette wouldn’t have as much of a confidence boost since she wouldn’t be Ladybug, please tell me that would make sense.

I think it’s interesting for how much would change and stay the same, and my OC will be making an entrance next time, however, here they are all like 13-14. The next chapter will have a time skip of 3 years, oh and Lila came in late, like around Season 3 late ok? So they already know about Kagami and Luka.

Also if you’re confused about anything feel free to ask any questions.

Cya next time.

Note: Please tell me if I should add anything else to the card, there will be one of these cards for all 15 chapters, however, because I have uni work all updates will be slower because I really need to focus on the uni stuff, then I might be able to upload quicker.

[deadmandairyland]

Considering watching Oregairu season 3, but I’m worried that I might end up leaving it bored and possibly disappointed like I was when I finished season 2. Granted I don’t have any expectations anymore, so maybe I can bring myself to enjoy it more for what it is, but what’s really getting me is the fact that I never got very far in One Punch Man and I still haven’t gotten around to watching My Hero Academia, two anime that I am almost fully convinced that I would enjoy if I put in the time, and yet I’m willing to risk being disappointed by a series I wish I could enjoy but has burned me out in the past. Because in hindsight I do like the characters of Oregairu (well, for the most part), and I actually recall enjoying the first season quite a lot, but the second season just kinda turned me off. Doesn’t help that outside of more LGBT-friendly spaces like Tumblr I have seen so much hate for Hachiman x Saika and, well, just Saika in general. Seriously, either there’s a huge hatedom for Saika or they’re just really loud, like more than any other series that features “The Gay Option” and otokonoko-type characters and such (which at this point are increasingly becoming fan favorites just about everywhere else). I’ve even thought about putting “Unapologetic Hachiman x Saika shipper” in my bio just to spite those people, even though I have yet to reblog or even really post much about this series.

But I do find it funny that I watched Oregairu with the impression that it was a comedy about a down-on-his-luck guy with two “official” love interests who either treat him like crap or want to change everything about him, who seems to have a much stronger crush on a boy in his class than either of these two love interests that you know the story’s not going to do anything with because status quo which especially sucks because it seems like the boy reciprocates those feelings, and wacky hijinks ensue because it’s a harem slice-of-life comedy anime, and... well, it still had all of that, but it wasn’t quite what I expected--specifically the fact that the comedy and the boy just kinda get phased out in favor of boring me half to death with nothing happening for half a season--and then I watched BakaTest afterwards not knowing what to expect, and, funny enough, it basically gave me more of what I was hoping to see from Oregairu, pretty much. And wouldn’t you know it, I left BakaTest feeling not bored and not disappointed.

But I still want to give Oregairu a chance, man. I like the characters (for the most part), I like their designs, and I think their personalities work well enough off of each other, and I remember enjoying the first season a lot. I also know about the stuff that’s basically LN-exclusive that I wish I could have seen animated because, y’know, stuff I wanted to see in the anime actually happened in the LN (Hachiman/Saika/Zaimokuza BroT3, bruh, why would you make the specific, distinct decision to deprive us of funny scenes involving these three?).

But yeah... biggest thing to take away from this is that somehow I haven’t started My Hero Academia yet and I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. Hell, at least there it seems like ship drama is less of an issue, since it seems like most fans basically just agreed to ship the MC with literally everyone. Now granted this is coming from an outsider’s perspective, and MHA probably has a lot of the same issues with ship drama as every other fandom, but I still think we could learn a thing or two from the MHA fandom when trying to deal with ship wars. There was an attempt made, and that’s more than can be said for most other fandoms.

[stomp-that-ho-regard]

I typically don’t do asks (I've only ever gotten a few), but a recent one got my gears turning and I wanted to reply.

(This is a secondary blog, so I can’t answer asks in the usual way.)

Your post about the retcon is so fucking good, I wish every critter saw it and actually thought about how shitty it was done, but then their belief in the cast and show would probably start cracking.

Thank you for liking the retcon post. I’ve seen various people in the tags thank me for making that post and have said that it’s helped them ‘feel less insane’. None of us are insane. We are not delusional. We didn’t experience a mass hallucination. These things happened, and they’ve been thoroughly documented. Hundreds of hours of material over the course of three years.

The people who should read that post won’t ever see it because I have all those assholes blocked lol. If they did manage to find it somehow, I know they would just mock it, as they’re wont to do with any of our criticisms. They’re so far up CR’s ass, they’ve convinced themselves that a retcon didn’t happen. Even shoving the literal definition of the word in their faces wouldn’t wake them up.

It's just so fucking weird to see how the group is acting now, and I'm pretty sure we're never gonna get a Laura&Marisha episode picture and a TM episode with those 2 for the rest of the campaign. It feels like when a non-canon wlw ship gets big on a TV show and suddenly the actresses can't be seen or interact with each other anymore🙄 it's the same fucking pattern and like you, I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this on a d&d show.

I specifically want to address the “It feels like when a non-canon wlw ship gets big on a TV show and suddenly the actresses can't be seen or interact with each other anymore” because I’ve thought about that pattern too. (Not so much with Marisha/Laura ‘cause them being on TM together is already a rare combo. If they don’t appear much or at all going forward, I don’t think it’s because of this, though it really wouldn’t surprise me. But, I have been thinking about that specific pattern in regard to their characters.)

I can make a comparison between this situation and what happened with the show A/gent Carter and the way the ship Cart/inelli was handled.

I know that might sound weird, but stay with me here lol...

I want to make it clear that I’m not comparing the relationships at all. Cart/inelli did not have nearly the same amount of build-up and depth as Beaujester, (or quite frankly, their level of possibility.) What I am comparing is the creators over-the-top reactions to these characters being shipped so hard and the extreme measures they went to in order to ‘remedy’ that.

The ship included P/eggy Carter and A/ngie Martinelli. The show was set in New York. Angie was a waitress (who wanted to be an actress/be on Broadway) at the diner that Peggy frequented. They ended up talking quite a bit and became fairly close. That ended up kind of becoming the core relationship in the entire first season, and LOTS of people started shipping it.

At the time, no one was calling us crazy or delusional. At most it was, “This is ABC! They’re not gonna pair her with a woman!” and of course the obligatory “But Peggy’s not gay!”. But no one was calling us names or being generally cruel. And anyone who tried it was ignored because everyone else drowned them out. The ship became extremely popular on Tumblr and Twitter. Both actresses were very positive and supportive. They regularly liked/retweeted romantic Cart/inelli fanart on Twitter. Even one of the female writers on the show got behind it too. It was asked about frequently at conventions and no one booed or rolled their eyes. The questions were never dismissed or made into a joke. (Honestly, this was one of the better overall fandom experiences I’ve had on here.)

And all of us were super excited for S2. Not just because of all the support, but because they had ended S1 with Peggy and Angie moving in together. Peggy had purchased, either it was a really fancy apartment or house (my memory is fuzzy on this), and she literally asked Angie to stay with her. Needless to say, that fueled the flames even more.

But despite the actresses and at least one writer being on board, between S1 and S2, something shifted.

Clearly, the showrunner and/or the execs, took a look at all of this and deemed it a ‘problem’. When S2 finally came around, suddenly everything was different. Instead of both of them living together in New York, instead of it being an organic (I’m beginning to hate that word) continuation from where they left off, Peggy decided to move to Los Angeles to do work for some agency out there or something, and Angie stayed in New York. It’s never explained why. It’s never explained why a woman who so badly wanted to be an actress would NOT want to go to LA, where Hollywood is. LA was never mentioned in S1. There were no hints that Peggy might want to fly out to the West Coast at some point. She seemed perfectly happy in NY, basically setting up house with Angie.

And they didn’t even ease into the change. They just got rid of the character. The actress was bummed about it and Cart/inelli fans tried to put pressure on the showrunner/writers to bring Angie back, which the actress completely supported, but even that fell on deaf ears. So, Angie was simply no longer an entity on that show. Conveniently removed. All the excitement we had was crushed. And of course, the second that Peggy got out to LA, she suddenly had a very obvious male love interest. What a surprise.

The showrunner/writers were not subtle about what they thought about our ship and us. They made the most extreme, nonsensical writing decision in order to permanently separate these two characters. Because, hey, that’s the only way to get the shippers to STOP, right?

This was what I was reminded of when I started seeing the turn that post-hiatus CR was taking. It ended up being a weird combination of kneejerk erasure (BJ) and heavy-handed overcompensation (BY).

But of course, CR is not a TV show, it’s D&D. And they can’t force one of their PCs to just disappear, so what do they have to resort to? Not interacting.

We all know how severely neutered Beau and Jester’s general relationship has become. It’s clear to me that both Marisha and Laura felt they had to do that. They had to suddenly have their characters stay away from each other as much as possible so they could prioritize Fjord and Yasha, and speed-run into romances with them. They started acting as if either of them giving the other one ounce of affectionate attention (like they had been doing so often and so naturally before), would be breaking some sort of hidden ‘relationship code’. Almost like if they ever hugged again, the studio would go down in flames.

The very obvious fact that they went to these lengths, to me, proves two things...

One, it proves the retcon even more, because you can tell that the way they behaved with each other DID in fact change. The frequency of interactions and the way those interactions would play out. Whenever they interact now, it seems like they’re trying to keep it as short, thin, and almost comedic (to the point of goofiness, and not in a good way) as possible. Their engagement seems half-assed and dull. The sounds of their voices, their facial expressions... completely sanitized. Even all the physicality they had is gone; the touches, the hugs, the cuddling. Every single aspect is different and they absolutely did that intentionally. This had to happen because they needed to dupe the viewers into believing that despite overall interest waning, their threadbare connections to Fjord and Yasha are more important, and were always more important then their connection to each other, that we all watched them steadily build. (And watched them pick up steam from about ep70 onwards.)

And two, that whole intentional decision to cut themselves off from each other, proves to me that their interactions pre-hiatus were indeed tinged with ‘something extra’, that was more than just friendship. They both recognized it and that’s why they pulled back so hard. That’s why soft touches and hugs and cuddling are no longer ‘allowed’. That’s why quiet, heartfelt conversations are no longer ‘allowed’. Because if there was absolutely nothing there, if they didn’t see/feel any romantic chemistry simmering underneath, and it was all just platonic BFF stuff, why would they suppress their behavior so drastically?

I think that all of this really does cement what I said in my retcon post: That there are disingenuous patterns being used here that I’ve seen far too often in media. In A/gent Carter, it was a character separation, in CR it was a character dynamic separation. Both done on purpose, to make the shippers shut up, and to push a different plot.

One is scripted, the other is unscripted, but the situations feel disgustingly similar, don’t they?

[otp-armada]

"Bellarke doesn't make sense," they say. They say because Clarke hasn't done anything that resembles romantic gestures toward Bellamy. 

Conceding to march to her possible death in exchange for Roan sparing Bellamy's life. Obstinately fighting against Bellamy's stubborn wishes to remain outside the Ark while Praimfaya burns to the world to ashes. Shattering her soul by choosing 100 people to live and writing his name on the list, because he must survive. She can't have it any other way. Relinquishing 50 of those spots to Azgeda when Bellamy is captured and threatened, and Roan calls her bluff. Desperation driving her to the extreme to ensure the survival of the human race, yet unable to kill Bellamy to keep the bunker closed and the grounders from possibly killing Skaikru. Leaving the guaranteed safety of the fort to stay by Bellamy's side on the brink of global cataclysm. The bittersweet yet soft head and heart exchange she prompted. The hesitation in her last remark before imploring him to hurry. 

4x13 ends six years and seven days post-Praimfaya with Clarke radioing Bellamy on the Ring. An activity she performs daily for six years. In any six years of my adult life, my only daily consistencies have been limited to breathing, eating, and sleeping. This girl is devoted enough to send her equivalent of love letters into the emptiness of space for 2,199 days. Season 5 opens with her trying to survive by herself in an apocalyptic wasteland. She spends her journey narrating to him her unvarnished struggles during the most traumatic experience of her young life to date. Her despondency. Her loneliness. Her agony. Her desperation. Her small victories. Her discovered treasures. Her determination. Her doubt. Her guilt. Her defeat. Her morbid self-reflection. Her relief and contentment. Her happiness. Her admission of missing him. She shares all of it with only him. Only he is permitted to know her to this depth. Not any of her other people on the Ring. Not any of her people in the bunker, a group including her mother. Not a spiritual communion to the great, big love of her life Lxa, situated on her throne in the high heavens and waiting for her trophy wife, for Clarke to stay connected to her dearly departed. Isn't that the sort of behavior that might occur by a bereft widow? 

After finding an oasis to rest and call home, even after discovering a companion to build a life with, she continues with her radio calls. It doesn't matter that he never received her communications. The importance of the gesture- the intimacy of sharing her life and thoughts with him while he was gone- remains the same. The magnitude of her devotion to him made clearer through the absence of a single responding utterance. 

She lovingly tells Madi stories of Bellamy as her hero. Gazing warmly, hopefully up at the stars as if she longs for her vision to cut through an endless pitch-black sky and find dark curls and freckled constellations from thousands of miles away.

"Bellarke doesn't make sense," they say. They say because post-Praimfaya ended with an established B/E.

As Clarke looks up at the stars, questioning if she'll see Bellamy again, we transition to our first glimpse of Bellamy after six years, forlornly looking down on Earth to the very spot of green where he is unaware of who is yearning for him to return to her. Contrary to Clarke, who is covered in warm firelight when thinking of him, he is colored in cold, muted greys and blue, no speck of warm hue. (The rhyming scheme was unintentional, but hey, I'm going with it.) Behind him, his family is sparring, but he's distant from them. He's trapped within this tin can, his arms folded, his body taut, not facing the view on the other side of the glass, but still enraptured by the sight of his home below.  

We see what changes to the characters and their dynamics have taken place until, at long last, we uproariously cheer as Bellamy & Co. find a way to return to Earth, the sole event we've been anticipating for eleven months, to the point we could feel it at our fingertips, jittery and tingly. Bellarke reunion!! He's going to know she's alive! Yes! Finally!! Break out the champagne! We're celebrating, dammit! It's going to be so damn emotional! Authors start crafting mental fanfics. People are bouncing off the walls like bright, errant fireworks, unable to sit still. I can't believe it's finally happening...what do you think it's going to be like? Will he run to her? Will he be stunned and speechless? Will they sob uncontrollably?!? They'll be clutching the life out of each other! Another Bellarke hug!! The very best hug!!! They're never going to let the other out of their sight again! He's going to meet Madi! Mom, dad, and adopted preteen make three!!! There's no way they're not getting together after this!! He just got her back after six years of thinking she was dead!! The reunion's not going to happen this episode, but maybe next week, when do you think? You mean we have to wait seven days before----

B e c h o.

We stood on the precipice of what we agonized and crawled through for eleven excruciating months, only for an anvil to drop, and our heads to be clubbed. Our bodies fell through the floor, descending lower and lower with immense haste, to take up residence in the seventh circle of hell. 

Do you think the framing of these events wasn't intentional?

Do you think the powers that be behind the creation of that calamitous bombshell for our protagonist, intended for us to root for B/E? 

By us, I'm not restricting the effect of the blow to Bellarke shippers. The entire audience, casual and fandom alike, shippers and non-shippers, was meant to await this reunion. We were all meant to feel devastated by this revelation. 

If they didn't want to invoke in us feelings of support for B/E at their inception, how in the name of all things holy is a purported B/E endgame your conclusion? 

"B/E doesn't make any sense," they say, "when last we saw them, she was his enemy. Nothing more, nothing less."

Do I think their pre-Praimfaya status as antagonists rendered it impossible for B/E to have a convincing love story or sexual relationship?

I think, if Jason were so inclined, we could have gotten flashback Ring rendezvous of secret trysts between Bellamy and a googly-eyed, blonde-wig-wearing broomstick designated Clarke 2.0. So no, I don't consider B/E a deviation inherently outside the realm of romantic possibility. Jason is an artist, and this show is his canvas. He can give life to almost any whim he'd like in his work of fiction. Not only that, but B/E is also hardly the first pairing in this series modeled by the enemies-to-lovers trope.

"Bellarke doesn't make sense, they'd say, "absent any concrete evidence alluding to a romantic relationship." "Seven years running, and not a trace of romantic love," they'd conclude. 

Remind me, what was B/E's sublime prologue into coupling up again?

Furiously choking the life out of an enemy in a fit of rage two episodes before revealing her as his new girlfriend evidently can be considered by some an adequate precursor to a sensational romantic relationship. But endangering Earthkru's lives by risking the wrath of two societies in refusing to let Clarke die, pumping her heart for her to stay alive while begging her to fight so she can come back to him, cannot be. 

Either this show is quite the oddity, or it’s fandom's periodic knee-jerk, ass-backwards, charming zeal at play. 

The lack of rising development is all the more reason why B/E's grand unveiling demanded perfection. Instead, our first insight into their union is overshadowed by Clarke and the impending Bellarke reunion. B/E isn't central enough to the narrative to warrant focus that would put to rest any discord of illegitimacy. But you know which pair of the two is concentrated on for seven seasons now? Three guesses... 

But don't despair. Fandom has decreed, by its own appraisal, the shorthand of kissing and sex has rectified the discrepancy of a complete absence of pertinent on-screen development.

"It's not ideal storytelling," they say, "to exclude B/E's development. But The 100 has historically been a plot-driven, fast-paced, contained drama. It has always evaded expanding on character dynamics to fans' satisfaction.”

The writers have done more to present Josephine and Gabriel as soulmates with less airtime than B/E ever had in total. They don't lack the skill or time to fortify B/E in anyone's mind as the central romance. Jason made a conscious choice not to. Why would he? Does he think the endgame love story of the show's deuteragonist doesn't merit attention to detail by the writing? Or does it seem more likely, it was never his intention for B/E to cross the finish line?

And, for a plot-driven, fast-paced, contained drama, they sure have an awful knack for finding the time to showcase Clarke's kicked puppy reactions to an embracing B/E. We've had three thus far. One for science, one for emphasis, and one to say, "Do you people get it now?"

"Bellarke doesn't make any sense," they say, "if they wanted each other, they'd have gotten together by now." 

A long time ago, someone stated, "Lovers are supposed to do that you know and if they don’t do that it means their relationship isn’t romantic if sexual intercourse isn’t added." 

And to that, I posed the question, "Where exactly is it written that "if a pairing is not made canon by season [insert arbitrarily chosen number here], it will never be made canon, period?" Was I just absent from fandom class that day and skipped to the lesson on slow-burn ships?" We are going into the final season, and I stand by this question today as I did then. Bellarke could refrain from physical expressions of love and candid confessions to season 17, and their journey could continue to exemplify a love story. Because the absence of either one doesn't preclude two people from falling in love. Nor does the inclusion of either one necessitate two people falling in love. 

"Bellarke doesn't make any sense," they say. They say because Bellamy is her dearly beloved, but platonic, best friend.

Well, you've got me there. I'm stumped. How can it be possible for friendship and romantic love to behave as anything but mutually exclusive concepts? It's not as if friendship can be contorted to serve as a foundation for love.

 The cornerstones of strong friendships include trust, care, support, devotion, and many other features of a similar nature. Love- deep and genuine love, that is- involves frequent kissing and passionate, vigorous sex. The wilder the display, the stronger the pairing. The dozens of couples, love interests, and sexual liaisons before B/E who have kissed and had sex before dying must not have first consulted the manual for proper protocol.

And the inverse? Once two people fall in love, they cannot fall back to say, a familial connection. No, no, no. Such a regression would be the work of a tragic, reprehensible flaw in the cogs of the universe. Speak nothing of it.

"It doesn't make sense for B/E to break up," they say, "when B/E has stayed together for two seasons sans any indication Bellamy loves Clarke more than Echo, enough to want to leave his loving girlfriend."

How many times has Bellamy tried and failed to honor his commitment to Echo? How many weak attempts are met with a corresponding scene of Bellamy shifting his attention to the girl he tells himself to get over?

Echo leaves for Shallow Valley, his focus immediately turns onto persuading Clarke not to leave his side. He symbolically chooses Echo in the fireside scene by touching her sword. Yet, he looks at his girlfriend for the first time since their separation with the most aloof expression unsuitable for the occasion. No hope to be found anywhere. They share a brief reunion hug, no time for intimacy. He is reunited with Clarke and casts a nervous glance at Echo when bombarded with Clarke's appreciative gaze. Still no time for intimacy between B/E before a decade-long nap, but time can be carved out for a warm, flirty Bellarke reconciliation, complete with intensive heart eyes. No inspired, emotionally wrought, double sunlit embraces for B/E. If Bellamy is going to look out of a window at his future home, he'll either be by himself or snuggling Clarke into his side. There's no place for Echo in the lock of his arms anymore, only room for flanking him in the way loyal lieutenants tend to do. His girlfriend glances over at him as their exploratory team roughly plummets to new territory, and he does the same at Clarke. B/E reconnects lakeside, him asking for a swim with her and leaning into her arms at a campfire. He sits by her side on a swing set, amidst talk of moving their people into an abandoned village. And it's all well and good for B/E, right? They're presenting the front of a happy, unified couple. 

Until...Clarke walks away behind his sight, and he leaves Echo's side to seek Clarke's missing presence where the flirting and warm gazes and near confessions are kicked into overdrive. He calls Echo to hear his latest discovery, then proceeds to ignore the hell out of her, communicating exclusively to his co-leader. He stares wistfully at Clarke dancing with her new flavor of the night, cannot stop doing so even while excoriating Echo for her stoicism, expressing his frustration at her inability to fulfill his emotional needs. 

He recommits to Echo, as Clarke is kidnapped and her body is stolen, with nary a transition, suggesting we are meant to link the two incidents together. For all his resolve to face the future with Echo, he spends the whole of the next episode with a wary eye on Clarke, to the point that he is the first to realize Clarke is not herself. In the ensuing arc ranging from 6x05 to 6x11, approximately half of the season, what was B/E, again? Was that a thing concurrently happening with Bellamy's Operation: Save My Clarke? Because I seem to be able to recall only Bellarke goodness. Oh, my mistake, there was the consoling hug which, oddly enough, did nothing to soothe him. As evidenced by his choice to grieve alone. No girlfriend he wanted close by for comfort, knowing clear as day she couldn't provide it if she tried. Not with who he just lost. 

B/E gets another brief reunion hug, the majority of which is spent with him peering at Clarke. The show saw that hug and raised us an Austenesque-quality counterpart that would do Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy proud. 

"B/E endgame is the only sensible outcome," they say, "they love each other so much."

I don't contend they don't love each other. But we are shown two people determined but incapable of snuffing their deep-rooted feelings out of noble propriety, and most importantly, out of needless fear of unrequited love. And another two people who sought- and failed- to keep grasping the wisps of a gentle relationship slipping out of their hands since they left their comfortable space bubble. For anyone in this conundrum to be happy, the only natural course of action is for the latter to call it quits. The writing has been on the wall for too long.

Maybe a single Bellarke scene plucked out of the lineup can be interpreted on its own as platonic buddies being platonic buddies. But when all those individual moments are woven together, what forms is an ornate tapestry with a pattern so vivid, any inane rhetoric involving a hint of the word "platonic" is little more than ludicrous anti drivel transparently cooked up by those wishing a different endgame.

I hope you've enjoyed my second long-winded rant, @sometimesrosy, @jeanie205, @travllingbunny. One born of a teaching moment in which I learn for the umpteenth time it's best to steer clear of Twitter.

[ellanainthetardis]

1, 4, 9, and 25 for the salty asks pls 💖 (for 25 if you could answer for hunger games and/or the 1OO that would be fun, along with any other fandom you want pls)

1 and 4 I just answered in a previous ask ;)

9 Most disliked character(s)? Why?

I hate Coin. XD I think MJ is self-explanatory about why but yeah that's the one character in thg I reaaaaally do not see a redemption side for. I'm sure she has one and hasn't shared with me yet but yeah... She's just so... black and white... She's just the bad guy masquerading as a good guy. It's obvious from the start and I have nothing against bad guys, I think Snow is an interesting (if horrible) character. Coin, I just... Nope.

Also I am not very fond of Gale but while I disliked him in the books I think my real dislike of him comes from the fandom's view of him (it played on my own opinions) and also because he gave me suuuuch a writer block for KTVS I might never forgive him for it XD

I used to not like Plutarch either. I still don't like him as a character but I found him really interesting so I wouldn't say he's my most disliked. I just think he's the ultimate slytherin and a real piece of work who has no morals XD I kind of enjoy writing him though.

In HP, one of the characters I can easily dislike is Dumbledore. It took me a long time to get there but with age and with every re-read it seems so obvious the whole thing is a huge set up for harry and... Yeah. It doesn't change anything that he loves harry, in teh end he's still raising him up for slaughter and I'm not a Gryffindor so I can't appreciate he does it for the right reason or the "greater good". I mean, at one point, I was known to enjoy some Dumbledore bashing fics XD

25 How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX?

For thg: I think the ending is solid. I wish she had remembered about Effie and obviously if it were me, the epilogue would have included hayffie but... XD I think the only change I would have liked was the mention of children. Or at least the way the children are mentioned. I would have either just made clear Kat and Peeta get together and leave to the reader's imagination if they had kids or not or maybe change the wording so it doesn't sound so... forced. Because ultimately, I don't think Peeta would force her into having them but the wording does make it look that way a little hence the whole decade old debate and yeah... But other than that I think the ending is coherent with the rest of the books you know...

It's not the perfect ending, none of the main characters have an immediate happy ever after but eventually they get to find peace and happiness and that's a good reflection of life. It's full of hope.

For HP: *singsong* I would have gotten rid of that epiiiilogue.

I hate the epilogue. I hate that everyone ends up with their childhood sweetheart as their forever partner. It's unrealistic.

Also, I'm not saying I'm an angst person, but i'm an angst person. And I think maybe if we wanted a more "adult" slash "realistic" ending one of the golden trio should have died. There are pleeeenty of heartbreaking death in HP but I can't help but feel like some of them were there as window-dressing. Idk. I hated how they did the final showdown in the movies too, it has to be said. and a part of me wished they had kept the scene with Draco handing Harry his wand but that's the shipper in me haha

I also hate one thing a lot in the HP ending. When Dumbledore alters his quote saying help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it to those who deserve it... This felt... Meh. Because I think it's doing a 180 to the original quote. Also there was a lot of slytherin bashing that goes against the general message of cooperation and unity but... Ok. XD

I mean... HP had its problems XD I would go so far as to say that while it's iconic, it's the fandom that made it that way. There are plenty of fictions that are better than hp out there. That's the thing JK never got. The fandom made HP what it is from what she gave us. She's not the ultimate queen anymore. I know lots of fics that are better than canon.

And now for the 100. Oh boy where should I start. Do I like the ending... I never saw the last of S6 and I never saw the last season although I am thouroughly spoiled. Let that be clear. My last episode has been the Marcus Kane demise. XD

How i would have end it...

Well, you know what? If I had to be realistic, I would say at the end of S5. S4 was meh even though it gave us Abby/Kane but S5 had a good ending with the Harper and Monty' s very emotional send off... That was a good end. Send the heroes toward a possible future... Leave it here.

Alternatively, what I was hoping for/would have loved to see is for a complete whipe out of S5. Get back to the end of S4, forget the bunker, send everyone back into space (with a viable solution maybe like the end of S5) and have Abby/Kane stay behind to launch the ship and die together. Reverse of S1 of a sort. *

What I would not have done is have Abby become what she's become, let Raven get soooo judgmental it wasn't even funny, force Abby to watch Marcus die the same way Jake did, have Clarke kill Bellamy, or, for that matter, destroy octavia's whole character development...

Last but not least: stargate. What was even Unending? XD That show deserved a better ending and I cannot lie. So yeah... Anything else but THAT episode. A good thing we got the movies...

[tea-at-221]

So, let's delve a bit into the Spanish dub of Supernatural.

I'm going to go through a lot of terms here, and a lot of basics, in order to increase people's level of understanding as to how the dub may possibly have come about the way it did.

This post will provide information and, I hope, allow some members of the fandom to move forward with their own theories with more reassurance. Information is power. I will define and clarify industry terms to the best of my novice ability to make it easier for others who wish to do their own research.

This post was inspired by the fact that I've been part of multiple fandoms in which queerbaiting has played an enormous part: I am tired of seeing fandom friends left devastated and without answers, no emotional resolution in sight. So this post is, in spirit if not content, largely dedicated to my fellow Johnlockers and Queliot shippers. And most of all, for Quentin Coldwater, who deserved not just better but the very best.

Disclaimer: This is my own research and there is a bit of speculation involved; I can't guarantee 100% that I will get everything right (I hit some very frustrating walls looking up what should be easy-to-find facts), but I did a *lot* of work for this. Other people will doubtless be able to clarify points/give better specifics/correct what I've gotten wrong. I am not promising a concrete answer to “SPN gate” here, as without more information than we currently have that is impossible to declare with certainty.

More under the cut.

All that having been said, onwards (see end for sources):

First, who airs the Spanish dub of Supernatural?

Answer: the Warner Channel.

Why? It goes back to who owns The CW.

From Wikipedia (2): "The CW Network, LLC, a limited liability joint venture between the CBS Entertainment Group unit of ViacomCBS; and the Studios and Networks division of AT&T's WarnerMedia, the parent company of Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB. The network's name is an abbreviation derived from the first letters of the names of its two parent corporations (CBS and Warner Media)."

Warner Bros apparently is the side that handles the delegation of dubbing to outside studios. So, who does Warner use for their dubbing? Perhaps multiple studios, but the two I found in the course of my research were SPGStudios(5) (who specifically handle localization for Latin American Spanish productions) and Iyuno Media Group (formerly BTI Studios)(3).

What is localization?

Simply put, it refers to the translation of the home language of the show in question to the language of the new market it's entering. So, Supernatural 15x18 is translated from its native English to Spanish for Latin American viewers.

And what exactly *is* dubbing (actually called revoicing within the industry; dubbing is a widely-recognized term, however, and it's pretty well understood what is meant by it)?

Here is the Merriam-Webster definition:

"1 : to add (sound effects or new dialogue) to a film or to a radio or television production —usually used with "in"

They dubbed in the music.

2 : to provide (a motion-picture film) with a new soundtrack and especially dialogue in a different language

The film was dubbed in French and Spanish.

3 : to make a new recording of (sound or videotape already recorded) also : to mix (recorded sound or videotape from different sources) into a single recording"

There is a slang term, "dubby," which refers to any overdub that is comically jarring and obviously a dub. The history of dubbing has been such that this has become a way to think of and recognize it: by how awful and ineffective it used to be when it came to foreign films sloppily overlaid with English dubbing.

However, we are in the midst of an age of networks and companies scrambling to play catch-up, eager to use modern technology to create more effective, convincing dubs. In short, they see the moneymaking potential of presenting finished works that viewers may not even realize *are* dubbed without careful inspection. It's true that a good dub is about 10x more costly than subtitling, but it's hard to satisfy the viewer's desire for escapism if they can't suspend disbelief because they're busy reading.

The truth of that is reflected in internal statistics Netflix (for instance, but not just them) parses to gauge viewer interaction and retention with their various shows: when comparing subtitled vs. dubbed shows, it's easy to see which is the winner.(1)

So to be sure there is no nefarious intent here, we would need to be able to identify the following:

A.) What exactly was the process for this dub?

B.) Who decides what changes to make during a dubbing process?

C.) Who approves those changes?

*Can* there be such a thing as a "rogue translator," as Misha Collins put it? (I am going to clarify here that I think Misha is an upstanding person who believed the best of the show he was involved in and all the people who made it, so his assumption of a rogue translator makes sense in the context of that emotion-based reasoning).

I'm not sure which studio did the dub for the Latin American Spanish version of Supernatural; if I had access to that episode perhaps it's mentioned in the credits. You'd think that would be simple enough to figure out anyway, but I was unable. So maybe someone can take a look and let me know. But, as an example, here is how SPGStudios outlines their localization (dubbing) process:

1.) They make a digital or analog transcription of a show/movie.

2.) The translation, or localization, is done by their staff (in any of 40 available languages their staff can speak). When translating, they translate for meaning and then adapt for time, tempo, and style. They say that "extensive experience is required to capture the essence of the language dialog while accounting for variances in speaking time between the source and destination languages." i.e.,  wording/word choice will be kept as true as possible to the original intention of the native language, but at the same time the translation will need to use its chosen wording in a way that fits what is being shown on-screen. To produce a convincing/pleasing dub, they won't replace a word like "looked" with a longer phrase like "scanned the horizon" because it's not going to match what's onscreen. That would be venturing into "dubby" territory.

3.) They perform the ADR process: the voice actors (in this case it would normally be Guillermo Rojas performing for Dean Winchester, though it appears things may have been different in 15x18, possibly due to covid) record the new dialogue to replace the original actor's performance.

4.) The newly recorded dialogue goes to the sound editorial department "to ensure that lip-synch is optimized and technical aspects of the vocal performance match the original."

5.) All of the new audio--including dialogue, music, and sound effects--is mixed together to emulate the quality of the original production as closely as possible despite the changes in rhythm that resulted from the dialog having been translated.

6.) Designers, animators, and VFX editors assist with the localization or enhancement of graphics, if needed.

7.) Localized Master: SPG has a 'traffic team' who 'ensures that all client delivery and storage specifications are met, including file formatting, labeling, and uploading." So in other words, the files are heavily encrypted (or that's how I read this).

Presumably, after all steps are performed, SPGStudios transfers the show back to Warner, who then distributes it. The other studio, Iyuno, makes it very clear that *they* can coordinate and handle all distribution themselves to a vast number of networks. That means that if the client desires, Iyuno can send the finished product directly out into the world.

There seem to be two types of scripts that can be given to the dubbing company:

1.) "In-Production Dubbing indicates that dubbing production is active in tandem with post production. In-Production Dubbing fulfillment partners should expect potential changes to source materials."(4)

2.) "Final Asset Dubbing indicates that dubbing production takes place after final delivery of the show. All source assets will be in a final state. The dubbing fulfillment partner should not expect any changes to the source materials."(4)

Without knowing which of these was agreed upon for SPN 15x18, it is very hard to say exactly where or if additional edits may have been performed on the original material that weren't performed on the translated material (in other words, earlier draft).

If the studio was given the episode as an In-Production Dubbing project, this could explain why the title of the Spanish translation reflected the original script title, "The Truth," rather than the final title in English, "Despair".

Assuming this difference was unintentional, rather than a calculated marketing ploy re: audience enticement (which seems admittedly unlikely), then yes, it could indicate a screw-up on someone's part. The question is, was the dub company given the task of generating the title card, or did some other graphics department handle that before the project made it to them? If the latter is the case, the choice to add "Me too" instead of "Don't do this, Cas" could be either a conscious choice on the dub studio's part as sort of a nod to what they thought "the truth" was, or could just be them going with what they were given and making their translation choices based on something else, such as rhythm/timing.

SO, could there have been an original script that had Dean say "me too" in response to Cas, which then went through translation and made it out into the world? Teeechnically yes, but one would assume that the original script and original *footage* would have to have arrived at the dub studio together if the script is being transcribed in-house as SPGSTudios outlines in their process. I'm going to reason that the odds of them using a later edit of the visual--one that contained what in this instance we would be assuming was Warner's preferred dialogue ("Don't do this, Cas") yet choosing to stick with their own audio revoicing of the (supposed) original script/visual's "Me too, Cas" with its now subsequently poor timing, seems unlikely.

So either they would likely have to redo the exact same "Me too" audio again (having made the choice to keep the original dialogue, while also having to work under pandemic restrictions re: travel and talent availability) to make everything match the visual footage time-wise, OR, it was simply a matter that the English scene always was just as we saw it, but that the studio chose to interpret the script the way they did and were able to do their timing the first time around to match accordingly.

This still leaves a question in the air regarding the origin and fate of certain clips of Dean's more visually emotive reaction to Castiel's confession that have been floating around the internet. I've only seen very very brief glimpses of them, myself, and I'm not certain that they're really evidence of anything other than more than one take having been done of that scene, which wouldn't be uncommon and doesn't necessarily point to a conspiracy.

I also want to state that in the wake of 15x18, I opted to protect my mental health rather than follow every development/rumor/speculation that cropped up in the aftermath, so there’s probably a lot that I’m leaving out of this post that may be pertinent. Do me a favor and do assume that I know nothing of it. lol

I will also add this about the other studio, Iyuno: they are very careful to state on their site, repeatedly and with great pride, that they are committed to presenting the world with the smoothest, most true-to-the-original localized version of a film or show possible. Quote: "...our entire team of staff wants nothing more than to make every single one of our partner's content feel as if it were never translated." They are not fucking around. They want to please the client. Would they have done something like the translation in question without any direct go-ahead from Warner? It seems unlikely, though they don't outline their process on their site the way SPG does.

Notice that in the SPGStudios process outlined above, there is no mention made of a review step in which the studio presents the translated dialogue to the client for approval re: the new wording. That doesn't mean there isn't a review step; however, without seeing the contractual agreement that was made between Warner and whatever dub studio they used, or knowing Warner's preferred process by some other means, it's difficult to be certain whether or not there was a review process for the translated script. I did find evidence that Netflix reserves the right to review such translated scripts before air.

Speaking of Netflix, I will include here what their translation requirements are, as I did find those. They, like Warner, also use Iyuno Media Group much of the time for dubbing (voiceover style dubbing in which they apparently like to leave the original language audible underneath, so that's slightly different from revoicing, but I'm working on an assumption that the general expectations are the same for both):(4)

"1. Translation Requirements

1.1 Main Dialogue

   All main dialogue in the source (original) language should be translated unless specifically noted.

   Due to timing limitations, some of the dialogue may be condensed/truncated as long as it retains all essential elements of the plot.

   Please refrain from dubbing redundant words such as character names and repetitions.

       Additionally, do not recreate laughs, hesitations, reaction noises, etc."

I'm looking at that bit: "Due to timing limitations, some of the dialogue may be condensed/truncated as long as it retains all essential elements of the plot."

So let's say just for argument's sake that this is pretty standard language provided to the dubbing studios. Netflix is a giant, so I'll proceed with that assumption given the lack of more concrete information:

Does it really change essential elements of the remaining plot to have Dean return Castiel's declaration of love? Forgetting about the outside, emotional ripple effect such a declaration was bound to set off in the viewing audience, no. The two characters have no further scenes together, nor does Dean go on in the next episode to immediately embark on a new relationship, or tell anyone that Cas said he was in love with him but he couldn't return it because he didn't feel the same. So technically, no rule was broken. And that is what it comes down to, if you're thinking like a lawyer reading a contract: specifics, not theoretical implications or consequences.

So, possibly what we have is something that was simple to add and easy to get away with/argue for: translated dialog that fit a dub better due to its length, and didn't actually change anything plot-wise (or at least, the argument for that could easily be made). This points to the painful crux of the matter: why would the Spanish version of Supernatural which aired in Latin America allow Dean Winchester to return Castiel's declaration of love with a "Me too, Cas"? Could it *really* be as insulting as the fact that "Yo a ti, Cas" would be a quicker, smoother dub than "No hagas esto, Cas"? ("Don't do this, Cas" in English.) Or did they see something they could get away with, and a reasonable argument to provide for it, so they went ahead and claimed a small LGBT+ victory?

Is someone, somewhere, getting in trouble for all this? Maybe. But could action be taken against them? That would look pretty bad, public-relations-wise, for the party expressing condemnation if that got out. Could Iyuno, or whatever other studio (again, I don't actually know which one handled the dub) theoretically feel a ripple effect from the fallout of this? Could they quietly suffer a drop in acquisitions/revenue for "reasons unclear"? Sure. That sort of thing happens all the time, so theoretically yeah.

Whatever the reasoning behind the decision to have Dean return Cas' declaration of love, surely they didn't have to do it. Surely they could have chosen some other phrase that fit. But they chose to do exactly what they did. I don't know what went down, in the end, or whether censorship was indeed involved, but I will certainly say that I think it was a brave and admirable choice that was made with the Spanish dub. It doesn't undo the "bury your gays" trope of course, but for some LGBT+ audience members it surely provides a sense of validation and maybe even lends a little hope for better representation--which is long, long overdue.

Thanks if you read this far. I hope that even though it’s not perfect it will be helpful in some way.

Sources

(1) https://www.indiewire.com/2020/02/subtitles-vs-dubbing-what-you-need-to-know-1202212800/amp

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CW

(3) https://www.iyunomg.com/

(4) https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/115016062708-Dubbed-Audio-Style-Guide-VO-Style-Dubbing

(5) https://www.spgstudios.com/localization

[kpop-zone]

The Days of Spring | Lalisa

Genre: angst, fluff

Wordcount: 4,120

Request: Can you make a scenario with lisa where you and her have been dating for a few years and only the members know about it. But yg’s been forcing her to go out with jungkook cause it’s good for publicity + the lizkook shippers are intense so you question if you should leave her to help her career. But since everything’s affecting your relationship she cant take it anymore and tells the world she’s gay and you guys are dating and everyone turns out being supportive

Is the coast clear?

You texted Lisa while you were sitting in your parked car a few blocks away from the dorm. Despite already dating for three years, you still had to sneak around like teenagers.

Yes

Lisa answered and you sighted, putting on your baseball cap and a mask. Your face was completely covered now, and you could dare to get close to Blackpink’s dorm. The paparazzi was everywhere and the two of you couldn’t risk anyone making up theories, because of how often you frequented the dorm. With quick steps and your head ducked low, you made your way to the gate of the property where one of Lisa’s managers let you in after checking a last time that no one was filming you.

It was an exhausting procedure, but it was routine already. Silently you rode the elevator to the right floor with the manager, knowing that he was disapproving of you being here. YG had found out about your relationship rather soon, because both of you knew that it was impossible to keep your relationship a secret from her company and the public. They didn’t approve of your relationship, but they did not disapprove either. They simply tolerated it as long as it didn’t compromise Lisa’s career.

The manager accompanied you to the door where he looked at you sternly.

“Be sure to leave until 10pm. Lisa has practice tomorrow morning. She needs her sleep.”

You flashed him a fake smile, but as soon as he turned his back to you, it faltered, and you rolled your eyes instead. As if Lisa wasn’t old enough to decide when she needed to go to bed herself. You opened the door with your spare key and took off your shoes once you stepped into the apartment.

When you made your way to the living room, you frowned. Something was bothering you.

It was unusually quiet in the dorm.

Normally music was blasting out of one of the girl’s room, someone was bickering, or they were all cuddled up on the couch, watching some TV. But right now, you couldn’t hear a sound, and no one was in sight. Confused you made your way to Lisa’s room, where you could see Chaeyoung sitting on the edge of your girlfriend’s bed through a crack in the door. She was whispering something, and it seemed like she was comforting Lisa.

Concerned you opened the door, making both of the girls whip their head around in surprise.

“Y/N.”

Chaeyoung exclaimed shocked and you shifted your gaze between the two girls.

Commiseratively, Chaeyoung looked at Lisa a last time before getting up and squeezing your hand while passing you to leave the room.

“What is going on?”

You asked curiously and Lisa looked at you with sad eyes.

“I’m so sorry.”

She whispered, while a tear rolled down her cheek and you immediately stumbled to her side, scooping her up into your lap, letting her rest her head against your chest.

“Hey it’s ok. Why are you apologizing?”

You voiced your confusion, but Lisa stayed silent.

Therefore, you just kept holding her in your arms, waiting for her to be ready to talk. It had been quiet for a while now and you had already started zoning out, causing Lisa’s sudden voice to startle you.

“They are making me date Jungkook.”

Lisa’s voice was silent, but her words were clear, and you had no trouble understanding them acoustically. Nevertheless, you couldn’t process her words, making you push her away a bit to be able to look into her face.

“What?”

You hoped that you had only misunderstood her, but when she looked at you in regret, you knew that you hadn’t.

“Blackpink has received a lot of negative press lately, because of the delay of the album launch. Therefore, YG decided that we need a distraction and good publicity.”

Lisa trailed her sentence off, apparently not wanting to give you more information, but you kept staring at her expectantly, so she sighted loudly.

“A lot of people ship us with the BTS members. So YG struck a deal with Big Hit. Jungkook has been struggling with unbeneficial dating rumors lately, so they are going to feed the press that we’re dating to eliminate those rumors and distract everyone from our delayed album.”

Finally, Lisa looked at you and you could see how uncomfortable she was right now. But you didn’t have the words to make her feel better.

“But.. we’re dating.”

You stammered, not being able to grasp that YG would do something like that to you.

“And that isn’t going to change. I swear, there will be nothing going on between Jungkook and me. We just have to go on some fake dates, so the paparazzi will be able to snap a few pictures of us.”

Lisa scrambled to her knees now, cupping your face and looking deeply into your eyes.

Of course, you believed her, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. For over two years YG knew that you were dating, and they still didn’t allow the two of you to go public. You had to hide and weren’t even allowed to be seen next to Lisa. But someone like Jungkook could be portrayed with her.

“Could you please say something, Y/N?”

Lisa’s shaky voice ripped you from your train of thoughts and you tried to muster your best smile.

“Well if it’s the best for both of your groups, I don’t mind.”

You tried to sound positive, but your voice betrayed you.

“Y/N...”

Lisa breathed, but you removed her hands from your face.

“It’s fine, Lisa. Don’t worry. I know this is just for publicity.”

You stated while climbing off the bed.

You walked to the kitchen and Lisa quickly followed you.

“We...”

Lisa started, but you immediately cut her off.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Lisa, ok? I said, I’m fine. So just leave it at that.”

You retorted and Lisa closed her mouth, looking at you taken aback.

You didn’t intend to upset her, but you could really not talk about her relationship with Jungkook right now. You wanted to forget this new gained information as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, you wanted to show her that you were not mad at her, so you interlaced your fingers with her after you had gotten some snacks and pulled her to the couch.

Lisa rested her head on your shoulder, and you wrapped your arms around her like always, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. Lisa’s burning gaze was laying on you and there was this tensed atmosphere in the room, but you pretended to not notice it.

You just needed some time, you told yourself. You could come to terms with this fake relationship.

But this task turned out to be harder than you had thought.

Your plan had been to simply ignore this PR stunt. You knew that Lisa would come home to you at the end of the day. What she did in the meantime was none of your business. But it wasn’t possible to ignore the news of the year.

After Jungkook and Lisa had been shipped for years, their relationship was finally confirmed and both fandoms went absolutely wild. As well as the paparazzi. In every newspaper, every magazine and on every social media channel, they reported about your girlfriend’s newfound love, making you wish that you could close your eyes to all of this.

The pictures were the worst part. Jungkook and Lisa had already gone on three “dates” together and if you weren’t dating Lisa, you’d probably melt at the snapshots, the paparazzi had taken. They looked cute together. Wide smiles were plastered on their faces in every picture and they were always shyly holding each other’s hands.

You felt nauseous every time you looked at the pictures.

But YG’s plan seemed to be working. No one was talking about the delayed album anymore and the sales of both groups had skyrocketed.

Normally, news like that would have made you happy. You would have come to Blackpink’s dorm to drink Soju with the girls while Lisa laid in your arms, letting her fingertips softly caress your skin.

But now you could feel yourself distancing yourself from your girlfriend. The paparazzi had managed to get into your head. Would it be so bad if Lisa dated Jungkook? Of course, you would be heartbroken, but love wasn’t about selfishness. And it was selfish to keep calling Lisa yours, if she could thrive with someone like Jungkook by her side. Her fans would be appeased, and her company would surely give her more benefits if they’d see that the sales would continue to increase.

With your heart being torn in two, you made your way to the dorm. Your face concealed and your steps heavy. Once again, you found your girlfriend’s room empty, meaning that she was on one of her dates with Jungkook again. Tiredly you slumped down on Lisa’s bed, waiting for her return to do the inevitable.

It was almost midnight when she finally returned, and you chuckled to yourself when you heard her key turning in the lock. Of course, she was allowed to stay out past her curfew if she was with Jungkook. Silently she tiptoed to her room and opened the door, almost screaming in surprise when she saw you sitting on the bed.

“Y/N! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that you were waiting.”

Lisa whispered and you could see her bad conscious reflecting in her face.

You knew now that you had to end this relationship. Not for your sake, but for Lisa’s. You hated to be a burden for her. After every date, Lisa spend every waking hour to make it up to you. She was exhausting herself while trying to balance her job, Jungkook and you.

“It’s fine.”

You reassured her for the millionth time, holding out your hand for her to take.

With a sad smile you pulled Lisa next to you on the bed and she looked at you worriedly like she was already suspecting what was going to happen.

Your gaze met hers and you felt your heart growing heavy. Her beautiful brown eyes pleaded you not to hurt her, but yet, you needed to.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

You breathed, letting your gaze fall to your lap.

“W-what do you mean?”

Lisa stammered shakily and you closed your eyes, wishing that you could teleport yourself away from this place when you opened them again.

But when you took in your surroundings again, you were still sitting in Lisa’s dimly lit room while her sniffling sounded from the side.

“You know what I mean. I’m tired of this hide and seek.”

You stated regretfully and Lisa started stuttering next to you, searching for the right words.

“Don’t do this, Y/N. I thought you loved me.”

She sobbed eventually and you looked at her again, causing the air being knocked out of your lungs when you saw Lisa’s tear-filled eyes.

“I do love you, Lisa. So much. But that’s why I need to let you go.”

You answered while wiping away a tear that rolled down Lisa’s cheek.

“No! If you love me, you will stay with me.”

Lisa almost yelled at you in desperation and you weren’t sure anymore, if you were strong enough to leave.

“Don’t be so stubborn. It’s better if I leave. Look at all those people that support Jungkook and you. You were made to date someone like him.”

You admitted reluctantly, but Lisa was having none of it. She cupped your face and forced you to look at her.

“Don’t say that, Y/N. I love you and only you. So I am meant to be with you.”

She said confidently and you could feel your resistance crumbling.

“Lisa... you could have it so much easier.”

You sighted, but Lisa immediately shook her head.

“I don’t want easy, I want you.”

She smiled while slowly moving her face closer to yours, waiting for you to push her away, but when you didn’t, she softly pressed her lips on yours.

When she pulled away, she rested her forehead on yours, stroking your cheeks with her thumbs.

“I know this is hard. And I hate that I have to put you through this. But please don’t ever leave me.”

Her voice sounded so broken that you could only agree and nod in response.

In relief, Lisa pressed another kiss on your lips before pulling you close and wrapping you into a tight embrace.

Against her management’s order, you stayed the night. Lisa didn’t want to let you go, so without further ado, you changed into one of Lisa’s oversized shirts and snuggled up in bed together. Your head was resting on Lisa’s chest, while she ran her fingers through your hair until you felt yourself drifting off to sleep. The last thing you remembered was Lisa kissing your head, before the world turned black around you.

-

Lisa heard your slow, steady breathing and knew that you were asleep. Finally, she could let the tears run freely that she had been holding back for weeks now. She covered her mouth with her hand to silence her sobs. The feeling of you slipping away gradually had been killing her and she had only been waiting for you to break up with her.

She had saved your relationship tonight, but Lisa knew that this wasn’t a permanent solution. You were bound to break again. But Lisa couldn’t lose you.

Carefully she slipped out from underneath you, making sure not to wake you. Quickly she grabbed her phone before tiptoeing to the living room.

She plopped down on the couch, taking a deep breath and thinking about whether she had made a rash decision. But no. The two of you had wasted enough time, trying to adapt to YG’s pace. Enough was enough. Therefore, Lisa opened the VLIVE App and started a livestream.  

While the connection built, she could feel her heart almost jumping out of her chest in nervousness. Normally, she would ignore this feeling and put a fake smile on. But not today. Today she wanted to give her fans an insight into her real life.

“Hey guys.”

She greeted the already 10,000 viewers with a shaky voice once she went live.

“This livestream wasn’t planned, so bear with my rambling.”

Lisa chuckled, but when several ‘We love you’ messages appeared on her screen, she managed to calm down a bit.

“Stalling won’t make anything better, so I’m just going to tell it as it is. I’m in love with someone. But not with the person that you guys think. This person is in my life for over three years already but had to stay out of the spotlight. This person is really special to me and I can’t even start to describe my feelings.”

Lisa’s nervousness faded away when she thought about you and a smile played on her lips.

“She...”

Lisa broke off when she realized what she had just said and looked into the camera with wide eyes. But then she remembered that she could lose you forever if the two of you continued this hide and seek, so she exhaled shakily before continuing with determination.

“She is my soulmate and I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for her. I know this livestream will probably receive a lot of backlash, but I’m tired of hiding although I have done nothing wrong. I’m a role model to many young people and I want to apologize for not being honest in the past. But from now on, I don’t want to lie anymore. I want to show you that it’s ok to be yourself. Love is something beautiful and I will not let anyone tell me that it is something to be ashamed of. I...”

“Jagi?”

Your voice suddenly sounded from behind and Lisa could hear your steps nearing. A little later you appeared in the living room and Lisa made sure that the camera wasn’t showing you. You stood there with your hair disheveled in her shirt and Lisa knew that she had made the right decision. A wide smile decorated her face and she turned back to the camera again.

“Don’t let anybody tell you who to be or who to love, guys. I love all of you, always remember that. Good night!”

Lisa said before turning off the livestream and walking up to you.

“Oh my god, Lisa. Why didn’t you tell me that you were doing a VLIVE? Did they hear me?”

You asked panicked, but Lisa calmly took your hand and pulled you to the bedroom.

“Everything’ fine. Don’t worry.”

She smiled at you and you looked at her suspiciously.

“Are you sure?”

You dug deeper and Lisa nodded her head before laying down and letting you snuggle up to her.

“Why did you do a livestream at this hour?”

You suddenly wondered out loud, but Lisa didn’t want to worry you tonight.

She knew that you would disprove of her action, but it was the only way to stay by your side.

“I will tell you tomorrow. Rest now.”

Lisa whispered as she kissed the side of your head and you tightened your embrace in response.

“I love you.”

You mumbled already half asleep, causing Lisa’s heart to flutter.

“I love you too.”

She responded with a smile, knowing that she had done the right thing.

Feeling as free as never before, Lisa closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep in no time, ignoring what would come in the morning and savoring this moment instead.

-

“Lisa!!”

Jennie’s upset voice ripped you out of your sleep and you jolted awake. Sleepily you rubbed your eyes and saw that Jennie was standing in front of the bed with her phone in her hand, staring at her group member in shock.

When you looked at your girlfriend, you could see that a sheepish grin was forming on her lips.

“You know that you’re dead now, right?”

Jennie partly looked like she was joking, but a part of her also looked worried and you turned your gaze to Lisa to search for an answer.

“What did you do?”

A faint foreboding sat in the back of your mind and you prayed that you were wrong.

“I made our relationship public last night.”

Lisa stated nonchalantly and your mouth fell open in shock.

“You did what?”

You asked in disbelief, considering whether your girlfriend and Jennie were just pulling a prank on you.

“It’s all over the news already and YG has called a million times.”

Jisoo suddenly remarked as she was walking into the bedroom too, followed by Chaeyoung closely behind.

“Um... congrats for finally being free?”

The latter stammered with a lopsided grin and Lisa chuckled next to you.

“What if you get fired??”

You couldn’t understand how your girlfriend could be so calm right now and already started picturing the worst scenarios in your head.

“So be it.”

Lisa shrugged and you felt like fainting of excitement.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. Lisa is too valuable for YG.”

Jisoo tried to cheer you up, but she didn’t have much success.

Therefore, Lisa laid her hand on yours, making you look at her.

“Don’t worry, babe. I’ve thought about this. This was the only option for me. So I will accept the consequences, no matter what they might be.”

She looked confident in her decision, nevertheless, you wished that she wouldn’t have risked her career for you.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and all of you looked at each other knowingly. This could only be one of their managers.

Lisa flashed you one last encouraging smile before climbing off the bed to open the door.

You weren’t able to understand their words, but you heard that someone was talking agitatedly with your girlfriend and her members in the living room. A few minutes later, Lisa opened the door and sat beside you on the bed again.

“I’m sorry about this. But would you be willing to go to the company with me? YG wants to talk with us.”

She asked apologetically, while stroking a few strands of hair out of your face.

You gulped, not knowing what to expect, but nodded, nevertheless.

Together you got ready in a few minutes and sat in the car with the other members on your way to the YG headquarters a little later. You clasped Lisa’s hand tightly and she soothingly ran her thumb across the back of your hand.

There was a huge crowd of paparazzi in front of the YG building and you were glad that they sneaked you in through the back. Nevertheless, it seemed like everyone was staring at you and you wondered how Lisa managed to hold herself this strong. There wasn’t a sign of nervousness in her face and she held your hand confidently while strutting to the elevator that would bring you to the top management level of the building.

All of you walked straight to the CEO office where the executive board was sitting and staring at you sternly. Lisa squeezed your hand and you slid a little behind her.

“I’m guessing you know why you’re here?”

One of them asked and Lisa stepped forward a bit.

“Yes. It’s about me going public with my relationship.”

She stated calmly, while confidently holding eye contact with her opposites.

“Good that you at least seem to know that this should have been a topic discussed with us first. Do you even know what you have done? Don’t you have respect for your members? This will cause Blackpink’s image to be destroyed. You may never recover from this and we have to end your contracts. Did you even consider that this would not only have consequences for you alone?”

The manager’s voice became louder with every word until it even cracked in the end.

Finally, Lisa showed signs of nervousness too. Insecurely she looked to her feet, seeming to have only realized now that she had dragged her members into this too. Apologetically she glanced to them from the side, but they were all smiling at her.

Suddenly Jisoo took a few steps forward too.

“With all due respect, but I think you’re wrong.”

She spoke and you looked at her with wide eyes, because you weren’t used to her talking back.

“The comments during the VLIVE and now on Twitter and Instagram have mostly been positive. The hashtags ‘loveislove’ and ‘lisahwaiting’ have been trending in several countries and Lisa has gained several hundreds of new followers.”

Jisoo stated and you looked at Lisa in surprise. You hadn’t expected the news to be taken so well by the public.

Lisa looked equally taken aback and when you looked to the executives again, you could see that they were speechless as well.

“If the backlash had been your only concern, I think that Lisa has done nothing wrong and we have no further things to discuss?”

Chaeyoung suddenly asked, taking Lisa and you completely by surprise again.

All of this support was simply overwhelming.

Still being dumbfounded, the management ended the meeting by explaining that they had several things to discuss before they would come back to you. So together you made your way out of the room.

As soon as you had closed the door behind you, all of you looked at each other before starting to squeal and falling into each other’s arms. You had made it. Lisa suddenly grabbed your neck and pulled you against her body, kissing you passionately on your lips. When the door of the conference room opened again and revealed the executive board, you quickly pushed Lisa away in embarrassment. But she only laughed and interlaced your fingers while walking back to the car.

“Were the comments really mostly positive?”

Lisa asked once you were all on your way back to the dorm again and Jisoo nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, look.”

She pulled out her phone and showed you several memes that their fans had already made that were all showing support.

A wide grin spread on Lisa’s face and she laid her arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to her. She kissed the top of your head and you sighted in relief.

After three years you finally didn’t have to hide anymore.

“Let’s go grab some ice cream.”

Lisa suggested happily and no one in the car was opposed to that.

You looked at your girlfriend and her eyes were sparkling like never before.

A warm feelilng spread in your body and it felt like the two of you had finally made it through winter.

Together.

[btsandvmin]

Shipping vs Believing

I felt like talking about this, because in general a lot of people I come across seem to think that they are the same thing. And maybe the purpose of the word is changing, but the original use of “shipping” was actually to show you liked something, changed something into being or wanted something to be romantic or sexual between characters or people. Basically it’s about liking something that might not be romantic or sexual yet, or something that never has been or never will be romantic/sexual or in the case of making fanart or fanfiction sometimes expanding on something that is romantic/sexual with fiction because you want more than what you get.

95z is love. We know this. But, what kind of love is up for interpretation.

Shipping was originally mostly about fiction, but as it has become a more widespread expression it now also applies to relationships between real people.

And again, maybe times and overuse of the word “ship” has started to change the meaning of it, but to me shipping will not be liking a bond platonically and it will not be believing something is real. When someone says “I ship Vmin platonically” they are basically missing the whole point of the word if you ask me, as it’s used to differentiate between liking a friendship or platonic bond and wanting or liking a possible romantic or sexual connection.

However, what bothers me the most is when people don’t realize that shipping isn’t real. Shipping is liking to interpret interactions or other things in a non platonic way. It can even be hoping or speculating about characters or people being together. Basically “wishing for my ship to become canon” aka. turn real.

But if you already believe a ship is real, that is no longer shipping. At least not to me, because that was never the meaning of that word.

I have been a shipper for a long time, before ao3 and tumblr when I read and wrote fanfictions on livejournal or discussed pairings in random threads or blogs. And since the beginning you used shipping to show you liked a certain dynamic in a non platonic way. Same with ship names, which has also become so mainstream to use now that it’s lost it’s original purpose. Ship names like Vmin or RoMione (Ron x Hermione) etc. were to show it was liking two or more people together in a romantic or sexual way. If it’s in fiction it can also be to explore or expand on a canon pairing because you want more material.

In fact ship names and the word shipping had the point of separating reality from fantasy so you knew if someone said Vmin in stead of Jimin and Taehyung you meant it as a romantic or sexual thing and not just them together. Now people use ship names because its easier, and sadly that makes it a bit confusing with what people mean when they say “I love Vmin”.

I have shipped a lot of ships, both fictional and real people. And I know that most shippers behave and act the same when they reach a certain popularity and get support from each other. They help each other get convinced that their ship is real or will become canon.  They also start to downgrade or downplay interactions between rival ships and sometimes goes as far as trying to dehumanize or delegitimize shippers of other ships. For example saying “most of their shippers are young/don’t know how it’s like to be in a relationship/don’t understand their personalities” etc. and essentially simply try to show why their camp knows best and why others just don’t see the truth. “I never used to ship but XXX just felt different” is another common one to justify why it’s not just shipping, the vibe is simply different. But, that is still just your own feeling and interpretation, and many others feel the same about other ships. 

Lumping all shippers together as the same and generalizing also creates a us vs. them kind of mindset. Then with time and size of the community and more “evidence” the echo chamber effect makes everyone harden their belief in combination with confirmation bias until you have a whole community convinced they have the only real truth and everyone else simply doesn’t understand.

It’s honestly the same psychology you can find in religion and even in people who believe in conspiracy theories like that the earth is flat. Same type of behavior even though the subjects and situations can vary. I have studied warfare and war psychology at university and it’s a bit scary how ship wars are so similar to actual wars when it comes to the reasoning and psychology behind it. Because in the end it’s the same type of mindset and how the brain works to convince us something is the way we want it to be, for various reasons, while making the other side the enemy in a way.

I have seen shipwars in basically every fandom I have been in that has gotten big enough and that has “rivals”, like with One Direction or One Piece or The Hunger Games for example. Or even in ones I wasn’t in like the “team Jacob vs team Edward” in Twilight. There is a good reason for why I am very careful to say or try to convince someone a ship is real, when we don’t know. The only way to avoid ship wars is to stay open minded and not get defensive or aggressive, which will only further a generalization of your whole shipping community. “Vmin shippers are crazy/delulu/toxic/aggressive” etc. are situations I want to avoid, but that I know is likely to happen simply as the Vmin fandom grows in size.

We have similar moments that we got years ago that no one reacted to much, but with the growth of the community has become “proof”. People get more and more convinced as they get more and more things that confirm what they already want to believe. At the same time they also more and more ignore things that goes against their own beliefs and become less prone to accept alternative realities to the one they have created.

People believe in very different ships, and people are equally convinced they are the ones who are right. Which speaks for itself as it’s not possible for everyone to be right. But it is also possible for everyone to be wrong. When this involves real people it also becomes much more complex and difficult to analyze. Because things aren’t happening all planned out as in a story. Not everything is a hint for a ship being real, and it’s very difficult to try and understand a person or a relationship from afar when every person and relationship works very differently and there could be many different forces and reasons behind what we see. Especially when we don’t get to see everything and when there are good reasons to now show everything openly, as in the case of a possible LGBT+ couple.

In short I think people should realize that liking a dynamic, shipping something and believing in something are three different things.

For me I ship Vmin 100%, I love reading fics and putting possible romantic or sexual twists on their relationship for fun. I know this is fiction, and simply something I enjoy on a personal level based on my preference. I know I like many similar ships as well. I ship a lot of things in general, for different reasons. I can’t ship them with anyone else. 

When it comes to liking real Jimin and Taehyung and their relationship I do that as well, I know the border between my shipping fantasies and what they say and do. This is why I say that I will love Vmin no matter their bond, because I don’t need the ship to become real for me to love Jimin and Taehyung’s bond. It’s still a beautiful relationship even if it is 100% platonic. But, as a shipper I still dream and fantasize and enjoy them as more than friends. But if they are together with someone else for real, I can accept that. I don’t own Jimin and Tae and I don’t get a say in how they live their lives just because I like something else than what they want.

And when it comes to supporting and believing a relationship is real, that’s when in my opinion and shipper stops being a shipper. The exception for me here is if the relationship actually becomes or proves to be real and you keep enjoying it through built fantasies to explore a real couple or a canon pairing. But generally, shipping equals imagining something, while believing is obviously beyond that.

Believing a ship to be real or to become canon can be very toxic, both in regards to creating friction between different shippers who believes and KNOWS they are right, which makes people who think differently wrong and in a way “the enemy” or a threat. Investing so deeply into a relationship can be very dangerous emotionally as well. For example, how people burned their books after a series is over when their ship didn’t end up together. This is a light version, as there are much worse things people have done for their ship or when things haven’t gone the way they thought. And that’s in fiction where it’s usually easier and more straightforward. If you feel bad watching another ship interact or dislike another member for getting in between your ship, then it shows you are involved to the point of feeling threatened by another dynamic. In a way it’s a second hand jealousy. Imagine that feeling if your ship isn’t real, or if a rival ship is real. It might lead you to even hate the people you used to love, or feel betrayed, even though it was originally just a fantasy in your head that you got too invested in.

I obviously write analysis, which definitely goes beyond just shipping, but that’s why it’s extra important for me to try and remember that it’s all just speculation. I do think Vmin act weird and have things worth discussing, and I think it’s interesting, so I write analysis. Having a discussion is not a bad thing, as long as it remains a discussion in which where you can accept being wrong and change your mind. Vmin is weird, and I think there might be something there, but I also know it can be me reading them incorrectly.

Everything except what we hear or see directly from the boys is speculation.

I might sound like a hypocrite as a analysis writer, but I have been in a lot of fandoms and have fallen in this trap myself before (not with a real ship, but the feeling is similar for fictional ships as well). I know how important it is to stay grounded and how easy it is to be swept away by plausible narratives or “proof” for a ship. But all ships have it, and all shippers act the same after getting popular enough or having enough weird moments to piece together. Vmin are getting to this point, and when I write about this it’s simply to be aware and try to avoid this trap.

It’s ok to believe a relationship is romantic or sexual (though I personally recommend not crossing the line into being convinced), and it can bring a lot of joy, but just know that there is always a possibility that you are wrong. Because when people ship basically everything they can see, and we don’t even see everything, it’s simply impossible for every “believer” to be correct.

That’s why I will keep speaking about speculation and not proof. Me being certain about Vmin being real or talking about their interactions with confidence like I know exactly what they mean won’t help anyone, not myself and not you who read what I say.

I know this might sound a bit much, and that I might come off as a know it all or even a hypocrite. But honestly, if you only read and reblog one of my posts I hope it might be this one. Because I truly think it’s important to be aware of what we and other people in this fandom are doing.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this rant... And I hope you might understand me a little bit better because of it. Thank you! <3

[firelxdykatara]

💔 and 💢

💔 ship that makes you sad: Truly, and from the depths of my soul: Logan and Veronica. And I think the saddest part of all is that it didn’t have to be that way. Like, there are ships that make me sad because they go through angst but at the same time it’s cathartic and satisfying and at the end of their story I’m either left wanting more or feeling as if they came to a good ending even if I wished better for them, and then there’s.......the entire relationship getting tossed into the garbage and set on fire by the revival that was supposed to be giving back to the fandom. Veronica Mars season 4 wasn’t about drawing in new viewers, it wasn’t supposed to be accessible to people who’d never even heard of the show before--and the only reason it was able to happen was because the fandom came together and enabled the post-series material to gain traction. We literally threw money at Rob Thomas until he could put together a movie for us (and yeah, there were people who complained about the fanservice in said movie, but as it was intended to be a labor of love for the fans, that criticism didn’t hold much weight in the fandom at large), and it was on the strength of the fandom that he managed to sell the revival to Hulu.

And then he let it crash and burn.

I’m not sure if it was just hubris, or if he truly misunderstood his own characters and his own story that badly--did he really think the audience tuned in for the mediocre mysteries in seasons 2 and 3? did he think it was the crime that held our attention in the movie? did he think it was veronica alone, and not her relationships with everyone else in her life? and, if so, why was the ‘mystery’ in season 4 so flimsily constructed that it falls apart like a house of cards under the slightest scrutiny?--but either way, the net result was that I sat through an entire season of a show that had, at its center, one of my favorite OTPs in all of my fannish history, which had me making excuses for everything throughout the season that made me cringe, and I came away from it wishing that it had never gotten greenlit to begin with. If I could go back in time and prevent Rob Thomas from making any veronica mars content after the movie, I’d do it. And I can’t even look at LoVe content without wanting to just break down and sob because it’s that damn depressing.

They deserved better. We deserved better. And at the end of the day, my anger will eventually fade, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop being sad about it.

💢 ship that is most misunderstood: Oh, for this I have to say Zutara. I don’t know if it’s because of its popularity, so a lot of people know of it even if they don’t know the details because they haven’t watched the show, and also the people who watched the show and didn’t ship it feel like they have to overcompensate for reasons not to so much that they project a lot of things onto the ship that just... aren’t actually there in canon, or what, but... there are just so fucking many really bad takes (some of which come from zutara shippers, too, but a lot of it is from people who aggressively dislike the ship because of things they built up in their minds about it that aren’t actually true), like ‘they bring out the worst in each other’ (demontrably false, and zuko helping katara gain closure for her trauma is like the opposite of toxicity but go off) or ‘they would fight all the time if they were a couple’ (also false, because they fight approximately zero times after becoming friends and, in fact, seem to be on the same page emotionally) or ‘zuko sees katara as an annoying little sister’ (which is a particular brand of Bad Take that is very transparently there just to make them seem incompatible and isn’t actually supported by anything in the show, but hey, if that’s the only way they can make their ship actually work then whatever) and it’s like... did they watch the same show i did? do they even like katara? (it’s usually katara who gets shafted, although if i see one more ‘kylo ren is the zuko of the sequel trilogy’ take i may actually break something)

anyway, yeah. zutara is heavily misunderstood, occasionally within the fandom but especially outside of it by people who evidently have a vested interest in the ship not being ‘possible’ and want to cast it in the worst possible light so their preferred ships seem so much better by comparison, and anyways it’s exhausting.

ask me about my ship opinions!

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Supernatural 15x20, Carry On -- Review

Alright, we’re at last here. I can’t believe it. And what a waste of time that episode was! It seems “the finale” did indeed keep to task with the rest of the season, in a season of “meh” episodes, the finale continued to be a “meh” episode. Actually, I can’t even really call this a finale. Last week’s episode was the finale, this episode was the epilogue, a very subpar fanfiction-esque epilogue. And I make the fanfiction comment with a very heavy heart. I love fan fiction, I love that we can continue the stories we love through fan fiction and sometimes, a lot of fanfiction can be better than its source material. But also, sometimes, fanfiction has a tendency to be one-note. Fanfictions have a tendency to focus and hone in on one aspect of the story and tell just THAT story and the epilogues in these fanfics usually reflect that. Very one-note, only give regard to the main thing they honed in on the story. And there’s nothing really wrong with that but the weight of the story does feel less and kind of empty, the story doesn’t feel fleshed out and so in the epilogue, you don’t really feel a sense of closure and that’s what this episode felt like...and the series finale for a legacy show like this shouldn’t feel like that. 

But let’s cease with the rambling and get on with this. There will probably be spoilers, So definitely if you haven’t seen the episode yet and you don’t want to be spoiled, skip this post. Although granted, I don’t know how you’re online reading this and also have somehow managed to avoid spoilers. Teach me your ways, please!

As I’m sure most of you are aware, the finale isn’t great. It’s not even really a particularly strong episode. I felt things watching it and even cried a couple of times but that’s because my sensitive ass will cry at anything even slightly tear-jerky. I definitely understand why a lot of the fandom doesn’t like this episode. But also unfortunately, I’m not too surprised that the episode turned out like this. Disappointed but not surprised. When you think about how networks operate, it makes sense. Though our fandom is big and vocal, all that matters to the CW execs is that people come back to the CW. Now granted, some of us may be forever turned off to the CW because of this incident but those numbers aren’t going to mean anything to the CW. Because as large as we are as a fandom, the general audience is much larger and that’s who the CW execs are trying to keep. The general audience, a lot of them aren’t going to be paying attention to the finer story beats, to the subtext, to the meta, to the foreshadowing. No, the general audience just wants something that’s mildly entertaining they can turn the tv onto while they cook dinner or wash the dishes or whatever. It hurts but this finale was not meant for the fandom. It was for the general audience. And if I take my fandom goggles off, I can see how this finale might be satisfying to the general audience who don’t really have too big of an investment. 

But also looking at this episode from a critical standpoint, I can also tell this episode  is empty, its lacking in emotion. And I say this as the girl that cried mid-way through this episode. Because while I was crying and I was sad for Sam but then I was also happy for Sam, even though I was crying through these moments, I also wasn’t feelaing anything beyond the base emotion of happiness for a character or sadness for a character. When a story makes me get emotional I’m crying because of all sorts of conflicting emotions and I’ll forever go back to those tear-jerker moments whenever I feel like I need a good cry -- Tommy’s death on Arrow, Jenna’s death in TVD, Fred’s death in Angel, the Season 2 finale of The 100. All of those things not only made me cry because I felt things for the characters but also because there was a story element that reverberated inside of me, something about it made me feel alive and glad to be alive so I could experience it. So while I was crying for Sam’s loss of Dean, while I was crying tears of happiness when Sam was finally living the life he always wanted, the story felt empty to me and I couldn’t truly be happy with what I was feeling. And when it comes right down to it, while this finale meets all the basic standards it needs to in order to be a finale, that’s all it does. There isn’t anything special about it. It makes callbacks to how it began, it has just enough nostalgia to get by and it creates an ending for the characters. But that’s all it does. It meets the bare minimum to be a finale and I”m disappointed in that. I haven’t been loving this show for a few seasons, really since season 12, but I still kept on hoping the show would pull itself together long enough for at least a memorable season finale. As bad as they were, I will still always remember the finales for Game of Thrones or How I Met Your Mother. Supernatural’s finale was so uninspired, I don’t even really care to remember it. 

But let’s talk about what happened in this finale. First, some good points. I liked that we did see Sam openly mourning Cas and Jack. My Sastiel heart lived for that. And I’m also very happy Sam was able to live the life he wanted. I’m also very happy that Cas is not still stuck in the Empty, however, I do admit that if he was broken out so easily, it really kind of detracts from the initial sacrifice he made for Jack and for Dean and Sam. 

Things that I did not like, that essentially things were just kind of the same as in Season 1. You know, Sam gets his apple pie life but I kind of wish there was a little more of spark to that kind of life. Like this was something we talked about my blog a long time ago about a possible endgame for Sam but let’s say the Winchesters did kind of open like an organization for hunting monsters. Like, Sam could handle the legal aspects of something like that. He could go to law school and he could represent victims that were put in tough situations because their bodies were possessed or their on the line for a crime they didn’t commit because no one believes that a monster killed their loved one. So I just kind of wish we had gotten kind of a catch to Sam living his apple pie life. Living that life, doing what he always wanted to do, but also still helping people the way that Sam feels he needs to help people. So I wish we’d kind of gotten something more along those lines. I also don’t like that it takes Dean actually dying for Sam to feel like he has Dean’s permission to finally live that life. At first, I was going to feel sorry for Dean for dying in such a dumb way, but screw that. Dean put all of his self-hatred and baggage and dragged Sam down with him and made Sam feel like crap for even dreaming about something different. So Dean, you and that rusty nail deserve each other. I don’t even want to ship you with Crowley anymore. The ship you deserve is with Rusty Nail. 

So uh, let’s talk about Dean now and the return of Jenny the Vampire. I  completely forgot she existed. But yeah, she was a thing but she’s so loosely connected to Dean and Dean’s character arc, it’s like, there’s a lot of other monsters that would make more sense for Dean to die at the hands of. Like in Season 7 I believe, when Dean killed Sam’s friend in front of her son and he told the son that when he gets older, feel free to come after Dean. That would make more sense and have a kind of literary weight to it. Dean’s death would’ve been the result of his own actions and decisions years prior when he killed that woman on a whim. Dean and Sam could’ve come back from the vampire nest, after dropping the boys off, maybe they stopped at gas station to get some food and as Dean is walking around the corner to a bathroom, that’s when the now grown kid pops up in front of him and as Dean has a flashback to the kid and what he did to that kid, the kid stabs him in the heart like Dean did to his mother. 

Now the two brothers ending up in heaven together and presumably spending eternity together, while this may be a wincest or bibros wet dream, to me, I don’t know, it kind of feels pathetic. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love my brothers and I absolutely would go to the ends of the earth for them and I will mourn their deaths, but I also don’t want to be defined by them. I don’t want to feel like they’re so intrinsically a part of me that I need them in order to be truly happy or completed. While it might be nice to see them when I go to heaven, I would hope that I had grown to a point that there are also other things to me that are important that I would like to experience in heaver, you know? Plus, this whole ending feels like a slap in the face for what the show is most well-known for: found family and “family don’t end in blood”. The finale basically says, yes, family does end in blood, my blood is my soulmate basically. And I don’t really like that. 

Let’s talk about Cas and I don’t even have to be a Destiel shipper to be angry about how Cas was treated. I understand what they did in 15x18, and it does make a certain amount of literary sense, but considering there was no sense of closure to the act and it really kind of falls flat. And it makes you think, “so if what Cas needed in order to be truly happy was to admit that he loved his family” well, didn’t he already do that back in season 12? So it just kind of makes 15x18 feel kind of pointless. Yes, 15x18 was something that needed to happen for Cas and it made literary sense but that was only the first part of what his ending needed to be. The second part of his ending was hearing it back. Not necessarily a love confession from Dean (you all know Destiel is a thing of the past for me, I don’t ship them anymore) but what Cas needed to hear back was that his family loved him. We know they loved him but his own insecurities stopped him from truly feeling and believing it. And that’s the part the show missed and that’s what makes 15x18 fall flat and it makes Cas’s character arc feel incomplete. 

And also, it’s really sad to think that Sam never got to say goodbye to Cas. That’s something that Sam must feel very unresolved about and why he just lets the guilt eat up at him about it. My Sastiel heart needs one more final SamCas heart to heart. 

But I think that’s all I got for this episode. What grade would I give this episode. A big solid F-...I ‘m just kidding. It wasn’t that bad but nor was it anything great either. As I mentioned, the finale did what it needed to in order tom meet the bare minimum requirements for a finale, so honestly, I’d probably give this episode a D+. It meets the standards but it also doesn’t execute them very well so I don’t feel comfortable giving it a C. 

[buddiebeginz]

So I know I’m late to the party on this one but I’m gonna rant about my issues with TROS mainly because I just saw it again last night and I need to get some stuff off my chest. Warning this will probably get long and I’m sure I’ll repeat some stuff every one else has said

Also I know some of the things I bring up might be resolved to a point in the novelizations, with the commentary, or deleted scenes but most won’t see those so they don’t really count for the movie explaining things properly in some areas.

The movie has some enjoyable parts but doesn’t compare to TFA and doesn’t even come close to TLJ which in my opinion is the best out of the sequel trilogy. TLJ leaves you with all these questions at the end (especially in regards to Ben and Rey) in a good way that you think are going to be answered the next time you see these see characters in TROS but many of the questions are never answered.

Things feel messy and there’s too much going on all over the place. It’s easy to remember what the first two movies in the sequel trilogy are about it’s harder to remember all the stuff that went on in TROS because it feels really disjointed. Like they spend all this time looking for these triangle things (I forget what they were called) to find the planet Palpatine is on but little attention is given to what they are or why you need some special gadget to find these planets. Even when they find them it’s just over and done with pretty quickly. I also think there’s a lot better things they could have been doing with the final installment to the trilogy than wasting time on these things. Very little focus was given to character and relationship growth and development when it was literally the most important time to be giving it. There were so many scenes were I was just like what is the point of this? Like when they faked out Chewie’s death it felt really emotional at first and I was honestly shocked and sad. Then the movie was like psych just fucking with you he’s still alive and I’m like wtf was the point of that? All it served was so that they could go rescue Chewie but they could have done that without faking out his death. Or they could have had some other reason for them to end up on the ship like maybe rescuing Rey.

As others Have stated characters like Finn and Poe didn’t really feel like that had a good character arc through TROS and the series as a whole. I’d argue that TLJ gave a little more depth to both of them with showing Poe’s struggles in wanting to lead the rebellion and Finn’s whole journey with Rose and facing off against Phasma. I don’t think the TROS did too much to really close out either one of their storylines though well except for maybe giving Poe more of a chance to lead but tbh I don’t get all the choices they made for Finn.

They kept making it seem like Finn had romantic feelings for Rey  (like when he said he wanted to tell her something) even though they’ve only ever been friends and it didn’t make sense for that to be a part of their storyline. If they wanted to give Finn a love interest it would have made way more sense for them to have it be Rose, or Poe. I didn’t like the fact that out of nowhere they had Finn just suddenly become force sensitive at the end of TROS. If they wanted Finn to be Jedi or force sensitive that should have been introduced in TFA not in the very back end of TROS. I wouldn’t have had a problem with Finn being a Jedi but it just didn’t feel like that was supposed to be a part of his storyline for the majority of the series. The writing made it feel incredibly shoe horned in.

This is pretty nitpicky but the movie is super dark in places particularly the end fight with Palpatine. I’m all for good mood lighting but someone needed to tell the editors to inject some light because you could hardly tell wth was going on in some of those scenes.

Bringing back Palaptine was just one of the worst decision they’ve made in Star Wars in my opinion. It was totally unnecessary and worse it undermines all the work that was done in the original trilogy to get rid him. Vader’s sacrifice was essentially for nothing. I mean I know it was about his redemption but part of that was killing Palpatine. Killing the man who screwed up his entire life and turned him to the dark side. The origtrig was supposed to mean the end of the Empire. I just get the feeling they weren’t really sure where to take things after Snoke was killed but the thing is we didn’t need another Snoke or worse bringing back villains from the past. TROS should have been about Ben (which I’ll get to that when I talk about the shit show of an ending)

I wish there had been more talking between Ben and Rey. I know I’m biased being a Reylo shipper and I get that it’s a Star Wars movie so there’s going to be a lot of action but the origtrig had a lot of talking. I mean there were scenes full of Vader and Luke just talking. Some of my favorite scenes in the whole trilogy are when Rey are Ben are just talking. There was so much more I wanted to know about these characters.

THE ENDING

(which needed a section all to it’s self because that’s how bad it was)

So by now everyone has ranted about how awful the ending is but in all honesty as much as I feel the same it could have been worse. I mean it could have ended with Rey and Ben fighting each other and him dying without a smidge of redemption. Still the redemption he got was minimal and lazy to what this character deserved.

This trilogy was really about Ben and Rey and they should have been the main focus of the last one especially Ben. In the first two movies of the sequel trilogy we see how Ben is being manipulated by Snoke and how he’s very much on the dark side but there’s still light in him, light that Rey finds and brings out. TROS should been the culmination of Ben’s fight to go back to the light. We never really saw a big dramatic storyline with Vader and his return to the light (we just got that end scene with him saving Luke) but we could and should have gotten that with Ben.

If you asked someone what the sequel trilogy was about they’d likely mention Rey and Kylo Ren and the sad thing is Ben was a central part of three movies yet had no real resolution or solid focus at the end of series. 

The ending battle in TROS was mostly between Rey and Palaptine with Ben in there for a tiny bit and while I’m thankful we got the little bit of Reylo we got at the end if Palpatine had to be there it should have been Reylo battling him together. I found myself watching and thinking where the hell is Ben half the time.

When Rey says “be with me” in the middle of the Palaptine battle she should have been talking to Ben and not the force ghosts (who she didn’t know well) and he should have answered her back.

I don’t think that it was necessary to make Rey Palpatine’s granddaughter. I think they could have easily enough had her be powerful without having her be related to him. In actuality I think it would have made more sense to have her parents be nobody’s like was said in TLJ and it just happens that she’s really powerful. So you would have had Ben coming from a powerful loving family and being powerful yet turned to the dark side and Rey coming from a nothing cruel family who sold her and being powerful with the light. Not everything needs a huge explanation. I’m still very much of the opinion that Palpatine’s inclusion in TROS was totally unnecessary.

In TLJ there was a lot of focus put on Rey and Ben’s force bond it was even brought up sort of in TFA. We see it in TROS but I don’t feel like they ever really utilized it to the potential they could have. We should have seen more of them communicating through their bond especially during the end fight. And while I don’t think everything needs to be explained I still would have loved to see them talk about it in person. TROS shows us that their bond is so powerful it literally makes Palpatine exponentially more powerful when he takes their life force together but there’s never any explanation as to why Ben and Rey have this connection and why it’s so powerful. We’ve seen other force bonds with force sensitive people in the SW saga but never like these two have so what’s the difference? And why wasn’t it enough to save Ben?

So Rey dies and Ben gives his life force to save her. We get scenes with Ben crawling over to Rey, holding her, and looking absolutely shocked and anguished that Rey wouldn’t be with him anymore. Rey comes back they kiss and we see the first real smile from Ben in the entire series. and then he dies. Rey looks sad for a moment Ben disappears and that’s it, that’s the last time any reference to Ben is made in the movie. Rey loved him too Rey was eternally connected to him too yet the movie would have you believe all she felt was one moment of sadness over loosing her other half. It makes no sense. It also makes no sense why Ben wouldn’t be a force ghost unless he’s not dead.

And this is more of a commentary about fandom but I see so many people talk about how Reylo is abusive or how Ben can’t possibly be redeemed because of all the horrible things he’s done but no one seems to consider the fact that Ben was poisoned by the dark side at an age much younger than Anakin. Luke also turned on him and then lied about it which I have a huge problem with the movies acting like that was in any way okay. Like the only one who called Luke out on that was Rey but still Luke is partially responsible for what happened to Ben. My point in bringing this up in the ending is that Ben comes back to the light and without a moments hesitation he saves Rey and that still isn’t enough for some people he’s still this awful abusive person. He had so many chances to kill her, to hurt her, wound her terribly and he never did in fact it was her who ended up stabbing and almost killing him.

I’m not sure if Carrie Fisher’s death changed anything of how the ending was going to go. I’d assume so and I’ve read that Leia was supposed to play a bigger role in this movie so I’m not sure how it all would have played out but the way they had her die I think was another problem. There’s a video with an ending fix that shows Leia’s death bringing Ben back and I think that’s how it should have gone. Their whole battle on the Death Star to begin with was kind of messy you had Rey stab him, heal him, and then just leave which what was the purpose of all of that? But having Leia die then was less impactful as it would have been in the final moments of the movie. We don’t really know why Leia died in the movie just that when she did Ben felt it and it made him stop. If they had her die at the end it they could have made it so she chose to sacrifice herself to bring her son back so he could finally go be in the light with Rey.

When people watched the origtrig they saw Luke, Leia, and Han defeat the darkness good won out. Luke was even able to bring his father back to the light and talk to him and give himself closure. At the end of ROTJ the whole group are happy and together and there’s peace for first time in a long time. You might not have known exactly where these characters would end up after ROTJ but it all felt very hopeful. Now I’m not saying that everything needs to be wrapped up in a bow like that but where is the hope and inspiration at the end of TROS? Sure they defeated the bad guys but Rey is alone on sand planet basically back where she started.

I get that JJ and the other people involved with making the movie probably thought let’s be poetic and have TROS end where the original pretty much started on Tatooine but storyline wise it didn’t make sense for this trilogy and these characters and it was just plain tragic to have Rey end up back on a sand planet alone. One thing we’ve learned from Rey through the course of three movies is how alone she’s felt her entire life. How long she spent waiting for her parents because she thought they were coming back. How it’s clear she just wanted to to be loved and belong. She found that sense of love and belonging with Ben through their force bond and right when they could finally be together right when he finally came back to the light he was gone. She didn’t even have her friends with her she was truly alone.

If they had to have Ben die at the end of the battle and have Rey alone on Tatooine what they could have done was have her hear Ben at the end through their force connection and leave it open for interpretation as to whether he was still alive or just a ghost. I also think she should have taken Ben’s last name. This would connect her to the original trilogy in a way that would make older fans happy and it would connect her to Ben in a way that would make those of us who love Reylo happy. The thing is Rey was closer to Ben and his parents than she ever was to Luke. No offense to anyone who loves Luke but he wasn’t exactly the world’s best mentor. I mean I loved him in the origtrig but I wasn’t too happy with how he treated Rey and definitely not happy for what he did to Ben. Rey didn’t need to take his last name to honor him or Leia and Leia loved Han and Ben so Solo would have made her happy too. I just think JJ gave her the name Skywalker to make the fanboys happy. But Rey will always be a Solo to me.

I don’t know if they were trying to leave things intentionally vague or not at the end but a lot of it was. Like I said though I think the ending probably went through multiple changes in large part do to Carrie Fisher dying but other reasons too. I do think originally Ben wasn’t going to die but for whatever reasons that was changed. The scene where he lays down definitely feels  weird like it was revered or something (as many have pointed out). I also don’t get the inclusion of force ghosts if they weren’t going to include Ben, either there should have been no ghosts or Ben should have been there too. Another reason I think the ending was changed was because of the scene on the Death Star. Why have Rey heal him only for him to die later? It felt like this movie was supposed to be about Ben’s healing and return to the light not his death. It just doesn’t fit.

I read this one post that talked about how Ben is dark with light and Rey is light with dark yin/yang they balance each other out and can’t exist without each other. So what is Rey’s life going to be like now that her other half is gone?

I think that the movie should have ended up with Ben and Rey together over looking some place green and beautiful (remember her saying she didn’t think there was this much green in the whole galaxy). Maybe some time in the future with Rey pregnant and them building a life together. They could have even had Ben teaching new Jedi students. I want to cry just thinking about it. There’s so many better choices they could have made for the ending than just Rey alone in the desert on mercenary planet where she’s probably going to have to fight to survive again.

Sorry this got so long I just wanted to get out all my feelings on this. If you read all the way down many blessings upon you and your cow. 😝💗 I’m totally open to talking about any of this even if you disagree just as long as you’re not sending me hateful bs.

[alabasterswriting]

Hey, were so you stand on the whole fandom discourse thing? Like do you ship mileven or byeler or lumax or elmax? Was mike being an asshole or was Will being a bad friend? Was Mike right or was Max right? Do you like Lucas and Mike bromance or Mike and Will bromance/romance? Is Will gay or ace or just not in puberty yet? Srry for the questions but you’re like the most level headed person ive seen and i wanna know what u think?

Oh, oh this is going to be long. Warning! Long Post!

Okay, well, first let me just say that I hate discourse. I think it’s silly and stupid for fandoms to rip characters apart and fight over something like this when we should be bolstering each other up with our mutual love over a piece of media. However, the discourse after this season of Stranger Things is particularly upsetting because I think it all comes down to the fact that the character writing this season wasn’t very strong. They were paper-thin and the characters themselves didn’t get as much meaningful interaction as I think the story needed. It was so much action that a lot of the necessary quiet moments got lost.

But onto your questions.

So, the ships. I’ll be honest, I’m not a hardcore shipper of any of them. Except maybe Jopper, but that’s only because I really wanted El to have that mother figure in Joyce that she can’t get from Terry, and for Will and Jonathan to have that father figure in Hopper that they can’t get in Lonnie. Also, I really want Will and El to be siblings. But back to your question. I am an aromantic asexual. I also vacillate between liking romance to being completely put off by it, the latter of which tending to happen when it is thrown in my face. If you’re asking me if I like the ships this season, I would have to say no simply because I felt like they came at the expense of the friendships and bonds between the core characters. If you’re asking me if I like them in general, then yes. I think mileven is cute, and I think byler can be cute, and I think lumax is hilarious, and elmax would be wonderful.

Do I honestly think that Mike and Will will get together? No. It’s not going to happen. I can see Will maybe having a crush on Mike, and that being something he will struggle with, but Mike is 100% in love with El and that’s fine. That’s life. Will is a kid living in 1980s rural Indiana. The show has already shown that homophobia is a thing. He and Mike are friends, and I don’t think with all the work on Mike and El that it would make sense to suddenly flip it now. And Mike and El are cute, and I liked how this season they showed that puppy love stage is not all it’s cracked up to be. I liked how they showed growing pains in their relationship. I liked how Mike and El had to learn to balance their romantic relationship with their friends. I wish it had been handled better, but I liked how they were able to show that even though Mike and El aren’t a perfect relationship, they do have a special bond and I enjoyed that.

Does this mean I don’t enjoy byler fics and headcanons and edits and parallels? Hell no! I love that shit. I love it the same way I do mileven. And honestly, I could get behind milevill. I think El and Will would be more platonic, with Mike in the middle, but poly shipping is generally how I get around shipping wars. And I hate how characters get demonized when shipping goggles get put on, and these three are demonized to high heaven for it, to the point that shippers degrade their actual characters down to one aspect.

In regards to the characterization of Mike and Will this season, I see both sides. It’s been implied that Mike has been ditching his friends all summer to spend time with El in the cabin. He’s apparently been there everyday since she got back. And on the one hand, this makes sense. El isn’t allowed out and if Mike isn’t there then she’s alone. That sucks, especially because El has already been through far too much isolation in her life. It’s also sort of implied that they like spending time with just the two of them and that the rest of the party either doesn’t visit often or the only time the whole party is together is the rare occasion when El is allowed out. We can sort of see this by the fact that Max and El aren’t really friends, but El still feels comfortable enough to go to her for advice on Mike, and the way that Will calls her Eleven instead of El until about the middle of the season. Ergo, Mike has been ditching them to spend time with her every day, away from the party. And that’s got to be frustrating. Will doesn’t seem nearly as frustrated with Max and Lucas, which could be because they’re not as puppylove-ish, and because he has the opportunity to get to know Max. He knows her more as Lucas’ girlfriend, but he seems more comfortable in her presence. So we can guess that Lucas and Max spend more time with the group than Mike and El. And frankly, if I was Will and my best friend had been doing this every day for a month while I third-wheeled, I would have snapped too. And probably a lot earlier. Especially if the only thing I had asked of him was one day of his time to do something not related to romance. It wasn’t right what Mike was doing, even if it was understandable. But that was part of Mike’s arc - learning to balance his romantic relationship with his friendships.

As for Will, like I said above, it’s implied that Will has been third-wheeling for an entire summer. Mike has been ditching them for all this time and that’s a big change he has to deal with. All Will wants is to go back to how things were before he was completely traumatized. D&D is the only thing he has from before the Upside Down, so of course he would want to have a guys day and play it. Will is allowed to want something other than just being a support for his friends. Unfortunately, he does fail to read the room. Now, I can imagine that maybe he thought playing D&D would cheer Mike and Lucas up, but he could have been more understanding of the situation. Mike and El were going through a rough spot and Will could have done a better job of being there for him. Now, it’s possible that because of Lucas and Max’s constant breakups that he doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal, but considering Mike has been spending all his time with El, Will probably should have been able to realize now was not the time to insist on playing a game. I also don’t think that Will calling El a “stupid girl” was Will being mean or angry at El however. He was mad at Mike. He was placing the blame on Mike. His target was Mike and that Mike was breaking up the party. Not El. Max and El are his friends, though they’re not close, and Will was calling out the fact that that Mike was ditching them, rather than thinking El was actually a stupid girl. And he has a point. He even asks where Dustin is and questions the fact that Mike isn’t wondering. Dustin got back the day before after being gone a month. So, while Will definitely could have been more sensitive to Mike’s problems, he also had legitimate reasons to be angry. Just like Mike had legitimate reasons to be upset.

And I will say here that both Mike and Max are correct when it comes to El. Mike is monopolizing a lot of El’s time. It’s not a bad thing in itself, but El needs friends outside of him. It’s unhealthy not to. And Mike was also right to worry about her burning herself out with her powers. His concern was completely valid. But Max was also right. It wasn’t right of Mike to lie to El like that and then not apologize, especially after she caught him and called him out on it. The fact that Max was there to teach El how to be herself and make decisions for herself outside of Mike and Hopper was something she needed to grow as a person. And Max was also right when she told Mike that El knew how to work her powers better than he does. That it’s her decision on how far to go. Now, this does have its drawbacks because El might not actually know when to draw the line. She goes too far, and that’s where Mike’s concern is completely valid. Both of them have good points and are coming from a place of caring, but they’re also teenagers and don’t know how to handle all of these issues correctly.

As for Mike and Lucas vs Mike and Will, I think this is such a stupid thing to fight over. They’re all best friends. Mike and Lucas were stated to be best friends in season 1 because they live next door to each other, but Mike “calls bull” on that logic because he’s also best friends with Dustin and with Will. He and Will have been friends since kindergarten and we saw a lot of that in season 2, which was wonderful. This season both Mike and Lucas are in relationships and can relate to each other better than Mike and Will who are having a discourse in their relationship because they’re maturing at different rates. Mike and Lucas want to move forward because they have relationships blossoming that makes the future happier, where Will is stuck in the past because the past is where all his happiness is. Do I wish we had gotten a moment between Will and Mike where they actually talk about their fight and how everything has changed, or that we got a better goodbye from them at the end? Absolutely. Their friendship deserved that. But I also loved how Lucas was Mike’s wingman, and all around relationship guru. I also really liked how Lucas and Will worked together this season. Lucas reached out to Will, and even though it didn’t go far, I really liked all the little moments they had together. They are all best friends but even in friend groups there are people you go to for different things.

And is Will gay? Oh boy. Okay, so, personally, I think Will is gay. There’s been a lot of subtext and the show bible does seem to imply he’s on the spectrum somewhere. BUT. This is not canon. Things change all the time when writing and until it is explicitly stated by either the show runners or the show itself, then this is still just speculation. I can also totally see Will as ace. I knew I was ace before I even had a word for it and I was like 11 years old. Will could be ace. I don’t think he is simply because we never get representation, but it’s totally possible. It’s also possible that he’s both. You can be homoromantic asexual. You can also be aromantic homosexual. The two aren’t mutually exclusive and I kind of like the idea of him being homoromantic asexual. Or he might be completely gay and yet be so traumatized that sexual attraction is horrific. He’s been violated so violently in ways so similar to rape that I can easily imagine anything sexual as triggering. And yes, at 14 you are old enough to start thinking about sex. It’s normal. Even I thought about it at that age, even though I thought it weird that anyone would ever find it enjoyable. It is also completely possible that, due to that trauma, Will just isn’t there yet. Trauma does cause brain damage. He could very easily have regressed mentally to the point that he just hasn’t begun to mature yet.

Sorry for the long post, but there you go. Frankly, I think the characters this season were just very poorly written, and I think fandoms tend to not know what to do when characters behave differently than expected. But the thing is, these characters are growing up and changing. Smart people can be dumb. Kind people can get angry and lash out. Protective people can be selfish. A good person making the wrong choice doesn’t automatically make them bad. People are not so one-dimensional that “shy, quiet, artistic” doesn’t mean they can’t ever be “annoyed, moody, and angry”. “Loyal, charismatic, and smart” characters can also be “oblivious, tunnel-visioned, and dumb.” The problem with this season is that they didn’t allow the characters to really interact outside of their pairings. Dustin wasn’t with the party at all. Will and Mike never get meaningful resolution. Max and El never really talk about the problems in their relationships. Like Max and Lucas have broken up 5 times? Why? What is the story there? Will and El barely talk at all even though they have the most in common and end up living together by the end. And Lucas and Max don’t have much interaction at all. The romance sort of overshadowed the fact that these kids are all friends. And it should have been clearer that even though they’re all growing up and apart, they’re also all traumatized and understand each other on levels no one else can. It’s varying levels of trauma, but we don’t see them really band together to build each other up. And I think we needed that level of platonic love to really show that, yeah, we may not be focusing on these relationships as much this season, but they’re still there, rather than “Mike only cares about Eleven” and “Will and Mike apparently aren’t friends anymore.” The action overshadowed the heart this season, and I think that’s where some of the subtler character arcs got lost. 

I hope that answered your question and thank you!

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

SALTY ASKS uhhh, 4 8 15 16 & 23?

Thank you, Randy! 

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

- Keep any and all romantic BB/Rae away from me. I don’t care what version, what AU, what rationale, I just don’t like their dynamic. I see absolutely NO romantic potential there. (I have seen.... two stories, in the entire history of Me Reading Fanfiction, wherein they were in-character, developed, and actually okay together. And one of those was my very favorite Raven RPer.) But the vast majority of the fanbase? Yuck. One or both are always out-of-character. Things are taken out of context. The foundation for their relationship seems to be whipped up from nothing. Canonically, they... literally mocked each other in the cartoon, barely even spoke to each other in the original comics, only had a relationship in recent comics when the writers had them Very Out of Character (or randomly got smacked back together, esp. in the end of TT v3? why even bother???)... It’s just, a really bad ship all around. I will unfollow people for not tagging it, it’s that bad. Bro-ship between them is on thin fucking ice.

- And then there’s... t/endershipping. (In Yugioh-- Ryou and Yami Bakura.) Oh gods. This one’s worse. Because it is legitimately an abusive dynamic. I mean, bullying, forcing someone to go against his wishes, threatening his friends, twisting selfish actions to say they were selfless, literally injuring him to use his injury as blackmail, not to mention inuring him in the throes of will-battle, and then there’s the literal spiritual possession thing. You know, “forces your will/consciousness to fuck off so I can do whatever I want in disguise as you” kind of dynamic? What the Fuck? There’s no trust, no respect, literally NOTHING to build ANY kind of POSITIVE relationship on, and all the TRAUMA that spirit put Ryou through is absolutely NOT the kind of thing that should make ANYONE fall in love?! I genuinely WORRY for the people who see what the spirit of the ring did to him, and think “they’d be cute together”. Gods. Gods!

(I’m also hugely squicked out by memory/shipping, Ryou+Aigami, because? What? The fuck? Did you not SEE what he DID to him?! FUCKING NO?? But luckily the t|endershippers tend to be the memory/shippers too, so they’re fairly easily blocked.)

- I also have jas|pis blacklisted because Canonical Abusive Relationships are Not Dynamics I Enjoy At All, thank you. Especially not when their conversations sound like something right out of the things I witnessed in my mother’s own life. (I have no idea how popular it is because I’ve been blacklisting and blocking it since the moment I found out it exists.)

- Also: It’s not at all popular and not something I see often, but: I’m just squicked in general by terra\ven, because while I can see how a thing might be developed, I’m not the kind of person who can look at their Canon History and Interactions and think, “How romantic!” Bad communication, festering hatred, picking at each others’ weaknesses, mutual toxicity, and attempted murder don’t make a good backdrop for a relationship. Yikes.

8. Have you received anon hate? What about?

Kind...of? I’ve gotten asks hating on blog appearances, fandom opinions, and General Negativity, but nothing hating on me as a person.

The headcanon blog I help moderate got an ask once that could’ve started a shipping war (basically like, “How can people possibly ship RobRae?”), but I like to think I handled it well because I redirected that before it could explode.

Honestly, most of my anon hate came from fanfic.net reviews back in the “mary-sue” witch-hunt days. (The funny thing was, at the time I didn’t even know what that accusation meant. 8P )

15.  Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

I liked the Yugioh manga better in black/white than in color! (The! big! mystery! about! Ryou’s! eyes!! continues!! to stump!!! and frustrate me!!!!! For context: this one character has had his eyes colored brown, green, blue, lavender, gray, black, dark purple, magenta, red, and seafoam green! [x] What the HELL color are his EYES.) 

And for the record, in the advance copy of the “Games” graphic novel my dad gave me, there were Certain Pages still in either ink-work or black/white coloring that I really liked more than the final product. That book is colored GORGEOUSLY, don’t get me wrong! But the pure linework shows a lot more of the “line of motion” and TEXTURE details that my non-visual brain can Grasp And Parse and Feel Things About much moreso than a colored page.

Also: Raven is a big softie deep down inside. Comic, cartoon, you name it. I don’t know why this is so controversial because it’s Genuinely Canon as Hell, but even some canonical writers miss out on this, and it’s like? guys have you READ a Raven comic???

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

RYOU BAKURA WOULD BE MORE THAN A GODDAMN PLOT DEVICE. As mentioned in the Other Answered Ask, this drives me to absolute annoyance and disappointment and disdain. (This is specifically directed at the “show”, of course. The manga [and even season 0!] did a much better job of, you know... remembering that he is also a human being and not just a shell that has a conveniently-possessed antagonist necklace.) 

It’s just the treatment of certain characters for me, I guess. I’m really bad at looking at a canon and going “This Event Would Be Different” otherwise. Especially when I’m emotionally attached to the Canon Events...

Except “Titans”. That fucking stunt they pulled with Arella, one of the most strong-willed, independent, perseverant, traumatized female characters to ever rise fully above her past and find her own way in the worlds-- in MULTIPLE worlds!-- and they made her the lackey of the monster she has always defied. It STILL pisses me off. (There are other things I’d change about Titans-- many others. But that AU is so far off the mark that it would take a collegiate-length essay to “change” it just right.)

23.  Unpopular character you love?

Jericho! Arella! Malachite! Rorek! 

Joey is such a sweetheart and has such a unique and versatile power. Arella is such an inspiration and proves time and time again that she’s stronger than her trauma. Malachite just had so much POTENTIAL as her own character and I wish we had seen more of her as an individual. And Rorek of course? God those eyes and that hair trigger the demigray. (And I headcanon hardcore that Malchior used Rorek as a template for how he looked, sounded, and acted, and of course Rorek wrote the book, and I fell as hard for Malchior as Raven did. So like.... kind of a scapegoat to redirect that love, but it makes me happy, okay.)

And Mismagius, which I don’t understand because surely I’m NOT the only strategically-minded lover of the Ghost type? And I’m certainly not the only witch who practices pop culture magic with Pokemon (and Mismagius is literally based on a witch and called “the magical pokemon”)? But hey, loving the underdog has been my lifelong specialty. 8F