#unpopular opinion and fandom salt kind of

[alabyte]

I mean listen as much as I want Tech to be alive I'm conflicted

On the one hand, I do want CX2 to be Tech. I mean, domicile, who the heck would use that goddamn nerd-ish word

On the other, I do not want to see another winter soldier arc, there's just four episodes left, there's no way they're going to show it properly if there's something more than just "oops it's Tech oops he died for real this time"

Don't get me wrong, I miss this guy I REALLY DO but holy hell we have four episodes left and I would hate it if they bring him back just to kill again. And I feel like they would because that's just not enough time left for anything else, even if they stuff these four episodes with nothing but plot

[brakingpoint]

idk if this counts as unpopular opinion buttttt what do u think lewis actually MEANT when he said 'and a better teammate' to jenson and nico in abu dhabi 21?? like you can FEEL nico's reaction through the screen and u can see lewis sort of hesitate when he says it but i can never sort their reactions out like does lewis mean HE is now a better teammate in an apologetic sort of way or is it salt-in-the-wound kind of vindictiveness like look where i am now without you or is it just a reminder of how bad it was for both of them? i can never work this out they r impenetrable to me 🙏

i think that lewis hamilton is genuinely massively underestimated in this "he's our woke vegan grid dad" era of f1 fandom when it comes to genuinely insane people on the grid and he probably meant all of the above, none of the above, and a secret third, fourth, fifth, and sixth thing all at the same time. he meant whatever he wanted nico and jenson to hear and he meant exactly what he didn't want them to hear. he was being entirely sincere and he was perpetuating the Narratives for a heartwrenching pr moment at a vital time in his career. and most importantly: he was talking about gay sex

[garfeildfanpage]

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT 🗣️‼️

Jk anyways hot takes have always been kind of a drama-trigger for tbhk fans generally (though most takes aren’t exactly “hot” they’re either lukewarm or just bad), but most prominently on tbhktwt, which I don’t actively participate in. But I’ve noticed that every time one of those “what’s your unpopular tbhk opinion?” Posts gets popular everyone starts fighting and it’s kindof annoying. Which for a few reasons: they just like to argue when no huge announcements are happening to make sure the fan base stays alive, or someone just has a really bad opinion (ex the toxic nene post).

Now that’s not the point and has nothing to do with what I’m about to say but I thought it’d be a fun intro.

(tldr at end and also more concise points w/o the tired rambling)

Quick side note. I’m being super serious, these are all just opinions I possess but they don’t necessarily exist in a vacuum. I mostly just want to complain about a trope I don’t like, but I’m not die-hard about any of this. So take everything I say with a grain of salt

Mitsuba, Sousuke, and what makes a character interesting

(Mitsukou cameo 2 because staying on topic is hard)

After a while, I started to develop a bit of a dislike of Mitsuba, the fake one specifically

To elaborate: During Sousuke’s introductory arc (and the only one he’s in) despite the trope-y nature of his character, his opening up during the chapters and his pre-canon connection to Kou is what, to me, made me like him more. I personally cannot stand the “cute-boy but actually he’s really mean” archetype, and it really turned me off from him in general. But I continued through it anyway. I thought the subversion of it was nice, not having him on edge and actually have a somewhat heart-to-heart was nice. And then he died whoopsie

I liked the hell of mirrors, like a lot actually. At the beginning I really liked Mitsuba, but as the series went on the traits I disliked started to shine more than the ones I liked. His stoic act around Nene at the very beginning of the hell of mirrors was the peak I strived for, but it basically never appeared again. The gruesome horror of Mitsuba lost my interest as he began to behave more human, I think. Now really all of this just comes down to personal preference. I like subversion, so I liked how Mitsuba was at the very beginning, but I never loved him. And I know that the direction his character took was always going to be the same but some part of me prayed for some kind of miracle.

He’s not human, but he wants to be, and I liked the idea a lot. But I was never able to get invested because almost every time he was in a chapter I wanted to bang my head into a wall. The the sensitivity and tact of Mitsuba isn’t lost, but I feel like a lot of it is lost when he’s around certain characters. His interactions with Nene (with a few exceptions) demonstrates how he could be if he decided to tone it down on occasion, still irritating but y’know, not as much. This falters with Kou in specific though, as he is constantly flip-flopping between defensive and annoying. If he could learn to let his guard down a little, it could really go a long way

Speaking of Kou

They are peers, they knew each other, and now only Kou remembers. Great, love it. Mitsukou, now that’s where it gets a little complicated.

As true equals, I do love them. And I know “the fandom ruined it for me” is a ballshit excuse but it genuinely does this time ‘round, and I can give a few pinpoints.

1. The constant feminization of Mitsuba

Every fandom is guilty of this at some point, and tbhk is no different. Forcible feminization of one (typically smaller or younger) male characters because they act even somewhat effeminate. And I have a right to be upset! It’s my 2nd amendment right or whatever!

2. And in tandem, the over-masculinization of Kou

His ass is fourteen!!! He ain’t buff!!! he probably still squeaks when he gets scared!! Enter that scene where Dipper is singing ABBA in the bathroom and Stan walks in except it’s Kou!!

3. General disregard of canonical characterization

Mitsuba can absolutely handle himself I’m going to kill someone

IMO mitsukou only really works if there’s an underlying understanding that 1. They’re both stupid kids. 2. They’re peers, and wether supernatural or not they are in alot of ways equals. And 3. They’re both deeply flawed.

To add onto that, Kou is indecisive about values. He wants to be an exorcist but has gotten attached to every somewhat sympathetic spirit he’s come in contact with, showing that he’s far too empathetic for the profession. He claims to understand Teru’s view on the undead yet he holds his personal judgment over his brothers consistently, for better or worse (yeah IK hanako is the title character so obviously he has to be good so why would he die but I’m just trying to think about it more literally, y’dig?). Mitsuba (the fake one) is not, and never will be, he isn’t meant to last forever. Sousuke (the dead one) Left everything unresolved, even when trying after death, nothing ever came to any conclusion, not even with his mom.

They work alone, but not yet together. But they can, it’s not too late, if given care and some intense therapy, they could totally be awkward teen romance of the summer. But the cannibalism should probably be talked about b4 that

Overall I think the general populous of Mitsukou could really benefit by trying to understand their dynamics a lil better, but what would I know I’m no yaoiologist

TL;DR (and end notes don’t forget) Basically, I wish he kept the short-lived confidence he gained in the Hell of Mirrors. I wish his cutesy-mean attitude died after as well. I also wish he wasn’t nearly as feminized as he is. (He’s not 4,9 he’s taller than Nene and would most likely be (if he didn’t die, rest in rip) the same height if not taller than Kou). Also his dynamic with Tsukasa makes me uncomfortable, like deeply so, it’s kinda really weird. ALSO(also) I think the constant comparison to Hananene is weird because the same comparison can be made to literally 90% of the other ships, why is no one ever comparing them to Terukane? Or Aoiaoi? Or Sumi6 (actually I completely understand why not sumi6 but they’re literally all human x supernatural no one is special)

Anyway the point I’m attempting to get across (while sleep deprived) is that (to me) Mitsuba as a character just doesn’t tickle my fancy and I tried my best to explain some reasons why. if you don’t agree, that’s perfectly fine! No one is entitled to agree with me.

Sorry if bad grammar I,m moments away from death Uauuughhh ninja out

[sleepsentry]

for the ask game, number 8: unpopular fandom opinion(s) regarding gravity falls. also, love your work. ^_^

Thank you! ^^

Of course these are based on my assumptions about what's popular and these are takes I haven't seen around in the wild.

This kinda just devolves into a headcanon list towards the end. haha ^^'

OK so hmmmm oh boy there's a lot:

Gravity Falls is NOT the best thing ever it just had a bunch of really talented people working on it who made it super fun. But it's far from a golden standard and I don't think it should be held up as a standard, that idea is reductive and creatively stifling.

I don't like comparing Amphibia, Owl House, Duck Tales (2017), Inside Job and many others to Gravity Falls. The similarities are superficial and those shows shouldn't be living in Gravity Fall's shadow. They deserve to stand tall and cast their own.

On that note Alex Hirsch is just some guy and I don't like his stuff on its own that much. He's not that funny or interesting to me, but he is just some guy. Hope he doesn't turn out to be a shitty dude. *shrug*

Stanley is overrated (I love him but jeez guys. He's not that endearing.)

Rick and Morty x Gravity Falls is a terrible crossover, tonally, technically and thematically. (I also am just very unimpressed by rick and morty in general)

Stanchez is bad. Rick can eat my shorts. Stan "deserves better". Obviously the fan creations are good. But they don't change my mind about the base idea.

The stans both did nothing wrong ever and I love them deeply without comparing them. (joke I know they fuck up, but they fuck up together.)

Fiddauthor is mid and boring. It comes off as amatonormative and people overall are very exclusionary over it wich is just being a dick and using a ship preference to justify it. (I dont mean to be mean but yeah, you guys are doing fine you can take some salt.)

Ford and Fidd are more like siblings than a couple.

Ford and Fidd both dismissed eachother and the miscommunication was on both of them. (Similair to stan and ford it's no one character's fault)

Ford and Fidd's relationship has more emotional weight viewed through the platonic lense of fidds being older than ford by two or three years and "adopting" him as a "little brother" in college, and how that followed them into their 30s even when the age gap had long become irrelevant. Rather than just "gay sad nerds have marital issues" as fun as that sounds.

Fiddleford is a crazy, scary, adorable, kind, stupid, genuis. This man contains multitudes, I try my best not to flanderize him into one over the other. He can be all those fun things.

Fiddlestan is inherently more funny and compelling than fiddauthor. (To me, to me.)

Fillbrick wasn't the devil incarnate he was just a shit dad, wich fair enough is very bad. Haha (idk there isn't enough of him for me to truly hate and I'd rather not assume the worst, I deal with abusive parents enough in my day to day I don't need to add one to my fav silly show haha)

Billford isn't "toxic" it's too bizarre for that, and much is left to be inferred about both characters and their dynamic. (Again, assuming the worst instead of something more fitting and fun) It's obviously bad for ford but I thought everyone hated him when he isn't nice to stan or being shipped with fidds so it should be cool. (Sarcasm)

Dipper and mabel fuck up equally and mabel is generally more empathetic and aware of the world around her than dipper who hyperfocuses. (Been there pal.)

Mabel is more similar to Ford and Dipper is more similar to Stan

Dipper is a good boy but a bit on the boring side for me. He's fine. I like him well enough.

Mabel is more relatable to me, but I relate to dip's anxiety disorder so bad.

Dipper would NOT grow up to look like Ford. He'd look like shermy or stan.

Mabel would grow up to be bigger and broader than dipper. She'd also be the one to get glasses and look more like ford. She's already halfway there with the hair and jumpers (sweaters)

Jokes about ford failing to impress girls are cringe, heteronormative and bad. And ford doesn't like anyone. (Bill is his own can of eldritch worms)

Dipper doesn't like girls in the way he thought he should and that's why his crush on wendy played out the way it did, it was never really about her, it was about his relationship to her. How she helped him find someone to admire, and was kinda his first real friend who he felt was cool and understood him, heteronormativity made him think he liked her romantically. He so obviously didn't that it hurts my soul.

Mabcifica is underrated as hell and more interesting than dipcifica. That being said.

I do ship dipcifica but in a queer way. You guys don't get it. They're queer.

The cis/heteronormative takes where pacifica and dipper have children together and dipper looks older but Pacifica is just her kid face on a sexy lady bod make me uncomfortable.

And that's why Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica could grow up into a polyamorous "Vee" relationship. [When one person is dating two people who aren't dating eachother, in this case obviously cause they're twins. It forms a "V" from Pacifica to the Pines twins ^^]

What was this ask originally about?

[bearly-holding-on]

For the Salt Ask! 7, 8, and 12!! :D

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

I don't think hate is the right word, since I can't really say I hate any characters, but whenever I see Aura come up in fandom conversation, I'm thinking "oh brother here we go again" because they water her down to practically nothing. I have very little memory of Dual Destinies, but I do remember Aura being a lot more than just "Metis's wife" (which she never was in the first place, but I think people say this so they can call Cykesquill "problematic").

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

That Turnabout Big Top is a "bad case." I think a lot has to do with them having a bitch in their ear yapping about the inevitable result of Capcom USA neglecting to change Regina's age in localization (maybe they thought it could stay because 16 is an age of consent in many states and you can also drop out of school, work full time, and drive a car; I genuinely don't know). It's almost all people ever talk about when they're hating on it. At least back in the day, it was Moe's testimony and penalties, something actually mattering in playing the case, that people used as their reasonings, but I personally think Moe is hilarious. Shu Takumi's love of magic tricks really shines in this case, and I think that's such an important aspect of examining just about any creative work: how much love was involved. I sound like some kind of hippie, sure, but it's really obvious, especially with modern media, when a creation is hollow and made with no passion for the project at all.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

LARRY! LARRY LARRY LARRY LARRY!

I love him so much! He is the spark that ignites the flame of Phoenix's story! He's who takes (or finds, as clarified by the anime) Miles's lunch money; heck, he even joined in with Miles defending Phoenix (though less formally). Maybe he knew he was the culprit or maybe he forgot he picked up that exact amount of money but still defended his friend. He tries his best to help any way he can and doesn't have a bone of malice in his body.

He stepped up to aid in Phoenix's defense of Miles, believing in him just as he believed in Phoenix during the class trial. He called Miles when Phoenix fell off Dusky Bridge. He formed a connection with Misty Fey by studying under her and maybe that could have provided Maya with just a little bit of closure (but we'll never know because Maya and Larry are two deeply traumatized characters who don't really allow themselves time to decompress and process all of that: Maya for Pearly's sake and Larry because he's repressing everything he can).

He is constantly learning new skills: sculpting, engineering, salesmanship, illustration, writing, acting, and baking. He wants to improve himself, but his self-esteem issues never let him see just how far he's come.

I just want him to know he can and should be proud of himself.

[lounaticm]

🍓

🍄 (yes I did this on purpose)

🍬 (yes I am enabling you)

☁️

🩷(not on the list just wanted to spread some love 😊)

🍓- How did you get into writing fanfiction? --- I kind of just... have always been doing so. From the moment I first started adoring certain shows or movies or books as a kid, I've been writing fanfiction. In fact, it took a very long time for me to even learn the term 'fanfiction' and realize "Oh. That's what this is. Neat!" (I believe I was very early teens when I first saw the term online.) From the moment I first started writing stories (which came about very shortly after I first learned how to write at all) there was only a short year or two time where I wasn't writing fanfiction. (Hell, my mom still has those short, one page stories I'd write back then. I don't know if it was simply a typo on my part or if I was just really morbid, but they almost always ended with 'And they died.'😂)

🍄- Share a headcanon for one of your favorite ships or pairings. --- (lol, of course you did. And for that, I'm going to give more than one heh~)

Well, I'm not sure if I've stated so here or not (I know I've certainly shared with my best friend over Discord) but I imagine the DA and Damien pretty much fell in love at first sight. And my rendition of the DA doesn't believe in love at first sight lol, yet still got steamrolled with it anyways, realizing what the feeling was just two hours after they met - but being in denial of it being anything more than a crush for months after. Clearly, Love At First Sight took offense to the disbelief lol

Damien's cane and mayor ribbon were a gift from the DA upon winning the election. The ribbon was just a cheeky joke, there was no thought or intent that Damien would go on to actually wear it beyond a few hours after having it pinned to his suit in congratulations by a grinning DA once news arrived that he'd won. Yet, he went on to wear it all the time - regardless of what few people moaned and complained that he was 'bragging' or the like. It came from his Little Monster, so of course he was going to keep wearing it.

As for the cane, it has a sword inside - but only Damien's close friends and family know of it. The DA gave it to him as a covert means of self-defense (though he never had any need to use it) as Damien learned swordsmanship growing up for fun. (Yeah, I'm not the first person to imagine that Damien's cane is a sword cane, I know. In fact, I used to not care for the idea, but it quickly grew on me lol)

🍬- Post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character. --- (Oh, I LOVE being enabled to talk about this ssfvsfvsfvf thank you! I don't know if this is actually unpopular, or simply not spoken of/depicted as much, but)

Dark is NOT evil, cruel, cold, or manipulative.

He is miserable and depressed and drowning in guilt over what happened to the DA (regardless of the fault not being his) and wants revenge on the Actor - though he's quickly lost most drive to actually track the bastard down.

Not once has he ever harmed the viewer character. He's been cryptic, yes, and a little creepy in Date (though I take that portrayal with a grain of salt these days, as he wasn't properly developed as a character yet, it being his first canonical appearance and all) but on that same point, he showed to care more about the viewer's feelings over having shot someone than Mark did. If you listen to his dialogue (or read a transcript) when he and Mark are trying to convince us who to shoot, nothing he says is a lie. In Heist, he seemed only to want to wake the viewer up to the nature of what was going on, stuck in the Actor's games. He nudged us in the right direction with the clues to be found at each ending.

And with the inclusion of the implications given at the end of ISWM, he may have set the entire string of events of AHWM in motion deliberately to get a chance to speak with us to try to help us. Why else would he very likely seemingly attach the warp crystal to that box, which we would then after go to try to steal? Why else would he then simply pull us aside - separate us from Mark - and speak to us, rather than use the opportunity to try to get revenge on the Actor, who was right there?

Being the "villain" has never been his goal.

☁️- What made you choose your username? --- Okay, so. My mom gave me the nickname 'Lou' when I was in my mid-teens. There's no basis upon my name at all for why she did so. Even she doesn't know why she gave me the nickname. (She's just rather silly like that lol) At first I hated it, asked her not to call me that, but it just kept happening and I realized that it would undoubtedly continue to happen - not maliciously, mind you - so I kinda just gave in and had the thought of 'oh, I could make it into a different spelling of the word 'lunatic'.' cause, yeah, edgy teen lol. And I became very fond of it, making it my username across many websites and accounts. I always pair it with either the number 13 or letter 'm', cause 13 is my favorite number and 'm' is the first letter of my birth name lol

~~~

Oh boy, I get rambly. 😂😅 And you are entirely too sweet. 🥺😊 Thank you so much for sending in all the asks that you do, I really appreciate it.

Tagging @kiwibubbles5 because I figure you'll wanna see me rant about our boy lol... again...

[satsuha]

3, 13, 21, 23 and 26 for the salty ask game? (Octopath traveler 2)

(Also unrelated but I love your temehika art, it’s so soft and makes my day whenever I see it ;-; <3)

tysm!! i'm glad to hear that, now please don't mind me as i go off a bit about my fandom salt 😭

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

i guess this counts as a fandom opinion but i ended up softblocking a twt mutual over their interpretation of temenos asjkhgjkhjka i tend to go through a lot of deliberating before following someone so i dont end up unfollowing prematurely but i fked up that time

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

i don't think i interact with the fandom enough to know what really is a popular/unpop opinion but i way prefer the japanese voice/interpretation for partitio which is more like a delinquent with a heart of gold than the more cowboy approach of the english voice... i get that he was designed with that aesthetic in mind so i get conflicted about it too but i really... Really like his tone of voice in japanese and i think he handles certain scenes better with the right kind of intensity(?) and almost an aggressive kind of tone but like, still manages to come off like a nice guy

21. What are your thoughts on crack ships?

i guuueesss i don't like them much bc while i do like rarepairs, crack ships tend to lean more towards "this would NEVER happen but WHAT IF" which isn't exactly what i look for in my ships? it should be said that idc what others decide to ship and no one should look for my approval for their ships lol

23. Unpopular character you love?

RITSU MISHUYO NATION‼️ i only ever see people ignore him or think he's a bad minor villain but i'm weak to gruff older brothers who have a soft spot for their little sisters and i find his role in hikari's story so interesting...

26. Most shippable character?

i organized my shipping thoughts the other day and surprisingly it might be castti lol while i technically have/like more hikari ships, most of them don't really adhere to "proper" shipping dynamics and aren't romantic in nature... i'm also just more tolerant of castti ships in general i think they're cute

salty ask list

[myulalie]

tag people you want to get to know better

Thanks for the tag @evanesdust!

Three ships: alright I decided to go with Heline for Shadowhunters because while I do love Malec I have a much more complex relationship with Heline ever since Clare pulled that dreadful banishing twist with Helen. Then I have to mention Sterek for Teen Wolf as it was a big part of my fandom experience as a more established adult rather than a teenager, and finally Merwaine from Merlin because of course I'd rather ship them than Merthur lmao.

First ever ship: hm somewhat canon ship would have been Link x Zelda I suppose, then SasuSaku for Naruto (which I refuse to acknowledge as canon by the way) but if we're being difficult then Dramione haha.

Last song: Lemon by Tyler Posey, what can I say I watched the Teen Wolf movie.

Last movie: as clearly stated above, Teen Wolf the movie and (unpopular opinion) I loved every second of it, if anyone else liked it and wants to get away from the salt and bad reviews feel free to reach out!

Currently reading: that trashy romance my work wife recced The Spanish Love Deception, it reads like a fanfic but not the kind I would have picked for myself, what a shame!

Currently watching: literally listening to Outlander S1E16 rather than watching (got tired of the rape scenes).

Currently consuming: nothing, I shall get around to it!

Currently craving: chocolate donuts...

I am tagging: @junemermaid, @countessrivers, @wildelydawn, @1lostone, @polarnachtsblog, @one-fandom-became-all-fandoms, @sterekxhale, @sugarandspace and anyone else who feels like it!

[panharmonium]

one more... 13 for Sakura or Sasuke. or both!

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

I’ll do Sasuke, because fandom opinions about Sakura are so utterly unhinged (in wildly non-textual, completely contradictory ways) that I don’t even know what would count as “unpopular.”  

Anyway, my most unpopular opinion about Sasuke is not an unpopular opinion, it’s an unpopular fact, but I’m just gonna let that one lie, because even in an ask meme designed for the sowing of salt, there are some things that I just don’t have the energy to complain about. X) 

In lieu of that, I’ll say instead that I guess my unpopular opinion is that both Sasuke’s diehard haters and his diehard fans are equally disconnected from the fundamental purpose of the story.  Which is totally fine - it’s fandom, so if people prefer playing with whatever pieces of a story appeal to them and not engaging with it as a comprehensive whole, that’s fine; have fun; we’re all just here to enjoy ourselves.  But when we’re talking about reading the story as it was written and as it was intended to be read, both extremes of the Sasuke debate are missing the point.  

When it comes to his haters - when people watch this show without caring about Sasuke, without rooting for him, without hoping for him to get the closure he needs and surmount his pain and free himself from his chains and find his way back to the people who truly love him, then they’re not watching the story as it was meant to be read.  That is literally the premise of the entire manga/show.  The whole “we’ve gotta save the world from all these evil guys” stuff is just a vehicle for the real storyline, which is and always has been “will Team 7 be able to help Sasuke find his way out of the darkness?”  Watching this show while hoping that the answer to that question will be “no” is like...well, I don’t know what you would get out of it, I guess.  Rooting for Sasuke to reunite with his friends and finally be loved and cared for and healed is the beating heart at the center of this story, and if you hate him and think he doesn’t deserve that kind of resolution, then you’re not reading the story as it was written to be read.

At the same time, takes that are like “Sasuke did nothing wrong to anyone ever and has nothing to apologize for and his ‘friends’ are evil and he never should have gone back to them” miss the mark just as widely.  I understand that this attitude is probably just a reaction to the fact that the ending missed its landing so badly (yes, it IS completely ridiculous to write an ending where justice is never done and the whole Uchiha massacre/government cover-up is literally dropped like a hot potato; that is NOT the conclusion we were promised by this story’s previously developed themes and I do not accept it as believable canon), but to watch the story of Naruto unfold and legitimately desire an outcome where Sasuke doesn’t someday come home to rejoin a loving community of friends/surrogate family is like complaining that an author who wrote a book about a particular story didn’t instead choose to write a completely different book about a completely different story.  We ALWAYS knew Sasuke would come back to Team 7 eventually, because that’s what we were promised in the very first chapters of Part 1, when Kakashi teaches his students the sacredness of teamwork and lays the foundation for their friendship.  It has literally never been a secret that this story is going to be about the sundering and subsequent mending of Team 7′s bonds; we KNOW this story is supposed to be about the re-forging of these relationships; that is literally the entire point.  Loving Sasuke to the exclusion of everyone who is written as genuinely loving and caring about him is just as nonsensical as hating him and thinking he doesn’t deserve that kind of love in his life.  That’s not the story we’re being told; it never was.

[sezja]

I will ask the obvious one which is Sanson and Guydelot lol

Ship Meme!

I might ship it a little bit, you know, when I happen to think about them, which only happens very rarely*

*every minute of every day

What made you ship it?

Here's the thing. I know I've said this before, but in case anyone missed it: I originally did not like these boys my first time through the quests. There are a number of reasons - some of them more fair (I didn't like that Jehantel got benched in favor of two younger, hotter dudes whose plotline revolved around them being petty bitchy brats to each other) than others (I was going through a really rough patch personally at the time and was on the verge of quitting the game). I was bitter, pissy, and all-around not in a state to enjoy the quests or the NPCs involved. It wasn't really until I played through the quests again on Ciceroix, my first BRD-main alt, that it finally clicked, and obviously, it clicked hard.

But even then. Even then, when I didn't like them. I knew these two idiots had undeniable chemistry. It's in the way they balance and complement each other's personalities; it's in the way they shore up each other's weaknesses. It's in their shared passion for the power of song and the value of bards. It's in the way they bring out the best in each other, after so much time spent bringing out the worst in each other.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

The way their relationship progresses over the course of the quests! Just... how warm Sanson and Guydelot are toward each other in the Stormblood quests... and the immediate terror and desperation in Guydelot when Sanson is captured. Their spat in the 80 quest, but the affection is clearly still there, look at how Guydelot still calls Sanson "Chief," despite his frustration! (And I, personally, melt at Sanson's "Guydelot, there you are!") And the way Sanson talks about Guydelot throughout their brief appearance in Endwalker......... my heart....

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

It's not nearly so prevalent anymore, but for a long while there, there was this rash of "Guydelot is just a drunk jackass" in the fandom, and it's kind of why I started writing for them in the first place. Nothing in canon bears that up; he likes to drink and sing, sure, but I think the evidence points to him never drinking so much that he's not cognizant of what's going on around him. (My personal headcanon is that he doesn't even like to get drunk, and prefers to maintain a slight buzz.)

I think a lot of the fandom at the time was forgetting that Sanson is shown to be an unreliable narrator (it's arguably the whole point of the Alamenain quest) and his complaints about Guydelot throughout the HW quests need to be taken with a grain of salt.

[chatonnoir]

23 for the salty ask game?

Salty Asks !

23. Unpopular character you love?

I'm fascinated by how three other people also asked this one within the span of 5 minutes, esp seeing how it’s one of the least salty asks. Honestly it's kind of a hard one because 1) with a fandom as big as this one, opinions are SO varied, and 2) it depends on how we're defining unpopular?

If you couldn't already tell, I adore Adrien and, though a lot of people vocally hate him on tumblr and some on twitter, the majority of fans in the general populace actually love him and he's a fan favorite, so I wouldn't count him. And of course there's Marinette and Alya who also get hated on plenty even outside of the salt communities by more casual fans, but given that they're major characters who are also loved by plenty of fans, I wouldn't consider them "unpopular" either. I'm also not the kind of person who really cares about minor characters, so I don't have any "underappreciated" characters I feel passionate about.

I think Kagami qualifies for this, but I've surrounded myself with people who actually have brains and taste on here, so she's not that unpopular from what I’ve seen in my corner on Tumblr. However if you go on like, Adrien's Instagram (and probably Tiktok and Youtube too) and go on any post that has Kagami in it, you'll find SO many people in the comments who hate her mainly because she's the female love rival and fans have corny amounts of resentment and jealousy towards fictional female characters.

Kagami's probably the character who is most like me irl seeing as we're both sapphic asian perfectionist overachievers who are both seen as "ice queens" until some extroverted clown (affectionate) determinedly forces their friendship upon us and shatters the image by finding out we like stupid cute things like shoujo manga. I also didn't have any middle/high school experiences with mean girl bullies, which is why I don't have much Personal hatred for Chloe and/or Lila the way a lot of fans do, and that's because my reaction to people bothering me was pretty much the same as Kagami's reaction to Chloe in Animaestro lmao. I could prob talk even more about what I love about her but this ask is getting long, so I'll just sum it up by saying that I loooove seeing female characters who are more stoic and blunt and logical and a bit prickly since you usually just see male characters with those traits. She's my baby girl and my lesbian queen ♡

[desultory-novice]

gooey for character ask!

Oooh, nice pick!

003 Gooey

How I Feel About This Character:

Gooey is such a cutie pie! I really, really the idea of Kirby having a very "Kirby-like" best friend who is Kirby's speed and just naturally there enjoying the same kinds of activities Kirby does. Catching fish with his tongue! So soft! We've got Bandanna Waddle Dee now too, but Bandee differs somewhat in that they have (HC) a little more anxiety, a little bit more self-doubt. Gooey shares that rare Kirby trait of being easy going and just completely in awe with the world and its many miracles, regardless of whatever "It's Magolor Da-...err, Sunday, time to conquer Popstar!" nonsense is going on .

Also, it may be the “Player 2 always goes to the kid sibling” vibes, but Gooey just feels like SUCH a little sibling, and there's no other character in Kirby that can play the role of "Kirby's Little Brother" quite like Gooey! 

...Then Void came along and now Gooey's the middle child?! Uh oh!

Any/All the People I Ship Romantically With This Character:

Okay, so I said in my 001 Kirby ask that I personally don't see Kirby as “baby” so I'm okay with shipping -my- Kirby with various characters but... Gooey IS baby.

I can't ship Gooey with anyone! Gooey still needs room/time to grow up surrounded by love and positive emotions. Find out who Gooey is to Gooey! Then, maybe, Gooey can discover romance.

...But I guess there’s the rare, pink “Girl Gooey” also?

My Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship For This Character:

Dark!:clap:Matter!:clap:Blade!:clap: 

Talk about sibling relationships! Actually, I love Gooey when interacting with any fellow Dark Matters! Just, ah, being confronted with this thing that you ARE but you don't understand it and it doesn't feel right to you but you can't explain it and how are you supposed to deny what everyone's telling you but that doesn't matter because it doesn't FEEL right to you and your existence, your firm belief that even if you don't understand anything, this isn’t right and it.isn’t.okay actually starts having an impact on everyone else around you who had never thought about it before...!!! :strong feels:

Uh, I also have this idea for a massive Dreamy Gear expanded universe (...possible fan game idea? Ahhh, if only I had the time...!!) and in it, “Dark Matter” is that world's Mafia, and Gooey escaped the organization but lost his memories in the process and that’s how he winds up with the gang!

...Gooey + Blade + Zero/O2 Mafia AU. Yes...

My Unpopular Opinion About This Character:

How about my "salt" about this character instead? 

Dear HAL, I understand that, for various reasons, you can't have the Dream Friends change radically in between games. No "Hey, guys, while I was gone, I experienced character growth!" But seeing Gooey stuck in "...um, I dunno anything...?" mode for all of Star Allies was kinda sad. It almost seemed like a back-step compared to how Gooey was at the end of DL 3? At least Gooey seemed more in touch with his Dark Matter abilities, which was nice.

But unless the Dream Friends become a thing going forward (as much as I would LOVE this, I feel it's unlikely) we're probably never going to help Gooey get any answers. This part feels not just sad, but maybe a little tragic?

WHELP, that’s what fandom/fanwork is for!

One Thing I Wish Would Happen / Had Happened With This Character In Canon:

It would have been neat if Gooey still had his copy ability in Star Allies. I understand why they didn’t go that way, and we got a lot of great moves out of it anyway. But losing Gooey's copy ability was like losing a key piece of his character! (Plus, I mean, that was another thing that tied him/Dark Matter in general to Kirby and hinted at their shared origin with Void. Though I guess you could use Gooey losing his copy abilities and come up with a headcanon for why Meta doesn’t have copy abilities either now - if you believe he did, and I believe he did - or something?)

And this is not a thing I wish happened with Gooey, per se, but according to Kumazaki et al, they made the choice to pick only one Dream Friend from each -mainline- game. (...Drawcia...Fluff...Elline...) A-ahem! I may have been crazy, but I feel like at one point, I had it worked out where there still would have been room for Dark Matter Blade to get in. (Probably was crazy, but anyway...) TLDR: I WISH WE COULD PAIR UP GOOEY AND DMB IN STAR ALLIES AHHHH....!

Favorite Friendship For This Character:

There's Kirby, obviously. The part in the Rainbow Islands novel where Kirby is on the verge of a breakdown because Gooey keeps fighting him and won't talk to him and the others want to fight back and Kirby just -can't-?! Again, their friendship becomes even more sweet in light of Void and the positive emotions/negative emotions thing and how they give birth to these skrunklies!

I also think Gooey and Fluff could become good friends? I saw someone (sorry for forgetting who!) headcanon that Patch Land was like Kirby's safe place? And the idea of Kirby inviting Gooey there too to meet Fluff, like, "Hey, this is my little brother!" And it would be awkward at first because Fluff is made of yarn and yarn turns to felt when you get it wet, but they would work it out soon enough and yeah. Three Fabric Soft Blorbos (tm).

Lastly, this one is a bit of a crack friendship, but bear with me: 

Gooey + Marx. At this point, you're all nodding, going "Of course Dess is going to bring Marx into this" but listen! You know that Star Allies pic with the Wave 1 crew? I keep thinking about that. Like, outside of Kirby, Marx has never interacted with the animal trio or Gooey and yet, they're all having a great time! Like hanging out this way is natural for them!

I actually have something in my drafts with Marx and the Animal Friends, thanks to thinking too much about that pic. But one of the things that struck me too is a Noddy!Marx who obviously doesn't fit in with the Noddys anymore and Gooey who can't go back to Zero / being Dark Matter. They're both accidental exiles from their species and I wonder if that's something they could bond over...?

I want to explore it.

My Crossover Ship/FREE SPACE/Recs:

-THE- Gooey + Dark Matter Blade comic is already required reading in this fandom and I think there's no Gooey centric videos(?) sooo...

You know what? I've yet to draw Gooey! :cracks open CSP for approx 5 min:

Circle. Triangle. Square. HAL Labs are the masters of shaped skrunklies.

Some last, rambling Gooey thoughts for the road: I would summon Gooey all the time in DL3, even though the AI was all over the place. Because screw it! Gooey is Kirby's best friend (sorry Magolor!) so they get to adventure together!

Also, this last one's a bit personal, but I actually have a serious vision problem that makes my eyes similar to Gooey's, and so I pretty much love every character with "weird acting eyes" because of it. (See also: Marx)

[jackoshadows]

what i don’t understand is sansa stans who insist that she learnt from the best (cersei ans littlefinger) and so she’ll be an amazing ruler and player. first of all, when did she learn about the game from cersei? she was a hostage in kings landing, she wasn’t sitting in on small council meetings or anything and cersei definitely wasn’t telling her about all the moves she was making. the only time cersei really gives her ‘advice’ is during blackwater when she says that ‘tears/sex is a woman’s weapon’. regardless, cersei isn’t someone you want to be taught from, she makes terrible decision after terrible decision in affc. (since we’re on this topic, dany is the younger and more beautiful queen who foils cersei).

as for littlefinger, he’s definitely not a leader or ruler. he subtly manipulates things here and there and gets away with a lot of it because he stays under the radar. he’s not someone who inspires devotion for sure. nothing about the vale arc in affc puts sansa in an actual leadership position.

I agree it's best that no one learns how to be a ruler from Cersei Lannister, considering how much she messes up in AFfC.

And yes, it’s my opinion that Sansa's arc is leading towards outwitting Littlefinger and understanding how to play the game rather than ruling. And with two books left to go, she still has a lot of learning to do and being able to process the information available to her, analyze it and connect the dots and use the data to her advantage.

I just finished my ADwD and TWoW sample chapter re-reads so a rather long essay under the cut.

Sansa did acknowledge early on that unlike Cersei, if she were to become queen, she would prioritize getting the people's love over their fear - like the Tyrells did. But unlike the majority opinion of fandom, I think that this points to Sansa giving more importance to PR than to actual ruling. That it was better to be a loved monarch than a feared one.

It’s funny that Sansa stans often point the finger at Dany as being narcissistic, entitled and arrogant, when the few comments that Sansa makes about being queen revolve around her.

“Go ahead, call me all the names you want,” Sansa said airily. “You won’t dare when I’m married to Joffrey. You’ll have to bow to me and call me Your Grace. ” - Sansa, AGoT

“ If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me.”  - Sansa, ACoK

Compare her quotes to those of current leaders/rulers in the books:

A good lord protects his people, he reminded himself. - Bran, ACoK

“Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?“ - Daenerys, ASoS

“And I know that a king protects his people, or he is no king at all.” Davos, ASoS

I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne."  - Stannis, ASoS

“I am the shield that guards the realms of men. Those are the words. So tell me, my lord— what are these wildlings, if not men?”  - Jon Snow, ADwD

The other leaders in the quotes are putting the people first, prioritizing the people’s needs first no matter how much it affects the rulers themselves. Jon’s decision to let the Wildlings through the wall is necessary, but highly unpopular among his men. And ruling is more than just being beloved by the people -

"Allow me to give my lord one last piece of counsel,” the old man had said, “the same council that I one gave my brother when we parted for the last time. He was three-and-thirty when the Great Council chose him to mount the Iron Throne. A man grown with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took the ship for the Wall. It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill boy and let the man be born.” The old man felt Jon’s face. “You are half the age that Egg was, and your own burden is a crueler one, I fear. You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.” - Jon Snow, ADwD

This is the hard part of ruling be it in the middle ages or now. It’s not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler. It’s complicated and it’s hard.  How do I resolve this thing? Do I do the moral thing? But what about  the political consequences of the moral thing? Do I do the pragmatic, cynical thing and kind of screw the people who are screwed by it? I mean, it is HARD. - GRRM

In this context, Sansa’s quote about being queen comes off as naive, ignorant, fairy taleish, like the queens in her stories - where everyone loves the queens and that’s all that’s necessary to be one.

It’s easy for Sansa stans to nitpick and criticize each and every one of Dany’s decisions and then praise future best queen Sansa - who has done absolutely nothing as a leader and has instead thus far served as an uncritical narrator to events around her. We don’t know what kind of leader Sansa would be because she has never been put in those situations or even shown an aptitude for strategic thinking.

Let me use an example I came across while recently re-reading ADwD and TWoW sample chapters. TWoW spoilers - if you don’t want to be spoiled on TWoW, please read no further.

-------------------------------------------------------

In ADwD, Jon is confronted with food shortage if they let the Wildlings through the wall:

“If we had sufficient coin, we could buy food from the south and bring it in by ship,” the Lord Steward said. We could, thought Jon, if we had the gold, and someone willing to sell us food. Both of those were lacking. Our best hope may be the Eyrie. The Vale of Arryn was famously fertile and had gone untouched during the fighting. - Jon Snow, ADwD

I have already written extensively on Jon’s political know-how of the North and using it in his strategizing and planning of Stannis’ campaign. But here we see that his knowledge extends to the south, where, knowing that the Vale stayed neutral during the WOT5K and it’s geography of being fertile, he sees it as a possible source to buy food for the Wall.

Now let’s go to the Vale in book 6, TWoW, Alayne’s sample chapter. After being called a bastard by Harry the Heir, a hurt Sansa goes looking for Littlefinger and chances upon a scheme of price gouging:

Near the bottom, she heard Lord  Grafton’s booming voice, and followed.

“The  merchants are clamoring to buy and the lords are clamoring to sell,”  the Gulltowner was saying when she found them. Though not a tall man, Grafton was wide, with thick arms and shoulders.  His hair was a dirty blond mop.  “How am I to stop that, my lord?”

“Post guardsmen on the docks. If need be, seize the ships. How does not matter, so long as no food leaves the Vale”

“These prices, though,” protested fat Lord Belmore,” 

“These prices are more than fair. Wait. If need be, buy the food yourself and keep it stored. Winter is coming. Prices must go higher.”

“Perhaps,”  said Belmore, doubtfully. “Bronze Yohn will not wait, ” Grafton complained. “He need not ship through Gulltown, he has his own ports. Whilst we are hoarding our harvest, Royce and the other Lords Declarant will turn theirs into silver, you may be sure of that.”

“Let  us hope so,”  said Petyr. “When their granaries are empty, they will  need every scrap of that silver to buy sustenance from us. And now if  you will excuse me, my lord, it would seem my daughter has need of me.”

“Lady Alayne,” Lord Grafton said. “You look bright-eyed this morning.” ” You  are kind to say so, my lord. Father, I am sorry to disturb you, but I  thought you would want to know that the Waynwoods have arrived.”

We are now in book 6 territory, this would be the point where a future queen/leader Sansa reflects on what she just saw - Littlefinger is hoarding grain and letting Royce and others sell theirs so that he can later increase the prices for demand from a starving populace and have the rest of the Vale Lords be dependent on him and with winter coming, there is currently much demand for the grain.

This would be where, if GRRM is writing for the future leader of the North, Sansa would wonder what is happening in the North with respect to the food situation since she just heard that merchants are clamoring for grain and winter is coming. Or she would think on LF’s scheme - is it a good plan or a bad plan? Does she think that Yohn Royce is right to sell his grain? What is her view on hoarding all the food for price gouging while people possibly starve elsewhere? What does she think of starving the populace for profit? Does she approve? Or does she think it’s ethically wrong?

We get no answers to these questions to give us a hint of what kind of ruler future best queen Sansa will be. It’s a blank slate because while Sansa acts as a narrator here and describes one of LF’s little schemes, she herself as no opinion on it. Instead Sansa’s immediate concern when speaking to Littlefinger is that Harry the Heir called her a bastard in front of everyone. Meanwhile Dany in ADwD:

Skahaz had been named Warden of the River, with charge of all the ferries, dredges, and irrigation ditches along the Skahazadhan for fifty leagues, but the Shavepate had refused that ancient and honorable office, as Hizdahr called it, preferring to retire to the modest pyramid of Kandaq.

Mounted men were of more use in open fields and hills than in the narrow streets and alleys of the city. Beyond Meereen's walls of many-colored brick, Dany's rule was tenuous at best. Thousands of slaves still toiled on vast estates in the hills, growing wheat and olives, herding sheep and goats, and mining salt and copper. Meereen's storehouses held ample supplies of grain, oil, olives, dried fruit, and salted meat, but the stores were dwindling. So Dany had dispatched her tiny khalasar to subdue the hinterlands, under the command of her three bloodriders, whilst Brown Ben Plumm took his Second Sons south to guard against Yunkish incursions.

The most crucial task of all she had entrusted to Daario Naharis, glib-tongued Daario with his gold tooth and trident beard, smiling his wicked smile through purple whiskers. Beyond the eastern hills was a range of rounded sandstone mountains, the Khyzai Pass, and Lhazar. If Daario could convince the Lhazarene to reopen the overland trade routes, grains could be brought down the river or over the hills at need …

The sea provides all the salt that Qarth requires, but I would gladly take as many olives as you cared to sell me. Olive oil as well."

"I have none to offer. The slavers burned the trees." Olives had been grown along the shores of Slaver's Bay for centuries; but the Meereenese had put their ancient groves to the torch as Dany's host advanced on them, leaving her to cross a blackened wasteland. "We are replanting, but it takes seven years before an olive tree begins to bear, and thirty years before it can truly be called productive. What of copper?"

Sansa does not come anywhere close to Dany and Jon in terms of leadership and that she’s so often pushed as this future queen in fandom, including by bnfs and so called asoiaf experts, is baffling, frustrating and hilarious.

What, if any, attributes does Sansa have to even be a peacetime ruler? After the war means rebuilding from scratch, making deals, hard bargaining, strategizing, using political tools, rebuilding the economy for war torn lands, get in the food, grow the food - precisely the kind of thing Dany is doing in Meereen. Or Jon thinking of building green houses in the Gift to grow food.

But Sansa building a snow model of Winterfell means that she’s the best qualified peace time ruler? Reddit dudebros and so called tumblr feminists united in wanting female characters who wield soft power and uphold the patriarchy as future rulers.

Even when it comes to personal growth, while Sansa has come a long way from her AGoT days, she still has some catching up to do with her peers. After getting hold of LF, Sansa complains that Harry is a horrible person for calling her a bastard.

Come,” Petyr said, “walk with me.” He took her by the arm and led her deeper into the vaults, past an empty dungeon. “And how was your first meeting with Harry the Heir?”

“He’s horrible.”

“The world is full of horrors, sweet. By now you ought to know that. You’ve seen enough of them.”

“Yes,” she said, “but why must he be so cruel? He called me your bastard. Right in the yard, in front of everyone.”

Now, personally, this is the point where I would like some introspection from Sansa. Remember when Sansa called out Jon as a jealous bastard in front of her friends in AGoT and Arya defended him?

Sansa sighed as she stitched.  “Poor Jon,” she said.  “He gets jealous because he's a bastard.”

“He’s our brother,” Arya said, much too loudly. Her voice cut through the afternoon quiet of the tower room.

“Our half brother,” Sansa corrected, soft and precise. - Arya, AGoT

Considering the way Sansa ignored Joffrey’s attack on Arya, it’s a good bet that if Harry the Heir had called out Jon Snow as a bastard in front of everyone in AGoT, Sansa would not have an issue with it. Now that she is being insulted as one, she gets to experience the hurt that Jon felt everyday growing up in Winterfell as a real bastard.

But even here, she refuses to scrutinize the situation more than simply getting angry at being called a bastard. Sansa is often held up as this compassionate, kindest person, ‘beacon of hope for the future’, a queen who cares for the masses etc. But where is her questioning why the classist prejudice against bastards is in itself wrong?

She is angry that she is being called a bastard, she is not angry that bastards are treated as less than. She doesn’t question the societal prejudice against bastards, only angry that she has to pretend to be one and be insulted as one. She doesn’t spare a second reflecting on her bastard brother Jon Snow or question her low opinion of bastards:

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon’s mother had been common, or so people whispered. Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn’t been some mistake. - Sansa, AGoT

And that’s the difference I see between Sansa and characters like Dany, Arya, Jon, Brienne and even with Tyrion and Penny. While GRRM interrogates Westerosi society prejudices, feudalism, classism, sexism, slavery, ableism, bigotry, the effects of war on the small folk etc with these other characters, Sansa rarely reflects on these issues. That’s why it makes no sense when epithets like ‘embodiment of hope for the future’ is used to describe the character. Hope for whom? The small folk? The patriarchy? The feudal lords?

Sansa being nice to people like the stuttering Ser Wallace is held up as her being the kindest ever. But Jon is nice to Shireen, Arya is kind to Weasel, Jaime is kind to Tyrion. Why is kindness and compassion only highlighted for Sansa, like some unique feature of hers when many characters, even the villains, exhibit kindness?

This is Jon Snow in ADwD

“I see what you are, Snow. Half a wolf and half a wildling, baseborn get of a traitor and a whore. You would deliver a highborn maid to the bed of some stinking savage. Did you sample her yourself first?” He laughed. “If you mean to kill me, do it and be damned for a kinslayer. Stark and Karstark are one blood.”

“My name is Snow.”

“Bastard.”

“Guilty. Of that, at least.”  - Jon Snow, ADwD

This is Sansa Stark in TWoW:

Ser Harrold looked down at her coldly. “Why should it please me to be escorted anywhere by Littlefinger’s bastard?”  

“Yes,” she said, “but why must he be so cruel? He called me your bastard. Right in the yard, in front of everyone.”  - Alayne, TWoW

Sansa in TWoW is as hurt by the bastard moniker as Jon Snow was in AGoT when addressed as such by Tyrion. She’s emotionally where Jon Snow was in AGoT, while Jon has matured enough to not care for such insults anymore. And this is book 6! I guess it makes sense considering Jon is 16 -17 and Sansa would be 13 - 14 years old, making her younger than him in AGoT. But this is why the whole ‘Jon should take Sansa’s advice to rule because she’s the smartest ever!’ trash the show pushed to hype up Sansa is complete nonsense.

I don’t know how many chapters GRRM will be devoting to Sansa in the Vale in TWoW, but there’s still a lot of growth and character development pending for book Sansa. As I have always said, Sansa has a lot of information but she rarely if ever introspects on what she has heard and seen. She knows that LF last had Jeyne Poole but at one point wonders where Jeyne Poole is... Just ask LF dammit! She knows that Lysa had Jon Arryn poisoned on LF’s say so and knows that SweetRobin is being dosed with dangerous levels of Sweetsleep and that LF is banking on his death and yet thinks that SweetRobin will be okay. She needs to start putting two and two together to come up with four and I suspect that in itself will take up the whole of TWoW.

So will Sansa become any kind of queen or ruler? No. If she survives the books, I can see her being Lady of the Vale and be moving the chess pieces around. I can see her gaining agency and maybe even be the real power in the Vale aka Littefinger. Just like Jon, Arya, Bran and Dany I think Sansa will be a darker character in TWoW. The game of thrones cannot be played honorably and she will need to get her hands dirty to outwit LF and take him down at his own game.

The point where Sansa simply stops narrating what she sees and actually starts analyzing what she sees in her POV chapters is when the student will become the master and I am excited to see that happening.

[logicalbookthief]

Heyo! Can you do salt questions 4, 15, and 22 for Mop Sicko 1001 please?

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

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a NoTP, but I am entirely different to Serizawa x Reigen, which I know is very popular, but it just doesn't do anything for me. To me, Reigen is ace, and platonic life-partners with the fart cloud.

Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

Hmm, I'm not sure I have one? I guess one thing that annoys me sometimes is the tendency to distill Mob's character down to "pure, sweet, naive boy who sees the best in everyone and thinks the world is all sunshine and goodness."

Not to say that Mob isn't soft, and kind, and forgiving of others. What irks me is that this particular fandom interpretation will often neglects the nuance of Mob's kindness. Even though there are several arcs that go out of their way to establish that yes, the world can be cruel, people can be cruel, and Mob has experienced this cruelty firsthand, and has been tempted toward cruelty as a result (when he was trapped in Mogami's world, when Ritsu was kidnapped, when confronting Claw before Reigen stepped in, when he believed his family was dead).

In each instance, however, he had people in his life looking out for him, a reminder that goodness exists in spite of cruelty, and for every reason there is to be cruel, there is more reasons to be kind. And that is much more important to me than just saying Mob is inherently a good person.

Popular character you hate?

I don't think there is a character I hate? Now if we're talking about popular characters I'm just not as much of a fan of as others, I guess Serizawa? He's a good character! Just doesn't interest me as much as others do or add much to the story for me.

[trainsinanime]

For the ask game: 13, 15, 17, 19

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

I’ve said this before: The Gorilla is not “Adrien’s only parent”. The Gorilla is the jailer who physically enforces the limits on Adrien’s freedom that Gabriel has set. That’s his job, and it’s one he actually does most of the time. In Gorizilla, Adrien and Marinette are trying to dodge him (and Adrien’s fans) long before he turns into an Akuma. In Origins, Adrien tries to dodge him when he wants to go to school.

Yes, the Gorilla is often bad at his job, and sometimes will let himself be bribed into being even worse at it. And yes, he has genuine affection for Adrien, more so than anyone else living in the Agreste mansion (Nathalie stans: Fight me). And I could imagine that someone else in the same role might be worse for Adrien. But still, when Adrien is running towards his freedom, the Gorilla is the person he is running from.

I don’t think he is irredeemable, far from it, and I’m perfectly okay with stories where Adrien decides to forgive him. I just think the fandom needs to acknowledge that there is something to forgive here in the first place.

15. Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

I’m still trying to sort my thoughts enough for a long-form post, but basically, I think the strict format hurts the show. There is only ever the one villain; there is only one plot; there is only one kind of threat. If you compare it to other shows in a vaguely similar conceptual space like The Owl House or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (what is Miraculous if not Buffy but happy), you can quickly see where it leaves a lot of development on the table because of those structural deficiencies.

Having multiple enemies in succession means the bad guys can have meaningful victories over the heroes, keeping the threat level up. At the same time, the heroes can make significant progress at times. Miraculous Ladybug just doesn’t have that, and the one time they did have a serious victory for the bad guy (exposing the other heroes), they couldn’t do anything with that.

The show also generally doesn’t have B-plots; at least no B-plots with any substance to them. The time spent on B-plots is instead given to the CGI battles, and to be fair, those can be a lot of fun. But that means there is really no opportunity to develop side characters better because there is no time; even the main plot often feels more like we’re watching a summary than a well-told story.

It also doesn’t help that the show is so strict about secret identities and amnesia for akuma victims and the like. Marinette can’t talk about superhero stuff with Alya (for most of the show anyway) and Chat Noir can’t talk about superhero stuff with Nino, which means those two don’t get any development. And Marinette can’t really reason with an Akuma victim, nor talk about personal stuff while in costume, so in the end the CGI battles are fun, but usually irrelevant when it comes to characterisation and plot developments.

The show seems to address some of these issues, especially with Rena knowing, but still, it’s far from ideal.

It’s a weird thing where it sort of balances out in the end; the show doesn’t seem to have the the time to develop any overarching story well, but it doesn’t have a good overarching story to begin, so it evens out. And they have given me enough bits for the minor characters so that I love all of them.

I’m a bit hesitant to post all this stuff because it makes the show sound horrible, which it is not. I genuinely love it and enjoy watching it. I just think that it could have been so much better if it had chosen a different format.

Not sure if this is unpopular, but it is a thing we’re not really talking about.

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

Apart from “restructure the entire show completely and rewrite every single episode”, you mean? 😁

I think we could cut Lila, and instead give more time to Chloé. People keep acting like “Zoé is supposed to replace Chloé”, and no, obviously not; Lila is. People also keep saying “the writers hate Chloé”, and again, no, obviously not; if they hate anyone, they hate Lila.

Lila’s job in the show is to be the Cordelia Chase character; the antagonist for the non-superhero side of Marinette’s life. This is the role that Chloé previously had, until Marinette realised partly through season 1 that being the bigger person in that relationship is both easy and fun. But Lila isn’t a good replacement, because Lila has absolutely no character, no depth; she’s either conspiring to make Marinette’s life harder, or, more commonly, she’s functionally completely absent. The writers seem to have no clue what to do with her.

So either expand her role, or remove her. I’m leaning towards removal because Chloé could probably be a better antagonist; she has all the motivation and backstory, and the writers seem to genuinely enjoy making her the center of attention.

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Honestly I am at a point where either the salt has died down, or I’ve managed to block it well enough, that I am basically very happy with the fandom. There are certainly a lot of hot takes I don’t enjoy, but my impression is that these are mostly the results of young people trying critical analysis for the first time, and I don’t want to be too harsh on that.

So… the thing that tends to disappoint me the most is really at the other end of the scale: I think the fandom is way too serious at times. The show is blatantly silly and cracky in every aspect, from its world building right up. Marinette may seem over-the-top, but in the context of the show, she seems to have about an average level of chill. Every single episode, if written as a fanfic, would be pure crack. The fandom is by no means a joyless place, far from it! But I think it could embrace the sheer insanity that is the world of Miraculous Ladybug even more. If you write a fanfic, and the Eiffel tower remains completely stationary the entire time, what are you really doing? 😁

[fumiko-matsubara]

Chiba Ryuunosuke ー The calm type of social butterfly?

So yesterday, Zaina and I had a fairly long talk about how Chiba is a lot more social and friendly than he appeared to be despite being a supposed introvert.

And no, I am not just talking about him being comfortable in his own friend group, which is a very normal thing among introverted people. In fact, if you actually read the manga and some of the extra materials Matsui had released post-AssClass, most of the students you see him interacting with the most are the ones who are outside of his friend group... well, that is if you consider his friend group being him and the art trio even though there are hardly any scenes of them actually interacting in canon but ahehe.

Zaina pointed out to me, or rather stated an unpopular opinion about how Group 2 is like the kids have their seperate group of friends instead of them being a whole friend group, which is a popular take in the fandom, and I completely agree with her. Because think about it, we have the Art trio (Sugaya, Mimura, and Okajima), Hayami is friends with Touka and possibly even Hinano as well, Fuwa has Ritsu and Hara initially, and Nakamura just goes to whatever friend group she sees and dives right in.

As for Chiba (take this with a grain of salt as this is purely based from how I generally understood his character in the manga), I believe that he has almost the same case as Nakamura whereas instead of forcing himself into random friend groups like she does, he gets pulled into different friend groups because he had gained the trust of the rather many people he had interacted with before.

I'm basing this assumption from some of the kids I've seen him interacting with in the mangaー Hinano, Maehara, Sugino, Okano, Isogai, Kimura, Okajima, and Karma to name a few. As for the extra materials like the albums and the novel parts of the lesson books (korotan and korosuu), there was Nakamura, Nagisa, and Takebayashi as far as I still vaguely remember.

I find it so interesting that despite the little screen time he had even in the manga, he still managed to be seen interacting and maybe even becoming friends with at least one member from each group, the most being in Group 1 (5 out of 7 members) which is also the group that has most of the class extroverts.

This pretty much supports my headcanon about how Chiba finds it easier to get along with people who are more talkative than he is instead of people who are quieter than him, because he doesn't feel pressured to hard carry a conversation, which is something he understandably struggles with for someone whose only source of social interaction growing up was with his family, as I have previously talked about in here.

This also explains why he struggled to get along with Hayami outside of school even though they worked so well together whenever they get paired up for training and such.

And no, I am not saying that Chiba is an extrovert. He still is not despite what I have said, not even an ambivert actually. He's just a very social introvert. Not exactly loud nor very talkative, but he finds it easy to approach anyone who is willing to look past his supposed unapproachable appearance and just talk to him without prejudice. He's not the type to unnecessarily bring attention to himself when in a group, definitely not lol. But he's the kind of social introvert who prefers to be in a friend group with extroverted people and would already be contented with just watching his loud friends having fun.

How do I say this? He likes the commotion without wanting to cause said commotion lol.

Chiba is also canonically empathetic, observant, and quietly looks after people. This was evidently shown in the Takaoka arc when he asked Hinano regarding her feelings about the situation despite the very welcoming front Takaoka had firstly shown to the class on his first day, which shows that despite Hinano's fixation towards Karasuma being considered as mere fangirling that can be brushed off, Chiba still pays attention enough that he'd consider her feelings for something as supposedly simple as substitute teaching. (The anime adaptation completely omitted this scene by the way, hence why it may be unfamiliar to some of you).

What really hit me in this panel (It's seriously just one panel lol), was that Chiba was so casual when he asked Hinano about it. As in, you could tell he probably doesn't want this to be made a big deal of, let alone accidentally bring unnecessary attention to Hinano. Because I assure you, if he instead pulled her in and whispered to her, people around them will find it suspicious at how they are huddling together and will make a big deal out of it then (reminder: more than half of Class E are ridiculously nosy).

Chiba clearly knows that and definitely doesn't want that to happen to Hinano, of all people. Especially considering what happened later in the chapter or, what nearly happened to Hinano only because she decided to be loud about it. Yikes.

I know a lot of people like to use what Chiba had subtly done for Karma in the finals arc as a popular example, since it's also one of the only scenes that had made it to the anime adaptation. But I decided to give more light to what he had done for Hinano because it fully showcases how observant and caring he is and at the same time, taking more of his surroundings into consideration.

Zaina also added how while he's the type to quietly enjoy the commotion his extroverted friends do whenever they have fun, whenever he feels that someone is likely feeling left out, he'd be also the type to try including them in and making sure that they feel belonged. Because I don't know about y'all, but unless they deserved it, I strongly believe Chiba wouldn't want people to go through what he did growing up.

Now the question is, how does Chiba get along so well with plenty of people?

Honestly, if you looked past his appearance, which inadvertently does make him seem very quiet and gloomy, Chiba has always been a friendly and happy kid. The independent, mature, and serious side of him is mostly showcased whenever he's in "work mode", which is pretty telling that he clearly knows when to take things seriously and when to have fun. Chiba is known to be very calm and gentle among the class, which is definitely the big part of his personality that drew non-judgemental people towards him (this was stated in the korosuu, @clownao please confirm this unless I'm remembering it wrong T-T).

Unless you're one of the many people who stubbornly refuses to approach him due to his appearance, Chiba's personality is what makes him naturally likeable, especially with his classmates. Like who wouldn't want to be friends with someone who's just as unconditionally kind as he is?

And to think that he still managed to turn out like this despite the social bullying he had went through growing up 💔

Just so you know, I am completely basing this from the screen time he had in the series (anime, manga, and the extra materials), as in what was shown canonically. For all we know, he's probably friends with everyone in the class and that Matsui just didn't bother showcasing them all since Chiba is just a side character who doesn't have to have many screen time.

People just either avoids him, don't bother talking to him, or straight up just wants to be his friend.

There are no other options outside of the given three :D