#you don't have to ship them yourself to acknowledge that they're a thing and that matters; and discuss it

[elexuscal]

the longer i stay in fandom, the longer i think a huge amount of bad takes and discourse come from an... abundance of identifying with a character

to be clear, i don't think it's bad to identify with a character. far from it! i think that's part of what makes fiction so powerful.

and it's only logical people often attach to a blorbo because they're just like me, for real. a person will see some element of themselves-- their race, their gender, their sexuality, their hobbies, their family life, their specific flavour of neurodivergence-- and something just resonates. it gives them a way to explore and name this important part of themselves, a part they maybe didn't even know existed before it.

and everything is well and good until some split between them and the character shows up

because of course, no character, except an explicit self-insert written by yourself, will ever be a perfect 1:1 for your own experiences. so sooner or later-- maybe in canon, maybe in a fanwork-- your blorbo diverges from your lived experience in a huge way.

I think this is why shipping culture in particular gets so toxic. While it is by no means the only way to indulge with shipping, a significant portion is 'if i was in that character's shoes, i would choose X'. the fight becomes for your own self-identity.

but this gets expanded in other ways. a character who is revealed to be black when the majority of the fandom had just assumed they were white. or revealed to be queer, or maybe the 'wrong' flavour of queer. or fuck, even some more innocuous part of their backstory, one that's nonetheless so meaningful for SOMEONE, but now it feels like the story is saying, fuck you, we're doing something else

i don't know. i just feel acknowledging this perceived-attack-on-identity helps me understand why people react it what seems to be such outsized way to canon and fanworks alike.

at the same time, i think it's a really important thing to check in yourself.

it's nice, to see a character who you identify with. who resonates with for being like you. but it's also nice to acknowledge and appreciate the way characters are not like you at All. how great it is to get insight into this totally different lived experience. and to muse on how wonderful that recognition might be for someone who does have that background.

[yellowmusings]

Elain and Azriel- the dynamic to change it all

They're two consenting adults - not cheating on anyone - who are lusting after each other and very obviously care deeply love for each other, And external circumstances are forcing them apart, within they're fighting themselves not to melt at the other person's touch. This is the Stuff of Forbidden romance.

When Rhys said those words to Az, ordered him to stay away, I thought "thank you, for raising the stakes"... because of course he loves his brother, he will do anything for Az _ when he stops and sees that damn, he loves her, utterly, completely, reverently.

Give me the clandestine, the barely concealed evidence of their loving, the brush of fingers, the whispered touches/words, the longing looks, the pretending before their family, the silence louder and more meaningful than anything they could say, the "hold tight and don't make a sound" (I'm ravenous for that, call back please).

And this is not even highlighting their subtle personalities, sweet and somber. They're literally so quiet about their pain, and I wanna see them unleashed, unhinged, unbound, yet somehow I know they'll stay kind and soft, and you know what, I miss that, soft protagonists.

I want their connection to haunt them in the most wicked and ecstatic of ways, and I want Lucien and El to mutually agree to break the bond, and I want Az to be there, because he's the only one who will be able to ease even a smidge of that ache. I want to see them choose each other, again and again and again, because I know Az needs to be chosen (by anyone other than his brothers) and Elain, gosh, this brave woman, will shake us and unmake us, her voice matters, her choice matters.

And FYI anyone who hates Elain, making her feel less of a person, woman, friend, sister, lover, warrior, comparing her to Gwyn ( they're both remarkable, and frankly we should be past bashing one woman to elevate the other) should know that Nesta, Elain's No. 1 protector, would detest you and call you out for disparaging her sister, be for real. Nes is first in line (she's that sibling who reserves the right to taunt her sister, but if you do it, you have to deal with her wrath). And you know what Nes loves, Cas loves, plus Az is already fighting Nes to keep that position, more so it's a foregone conclusion Rhys is Elain's best brother-in-law (he already acknowledges and appreciates her quiet disposition), Feyre (my ever-loving queen) is the flag-bearer of this ship, Mor adores her, as does Amren who respects her too_ get with the program: this is an Elain loving house, don't delude yourself otherwise. Dislike her if you wish, but don't insult her. (I love the Archeron sisters, I want to see more of them bonding).

In this house we see the person, not just their flaws, we don't villanize our differences, we don't turn our noses up or pretend we're better than anyone, we acknowledge, we accept people as they are, we put aside our biases, we make room for them, we look, we see, we choose to be kind, like Elain, we choose to stay kind like Az. We choose to keep loving like Feyre. Hate is too hard, too heavy to lug around. Take a walk, say hi to nature.

Pardon my rumblings, I just love Elriel, will defend them; friends transversing boundaries, it's a beautiful thing to witness, and be a part of. Anyway, be kind, to yourself, and others.

[spicybylerpolls]

It's a shame how guarded the fandom is regarding sex. First and foremost because sex, and specifically shame around sex, is heavily, heavily tied to Mike and Will's story.

If Lucas can have a 69 sign above his head while he's sleeping, why is it so hard to believe Mike and Will are having sexual dreams about each other? Especially if you ship them and acknowledge the 69 sign was obviously signaling a sexual dream?

If Lucas can have a reference to dirty magazines under his bed, why is it so hard to believe Mike and Will also have dirty magazines hidden around their bedroom?

If Dustin can have a reference to masturbation, why is it so hard to believe Mike and Will are also interested in masturbation as well?

They specifically put these references in the other, ORIGINAL, party members, who are the same age as Mike and Will, while also including references for them too (that people just can't accept), signaling all these boys are starting to think about sex. The difference is, Lucas and Dustin don't have any shame surrounding who they're attracted to.

I don't know about you (however I imagine this is a common experience for many queer people) but before I accepted that I was attracted to the same sex, I'd constantly find myself watching the women in porn and consciously trying to focus on the man. I'd tell myself things like "oh - you're just interested in how your body will look when you're older" or "oh - it's normal when you watch porn" etc - basically anything to reaffirm that I wasn't gay. And this is all between ages 13-16.

This is exactly how I see Mike, specifically. Starting to notice his attraction to men but consciously repressing it, telling himself he's normal and it doesn't mean anything. And I think people forget (or maybe just feel uncomfortable talking about) this part - that the sexual attraction, the shame in the sexual attraction, is a huge, huge part of realizing you're queer and coming-of-age as a queer person.

And that's why Mike doesn't want to hug Will at the airport (or a big part of it). It feels awkward, even if he doesn't know why. It feels awkward because he feels ashamed for liking Will. I mean the first shot we get of Mike setting eyes on Will in Season 4 is of him looking at Will's chest and then quickly averting his eyes. This tells us everything we need to know - Mike is attracted to Will, feels ashamed about it and doesn't want anyone to know (or likely doesn't even fully understand it himself, but at the very least, knows it's not "right").

Point being, his shame surrounding specifically his sexual attraction to men is one of his biggest issues and failing to talk about it is a HUGE DISSERVICE to his character!

It also does a huge disservice to Will's character, too. The repercussions of this shame, a lot of the time, is Will's situation - not having your first kiss, all of your friends growing up before you, hating yourself because you have a crush on your best friend. All because he's romantically AND sexually attracted to men. This is what Will's thinking. If he wasn't such a freak, if he didn't want to kiss boys, if he wasn't starting to feel sexually attracted to men, then everything would be so much easier. He wouldn't feel like such a mistake.

This is why I think they'll absolutely have a sex scene in S5 and also why I think it will be explicit. I previously thought it'd likely be implied and that that'd be enough but I don't see it the same anymore. Now, I don't think this means it has to be racy, obviously, but just that the audience would see some of it. Quite frankly, doing an implied sex scene, while I wouldn't be dissatisfied, is a disservice to the story.

See, with Jancy, the implied sex scene works. The tension between these two characters has been building for a season and a half and we know they want to have sex. We don't have to see it, we just need to know that they do.

But with Mike and Will? That's not the case at all.

First of all, the tension has been building for 5 seasons, which is the entire series. An implied sex scene would ultimately be a tame ending to this storyline.

Second, Mike and Will specifically feel shame about this act, Jonathan and Nancy don't. We don't need to see their reaction but we need to see Mike and Will's reactions because it completes their characters. Because they have felt shame about this specific thing, not showing them feeling comfortable doing this, with each other, would be incomplete.

Third, think about Steve and Nancy's sex scene - we're shown it specifically because Nancy feels uncomfortable.

Ultimately, there's no need to show Jonathan and Nancy having sex because there's nothing left unresolved. That's what the Duffers actually get right - only showing a sex scene when it's important for the narrative and for the characters. Even Hopper and Joyce point to this, despite them being the oldest characters and the most suitable to have an explicit sex scene, opposed to Steve and Nancy. That's because there's nothing else to tell us about Joyce and Hopper through this sex scene - we know they love each other. I don't see why the Duffers would break this pattern now.

And well, even if you don't want the scene, I don't see how you could argue that the moment Mike and Will decide to have sex isn't extremely important for their characters and would tell us A LOT about how they both feel, especially Mike seeing as we don't get his perspective.

You could argue the kiss would suffice but... does it? A kiss isn't really... sexual. And Romantic, sure. But this wouldn't address the shame they specifically feel about sex. Mike starting to cry while having sex with Will tells us so much more about his character than him crying while kissing Will.

Kissing is also a thing children do. Ending a 5 season, 9 year long coming-of-age project, with two characters who have fought inter-dimensional monsters that quite literally represent their shame, simply kissing? Something we've already seen one of these characters do, multiple, multiple times?

Okay, I guess.

Anyway, I know a lot of these points have already been made, and that this was really long, but I just wanted to say them again because it upsets me so much, especially during rewatch when I see all the themes right in front of me. And I know it upsets other people, other young adults, too. Seeing this experience represented so accurately - one that you might even still feel shame about, one that you went through not too long ago - and not even being able to discuss it openly in the fandom, is sad. Being called a freak or a pedophile for simply suggesting that sex is important here and the Duffers are telling us so. Sex... the thing that literally created us all. And that almost everyone starts thinking about between the ages of 13-14.

Sigh. At least we have this blog. Thank you for that. 🫶🏼

[confess-for-botw-totk]

Help I just have to say I'm a botw zelink fan, not into miphlink, very much into miphzel, and on GOD other zelink fans be some of the most annoying people on planet earth when it comes to miphlink shippers daring to exist. 😭 I know it, because I end up blocking other zelink fans for how I see them acting on miphlink posts. Unruly toddlers begging for attention and acknowledgement... how about instead of targeting miphlink shippers you just block them if their ship eats at you THAT much. You don't need to send them paragraphs about why zelink is canon.

For one, this is fandom. Canon is not an end all, be all.

Secondly, people are allowed to say, "I interpreted it differently" and that's okay.

It makes me hesitate to interact with other zelink fans because I really don't want to befriend someone who is bullying someone else on the side over a ship and I don't know because guess what, I stay out of the miphlink tag, only to find out later they're a bully. I have had more kindness from miphlink shippers than zelink shippers, because zelink shippers act like, despite zelink being the most popular botw ship, that they're being oppressed or something because sometimes, people don't think zelink is canon. It makes it incredibly difficult to make friends when I know you're bullying people in replies and then calling yourself a victim of the terrible, evil miphlink shipper who dared post their fic link.

I could go on and go on but I'll stop. I know it's better to just ignore these people, but these confessions keep popping up on my fyp and I'm bored so I'm gonna put my two cents in. Aroace link AND zelda AND mipha in a qpr, how about THAT. I love botw and all three characters involved, though Zelda has a special place in my heart. All I know is that she would be horrified reading some of the things you people are saying to your peers over something so juvenile.

_*_

[cutiibee]

An Armoured Ghost

Chapter Three

MDNI!

Note: changing up the way I do these so they're easier for me haha, much luv and hope u guys enjoy! +A tag for the series

Cw: nothing? Maybe?? I forget? Pretty sure nothing though guys

You wake up to the ship's sudden stillness. The movement of it, steadily drifting through hyperspace, lulled you to sleep. That and the post-orgasm tiredness that had sunken over you like a blanket.

You stop in the fresher to look at yourself. The same as the last time you looked. You relieve yourself and then it's up the ladder, into the seat beside him.

“Do you sleep?” The words come unbridled, curious. You simply want to know more about him, even if that's all useless information. It's not like you're going to write him birthday notes.

“When I'm tired.” He answers, and you frown. You think he's just like that, doesn't really answer questions because he doesn't want people to know him how he knows himself.

And in a way you understand. It's a terrifying notion, somebody knowing you as well as you know yourself. Every filthy thought, wretched secrets, all known by somebody other than you. It makes you shudder, metaphorically.

You look at the side of his helmet for a long moment. He doesn't make any move to usher you into the cryo tank. You play with your hands, inspect your nail beds, which suck.

“I'm not turning you in.” It's sudden, his voice monotone and gritty cutting through the still air of the cockpit.

“Ghost-” you try his name and it feels familiar on your tongue.

“Gonna pay off the debt for ya, yeah?” He says it so calmly, like it's an obvious thing to do, a simple favor for a friend.

“You can't do that. Really, there isn't any need for you to do that.”

“I want to, birdie. Wanna keep you around. Simple as that.”

For the next two nights you sleep in his bed. Eventually you tire of sitting next to him quietly and trying your arm at cleaning the ship. He's got a couple of books but two are in a language you don't know.

One of them is about the mechanics of a ship. It even comes with practice tests, a few pages in the back. You tank the first one you try entirely.

The ship lands on the third day. It's a far away planet, misplaced from everything else.

“Don't leave the ship, yeah? Dangerous creatures lurk about ‘round here. They like the shadows.” He tells you, standing by the open hatch. He looks you up and down once before turning and walking down the ramp, his heavy boots clunking with each step, though you know he can be quiet when he wants to be.

He's gone for a week. You nearly go stir-crazy waiting around for him. The entire ship is sparkling and you've taken three practice tests and passed them all.

In the dead of night you hear the hatch open and close, footsteps and the sound of something heavy being dragged. A brief moment of silence before the whirring of what’s probably the cryo freezing the body.

The door slides open a few seconds later, and there he is in his armoured glory. He comes over to the bed and sinks down beside it.

“Move over.” He says, nudging your shoulder with a strong hand. You oblige, wriggling to the other side of the bed. And then he's climbing in beside you even though there's barely enough room for the two of you.

His arms settle around your waist.

“Place looks fuckin’ shiny. Y’miss me, birdie?” He sounds weary, that much you can discern from the slight drag of his words, the way his head is resting against the pillow even as he talks to the back of your own head.

“Course. Was boring without you.” You mumble back and he makes a sound that might be a grunt if acknowledgement.

You're not quite sure what's growing between the two of you. He's so scary, so quiet. And yet he's paying off your debt and keeping you on board. You have no idea why.

Maybe you won't ever. At least you aren't dying any time soon.

“Need me to entertain you?” He asks, one of his large palms gliding up your stomach to fondle your tit, plucking at your nipple through your top.

“You sound like you need sleep.” You retort, and his hand stills. As if that subdued him, he tucks his helmet against your shoulder and falls asleep.

It's an odd sort of intimacy. Something you aren't familiar with. The warmth you get when his hands touch you. The ache that forms subtly between your thighs.

You feel close to him, but emotionally separated. You know close to nothing about this man, who shrouds himself in secrecy thicker than his mandalorian armor.

Perhaps you'll get to learn about him more as things go on, as time passes with you always there, always following him around the ship.

It isn't too long until you're pulled back to sleep by the press of his chest plate against your back. You didn't think armor could be comfortable, but somehow it is.

When you wake up it's because he's moving. It's dark, at some point he shut all the lights off. So dark you can't see a foot in front of your face.

“Ghost?” You sit up and reach through the darkness. Your hand connects with warmth, bare skin. You jolt it back, breathing in a sharp hiss. He laughs into the dark between the two of you, and the sound is clear as day.

“You took it off.” You whisper dumbly, because you aren't sure what more to say. He's taken his chest plate and helmet off.

“You were shivering.” He replied, and a hand smooths up the side of your neck to cup your jaw. He leans in, and you can tell because his breath puffs against your face. “Y’looked so pretty sleepin’.” He murmurs, his thumb dragging over your bottom lip.

“Ghost,” it's a whimper that frees itself from your mouth because you're practically pulsing now, his bare touch and raw voice combined doing sinful things to you.

“I'll leave you be, pet. If tha's what you want.” You can almost hear the cheeky grin in his voice, because he knows that's just the opposite of what you want.

It's a leap of faith, and a struggle in the dark, but you gingerly tilt your head forward until your lips brush against the sturdiness of his jawline.

“Don't leave me be, Ghost. Touch me.”

He groans, really groans, and then his mouth is crashing down against yours, his tongue invading the cavern of your mouth, and you think that you'd gladly go blind if it meant he could kiss you like this all the time.

It's messy, your teeth knock against his multiple times. But it's so hot, literally and figuratively. He knows just what to do and it leaves you sighing into his mouth, pressing yourself closer against the hard plane of his chest.

He gets your shirt over your head at one point so he can grope at your chest while he kisses you, your back pressed against the mattress.

It ends when he pulls away for more than normal, and then his weight leaves the bed altogether. At some point the ship had stopped moving.

“We're here. I'll be back soon, dovie.” You wince at the sound of his voice coming through the modulator again, but relent.

“Alright. Where are we?”

“Where I get my bounties. And where I'm paying off your debt.”

[zahri-melitor]

Yeah, thanks for responding and those are some nice recommendations! I'm glad I branched out a while ago when it came to comics because it's a better experience and I personally believe there's just so much out there when it comes to storytelling whether they're comics, films, etc that I don't want to spend so much time angry over what I know I didn't like or it comes from places or writers that if I think for a bit can imagine I won't expect much from it if that makes sense

Plus, I do think there's so much "yelling" without having meaningful conversations about what we find harmful or just plain bad about these works and accept that they exist and move on because I do believe that having conversations about the how or why certain comics are written even when we find them horrible is a valuable experience but fandom does need you to find those people yourself to converse with

I personally don't feel interested in tim/bernard as a ship and never lingered long on bernard's older appearance so I just keep up with what they're doing currently to understand, but I do hope that if any writers choose to write more about the girls that appeared in Tim's older comics that they write them as more than just supportive exes

I agree that the best approach to comics (or any media honestly) is to go find what you enjoy and makes you happy, and read and watch and listen to that. Making yourself miserable following something you're not enjoying is not worth it. This is a hobby. There's no reason to upset yourself or join the outrage cycle just to get mad at something. Getting angry is not a personally fulfilling incentive.

Sometimes that means dropping runs everyone else you know is raving about if they just don't work for you. Sometimes that's choosing not to pick something up because the writer drives you up the wall. Sometimes it's enjoying a run and talking about what you enjoyed in it while everyone else is dunking on it.

I am indeed a huge hypocrite and should take this advice more often myself, but I try to be kind to myself, and started doing my reading reviews as a way to frame what I liked about various runs, even if most of it didn't work for me.

But the other thing about if you read and talk about the things that you like and enjoy, rather than what annoys you and you hate...you'll find others who ALSO like and enjoy those things, and can discuss them with you, or suggest other things to try you might like. Centring your circle on what you like rather than what you hate is just a lot more mentally and emotionally pleasant.

Because yes, of course it's cathartic to dunk on things every now and then. But if you're always just getting outraged together, that's not particularly fun.

And I agree, there's more meaningful conversation potential if you stop for a moment, acknowledge the difficulties in a work, and then move on to your analysis.

For example, I don't find people yelling that Tom King is a bad writer and a bad person because he worked for the CIA and was involved in planning the invasion of Iraq to be a helpful conversation, because so often it simply gets as far as "this makes all of his work bad and I don't like him" and stops there.

What is a very helpful thing when discussing Tom King's work, however, is acknowledging that because of his background working for the CIA and with the military, he is endlessly fascinated with the topics of United States military power, terrorism, the mental toll of warfare and conflict, and defending America's sovereignty, and how that is conveyed in his writing. Talking about Mister Miracle in the framework of war-related PTSD, and Supergirl: The Woman of Tomorrow in the framework of intelligence work cleaning up in the wake of battles (and also PTSD) and the way he uses the media in Wonder Woman as a vehicle to frame the othering of a group as an acceptable target (with analogies to the media's behaviour in the wake of 9/11)? It's the same basic topic, but there's an actual conversation to be had, after everyone has nodded at the fact that King's once again processing his 9/11 work-related trauma.

In terms of the ways writers negotiate discussing Tim's relationships: I get that it's hard for a lot of writers, because due to the fact we have a far more limited canon of bisexual characters who have been in multiple relationships, they're walking a tightrope of worrying about falling into unfortunate stereotypes. I think the reason writers keep having his ex-girlfriends being supportive is that they're worried about having it appear like Steph's the evil harpy that drove Tim off into the arms of men, or that if she's angry at him over the breakup it looks like she's being biphobic. They're worried about if Tim's next partner is a woman it might look like Bernard was just a 'phase', but if it's Bernard forever or the next partner is a man it looks like Tim's secretly gay not bi and all of his earlier relationships weren't meaningful to him. And they're worried about if they upset too many people, the internet will fall on their heads, and Tim's currently Robin, and DC got a lot of media good will and headlines out of Superman Is Bi (Jon) and Robin Is Bi (Tim) that extends well beyond just the group of people who actually buy comics. So they're feeling their way through it, trying not to offend people too much, which inevitably ends up with a tendency to choose the safest, most bland option.

And then on top of that you have the usual way comics stories often hype the current relationship as "I've never felt this way about anyone else before" because the writer wants this one to be special, and they can't think of a subtler way of conveying it.

I would also like to see more depth and nuance in the situation (the lesbians are generally allowed to be messy! And I have to say, if I'm objective about it, the upcoming Secret Six book looks like it is finally going to blow off some of the steam and messiness that has been developing in the Jay-Jon-Nia situation and let the three of them openly have the fight that's been building; I just wish it was not happening in a title named Secret Six and using characters I care about as set dressing).

[l-in-the-light]

New masterpost!

Welcome to my completely normal, not-Law obssessed tumblr! Oh who am I kidding, you're probably peeking here also for more Law, in that case, enjoy!

I usually write One Piece meta, because this is what I enjoy doing the most. So far I have these blasphemies yappings to offer (I keep this list mostly for myself, but it lists all of my analysis posts, answered asks and useful tags to navigate easier towards interesting topics):

Trafalgar Law and his fear of touch and closeness (analysis):

A very scrutinizing look at Law's traumas as a result of his childhood. Seems he has some triggers that kick him into PTSD reactions, especially relating touch:

Law's fear of being touched and touching others - I reccommend starting from this one, this is part 1

Law's closeness with Luffy

Law's closeness with Doflamingo's Family

Law's rare friendships (Kinemon, Heart Pirates, Wolf) - I recommend reading part 2 before reading this one, or right after. They're kinda complementing each other.

Law's reasons of avoiding closeness and friendships (a theory) - only read it after all the previous ones. It involves quite a bit of speculation that might spoiler you future manga developments. I might be wrong with my predictions, but feel warned!

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read:

The fish (scrutinizing analysis and interpretation of every Law and Luffy's interaction in the manga, I will prove my point that they're absolutely embarrassing in how much they like each other, you're free to interpret it as romantic or not):

Punk Hazard part 1 / Punk Hazard part 2 / Punk Hazard part 3 / Post-Punk Hazard part 4 / Dressrosa part 5 / Dressrosa part 6 / Dressrosa part 7 / Dressrosa part 8 / Dressrosa part 9 / Zou part 10 / Zou part 11 / Whole Cake Island part 12 / Wano part 13 / Bonus part - Law staring at Luffy

The fishing rod: (the tool theory allowing you to go and fish the treasure by yourself. And do go and fish, because I want to read even more embarrassing posts about Lawlu and other ships!)

About pirates and their treasure (a theory) - everything related to the theory is located in this tag: Love is a hurricane.

(more under cut!)

More character studies about Tragalgar Law:

About Law's rumoured bad manners and rudeness

Luffy and Law's similarities in expressions, behaviour and beliefs

Law didn't know about kids in Punk Hazard

Law's weakness for cute things explained (includes many examples and reasons for this softspot of his)

Law's poor self-esteem (with evidence!) and a bonus: Does Law think of himself as handsome or sexy?

Analysis of Law's quote "pirates doing good things repulse me" (fair warning, it's a long one, I delved deep into his psychology here, because I think it's fun)

Trafalgar Law and his surprising fondness of animals (mini-analysis)

Did Law drink this sake or not?!

Why is Law complaining about being ordered around in Wano? (very scrutinizing analysis of his dynamics with Kid and Luffy, and also small acknowledgment of Doflamingo's influence on Law)

Analysis of Corazon and Law's relationship (answers the question of why and whether Law is more dedicated to Cora-san than to Heart Pirates)

Why is Law so grumpy in Wano, can't he relax for a moment?! (short answer: he can't, he carries the whole raid on his back)

Would Law join the Revolutionary Army? (analysis of Revolutionary Army and how Dragon manages it, comparison between Law's and Dragon's possible goals and way of doing things. Since we don't know much about RA this counts as partial theory)

How would Law celebrate his birthday? (this kinda turned into meta fanfiction, enjoy, haha)

Analysis of Law's relationship with his Heart Pirates (100% Hearts appreciation post, I collected most scenes with them together ❤)

Analysis about other One Piece characters and relationships:

A funny tale (a short retelling of Shanks and Buggy going seperate ways in Logue Town from Shanks POV) - just for fun and feels tbh.

Analysis of Shanks and Buggy's talk about their future from chapter 19

Analysis of Katakuri and Luffy's similarities: part 1 (Luffy vs Katakuri and how they're reflections of each other) / part 2 (includes analysis of relationship between Katakuri and Brulee) / bonus thoughts

My various One Piece theories:

About the Red Line and the All Blue

About pirates and their treasures (probably not what you're expecting)

About Law's future development after Wano (warning for potential spoilers, in case I got it right)

13 Strawhats theory (just sharing hints)

About significance of Inherited Will (based on Japanese concepts of On and Giri)

Theory about future of Stussy after Egghead

Could Corazon be possibly alive? (this probably counts as a crazy theory, but there are some sus hints scattered around in the story and I shared some in this series of reblogs)

Link to my list of One Piece tags

My fanfiction:

Misadventures of Law with the Strawhats (slice of life, slight Lawlu but it's a "blink and you will miss it" category really)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 (the final part)

Feel free to send me asks! ✨

If anyone wants to send me an ask, be it about some serious topic to analyze or something just for fun, please don't hold back! I promise I will do my best to answer thoroughly (it might take a few days tho or even weeks, if I get a lot of asks at once, but I will definitely answer every single one of them!). I reserve myself the right to not answer asks that are rude ofc.

You might want to check the my asks tag and Trafalgar Law's love life tag as well, because I might have answered the thing you want to ask about already (or simply peek there to get inspired what to ask me next :D).

[salzartdump]

Hi blog OP, I don't really know you and just happened to catch this in the tags, so feel free to ignore or delete this if you would rather not further engage with the bitchy anons, but if you don't mind, I have a response: First and foremost, anon, what about yourself? Have you read the entirety of RHATO front to back, every shitty detail and every eye-searing panel of sometimes objectively horrific art?

I have. I'm subjecting myself to it repeatedly and in the long term in a project to write comprehensive meta about it bcs haters like you who are so one-note about the thing and have this agenda to harass people for having different thoughts than you seem to have scared anyone who might have interesting insights into the metaphorical bushes, and, frankly, that bores me. We engage with plenty of other horrific comic arcs with analysis and rewrites to turn badly-done slop with a core element that held actual promise into something Better. Why not this one? Why is this one so fucking taboo we can't even analyze it, discuss what it did wrong and how it could have done better, or acknowledge the rare few things it didn't do half bad (and trust me, when I say rare few, I MEAN Rare)? Who are YOU to try and dictate whether or not others are allowed to do so?

Fandom isn't a monolith. It's not meant to be a monolith. Ships don't have to be canon, they're typically not meant to be canon. Echo chambers stop being fun pretty quickly, you know.

Liking or disliking some portion of comics history isn't inherently moral. In fact, oftentimes a lot of people have far more nuanced opinions like "oh this part was bad, but I liked this one specific thing that they did." Oftentimes, people aren't even financially supporting the slop in question. And it's old enough and the certain type of property that, frankly, even talking about it isn't exactly giving them royalties. There's nothing you could do to support JayRoy or RHATO specifically that supporting nearly any other title in the entire history of DC comics wouldn't do anyways since it's all the same company.

Anon, you didn't even have the balls to leave your icon attached to your message, where's YOUR moral highground? I know comics breed a brand of fans that looove their superiority complexes, & I'm not even going to pretend I'm not one of them, because if I wasn't then I probably wouldn't have dropped in to respond at all.

Learn to curate your own space so you don't have to see content you don't like. And if it's popping up anyways, look at whether or not you're actually doing everything you can TO moderate your own experience. And if you are, and it's truly the fault of, say, a lack of identification, then request that people maybe add something that will allow it to be caught by your moderation, or just block them, or otherwise remove yourself from the space.

Life, and fandom, and especially superheroes, are supposed to be about love, not hate. I'm sorry that you've lost sight of that. I can only hope that one day you'll be happier, and find ways to embrace more joy in your life than you've ever dedicated to cruelty and harassment. I know right now things are pretty rough in a lot of places, and especially in America things feel pretty scary, but that's no excuse to turn on each other.

And, you know, if you or any other actually puts aside your pride enough to read all of this? I hope you have a good day ahead of you. If it's nighttime where you are, then I hope that day is tomorrow, and maybe even every tomorrow after.

Do better.

THIS THIS THIS ^^^

i was not expecting anyone to actually respond to my response and it sure was a Suprise to open my laptop to(not in a bad way)

but that was LITTERALLY what i was ranting to my brothers about, like if you wanted the goddamn attention of a blog whos small enough to read all the asks then you need the attention enough to put your name on it. and i dont know ANY JayRoy shipper whos EVER said they love RHATO, in fact we all HATE IT its objectively bad writing thats a chore to read. i read the first volume and liked it and thought the plot really made sense, but i had a Feaver and was half delirious when i reread it i aged 4 years every panel.

i admire liedownquisition's patients in not only reading that slop multiple times, and writing a project about it, but also just typing this response out, i wish i had that incredible drive and focus, i apricate the response

[syndrossi]

i did in fact read the chapter instead of grading tests during my free period. sue me🤷‍♀️

I LOVE IT BY THE WAY

THE NAMESDAY GIFTS; RHAEGAR GOING INSANE OVER THE VALYRIAN BOOK AND JON THINKING OF SETTING THE SHIPS AFLAME WITH SHADOW

Daemon must be so proud of his boys🥹🥹

extra:

Aemond comin’ in STRONG with the jealousy over Rhaegar (pun not intended)

Jon having to deal with full-on Valyrian in his chambers

Daemon walking in on the boys awake doing their studies and feeling GUILT over the fact that they dont allow themselves to be kids and just play and get up to mischief🥺

i hope Daemon asks the Velaryon boys over to supper, they’re all alone

Jon knowing exactly how insane Rhaegar will get with that book

The twins hugging their dad

i wonder when J & R will call Daemon ‘father’ amongst each other, like it just comes out and from that moment on, he’s never ‘Daemon’ again, he’s their dad🥺🥺😭😭😭

Look, sometimes you need to reward yourself BEFORE you grade tests. Build up that willpower, ya know?

Hey now, at least Aemond acknowledged Jon as eligible to play as Aemon!

Poor Jon's like "what is this fresh hell" with the sudden Valyrian outside of lessons. Daemon's on a mission though, and once he recruits Rhaegar to his cause, it's all over for Jon. 😂

Every time the twins do something that reminds Daemon that they didn't have a happy, carefree childhood, it stabs him in the heart. And they don't even realize it half the time, because "is actually carting around an extra 6-11 years of life experience and trauma" is easily mistaken for Allard being by turns abusive, neglectful, unloving, and a hardass. He assumes they'll just play when they're on their own, and it breaks his heart that they don't. That they need permission or to be prompted. Poor man has no clue that half the time the twins are whispering in their chamber, it has nothing to do with mischief and everything to do with weighty concerns and strategizing and grief.

Too bad Laenor's gone. Daemon was ready to bust down his door and demand to know every single possible toy a boy of eight might like. His gifts leaned a bit heavily on the practical side; you can imagine him panic-scrambling for those wooden boats, at least something that the boys can play with in their apartments. (The other two were very good, mind you! He won 1000 approval from Rhaegar, and the map stuff is something that Jon finds interesting/compelling, as well as touching from a "passed down through generations" sense. Both gifts had a legacy to them, a connection to their family's past. A way of Daemon telling them that they belong.)

We do see Jon referring to Daemon more often as "his/their father" in his head, though still not much aloud. I'm very particular about the frequency of that kind of thing. (You can see it with Raymar becoming "his brother" to Jon, and then "Raymar" becoming "Rhaegar" in his head.) As to when one of them calls Daemon "father" to his face in a non-dreamwine-induced-panic? Sooner than you might think...

[martinblackwoodhaterfan]

Love these blogs (yours & martinblackwoodhater's)

I got into TMA backwards. It's the first podcast I ever listened to, but it seemed daunting at first. MAG200 had just released & tumblr was up in arms about it... I heard the ending of MAG200 first before knowing anything else about it. I wanted to get into it, but 200 episodes seemed like a hell of a commitment at the time.

So what did past me do but read fanfiction first to get an idea of the content. HDJDHDHD

It did not prepare me for how far fans of Martin have to stretch to really make him kind & compassionate... because the guy is a prick in the podcast. Like did we listen to the same thing ? fanon Martin is lovely, I wish there was a trace of him in the actual show lmao...

I hate, hate, hate him in season 5. My main gripe is that we had NO time between jmart in season 4 & then suddenly they're thrust into this relationship... where it is so apparent they know nothing about each other.

Martin has never been able to tell when Jon is making a joke, even before season 5... which makes the fact that he still Can't even worse. They don't really banter, it's more them arguing about Jon's decisions... his hypocrisy also drives me up the wall.

It's so clear he doesn't trust Jon at all !! & not only that, he wields him like a gun.. but also has the audacity to say he can't "be that for him" in terms of Jon & the statements...

like sorry Martin.. maybe you'd know about his new needs if you actually bothered to be around him in Season 4. Getting to know what's happening to him instead of isolating yourself for his "protection."

And the... hgghhghh... what do you mean "I take back my apology"? fuck youuu. goddd.

you know how Jude is like. "You've finally got a sniff of power & now you want to settle some old scores." i feel that is true for both of them, but the only means Martin has of that is Jon. it feels so much like he's only using him for his benefit/protection instead of being a loving partner. & it isn't even framed to be unhealthy so it's just. WEIRD.

....

It hurts to be a queerplatonic jondaisy truther. I loved their dynamic in season 4... they were both so isolated & yet they went through something.. beyond traumatic together. they were both seen as monsters (though Daisy was treated like a liability which served for her isolation). They actually spent time together !!! more than jon & fucking martin !!

JON & GERRY HAD MORE CHEMISTRY IN ONE EPISODE THAN JMART IN THE WHOLE PODCAST !!!!

anyways - thank you for reading my rant. HDJDHD

Getting into TMA fandom-first sounds like an absolute nightmare. I'm sorry.

I think that since Martin was a very simple character from the beginning - bland shy guy with no real flaws - fans held on to that vision of him, which in turn made them completely overlook any nuance that might've been there. They only noticed those moments that fit their image of the man - Martin bringing tea on their apocalyptic hike, Martin accidentally calling Jon adorable - and overlooked those that weren't so sugary sweet - Martin refusing to acknowledge Jon's needs and frankly anything the man said, Martin not caring about anything that doesn't involve him directly.

I'm not gonna say more since it seems you share my point of view and I would be just repeating myself. JonDaisy is a great ship, same with JonGerry, but that is also because every single ship with Jon is better than the canon one. Almost all of the cast had more in common with Jon than he had with Martin

[evermarch]

🍓🛼🥑🍄❄️🏜️🪲☁️🐝🎨

I wasn't given a limit so....

😈😈😈

i hate you. you know i'm procrastinating outlines and you're doing this anyway. suffer.

🍓: how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

centuries ago, in the midst of a recession, the world saw a silver lining when mindless behavior formed. one fateful day in 2010, one direction was born. while the word knew that these events would change the lives of many youths of the era, it did not predict the ways in which that would manifest. it could not have anticipated that two girls taking a middle school mythology class would meet and, armed with the powers of obsession only accessible to tweens wearing abercrombie logo tees, unite to discover the beauty to be found in skinny jeans, bright orbs, and messy buns. together, these girls set off to conquer the world, overcoming obstacles such as the school firewall to reach the promised land of wattpad...

🛼: describe your latest wip with five emojis

🐤🫥🌿🍎🎶

🥑: you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

any other day i'd say you, but since right now you're probably the body i'm gonna go with @justafewberries, namely because i'd need philosophical musings on morality to calm my nerves and also the misfortune of proximity.

🍄: share a head canon for one of your favorite ships or pairings

okay so katniss probably cannot bake very well, but there is going to be SOMETHING that she can make that, for whatever reason, is much better than peeta's version. like, maybe it's chocolate chip cookies, and peeta's always trying to elevate and overcomplicate them or make them technically perfect, but she just always adds a little too much butter and takes them out a minute too early and they come out perfectly. so peeta's pissed every year when, on the toast babies' birthdays, they're BEGGING and CLINGING to katniss for those damn cookies, when he's already melted the sugar for his cake topper sculpture on the multi-layer, three-tier lavender earl grey cake. (the girl is, like, eight at MOST here).

❄️: what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

answered already here and here. DO BETTER. MAKE THIS UP TO ME BY WRITING IT YOURSELF

🏜️: what's your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

long, detailed, musing ones. like, i appreciate conciseness. i do. it's a skill. but i spend my days listening to rambling judges who won't stfu about their special interests. i want to come home to rambling comments who won't stfu about their special interests (ME and MY WRITING). (but also i love any and all comments because i like being the center of attention)

🪲: add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

What, then, was the next course of treatment? Something dear, certainly, or else her mother wouldn’t have been so resistant. The only thing worse than tightening the purse strings was people thinking something was wrong behind closed doors. That sort of gossip spread like fire in District 12, where everything was coated in coal dust. And from her mother’s perspective, it was just as deadly.

☁️: what made you choose your username?

ha. you're so funny. well, it was between this one and a character name, which i may switch to in the future, but interestingly enough it was YOU who voted for evermarch. but it was a good suggestion because i'm obsessed with asterid and burdie <3

🐝: tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

@triassictriserratops isn't that old!

ugh. you planned this out all too well. FINE. i'll do a real one even though i was nice to you as recently as this week. you're very good at making people feel heard and appreciated for the parts of themselves that people don't normally acknowledge, much less cherish.

🎨: link your favorite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

okay this changes like every five mins but currently i haven't be able to stop thinking about this one (warning: it HURTS). but also this one is just too good, especially after sotr.

[saveahorserideaneddie]

the weponizing of gayness is getting out of hand. you're called a homophobe if you don't ship two people. you're called a homophobe if you don't like a gay character because of their racist and misogynistic past. i genuinely don't believe that a lot of these people have ever been exposed to real bigotry in their entire lives, or they're just straight

Like i’ve said most of the people I’ve seen making these takes are either straight white cis women or white cis gay men who both have an insane amount of privilege in the community to the point that the plights of others aren’t on their radar….

like im not saying they haven’t experienced any kind of discrimination, i am sure they have, but being cisgender white people, there is a level of privilege there that refracts their view of what bigotry actually looks like to a certain degree that they view anything critical of their interests as being violently homophobic.

i myself am a white gay amab person (i’m nonbinary, but I am passing for male) so I definitely have a certain level of privilege that has protected me from being directly discriminated against in ways I’ve seen my non-white queer friends be treated. that being said (and i am by no means perfect) i do my best to check my privilege before blowing something out of proportion just because it inconveniences or annoys me.

i’ve mentioned on here briefly before that i have faced a lot of discrimination from others growing up in church. my mother sent me to a doctor asking him to try and “fix” me when she found out i was gay. i have been called slurs by people who claim to be “god-loving christians” for just existing within that space. i have been harassed and berated by family members over my queerness because they think the jokes don’t sting (and they don’t care if they do). I’m not saying this to ask for sympathy and pity; I have worked through this in therapy, and I have moved on and attempt to rebuild relationships and salvage what I can. But I say this to provide context of my own experiences as s queer person.

A lot of white queer people have experienced this, but a lot haven’t. A lot of them have grown up in far more accepting environments and only know of bigotry towards queer people from reading/seeing it in media. They see these events and in their inability to understand them within the context of their own experience, they equate their own everyday inconveniences to these things because as humans we often have a desire to be coddled and pitied, so when we aren’t the center of attention for pity, we try to force ourselves into it by blowing things out of proportion, or claiming bigotry and homophobia when that is not the case. The “give me sympathy” card is a staple in the white queer person’s wallet.

Unfortunately, for poc queer people, and non-cisgender people who aren’t ‘passing’ they experience a different level of discrimination and violent bigotry that a lot of white queer people have never experienced. Now that is not to say that white cis queer people have never been the victims of violence, they absolutely have and there are plenty of cases out there to prove it. The fact is that for poc queer people, violent bigotry is often the standard for discrimination they experience. And that is something that unless you have experienced it yourself, you will never really understand the affects that has on a person.

so this idea that disliking a queer character is somehow homophobic comes from a place of blatant privilege. it comes from people who want you to look at them and say “ohhh poor ____, they’re being discriminated against because this fictional character is being criticized for his own bigotry within canon” rather than acknowledging that queer people are not inexcusable of bad behavior. they don’t understand that calling other queer people homophobic for having valid criticisms of a character and the way their story has been handled only shows queer people as this melodramatic clump of people who cry wolf over things that are not im fact actually conducive of homophobia.

I’m sorry I kind of turned this into a discussion of the hierarchy of queer privilege and how it negatively affects the entire community when the privileged minority are loudly complaining about things they don’t like by throwing around the word “homophobic” but unfortunately that seems to be where we are at in this fandom. I didn’t touch much on the straight white cis women of it all, but unfortunately straight white cis women are always trying to steamroll queer people when it comes to discussing queer issues so this is just par for the course.

[pareidolla]

also I know I just sent an ask, and I forgot to slap this in that ask but uh.

you made me ship broken x cage.

like I did appreciate their dynamic earlier, but then you kinda just cemented it and suddenly I'm all over the ship now lolol. they're cute. they are so cute. just two wronged, traumatized people caught in the throes of depression and the futility of existence, yet managing to connect with each other despite it all, or perhaps because of it. I love them. they need therapy. they can hold hands on the way there as he cradles her severed head in his other arm. I don't even know anymore they are just so cute

also I'm gonna send everything I wanna say to you in the same ask so I'm sorry if this comes out a bit long lol. annoying kouhai nev strikes again /lh

the thing about not really self shipping despite the straight up simping. finally, someone gets it. (which is probably a little funny since I might be one of the many reasons behind that disclaimer. oops.)

do I love the thorn? yes. do I call her my wife on a daily basis? also yes. do I wish she was real? of course. would she even so much as spare me a second glance if she was real? probably not. and if she did look at me, it would most likely be because Someone is Being A Weirdo and she's appropriately being a little freaked out.

better for her that I don't exist in her life; she has enough to deal with already. just because I wanna kiss her, doesn't mean I wholeheartedly believe that I should be kissing her. there's a difference. I acknowledge her existence very much but she really doesn't need to acknowledge mine. It's a little embarrassing.

so seeing your post about Broken was actually kind of nice. someone else put it into words for once.

(that ain't gonna stop me from projecting either, though. why do I see the Voice of the Cheated as a small dramatic loud loser gamer boy with scars who swears a lot? because I am a small dramatic loud loser gamer boy with scars who also swears a lot. and he gets to be with thorn. so I live vicariously through it when I, say, make him trace along the edges of her pointed ears and clasp her scarred hands in his own.)

p.s. your art is fucking amazing and there is just something crunchy about your art style that I cannot quite place

p.p.s. I fucking thank this account for existing. everyone else has birdboy designs and it makes me feel like I am doing something wrong in this fandom sometimes. so at least there's another one here too even if you do it objectively better lmao

nevvey dearie hello again!! i apologize, but i'm holding your second ask in inbox jail for the time being. i want to draw something for it, but i'm not sure when i'll get to it (*gestures to the reqs, questions, bingos, ask game pile*)

i'm so glad to have someone else who ships cage/broken!! they're so darling i love them with my whole heart. i mentioned it already but i'd love to write something for them someday - i think their personalities could mesh quite well together and they'd have a sweet, mellow romance. prettiest couple in the construct fr

(actually i'm still debating on who's canonically the prettiest in my canon but shhhhh)

super happy there's someone else in the same boat as me haha. oh but please don't blame yourself for the disclaimer, it wasn't one person who prompted me into making it but several dozen small interactions i've had over the half-year. nobody can read minds, and it's normal to assume that if i express my desire to marry broken all the time then i'll be just as thrilled to hear broken reciprocates those feelings. like no one should feel guilty over it - i'm not mad nor do i hold any negative feelings to anyone lmao

the main reason for the post, arguably, wasn't even on this site; rather, it's because i've seen yume spaces where people can be so devoted to their yume that they block doubles or experience such strong feelings of envy/ discomfort that they feel nauseous. i respect and sympathize with them, but i don't relate to it, and i don't want anyone to think that only i'm allowed to like broken. like no i want you to like my boyfriend. the ao3 well is drying up please someone kiss that sad bird on the mouth!

and aww thank you dearie!! again i'm very flattered you love my artwork especially since you're so skilled yourself ♡♡ means a lot. and doubly-so on having someone else making shoujo anime designs makes me feel more confident in mine haha

AND MINE AREN'T OBJECTIVELY BETTER ❗️❗️❗️I HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWN MOST OF MY UPDATED BOYS YET ❗️❗️❗️ YOURS ARE SO DELIGHTFUL ALREADY ❗️❗️❗️ DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT

[chobani-flip]

buddie goggles and why you might enjoy wearing them more if you acknowledge them

so yeah, i think the buddie goggles are a real issue. (ive had them too, fellow shippers, no judgment) like, is it possible that buck and eddie will at some point start a deeply fulfilling romantic relationship? yes. is it what's happening on screen right now and what the show is 100% suggesting is imminent? no. sorry, it's just not.

look, the thing with analysing and interpreting any text is that it's very much about finding things that the text is doing, what could be there, looking at it from different angles and choosing to focus on certain aspects: that's why you have feminist readings of X and queer readings of Y, etc

but if you go looking at a text with the intention of looking for authorial intent and secret messages the author is leaving that only you and the fandom can pick up on correctly? that's such a slippery, tricky slope.

consider:

simply communicating ideas face to face to one single other person can often end in misunderstandings

communicating ideas in writing?... well, we live in the pissing on the poor era of the internet, don't we.

like, how many times have you read/written something, looked at the comments and gone: but...that's not what's there? like, interesting that you see it, but also, i don't know where you got that from

see where I'm going with this?

there is so much that goes into the making of a tv show besides the script and actors' delivery that i am absolutely not an expert on: costumes, set dressing, blocking, lighting, editing, soundtrack...

taking any of those aspects and analysing it and looking for connections is my favourite thing to do and read about and...

ngl, watching the show and looking for buddie in all of them is so much fun. i love it, it's what got me into 911 in the first place.

but i promise you, the moment you stop acknowledging that that's what you're doing, that what you're doing is a Buddie reading of 911, and instead proclaim it as the one single truth? that's when you set yourself up for a wild and not always pleasant ride.

and this isn't about having or not having faith in the writers or buddie or the one they call tim, and honestly, it's kind of telling that the word "faith" is used so often.

it's about accepting that while watching a tv show, we're all putting ourselves in a position of observing the shadows of plato's cave with binoculars on a low-visibility day. (ok. that's a really pretentious twatty thing to say, but i'll leave it there because i think the image is funny. ) and no amount of media literacy is going to give you a clear insight into the minds and intentions of all of the people creating the show (can we please stop shouting at people to get "media literacy" if they disagree with our interpretation of a text, even if what they're saying sounds dumb)

now, i don't know if yall were here for the TJLC thing back then, and I am absolutely not saying that what the Sherlock show did and what 911 is doing is in any shape or form similar, however, on tumblr and amongst the fandom, the lead-up to season 4 and then the secret fourth episode fallout felt exactly like what some parts of the 911 fandom are doing now. so... just take care, friends. and don't be dicks to people who disagree with you over a ship.

[jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear]

Hey! This is Anon from the "love OC's ask". I just wanted to thank you for defending the OC's from idtiots on internet. Like the post Amor made about Scarecrow's work still being used was such fun thing to read. To have someone call it cringe just because they add something about they OC in regard to the post is upsetting. They even added warning before OC part so people can skip it! I adore Amor headcanons either they are about Jonathan or her OC and relationships with them. But why do you think Scarecrow has such toxic part of fanbase? Like they even don't acknowledge his "canonical" comic partners. Like Sherry Squires was big part of Masters of fear! Jonathan or Linda Friitawa and her relationship with Scarebeast! Jonathan? Why are some people so mad that Jonathan has a partner, be it canonical, OC or self insert?

Misogyny and fetishization is your answer, as mentioned in a previous ask. This isn't just Scarecrow, it's any and all shippable male characters. If given the choice between shipping two males who (more often than not) never interact / absolutely hate each other, or shipping a canon male/female ship, they're gonna ship the gay stuff.

Look, I have absolutely nothing against shipping an lgbtqia+ pair, but don't think you're being sneaky when you very obviously ignore or erase canon in any capacity to make your ship work. Note, this isn't just a problem in the rogues fandom, it's ALL fandoms. (it can also be said that erasing a characters culture or skin tone falls into the same bucket of oh fuck no. Ever see people complain about Damian Wayne being drawn to look white? It's a real issue; and not just in comics)

This is a multifaceted issue. The majority of pop culture is straight and white. Obviously we're getting better. I see more gay ships in popular shows, I see more non-white characters with real stories and lives that aren't used for a racist joke ala family guy

I totally get wanting to explore dynamics of different ships, or shipping what you as a person are attracted to. That is always OKAY. Wanting to see yourself as the hero, for example, is okay. Characters like Tiana did SO MUCH for children who previously didn't see themselves as a disney princess.

Let it be known, your average gay male ship isn't an issue. Nor are most fandoms or people in said fandoms. Most people genuinely just ship for fun. Many are multi shippers. Many have m/f and m/m and that's being really general and not mentioning trans ships!

Its when very loud minority send death threats and tell others to commit suicide because they're shipping a female presenting self insert with a popular male character in a fandom dominated by a certain gay ship.I was once told in an anon ask that I should give up talking about my OC because why would Scarecrow love her when he has Riddler? Riddler is SO MUCH better, nobody cares about my stupid OC!

That's not why I stopped, but it didn't help

Not only that, but men in general greatly dislike popular female characters, not so much for shipping reasons but because they can't imagine a world were men are not in the spotlight. And then there's the problem of straight women blatantly creating fetish content about gay men.

it's a huge can of worms, there's so many strings attached to this issue. I honestly don't know if I am giving the problem justice.

[tangledbea]

Miss Loko but same time its other perfil,i need Tips from one author to another,Currently,I'm having a difficult time with my AO3 profile,especially with the arrival of my most recent fics,I wanted to know how to boost visibility so that other people can read it(Ps:if the question sounded strange,it's because I have a terrible way with words)

Oh, please, call me Bex. 😊

Honestly, I'm not the greatest when it comes to visibility. I have a somewhat large following, but that's been collected over eight years of having this blog, dedicated to a single franchise/fandom. Make sure your fic is tagged well on AO3 with the characters/friendship/romantic ships involved (remember that X Character & Y Character is indicative of a friendship and X Character x Y Character is indicative of a romantic ship), as well as relevant plot points. And then, I post a link to the fic here on Tumblr, using all the fandom tags and the characters involved in the chapter that was just posted. If you're on other social media (I'm not), post links to it there, too.

According to statistical data, the best time to post on AO3 for high visibility is Sunday, Monday and Tuesday between noon and 5:00 PM Pacific Coast Time (PST). As the week goes on, AO3 gets less traffic, so avoid posting on Friday, and don't post midnight PST to early hours of the morning PST. (In other words, @the-writer1988 and I sort of shoot ourselves in the foot by traditionally posting on Fridays. 😅)

But honestly, the best thing you can do for your own mental health in that regard is to not look at the numbers. It doesn't actually matter how many people read it or leave kudos or subscribe to it or anything else. I acknowledge that getting feedback is the lifeblood of authors, and it's emotionally discordant to say, "Write for yourself, it doesn't matter if anyone else reads it," because... yeah, it actually does. People write fanfiction for the community of it. They want to present something to the community and get feedback on it. But try not to look at the numbers.

In order to spread that community, read fics and leave comments on them (which you do! I absolutely know you're commenting on Tangled: Between the Kisses!). Build your circle here, on a Discord server, wherever. Your friends are more likely to read your fics than random strangers are.

Also, remember that not everything you write is going to be everyone's cup of tea, so don't be offended if people don't read your stuff simply because they're not interested. There's nothing wrong with people curating their fic library. Write the stories you're interested in reading, though. Don't cater to what you think people want to read. You aren't making money off of this, and you aren't beholden to the masses or a publisher. Just be true to yourself.