#and can only speculate on them

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

damn if only there was a way to find out...

[evilherehotel]

ok admittedly they are startign to grow on me

[upsidedownsmore]

Huh

Interesting

I was watching Kengineer's 3rd solo playthrough episode last night when this quote from the Lotus popped up during the Once Awake quest, and it got me thinking about 1999.

1999 is when the Infestation pretty much shows up for the first time (at least as far as we know), which places the Radiation Wars after 1999 (of course).

...but how long after?

Now idk how old this Lotus quote is and whether it's in the devs' minds at all, but imagine that the Radiation Wars are directly after 1999, sparked by this recent apocolyptic infestation spreading all of a sudden.

Imagine the 1999 quest ends with nuclear armageddon, perhaps even on New Year's. We make that final New Year's kiss (or not), knowing that the people here are doomed to die (though they were probably doomed to die to the helminth strain inside them at some point anyways).

I imagine in this scenario that for the sake of replayable 1999 gameplay (and maybe even the opportunity to change romance routes) that this time fragment of 1999 we find ourselves in repeats indefinitely, always ending in the beginning of the Radiation Wars.

would be pretty funny i think

[pushing500]

A persona eltex staff named Mudcobalt sent us a message asking us to pick it up because it can't walk (because it's an eltex staff).

We ALSO received a healer mech serum, which meaaaaaansssssss...

JUT IS GONNA HAVE TWO WHOLE EYES WHEN HIS BABY COMES!

There are SO MANY things to do when you can see the world anew as if for the first time!! Take baths! Wonder what Cora is doing in the men's bathroom! Fight hungry wild animals! Relax in the hot tub!!!

Most importantly of all, however...

Jut is such a simp and I love him for it <3 <3 <3

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[stagefoureddiediaz]

The way this still is giving me S1 Devon on the rollercoaster vibes - and if that is what we are getting then I am very intrigued and excited - because Buck struggled to deal with that loss - his first on the job - which parallels a bit with losing Eddie now and Buck struggling with that. But what I’m most excited by about if this is a parallel to that - is that Buck went to therapy - and ended up having sex with her (she took advantage of him but that’s not the thing here) - ill advised sex - sex that did not actually help him at all in dealing with his feelings.

But you know what did - talking to Abby on the phone - and you know who he can only talk to by phone (or video call) right now?!!

[galwaygirl83]

I will continue to be happy in my Lukola delulu because it’s far closer to the truth than whatever some of these anons believe in!

I will live in this delulu with nothing but respect & love for Luke and Nicola, and will do so until one or both of them actually comes out and says ‘quit it.’

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[moldy-flowers]

Hi there!

My first time asking on your blog! Do you like SasuSaku? And if so why? This is a genuine question out of curiosity if you ship SasuSaku I am ok with that because a small part of me ships it as well!

AA HI HI!!!!! Nice to see you here ^^

Mm Sasusaku has got to be my favourite ship (besides SasuNeji ofc) but im not quite sure why,,,

Well, (Story time buckle up everyone) when I first watched the show at 7 I was a hard-core LeeSaku shipper, and when i got into the show again at maybe 12 I was actually disappointed to learn that SasuSaku was canon, I kinda hated Sasuke Xp I KNOW BETTER NOW THOO

When I got into the show again NaruHina was my favourite ship, but over time I started getting more and more obsessed with Sakura, she was like my ultimate favourite then,,, so along with her came my blooming fixation on SasuSaku. I've never actually read a NaruHina fanfic before but I've read... so so many SasuSaku ones.

It became my ultimate favourite tho after i started using tumblr last year, I started to learn more about Sasuke and look deep into his character and I realised how genuinely tragic he is. And then i got really fucking mad. Like??? I've never been so pissed at Kishimoto. Like they're the two most important side characters and he couldn't even do anything apart from some eye contact a thank you and a forehead poke??? (Altho im NOT mad about that poke it was cute as hell he may as well just have proposed) Oh and don't get me started on how they had a baby at NINETEEN. I mean it's Sasuke. There's such an immense amount of trauma there I cant imagine him being able to start a family so soon. Kishimoto when I catch you, how can one man write such a perfectly traumatised character like Tsunade and then create Sasuke. Like wtf bro made the most complex character he could and absolutely fumbled the finish line. Sorry but Sasuke is NOT getting over allat after a couple of years in a forest. Give him more time Like please 😭😭

All this is to say that as much as I absolutely adore SasuSaku i think its my green light at the end of the road typa ship. I love what it could be, rather than what it is. Not too big a fan of the canon because honestly what is there to be a fan of? Obv I love them canon and fanon but yk.

[sagurus]

I was thinking about the fact that with most DCMK characters I use one distinct name for them, but when it comes to Haibara Ai / Miyano Shiho, I'm all over the place. So I wanted to see how other people most commonly refer to her.

There are definitely more options than just these listed but I didn't want to get too verbose / granular. Please feel free to elaborate in the tags to account for my exclusions.

[analog-autistic]

why is it so rare to enjoy vanilla rainworld, downpour, and the watcher???? why does nobody else seem to genuinely love all three

[makorragal-312]

So far, Eddie has managed to start talking Chris with again and reclaim his power as his father by taking him out of the toxicity that was his parents.

So hopefully, the last step will be him addressing his feelings with Shannon and the situation with Kim so that he can have his gay awakening and start making his way back down to L.A with Chris.

Because if that's not the final step in all this, then the lead-up to this arc and the potential queerness of this arc is gonna be the a massive storyline L for the ages.

[mourn-and-watch]

so if solas sees himself in the inquisitor because of how they were made a leader, a prophet and a symbol by people who followed them, just as fen'harel had been made a leader and a saviour for by the freed elven slaves, will he see himself in rook because they're left alone against the threat they can't possibly defeat without singlehandedly making decisions that will impact the world in unknown ways, just as fen'harel had been left alone against evanuris with no other option but to create the veil

[gottagetgogottagetattahere]

I can't sleep.

Did knives ever try to communicate with his plant sisters on what they wanted? Did he ever ask them what made them happy?? What was his plan past freeing plants from humans because it doesn't look like he was improving the quality of their lives past not sending into a Last Run but what would an improvement on their lives look like??

Do the Plants even know what they want? They must, from the sparse glimpses we get from their perspectives.

Am I focusing on the wrong things in trigun lmao

[adriartts]

some griffons

[beedreamscape]

To pair my last post, but in happier tones.

Part of me thinks Kiriona was so set up on turning John back to mortal, after any Harrowhark intentions that overrule everything else, not because she has lofty plans of ruling over anyone but because if he isn't immortal anymore, he's not god anymore, and if he's not god nor the emperor, he's free to be just her dad.

I want the griddlehark drama and angst and romance for the next book, but I also want to see Gideon experiencing some, at the very least, normal times with an adult figure that doesn't hate her, that feels responsible for her, that might even love her, in an environment that isn't 'headquarters of an empire at war'.

Which alternatively could also be achieved with Pyrrha once they overcome the larger-than-life wall that is Wake between them, but that'd still be different than the father figure of John who, in his best days, has a personality that matches Gideon's so well and could very well offer the tenderness she's never been shown before, tenderness he's very capable of when he's not drunk in his own revenge plots.