#I got into this ship because I liked the tragedy of it ngl

[chrismcleaneatspants]

General season 2 opinions. MASSIVE TDI 2023 season 2 spoilers ahead (as well as a huge wall of text.) You've been warned.

Ok, so here's everything I like about the season (I can count them on my fingers)

-There were some funny jokes

-MKulia was entertaining and it's now in my top 5 favorite ships, but it's not perfect, as I'll explain later

-Hockey dudes were a joy to watch I suppose

-Bowie stole the show as usual

-There are a lot of neat challenges (The canoe, slide, and dog challenges was a particular stand outs to me)

-MK herself was really funny

-MacArthur's cameo was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one, and she bounces off of Chris really well

-Duncney is still broken up lol

Honestly that's about it in terms of positives, cuz I have a million other negatives for this supposed sequel to (imo) the best written season of the show.

-The Relationships were the single worst aspect about this season full stop. Ripaxel and Praleb are probably the worst couples the show has ever subjected me to. For Ripaxel, they basically removed anything interesting Ripper had going on and Axel wasn't allowed to live up to any kind of hype she created because one lame ass poem turned her into Ripper's girlfriend for the remaining duration of her run, only for the both of them to be tossed aside in episode 7 in perhaps the worst double elimination in the entire show.

-Praleb started off ok. I thought it was gonna be a one-sided crush plot initially before Episode 6. They had a couple cute moments before episode 8, of which their screentime became suffocating because afterwards is was this painful back and forth where Caleb tried explaining himself and Priya would be mad at him, then ally with him, then be mad at him again like it was so tiresome. By the time they got together in the finale again, I was wishing they had just followed up on Pramien instead. Caleb by himself was funny in the first half of season 2 and Priya was great in season 1, but the two of them together were insufferable

-Speaking of Priya, she went from one of the best characters in season 1 to one of the worst in season 2. Why did she have to make it all the way to episode fucking 12 after winning season 1?? Just for some generic heterosexual romance? They also made her so dumb with shit like knowing Julia is manipulating her but then getting a surprise Pikachu face when Julia manipulated her??? You spent your entire life preparing for this show, how the fuck did you not see this coming???

-Segwayying into Julia, she's the worst antagonist full stop. I've never seen such an absolute downgrade of a character. She was a goat in season 1 who was aware of her situation and acted accordingly because the stakes were real. Here? Reality basically warps around her just to keep her in the game. She does things characters would never fall for in season 1 and they just go with it?? They insist on keeping her in the finale and do basically nothing interesting with her. She's not even as funny as Island Heather at the end of the day.

-I mentioned MKulia earlier, so I'll just get to it here: I like it in concept. Two evil sapphics causing chaos together is really fun. My main issue is that it was very sudden. They both were not fans of each other at the end of season 1 and now I'm supposed to just believe they became friends off screen? I mean, I guess, but it's kinda cheap. I would have really liked it if it was straight up enemies to lovers ngl. Also the fact MK had very little agency outside of being Julia's lackey doesn't help either. I want to point to the fake contract thing, for instance. Why did Julia do that? That sounds like an MK thing to do.

-Time to dive into other characters: Damien is an absolute fucking tragedy. At the end of season 1, Damien had one ambition: win next season. They kinda did that, sure, but they regressed Damien into being a complete coward to do so, not to mention he didn't even go all the way either. Damien didn't get a W until episode 6 and tbh that was his only W. By the end of his tenure, I was left confused on what the point of his run was. (I'll come back to this later.)

-What was the point of Nichelle? Like seriously, what did she contribute to the season at all? They didn't do the ironic underdog story with her, and considering she was getting all egotistical and aggressive, i thought she was gonna be the antagonist for sure...until Julia got rid of her in episode 5 in a way that really shouldn't make sense cuz like Nichelle is an actual celebrity that stars in blockbuster movies, I'm pretty sure she could sniff a fake contract a mile away, right?

-Hockey dudes were great, but I felt like they were very dumbed down at times? Like they were just generic dumb dudes that just meandered around a lot of the time (Wayne in particular just straight up floated away from a challenge at one point)

-Bowie was alright too. His line delivery is great as usual, but let's not kid ourselves: In a well written season, he'd be going straight for Julia the next time his team lost. Bowraj was nice to see even if the season didn't really do a whole lot with it

-Am I the only one who thinks this season is a tad bit misogynistic? Like this is the shortest them phase the show as ever had (to the point where i'd argue teams don't really matter) and 4 of the 5 team phase boots were girls. Millie and Emma in particular were really bad. Like, you could make Millie a team phase boot without like shitting on her that hard. And Emma got like fuck all closure outside of breaking up with Chase off screen like wow, way to utilize such a high potential character, Fresh. And this is saying nothing about how the girls that did make it to the merge had plots basically dominated by romance and like nothing else. And then there's MKulia which is apparently intended to be a friendship but like is written like a romantic one at times. It gives me all-stars gwourtney vibes and (as a fan of gwourtney myself) not in a good way. At least MK and Julia were somewhat in character I guess, but they had their edges really sanded off and honestly as a friendship (situationship?) it's a complete downgrade from Millie and Priya in so many ways

-And another thing: who's the protagonist this season? Outside of Praleb, who am I supposed to care for? Who am I supposed to root for? By the halfway mark, the show doesn't really make any convincing arguments to root for like anyone there outside of maybe Damien? And he went gone in episode 10, so like, hockey dudes? No one has an interesting enough narrative for me to care.

-The immunity idol stinks as usual. Like, why did Damien do THE SAME FUCKING THING HEATHER DID IN ALL-STARS?? That actually pissed me off so much holy shit. The immunity idol as it stands in the show is basically a shitty plot device made to keep characters in as there's no real strategy revolved around it.

-Oh and another minor thing: Owen's cameo sucks, and that's entirely due to him not being physically aged up at all and just being a vehicle for the same dumb jokes they always make with him. so stupid

-Anyways, I spend an entire season with two shitass straight relationships taking up screentime, a whole multiude of potential plotlines from last season (pramien) and this season (scary girl's revenge, millie being the new ripper, damien's comeback, julia having internal conflict over her friendship (feelings?) for MK) being set up and just nothing being done with them, and characters in general just being nerfed or borderline out of character (Ripper) and what am I rewarded with?

-Soar Losers. The most boring nothing finale in the entire show. The choices for finalists suck, Wayne, while being the least bad option for a winner (and i do still like him a lot), is still a mid ass winner in the grand scheme of the entire show. And more praleb drama? fuck off I hate them so much. The challenge did not feel finale worthy at all, and honestly it was the worst challenge in the whole season. On top of being a bunch of nothing, the show decides to bring back the worst trope it ever had: losing hair as karma. I almost ragequit the episode on the spot that shit makes me so irrationally mad. I think it's even worse here because Julia still had hair after the fact, which makes it seem like they were aware it's not a popular TD trope but wanted to half commit to it anyways for the sake of tradition or something. Terrible finale to an already decently sized letdown of a season, but it has some ok MKulia moments I guess. The finale was just emblematic of the entire season, where things just happen and you're just expected to go along with everything. (Also side note how come Chase wasn't the one to jump off of the cart for pizza immediately?)

TL;DR reboot season 2 imo was a step down in every conceivable way from season 1 apart of i guess comedy and it's left a very sour taste in my mouth. I'm probably missing a few points that I'll add onto later but man it feels nice putting my opinion out there.

[femininenachos]

do you follow rhaenicents on tumblr or twt? there's a talk of them reuniting at the end of s2 with alicent possibly bending the knee for rhaenyra. also i've never read the books or watch game of thrones i just got sucked in because of how enthusiastic rhaenicents are lmao it seems hotd producers/writers already changed a lot for the show so i'm quite excited what this means for rhaenicent at the end of s2... they can't deny the homoerotic tension between those 2 characters at this point

I enjoy the memes and I’ve read some fics, but I don’t follow the fandom closely.

As for Rhaenyra/Alicent - I didn’t think the show was actually gonna go there with Mysaria and was pleasantly surprised, so anything is possible! I’ll preface this by saying I haven’t read the book, but I’m not sure it’s likely for them to reconcile. While I think Alicent does see the writing on the wall re: her detestable sons, and deep down she realises she made a grave error in misinterpreting Viserys’s final words, she’s too committed now. I could be wrong, but I can’t fathom her bending the knee willingly. What I could see is her getting captured somehow, perhaps fleeing the popular uprising of the smallfolk, and being brought before Rhaenyra on her knees…

I have to keep reminding myself that this is like a Shakespearean tragedy and not to get too attached to anyone (RIP Rhaenys 😢). For that reason, I do lowkey ship them - in the sense that I want them to kith because they have palpable chemistry - but I’m under no illusions that it would be healthy or long-lasting lol.

Ngl, I’m dying to see Alicent’s reaction if/when she hears about Rhaenyra/Mysaria.

[badlydrawnrufioh]

Inbox is empty, and I haven't been very active in a long while, so I figured I'd share some relationships stuff (/≧▽≦)/

Kankri Rufioh finds his blabbing a bit much, and doesn't always get what's Kankri's actual deal, but he assumes best and tries to more or less abide. He respects him a lot and feels like he owes Kankri for a few things he'd done for him (and Damara) in the past, but since Kankri isn't making a big deal of it, neither is he. Overall considers their relationship good, and feels like Kankri's one of very few people who get him. Mutant buddies.

Damara Oh the tragedy of doing something stupid when you were, like, 13. Really, that whole drama follows them into their young adulthood, even though they both want to put it behind them (thanks, Meenah). Overall, they've got the top 10 most tragic moirallegiances in the history of Paradox Space, and they aren't even paledating. They were confused and traumatized kids. To Rufioh, Damara is probably the single most important person in his life and afterlife, but he's not able to fully face it yet. Mostly because of his guilt over hurting her in the past, and failing to take responsibility (they were getting there! buuuut stuff happened, thanks [REDACTED]), and then getting hurt by her, which, ngl, pretty traumatizing. He misses her a lot, but, as usual, won't confront these feelings.

Mituna He likes him, but does find his sense of humor a bit uncomfortable. They used to hang out more early in the game and with Kankri, too (mutant trio mutant trio), which was... an experience, to say the least. It might've soured Rufioh's opinion a little bit, as he was borderlne third-wheeling at times - Kankri and Mituna had their own relationship drama going on, and as much as Rufioh liked to ignore the issues in front of him, even he struggled with that one. But it wasn't his business, y'know? So it was just awkward. Eventually they drifted apart, and that was that. He still thinks Mituna's cool, tho, they just aren't close.

Meulin He thinks she's neat. Very nice - god knows that session could have used somebody like that. He respects and appreciates her cheerfulness even in difficult times. Definitely watched anime together and talked about ships. Just an easy person to be around. He also bonus respects her for defending Damara when Meenah was tormenting her.

Porrim Finds her extremely uncomfortable to be around. Aside from her culler-like tendencies which raised a lot of red flags in the first place, her "men are horrible and women are victims of everything" views also didn't endear her to him. And as somebody who struggles with agency and being stripped of it, the fact that she still can't take no for an answer (see: Kankri), makes him even more uncomfortable. Avoids like a plague.

Latula She's cool if a bit overwhelming. He respects her a lot, and I imagine they played games together. Turned out they were into similar genres, so before everything fell apart, they used to vibe. After Mituna's accident they barely interacted, though.

Aranea He finds her pretty cool, actually. Even when people are assholes to her and about her interests, she doesn't give up on them, and he respects that a lot. He also does find what she talks about interesting, and he'd love to get closer to her, but she's hanging out with Meenah too much for him to try. He thought exactly once (1) that Aranea deseves better friends, and banished that idea immediately, because that's an invitation to a conflict he doesn't want to take on. Viva la avoidance.

Horuss Second most important person in his life and afterlife, as messy as everything about their relationship is. He's not entirely sure when Horuss flipped a quadrant on him (spoiler: it was when Rufioh gave him an origami horse), but by the time he realized it had happened, he had no idea what to do about it, so he just... didn't. He did start occassionally avoiding Horuss, though - not as badly as he is now, but it's not such a new thing. Still, they spent most of the game together, and somehow it didn't help their extreme miscommunication problems. They were actually getting somewhere, but then everything went wrong, and they both fell back on their unhealthy coping mechanisms, and that's kinda how it stayed. F. He definitely cares about him, but the relationship is draining. Horuss went from somebody who saw him for the guy he was to another person with weird/perfect ideas about him, and it makes everything all the harder. He wishes they never got together and were simply friends the entire time. Horuss is pretty cool, otherwise. He's super skilled and smart, and Rufioh misses the times they were just vibing in Horuss' workshop, working on some fun projects. Well, Horuss was doing more of the work - Rufioh was just throwing ideas every so often, and making sure Horuss didn't pass out. Fun times.

Kurloz One word: complicated. He'd always found him a bit uncomfortable to be around, but had nothing to justify these feelings, so he just ignored them. Still, aside from that, their relationship was ok for the most part. [saying anything else is too big of a spoiler]

Cronus Rufioh was probably one of a very small number of people who weren't completely put off by him, which is somewhat surprising, given... literally everything about Cronus. Rufioh found his fascination with magic cool, actually, and was even willing to listen, and in exchange he'd talk about his anime & and recommend some stuff he thought Cronus could enjoy. They were surprsingly chill. Rufioh treated Cronus' flirting as a joke, which it partially was, so it also led them to have a pretty decent friendship. Nothing crazy, though. They were just ok, and eventually like everybody else drifted apart.

Meenah Even more complicated than Kurloz, somehow. She definitely makes him feel something different compared to everybody else. (It's hatred. He hates her guts, and it had long since passed the romantic stage. Now he just wants to gut her. On a very, very, very subconscious level, because, like most of his feelings, he ain't gonna deal with these. In other circumstances, maybe they could've been black one day, but it's far too late. He's not a forgiving type at all, and Meenah had crossed every possible line she could've in his eyes.) They're cool.

[lucy-ghoul]

*rubs hands* hehehe, off to a new ship game (¬‿¬): Zu//toph, Azu//aang, Iru//chani, Stilgar//Jessica, Historia//Ymir, Ere//min

oh, these are all good choices! let's see:

zutoph: i kinda ship it ngl. not nearly as much as i ship zutara but it's cute. i've never really thought/cared about it but... i can see it. toph and zuko's personalities mix in a very interesting way!

azulaang: SHIP IT. okay i have a confession to make: this is my atla otp, literally zutara whomst lmao. it's got the optimistic ray of sunshine but with a badass side hero + evil bastard sadcore villain, except now the stereotypical gender roles are inverted. finally some juicy stuff for a female villain! also, i love azula - she's by far my favorite atla character.

iruchani: kinda ship it, yes. i can totally see it - the wife & the other woman, but chani is the real wife in all but name while irulan stands doll-like by paul's side, aware she's being used and moved like a chess piece wherever he wants. so with paul being... you know. paul (i love him but lmao), i think she deserves some hot lesbian sex. like, good for them both tbh

stilgar/jessica: okay, this is just hot. maybe it's the javier bardem+rebecca ferguson combo that makes it so. maybe it's the reverend mother/unhinged follower of her dark messiah-like son dynamic. maybe because she needs to have good nasty sex after leto's death. but yeah - as i said, hot.

yumihisu: MY BABIES. seemingly opposites who can see their own reflections and pain in each other's eyes + monster romance (kinda; they certainly gave off some beauty&thebeast vibes when ymir was in her titan form) + the queen & her knight/protector... delicious, delicious dynamic. unironically yams' best canon romance lmao. i also like erehisu, but i do prefer her with ymir. the tragedy just adds to the pair imo.

eremin: OH MY GOD. my second snk otp!!! what can i say... childhood friends to enemies to friends again + soulmateism + eren's view of the world (that is going to shape the entirety of the plot) changes through armin's influence/he literally turns into a titan for the first time to save armin & is so ridiculously physical in his affection for him + opposites who are also complements + "i would burn the whole world for you" vibes. god they make me insane. one good thing about the anime ending was the final scene between them - i mean, the hug. tenderly holding each other in a literal sea of blood. "i will burn in hell with you" anyone?? HELLO????? also: my hot take is that they are vastly superior to e.reri (that i always thought as overrated) and only e.ruri can compare among the snk slash pairings... maybe. AH! and that eren should have been in love with armin, nothing about that ~i realized i'm in luuuurv with the girl who lives and breaths just for me only after i had a titan vision of the future from god~ nonsense, it was so badly written it makes me cry onion-style whenever i think about it.

thanks a lot for the ask, dear ❤️

[ultraviolet-ink]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

I was tagged by @aawrightworth, thank you so much for this!! <3

How many works do you have on Ao3? 117, but I have four more on the roster due to @aaholidayrare!

What's your total A03 word count? 427,315 (OH WOW???)

What fandoms do you write for? Ace Attorney/Great Ace Attorney!

What are your top five fics by kudos? 1) Once Upon a Christmas (2019)- NRMT first kiss prompt 2) 12:26 AM (2019)- Forbidden Hospital Scene 3) The Talk (2020)- Greg notices that Baby Miles has a crush 4) Oh Shirt! (2019)- Phoenix can't find his shirt at Miles' place 5) Litigation in the Streets... (2021)- Miles and Phoenix become the subjects of tabloid gossip NGL, I'm not surprised that my top rated fics are NRMT, they're oldies but goodies! I've definitely grown as a writer (not to mention grown UP since these were all written when I was 18-20), but it really is lovely to see that they're still getting love! <3

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? OMGOMGOMGOMG!! Yes!! I love doing it because it lets the commenter know that I've seen their comment, and that I really do appreciate them! No matter how old a fic is, I will comment back as soon as I get that email, haha! In all seriousness, it's my way of giving back a kudos, a sort of "kudos to the reader" if that makes sense. They really do make me smile and I like to print out some of the comments that made me cry happy tears and save them in a scrapbook so that I can read them when writer's block hits me. Also, commenting brought my some of my greatest friends <3

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Ohhh DEFINITELY I Dreamed A Dream (2022)!! Not only is the title from the Les Mis song of the same name (where Fantine's life is just absolutely ruined), but I did the one thing I never thought I would be able to do... I KILLED one half of the otp!! It's a RyuuSusa fic, and of course, Major Character Death, proceed with caution!

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oooohhh this is a really hard one since I'm such a sucker for happy endings! I think the one that makes me the happiest now is from The Caterpillar Man (2022). It's a fic I wrote to sort of conceptualize Yujin and Susato's relationship when the former came home from the original study trip, and it takes place over a year and among other tragedies and growth. It's from the perspective of Susato, and I think it's one that still makes me tear up (and I got fanart based on it once!!)

Do you get hate on fics? I've never been John Phoenix'd which is very rude, am I not GOOD enough for you DaKoolGuy?? but in all seriousness, I don't really get hate on specific fics, but because I'm so vocal about a certain pairing (being Ryuu X Susato.... if I'm not supposed to ship, why game make so cute?)

Do you write smut? Not on Ultraviolet_Ink, but I do on Infrared_Quill! Fun fact, Infrared got put on a blacklist when I only had one work, and Ultraviolet wasn't on it, I found it quite funny XD

Do you write crossovers? The Journal of Dr. Yujin Mikotoba (2022-????) is just one giant crossover with ACD canon, and I'm planning on having Raffles and Arsène Lupin making an important appearance in the future! It's very self indulgent XD

Have you ever had a fic stolen? God I hope not

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge, but I do have a blanket statement saying that I am a-okay with a translation of any of my works!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? It's always been in the "omg we should totally do this" phase, but given how I am with my own works, I feel like I would be a nightmare to work with XD

What's your all-time favourite ship? Honestly... It's between HomuMiko and RyuuSusa, especially since that's just what I've been writing recently XD

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? That's a good question that I don't have a single answer for XD I have a notepad full of a WIP list, but I think one that intrigued me when I first started off was this sort of continuation of the JFA 2-4 bad ending, just kind of coming from the ashes and then De Killer eventually kills Phoenix for betraying Matt Engarde (just because of the principle). It's really interesting to think about, but I honestly don't know how I could workshop it, and I remember stopping because It made me too sad haha! If you come across this and like the idea, please feel free to adopt this bunny, no credit needed! I'm not the first person who came up with a continuation of Miracle Never Happen, and I'm sure I won't be the last!

What are your writing strengths? I think I'm getting a lot better at dialogue, especially since I have a very good friend who helps me workshop them through a sort of RP! I would say that I'm also good at making a sort of vibe/ambiance, I know how to dress a scene B-) (Yes I was a theatre kid)

What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue is also something I struggle a lot with, but I would say I get into my own head too much, and I over think and try to over explain to cover up "holes" (Cracked.Com owes me reparations for this)

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I'm a linguistics nerd, I love writing dialogue in other languages! I even wrote a fic entirely in Latin because I wanted to practice (Miles et Phoenix Romae Sunt (2021)). That being said, you have to use more than Google Translate, I've studied and majored in Spanish, so I'm confident enough in my own skill to write, but I don't really know German despite English being Germanic! So, while I do use Google Translate to get a base understanding, I try to run it by a native speaker, or at the very least, someone who has studied the language, to see if it makes sense haha. Or don't, I'm not your mom, and we're all just doing this for shits and giggles XD

First fandom you wrote for? ...... Oncest Those journals filled with Oncest have been burned since 2014 in the traditional "middle schoolers host a bonfire at the end of the year" that my friends hosted, and they will never see the light of day XD But then again..... how ba-a-a-ad COULD it have been? Tbh, I do regret getting rid of them, not because they were actually lost Great American Novels, but they were something I created and I could look back on and see how I've grown and what I've just stuck with over the years XD

Favourite fic you've ever written? It's honestly a tossup between The Journal of Yujin Mikotoba and The Caterpillar Man! I just love playing around with the empty playground canon left me haha

[yuridovewing]

I want to participate...

Thoughts on daisy/cinderpelt, ferncloud/daisy/snowkit (where he lives), hawkfrost/leafpool?

And if I may be self-indulgent...... briarlight/velvet/jax 👉 👈

daisycinder: one of those ships i don't quiiiiite get yet so far tbh? you sorta have to give me a premise to latch onto with it. that being said i am always for f/f rarepairs and this one is certainly possible, so yeah sure i'll accept that into my belief system. ngl though, as the years have gone on, ive only gotten further and further into my romance repulsed aroace cinderpelt headcanon, so this one probably isn't for me lol. i do love daisy getting a girlfriend though! i think she deserves a good time and an actual good partner after what she's had to deal with.

ferndaisysnow: well i like ferndaisy... and i have ferncloud and snowtail get together in my au (if his suffix changed. its because i forgot it sorry. ive been in and out of my au so far). so this is basically a match made in heaven tbh LOL. yessss daisy, get sucked into the nursery polycule!!!!! i like all of them being educators together and helping out with childcare. again, i like daisy finding love again and since she actually does have a canon foundation for polyamory (even if its.... weird and not well handled at all to the point id say its 100% unintentional) i think this works out really well.

hawkleaf: i made a whole au based on this one LOL. although there's a lot of stuff i'd change about it if i made it today, my feelings on hawkfrost have changed a lot and idk if leafpool is all that in-character here (although i guess she's not really in-character in any hawkleaf au. so whatever) but it's one of those pairings where i care a lot more about the storytelling potential and the parallels and symbolism or whatever, than i do about the pair as an actual couple. i think itd be similar to crowleaf where it would fall apart the moment things got serious. they are using each other as beards very very badly. like if it was played straight, like they genuinely had romantic feelings for each other and them not working out was a grand tragedy (like a certain other canon leafpool ship), i don't think i'd care for it too much. the meat is in the consequences! the drama! the horror! brambleclaw having a lot to lose in this situation too in a way that actually holds him accountable for his behavior!! (at least in my au) lionpaw being lured in by his biological father in the dark forest!! leafpool carrying her father's murderer's children!! there's a lot there!

briarvelvetjax: i like it :3 i don't have a ton to say about it bc i skipped around a lot on river of fire, especially the alderheart stuff, so i missed a good amount of the velvet and jax stuff tbh. but i think briarlight deserves a happy ending with these chill kittypets :3 and i like how she cucks alderheart in your post about them

[fluffypotatey]

Pounding my fist on the floor, 1) you KNOW most of tumblr is going to be obsessed with Macky’s stage voice. He’d be an icon for it, YouTube commercials want him voice acting for them and video game trailers like Nevercake. 2) Hilarious how Macky was all LMAO you thought you were the other guy? And how we’re all ruffled over fandom reading wrong, and then Macky gets to experience ALL of that he didn’t intend with fanonizing The Fool. Sorry bud, welcome to fandom! Also bro really thought these Swk moments would prove something and were important enough to include- 3) the mortifying ordeal of Swk talking to you but also complimenting you then insulting you and offering to collab?? 4) oh my gosh not the voice actor theories Mackey is insane, like we been knew how extra he is for the bit but if fandom caught a whiff of that things can go wildly controversial conspiracy for him, stuff like how he’s treating the voice actors/paying/crediting them properly, linking to socials, etc (but if he ever exposes the voices as done by himself they would explode) 5) Wukong persona ship reminds me of the Onceler x himself ship thing tumblr had going on. 6) Macky hears of shipping discourse and wonders what the heck is up with package delivery. 7) Stop that question is so funny, I’m going “Aw lol” at them defending their favorite silly guy but real, going mad with power XD on his way to making the next Antigone (Greek play the terrifyingly large classics fandom on tumblr calls the blueprint for tragedy, we lost a war to them and it resulted in a crack ship because fandoms are that crazy) if fandom is that picky about the tragedy. 8) the memes about Macky and PLS I’m crying this is so funny I’m gonna sob that’s his comfort character!! His self insert blorbo you’re so right he is that author who WILL complain that the curtains were blue for a reason! Literature students hate him and teachers are vindicated! You gotta interpret it correctly hahaha, this kind of behavior would baffle anyone from a whole grown man (his ass does NOT have a degree in the performing arts) didn’t go to school at all, can’t even pay his taxes don’t even got his own house he lives in Swk’s walls. But rlly being protective about who can relate to your comfort character is like, mentally ill tween behavior he gonna be under so much scrutiny

Bestie they would be on him like fucking vultures (get it? because he’s dea—)

he doesn’t get why the fandom is misinterpreting his work. like why are they focusing on some star and cloud when the real themes are centered on the sun and moon like that is his motif, how are they able to be so wrong—

ngl i dont think i would react any differently if i was in Macky’s shoes and my ex/enemy/the guy you wanna kill is gushing about your artwork while giving you a compliment sandwich and WHY IS HE ASKING TO COLLAB WHAT IS HAPPENING????

new video essay just dropped: ISPP’s creator is problematic actually and benefits off of employee abuse (followed by another essay in Macky’s defense and the concept of privacy and how fandom culture has evolved into a space where the privacy and comfortability for actors and production crews is seen as a bad thing vector “deprives the fandom from X”)

yes, i too thought of the Onceler fandom and they also apply as a reference

Macky on his thought over shipping: “I know it evolved over the years and became such an efficient tool. more efficient than i ever dreamed, but i dont see how that relates to my stories???”

the power of the ISPP compels him….to what path? that’s up to him

there would be sO many memes that come after a VA Q&A like so many (“was anyone going to tell me…” and “yeah, yeah the [bombshell of the fandom] we all know that”)

Macky would struggle so, so, sO hard with ppl misinterpreting his work 😂 he is absolutely at that level where he’ll go at arms for his characters (specifically his self-inserts) and talk about how if you watched the films THIS way them MAYBE—

[starsscarmyceiling]

the only thing i have ever known about merrical is what i've seen you reblog over the years, and i was always fine with that like go off...but now idk, i have seen so much of this pairing on my dash and i find myself being a little more curious? i feel kind of insane going to your askbox about this, but it seems to have certainly intrigued me ngl. and since you are the og merrical i've been following forever (reylo 4 life!), is there any sort of way you could give me a crash course on it? 🥺🙏

Holy gee WOW did I smile so very hard at this nonnie, I can't even tell you omfg. I was kind of wondering if Merrical would reach others in the SW fandom. I just know it's a smaller ship, especially in comparison to Reylo...and let me just tell you, Reylo Merricals, I think are mighty cool people.

Alright, well, I had another ask where I just gave all my fic recs and stuff like that, so you can find all of that here!

Okay okay okay, damn...where to start? I mean coming from Reylo you're still getting that enemies to lovers the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine goodness. Just imagine like...a Dark Rey/Jedi Ben AU? Yeah that seems like the right vibes to me.

Alright, so like the absolute 🤌thing🤌 for Merrical imo is all of the unspoken understanding between them. When I first played Jedi Fallen Order, what truly got me to start shipping is the moment Cal looked into Merrin's eyeballs and dropped the "I know what it's like to lose everything" line, like damn. That fucking--that ruined my life. He looked at her and validated her and then told her that how she'd been treated was wrong, and I just like fainted the old Katie can't come to the phone right now because she's dead. Here are two people, who both have been through so much, all of the same traumas of losing their entire people at such a young age and they found each other...like...do you know how special that is??

I think that is just another thing that I love about these two. There really is so much unsaid understanding between them that it seems like no matter the universe, they just seem to just naturally want to be around each other, and maybe they don't always understand why, but what it has is the potential to turn into is like *chef's kiss* of building something together that may have a foundation of joint trauma, but can then turn into everything they have been seeking and not even knowing they were. About two broken people, finally feeling like it's okay that they are, like they don't need to be fixed, like they don't need to explain, and they can just be.

It's about what they can build together.

They are so very healthy, have such amazing communication, and ISTG Star War if you don't give us this one pairing that won't end in tragedy I am setting everything on fire.

Alright, so obviously I would suggest playing JFO and then Jedi Survivor to get like the full story, but if you're not a gamer and want to commit to watching the "movie" version JFO, I thought this one was the best of the ones that weren't like 5+ hours but still providing enough context with cut scenes and some game play. I know it's still long but I tried to pick the best one under 3 hours!

For the JS movie. I thought this one was also a good balance of game play and cut scenes to get context. Let me just, like wow Respawn really made this game for the Merricals. Oh shit, these two are going to fuck your life up...in like the best way.

Also...HEH you're still gonna get all the freckle and hair appreciation in the world. Yes, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Fellow Merricals, if there was like anything that I left out that you think is important, just comment on here! I hope that was as succinct, you know, for me, and efficient of a Merrical crash course that I could give you anon.

This was fun, thinking this all out, and I truly hope you enjoy just another lovable set of space idiots over here. Also don't be shy! If I've successfully converted you, please show some love to the amazing authors and artists that this fandom has to offer.

AW YEAH guys we could have another convert to the house of Merrical I am kicking my feet in the air and screaming love all of us always 💖💖💖

Also, yes, our home base is Applebee's. Come join me for a drink sometime 😏

[greensaplinggrace]

002 Alina

how I feel about this character: I adore her! and also grieve for her. she had so much taken from her, and she is stripped of so much agency throughout the books, and all she experiences is tragedy after tragedy and the endless shaming from her peers as well as the narrative for a part of herself she should be growing to learn and love. I grieve the potential arc for her that was lost, and I think often of the tragedy in her character. I find her humor fun, and her full personality engaging and interesting. I like that she's so flawed and I like that she's so selfish and vindictive, in the same way that I like how loving and protective she can be, and how strong she is inside. my favorite part about her character is how conflicted she is about everything. the ways she struggles with knowing herself, and struggles with the leftover emotions from her time at the little palace and other traumas. she deserves the world.

all the people I ship romantically with this character: everyone! genya, mal, aleksander, zoya. even nikolai. I even like the crossover ships for her with the crows, although I'm not as fond of them. plus of course any poly combination of any of these.

my non-romantic OTP for this character: alina & genya is the ultimate brotp. I mean I ship them but their friendship is so good. I love it.

my unpopular opinion about this character: I have as many unpopular opinions about her as I do any other character for sab lol. I think that she's not some stalwart moral paladin and I don't get why people say she is. people also make her out to be more helpless or more vulnerable than she is, not to mention that they often mischaracterize her relationship with survival, trauma, and privilege. her ending was also tragic, and her arc was regressive, and imo fandom likes to use her to hate the characters around her more than they actually like or understand her as a character.

one thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: that she got the ending she deserved in the books - that the loss of her powers was either given a better narrative message, or that she didn't lose her powers at all. that she actually got to have any depth at all in the show, instead of all of her complexity and conflict and "bad" traits getting sanded down into nothing but performative bullshit.

my OTP: malarklina!! 💕

my cross over ship: alina/buffy sounds fun I'm ngl

a headcanon fact: alina is always burning hot to the touch. she knows the time of day based on the light around her. she can sustain small balls of light for long periods of time while not being around them. she's nonbinary with she/they pronouns and she's extremely bisexual. that she spends her time with mal after the books recovering from what should be acknowledged as a sudden and painful disability. that she sees the ghost of the darkling even after he's dead. that she's schizophrenic and has chronic fatigue. that she operates at some level on inhuman instincts tied to the nature of light & shadow. that she's not very good with kids because she struggles to convey empathy, but her protective instincts make her the safest person they trust to go to whenever they're afraid.

give me a character (x)

[daenystheedreamer]

You asked me my fave ASOIAF ships so it’s only right that I ask u what yours are 🫶🫶

oh honey you got a big storm comin 😈 

SLAY TIER GOD TIER S TIER GOAT TIER

JAIME/BRIENNE: god it's just so. like its truly insane. they are beauty and the beast but there's LAYERS like ok first look. oh she's a girl and he's a boy so she's beauty and he's the beast. but jaime is so sexyhot and brienne is ugly so he's the beauty and she's the beast. oh but she's brienne the beauty and he's a lannister lion. oh but she's the only kind and good and pure soul in the world and her eyes are so, so beautiful and jaime is so horrible and destroyed inside and out and he's so cruel but he doesn't want to be but he does. AND he dreams of fighting alongside her nude like ok RRRING RRING um hi freud i gotta crazy guy for you to psychoanalyse yeah he's got daddy AND mommy AND sibling issues and he’s a little gay with it.

THEON/ROBB: look ok. coming out as a robb neutral. THATS KIND OF A LIE look i love robb he's just a boy he's forced into the meat grinder he's hamlet he's doomed i love that that's so fun. but i'm not one of those people who's like WE NEED A ROBB POV or like mad he died. i'm a theongirl first and foremost and the way i love throbb is through the lens of theon my traumatised horrible catboy.

RHAENYRA/ALICENT: god what can be said that hasn’t. vicious lesbian divorce. psychosexual incestuous passive aggressive actually aggressive love hate inner child growing old always on their mind everything is about the other constrained by patriarchy doing patriarchy but in a way that benefits you. and she’s her stepmother.

FUN TIER

JONSATIN: yeah yeah its a bit of a yaoi ship i know i know. mostly i like it cos it gives satin something to do LMAO i really like him so i have to give him personality and wants and a backstory and jon is a great puppet for that. on jon’s side honestly satin is like the nicest choice for him everyone else has so much baggage...

LORENLY: its like canon i like it. i like the doom and tragedy i like how renly is a fun guy and loras is such a cunt.

DAENSA: i think they would be a nice couple :) i think they would be good for each other. nice fluffy ship, very sweet. lemontreecakes forever!!

SANSAERY: its like what if regina george and cady heron were lesbians. i love manipulative bitch margaery whos like shit she’s genuinely nice and pure and cute goddamnit. and sansa who has to slowly realise she’s being used but that even though their relationship is kinda fucked up it IS complex. also really funny that she was comphet for marge’s gay brother.

GENDRYA: she’s 9 so im like meh on it but its very sweet. the living-vicariously-through-your-children marriage robert wanted with sansa and joffrey. well actually its the genderfreak lyanna clone and anarchist robert clone. 

STAVOS and MELYSE: idk melisandre and selyse’s ship name. i could be serious about it but it’s just funny to me. you can still fuck even when youre at the rotting decrepit old age of 34 and you once cut off your domestic partner’s fingers

HONOURARY MENTIONS

JonValJon: i dont like ValJon because it so often negates val’s character and her wants and desires also jon is 15 and val is like clearly an adult woman but the name is really funny i like les mis eh heh heh

Theonsa: i like show theonsa i think its sweet. book theonsa i dont like because shes a lesbian.

Brienne/Sansa and Brienne/Margaery: show only. its cute and brienne x margaery is kinda hot ngl. also Brienne/Cersei that’s also hot. sorry im gay.

[amanizali]

what I would change about the Nikolai duology:

⚠️ major spoilers, obviously

I mean like genuinely we're mentioning character deaths, major plot points, basically summarizing, and a lot of it you won't understand until you've read the books—you have been warned

disclaimer: there were a lot of aspects I liked about the series (the writing was phenomenal, I felt many emotions, I had fun), but overall I was left pretty disappointed, especially since it's been quite a while and I've been able to think about it and develop my opinions. also I rant about this regularly so I thought I'd make a post. however, I adore Leigh and everything she does, and the grishaverse is extremely important to me (perhaps why I held such high standards for Nikolai's series). these are just my opinions, and it is totally fine to hold different ones, I'd actually love to hear them.

make it more about Nikolai. it felt like I had to speed through other povs to get to his, and especially by ROW, he almost felt like a side character (again). we got two books, and yet I feel like I barely know anything more about him than after the trilogy. he had povs, but it was so hard to get into his head about everything. there was SO MUCH potential for his story but it just ended up feeling like a side plot for the greater scheme of things

Zoya!!! I loved every single chapter from her pov!! why weren't those two the whole series? it would have been so nice to have something simpler where their relationship and story could also be established more

and like biracial Zoya who was almost a victim of child marriage?? her relationship with the Suli?? GIVE ME MORE

honestly didn't care much for the bee lady villain? whole thing was kinda on crack for me

why did David have to die? he didn't. it literally was an excuse for the Crows cameo and I will never forgive that. I loved seeing the Crows of course and it was hilarious (Kaz dressed as an old man lmaodjwiej), but that was not a price I was willing to pay (especially because I was still grieving). JUST GIVE US AN INEJ NOVEL OR SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN INFINITELY BETTER

to add onto that, Genya has gone through so much already. I feel like there's a limit for how much a character should suffer. it was just way too cruel, especially on her wedding day

I could have enjoyed our little found family loving each other and supporting each other for the rest of the series but instead David dies and we leave Genya to mourn all alone and forget about the og squad for the rest of the book pretty much

leave Nina out of it. I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion is, but her story did not need to be continued in canon. it ended so tragically but so beautifully and in a way that we could imagine how she healed in our own ways

also she really didn't need to be there for the plot of the series. it felt forced a little bit

also she just went straight to Ravkan military service after the heist and Matthias dying? uhh

how did she get over Matthias so quickly? it would be fine that she moved on if she hadn't been literally carrying his body around for months?? in a writing sense, I liked the whole grief arc but 1. I really didn't need it because again, it drags on Nina's story more than I would have preferred (and it was just traumatic ngl) and 2. SHE SWITCHED UP SO FAST AFTERWARDS

which brings me to Hanne. what even. who. I didn't care at all for Hanne. why are we introducing new characters that don't even contribute to the plot? I hate to say this but it felt like forced representation. I didn't feel for her/them/him (I'm sorry I don't know what pronouns they would use), and I didn't ship Nina with them either

Nina felt quite different when with Hanne and I just didn't really like this new Nina???? which is scary for me because I absolutely loved her in SOC but idk something felt off, and not even in just a post-tragedy way

the whole Fjerda plot. idk, it honestly felt like a forced way to fit Nina's plot in, I felt it didn't really contribute much at the end of the day even if what it was leading up to hinted it could have—this includes all the new characters too like Rasmus or whatever his name was

in general, all the different povs (Ravka, Shu Han, Fjerda) made it feel all over the place, and by the end, the connection wasn't enough for it to feel fulfilled. this series (especially ROW) had way too many things going on

I MISS ADRIK AND LEONI WHY PUT THEM IN IF THEY PRACTICALLY DISAPPEAR

that random love story with fake Nikolai and fake Ehri??? wha- why give these two random side characters a tragic love story?? like breaking my heart for literally no reason

yeah Mayu too like why is she getting povs? I appreciate the Shu Han world-building with that but there were just too many things happening for me to actually feel much for her and Reyem (but their bond was wholesome)

look I reallyyyy liked the Shu Han stuff since I was genuinely interested in the politics. I honestly wouldn't have minded more of that?? just if only the Fjerda stuff didn't happen and it wasn't so jam packed with plotlines

I also think the Shu Han politics could have been integrated with the plot a little better, it felt pretty distant from Nikolai and the overall plot (like maybe instead of going to Ketterdam, Nikolai could have been more involved in all that?)

WHY IS THE DARKLING BACK?? MAKE NEW CONFLICTS. NEW VILLAINS IF YOU MUST. STOP REUSING VILLAINS. ALINA DID NOT SUFFER THAT MUCH, WORK THAT HARD, GIVE UP HER POWERS JUST FOR THIS MF TO RETURN!!! it also devalued his initial death scene like that shit was BEAUTIFUL and to cry for someone you hate?? like wow

and now we're dragging poor Alina back into this like let her live in peace oml

THAT CULT THING WAS HILARIOUS BUT WTF the darkling is no longer scary nor can I take him seriously anymore. what even was that plotline like?? I'm honestly so confused I could not tell you what we achieved in this duology

that little multiverse?? tease at the end and him like holding together the world or whatever it was was cool tho

NIKOLAI HAS A BIRTH DAD AND A SISTER. AND IS A BASTARD CHILD. AND WE JUST. ARE PRETENDING THAT DIDNT HAPPEN??? like I'm sure Nikolai would feel some level of anger or confusion or sadness or SOMETHING but the short interaction was so casual and silly and we just never visited that again?? why are we portraying Nikolai like a comic relief character in his own series Leigh whyyyy T_T like I love his personality but he also has dimensions and we have sEEN glimpses of that

and yeah to go back to my first point, Nikolai is literally leading a war (loved the steampunk vibes). his brother (whom he had a complicated relationship with) died. he had to banish his parents. he found out about blood relatives. one of his closest friends and talented engineers died ON HIS WEDDING DAY. he has a demon inside of him and woke up every day in chains. so where is the depth??? why was he the least angsty out of all the povs we got?? (like we obviously got some moments but with everything else it was just pushed aside)

anyway, if you read this far, *mwah* thank you, I appreciate you for listening to my rambling. please lmk what you think!! do you agree? disagree? what did u think about this series? I hope you have a wonderful day/night ❤️

[laufire]

what is your otp (and only one) in each dc canon you know?

there are elseworlds and alternate continuities and so on that I read so so long ago I barely remember any ~shippy feeling I had lol, but I'll try!

COMICS

main comics continuity: taking pre-crisis/post-crisis/new-52/rebirth/whatever as one canon, because it... technically is? although it makes zero sense lmao.

honestly... the more I think of it, the more I'd say I don't have an OTP for it. I can love a relationship in a run, and I certainly have soft spots for a few chosen ones. generally speaking, the legacy romances in DC have Good Shit TM to offer. but the very nature of comics -the inconsistencies, the retcons, the rotating writers with wildly different agendas (not to mention grudges against specific characters), make it so I can't really point at one (1) relationship and embrace it wholeheartedly LOL.

if I have an OTP it's Jason Todd/Good+Interesting Writing, and although I've definitely seen it around, it eludes me just as often xD

Batman - Wayne Family Adventures: lowkey Barbara/Jason which is. LOL. but. see #53, #95, #96, and #104. The plot in 95-96 in particular made me want to write a more grounded+complex version of it.

Dark Knights of Steel: an elseworld run I finished recently. not heavy on romance but Clark/Lois was cute in it (with bonus bondage xD).

DC Bombshells: it's been a really long time and I was up for anything that run threw at me, but I particularly liked Kate/Renee, from what I remember. Tragedy + exes... lovely.

Red Hood - Outlaws: (I know technically there's some overlap in the webtoons but considering them the same canon, especially this one, just... nope. impossible xD). Artemis/Jason FTW.

Zatanna & the Ripper: Constantine/Zatanna is quite good.

ANIMATED WORKS

Batman - The Brave and The Bold: what little I remember of this involves Bruce/Selina being delightfully flirty lol.

DCAU/Timmverse: Clark/Lois. I liked what I saw of others (with caveats regarding certain... choices lol), but STAS is the only one I watched in its entirety and they were delightful.

Harley Quinn: Harley/Ivy. that show has made some shitty choices but they are good lol.

My Adventures with Superman: Clark/Lois, although I wish they were given more room to develop with depth.

Young Justice: DICK/ZATANNA. ngl, I think Chalant is one of the best ships DC has put out which, taking into account how little time and room to breath it had? Remarkable.

LIVE-ACTION WORKS

Arrowverse: kind of a hard pick given the givens but I have the biggest soft spot for Angelique/Ryan from Batwoman.

Batman Returns: Bruce/Selina obviously. I haven't watched any of the other films in the series, but I know they wouldn't change my mind LOL.

Gotham: BEST BATCAT EVER.

Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman: Clark/Lois, obviously.

Nolanverse: I got a lot of misgivings on this one, sure, but I do enjoy some self-indulgent Bruce/Selina here as well.

Preacher: man I really need to finish this one. Anyway. JESSE/TULIP.

Smallville: Clark/Lana has an edge. It just... does.

Snyderverse: Clark/Lois.

The Batman (2022): (obviously its own thing) Bruce/Selina.

The Boys: (wildstorm is dc right now so) I kind of left the show but Frenchie/Kimiko did have a hold on me lol.

ugh. I KNOW I'm forgetting stuff lol. also, if you asked me a couple months from now, the list would probably grow because I'm REALLY delving deep into this 'verse LOL.

[mementoasts]

Sup, I'm the same anon who talked about how Kaguya sama openings being connected to Daigo ships is possible. I saw that you would love to see my thought process on how I came up with that and ngl, I'm dying to to share it anyone so here it is lol.

I'm not proud to say it, but ngl this has been on my mind for atleast a year now 😅🤣. It started when I revisited Kiwami 2 which is also the time I became a fan of the show or fan of the opening to be more precise. I tend to watch anime that I'm not familiar with if it has very good opening songs. (Death Parade tricked me with its opening, and I love it. Ya boy Koming, that one has a banger op and a great show.) I usually watch anime that I already heard of or know because of the manga. Very good fan animations also gets me to watch the anime. Anyways, back to what I was getting at.

RyuDai with op 1. First the visuals, allthroughout the opening we see the main characters pointing weapons at one another, which emphasizes the war in "love is war". This just reminds me of how Ryuji and Daigo are at war in a way, whether it is due to personal or clan affairs. The weapon of choice also got my attention. We've seen Ryuji with a sword and Daigo with a gun so this works since in the op1 Miyuki and Kaguya are pointing their respective weapons at one another, just replace that with RyuDai The lyrics pretty much works well, like too well imo if you look at it with this ship in mind. Depending on how you translated the lyrics, it can even become more suited for this ship. In addition, the whole vibe of the song screams tension to me. The translated lyrics " this game were playing Are you aware that this is one where no one wins" And "I don't need a fairytale ending Cause happy ever after ending only exists in movies" Connects well to this ship cause frankly this is not a lovey dovey relationship that will end up good, especially with how the canon story went, but plays to the theme of yeah despite the what tragedy it may/ have turned to, there is/was love in there. "You and I are playing a dangerous game" Is it talking about something spicy or the fact that they are technically from the rival clan of one another? Both can work. Have you read the fanfic "Circling Dragons" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474858?page=5&show_comments=true&view_full_work=true )? 'Cause, oh boy, that really is what pushed me to go, "Yeah, Love Dramatic can be its theme song"🤓🤣. Like seriously though, whenever I hear the song, the visuals in my head mainly comes from this fic. Bruh, I'm losing my mind. Anyway, in addition to all of this is Daigo and Ryuji themselves. I feel like if they believe in something they will do it no matter how dangerous it could be. They also both have pride/stubborn and I don't see one of submitting to the other, though at the same time both of them can show care, which connects to the premise of the show as well. I'm probably talking out my ass at this point but keyword in my last message is "probably" so ehh.... The "I can't decide" animatic on youtube by uhh... "北极光" (I can't read this but that's their channel. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/B4a3fJS1aXc ) also helped fan the flames for my imagination to go wild. I actually connected the bridge and the last chorus of Love Dramatic with the last two to three chapters of "Circling Dragons", it just fits imo. I won't explain cause I might spoil people who haven't read it.

With that, I went from, "This is a silly idea😂, I wonder if this could work?🤔" to "Okay how about the other openings?🤔😃💡 How can I connect it to other Daigo ships?" and this spiralled out of my control.

ShinaDai with op 2. You might ask, how did I came to this conclusion that it can work since they're not really at war at all or didn't interact that much. First and foremost, I just wanted to say that fics that I've read also helped in creating this connection to my mind. This also applies to other ships I love. Anyways back to ShinaDai. Let's start the visuals, I admit there's not much connection, but boy, if you changed the first fifteen seconds of the opening, where Kaguya is using the bow, with Shinada or Daigo using a bat and instead of a sudden shield it is them catching the ball, it works. It can allude to the fact that they are the target of their affection like how it is as well to Kaguya and Miyuki. The school setting also helps since that's usually where their (Daigo primarily but Shinada also if you want) love ✨blossomed✨🤣 for the other. Another connection I see is with the vibes of the song, the songs is a bit more playful, but earnest and wholesome, which I think fits Shinada. The song is also like alluding to love making or driving them crazy, which I think fits Daigo's whole thing, sort of... 'cause bro, beating the other school's students for a baseball game which ultimately led to you being expelled is crazy. I graduated as a Valedictorian in highschool so this fact is like so much more crazy to me. Like I get that Daigo doesn't feel like he has a dream (hehehe "Yume") of his own, cause I was the same, but being top of your class opens up more opportunities in the future. I was content with follwing my parents' careers but I eventually got my own goal/dream (hehehe "Yume"). In addition, the baseball plot being connected to Omi and Tojo business is fine and all but seriously though first impression I got after finishing that chapter was that Daigo went there cause he wanted help Shinada and that he knew him when they were in highschool, that's crazy and ridiculous but I love it XD🤣. Another thing I would like to connect is the fact that shinada could've just stayed but he still sent out of his way to help the other protags like bruh you're a civvie joining in to a yakuza business. I know Akiyama is there but he's there because of Haruka and Kiryu. I say he has more connection to the main plot cause he's there with Haruka. Okay, let's come back to how ShinaDai works with op 2. The translated lyrics "Throw my heart to the flames" Fits them cause boy you're getting close to the danger or harm's way just because of someone. Have you read the fanfic "Mob" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30643031?page=2&show_comments=true&view_adult=true&view_full_work=true ) or "Immovable" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15002513?page=3&show_comments=true&view_full_work=true ) ? Cause some parts of that fics, as well as other fics, sparked my imagination on how I could connect this to the opening. I also found a connection with the lyrics in the bridge of the song "Suddenly I'm falling, into a great unknown A while new world before me, But I'm not alone" It fits with the whole thing where Shinada really doesn't know anything about the Yakuza world, but he knows he'll be fine since Daigo is with him, that is if that's part of your headcanon on how this ship end up.

MineDai with op 3. I love this ship and ngl when I heard season 3 for kaguya sama is coming, one of my wish was for the op 3 to work for this ship. Insane I know. Imagine my joy when it did lol. RGGO I love you cause man, whenever I hear this song, the Mine sotries from that game comes to mind. I love games like that (RIP Naruto Blazing I love that game 'cause collecting all those characters is amazing. The art is cool and I can see some ninjistsu that was only mentioned but was never animated in the anime. I'm a free to play so no, I'm not spending my money on games like this) please tranlsate it rgg even the stories only, please. Anyway back to how MineDai fits with GIRI GIRI. The lyrics imo, is in Mine's perspective and I know I'm right. The song is all about wanting to get close, wanting to get to know them, wanting for this love that they feel to be true and I guess reciprocated. Mine is like this in his rggo stories he has some dialouge where he says something along the lines of he wanted to know more about Daigo, heck one of his mission (sort of) is to get the attention of Daigo just to see for himself what kind of Daigo is, wondering if Daigo is being true in his intention of being friendly. That sort of stuff. The lyrics "Your love, your love, Your love, just confess it to me" Fits if we want to look at Daigo egging on Mine or being "haha unless...". I feel like this fits cause in the stories from fanfic or rggo, Daigo is trying to reassure and get Mine to relax, you know just be friendly with him. Him flirting subtly to Mine works, but alas Mine seems to be too... professional, but it was nice to know they eventually became drinking buddies. You know the fan comic by Alciedoodles, basically like that, that's what I'm trying to get at. I actually have created a whole scenario with the 2nd verse The lyrics "I feel my patience growing thin, You whisper "Don't you ever leave me." with a wisful dream Trying to pinch a nerve, but I've started to learn That your cunning, crafty ways Won't ease this feeling deep in my heart" The Majima family in the bar singing while Mine and Daigo are there just chilling and drinking. Mine is being irritated with the singing, then Daigo hits him with that line and a flirty smile where Mine then proceeds to be flustered, hahahaha. I love and hate my imagination. The first verse also connects in how I'm sure that Mine/Daigo vice versa knows that they're not exactly an angel and they do stuff around them that might not be ideal/good in their perspective. The visuals, I like to replace the student council room with the chairman's office 😅. The sequence of all the students, replace that with the clan members. Now here's where my imagination and knowledge about some RGGO stories really kicked in, you know the pre chorus part in the op 3, where Kaguya and Miyuki are in the student council room then it transitions like a film until Miyuki is gone and Kaguya looks back and sees that he's no longer there then it spirals. If you've read the "Character Story - Mine (RGGO)" translated by cryingcow (for anyone wanted to read or re read this here it is: https://cryingcow.tumblr.com/post/628065021946150912/character-story-mine-rggo ), the end half of chapter 2, that's basically what I imagine that sort of parallels in my mind to this part of the opening. While the chorus where Kaguya runs, I connect that to the chapter 3 of that story event since Mine is basically running around in Kamurocho trying to find out where Daigo went. (My favorite thing about that whole thing is that Mine called cap when the Barker told him that Daigo went into a taxi with a woman then bought every taxi company just to know where Daigo is 🤣🤣.) The bridge of the song fits them, where Mine is really affected on how Daigo acts as well as how it can be hard for Mine to explain his feelings. Depending on how you translated it, you can also interpret one of the lines as " Trigger on the gun, Towards the one you love" That fits with that Yakuza 3 cutscene.

I also wanted to add that op 2's visuals fits with MineDai as well: Mine as Kaguya and Daigo as Miyuki, the majima family as the other students dodging the arrow, and Kashiwagi as Hayasaka in the first 15 seconds. Then in the chorus, Majima with his family as Chika and others being the love detective. Aouxjsishdj hahahahaha I love and hate my brain.

MasaDai with op 4. Now we finally got to the part where this is fully created and fabricated by imagination. This is brainrot or creativity at the highest level. Love is Show definitely fits when things are going well between them. Tbh, with the visuals and song being classy, especially in the chorus, I can just see that hey maybe tojo clan holds an event where every family attends and that's where we can have Daigo and Masato dressed up properly and dance together. Though I like to think that they danced out of sight of anyone, like idk in the gardens? lol. The lyrics " The romance is about to wear off, I'm not normal, and neither are you Is it love or is it not?" as well as in the second verse, imo fits their whole thing. Like yes I ship them, but is it truly love or just attraction? Add to that there's also a lyric where it's saying that they don't want to be alone, which I think both of them feels. I see them as a parallel to one another where they both hated being part of the tojo clan or yakuza in general, which resulted to them being feeling rather lonely. I can see them finding solace and comfort in finding someone who can understand them. You know the MasaDai comics by todayisfridaynight and the fic "Sons of Bosses" (link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45958153?show_comments=true&view_full_work=true ), works imo with the lyrics for both first and second verses, where they mostly talk in cabarets and have some tension going on. I know that the song is actually very sweet, but I also can't help but imagine the lyrics in the chorus as something alluding to this love is just a show, something they use to escape the reality of their world atm. I know it might sound far fetched but isn't that the beauty with art, we can twist it in our own interpretation (just be respectful, especially for differing opinions). The bridge of the somgs also compels me, I have this voice in my head that it works with MasaDai, but I can't see how atm.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that I am clinically insane and has a stage 5 brainrot for Daigo ships. Look he's my favorite I want to give him love, but it won't make it easy since when there's conflict it makes the payoff much more sweeter and deserving. Yes, I love angst with a happy ending. Look this gives a chance for a character arc, evolution, or growth and I like that.

So... this is it. My essay on how Kaguya sama openings can be connected to Daigo ships. Ngl, I enjoyed writing and sharing this since this have been eating on my brain for atleast a year now. Have a good or atleast decent day or night. Sorry if it's too long and I sincerely appreciate anyone who read all of this. 💙💙💙

P.s. I wrote all of this after I woke up, while on work (don't worry it's holy week, nothing much to do), as well as after work so that might clear up the confusion on why it can be all over the place lol. I can probably explain each one better but I'm not really that eloquent and concise to write it better as you've seen. English is also not my first language, so it can be a little tricky on how can I express something clearly, cause man there are some words that has the same meaning, but apparently usually used with a context in mind. I also honestly can't believe I have links and stuff to actually back up my claim, but as i wrote all of this I remembered all of this.

HI ANON!!! i'm late replying to this aaaa i saw it earlier today but couldn't sit down to read through it until just now dsjfkskjgs SORRY IM JUST GONNA WRITE DOWN MY THOUGHTS AS I GO SO IT MIGHT NOT BE REALLY ORGANIZED SDFJKHSKF

i don't really talk about them much on here (it's a crime i haven't drawn them yet) but gosh i love ryudai so much 😭😭 i read circling dragons last year and it ruined my week in the best way. it's absolutely one of my favorite fics ever and i've been meaning to read it again!! it's so interesting to connect that here aaaaa ryuji and daigo's whole relationship is such a whirlwind… most of the time it's less than gentle, but they DO clearly care for each other, even if they're not the best at showing it lol. still, there's so much holding them back from each other, as you pointed out; like their pride, their ambitions/goals (especially on ryuji's part), the omi and the tojo,,, they keep gravitating toward each other, but given their situations and personalities, everything is just a mess aaauugugghh *screaming as i think about them*

also totally random to note, but there's that shot toward the end of the op where shirogane and kaguya are facing each other with guns behind their backs that makes me think specifically about that part from y2 where daigo and ryuji are just walking around each other at omi hq before they fight. i just like the image of them staring at each other surrounded by hearts dshjsfkj

THIS ANIMATIC. THANK YOU FOR LINKING THIS BECAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE AND I LOVE IT and the song too omg i haven't heard this song in years

alright this is where i admit i only sorta casually ship shinadai so i haven't read any fics 😭 i still love shinada though. but i will say i do enjoy thinking about daigo and his high school crush on this cute guy from the baseball team, so after your first ask i was reading through the lyrics and some lines kinda made me think about that hehe. and on that note, i think it'd be cute if it were daigo hitting a baseball toward him, sorta like he's trying to get shinada's attention with it ? something like that sdjsfkhshg

i'm just nodding along at what you're saying about giri giri because i had similar thoughts when i heard the song lol. i just loooove thinking of daigo not-exactly-subtly flirting with mine and it driving mine crazy. the lyrics made me think about that. mine is going nuts over it because he wants daigo so badly, but also still sorta holding himself back when it comes down to actually DOING something about it because that's how he is sfjsdfjhk

YEAH THAT RGGO STORY IS ICONIC… i love the fact mine hears daigo went off with a woman and he just immediately knows it's a lie. 💀 anon you're making me wish i had more of an ability to animate than i currently do because i wanna like. draw some of these visuals ajdsfhjkfdhskf oougughhh i love minedaaaaai i love how insane mine just. is.

"kashiwagi as hayasaka" wait wait wait hang on help now i know in this specific example we're saying mine is kaguya but. i'm kinda visualizing daigo like. ranting to kashiwagi about how he's been trying to get mine's attention and getting flustered because he isn't sure mine likes him back asdfgfsd (this is unrelated to anything, but i think it'd be cute for wagi to be like a cool uncle to him,,, daigo goes to him for this kinda stuff because he's SO not talking to majima about it) ((majima just gets involved whether daigo likes it or not))

don't worry anon, masadai itself has been created from crumbs that do not exist anyway LMAO. but YES i forget if i really mentioned it in your last ask, but op 4 mostly made me think of them like, when they first started dating (still in their honeymoon phase, so to speak). their 'love' is flashy and perfect (and they are annoying everyone around them) but despite all their similarities, there's still some massive differences in their personalities and how they view things, and i think it eventually leads to them fighting all the time,,, but they still keep getting back together because there isn't anyone else that understands them as much as they understand each other y'know,,, daigo, especially, WANTS to make it work; meanwhile masato just sorta likes how daigo keeps coming back to him,,, something like that anyway. i'm still trying to find the words exactly and that's what that fic i was working on is about adfjkgjhflkjhg

i think this is a neat intepretation of the song! with them, their love isn't exactly… good, and obviously it eventually goes to shit. though when it comes to kaguya and shirogane, i think the song is more about how their love should be like, shown off and celebrated now that they've confessed

aaawawawawa anyway anon your brain is huge i had fun reading your thoughts about this, thank you very much for sharing :3 daigo is my favorite character too so i understand how he can infect your thoughts like a bug fdjkhfsjkds every morning i wake up and think about him 😇❤️

as someone who only speaks english (and sucks at it sometimes), i'd say yours is perfectly fine! ^^ hope u had a happy easter!!

[humanoidtyphoons]

ep 15!!!

-i love midvalley the hornfreak!! so awesome with his jazzy tunes!!

-gah, legato… indulging in a little bit of murder of people he would normally ignore just because meeting vash earlier put him in a bad mood… for no real reason… kinda ship legato/vash now bc of this fucked up need of knives and the urge to push-push-push vash to his absolute limit. villanous hatecrushes fuel me. (legato/knives is also so so good tho…)

-they chose such a good voice actor for legato tbh. i do love how softly he speaks, but it doesn’t mitigate the creepiness he constantly exudes, especially when he monologues his nihilistic thoughts

-gung ho guns gang meeting!!!! these kinds of get togethers make me sooo giggly and twirling my hair, i can’t help it. it’s an adorable concept to me. they’re gathering together for the murder of vash the stampede and dominique gets her turn first

-it’s always interesting that chapel is missing from the meeting ngl. that chapel isn’t wolfwood in 98, but his mentor instead. it’s a different kind of tragedy but it’s such an interesting texture of the show and how it changes the characters and their arcs.

-we get a looot of real vash this ep. like you can absolutely make the case that vash reveals himself prior to this, but i think him truly being angry and at the cusp of killing monev… isn’t quite him. this ep, vash is so serious because he cannot afford to be otherwise. this is him longer than he wants to be, but has to be.

-i really don’t talk about his voice actor enough but i looove the nuance in how he changes vash’s tone depending on what mood vash needs to be in. and it’s still so recognisably vash.

-he still gets a couple of non-serious moments, hurting his finger when a door slams on it, and meryl slapping him bc she got the wrong idea but… it’s a different kind of comic relief to the first half’s shenanigans. the first one actually is silly, but it’s kinda tinged with vash’s desperation to find out whether legato bluesummers is behind the attack, the second is just, trying to break away from the stress of the fight.

-this is the second time vash asks meryl and milly to stay away from him. to think carefully about what matters more to them: their job or their life. the choice is theirs and… he walks away from them, again. as much as he’s enjoying travelling with them, because it’s legato who’s the threat… i don’t think he believes that they’ll be safe anymore. it’s both that he cannot protect them and that they cannot protect themselves: he’s witnessed meryl and milly use their guns to incapacitate people and defend themselves, but legato is dangerous and far more capable.

-like if the previous episodes starting from ep 12 weren’t enough for a tonal shift, the ending of this one absolutely is, bc i adore vash/meryl/milly shenanigans… and it’s the end of their halcyon days.

christ i’m going to get so sad, but this is the story that i love on repeat

[steelandscience]

Help I started thinking too much about next season and the fact that Jayce and Viktor have to “breakup” and Viktor has to literally become a robot I’m gonna lose my mind I’m not ready

[scripted-downfall]

A Study in Identity: Alec McDowell

I recently stumbled across the show Dark Angel and just… Okay, so, I love “The Berrisford Agenda” with all of my heart, but my head is currently completely and utterly fixated on the delectable tragedy that is Alec’s role in “Hello, Goodbye.”  (This is prolly gonna be long, featuring a quick selection of scenes from the show and then the analysis at the end, just btw.)

I mean, first off, you’ve got his very first scene in the episode, which is an interaction between him and Asha at Crash.  Leaving aside shipping debates, it’s canon that, despite Max being infected with the retrovirus, she and Logan were together, and that Asha wanted her own relationship with Logan; it’s also canon that this unrequited affection resulted in her turning to Alec for comfort (leading to them drinking and, were it not for her falling asleep in “Borrowed Time,” sleeping together).  

Their conversation then turns into the two of them essentially breaking up, with a heavy emphasis on the It’s not you; it’s my enemies, since Alec’s still dealing with the events of “The Berrisford Agenda” and everything that happened therein.

The next time we see him, it’s when Max calls him to ask — though that term is generous, since she demanded it more than anything else — that he give a blood transfusion to a recently-infected Logan.

Which is immediately followed by Alec walking out the door to help, only to be arrested for his clone’s killings.  And, while Max does go to help get him out eventually, it’s only because Original Cindy pointed out that Alec being exposed as a transgenic would cause additional exposure for everyone (specifically, Max and Joshua).  The killings continue to be attributed to Alec even after Max gets there — she doesn’t look closely enough at the case to realize they’re Ben’s work and not Alec’s — and she rebukes him for being a cold-blooded killer before being prepared to leave him for White to track down, torture, and kill.

Even once it is revealed that Ben was the killer, even once Max helps Alec get out of custody, she still confesses that at least one reason she treats Alec so shittily all the time is because of how much he looks like/reminds her of Ben.

Then there’s the doubly- or triply-tragic section at Joshua’s.  Despite his canine appearance, Josh had been able to carve out a potential relationship with Annie (who’s blind), but that same it’s not you; it’s my enemies returns with increased public awareness about Manticore transgenics.  Josh breaking up with Annie “because he had to go back home” was already sad, and it’s made sadder when she asks to remember what he looks like by memorizing his face, something he’d never be able to give her.  Instead, he asks Alec to stand in for him, and Alec obliges.

Then, finally, comes the ending, where Logan — who’s been acting rather creepy and stalkerish all episode, ngl — asks Max about having seen her with Alec earlier, having obviously come to the conclusion that she and Alec were together; she does nothing to disabuse him of that notion.

So, in short, the entire damn episode is a study in identity, with the end result being that the entire episode is Alec not being able to be himself and paying deference to other people’s needs.  Asha was using him as a distraction from Logan; Manticore was/is preventing him from pursuing normal relationships; Max is using him for his blood; he’s unfairly taking the blame for his brother’s crimes while simultaneously taking backlash for not being Ben; he’s essentially giving Joshua his face (which, while a willing and kind gesture, still kinda cheapens his own personal identity); and he’s unknowingly being signed up for a role in a fake relationship that Max doesn’t even bother to tell him about for two or more episodes.

And this entire thing is made even worse by the fact that this is exactly what Manticore did.  It took people, turned them into soldiers that subverted their own… well, everything… in favor of doing a job, completing a mission.  They stripped away identity, gave people numbers instead of names, insisted that emotions be buried (and forced that through PsyOps if necessary), and overwhelmingly ensured that they’d all be good little sheep, playing their part… And, for all Max and Logan and the others claim to want to stop that, they’re just as bad about perpetuating it as the people they’re fighting against.

This was a really long post, but I just cannot stop dwelling on the cruel irony of this entire episode, and how nobody in the show seems to notice (with the possible exception of Joshua, since he’s the only one who actually seems to care about getting to know Alec without the information being forced upon him, and his situation was unpleasant all ‘round, so it wasn’t actually his fault).