#This comes from a shipper who is very passionate for the pairing but also wants to be respectful

[saintsenara]

Thoughts on remadora?

thank you very much for the asks, anons!

while they are by no means my otp, i really enjoy remadora as pairing - and i think they’re fully up there among the canon couples in terms of being an amazing vehicle through which to explore all sorts of questions about life and love - which i am aware is a sufficiently controversial statement that it involves an immediate engagement with some discourse…

because remadora girlies [gender neutral] get an enormous amount of shit within the fandom, particularly from fans who consider wolfstar to be a more plausible pairing for lupin than tonks. i have seen remadora shippers called homophobes for simply enjoying the couple, justified with the bizarre idea that it disrespects remus' relationship with sirius [so... the non-canon one?] to put them together. i have seen tonks turned into a pathetic shrew who is trying to keep remus from the real love of his life by trapping him with an unwanted baby. i have seen remadora shippers get a lot of the usual stuff that people who prefer the canon-endgame couples do [that to ship a canon pair is boring, that it is indicative of a lack of talent, that it indicates an uncritical support for jkr] magnified to eleven because tonks has the temerity to be a barrier to remus’ relationship with the fandom’s favourite hot and brooding man.

obviously, this is bullshit - primarily because its unreasonable and cruel to invest so much time and energy being mean to people because of their harry potter shipping preferences [fandom should never be that deep].

but it’s also a disappointment to me personally because it means that it can be very hard to find the sort of remadora i like without looking like i’m coming to contribute to the pile-on. because where many remadora fans and i don’t see eye-to-eye is that i have absolutely no interest in thinking about them as a relationship which is actually functional. and, all too often, i find myself sifting through fics which do prefer to interpret them like this - as romantic and passionate and stable - largely, i think it’s fair to say, as a defensive move against the tide of “urgh, imagine shipping that” nonsense - even though all the evidence of canon is that they are… very much not.

i am aware of the pottermore article which smoothes the edges of lupin’s canonical reaction to tonks’ feelings for him in half-blood prince - but, while i read this as something of a retcon to make the relationship more palatable, i also don’t think that assuming that both tonks and lupin’s attraction to each other was sincere precludes them being as dysfunctional as they canonically are. i don’t go in for the common anti-remadora argument that tonks “forces” him into a relationship with her - it’s clear in half-blood prince that it’s not only her who has discussed her feelings with molly and arthur weasley, lupin is definitely flirting with her when they pick harry up in order of the phoenix, lupin is an adult man [no matter other power imbalances between him and tonks - such as the fact that she is an agent of the state which oppresses him] who possesses the capacity to refuse her advances, and - since teddy’s conception is not immaculate - he has no issue with enjoying a sexual relationship with her even if he then wants to run away from the product of that.

instead, what i like with remadora is that they reveal something which goes against the grain of the rest of the series: that love is not always enough. throughout the seven-book canon, we see time and time again the idea that love - and, crucially, love-as-noble-suffering and love-as-sacrifice - is enough to overcome any problem. entire civil service collaborating with a terrorist regime? don’t trouble yourself, love has won. your mother dying in childbirth leaving you to be neglected in a state institution? your own fault you’re not interested in love.

i understand the genre reasons for this, but i also love the way in which lupin especially exists on the margins of these genre conventions [just as he exists on the margins of wizarding society!]. i’m always struck in deathly hallows that he’s the only person who’s actually realistic about the demands of war - particularly when he tells harry that it is breathtakingly naive for him to think he can get through the fighting without having to shoot to kill - and that part of him having to be shuffled out of the way when harry tells him to return to the pregnant tonks is because, were the story focused on realism, the idea of a wanted man who is considered an unhuman by the state fleeing in order to guarantee the safety of his wife and unborn child becomes eminently reasonable and harry's defense of the nuclear family embarrassingly unradical.

and so i like the idea of lupin seeing tonks - and tonks seeing lupin - initially as just a bit of fun, as the two of them being just two chill single people who think the other is hot and interesting and want to bang because of it.

[which is something fandoms in general really struggle with as a concept. we like epic love stories - and you won't find me objecting to that! - but we're less good at thinking about casual sexual attraction or transient friendships, and how these can be transformative and meaningful without having to end up going any sort of distance.]

and i then like the idea of the relationship being forced into a profundity it doesn’t really have the juice to sustain by the sheer avalanche of grief which besets the two of them - sirius, dumbledore, mad-eye, ted - and by the pressure of the war and the fact that the order is scrambling and the hangover of remus' self-destruction in half-blood prince which makes each cling to the other as a life-raft. i like remadora as something codependent and messy and strange and sad, and i don’t think this prevents it being sincere and fun and based in mutual attraction, but instead that these positive qualities can exist in conjunction with the fact that, without the war, it would have been a summer of fucking and that was probably it.

on tonks herself, i don’t think i can say it better than @evesaintyves in this meta on her character. i’ve been really uncomfortable with quite a lot of stuff i’ve seen recently which has taken against the idea that tonks can be meaningfully read as queer on the basis of what we find in the text, above all because it so often comes with the implication that one cannot imagine her in her canon endgame pairing and presume that she’s something other than straight or cisgender. eve sets out an excellent case for tonks as bolshy and liberated and in tune with herself and fun and confused and in flux and still figuring stuff out about who she is and where she’s going - and this translates, may i say, to an astonishingly beautiful way of writing her, lupin, and the dysfunction inherent between them which i highly recommend you read.

[gala-art]

Hi! I recently come across your art on pinterest and found your blog thanks to the link. I apologize in advance for the errors in the text, because I speak English poorly, I write through a translator (hello from Russia!). I just want to thank you for the atmospheric and cute drawings (of Daryl and Beth), I often review them. I am also an artist, I have an audience (1,500 people have subscribed to me on the VKontakte social network), and I wanted to ask you if you have come across any hate to the fact that you paint Bethyl? If you have encountered this, how did you react to it? On Pinterest, I often noticed people who strongly hate Bethyl, saying that they have a big age difference and other age-related arguments (in my personal opinion, meaningless arguments that can be strongly argued with, but it's still a shame when cute pairing is condemned from scratch). Because of such people, I'm a little afraid to share the art related to this couple. Your advice will be useful to me. Thanks in advance for the answer!❤️

Hello! Thank you so much for your kind words, and for your ask. I'm always excited to meet other artists and fans who support bethyl. They are a beautiful ship. I love to hear that you have a following for your art in your home country. I would love to support your art. If you ever consider sharing it on tumblr, or if there's a way for me to find it on pinterest or elsewhere, please let me know!! The bethyl community here is still active and very supportive.

In response to your question: Yes, I have received hate on my art. And I know that many of my friends and our fellow shippers have also received hate even just for posting their opinions about bethyl online. It's unfortunately not that uncommon, though as I've heard, it used to be a LOT worse. Unfortunately, there are people on the internet who think that they are a kind of "morality police." It's usually because they simply want another character to end up with Daryl in the show, so they use any excuse to invalidate ships they don't agree with. For bethyl, that happens to be the age gap. It often results in all kinds of bullying. Name-calling, harassment, etc. I've seen people refer to Beth as a "kid," even as that is clearly a lie.

As you said, and as we see here, there are of course arguments to be made, ie: Daryl and Beth are both adults, it's a fantasy, it's a fictional apocalypse setting, shipping something or liking something in fiction doesn't mean you'd condone it in reality, etc. etc. etc. Unfortunately with these people, none of that stuff matters. It doesn't feel good.

SO. The best way to deal with it is mostly to just ignore it. In the past, I've mostly just told people to go away. If you're being harassed, block the person, report them on your platform if possible. The last thing I try to do is argue with them, because it's pointless. I also try not to let it affect me and my love for bethyl and my experience as a fan artist too much. The thing to remember is that bethyl was and still is very popular. Most people don't care about the age difference. Most people aren't sitting around and thinking up ways to make other fans miserable. Being a part of a community, if possible, is the best way to fortify yourself against antisocial bullies. Having friends and mutuals on your platforms who lift up your art and support you, and who you support in return, is the best defense against haters. I have made many friends in this fandom who I will cherish always. That's why I am here.

On that note, try not to be afraid to share art of the couple you love. This is a hobby, a passion that we take part in for free. And there is nothing morally wrong or "problematic" with bethyl. Haters will make that claim, because they will say anything to bring other people down. If people are put off by the age difference, that is of course their right. They are entitled to their opinion. But that is JUST their opinion. It doesn't mean that their opinion is more correct or better than anyone else's, no matter what they say, and it DEFINITELY doesn't justify hate and abuse. So surround yourself with friends and a community of people you enjoy. Even if it is very small, it's enough! Ignore the haters, and block/report them if they become a problem. They will always be there, as haters are a fact of life. So we just have to persevere. That's my advice. I'm very flattered that you would ask for it ❤️

[jmdbjk]

The maknae line

Much has been seen, said, done, thought and fought over when it comes to Jungkook, Taehyung and Jimin. 

These are just my opinions about Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung from spending hours and hours watching content. I am missing years of witnessing content as its released, but hopefully I have done my due diligence, gone back and watched and I’ve seen enough to come to logical conclusions. 

And like everyone, I noticed the connections between these three as well as their relationships with the rest of the group. They all share closeness due to their respect for each other, their commitment to the group, and their passion to their craft. 

All I want to do is write some stuff down about each of their personalities and my impressions of how they act with each other and what it might mean. These are my opinions and might be stuff you all have heard before but here they are anyway. Feel free to disagree and form your own opinions. Also, please feel free to point out if any of the images I used were edits because I just searched and grabbed some just for illustrative purposes.

I formed my opinions based on my fandom experiences throughout my life including my journey with BTS which began early 2020 because that is when I actually started paying attention to the individual members. Ok, it was Jimin. Jimin is who I paid attention to at first. (hahahaha) 

Then I started this blog as a way to discern what I was seeing between Jimin and Jungkook, so I will use this as a jumping off point to describe my interpretations of the relationships between Jimin and Jungkook, Jimin and Taehyungie, and Jungkook and Tae.

RelationSHIPS...I knew what shipping was before BTS, but it wasn’t until BTS that I learned there was an actual word for it. Shipping is a construct of fan culture (as we know) and involves pairing two individuals together and creating romantic or sexual fantasies and imagining extended narratives about them based on what is observed. Or actually, based on nothing other than a fan being (sexually) attracted to at least one of them. Fanfiction and fanart are sometimes manifestations of this shipping mechanism that allow fans to have something “real” that bonds them to the objects of their obsession. Fanfiction and fanart can also be simply expressions of fandom and have nothing to do with shipping.

Most rational people still understand that shipping is fictional, but some are not able to distinguish the difference and believe their fantasy is reality. Please hear me out.

All the members are aware of shipping culture. It’s been part of Kpop since the get go. There’s no way to NOT know about it. And because Army is so huge, there’s a lot of shippers. I think the members most likely don’t pay much attention to it.

Anyway, because I am going to talk about pairing them off, I wanted to speak about my opinion of what shipping is. Now to say my thoughts about each member of the maknae line:

Talking about Jimin first because I’ve been paying attention to him the longest: He is a deep thinker. He is meticulous when it comes to details. 

Jimin is very empathetic, has very strong compassion towards others. We call him emotionally intelligent because he can sense when someone needs support and doesn’t hesitate to offer it. He can be openly emotional. He feels emotions at a very deep level. At the same time, he can be very closed off and we have no idea what he’s going through. This would be the super-private Jimin. 

And we know he cares very very deeply about those he loves. I also think he has a hidden need to feel that appreciation and care and trust reciprocated because of deep-seated insecurities about himself that he’s had to work through over the years. 

When it comes to his work, he can be extremely laser-focused on goals. He has a work ethic and ambitious drive that is off the charts. He is a natural self-starter and a natural leader. 

Other words that describe Jimin: Professionalism. Perfectionist. Constant self-reflection. Humility. He has stated a few times that when he realized Army was still standing by them throughout the pandemic, he thought he could have or should have done more in return. 

Jimin lives to be an idol, we’ve heard him say that and we know from years of content that he puts his heart and soul into his singing, dancing and performing. He used to be so hard on himself if he wasn’t perfect. This is his perfectionism and insecurity. 

He has said when he dances he is in his own world. To me, that means he feels a high level of confidence and freedom when he dances and this allows him to be the bold and assertive Jimin that we saw for so many years.* (refer to notes at the end of this post)

In his WeLive last week, he assured us he was living a very emotionally calm and routine life these days. His days are filled with the work it takes to make music. He looks forward to a return to the stage soon to see us because he’s an idol and that’s what he does. He is actively taking care of himself to be the best idol he can be. Jimin has found a version of himself that makes him happy right now. 

We know Jimin is not really a loner. He reminded us during Festa dinner in June. He is not a soloist, he is part of a group. It is part of his MBTI make up. Personality tests like that will ask the same question over and over, just in different ways. His answers would have leaned toward feeling more comfortable with people, most likely his circle of friends, and not being comfortable when alone. He needs someone to play off of socially otherwise he shuts down. 

And apparently his “recharging” mode is sleeping.**

As I said, Jimin LIVES to be an idol. He thrives when he’s with the other members. 

Because Jimin is not a loner Jimin needs people in his daily life. People that he trusts, that know all of him. It would make sense that it would be people who can really relate to his lifestyle and life’s work.

At Hobi’s party, after getting over his initial apprehension in an unfamiliar environment, Jimin mingled and spent time with many guests. Instagrams are full of pics of him and others at the party. 

Let’s talk about Kim Taehyung now. 

Social butterfly Kim Taehyung is definitely an intensely playful personality. He has a great imagination and is very skilled at spinning up a character on the spot and thus acting comes easily for him. 

And this leads to one of the main things we love to see in he and Jimin’s relationship: their ability to spontaneously jump into roleplay with each other without saying a word.

Tae has hinted that he’s felt “trapped” (maybe not the right word) in his BTS persona. We’ve heard him talk about wanting to show us other sides of himself as well. He has said that he tried to keep V of BTS and Kim Taehyung separate. This might be something they’re conditioned to do as trainees? I’m not sure, but in Kpop, it’s been said that group members are given a role to fulfill. I don’t know if BTS adhered to this much. If they did at first, they eventually shed this as not being authentic. 

But being one to “act out,” Tae can look at people like they are the love of his life, he has this gaze where it looks like he’s about to take them back to the hotel and jump in bed with them and it is not limited to anyone in particular. The times I mostly remember seeing this are during performances. When he does this it is Tae in full “V of BTS” mode. 

As much as he’s said about wanting to go beyond V of BTS or to find Kim Taehyung, I don’t think he realizes his idol persona TODAY is really not going to be too far off center from his real self because typically as we mature, we just tend to naturally and unconsciously shed behaviors we no longer need to fit in with our peers and social circles. All the members have experienced this. 

Writing this, I realize I probably have not seen enough of the real Kim Taehyung to really say as much about the private Tae as I can about Jimin and Jungkook.

I think private Tae can be very sensitive emotionally. His family is important to him. He doesn’t like rules much (actually I think all three of these guys pick and choose which rules they want to adhere to hahaha).

Tae explores what’s out there in the world, he is more cosmopolitan and lately, he’s really shown us how far and wide his interests span in his tastes in art, fashion and other passions. He’s kind of an old soul with an avant garde streak.

Tae makes friends very easily and is very at ease with his other male friends.Tae is the kind of person who can maintain many friendships at a high level because of his very social nature. He has no problem introducing himself to others as we witnessed during the Grammys this year.

Of all the members, I believe Tae would be the one to handle his album release in a similar manner as Hobi did, having a listening party and it be like a laid back piano/hookah lounge vibe type thing where everyone is sitting around on sofas drinking martinis and eating canapes and couple dancing.

At Hobi’s party, Tae flitted about from person to person, danced in the middle of the dance floor like nobody was watching and pretty much was in his element. 

Here’s Jeon Jungkook:

I don’t know how you can hate Jungkookie. He’s like an open book. What you see is what you get. What triggers people to hate on him? I have no idea.

But Jungkook’s personality... to describe him is to just watch him in action ... I would say Jungkook is the most quirky personality of all the members... the weirdo of the bunch. 

Jeon Jungkook is an anomaly: starting so young and then finding such global success at such a young age in the cutthroat Kpop industry and still be the sweet, unassuming person that he is, is a testament to how he was able to handle the hard work, grinding schedule, and good luck of having god-given talent and the influence and support of the other members...ESPECIALLY the influence of the others that surrounded him as he grew up.

He is a free-spirit creative. Passionate about singing and dancing and whatever thing is fascinating him this week. The man has perfect pitch vocals and dance skills that are world class. He has a desire to be different. He’s not very outgoing, but like an expressive introvert. Almost what we call a wallflower. Not exactly moody. Aloof? Anti-social is not really correct either. I will find the right word... but definitely NOT an alpha to all you fanfic writers HAHAHA! Definitely NOT the conversationalist that Jimin and especially Tae can be. 

Half the time, he appears to just be along for the ride, but I don’t think much gets by Jungkook. Very observant. Very intelligent. Very good memory. But sometimes just can’t stay focused which manifests in being fidgety.

Not an instigator. But not really a follower either... A FREE SPIRIT I SAID! I think he is slightly impulsive too. Has a competitive streak. He has stated he is lazy which to me says he is not a natural self-starter but when he puts his mind to it, will learn a skill or become very disciplined... examples: his boxing pastime and adhering to his conditioning regimen for performing.

Jungkook has matured enough to take care of himself well these days. When in situations that make him uncomfortable or with unfamiliar people, he can now handle these types of instances with confidence but he had to learn how to do this. Jungkook being the type who is not a self-starter, he needs a motivator in his life, but once he gets started, watch out, the golden maknae will become the master. 

At Hobi’s party, after checking out his surroundings, Jungkook mostly either sat alone or danced with Hobi. 

NOTE: Of course, I was not at the party, no one except the people who attended can really say how the members were while there and who they hung around most. I only have the available photos to illustrate my points. 

Jimin and Tae:

Their documented history is well-known. They have talked about and displayed their emotional connection many times. I already touched on their roleplay and their soulmate relationship. 

Jimin and Tae butted heads at first, same-agers, young and hungry to be successful at their careers when they debuted, still rough around the edges.  We’ve heard from the other members that Jimin and Tae were most likely to have disagreements pre-debut and in the early years. Still learning how to live and work as a team. Which led to the infamous dumpling fight. The dumpling fight supposedly led to what sounds like an emotional soul-to-soul talk. 

The story goes, they went around sulled up for a while, then got together, talked it out. Probably some (alcohol-fueled) words were said to each other that peeled away layers and layers of emotional self-protection. If you are able to  reach that point, it is very liberating to bare your soul to someone and have them accept you as you are.

I think Jimin’s natural compassion touched something in Tae so profoundly, it made Tae look at Jimin in a totally different light. I think Jimin allowed Tae to feel like he could take (emotional) risks (as a male) that maybe he had not considered or was uncomfortable to do before. And this is the foundation for their level of comfort and ease with each other. They worked it out and the word “soulmate” got stamped on their relationship from there on out. 

Today, I believe all the members would consider each other mutual soulmates on some level, but Jimin and Tae were the first to reach that level and maintain it to this day.

Jimin and Tae have told us they speak to each other often. I think they are great supporters of each other’s well-being but I don’t think they spend a lot of time together when not working. Their interests are too divergent.

Tae and Jungkook:

From what I’ve seen, it’s a classic close sibling relationship. I see a lot of rough housing puppy play especially when they were younger. They were partners in crime when it came to being mischievous back then. A lot of physical closeness and skinship. Teasing, some big brother/little brother love going on.

Nowadays they just seem like best buddies slinging their arms around each other. I think Tae naturally falls into his hyung role very easily with Jungkook. I think sometimes Jungkook is done with it though. It’s like super-intense Tae clashing with laid-back Jungkook... a push and pull that is very subtle but it’s there. 

I watch carefully but I don’t see a really noticeable emotional connection. 

Jungkook and Tae have a great work relationship as does the entire team. That’s what makes them the top of the game. I see A LOT of interactions between Tae and Jungkook while performing, while they are in front of cameras. I don’t hear much about what goes on between them when they aren’t performing.

I don’t think Tae and Jungkook spend much time (if any) together when not working. Their interests are too divergent. 

Jimin and Jungkook:

Though they basically grew up together, Jungkook was able to mature into adulthood under the watchful eye of Jimin who was years ahead in maturity.

I would say everything Jungkook knows about being compassionate and empathetic toward others, he learned from observing the other members but mostly Jimin. Everything he knows about work ethic, he learned from Jimin. Everything he knows about enjoying life and celebrating other people, he learned from Jimin. How to navigate uncomfortable situations, he learned from Jimin. He’s said more than once that he watches Jimin and its obvious in all the years of content that he’s always watching him.

There is a palpable level of chemistry between them on-camera. This is the type of thing you can’t really fake. You either have it or you don’t. We’ve seen movie actors have such great chemistry on screen, and then we hear about them actually dating and sometimes getting married in real life. You can’t fake the chemistry. 

I think Jungkook enjoys a comfort level with Jimin that he does not possess with the other members. I think we all agree on that. There is an intimacy and closeness in their body language and tone of voice toward each other. It’s been a documented fact by staff and people on the street that they spend a lot of time together during work and off work. What they have in common is their approach to their work and what they choose to do off-work.

There is also a push and pull that is sometimes noticeable between Jimin and Jungkook but they are not really like the others. The thing that sets them apart is the lack of honorifics, the body language and the facial expressions. You just have to watch closely. This push and pull is more about their personalities than the age difference/honorifics customs. 

I could go on and on about Jimin and Jungkook because, in my opinion, they have the closest bond amongst the maknae line. I am certain we will continually see this bond between them express itself no matter where they are. 

What does all this mean “shipping-wise”? Since in my mind, shipping means an imagined romantic/sexual relationship, I will say I am not a shipper. Vmin are not dating in real life. Taekook are not dating in real life. 

I will be honest here, when I see taekook trending, I DO look to see what it is and it will be Tae and Jungkook next to each other in whatever the latest content drop is and that’s fine! But I can never scroll very long before I reach a post that is an edited image (edited Jimin out and inserted Tae with Jungkook, etc.) or toxic/negative/hating on Jimin so I stop looking. I never see this level of toxicity with any other shipping groups.

If any of them are dating in real life, it would be Jimin and Jungkook. Not fantasizing, not creating a narrative. Just watching and seeing things as they happen. We know what we think from the things we’ve seen, but the truth is something only they know. 

=====================================

Further explanations noted with the asterisks:

*That long break during the pandemic almost shattered Jimin’s ability to hold on to those parts of his idol persona that were what we call “shameless and bold”. Where did “shameless” Jimin go? Why are we suddenly confronted with so much “shy” Jimin? We heard him say he wondered during the pandemic what his purpose was since he could no longer perform. Jimin lives to be an idol. I would venture to say all that anxiety really wore him down and made him question everything. And the lack of immediate feedback of an audience during all those recorded performances made him lose his confidence somewhat. His subconscious was telling him “what’s the point of this?” But as they returned to performing with live audiences, we saw hints of the old Jimin returning. During the Vegas concerts we really witnessed Jimin getting his mojo back finally. 

**Comprehensive personality tests will also describe a person’s natural recharging/rest mode. Some people get recharged by being active like participating in sports, being outdoors, or some other highly physical activity, some recharge by reading, gaming or doing another low physical energy/high brain energy activity, others recharge by socializing with people, and then there’s those who recharge by sleeping. All are valid and natural reflexes according to personality research.

[highlordofkrypton]

Hi!!! I’m brand new to the ACOTAR series and have been browsing for rare pairs and stumbled on Nyxlin. I didn’t know it was like, A Thing! Personally I like Tamlin/Rhys (they have so much chemistry omg. I don't know how people don't see it!) but I’m always fascinated by the rare pairs and how creative people are with their fics. Went down the rabbit hole of the fandom and found your blog and I’m shocked at how divisive it is. Nyx doesn’t have much of a character so can I ask what it is about the ship that you like?

Ignore this if you want to! I just got excited to find an active fandom.

First of all, welcome to the fandom! So glad to have (maybe?) another rarepair shipper on board 😊

I apologize in advance as I have an inability to be concise when I answer asks.

Tamsand (Tamlin x Rhys) was actually what first brought me into the fandom -- I had written a whole fic midway through ACOWAR because I couldn't get over the casual mention of 'training together in Illyrian camps' and Tamlin learning dirty limericks from the soldiers. They really do have amazing chemistry 👏👏👏

In terms of divisiveness, one thing you will notice very quickly is that even though the fandom is active:

It's still small enough that people keep stepping on each other's toes when it comes to opinions towards ships; it's harder to ignore when drama (usually ship or Tamlin related) goes down because everyone kind of has something to say.

Very big canon discourse, especially towards ships (constant ship wars over canon ships)

Very vocal anti-shipping, moral policing, etc. of ships and character interactions without ever engaging in the fanworks. As a rarepair shipper, I'm sure you'll understand that there are so many ways to make a ship work, and very few of them have to do with the canon text. Lots of knee-jerk reactions over ultimately silly things.

Nyxlin is only the latest drama over all kinds of rarepairs/crackships. Before that it was Elain x Beron x Tamlin, and before that it was Rhysand x Nesta. I believe there were some Nesta x Eris issues, but I only heard echoes of that.

My best advice before all else is enjoy yourself. No matter what anyone else says, just have fun.

I'm not sure if I'll have the answers you're looking for in terms of Nyxlin; we're quite a few Nyxlin shippers and everyone has their own take on the ship.

COMMONALITIES

There are a few things in common between Nyxlin fics and headcanons that I've seen that people seem to enjoy across the board.

It's important to note that every Nyxlin discussion, discourse or fanworks that I have engaged in have Nyx as an adult before getting involved with Tamlin. This is a distinction that many people struggle with when condemning this ship.

Rebellion - In the same way that Rhysand and Tamlin getting together would be taboo in their father's eyes, Nyx growing up to go against his parents actively or being forced to rebel in the name of love. It's almost like any other Disney movie where the parents say no, but the child goes ahead anyway.

Humour - Who hasn't made a ship out of a stupid joke? I have a lot of ships that have bloomed out of pure silliness. Some people have done a parody of Twilight and then we all got attached. Others just thought it would be hilarious if Feyre and Rhysand, who hate Tamlin with a passion, would have to cope with their son being irrevocably attached to their nemesis.

Redemption - Both Spring and Night have wronged each other, so this is a chance to make up for it on both sides. If Feyre and Rhysand won't meet Tamlin halfway, then their son will do it for them!

Parallels between Life (Spring) and Death (Night) - The Hades/Persephone mirrors can be seen here, if not flipped on its head with 'darkness' barging into Spring when Tamlin just really, really needs a nap.

There are probably more, but these are the ones I can think off the top of my head.

MY NYXLIN

My reasons include the themes mentioned above, but I also chose to write Nyx because he doesn't have much of a character.

I originally wrote a piece about my morally gray OC in Prythian to see how he stands up to Rhysand, and ironically, this character I've had in my mind for over a decade shared similarities with the High Lord of Night, not only in terms of the darkness-themed abilities, but in looks -- well, if dark hair and bright eyes is anything to go by.

Once I shared that WIP, I got a lot of requests to continue the story, but I'm quite shy to share OCs, especially in a fandom that struggles to deviate from canon. I also thought that what a brilliant way to parallel the reason the previous generation High Lords were so cruel; I could have Rhysand's son be more powerful than Rhysand, and have Rhysand have to cope with that threat (because my Nyx is not friendly at all).

It was quite funny to have Rhysand's ass handed to him by his son, and watch his son-turned-Eldritch-god side with Tamlin which is terrifying to him. As a Death God, there's also a really beautiful parallel to be had with Spring.

I also think it's hilarious because my Nyx looks like a 40 year old man, therefore looks older than Rhysand in canon who is looks like the canonical early 20s.

You can see how I'm not only bending the canon, but I've gone really far, if not completely off the rails, which is why I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer your question in general.

Anyway, me and my readers are having a shit ton of fun, and I think that's what matters most out of all of this!! 😊

[kalinara]

I'm so baffled by the way this whole thing has blown way out of proportion. People sending hateful messages to each other AND to the actors?? Totally unnecessary! It makes no damn sense.

Not to be an anti on main, but I genuinely believe that shipping changed somewhere along the way, into something that's a little disturbing.

I'm of course not going to say the old days were perfect. Racism, sexism and homophobia have always been issues and fandom has always been notoriously resistant to dealing with such things. And it's not like Shipwars are new. I remember the Ray Wars in Due South and fans older than me can tell fascinating stories of fanzine wars between Han/Leia and Luke/Leia fans before the Internet was even a thing for most of us.

But I still feel like a change happened somewhere along the way. There's this bizarre sense of entitlement now. There's this idea that a ship HAS to happen or it doesn't count somehow, and that we as fans can harangue the creators and MAKE it happen. (Voltron being the most extreme reaction I can think of).

And I mean, I get wanting representation, but it seems to go beyond that. Look at any 911 discussion thread about Buddie. Despite the fact that the show has multiple important queer pairings, they don't count because it's not the pairing the fans want.

I think this also plays into why we have so many puritan shippers. I don't agree that someone's ships reflect their real world morality. But I do get where a lot of younger fans are coming from, when so much of fandom seems to involve going "no, see, it will happen on screen and it will be AWESOME!". Not every show is Game of Thrones, after all. And nowadays, I do think a shipper probably does need to specify "no, I don't really want Thor and Loki to fuck in the movies directly aimed for kids", because of the rabid behavior of OTHER shippers. It's not fair, but we seem to have created this mess.

We used to joke about a "fannish hivemind" but nowadays, that seems less and less funny. I love shippy meta as much as the next person, but there's a difference between making an essay detailing all the moments that could be used to support a ship and making an essay detailing all the reasons why these moments ABSOLUTELY MUST MEAN MY SHIP WILL HAPPEN AND HOW COULD ANYONE POSSIBLY THINK OTHERWISE. And that attitude seems more and more prevalent nowadays.

We need to get a grip. We need to keep in mind that the creators of the show may not see it the way we do. We need to keep in mind that someone else makes the decisions about the story, and we might like or dislike it. We might want to consider, for example, that an actor who was once on Saturday Night Live, who repeatedly referred to a female co-star at that time as a "platonic soulmate" might actually not be setting up a romance between these two very tightly paralleled characters. That doesn't mean the characters WON'T get together, of course. I'm no mind-reader or oracle. But I point that out because nothing is a guarantee.

But seriously, there's nothing funnier than someone going on and on about their literary credentials when they write their long passionate analysis, because no one stops to wonder, do the creators share those literary credentials? What if all of these patterns really are accidents? Or they mean something else entirely?

And leave the actors alone, for heavens sake. They're just the face of the character. They've got nothing to do with any of this! If THEY want to engage, they're more than able to do that. Hell, the internet is anonymous, maybe they're here right now. But let that be their call. You wouldn't want someone coming up to you saying "I love imagining you and your co-worker having sex!" would you?

[zevfern]

The cast of Fire Emblem 3 Houses as Pro Wrestlers: The Blue Lions

Ah, the Blue Lions class. My first route playing this game. A fascinating lot, especially since I used to really dislike some of the members of the house until I saw their interactions with other classes.

Dedue Molinaro: loyal friends and gentle giants with hearts of gold aren't very common in pro wrestling, so we're gonna go with a smaller (in size, not heart) pick: Big E. Dedue could use some Power of Positivity in his life, Goddess knows how he deals with Dimitri and the rest of the Lions.

Felix Hugo Fraldarius: the man who in my opinion is the likeliest to defect from the Faerghus Four to join Adrestria is best represented by the man who stabbed his Shield brothers in the back and joined the Authority: Seth "Freaking" Rollins. Burn it down, Felix.

(And much like Seth Rollins later on, Felix also proves to be a great hero/babyface in his original house's route or in the VW/SS routes. I can't help liking Felix or Seth, be they at their best or worst.)

Sylvain José Gautier: being Fodlan's resident titty master, it only makes sense for Sylvain to be the third Shield member: Dean Ambrose. And yes, he's also Jon Moxley. Bleeding half to death every fight is only going to make him more attractive to Renee Ingrid.

(Why yes, Sylvain does hate Claude (by God) von Riegan. How could you tell that was my headcanon?)

Ingrid Brandl Galatea: just having her be Renee Young/Paquette would be a cop out, so here's an alternative suggestion: why not Taya Valkyrie? Yes, the 3H class pun is completely intentional.

Ashe Ubert: a big knight nerd who just wants to help his friends, his friendship with Dedue matches him perfectly with Xavier Woods. If Ashe won the White Heron Cup, would he be King Ashe? Some food for thought.

Annette Fantine Dominic: a cheerful friendly redhead who's very passionate and headstrong? Seems to me that Annette's the Man. Much like Becky Lynch, Annette is an underdog in a world out to crush her spirit, and just like Lynch, Annette comes out on top.

(While my pro wrestler picks for Felix and Annette would suggest I'm a secret Felannie shipper, my loyalty lies with different pairings for those two in universe. Now, in a pro wrestling themed AU? I'm all for it!)

Mercedes von Martritz: the sweetest woman in all of Fodlan, it stands to reason her wrestling equivalent would be similar to her in nature. Allie is one of the nicest women in wrestling both in and out of kayfabe, but she's got a sadistic side that comes out when she dons her Bunny persona, akin to Mercedes' brother Emile the Death Knight.

Up next: AEW the Golden Deer.

[gascon-en-exil]

If you don't mind me asking who's Anacybele?

That's the most common handle for a notorious personality in the FE fandom who's been around for over a decade. I referenced her briefly in the discourse video, referring to her as this fandom's equivalent of a Snapewife.

True to that designation, Anacybele's calling card is her extremely parasocial attachment to certain male characters. When Path of Radiance was current, she became a hardcore Ike/Elincia shipper and was clearly projecting hard onto Elincia. Come Radiant Dawn, and Ana was unhappy, to say the least, outraged at the near-absence of Ike/Elincia content and taking out her anger on Ike/Soren and Elincia/Geoffrey alike...but mostly the former, in rants that she was quick to assure everyone were not motivated by homophobia. As she's quick to dismiss any queer FE content that isn't inarguably explicit (Heather and Leon, pretty much), it's rather hard to believe her on that point. I've seen some things to the effect that she's been found over the years making racist and homophobic statements related to real-world politics as well, but I don't know much of the particulars.

When Awakening came out she moved on to her second great parasocial love: Frederick. FE13 is much more accommodating for self-shippers like her, but she was roundly mocked when she attempted to bring her personal "Freddie Bear" fantasies into Serenes Forest's community of min-maxing Apotheosis players. As Frederick is a low tier father who has no sound gameplay reason to be paired with Robin, this didn't go over well. Then with Fates she got attached to Ryoma, resulting in her loud refusal to play Conquest (because Ryoma dies there) and routine bashing of the Nohrian characters and their fans.

She does seem to have mellowed out a bit with later games; I've seen her develop similar feelings toward Sylvain and now Diamant, but not as passionately as she had toward Ike and Frederick. Case in point - as far as I know she's never railed against Sylvix despite it being a very popular gay ship featuring one of her faves. Still, as I found out just now Ana continues to bash anything she doesn't like. This includes the Japan-only games, reportedly because she thinks emulation is unethical (or doesn't know how to do it, one or the other) and so is dismissive of anyone talking about those games or wanting content for them in Heroes. Cue the latest round of wank from her, because it's been almost two years since the last dedicated Path of Radiance New Heroes banner and because supposedly no one cares about Jugdral.

If we're making comparisons, while Raxis and co. are much more toxic because of the lengths they'll go to harass people they don't like and attempt to "control the narrative" surrounding their fave, Ana is much more individually memorable because of her sheer persistence over many years and commitment to what seems to be a genuinely unhealthy form of fandom expression. She's also inadvertently become something of a relic of past eras of fandom, as rather than cloaking her attacks in faux-progressive language she only barely (that I've ever seen) makes any attempt to disguise her homophobia or generalized character/ship bashing. It's...a lot.

[bisluthq]

No. I was never a fan of her relationship with Joe. I didn’t dislike the pairing or anything, but I was never a shipper. I believed she was happy and they were going to get married and have kids, but I also believed her songs showed a lack of communication and jealousy issues that didn’t sound good. I don’t know if I ever expressed them on the blog because that conversation wouldn’t have been entertained here. But I always thought they were clear problems with their relationship. I didn’t think the jealousy was a thing they did on purpose and enjoyed like people said here. It didn’t sound healthy and fun to me. However, I assumed they had worked through the problems because she seemed happy.

I can’t say a single nice thing about Matty so I’m very much not a maylor.

I don’t have anything against Travis as a person or against his relationship with Taylor. But the songs we have about him sound less passionate than the songs she wrote about Joe. She got with him very fast and, if they’re engaged, it looks like they’re moving on too fast. I’m not hoping the relationship fails. I’m not manifesting a break up. I’m not a Joe widow or a Maylor. I think there’s red flags and they’re not coming from Travis.

You always say Taylor wouldn’t stay in a relationship with bad sex but, even if that’s the case, that still doesn’t mean Matty or Travis were/are the best sex she’s ever had. She said that about Joe, but she hasn’t said it about either of the other two. A lot of people end up in relationships where the sex is worse because they believed that person is better in another category. For example, the fact that Matty was paying attention to her when Joe wasn’t, probably made her feel sexy and the hiding from Joe, or even being saved from him, probably made that whole thing sound hot in her head. Then, her and Matty were very much in a honeymoon phase and even if the sex wasn’t the best sex ever, she thought Matty was going to give her everything Joe didn’t. So I think she would’ve been willing to settle for worse sex because Matty was supposed to give her all these other things.

Taylor has overlooked multiple red flags throughout her life so I don’t know why everyone is so convinced that sex is where she draws the line. I also disagree with saying “yes, she wants to get married but she hasn’t done it yet which proves she will only ever do it when it’s right”.

She was only 26 when she met Joe and her only serious relationship had been with Calvin, there wasn’t really anyone she could have married and she had a lot of time to find someone. Joe was her longest relationship and the best sex she’d had. There were clear red flags and incompatibility issues that she was willing to ignore if Joe married her. It sounds like the catalyst was the fact that she wouldn’t marry her and Matty promised her he would. She was getting bored and didn’t feel loved, but she was going to buy a house with him and she would’ve married him if he had wanted to.

She wrote The Prophecy what? A month before she got with Travis? She couldn’t possibly have gotten over those feelings. She was still hurting from both Joe and Matty. The album is mostly about Matty but that wouldn’t have happened without Joe and she was still mad at Joe late last year. I don’t believe she wants Joe back, but she wasn’t over everything that went down when she got with Travis.

She’s comparing Travis with Joe, how he’s okay with the fame and Joe wasn’t, how he makes her feel loved in a way Joe didn’t (at least not in the end). But she doesn’t sound that passionate about him and it feels like she only got with him because he was the opposite of Joe. It’s like when she started dating 18 year olds after the 30 year olds treated her poorly. The moody British guy didn’t appreciate her and didn’t want the attention that comes with dating her, so she’s now dating an American jock who loves the attention.

I wish her the best, but that doesn’t mean I can’t point out everything I see wrong with that relationship. She’s 34 years old, she feels like Joe wasted her youth, last summer she felt like she was always going to be alone because no one wanted her. We’re going to believe the love of her life showed up at the exact right time? When she was feeling lost and alone, Travis showed up like a white knight and showed her there’s good men out there? Or did she convince herself that Travis is what she needs/she should do because he’s nice and loves her and he’s the opposite of her ex and she’s on her 30s and isn’t married yet and she feels like she should be?

possibly! Fair enough!!

[extorchic]

Sk8 the Infinity is my obsession but it ends up next week

Sk8 is special, it became kind of like an obsession in just about a month. I got invested in the story and 've grown to really care about the characters, specially Reki and Langa. I want to write a bit (well not really “a bit” because there’s a lot in my head) about Renga, I haven’t been as passionate for a ship in a while, it’s taken over my blog, for example. So by clicking “Read more” there’s some sort of a timeline of their interactions, some personal thoughts and its impact on me, as a gay man and rep and so on.

Now, some may argue that since it's a sports anime, it's supposed to focus on skateboarding BUT, the relationship between the characters takes the spotlight more often than in other shows of the genre. This may be a staple on Hiroko Utsumi's works, which has been previously portrayed in Free!, but I've seen that Sk8 has taken this to an eleven.

The relationship between Reki and Langa is one that grows progressively throughout the series, and skateboarding seems to be a sort of vehicle for that to happen:

They start as strangers that have found a common interest in skating, Reki had previously lost a friend and was desperately looking for someone to share his passion with and Langa had lost his father and his passion for snowboarding, which had sunk him in a state of disinterest for everything. This changes when they meet.

In episode 2 we see their bond expanding as Reki teaches Langa the basics and in episode 3 their friendship is solidly cemented.

Episodes 4 and 5 shows how this friendship grows into outright concern for each other safety, episode 6 once again show how protective they can be to each other but also introduces Reki's self-esteem issues which lead to...

Episode 7, the rift. Reki feels that he's getting left behind, maybe some bits of jealousy, and Langa's just too focused on feeling the thrill that is skateboarding that he just doesn't notice Reki's issue, that's why he thinks he wouldn't mind him breaking their promise. Episode 8 shows how heart-wrenching is for Langa to have this distance between him and Reki.

It is at this point that the relationship loses all the chances it had to be platonic, at least for me. Aside from the scene between Langa and his mom which seems to confirm that he indeed feels more that friendship, it also shows Reki longing for him but fearful of a reunion. That's why he goes undercover to see his race (after Joe's suggestion), and in episode 9, he not only defends Langa from people talking on his back, but also it's him calling Langa's name that gives the latter the boost to defeat Joe. Of course I can't avoid mentioning how Langa feels absolutely no thrill skateboarding unless Reki's there with him (as in "it's meaningless without you") and the beat of his heart returns only after he hears Reki calling for him.

Episode 10 has Langa continuing looking for Reki, as he's finally realized how much he cherish him and their relationship, but Reki still had to go through his own conflicting thoughts and emotions, which similar to what happened last episode, only surface when confronted to someone (Tadashi in this case) talking against something he loves, which makes him realize he loves skateboarding and doing it with Langa more than having any negative emotion.

Their reunion is probably the most emotional moment in the series: They skate together and enjoy it to the max, and not only that, Langa also tells Reki how much he means to him, not because Reki needed a compliment, but because Langa was overflowing with admiration for him. Then they share their mutual desire to skate with each other for eternity. Finally episode 11 shows them behaving like they used to, but Langa's more conscious on how he must appreciate what's dear to him and Reki finally going forward without fear. The renewed bond also boosts Reki during his race with Adam.

So, after all of this, it's safe to say that the show's plot relies HEAVILY on this relationship, more so than on skating itself despite also being centric to the story. Despite this, there are still some people, yes, "dude-bros" that argue on how they're "just friends" or "bros being bros". I'd disagree by saying that in even very close platonic friendships or even sibling relationships, there's a sense of separation, a division of some sort. It is also true that it's important to represent male platonic bonding, but Reki and Langa's relationship and how it’s been built goes a lot deeper than that just being platonic.

Is this LGBTQ+ representative? I've listed only some narrative points that very strongly suggest a romantic subtext, besides them there are plenty of visual features that support this approach (the eyes reflection thing, color-coding, symbolism, two freaking men in a love hotel, even if it was played for laughs) as well as the merchandise (specially the CindeReki CD drama). However, without a very explicit reveal or a confirmation, it'd be all left as subtextual speculation. And it'd be a bummer because we need this kind of rep, we need to see stories where two people meet after having left some traumatic experience, grow to care for each other and help each other to overcome those traumas, through laughing and sharing activities that they can both enjoy and be passionate about, even if there's obstacles on the way, so much so that when they're apart the pain is unbearable. I mean, of that isn't love, what is it?

As a gay man myself I've felt related to these two characters, in a way they already represent me, personally. But if that happened to end up as just fan interpretation, I’d feel something is missing somehow, dissatisified dissappointed to an extent, but I wouldn’t resent the series, nor the creators. The series relies heavily on the relationship for its narrative but it also offers other things: Amazing animation and music, lovable characters, an enticing story, I can tell it’s done with passion and most importantly it’s a lot of fun! Emotional, but fun! As I mentioned, it’s made me feel so many things in a single month and has inspired me as well. Besides, it’s quite apparent that they do love each other, they mean the world to each other. If I speak completely honestly, I just want the two of them to skate together in Okinawa infinitely forever, and that’s what they want to do. Maybe if we focus too much and judge on whether it is or not rep, maybe we can’t enjoy the series at its maximum, Yes, it is annoying to see some fans dismissing the romantic potential, but the normalizaton of sexual orientation diversity is, to this day, a work in process. I guess the best thing we can do is show our best side to the world, as queer people in general and as allies.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still freaking want this ship to be indisputably romantic in the canon, maybe more than I’ve wanted any of my ships ever before, and there’s still an episode left, I hadn’t lost hope, and hoping is the main thing you can do at the shipping game. What else can be done? To ship with honor, respecting everyone (fellow fans, creators, staff on the internet) and not getting into needless arguments or just creating a bad atomosphere in the fandom. It is a community after all, we need to get along, live and let live.

[benjamin-ovich]

I think the amount of people who ship Moonchaser are pretty tiny and usually they’re multi-shippers but that just all leads back to how I am not sure when and why this fandom decided that Wolfstar was the one true only pairing they could ever see Remus and Sirius in, like unimpeachable, unbreakable soulmates when we are basing this on like… one hug. And I do think that’s how Jegulus got popular lmao and why people work overtime to diminish James and Sirius’s bond.

i think maybe wolfstar is popular because of the fact that sirius and remus are so different to each other, which serves as a good source of chemistry in some people's eyes. idk lol

personally tho the reason i love prongsfoot is because of their similarities to each other, their codependency; this idea of them literally being made for each other and able to understand one another in ways that nobody else can. they have their differences and this is important for their ship dynamic, but for me a lot of their chemistry comes from a place of just... knowing each other, so well. without having to try. complementing each other perfectly. two sides of the exact same coin. the whole twin flames/soulmates thing.

i imagine that something clicked in them the moment they first met, from the very conversation they ever had. something like a lightbulb going off in their head, saying: this is my person. i've found my person.

sirius, who struggles to adequately express his feelings (read: childhood trauma from him being punished whenever he did so at home), must have been so astonished to find someone that he didn't need to express his feelings to. someone who could basically broadcast every thought in his own head without having to ask, because of how similar they are in their the way they think, their personalities and outlooks. finishing each others' sentences, echoing each others' ideas, having entire conversations just by looking at each other across the room.

also one of my most beloved headcanons for this pairing is that sirius loves james for being the first person in the world to show him kindness, to make him feel safe and loved and wanted. to see both his good and bad sides, and still say "you're my best friend in the whole world". i think that must've meant a lot to sirius, given his family background and the kind of people he grew up around. he experiences so much shame over the type of family he's from, it must've left him feeling tainted in some way, and it's like he almost feels the need to hide his darkness from everyone else in an attempt to prove that he's nothing like his family. but not with james, because james knows and accepts him as he is. james understands that sirius can have a dark streak, and is prone to bursts of explosive anger, mood swings, even cruelty. and he loves him anyway, because he knows that that's only one part of all the things that make sirius who he is.

meanwhile i also think that james loves sirius for being the first person to make life feel passionate, sensual, intense. i imagine james grew up extremely pampered and spoiled, and ended up feeling rather dispassionate/bored about his place in the world as a result. everything came to him easily, his youth was never complicated or even all that exciting as a child. and then he meets sirius, with his fits of powerful emotions, his raw and visceral responses to everything, his general volatility - it's like he shows james what it's like to feel real, genuine emotions for the first time ever. like james gets to experience the world in a different way after meeting sirius, vicariously feeling everything so much more intensely, because that's just how sirius experiences emotions. i imagine that led to james feeling so much more alive when he was around sirius than he ever was before. and sirius knows that, and never has to act tame or reserved around his best friend because he knows that would only bore/annoy him

for me, it's the duality of james' and sirius' personalities that make them such a great pairing. the idea that they're the same thing, and only differ in degrees. sort of like love/hate are the same thing, just different in degrees. you can't really tell with absolute certainty where love begins and hate ends. and i don't think either james or sirius can tell where one of them ends and the other begins. their differences are enough to draw them together and keep things interesting, but it's their inherent contiguity that makes them such a perfect match for each other.

[narutakijune]

About ATLA Relationship Arcs

So, this is me, finally trying to write some meta after lurking in my little tumblr corner for months! Hi!

Although I’ve tried to tag properly, if you are a Kat*anger and just want to enjoy your favourite couple in peace, this might not be the post for you. I am not trying to bash characters but I do have a lot of critical stuff to say about the writing.

Anyway, you have been warned and here is my story about my personal first Atla experience: I watched the show this year for the first time, and after the end of Book 1 I decided to look up spoilers, because after what happened to Yue, I wanted to make sure that Zuko and Iroh would be ok. So I knew what was going to happen: Kat*ang endgame and absolutely no Zutara at all. Still, by the end of Book 3, I was convinced that I had read wrong - that there would be an epilogue with a different ending or at least that Aang would only get together with Katara post-show- in that Korra series or something - because anything else wouldn’t make sense- right?

….

After I got over my shock and surprise, I went online and found out about that decade-long aggressive passionate ship war and how even the showrunners got involved.

And then I really worried that I might have missed a few points. Apparently ”Aang and Katara were the DNA of the show”, according to the creators themselves, and “Zutara could never have happened”.

Another popular anti-ZK argument I found was: Why do you always go on about Katara and Zuko? Just look at Zuko and Aang! They are the hero/ anti-hero and each other’s foils, their relationship is much more meaningful!”

So I tried to find out what it was that I apparently couldn’t see.

(Another disclaimer: I love analysing stories (like many Zutarians apparently) and this will get long and rambly. If you get bored to tears when people start talking about “narrative structure” you will probably not like this.)

Talking about narrative structure, I do believe that, in order to let your story, your characters and their relationships really shine, a good basic structure is important. There should be a recognizable development and individual parts of the story that build upon each other and lead to consequences and change, until there is a completed arc - because it is all about the journey that takes you to a satisfying ending, right? So that’s what I tried to do, with my personal Kat*ang vs. Zutara take, I tried to look at the structure and development of their relationship arcs.

The argument that threw me off track for a while is that compared to Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Katara’s relationship is not supposed to be that relevant for the plot. After all, Zuko is the foil, the anti-hero, the deuteragonist to Aang, who is the hero protagonist.

This is all true of course. But then why is it that in every finale, Zuko’s main opponent (and later ally) is not Aang but Katara? Why is it that their sun/moon, red/blue, fire/water dichotomy is so obviously highlighted?

I think one reason why Zuko and Katara are paired off so frequently in the story - as opposite elements, as opponents and as allies - is that they BOTH are Aang’s deuteragonists. While Zuko also acts as antagonist and Aang’s foil/mirror, Katara takes over the more traditional deuteragonist role of confidant / best friend/ narrator.

Protagonist Aang is what connects them, although they are on opposite sides: Both need Aang because he represents their hope to save their world. Very simply put, Katara protects him, so he can make the world a safer place again, and Zuko wants to capture him, so he can go home and be safe again. That rivalry between them is already established in the first episode, even before they meet each other: Katara, who hopes that the Avatar will return (as she tells everyone in the intro), and Zuko, who seems to be obsessed with finding him for more sinister reasons.

And just to make sure, I am not talking here about the characters’ feelings and emotions! This is just about the abstract roles they have been assigned within the narrative.

When regarding Zutara’s special connection to Aang and their rivalry with each other, it makes absolute sense to stress their “same but different”ness as well, visually and metaphorically: Red and blue, fire and water, sun and moon, arguably Painted Lady/Blue Spirit, and, when you put into account their story arc, also Oma and Shu.

With this basis, which puts them together and sets them apart simultaneously, their relationship already becomes very dynamic and interesting, even before you consider any romantic potential.

And here’s another thing, Zuko and Katara also have their own story arc within the main plot. Although they don’t have many scenes together before Zuko joins the Gaang, when they do meet there is always a new shift in their relationship and in quite a few cases their interactions are important for the main plot as well. If you just look at their “end fights” at each book’s finale, there is an obvious and consequential build-up, like any decent story arc should have:

Book 1 starts with Zuko as the powered-up enemy and Katara as the weak newbie waterbender. Both are battling over Aang. At the end of Book 1, they are finally established as equally powerful fighters but still fundamentally different (You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun!)

In CoD at the end of Book 2 happens the next step: they realize that they are not different at all! But Aang still doesn’t represent the same for them and they end up on opposing sides of the war again.

In the Book 3 finale, when Zuko has completed his own (anti-) hero's journey and Aang represents the same “hope” for both of them, they do not only join forces: Their “same but different”- traits make them such a uniquely suited match that they are even able to save each other’s lives during their fight with Azula (who in turn happens to be Katara and Zuko’s antagonist/mirror/foil).

And in addition to their own story arc they even get an individual recurring theme, which also appears in every book whenever their relationship status changes: The lost mothers, especially Katara’s mother.

In Book 1, Katara’s necklace (the symbol of Kiya) plays not only a major part in two of Zuko’s capture attempts, it is the reason for their very first one-one one encounter in the story.

Their first friendly connection in COD in Book 2 happens because they start talking about their mothers. And in Book 3, their final reconciliation (sealed with a very cathartic hug) happens after their life-changing trip which is, of course, all about Katara’s mother.

Again, I am not even trying to analyse their characters and motivations within the story - there are many metas that have already done that much better, more detailed and with screenshots. This is just dry structure and tropes and themes. But I think people recognize and connect with a well-structured arc, even subconsciously, which is one of the reasons that makes Zutara such a compelling couple. They complete and contrast each other, their relationship dynamic constantly changes, builds up, falls apart, reconnects. Such a setup is the perfect playground for a lot of creative takes on what-ifs and alternative scenarios and of course, shipping them romantically is extremely tempting - think of all the possibilities! It’s no wonder that the Zutara fandom is still so active decades after the end of the show. And it’s also no wonder that the Zutarians are known for “over-analysing everything”. You can only over-analyse if there is anything that gives you enough food to analyse to begin with. Which brings me to

KAT*ANG

I just go right to the top and take the quote from Br*yke themselves:

Kata*ng was in the DNA of the thing from the start…. [Zutara] was just dark and intriguing.

If you read this quote and then start watching the show, I would (grudgingly) agree that:

Aang and Katara understand and complement each other really well. Aang gives her the chance to have fun and go on adventures and in turn, Katara is his fiercest supporter from the very beginning, something that he really needs after he lost all his people AND has to find out that the world thinks the war is sort of his fault. In turn, the journey to the North Pole is as important to Katara as it is to Aang, because it is her dream to learn waterbending properly. That’s what she literally says when Sokka & Co try to banish Aang: (Sokka: Where do you think you’re going? Katara: To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole.) In that way, they are friends who give and take equally and are equally taken care of. They even have the last Airbender/ last Southern Waterbender status that connects them. The few times they have a fight, Aang does something in the end to redeem himself (perform some heroic feat) and Katara sees that she is right to believe in him.

Aang has this very sweet crush on her and it will be very sweet and wholesome when Katara will return his feelings at the end of their adventure after he has hit puberty. On the other side, there is also some heavy shipbaiting with Zuko: I save you from the pirates. The betrothal necklace. June and her excellent shipping taste. But in the end they are enemies, they barely know each other and, come on, it would be too dark and intriguing! There is no real threat against friends to lovers Kat*ang, the soft heart of the story. It’s very straightforward and there are a lot of simple “the hero saves the day” scenes for Aang but that’s fine! It’s not really my kind of ship but that’s not the point, it works for the story they want to tell.

End of Book 1.

In my - probably harsh- opinion, everything you really need to know about the Kat*ang relationship has been told by this point. If you want to be really mean, already by Book 1, episode 3.

That explains maybe why many (not all! but many) pro-KA arguments sound as if their shippers have not watched Book 2 and 3 at all. The Book 1 synopsis also perfectly sums up Bry*ke’s quote above. But then Book 2 and 3 are still there and I don’t know what happened but it seems as if they somehow decided that the Kat*ang story does not need any new and lasting input. Maybe because they were afraid that too much new development and change would stray too far away from their original Kat*ang vision. But there are still 2 more books and more adventures and Kat*ang somehow has to be kept apart until the finale.

So the tension in their potential romance is based largely on the question whether or not Katara will return Aang’s feelings. In general I don’t have a problem with that will-she-won’t she-technique. It works well in books where the love interest is not a POV or in shows/ movies where the love interest is not one of the main characters. But Katara is not only the female lead but also arguably the narrative voice of the whole story! As a result, this kind of writing makes Katara look as if she doesn’t have any agency in their relationship, which is not surprisingly a very popular anti-KA criticism.

Additionally, since her dream - learning waterbending - has been fulfilled by the end of Book 1, the relationship work becomes a bit one-sided. Of course Aang is the hero and his journey is the heart of the story. But in order to highlight their special connection it would have helped to give Katara another personal agenda, which Aang could have supported in some way. She is still the last Southern Waterbender and he the Last Airbender but this is not really explored in the Kat*ang relationship. And her other personal agenda, her mother, is already reserved for the Zutara arc.

Instead, in Book 2 and 3 the Kat*ang story is somehow all over the place. Of course there is new conflict and a few romantic scenes as well. But obstacles are either introduced too late or just dropped when not needed anymore, conflict is not resolved and their flirty, romantic moments never lead anywhere- and if they do, they lead to more conflict that is not resolved (yes, I am looking at you, EIP Kiss!).

Take for example Katara’s very sudden argument that they cannot be together now because there is a war going on. We hear her saying that for the first time in the very last episode (EIP) before the 4-part finale. That is too late to have any impact! That she has these kinds of thoughts was never even alluded to before. Not once.

Or the pattern Aang runs away/ is flaky - Katara is upset - Aang comes back and does his hero thing - Katara is relieved. In regards to their relationship arc, nothing changes here between Book 1 and the finale, only the stakes for Aang’s heroic performances get higher.

Or Katara being the one who is able to calm Aang down when he cannot control the Avatar state (which, in my personal opinion, is neither romantic nor healthy). This is also connected to the problem with the seventh Chakra, that Aang needs to let go of his attachment for her. I will be angry forever with how they wasted this for a possible relationship development! That Aang has to decide to either do his duty or save his forever girl (because let’s be fair, he did try to let go and only ran when he had the vision of Katara in danger) - that’s a fantastic setup!

But no, it doesn’t have any real consequences for Kat*ang at all. Instead there were only half-baked attempts – Aang does lie about his failed practice with Guru Pathik but the ultimate reason why his chakra is blocked is Azula, not his decision to run. Aang does try to let go of Katara for a little bit but then Azula shoots him. Nothing in Book 3 shows any change in his feelings that could have been a result of his instant let-it-go. If anything, he gets weirdly obsessive - which could have been used as a side effect of his blocked chakra but – again, no, nothing happens.

I suspect the whole thing was just introduced to create temporary drama for poor Aang, but it is never explained why Katara holds him back, what aspect of the attachment is blocking him or what would happen if he did let her go. Maybe they tried to make a statement about how love is more important than Avatar rules – which would have been fine but it’s also never properly explored. Instead, as soon as that plot point becomes inconvenient it’s simply dropped like a random rock™.

Compare all that to the Zutara arc, where both characters’ feelings about each other are always very much in the open, and where every interaction causes lasting effects in their relationship. Yes, it is unfair to compare that to Kat*ang, because up to the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara almost never meet, while Aang and Katara spend almost every episode together – of course they cannot do meaningful things all the time. But on the other side, with Kat*ang, there would have been a great chance to show a subtle, gradual build-up instead.

It also doesn’t help that the Zutara arc seems hellbent on sabotaging every romantic moment Aang is allowed to enjoy:

There is Kat*angs first maybe-kiss in the dark before the background of the Oma and Shu legend. But it does not lead anywhere. Instead, Zuko and Katara almost reenact the legend itself in the Book 2 finale as two real enemies to almost-friends, including a glowy rocks-backdrop and the right costume colours, just so nobody misses the message.

In Footloose The Headband, Aang and Katara have a really sweet dance together, and everybody can see how they almost intuitively know each other's moves. This could be a great hint on how well they will fight together in the finale. But is it plot-relevant? No, because the final tag team is Katara and Zuko! While Aang gets paired off with random rock™.

Then there is Aang’s riding off to battle- kiss in DotBS, which Katara is not even allowed to enjoy, because keeping her feelings vague is apparently more important than character development at this point. It is the only romantic moment that gets mentioned again, but in a way that sinks the former cute and wholesome ship into the deep ocean, and the reason is - Aang is jealous of Zuko!

If all of this was only done for the sake of shipbaiting, then it really went out of control at some point.

In the end, the showrunners still had their reasons to choose Kat*ang, maybe because that corresponded more to their own vision, and there are still enough people out there who agree with them. Which is absolutely fine! In the end, what matters most is how you personally connect to the characters and nobody needs to defend their personal taste. But the typical anti-ZK claim, that all the Zutarians with their crazy analysis and rambling meta essays are reaching and delusional and that they desperately try to construct something that isn’t there, is not only a very lazy argument but simply not true.

And I’d claim that in spite of the canon choice, Zutara is technically the better written relationship. By far.

[synesindri]

Survey Writing Guide: Fandom Edition

Sooo! People are collecting survey data on fandom! Makes sense — fandom is an interesting population to study, and getting data on attitudes/behaviors/etc is a great way to try to find out the truth about popular points of contention about media. To get unbiased, meaningful data, though, you’ll want to make sure your survey is in good shape. This is a guide to try to help you do that.

I am assuming, if you are reading this, that you want your survey to be unbiased and interpretable, sampling from as many viewpoints as possible and getting data on opinions you might agree and disagree with. In other words, I am assuming that you want to do your fandom research in good faith. If that is not why you are making a fandom survey, then you can ignore this whole post. I would ask you to reconsider running a bad-faith fandom survey, but I can’t stop you. But just know that my assumption is that you’re out here in the honest pursuit of truth.

I’m not accusing a survey of being done in bad faith if it doesn’t follow my suggestions. I also realize most people are conducting these surveys in their spare time because they’re passionate & curious, not for the purpose of serious publication or whatever. I’m not telling you that you have to follow all or even any of the advice here. Do what you feel good about doing. Fandom should be fun! 

This guide is only about surveys themselves, and will not help you get a good sample of your fandom. In other words, none of this advice will make sure your survey reaches obscure corners of your fandom, insular communities you aren’t in, or casual fans. A good survey is important, but it’s only one part of getting accurate data, and participation recruitment is a whole other thing. 

This is also only intended to help with survey setup, not analysis or results reporting. You can write a great, unbiased, easy to understand survey, and still present your results in a way that is biased/doesn’t include good information/is hard to understand. Furthermore, once your results are public, they’re out of your hands: you might be well-meaning, but please keep in mind that some people might use your data to make unfair or incorrect assumptions about others, support biased arguments, or generally behave unpleasantly. That’s just part of survey work; don’t let it stop you, but don’t be surprised if/when it happens.

Now, onto the survey tips ~

Think about how to structure your questions

Use multiple choice answers/avoid free response answers as much as possible. This is going to be really helpful for you when it’s time to analyze your data: it’s so much easier to analyze responses that are just clicks of a box than responses that require you to read someone’s long explanation of an opinion and try to figure out what they mean. It also makes answering easier on your participants: clicking a box is a lot easier for them than writing out what they think. Giving an option for them to expand on their answer in a free response text box is great, but try to capture as many possible responses as you can in multiple choice questions.

Consider: should participants be able to give more than one response per question? A good rule of thumb for this is if different responses to a question are mutually exclusive or not: if they are mutually exclusive, only give people the option of clicking one box; if they’re not, let them choose as many as they want. For example, if you want to know somebody’s ONE favorite season of a show, only let them choose one season. If you want to know ALL the seasons they like, give them the option to choose multiple.

Only include one question per question 

A LOT of surveys ask questions that are actually several questions in one, and that makes answering them difficult! For example, you might THINK you’re only asking one thing if you say “Are you introverted or shy?” as a yes/no question, but that is actually two questions: some people are introverted but not shy; some people are shy but not introverted; some people are both introverted and shy, and some people are neither. People who respond “yes” might mean they are one or the other or both, and people who respond “no” might mean they are one or the other or neither — and you’ll have no way of knowing, because your question was too ambiguous.

If you’re asking a question about a nuanced topic, make sure your question and possible responses are nuanced too

People in fandom have a lot of complex views, and giving them only a black-and-white way to tell you about those views means you will miss out on nuance and get inaccurate results. If you are wondering about opinions on a controversial pairing, asking “Do you think it’s okay to ship Reylo?” (for example) and only letting people respond yes or no is not going to capture the range of opinions that exist on Reylo. If you can include multiple answer boxes for people to click, do that! 

Analyzing free response data (where people can write their own answer) is hard on you, as the survey writer, and people might not feel like explaining their opinions. Definitely include a free response box if you want, but also provide a lot of options for responses. 

The more controversial the topic you’re asking about, the more nuance you should let your participants give in their responses. People in fandom often have very strong and very complex opinions about certain issues; you’ll want to make sure not to flatten those opinions too much, while still keeping them simple enough to analyze. Asking “do you enjoy reading fluff?” is (probably) not going to be too complicated, and you’ll likely be fine giving people 2-3 response options (yes/always, sometimes, no/never). But you should give a lot more response options if you’re asking “is it ever acceptable to ship two siblings together?”: some people will be fine with “yes, always” or “no, never,” but a LOT of people are going to want to specify conditions like “only if they are not blood relatives” or “only if it is framed as being bad” or “it’s acceptable sometimes but I personally avoid it,” etc. Make sure people without clear-cut opinions have the ability to give you their opinions too.

Use simple, clear language

Use language that is as simple and precise as possible. Keep questions short when you can. Avoid using a lot of slang and regional idioms: people come from all over the place in fandom, and might not know what you mean. People also have a lot of different reading levels: you want to make sure most of your participants can understand what you’re asking them. 

There are some terms you can assume everyone in your sample will know, and some that you can’t: it’s up to you to figure out which terms are which. For example, most people in tumblr fandom space will understand what a ship is. They might not know what “IC” means though, so you might need to write it out as “in character.” Further, pretty much everyone in the MCU fandom might know what “Stucky” is, but not as many will know what “Coulwhip” is. You can make these kinds of technical terms easier for people to understand by just writing out all abbreviations and writing all pairings in the Name/Name format.

Use neutral language and keep your personal opinions out of it

Avoid inserting your own opinions into your survey, even if you expect that almost everyone participating will agree with you. Even “obvious” jokes won’t read as jokes to everyone; you might upset/offend/put off some group of participants disproportionately such that they won’t complete the survey, and you’ll miss a chunk of data you want. This is a problem, because say, for example, you really want to know if people’s favorite Supernatural ship has any correlation to fans’ personality traits — but if you poked fun at Dean somewhere else in your survey in a way that made Dean fans click off the page, then you’re going to lose a lot of Dean fan data that it would have been really useful for you to have, since Dean is a very popular character to ship with a lot of other characters. 

A good-faith survey is also not the place to moralize. Fandom can be a very polarized place; you are not going to be able to predict which things you ask about are going to be morally objectionable to your participants, and if they’re going to agree with your moral judgments. Your results might surprise you! A survey where you hope to get accurate data is not the place to defend a problematic character you like or to call some group of shippers gross. Your best bet for not causing issues is to include stuff that’s controversial and to be as neutral about it as possible — for example, if you are asking about ships people like, include every reasonably popular ship (potentially excluding rarepairs/extreme rarepairs just because it’s hard to include all of those), even the ones you hate/think are harmful/whatever, and don’t comment on the goodness or badness of any of them. 

Avoid “leading” questions to avoid bias

If you say, “Do you love this awesome TV show?” that’s going to be awkward to respond to for everyone whose answer is anything other than “yes.” Something like “What is your opinion of this TV show?” (with responses like: I love it, I like it, I have mixed feelings about it, I am neutral toward it, I dislike it, and I hate it) will give you a better sense of people’s genuine thoughts.

Select your multiple choice options thoughtfully

Be as egalitarian as possible in the options you provide to your fandom-specific questions that aren’t free response. If you leave out a major character on a list of favorite characters, for example, your participants are going to wonder why you did that — and you might not get data about that character, especially if you don’t include a free response option. 

Avoid bias in your multiple choice answer options

If you ask people for their favorite and least favorite [something], make sure the list of [something] options for both of those questions is identical. For example, if you’re asking about people’s most liked and most disliked ships, make sure the list of ships you include for both questions is the same. Including Sylvie/Loki only on the “ship you most dislike” but not the “ship you most like” list might seem like a reasonable move to you if you don’t know anybody who (openly) likes Sylvie/Loki, but doing that will bias responses and make your data inaccurate. Some people will stop filling out the survey, some people who like Sylkie just won’t want to bother filling in the blank, some people might forget that they like Sylkie unless it’s right in front of their eyes as one of the response options, some people will feel judged and so they won’t answer your survey honestly, etc. 

Follow common best practices advice for demographic information

Collecting information on respondents’ ages, genders, race/ethnicity, employment status, education history, etc is, luckily, very common, so there are a lot of standard questions about those things. I’ll just go ahead and list what I sometimes collect in my own surveys:

Age: for anonymous fandom surveys, I suggest using age groups (under 13, 13-18, 19-25, 26-35, etc) instead of asking people for their precise ages. Just make sure to include all possible age brackets. For example, don’t assume everyone in fandom is under 50.

Gender: unless you want a lot of nuance in your responses, it’s typically enough to include a list like: man/boy or male, woman/girl or female, nonbinary, genderfluid or bigender, and other. If you are interested in trans people specifically, I suggest asking that in a separate question (like: “Do you identify as transgender?”), rather than including binary trans identities in addition to binary cis identities in the same question. The exception to this is if you are including a very long list of gender options.

Race/ethnicity: (disclaimer that most of the data I collect comes from the US, so my best practices are most suited to that population. I welcome any feedback about the best way to ask about this for an international and/or non-US population.) I typically ask something like: “Which category best describes you?” and then give the options: American Indian or Native Alaskan, Asian, Black, Hispanic or Latinx, Middle Eastern or North African, Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian, White, and other. Ideally, this list should allow multiple responses, so that multiracial/multiethnic people can give accurate reports.

Employment status: “What is your employment status?” with responses: employed full time, employed part-time, unemployed and looking for work, unemployed and not looking for work, self-employed, homemaker, student, and retired. If possible, let this be multiple choice, so that, for example, people who are students AND work can select both applicable options.

Education level: “What is your highest level of education?” with responses: some high school, high school diploma or equivalent, some college, college degree, some graduate education, Master’s degree, Doctorate degree, professional degree (e.g. M.D., J.D., M.Div, etc) 

Sexual orientation: like with gender, you probably don’t need to provide a long, comprehensive list unless your survey is about sexual orientation specifically. Something like the following is probably enough to cover most of your respondents: “What is your sexual orientation?” with responses: straight/heterosexual, gay/lesbian/homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, and other. 

Other questions: just try to make sure you are providing response options that will cover the majority of your participants, and include an “other” option if you’re not sure you’ve covered everything. There are a fair number of basic best practices documents for common demographics questions that you can find through Google, so if you’re not sure how to ask something, give it a quick search. You can also ask people you know who might know more about some specific demographic quality than you do to weigh in!

That’s it for now! I hope you find this helpful, either in writing your own surveys, or in evaluating surveys you are participating in!

[jennana501]

A Case for Rexsoka

I’ve been around the block when it comes to ships. I’ve seen people obsess over them, and I too have been driven mad by obsession. I was a hardcore original avatar fan and I was OBSESSED with shipping Toph and Sokka together. Any time they so much as made an interaction I over analyzed it and picked it apart looking for clues that somehow would prove that my hunches were correct. It was because I related with both characters, and I loved their chemistry. I wanted them to have a romantic relationship because it would feel like some sort of personal validation.

I’m an adult now and nothing has changed. But it has been a while since I’ve desperately shipped two characters together that are not obviously romantically involved with one another, or who could be romantic behind the scenes or beyond the story shown.

Until Rex and Ahsoka.

And I’ve seen people be adamantly against it. 

“No no no it’s just a brother/sister relationship.” 

“No it’s gross she is a child”.

And of course being disagreed with on the internet can drive a person crazy, and instead of individually arguing with dozens of people online, I’m making this post once and for all to explain why I think Rex and Ahsoka have romantic feelings for each other. Especially Rex.

The argument I’ve seen, that their deep passion, commitment, love, admiration, and respect for one another (which are all so obvious you’d have to be...silly to not see it) are felt in a platonic fashion. Which, for the first 6 seasons and 8 episodes, I would totally agree.

But then Ahsoka comes back. And let’s face it. She is a woman. Age wise, she’s around 17, but everything from the maturity of her Lekku (which weirdly don’t get all that longer, especially compared to other Tagrutan women) to her poise and confidence, to her prowess as a warrior, a user of the force, and her ability to command soldiers as well as control her emotions points to her being an adult woman. She’s no Snips anymore; she’s no child. She’s grown up. And how her peers react to her illustrates how they now view her as an adult.

First there is Obi-wan. Obi-wan has always been a mentor to her, a sort of second Master. Obi-wan never hesitated to guide and Ahsoka or offer his council. He is proud of her when she succeeds, and will admonish her when she makes mistakes. When she returns and he sees her as a woman, he changes the way he treats her. He acknowledges her maturity by addressing her as an equal. He doesn’t admonish her. Instead he discusses with her, challenging her ideas and letting her offer an argument for them instead of putting them down and telling her how she should think or act. He also comes to her in his time of need, trusting her to help him with Anakin.

Then there is Anakin. We all know of Anisoka shippers, and they are perfectly able to ship and enjoy said ship, but we can all acknowledge that it is a crack pairing with no basis in the canon. Anakin portrays the perfect kind of brotherly love. He is excited to see Ahsoka, and is stunned by her unexpected reappearance. Things are harder for Anakin because he is used to their fun banter and sibling-like companionship. He’s constantly shut down with her business like manner and he struggles with coming to terms with the fact that she isn’t a little kid sister anymore. She is an adult with a mission and a plan. When he looks at her, he is endearing. He loves her. Admires her. And he can’t wait to pick up where they left off. There’s joy and adoration in his face. He is proud of her and what she has become, but he also feels alienated and even hurt because of how her adulthood has changed their dynamic.

Then there is Rex. When he first sees her, he wants nothing more than to reassure her that she still belongs. The clones had accepted her into their family. As far as they were concerned, she was one of them. When he looks at her for the first time, he’s beaming with the same adoration as he had had for her before, but also with a solemn awe at what she has become and what she has grown into. He welcomes her back into his life without hesitation.

But then there is a moment things shift so drastically that I paused the show and re-watched it half a dozen times. We all know it and love it. This face he gives Ahsoka. The Look.

What we see here is something we have never, EVER seen in Rex for 7 whole seasons. And it is my opinion that this is the first time Rex has been able to feel and express that he is attracted to Ahsoka. In other words, Rex has a sexual awakening.

Up until this point, Rex has been a sexless character. Nothing he does is flirtatious, sexy, or at all suggestive that he has those feelings inside him at all. Every sexual being has a moment where they are first animalistically drawn to another being. Characters who have already had this moment are easy to pick out. Obi wan. Anakin. Ventress. These characters have already experienced their sexual awakening. Ahsoka has too. Lux was her first object of attraction.

But Rex has never had this moment. Until this reaction.

I know some of you might be thinking “but Ahsoka gives a very similar look to Anakin, does that mean she is sexually attracted to HIM?” It’s a very good point. Ahsoka and Anakin share some cheeky playful looks during “Old Friends Not Forgotten”. We see many characters give similar looks to other characters, but does this mean it means the same thing as when Rex does it? The short answer is no.

When animators design a character, they establish the “range of emotion” for that character. You can easily see this when you look back at how many times you see Rex break from his stoic, captain’s face. He rarely laughs, smiles, or emotes in any way. This is why when we see him emote it is exciting to us as an audience. A character like Ahsoka or Anakin commonly show a wide variety of expressions. Ahsoka is much more likely to give a cheeky look than Rex is. So “the look” for Rex, means a lot more when he is doing than it does when another character does it, say Fives or even Obi-Wan.

Which means the writers are trying to tell us something about this moment. 

This moment has changed Rex’s and Ahsoka’s relationship. 

Now does this mean that they are going to go bang each other immediately? Does this mean the second they are alone after “Victory and Death” they start an intense, sexual relationship? Of course not. That’s not what this ship is about at this time. But the reason many of us ship it is because suddenly they don’t feel like brother and sister anymore. It isn’t entirely platonic. And the show does a good job to further emphasize this as they come closer and closer both emotionally, and physically during the finale.

Blocking is a huge factor in visual storytelling. During the finale, Rex and Ahsoka are blocked in a way that makes them as close as physically possible on the screen. This communicates to the audience that they are closer now than they have ever been. As Jedi and Clone Trooper. As friends, and as companions, their bond forged in the fires of war, struggling to find meaning in life as soldiers.

In contrast, look how Ahsoka and Anakin are blocked in their scenes. There is nearly always a gap between them, illustrating that they are distanced from each other emotionally. Rex is even visually inserted into the gap between them in several instances. Anakin and Ahsoka are growing apart, but she and Rex are growing closer.

We get to experience Rex and Ahsoka engaging in actions and conversations that we had rarely seen before. From casual banter, to moments of intense intimacy, to emotional peaks, Rex and Ahsoka interact more in these four episodes than in the previous six seasons. Part of this is because their maturity gap has closed. Ahsoka is finally Rex’s equal in experience and maturity. It is also in part because it is a unique dynamic. No Obi-wan. No Anakin. Rex and Ahsoka are equal leaders of the 332nd. There’s also the fact that they are put into life threatening situations and have no one else but each other.

But there is that “look” that is given at the beginning of all this that suggests something else, that as their bond undoubtedly becomes strong as beskar, there is an element of it that takes their relationship from the platonic to the romantic.

I feel every detail, moment, and piece of dialogue in the finale tells the story of this bond. 

Many instances of their strong emotional bond have been spread throughout the internet, with most ready to acknowledge that they have a connection unlike any other, one that may even be described as a “force” connection. These last four episodes are so exciting because we see two friends reunited, but then we get to watch as their relationship transforms.

Even disregarding their implied attraction to each other physically, they dive into each other and hold on tight. Ahsoka shares deep personal worries with Rex, and Rex and her are shown opening up to each other in ways they have never opened up before.

We were all floored and dumbfounded at scenes such as these that show these characters at their most vulnerable. But they decide to be vulnerable together. Is it because they are all that is left of their 501st family? It part, this is definitely true. But by being this vulnerable they transform their relationship into something very different from what they had before. It will never be the same again, and it will be near impossible to back out of the emotional intimacy that these two have participated in. Once you have formed that kind of an attachment with someone, there is no going back, and as is seen in rebels, these two maintain that strong connection even after years of being apart.

This goes beyond their sexual desires or needs. They’ve forged a bond that cannot be broken. They have shared minds, shared pain and agony that only the other can understand. They’ve been isolated from the world, and all they have left is each other.

And at the end of the series, when we have Rex and Ahsoka broken, their world flip upside down and everything they ever valued or cared about lies in ruins before them, the idea that they still have each other is that beautiful seed of hope Star Wars is so good at preserving. Those of us who believe that their relationship could be romantic want good things for Rex and Ahsoka. We want them to have that love and share it with each other. Maybe only for a few moments, but having known it would be better than both of them living and dying without having that experience. 

When we see the two in Rebels, for me it confirms that these two love each other deeply. But their lives can never be lived in a normal fashion. They cannot even be together as partners in life. The Empire has stolen this from them. The tragedy of this ship is that it can never be the way we want it to be. Rex will age and die long before Ahsoka is even halfway through her own life. They cannot live with one another. They cannot wake each morning with each other, at least not at the point we see them in rebels. 

But they continue to love each other. Even over distance, even knowing that mortality will claim them with only a fraction of the memories that they deserve with one another. 

So please, the next time you see some art or a fic, or a post like this, think of what I had to say. Rexsoka is about two adults, their lives destroyed at the hands of Sidious, but in defiance they still forge a bond that he could never break or take from them. And that to me is beautiful and something to celebrate.

Side note: I spent a ton of time making gifs but they never would work and so I had to use screenshots instead :(

EDIT: At the request of the OG poster of a few gifs, I have replaced them have also made some grammatical changes. 

[jaegersol]

@black--sun​ asked: Hmmm do ichi

Send me a character and I'll tell you

snrrk so predictable ash! But yis, i would love to do Ichi bc I think he deserves a lot of love.

My NOTP for the: I have a lot of NOTPs for Ichi but lmao, they’re all super rarepairs i think? UlquiIchi would be the really big one that I just really do not like. I like exploring trauma and toxic relationships and growth but this is one that i simply cant fathom. Others would be like. Ichigo with MOST shinigami. Idk, there’s just somethign skeeze about that for me and it has everything to do with asking a boy to go to war for you and then abandoning him when he needed help.

My BROTP for them: RenIchi or ChadIchi or IchiRuki or KeigoIchi or TatsuIchi they are BROS doing BRO THINGS. Ichi deserves to have some hella strong friendships, people who have his back no matter what. But more importantly i think he deserves to have relationships that exist outside of all the war and fighting. Keigo, Chad, and Tatsuki especially have had his back from the outset, even thought only one of them could follow him to the battlefield. Need i remind u tho about that one time Keigo tried to kill Aizen with a stolen sword? Bc if anyone ever doubted WHY keigo and ichigo are friends its bc keigo has balls of fucking steel and he is RIDE OR DIE. Ichigo having friends that he can play game with and talk to about books and movies and fashion and gossip and go to weird parties (collage or otherwise) together is encouraged in this house and if they wanna fuck as well then good for them

My OTP for the: Lmao this one is not surprising considering how big a GrimmIchi shipper I am. its about the DRAMA! The VIOLENCE! the confusion between passion lust and hunger its TOO GOOD

My second choice pairing for the: Only ship that comes anywhere close to grimmichi for me is ShiroIchi and thats all about the self love and its a different flavour than grimmichi. the dynamic can never be replicated tho there is overlap.

My fluffy pairing for them: ehehehehhehehehe grimmichi can be fluffy sometimes, it can even be fluffy when theres blood involved. Hmmm but if i offered a different one........ I cannot.

My angsty pairing for them: O grimmichi again. obviously. I like the angst. I like to make them hurt. I like it when they cry. But i actually can offer more options here bc i love angst so much. ShiroIchi got some great angst always. AiIchi if you want something very toxic 👀. Not so much on the romantic side of things, but UraIchi does have some really good angst. The guilt. The repair of a relationship that could have been ruined from the outset.  Other angst i always enjoy are the onesided relationships. IchiHime can fit here for me (usually with GrimmIchi)

My favorite poly ship for them: I love polyships. I love them so much. Grimmshiroichi is def my go too but I also like grimmichihime and grimmichiruki as odd as those relationships might be on the surface.

My weirdest pairing for them: .............. tbh idk really? I think ichigo has a lot of love to give, if he wanted to. I think, though, that he also ummm doesn’t really notice people love him back unless bludgeoned over the head with it. This makes for some really out there ships given the right set of circumstances but it also requires a certain personality type to um. bludgeon him. Moth got me onto NnoiIchi which im really only onto for the fucking and no hope for the romance but lmao. its like grimmichi but with less morals. 

[letteredlettered]

Hello! You already told us what you think about Ron, but what are your thoughts on Ginny Weasley? Pretty controversial figure in drarry fandom, yet you have a fanfic about her

That's one of the fics I'm prouder of! You can read it here.

This got long, so here you go:

When I first started reading HP I loved Ginny and wanted her to hook up with Harry. I really identify with youngest-girl-lots-of-brothers, so I could see the attention she wanted and the way Ron dismissed her was familiar to me. In the second book, I was a bit disappointed that she ended up mostly being a victim, but after I processed it I was happy she would have to face the darkness of being used in such a way. Ginny murdered chickens and wrote on walls in blood and was responsible for kids getting petrified; even if she was being possessed, she can remember her hands doing those things. I assumed at some point Harry would have to face a darkness within himself, and I felt like CoS positioned Ginny to understand and identify with him in a way others--who had not been possessed--could not.

Ginny wasn't a big feature in PoA or GoF, which was disappointing In OotP, I was disappointed at first that Ginny seemed to be growing up without much "screen-time", as it were, and seemed to have her own interest in guys other than Harry. I was a shipper! I'm ashamed! Once I had time to process, again, I realized I far preferred a Ginny who had moved on from Harry and could be her own person. That way, they could be more like equals when they eventually got together.

In HBP, I really rooted for her going her own way--but also began to feel pretty confused. I didn't understand how she could be Harry's love interest with so little attention paid to her. And then the romance did start, and it felt--completely out of the blue for me? Especially when it happened right after a very powerful scene in which Harry almost made someone bleed to death, and especially when it seemed to have more to do with Quidditch and Dean Thomas than Ginny herself. And then Ginny was barely in DH, which made me wonder why the romance even existed in the first place.

I think a big part of the problem for me is the love interests I enjoy in fiction share goals and are an important and equal part of both the characters' lives. Harry going camping to fight Voldemort while Ginny stays at Hogwarts feels a little to me like the fantasy of the wife you come home to, the one who waits. By DH, Ginny shouldn't join in the adventure; she has no place there. Furthermore, we all hope that Harry gets to move on and have a life after Hogwarts; Ginny can become central to him then in a way she wasn't earlier in life. People you end up with don't have to be the people who were the centers of our young lives--and in most cases, they probably shouldn't be!

But it doesn't make for a good story, and frankly, I have difficulty identifying with it. I have trouble understanding couples who seem to live in separate worlds. I don't mean that a person can't have their own friends and interests; having some aspects of your life that don't belong to your partner is good and healthy. But Harry starting a romance with Ginny when Ginny is never involved in anything he does is as weird to me as if I were to have a relationship with someone and never ever share my fandoms with them. That's just the way I am.

I do think this is a classic problem in Hero's Journey stories, in that the most important person to the hero is the villain they're trying to defeat. See Star Wars. Luke's most important relationship is with Vader, which is why it makes sense to discard Leia as his love interest by writing her as his sister. Aang's most important relationship is with Zuko and then Ozai, which is one reason Katara/Aang falls flat. I think a lot of this has to do with the propensity for creators (generally male) to make both the central hero and the central villain male, and an unwillingness to really tackle the homoeroticism inherent in the central relationships. The narratives I can think of with central female protagonists, like Buffy, are give male counterparts who function as both villains and love interests.

I'm making some sweeping statements here; it's not true for all heroes journey stories, but I think it's why you see Hermione and Ron paired off. Harry's central relationship is Voldemort, and if you scale that down, you can make Draco Harry's central relationship, because Draco is a pawn of Voldemort. Now, I have argued quite stridently that Draco is only peripheral to Harry's life, and I stand by that statement most fervently--but that is according to Harry. According to the structure of the narrative, you can replace Voldemort with Draco under and umbrella of "evil/Death Eater/foe." By doing so, you can deal with issues that are very central to Harry's story.

As for Ginny herself, in the end, she suffers from the exact same problem as Ron, and so many other characters in HP. In other words, the set-up is there, but the execution is not. Ginny is the youngest of seven in a loving, magical family. In that way, she is a perfect counterpoint to the loneliness and negligence and Muggleness Harry experiences growing up. Yet, in such a large family, Ginny has to understand what it feels like to be overlooked and ignored--in that way, she's in a perfect position to understand and identify with some of Harry's isolation.

Ginny is the only other person in the book besides Harry to be possessed by Voldemort. (The only classmate to come close to having a similar experience is Draco, and his mind and body are not possessed at all, not like Ginny's or Harry's.) As such, she's also perfectly positioned to identify with a lot of Harry's trauma. She's also perfectly positioned to hate Voldemort with a very personal passion that's different from Ron or Hermione--Voldemort befriended her in the journal, and then violated her; it's very different than hating Voldemort on principle.

But in the end these aspects of Ginny just aren't utilized. We never see what she suffers in CoS really resonate. We never really learn the effect her family has on her, or even really who she is, other than that she is sporty, tough, and pretty. It's difficult to dislike Ginny Weasley, because the way she's written does her such a disservice, and she could have been such a brilliant character. She's just a lot of wasted potential, in my opinion, but those last two books certainly killed my whole Harry/Ginny shipper heart.

[manikas-whims]

for quick headcanons: soc ships proposals

these are simply my take, you don't have to agree. and if you wanna add something, reblog and do add your own spin :3

⚠ Warning ⚠ Long Post.

WESPER

• Since their anniversary as an official couple is coming up soon, Wylan decides to propose.

• But he realizes planning isn't exactly his best forte and seeks help from none other than Ketterdam's best schemer Dirtyhands himself.

• Kaz is flattered but even he is weak when it comes to the matter of hearts. He still agrees though, provided Wylan invests a bit in his newly brought club around the Lid. Wylan agrees.

• So Kaz simply asks Wylan to bring Jesper with him to the Fifth Harbour on the day of the event. Wylan is suspicious but he agrees in the end.

• Wylan manages to keep Jesper busy by portraying as a model for Marya's next painting, just so he can go out and pick a ring.

• When the day arrives, Wylan asks Jesper to meet him at the Fifth Harbour by 6 bells.

• Jesper being bad at dates doesn't remember if its because of some special occasion. So he decides to keep it safe and buys a bottle of expensive alcohol.

• When Wylan and Jesper arrive on time, they're both too shocked to speak, their mouths wide open.

• Kaz being Kaz has got the whole harbour decorated in traditional Kerch and Zemeni colors for the duo. There's fairy lights hanging all over, varying cuisines that Jesper has never seen in his life before and a band hired to play throughout the night.

• As they walk in, they spot Nina speaking with Colm Fahey who got invited earlier on by Kaz and Inej gave the man a lift on her Wraith as she herself didn't want to miss two of her favorite people's proposal.

• Jesper is slightly worried because of his father's presence, even more worried because he believes today's supposed to be some big event that only he can't seem to remember.

• Matthias is standing with a Priest and he comes over to congratulate Wylan & Jesper.

• The pair is very confused and so Matthias quirks his brows and tells them: "Brekker said you're getting married."

• The bottle of alcohol in Jesper's hand drops and Wylan is stuttering, unable to form coherent words. He finally yells: "This isn't what I asked Kaz!"

• Kaz finally shows up, Inej at his side. Everyone's staring at him and he shrugs. "What? Too much."

• After a few minutes of yelling and chaos between their squad, the situation is finally calmed down.

• Wylan rummages out the ring from his pocket— a golden band with their initials 'W+J' engraved in it along with intricate patterns. He looks at Jesper. "So amongst all this extravaganza, if I tell you that I want you to adore my stupid face for the rest of our lives, will you?"

• Jesper is wide eyed and has that kinda dubious expression because Wylan has managed to surprise him yet again. So he just tries to collect himself and goes, "Ofc! I already told you I like your stupid face."

• They hug and kiss and everyone cheers. Nina proposes an after-party with waffles.

• Kaz suggests they could still get married cause we know he's secretly the biggest Wesper shipper xD

Thankfully Inej drags him away.

• The actual wedding takes place a month later and yes, Kaz is the wedding planner. Kuwei is that uninvited guest..:)

HELNIK

• Nina keeps joking about wanting Matthias to propose. But she doesn't realise all her meaningless teasing has actually spurred him into action.

• He's secretly making plans and has only told Inej and Wylan about this because he knows Jesper will end up babbling. And Kaz is the last person he wants to take help from.

• He needs a place and proper timing. Inej takes up that task on herself and somehow convinces Kaz to let them use The Crow Club for just one evening.

• Wylan helps Matthias in purchasing a custom ring with a heart-shaped ruby. With his newly acquired mercher title, Wylan’s got connections with the best jewelers in Ketterdam. Marya also tags along cause she believes they'll need a woman's opinion on this.

• So on the day of the event, when Nina is coaxed into wearing the best replica of a Ravkan Kefta and brought into the Crow Club by Inej, she's excited but also wondering whats up.

• Wylan is playing some romantic melody on his flute.

• The whole club is lit by candles and as the members of Dregs part slowly, at the end is Matthias in replica of traditional Fjerdan garbs (another courtesy of Kaz).

• Nina's eyes keep growing wider and she's at a loss of words when Matthias bends on one knee. "Nina Zenik, will you be the beguiling Drusje to this mighty Fjerdan till the end of time?"

• There's tears in her eyes and she looks around everyone. Wylan is smiling, Inej gives a nod, Jesper gives a thumbs up and winks, even Kaz's eyes flash somewhat in approval.

• She looks back to the brave blond soldier she fell for. He must've planned for them to be unified in their own lands' traditional clothes. She smiles, already tearing up. "Saints Matthias, I'm supposed to be the one full of surprises." She messily wipes her eyes and mumbles, "I..will."

• The whole Dregs break into a roar of cheers as Matthias glides the ring on her finger. Marya is clapping her hands in joy.

• Rotty yells from somewhere in the crowd, "KISS HER YOU PODGE!!!" And Matthias tilts his face down. The newly engaged couple share a passionate kiss.

• Their wedding takes place in a Ravkan forest. King Nikolai himself decides to give his blessings (in disguise ofc). Zoya and Genya are there too.

KANEJ

• It will be super vague. Like Kaz and Inej's relationship is built more on silent gazes and fleeting touches. So they've got this unspoken thing going on. They both know they're each-other's but never actually address it.

• Inej has returned from another of her sea adventures and taking a short break in Ketterdam. She's casually sitting by Kaz's window, feeding the crows while he works on his papers.

• He glances at her, mesmerized by the sight of her glowing skin in the evening sun. Her long hair (free for once) sways due to the wind as she peacefully smiles and looks out at the city.

• He just speaks out of nowhere, "Inej?"

She turns her head and looks at him, the smile never leaving her face. "Yes Kaz?"

"Do you want to tie the knot?" he asks.

The smile immediately leaves her face and she frowns, unsure about his words. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

• He puts his pen down, passes a hand through his hair and huffs out a breath.

"I'm saying my dear Wraith," he starts, methodically taking off his gloves and then joins her at the window. He offers his palm and she gladly places her own in it, her eyes somewhat expectant. Kaz quirks his lips slightly and continues, "would you like us to exchange vows and make it official?" He squeezes her palm and gestures between them.

• She's stunned for a moment because between the two of them, its always her initiating any sort of new action— a hug, a kiss,..making love. And it has taken them a good amount of years to reach this level of intimacy without triggering the other’s traumas so its even more shocking that Kaz asks her first. A small part of her had even wanted to propose him some time in the future but now he's clearly beaten her to that.

• "Inej?" Kaz rubs the back of her hand, "if you don't want to—"

"NO! I do!" she says hurriedly before he can take it back and he breaks into that crooked grin of his, fishing out a simple silver band with a single black feather atop it, its end pointy like a knife.

He smoothly slides it onto her finger and they exchange a gleeful smile.

• After a few minutes he goes, "So like..do you want to do this my way or yours?"

And she's confused so he explains. "If its your way, we can have a traditional Suli wedding, whatever your people do and take your parents' blessings."

He adds a dramatic pause later, "If its my way, I'll just ask Specht to put our names on a marriage document and be done with it."

She rolls her eyes.

• In the end, Inej tells the other Crows. Jesper wiggles his brows, teases Kaz but also gives him a big hug. Wylan is surprised but also happy. Matthias is slightly displeased at the holy bronze girl for letting herself be charmed by this notorious demjin. But he does believe that the two belong with no one else and congratulates them.

• Nina takes it upon herself to plan the wedding and decides it should be a Suli one. She wants to see Inej draped in red. But also wants to see Kaz out of his fitting suits for once and in traditional Suli clothes for men.

• Mr. and Mrs. Ghafa find their son-in-law quite odd but give their blessings happily because there's no one else who'll be more suitable for their lovely daughter.

.

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