#WHY DO I ONLY LIKE RAREPAIRS FOR THIS SHOW

[ctommyisnt]

Me when sparknotes

[fountainpenguin]

The fact that there is currently not a single Vicky/Mark ship story on either FFN or AO3 when they are a canon couple for multiple seasons (and Mark had a crush on her for at least 9 seasons) is a CRIME, actually :/

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for leaving an angry comment on a fanfic?

To recognize: 🤢🤮😡🤬👎

So I'm (19F) a fandom where the canon ship is my notp. I find some aspects of the ship abusive and reminds me of my relationship with my ex that I'm seeing a therapist for. No shades for people who like it, but I prefer my ships on the fluffy side. So instead I have another ship for this fandom, which is not canon obviously, and is a rarepair. Finding fanart and fanfic for my OTP is very hard. But that's alright. I make my own art and I'm spreading love for it.

One time I came across a fanfic of my OTP. I was overjoyed. I didn't let my excitement take over, I made sure to read the tags on the fic first, to make sure there's nothing that squicks me but it was all good.

I start reading the fanfic. My boy wants to confess but is shy, okay, a slowburn. I continued reading, reading, reading, no sign of a confession or even a single interaction for my OTP, no problem, it will sure happen later, so I continued reading, reading, reading. Surely the author is saving the fluffiness for the end, right? I have to be patient, fanfic authors are unpaid and don't owe me a thing.

I reached the last paragraph of the fic and not a single interaction yet, no only that, but my NOTP started dating as a result of the MC not taking even a single action, all of sudden. The fic ends like that, the boy is heartbroken because he do it first.

I was livid, my NOTP showed up in a fic that was supposed to be about my OTP. I scrolled up to the tag list again to make sure I didn't miss the ship tag and yes. I was correct. The author thought it was a good idea to hide the ship because spoilers.

So I made a a comment that's basically this: how dare you make me read this with my own eyes? Why did you not tag NOTP also this fic has zero ship content so why did you even bother putting it in the tag. Tag your fic correctly next time at least warn us when there's another ship. Delete your fic from the tags for God's sake.

Apparently this writer was new or something and they apologized but didn't even bother to correct the tags after reading the comment.

I'm probably TA because the comment may have been means but I feel justified because I didn't consent to reading about my notp and I have it blacklisted everywhere and I even skip scenes when I watch it to avoid, but here it was without a warning so it's not a case of don't like don't read.

AITA?

[krenenbaker]

Trick or Treat~!

Pairing: Che'nya x Floyd (could be read platonically or romantically)

Summary: It's finally Halloween night, but Floyd is in a bit of a slump. However, the arrival of a curious companion may just make the Halloween party a bit more interesting for him.

Notes: This is my first attempt at something following a prompt - specifically, "Trick or Treat" for the 2023 TWST Rarepair Halloween event. I'm trying to get more comfortable/practiced with writing prose (which is why this wasn't posted on the 30th... oops), and only vaguely ended up following the prompt. I'm fairly happy with how this little piece turned out, though!

Tags: @dove-da-birb, @azulashengrottospiano, @inkybloom-luv, @eynnwwyjth, @officialdaydreamer00 (please let me know if you'd like to be included or excluded from future writing of mine, or only want to be included in specific types of creations)

Floyd wanted to take a break. 

It was Halloween, and all he had done the entire week was work, work, work. Getting costumes ready, decorating, helping with their dorm's presentation, plus cooking and serving at the Lounge, all on top of normal classes? 

Sure, it was fun, especially getting to show off Octavinelle's cool setup, and 'taking care of' those misbehaving visitors. But now? Everything felt draining and boring, and Floyd simply wanted to leave, which sucked because the actual Halloween party had just started!  

Maybe he should just ditch and go back to his dorm; being in a funk when everyone else is having fun around you is not enjoyable.  He slumped down on a bench and unwrapped a sweet he had picked up earlier, before wrapping it up again. Ugh, not even in the mood for that candy he wanted only a few minutes ago. 

As he shoved the sweet back into his pocket and was about to get up from the bench to leave, Floyd heard a rustle behind him. Someone was quietly humming, and… laughing? The sound gradually moved to his side, towards the empty side of the bench.  

“Trick or treat~”

Floyd turned to face the voice. "Listen, man, I'm not in the mood to—” he froze, staring at the figure beside him. “Hang on a second, where's your body!?"

A toothy smile came to the face of the head that currently floated beside Floyd. "Oh, it's here.... or maybe it's there." A pair of hands materialized on either side of this boy's head, followed by the rest of his body. 

“I'm just kidding. Mind if I take a seat? I’d like to rest up before I keep purrowling around and startling people.”

Floyd blinked, then raised an eyebrow. “Uh, go for it.” 

This guy was... weird, and it was hard to tell if he'd be annoying, or interesting. "You don't go here, do ya? At least, I’ve never seen you before. And you’re no ghost, either.”

The cat-like boy shook his head, his jewellery jingling softly. "I'm just passing through for the festivities and collecting treats. Scaring some people, too. That’s loads of fun. And it's always nice to see my friends let loose." 

Floyd had a vague memory surface. "Ohh... you must be that RSA boy who's friends with Sea Turtle and Goldfishie." 

"'Sea Turtle' and 'Goldfishie', hey? Those are good names for my green and red friends. Cats are known for liking fish." He leaned forward, his grin growing. “Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Floyd nodded, “Floyd Leech. It's nice to meet you, too.” He looked curiously at the boy beside him, taking in his shaggy hair, piercings, and impish smile.

"You're not what I expected.” Floyd smiled, "But you seem fun, Catfish. I didn't think Goldfishie would get along with someone so... interesting."

Che'nya's eyes lit up slightly. "Catfish? Heh heh heh, most people call me Che'nya, but I guess that works. And I’ve heard some… interesting stories about you, too."

He stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back with his arms behind his head as he sighed. "But yeah, I don't think Riddle could shake me if he tried." 

"I'm almost jealous." Floyd tipped his head slightly. "Most of the time, Goldfishie likes to swim away before I can play with him."

Che'nya laughed, "Well, if you're wondering, he 'swam off' that way." He pointed off to the side. “Just don’t be rough with him. I don’t like people mistreating my friends.”

Floyd looked off into the crowd where he had pointed, and let out a small laugh. “Alright, good to know. Maybe I’ll find him later, if I feel like it”, he smiled and sat back. “And Goldfishie’s stronger than he looks, but I guess you’d know that.”

Che’nya nodded, then leaned closer with a mischievous glint in his eye. "You know, I bet we could do something that would really surprise him.” 

Floyd turned slightly towards Che’nya, and flashed a smile. “Yeah, we probably could. I think we should talk more in the future, Catfish. You seem pretty fun.” 

Che’nya grinned, “You seem pretty fun, too.”

"Well,” he stretched his arms above his head. “I think I’m going to go and find some more treats… and play some more tricks tonight. I'll catch you around, Floyd." 

With a haunting giggle echoing in his ears, Floyd watched as the boy beside him faded into nothingness, just the same way he had arrived. 

What a weird guy.

Floyd unwrapped the candy he had pocketed earlier, then popped it into his mouth. Maybe this party was worth staying at after all.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/749218521745145857/while-i-love-some-queergay-whatever

“Kissing on the forehead isn’t necessarily romantic” makes sense if we are talking about a work of media that is made in a time/place where that was a common thing between same gender platonic friends.

But are you, anon? Or are you talking about like, a piece of Western mass media from the past 50 years? Or are you talking about anime — because if anything, kissing is even more loaded in Japan than it is in the West, especially if there are other people around. (Lots of people in anime fandom love to use “but Japanese culture” arguments to no homo, but are banking on no one reading them actually knowing jack shit about Japanese culture — because it’s almost never true or based on any real Japanese cultural difference, there’s just making shit up. It assumes people will take for granted anything that frames Japan as “foreign and inscrutable and impossible for Westerners to understand” which is just Orientalism tbqh)

Just saying, because I almost never see this shit said about like, a novel from 1820 or something from a culture like, say, some Middle Eastern countries where men kissing other men platonically is a thing…. and almost always see it said about current media from a culture where kissing on the forehead would be seen as something you’d likely not do to a platonic friend of the same gender.

You can’t “impose your cultural norms” on something from the same culture as you lol, or something from another culture that has the same norm! And an (for example) American assuming that modern American media plays by the rules of modern American culture and seeing it through that lens, doesn’t necessarily mean that American is unaware that different norms exist in different cultures. But like… it just makes sense to analyze a current American show for American audiences set in America in the modern day through the cultural standards of 2020s America and not, say, Bangladesh or Namibia or 1850s America.

And on another note, if you were as much of a fan of “queer readings” as you claim to be, you’d know that they often have little to do with authorial intent. In fact, it’s often specifically about reclaiming media that didn’t have you in mind as the audience.

(Seriously, I really doubt you have read many of those queer readings, bc if this bothers you so much, the stuff queer studies academics and cultural critics see as “gay subtext” in old Hollywood movies — hell, the stuff that gay, bi and sympathetic-straight directors and actors and writers often very much INTENDED as gay subtext in those movies — would make your brain explode.)

Anyway, we’ve all been in fandoms where there’s a ship some people insist has a ton of subtext but it’s just two guys sharing a scene occasionally and they just WANT to believe it’s there when it isn’t, and it can be annoying sure if there are so many people insisting this that it’s inescapable and becoming fanon that affects the fic about the ships you like, or if they’re pushy and sanctimonious about it. (My current fandom has a group of people who insist the only reason other people don’t see all the “subtext” for their random rarepair is racism or something, and then ignore how much textual stuff they have to deliberately leave out or misinterpret for their reading to “work” lol. Like scenes where their starry eyed expression is directed at a different character and that’s obvious in the actual episode but not in their selectively edited gif set or meta post.) But that is not the same as doing that with KISSING ON THE FOREHEAD ffs. And also, let’s not pretend that slash (or femslash) shippers are the worst offenders, like het shippers — and the broader culture — doesn’t constantly treat “a man and a woman interact” as meaning “they could/should be a couple,”

If you’re not bothered by that, but you’re bothered by when people do it with two men or two women… yeah you gotta ask yourself why that is. I have an idea why, and it’s not bc of your greater cultural open mindedness lol

--

[midnightshard06]

STH Rarepair Week Day 3: Hurt / Comfort

You can check it out on ao3 here if you prefer.

Summary: Sonic stumbles across a heavily damaged Metal Sonic and does the only thing he can think to do, take him back to Tails to see if his brother can fix him. It ends up being a rough day for everyone involved, especially Sonic.

Pairing: Sonic/Metal Sonic

Warnings: Mild violence, nothing graphic

Word Count: ~3000 words

AN: Still feeling these two's dynamic out so apologies if anything seems weird lol.

"You can fix him… right?" Sonic glanced nervously at Tails. 

His brother twitched his tails nervously. "I'll do my best… Metal's in really rough shape."

Sonic couldn't help but pace as Tails got to work on Metal Sonic. What had even happened? Sonic had just found his robotic doppelganger abandoned and in more pieces than he cared to count. It had hit him hard, hard enough to almost panic at the sight of it. The only thing that held him together was his drive to collect the pieces so the robot could be fixed. 

That had been a whole process in itself. Between having to find every little piece and periodically needing to stop and shake loose unwanted images of an actual mangled corpse from his mind. It was a constant battle to remind himself that for how alive Metal acted he was still a robot. A robot who could actually come back from something like this. Hopefully.

At some point Tails shooed him outside, but honestly he barely noticed. His mind just continued to go over questions he didn’t have answers too. Normally he’d go on a run to clear his head but it felt like if he left something awful would happen.  No. He needed to stay here until Tails was done. He needed to see that Metal was going to be ok with his own eyes.

He glanced back at the closed door to Tails’s workshop in concern. Why hadn’t Eggman come to try and collect Metal? Why leave him out there… in that condition? Sonic shuddered and quickly banished the memory of how Metal had looked from his mind. Remembering that right now wasn’t going to help him. Maybe after he knew Metal was going to be ok he’d go find Eggman, see if he couldn’t figure out what had happened. Yeah. That felt like a decent course of action.

Hours passed, or at least it felt like it. Everything felt agonizingly slow as Sonic paced. He idly noted he’d worn a shallow groove into the ground, something he’d need to fix later. At some point during the agonizing wait, Amy showed up. Whatever she was saying didn’t register in his mind but she gently guided him down to the ground to sit. Not like he had the energy to resist right now anyway.

Having someone else there was probably good. At least he shouldn’t make the groove any worse than it already was now. As they sat there she talked. About what, he didn’t know. Her words washed over him as he was unable to make them out properly. It didn’t matter though, he was pretty sure they both knew that. Whatever she was talking about didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was there at all, helping ground him. He was glad he had such good friends.

By the time Tails came out to get him the sun was setting. Amy thankfully stayed by his side as the trio went inside. He felt a spark of hope pierce the haze that had settled over his mind as he saw Metal completely reassembled on one of Tails’ work tables. Wires coming from the back of his head were still connected to the Miles Electric, but besides that he looked good as new. “Is he..?” Sonic looked over at his brother.

Tails nervously wrung his hands. “I was able to put him back together fine. There were a lot of pieces but as far as I could tell you managed to get them all. Though due to the heavy damage he sustained I’m… not sure if any of his core programs were damaged. I tried to run a diagnostic but I couldn’t for some reason. It just… wasn’t working.”

“And that’s not a great sign I assume?” Amy asked, frowning.

“Unfortunately.” Tails nodded, looking away from Sonic. “It might not mean much but… I’m just worried.”

Sonic took a deep breath and did his best to push aside his own worry for now. “Boot him up.”

“Are you sure?” Tails looked up at him, worried.

“We won’t know what’s going on until he’s up and running right?” Sonic did his best to give his brother a reassuring smile, though he wasn’t sure if it was effective for either of them. “No use in dragging it out.”

“As long as you’re ok with it.” Amy put a hand on his shoulder. Sonic took a far shakier breath and nodded.

Tails nodded back and went over to where he’d left the Miles Electric on a table. “Turning him back online in three, two, one…”

Sonic held his breath as Metal’s red optics flared to life. The robot looked around sort of peacefully for a bit after sitting up. Although he looked at all three of them his gaze lingered the longest on Sonic. The eye contact was a little unnerving but he didn’t have much time to think about it before Metal was launching himself at Sonic. For an incredibly brief moment he thought that might have been a positive thing but that was quickly shattered as Metal kept going and caused the two to crash through a wall.

Sonic managed to separate from Metal once they were outside. He winced at the hole they made as he shook off debris that tried to stick to him. That would have to be fixed later. Right now he had a rogue robot to take down, even if it hurt to do so right after Tails had fixed him. “C’mon Metal. We don’t have to do this right now!” Sonic tried, but he was met with nothing but Metal charging at him again. 

He dropped into a spin dash to dodge out of the way, and as much as he didn’t want to he turned to crash into Metal’s back. He pulled out of the spin dash and kicked off the robot’s back, sending him crashing into the ground. The sound of metal scraping against the hard ground had Sonic pinning his ears to his head. Could he really do this right now? As Metal got up engine whirring, it was clear he wasn’t going to have a choice.

Before Metal could charge at him again Tails and Amy were there. “I think he might have gotten reset.” Tails sounded a mix between nervous and upset. “He might have just reverted to his base programming.”

That one stung. If Metal really had gone back to just his base programming that meant that all the time Sonic had spent slowly broadening his counterpart’s horizons was wasted, gone just like that. That also meant he wouldn’t remember the quiet times when the two had really gotten to know each other; the times the two talked about their respective siblings and whatever they’d gotten up to. The races which were only for the pure enjoyment of testing each other. Pushing each other. Metal and everything he had slowly been becoming, gone. 

Sonic clenched his fists and he could feel tears start to gather in his eyes. He didn’t let them fall though, he couldn’t. Regardless of his own feelings, Metal needed to be stopped before he hurt one of them. If either of his friends tried to stop him as he rushed forward he didn’t hear them. It was hard to hear much over his own racing thoughts. 

He threw himself into the fight with Metal not caring if he got hurt. As long as this could be over quicker it didn’t matter. He’d walk it off anyway. Plus the pain was a wonderful distraction from the hollow feeling that had settled in his chest. With each clash Sonic dared to feel the tiniest bit of hope that Metal would come to his senses, only to have it dashed each time. Metal was seemingly back to the same robot he’d met on Little Planet all that time ago. At some point he stopped hoping to see something different.

Eventually while catching his breath he found himself restrained from behind. He struggled of course but stopped as soon as he recognized it was Amy who was holding him back. His legs felt like they couldn’t support his weight any more once he saw Tails jump onto Metal and shut him down. With no more immediate distraction he let himself fall limp, confident that Amy could handle his weight. His eyes trailed to the ground and he suddenly felt oh so tired.

Amy and Tails were possibly talking about something but he couldn’t find it in himself to care to listen. Honestly he did his best to just let his mind go blank. That was much more preferable to confronting the reality of the situation, and just how much it hurt. At some point Amy was trying to lead him back to Tails’ workshop, he did at least cooperate. It would be pretty rude of him to force her to drag him around, no matter how terrible he felt.

Sonic was led into the living area Tails had attached to his lab. Amy got him to sit down on a couch, before walking off for a moment and returning with a blanket to wrap around his shoulders. He pulled the blanket tightly around himself and stared at the floor. It was hard not to think about what was happening but focusing on the pain from his still untreated injuries helped. A cushion next to him dipped. It was probably Amy sitting next to him.

“How are you holding up?” Amy asked, voice tentative. Sonic just folded his ears against his head. “Right, bad question. Sorry.” She took a breath. "We'll figure this out. For now will you let me take a look at your injuries?" Sonic nodded, not trusting his voice right now. Even though he didn't want to, he released his tight grip on the blanket. 

He finally lifted his gaze from the floor to watch Amy start to treat his injuries. They were worse than he typically got fighting Metal. That didn't make him feel any better. The whole time he couldn't bring himself to look at Amy, but he was silently grateful. He really did have good friends.

"Can I see him?" Sonic barely heard himself.

"... are you sure that's what you want?" Amy made what she thought very clear in her tone. It was a bad idea.

While he didn't really think it would help, he felt like it would be worse to sit here. "Yeah." Sonic nodded.

Amy hesitated before gently guiding him towards Tails’ workshop. Finally he looked up all the way, if only just to be able to see where he was going. His brother looked up from the Miles Electric as the two of them entered the workshop. He frowned, but didn’t say anything. It was clear the fox knew why they were there.

Sonic silently watched Tails work for… well he wasn’t sure how long. Honestly he didn’t even know what his brother was doing, but it felt like all he could do was watch. Amy made sure to periodically come in and make sure the two of them were taking care of themselves, though she paid extra attention to Sonic. Probably because he hadn’t made any moves to even attempt taking care of himself since finding a place to sit.

At some point Amy pulled Tails away from his work to send him to bed. It was probably well into the night at that point. When she tried to do the same for Sonic he waved her off. While she tried to be persistent she crumbled when Sonic finally turned to look at her. Based on her reaction he really didn’t want to know how he looked right now. She did at least bring out some pillows and extra blankets for him, so he had the option to make himself a bit more comfortable. Not that he remembered doing it but he did try to arrange them so things were a bit better.

For a while he just stared at the table Metal was once again laid out on. There were a few new dents and scratches but at least he was intact. Well physically anyway. Sonic pulled the blanket around his shoulders tighter, ignoring how it aggravated some of his injuries. “Well…” Sonic said quietly into the now dark workshop. Amy had shut off the lights when she’d left, probably trying to encourage Sonic to sleep. “I guess we’ll have to start over again huh? Cause I know I can’t resist trying. You mean too much.” He sighed and watched Metal’s unmoving body for a while. There wasn’t much point in saying anything else when no one would hear it.

His eyelids started to grow heavy, and he mentally prepared himself for a night of little to no sleep. He’d barely let his eyes slip closed when he heard a noise. It was hard, but he managed to crack his eyes back open only to see Metal now sitting up. The robot was experimentally opening and closing his hands. Sonic tensed, ready for another potential fight. Metal turned to him and the gaze felt much less unsettling than it did earlier. ‘Sonic?’ Metal signed, tilting his head.

Sonic sucked in a sharp breath. Well he was certainly awake now. “Mets? Are you… you?” He was on his feet, blanket falling from his shoulders.

‘I am back to typical running capacity after critical systems failure. The automatic reboot and restoration of my system was a success.’ Metal stood up and moved towards Sonic.

“So… that means you’re ok then.” Sonic felt hope bloom in his chest as he rushed to his feet.

‘I am fine now yes.’ Metal gave him a once over. ‘The same cannot be said for you. Your face is leaking.

Oh. He was crying huh? At least now it was for a good reason. With the ease of practice though he managed to cut off his tears. “Nah. I’m good now Mets. I’m… good now.”’

Metal watched him for a moment. ‘You were the one to find me.’ It didn’t look like a question, but Sonic nodded anyway. He wanted to ask what happened but he also didn’t want to force Metal to think about it so soon. ‘I apologize.’ He looked down briefly, fists clenching. ‘I should have been stronger I-’

Sonic closed the gap between them and wrapped Metal in a hug, effectively cutting him off. Of course Metal wasn’t the nicest to hug, and the rigidness of his body was digging into Sonic uncomfortably in several places, but right now he needed it. Apparently both of them did. After a moment Metal carefully returned the hug. It was familiar enough, even if the two didn’t do it often. “Doesn’t matter.” Sonic was quiet, but he knew Metal would have no problem hearing him. “You’re ok now, that’s what matters.”

Metal tapped his back and pulled away. ‘I suppose.’ His robotic counterpart seemed to be taking in Sonic’s injuries now. ‘What happened?’ He tilted his head before looking Sonic in the eyes.

“We… booted you up before you were done doing your own stuff.” Sonic attempted to shrug casually. It felt stiff. “We fought a bit cause you weren’t really there. Not a big deal.”

Sonic got the impression that Metal would be frowning if he could. ‘We fight all the time. You do not typically receive injuries like this.’

“I… might have been a bit reckless because I was upset.” Sonic chuckled nervously. “I’m fine though, honest.”

Metal didn’t seem like he was convinced. ‘Fine.’ He conceded. Sonic grinned before yawning. The brief shot of adrenaline from Metal waking up was starting to wear off already. ‘You need rest.’ Metal glanced down at the mess of blankets and pillows Sonic had set up for himself. ‘This is not a proper place to do it.’

“Eh, I’ve slept in worse.” Sonic shrugged. 

Metal shot him his best attempt at an unamused look before noticing the hole in the wall. Without any warning Metal scooped Sonic up and walked towards the hole and outside. Sonic was honestly so surprised he just let it happen. He barely even noticed Metal had snagged a blanket as well. They didn’t go far, just far enough to have grass under them. Once they stopped Metal carefully put Sonic down and spread the blanket on the ground. ‘You often say being outside calms you down. I thought this would be better than remaining inside.’

Sonic grinned before sprawling out on the blanket. It took Metal a moment, and Sonic patting the blanket in invitation, but he did join Sonic on the blanket. Well Metal was right about this one, he felt a lot calmer being outside having a wonderful view of the stars. Most calming though was Metal’s silent presence next to him. It almost felt silly how he felt earlier, but part of him couldn’t help but wonder if Metal would feel similarly if Sonic somehow forgot him.

Much to Sonic’s surprise, Metal reached for his hand. It wasn’t often Metal initiated anything physical. Since the robot got less out of physical affection than Sonic did, it was often up to him to initiate. After the day he’d had though it was very welcome.”I really am glad you’re ok Metal.” Sonic kept his gaze trained at the sky. Metal squeezed his hand since he couldn’t really communicate any other way right now. It was plenty for Sonic though.

It felt good to finally let the tension leave his body, but at the same time now that he didn’t have a distraction anymore he really could feel his injuries. Though thankfully he wouldn’t have to focus on that for long as Metal unthreaded their hands and started to gently work through Sonic’s quills. If it wasn’t clear before it certainly was now that Metal knew he’d been upset. The robot only did this to help calm Sonic down, even if Sonic assured him he didn’t mind Metal doing it whenever. He’d always get a retort along the lines of ‘if I do it too often you’ll become desensitized to it and it will become less effective’. He didn’t believe that in the slightest but he wasn’t about to fight Metal on it for now.

Right now he enjoyed the even strokes of clawed hands through messy quills. There under the stars, with his other half returned to him he finally allowed himself to sleep.

[fumifooms]

The Penny x Atticus agenda was furthered in the post game and I’m so happy. I’m making this rarepair from my own two hands screenshotting every second of interaction and smashing my keyboard if I have to! 

Until someone else finds a better name or something, I’ll call this ship SewnEevee shipping! Since Penny clearly has a fondness for eevee and wears that big plush backpack of hers, and one of Atticus’ main interest is sewing and clothes! You could make really cute headcanons with that too, hehe

Now, the whole “my greatest treasure” is a very obvious and intense profession of affection, but that’s with whole team Star, so. Why do I ship these two in particular? Easy, just look at the screenshots! Atticus has this formal and old-fashioned way of speaking and uses titles frequently, but lordship titles? If I’m not mistaken she’s the only person he uses lord and lady with, and it’s not a one time nickname either; he uses it for her thrice (the only times he adresses her while knowing her identity in the whole game) which suggests it is the way he’ll be referring to her from then on. Idk about you but it sounds very flattering and romantic to me, it’s not don or comrade or such else- she’s special in the way he adresses people. It’s not exactly a term for equals like comrade is, nor shows some hierarchy like calling her boss, it’s truly an honorific. And then, the first thing he says to her after discovering her identity is “you’re pretty m’lady”, like, everyone else is like, normal greetings or “wow it’s nice seeing you” (you can see the lines here) but him? He goes the extra mile to say her appearance/presence is pleasing or rejuvenating or whatever. It stood out so much in the moment I immediately started shipping them lol. Also “oh noble and kind big boss” to me sounds like an even larger amount of simping than the others’ way of talking about Cassiopeia too lol. On the other hand, you could say that Penny has an equal amount of affection and care for every team Star member, and that that affection is of the same nature for every one, but!! See the post game interaction there??! Indeed, brethren, thy eyes are not mistaken. She worries for him most!! You could say that’s not necessarily a good thing and you’d be right, but it does mean she has him on the brain and in a way she cares for him most/in a special way compared to the others. But ho, ho-ho oh no that is not all, for!!!!! She calls him handsome too!!!!!! She’s so shocked she jumps back and goes “no, focus!! He might get hurt stop looking at his pretty eyelashes!!”. Mate do you know how often they call characters pretty in Pokemon? Once in a red moon. In this game, it’s Rika, Tulip and then Atticus. Like, wow ok. They be crushing on each other highkey. I’m honestly shook at how high of a level they made it canon. Also! Penny gets three post custscenes with the other team star members, one is with Giacomo and Ortega, one with Mela and Eri, and the other one is with Atticus alone! Team Star has 5 members (Penny excluded) so of course they were going to need to cut it uneven, but still, Atticus is the one given more or less more importance here! Also!!! Atticus is the only one she doesn’t have a nickname for, she calls him by his full name!! Coincidence??! I think not! Omfg guys she breaks her nickname convention for him and he calls her his lady they’re so special to each other…

I just think they’d be good for each other, and cute together! Atticus obviously thinks highly of her and I can’t see why they wouldn’t get along swimmingly well when hanging out, especially if they share an interest like say plushies (and Penny could pirate animes for him for free and they could watch them together <3 because!! It’s mentioned that Penny likes binging them and Atticus is obvi into it, Naruto stan lol). They’re both introverted and are somewhat quiet, esp for Penny she’d enjoy his gentle and composed countenance more than the rowdier characters (which is canon esp if you look at the time they spent in Area Zero), and man. He’s so honest and direct and I think that she’d appreciate that a lot, seeming pretty blunt and no-nonsense herself. Also, he’s very capable of and confident about standing for himself and his friends, so I think once she realizes that more it’d ease her anxiety a bit. Atticus is just so gentlemanly and it’s highkey charming and idk she’s already a bit 😳 about him it wouldn’t take her much to full on pine imo. I wanna finish by saying: Some would call her judgy and mean for being worried for him bc he has an unconventional demeanor (and appearance) but I wanna reiterate that this is out of care and trauma from having been bullied herself: it’s being realistic, and she’s otherwise never shown any reluctance or dislike of his interests in the least so, there ain’t an argument to make here imo. Plus it literally got addressed and she set out to better herself on it, so.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Saw a zutara tagged post that went kinda like this:

“If you canon pairing feels threatened near some friendship relationship, than maybe you canon pairing is so shallow and this friendship is just so strong and romantic”.

I don’t need to specify that “canon pairing” here is kataang and “strong romantic friendship” is zutara, do I?

Meanwhile: every zutara fan plot that does not make Aang and Mai absolute monsters, have them either absent or dead. Because, I guess, zutara is such a strong pairing it has no problems with Katara and Aang’s or Zuko and Mai’s friendship… Zutarians, take your own medicine.

And again, they say that, yet I, who spent too much time watching people react to the show, can confirm that most people new fans are not only not into Zutara, lots of them are VERY confused as to why it's so popular and why so many fans INSIST there was ever a Aang/Katara/Zuko love triangle.

Zutara really is "a threat to the canon ships" solely on their large echo-chamber, and nowhere else - and I'm including the minds of sane zutara shippers when I say "nowhere else" because even though they like the ship, they don't lie to themselves about it being this universally loved thing that somehow snuck it's way into the show against the writers' wishes.

Also, this notion that fanon ships are only good if they "threaten" the canon ones is very weird and a result of Zutarians being desperate to keep the fandom ship wars alive even as nearly everyone else got sick of it well over a decade again. More than one potential pairing can be good at once - yes, even the rarepairs that only has five fans. People are allowed to like Zutara AND Kataang/Maiko - hell, people are allowed to want Zuko, Mai, Katara and Aang to all be in love which each other. Fandom folks need to stop being cowards and embrace multi-shipping already, dammit.

To quote a wise brazilian proverb "Se organizar direitinho, todo mundo transa" (If we set this up correctly, everyone gets laid)

Once again, if these people would just chill and enjoy their ship without trying to force it down everyone's throats, them and their pairing would not be so infamous and this blog would not exist, yet they just can't resist shooting themselves in the foot over and over again.

[pigletbomb]

An indepth analysis on Nichayne

Yes i know what your thinking. “An analysis on a non canon rarepair? That’s insane” and while you’re right I think these two have much more going on for them than the average rarepair. So without further ado here’s me picking apart every Nichelle and Wayne interaction between each other. (Also spoilers for the new season but it so minor it doesn’t even matter)

In s1 e1 when are introduced to both Wayne and Nichelle both on the ferocious Frogs. We don’t get what Wayne reaction is to Nichelle arrival but we can assume he pleasantly surprised like everyone else. Moving along when Raj and Wayne get settled into the cabins Wayne quotes, “Our team has some real hotties.” Although he could’ve been talking about Emma or Julia the plural use of the word means he was talking about multiple people and it would be insane of him *not* to find Nichelle hot in some way.

After this we move on the actual challenge. Which pairs up Nichelle and Wayne and we get to see fully how they interact on their own with no other interference. Nichelle is shown to be a bit more sensible and cares about how others sees her. From the quotes, “If i get stung can you make sure it not on my face?” And “Run are you crazy?” This contrast with Wayne who doesn’t really care about getting hurt nor really cares about how others see him. The other is absolutely ahead in the challenge right now and with Nichelle not really wanting to run Wayne offers her a piggyback ride. I think him offering her a piggyback ride is like so funny he doesn’t he question why she doesn’t want to run and instead is like “pretty girl doesn’t want to run I’ll run for her!” This cute moment fails in the end as they both fall onto the hot coals.

Leading into the first elimination it could be clear why anyone would be reasonable upset at Nichelle caring for your looks over a challenge despite this Wayne doesn’t seem upset with her at all his expression instead showing concern for her more than anything. Next episode they don’t interact that much but here are some few things i think are worth mentioning.

- Nichelle and Wayne stand together constantly throughout the challenge (and ik ppl get annoyed when a person ships an rarepair only cause they stiff next to one another but it happens so many times with Nichayne it’s kinda crazy they are even together in the intro song and in the finale.)

- Nichelle and Wayne have a brief conversation pertaining to the challenge but i think it continues their Nichelle being the more sensible one and Wayne being a bit more out there)

Episode 3 immediately starts with Wayne along with Emma and Raj talking to Nichelle amazing over her various different roles she played. However Wayne in particular recalls her stunt on the plane kicking the guy off the flight. Wayne admiration for Nichelle and her physical prowess is a common theme with these two that I’ll expand later on in this post.

In the 3rd challenge the team assigns Nichelle to go last as they believe she will be able finish them out strong. Right after Wayne turn and it Nichelle and my god after seeing s2 Nichelle compare to s1 the difference is very much noticeable as she absolutely sucks here. However like i was talking about earlier his admirations for Nichelle causes him to immediately rationalize her flaws (in this case her physicality) he also the first one in the team to do so. When Chris announces that the Frogs had lost Wayne compares it to what i assume is one of the hockey games he and Raj played. But going in more depth of this line I’m not sure what it could exactly mean. In my shipper mind it could mean that seeing Nichelle being total different to who she is on screen was such a tragedy he compares it to a bad hockey game or the team losing in general is like a bad hockey game I’m not sure on this one. Afterwards when Wayne walks past Nichelle he looks visibly upset and we get later confirmation of this in a confessional were Wayne sounds disappointed and he still looks sad here. This is the end for interactions with them for season one where Nichelle is still presence.

In episode 4 Wayne is still dejected about Nichelle. Wayne once again brings up Nichelle fierceness. Now it’s time for season two.

Nichelle and Wayne are on opposite teams this season. Which if you have never watch total drama you might think there no possible way they could make it as a couple now but even in this very season this logic gets proven wrong by a new canon couple and couples in the last who weren’t on the same team. All this really means for them is they have less interaction compared to before. Moving on remember how i kept mention about about how Wayne admiration for Nichelle stems from her fierceness and the physicality she shown on screen yeah guess what happens this episode? Nichelle in the flesh pulls off an insane stunt that manages to wow everyone. You could only image how proud Wayne probably felt in the moment.

Episode 2-3 Nichelle and Wayne don’t interact at all (if they did please correct me on this) which made me worry that all the material that we got from them from s1 was thrown out the window until episode 4 came around and gave me the crumbs I need to write a whole analysis on them. In the challenge the contestant are required to answer questions about one another to make it to the end of a glass bridge. Nichelle gets Wayne question and doesn’t answer it on her own as Emma constantly insists she a people person, she gets a wrong and my god am I glad that Emma did this one thing. As soon Nichelle drops from. The glass bridge she lands on a wolverine and makes it on the ground safely without even getting hurt or at all touching the water. Wayne in response to seeing the most insane stunt happen is impressed and visibly shows this as well smiling widely. Also correct me if I’m wrong but this is the first time Wayne reacts to somebody that’s not on his own team.

I’m 99% sure no one has positively reacted to Nichelle improved skills since episode one of the new season. Wayne is seeing fierceness which made him like Nichelle so much in the first place right in front of his eyes.

This is pretty much a wrap till the finale of s2 or if they get a s3. Well tell me what you think about this analysis ^^

[ezrisdax-archive]

the very first gifset I ever made was on january 26th 2014, it took me a month to immediately make a set for a femslash pair for characters who had never met. (shoutout to anyone who a) remembers the old blog and b) remembers the pair)

I've been doing this for almost ten years now.

and for ten years I've had to put up with ridiculous tags that only come up on a femslash set. "feel free to ignore the romance implication" "I don't ship this" "friendship goals" and it's forever something I've noticed that only happens on those kinds of sets. never the (extremely rare from me) slash set or the het sets. hell at most if I make a gen set someone will say "I don't go here"

fandom likes to pretend it's so much better now than what it used to be in the days where female characters were just blatantly ignored and femslash was lucky if it wasn't from xena. (sorry, I love xena, I'm just trying to make a point that other fandoms didn't get that wide femslash base, yes I know there was still a few). in truth fandom hasn't really changed much of it's attitude at all.

if you've ever followed the top ships post of ao3 that's done here you realize that out of 100 you can count the number of femslash ships on your hands.

and you can always make the argument there aren't enough female characters, or they don't get the same dynamic male characters get and that's true. but that's never bothered fandom to make up a ship before for a slash pairing. fuck man, moran didn't even show up in bbc sherlock and yet it's there with over 3000 fics on ao3 with moriarty. I'm lucky if a femslash ship gets out of the rarepair section when rare pair fic exchanges come around.

I guess this just comes across as preachy and annoying 'why isn't my ship as popular' but there's always been a push back in fandom when it comes to femslash. they don't get the depth that fandom is willing to explore when it comes to other pairings. they're the cute background ship that's saying 'lol oh guys when will you get your act together' for the slash ship.

it's exhausting.

[dirtyreusablehandkerchief]

One more fvcked up bingo: ayour fav version(s) of megastar (⁠✯⁠ᴗ⁠✯⁠)

uhuhuhu >:)

TFP:

i don't just ship this pairing: i eat, drink and BREATH this pairing. the webcomic YukiOni on deviantart made of these 2 changed my fucking brain chemistry and rewired my neurons, i swear.

they're a sexy villain couple that has a size difference and makes haters froth at the mouth, how could i not love them???

also these 2 shows why the writers in any transformers continuity aren't allowed to make them get along for more than 5 minutes: because they'll decimate the autobots and the show or comic won't have the chance to go beyond, like, 5 episodes or 1 issue.

"WHERE is all the fucking CONTENT" box filled because i'm asking the exact same thing!! it seemed like people were churning out content of this specific version of this pairing like there was no tommorow waaay back in the olden days. nowadays, though, i don't see a lot of it. it's as far as can be from being a rarepair but i still would like new content of this pairing to be put out at the same pace as back then.

i'd love to be the one doing this but unfortunately, my energy levels are constantly at 20% * peter griffin death pose *

bayformers:

my second favorite version of this pairing! unfortunately, i don't get to indulge in this one much 'cuz there aren't a lot of content of them and i can't draw the bay transformers to save my life (THERE'S SO MANY DETAILS WHICH ONES SHOULD I KEEP AND SIMPLIFY AND WHICH ONES SHOULD I THROW AWAY AAAAAAAAAA).

unlike every other version of megastar, i can't see them being a villainous power couple triumphing over the autobots and anyone that dares stand in their way and/or settling down and having tons of kids. instead i can only see them settling down and just having tons of hatchlings 'cuz they are just. so. tired. megatron especially, dude's died like twice and starscream has died once

[random-iz-stuff]

An aroace that doesn’t ship anything ranks every Invader Zim ship they are aware of:

No offence to anyone. Also don’t expect many “I ship it” moments because I really don’t ship anything.

ZaDr (Zim and Dib romance):

The one and only Invader Zim ship that needs no introduction. If you’re been in the modern fandom for any amount of time, you know about ZaDr. It’s the most common ship in the entire fandom and I see why. The enemies to lovers dynamic, the parallels between the two of them in canon, ✨ The Gay✨, etc. This ship is THE Invader Zim ship and it’s easy to see why.

I personally don’t ship it for a few different reasons. I like my Zim and Dib with a more frenemies dynamic when they aren’t at each other’s throats for one, plus I just don’t ship things like 99% of the time. That just how I work.

This right here can be said for any ship on this list involving Zim; but I also headcanon Zim as being aroace, which conflicts with literally every ship involving Zim. My version of Zim just doesn’t mix with any ships. For me, Zim and romance is like oil and water.

That being said, I’m not against ZaDr and I don’t dislike it. I don’t actively seek it out, but I also don’t mind looking at it if it pops up on my dash. I just like ZaDf a bit more.

Do I ship it: No

How I pronounce it: Za-Dur

Rating: 8/10 (it’s a classic and even though I don’t ship it, giving it anything less would be a disservice to it)

ZaGr (Zim and Gaz romance):

ZaGr is a really interesting ship to me. Not in a character or canon way, but in a meta way. Because from what I understand, ZaGr used to be the most popular IZ ship back when Invader Zim was a newer show, before ships like ZaDr became acceptable and more mainstream.

Now it’s way less common when compared to ZaDr, but you can see it everywhere in older works. I just find it cool that you can tell how old parts of the fandom are based on how popular or common ZaDr and ZaGr are. ZaGr is still popular nowadays, but it used to be the go-to IZ Ship before ZaDr became mainstream and overtook it in popularity.

Kinda but not really moving on from a meta perspective, I can see why it originally became popular, but also why it fell from grace and was overtaken by ZaDr. Both Zim and Gaz show a hated for humanity, share an interest in video games, have the same dislike of Dib and Gaz seems to be one of the few characters that Zim shows any respect towards whatsoever. There was also the rumoured (and later disproven to exist) episode “Invader Dib”, which was rumoured to be the series finale before the show was canceled and would have supposedly implied that Zim and Gaz got together post-canon.

Plus in my uneducated opinion, ZaGr probably also became so popular because of the environment it came into existence in. ZaGr is one of the oldest ships in the entire fandom (I think), being a thing all the way back in the early 2000s when Invader Zim had first come out and recently been canceled. Back then, gay ships like ZaDr and TaGr were a lot less normalized than they are today and were considered to be either crackships, rarepairs or morally wrong because the early 2000s wasn’t exactly known for being accepting of LGBTQ stuff. So ZaGr simply had a lot less competition.

Then, when ships like ZaDr and TaGr became more normalized and popular, people started jumping to them because ZaDr simply has a lot more chemistry than ZaGr. Zim and Gaz only have a few minimal interactions after all.

ZaGr still exists and it’s definitely still prominent, but it’s often overshadowed by its gay relatives that are ZaDr and TaGr.

On another note, I really like the idea of Zim and Gaz becoming friends (much to Dib’s dismay and frustration).

Do I ship it: No, but I adore the more meta details of it.

How I pronounce it: Za-Gir

Rating: 6/10 (the meta stuff elevates it quite a bit, but as an actual ship, things like ZaDr simply have way more chemistry)

ZaSr (Zim and Skoodge romance):

I don’t know why, but the ship name always gives me vibes of strength and durability. I really can’t explain it in any other way. Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Moving on from that, I can see why this exists. Skoodge was supposed to live in Zim’s base after all. Plus, with how underwritten Skoodge actually is, he’s a character that can be molded to fit the story or ship, basically making Skoodge a fanfic writer’s dream and basically any and all details regarding ZaSr to be sadly fanmade.

Now, I HAVE actually actively sought out ZaSr content before. It was mostly to find ZaSf stuff because the ZaSf tag is next to empty, but I have gone through the tag once or twice. Even though I don’t ship them romantically, I like the idea of Zim and Skoodge being friends and the ZaSr tag, despite being a shipping tag, is the best place to find content like that.

Do I ship it: Not romantically, but definitely platonically, in a best friends sort of way, and the ZaSr tag is my best (and only) source of content for that kind of thing

How I pronounce it: Za-Sir

Rating: 8/10 (I don’t ship the two romantically, but the tag is a very good way to find content of Zim and Skoodge being friends)

ZaTr (Zim and Tak romance):

This one is in a very similar vein as ZaSr. I have gone through the tag, but mostly just because I ran out of content in the ZaTf tag.

Ship-wise, I don’t really get this one, but at the same time I get the impression that it was popular at SOME point because I’m pretty sure that it was a semi-common thing in older works. I just don’t get WHY though. Maybe as an alternative to ZaGr back before ZaDr became an acceptable option? I really don’t know. I just don’t see it.

Do I ship it: No, but I have used the tag to search for ZaTf content before

How I pronounce it: Za-Tur

Rating: 4/10 (I really don’t understand the appeal of it. I’m a fan of ZaTf with Zim and Tak becoming friends or at the very least frenemies, but shipping the two of them romantically seems like overkill)

ZaTr alternate version (Zim and Tenn romance):

No. Just no. I headcanon that Zim and Tenn are twin siblings, so that should sum up my thoughts on ZaTr [alternate] pretty damn well.

And I’m confident to say that no one is going to fight me here and argue that “it’s just your personal headcanon that they’re siblings so it’s fine” because literally no one ships this.

This ship is stupidly rare and I’ve only ever seen two, maybe three things with ZaTr [alternate] in it. I’m including it simply because of those two or three things and because I said I’d review every ship I’m aware of, even if the ship barely exists and is accidentally made into twincest because of a headcanon I have.

Do I ship it: Fuck no

How I pronounce it: Alternate Za-Tur (or Za-Tur 2)

Rating: 0/10 (it’ll be a cold day in hell when I ship twincest and a goddamn blizzard in hell when I let go of my “Zim and Tenn being siblings” headcanon)

TaGr (Tak and Gaz romance):

I actually used to ship TaGr way before I made this blog. Then I stopped without really knowing why. I left the fandom for a while and when I came back TaGr had just sort of fell off for me and didn’t hit the same. I don’t know what changed. Nowadays I don’t actively seek it out, but also won’t complain if it pops up in my dash. I’m neutral towards it.

Tak and Gaz have basically no interactions in canon, and yet based purely on their personalities you KNOW that they’d work well if you placed them in the same room together. They even have similar aesthetics. And as an added bonus, you have ✨The Gay✨.

You can also pronounce the name by saying “tiger” in a super heavy southern accent and that makes it the best ship by default. You can do the same with the misspelling of the name (GaTr) by saying “gator” in a super heavy southern accent.

Do I ship it: Not anymore (but I used to)

How I pronounce it: Ta-Gir (like tiger with a super heavy southern accent)

Rating: 9/10 (the name and how you can pronounce it does some of the lifting there. It’s just fun for me to say. If you couldn’t pronounce it like tiger or gator in a super heavy southern accent it would be a 7/10)

DaTr (Dib and Tak romance):

This ship definitely exists and it is a ship.

To be honest though, DaTr gives off the vibes of a toxic byproduct of ZaDr and TaGr.

Despite that however, to my knowledge, DaTr is another one of the oldest ships in the fandom that’s as old as ZaGr, being a ship that was often seen alongside it. Zim gets with Gaz and Dib gets with Tak. Like ZaGr, it became a lot more rare with the rise of ZaDr and TaGr. It’s still around, but it’s a lot less common than it used to be.

However, I don’t think it really holds up nowadays. Dib and Tak simply don’t have much chemistry together besides an equal hated of Zim and ZaDr and TaGr seem like way better alternatives.

Plus, just by looking at them, I refuse to believe that Dib likes women and Tak likes men. ZaDr/TaGr shipper or not, there’s no way in hell that they’re both straight.

I do like the name though, I’ll give the ship that. DaTr. Reminds me of Data.

Do I ship it: no

How I pronounce it: Da-Tier or Da-Tur. I alternate between the two

Rating: 2/10

TaTr (Tak and Tenn romance):

I get why this ship exists. A part of it does have to do with Tenn having no canon personality and being able to be molded to fit the story or ship, just like Skoodge but even more malleable because Tenn has even less canon details, so you can really have any dynamic or story that you want with this ship. There’s also a few other details like Tenn being one of the only named, canon, female Irkens in the show besides Tak. ✨The Gay✨ is also a factor.

I’ve mentioned before that I find this ship a bit funny when you take into account how similar Zim and Tenn look, with Tak looking at Zim and thinking “worst enemy, kill on sight” and then looking at Zim with eyelashes and curled antenna and being head over heels, but I got to admit, TaTr has grown on me quite a bit.

It’s one of the only ships I’ve actively searched for (not counting the ships I’ve looked at when searching for platonic content like ZaSr and ZaTr) and I don’t even know why exactly. I just enjoy it.

Do I ship it: I don’t exactly know. I like the ship, but I’m not sure if I’d call myself a avid shipper of it. Probably? You know what? What the hell, my answer is Yes. TaTr is the only ship on this list that gets a yes from me

How I pronounce it: Tatter

Rating: 9/10 (I like this one)

RaPr (Red and Purple romance):

I can definitely see the chemistry between the two of them. They’re practically inseparable in canon, share the same interests and likes and also the line “he LIKES snacks Zim” exists. I’ve seen compilations of the Tallest just called “the Tallest being gay for each other complication” and I completely understand where they’re coming from.

That being said, I have exactly one complaint. The name. If it was structured as “Purple and Red romance” instead of “Red and Purple romance”, it would spell “PaRr” which can easily be pronounced as “Parr”. RaPr had the opportunity to become one of, if not THE ONLY Invader Zim ship that’s actually pronounceable by a human tongue in one universally accepted way, but it actively refused to do so and now I can’t stop pronouncing it like “Wrapper”, which I think, in Tallest Purple’s own words, is a stupid name.

Do I ship it: no, but I have no reason not to. I honestly just refuse to ship it out of spite over the stupid sounding name. That’s the only thing stopping me from shipping it

How I pronounce it: Wrapper

Rating: 8/10 (would be 10/10 if it was spelled as Parr)

PRaZr (Purple, Red and Zim romance):

I don’t usually give this one much thought, but it’s kind of funny when you think about it alongside the actual events of the show. “Invader Zim gets kicked out of the polycule to work eternal food service after permanently ruining a major military operation”

Do I ship it: no. I got no real thoughts on it either

How I pronounce it: Praz-er

Rating: 4/10

PRaDr (Purple, Red and Dib romance):

Wait that’s a thing that actually exists? Really? Neat.

Do I ship it: I literally didn’t know it was a real thing until writing this (so no)

How I pronounce it: Prad-er

Rating: ???/10 (In my opinion, I simply don’t know enough about the ship to say anything. I’m just putting it on this list because I learned about it’s existence while making this post)

Anything with Keef in it (ZaKr, KaDr, etc):

Honestly, I keep forgetting that Keef exists, and the same can be said for any ship involving him.

For ZaKr (Zim and Keef), I can see it as an unrequited crush on Keef’s end, but just can’t see Zim returning any feelings.

For KaDr, I can’t see anything. Apart from the unmade episode The Return Of Keef where Dib teams up with Zim to get rid of Keef, I don’t think they have any real interactions. I could very easily be wrong because I just don’t have a very good memory when talking about Keef, but I can’t think of any times where the two of them interacted positively, or even interacted at all.

Plus, unlike ships like TaTr, where Tenn has no set canon personality and can be molded to fit the story or ship, Keef, despite his lack of appearances, does have a set personality, and both Zim and Dib are very annoyed by it. Keef is one of the only things that can get Zim and Dib to work together, and that’s only so they can get rid of him. KaDr simply has no foundation in my eyes.

However, I have nothing but compliments for the names. ZaKr and KaDr just sound nice to me. I think it’s the “K” adding something that isn’t seen in any other ships. It has an almost exotic sound to it.

ZaKr:

Do I ship it: No

How I pronounce it: Zak-er

Rating: 4/10 (Keef having an unrequited crush on Zim is an interesting idea that I might want to keep in mind and I like how the name sounds, but that’s doing all the heavy lifting. Without those two details, ZaKr would be even lower)

KaDr:

Do I ship it: No, but the name has a very nice ring to it. Even better than ZaKr.

How I pronounce it: Kad-er

Rating: 3/10 (purely because of the name)

Za2r/ZaZ2r (Zib and Zim Number 2 romance):

I don’t really get this one. I get the appeal of ZaDr, and I understand why Za2r exists (evil counterpart to ZaDr) but Za2r just doesn’t work in my eyes.

Ignoring my headcanons for Number 2, the whole point of Zib is that he’s a Dib that’s absolutely lost it and gone down the full xenophobic genocide route, becoming something worse than the very Irken Empire he seeks to exterminate. Putting him in a relationship with Number 2 sort of defeats that whole thing he’s got going on.

Bringing back my headcanons for Number 2, Number 2 is waiting to betray and overthrow Zib at the first possible opportunity, and never gets his chance because of Zib’s virus plan. No relationship between the two of them is going to work out for any amount of time in my eyes or perspective, especially when you factor in my Aroace Zim Headcanon.

This ship is also completely impossible to say out loud. Invader Zim ship names are already hard enough to pronounce on their own. YOU DIDN’T NEED TO ADD A NUMBER INTO IT. If you add a number into the middle of the ship name, my brain is going to bluescreen trying to pronounce it.

ZaZ2r looks like the password found on a wifi router and I’m going to remove a point just because of that.

Do I ship it: No. Not really a fan

How I pronounce it: I don’t because you can’t pronounce this abomination of a name IT HAS A NUMBER IN THE MIDDLE OF IT

Rating: 1/10 (I’d give it a 3/10 if the name wasn’t impossible to pronounce and difficult to read)

DaGr (Dib and Gaz romance):

Fuck no, fuck you, I’m not even going to give this one the time of day. THEY ARE CANON SIBLINGS. THEY ARE BROTHER AND SISTER. Thank GOD I’ve only ever heard of this ship and have never actually seen anything with DaGr in it. It’s so rare that it’s practically nonexistent.

One thing I hate about this ship (besides the obvious) is the name. It’s Dagger. DAGGER!! Why does this horrible ship get one of the best names?! WHY??!

Do I ship it: fuck no I would rather die

How I pronounce it: Dagger

Rating: -9/10 (at least ZaTr [alternate] was only twincest due to a headcanon I have and therefore isn’t universally twincest. It’s only twincest to me (and anyone else with the “Zim and Tenn are twins” headcanon). Dib and Gaz are fully canon siblings. That’s incest no matter how you look at it. Plus I’m super pissed off over the name. Why does the incest ship get the cool weapon name?)

[hargrove-mayfields]

For ST Rarepair Roulette 💕 @st-rarepair-roulette

Word Count: ~5,000

Ships: Billy Hargrove x Chrissy Cunningham and Heather Holloway x Jason Carver.

Warnings: Implied/referenced child abuse, lots of arguing and misunderstandings, very mild references to sexual content.

~~~~~~

“No. Nope. I don’t believe that for one second.”

Gossip. That’s all it is. Heather and Chrissy laying on the former’s bed, legs up against the wall, long hair dangling over the opposite edge of the bed, exchanging silly gossip.

Never the mean kind, Chrissy won’t allow that, it’s mostly their respective crushes and fascinations from school they talk about.

Or specifically, lately how much Heather doesn’t like Chrissy’s taste in boys. Or anybody, for that matter. In her heart of hearts, she knows Heather is just protective.

Still, Chrissy tosses a little stuffed fuzzball of an animal at her friend for that comment, “Hetty! Rude!”

“Look I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that Hargrove has like, actual feelings. I don’t trust him.” Heather elaborates, through her laughter.

See, she’d say the same every time, they both know that. What matters is whether Chrissy is bold enough to go through with it. She never has been so far. It’s one thing to have a crush, but to have someone openly pining back, that’s something more rare.

An opportunity Chrissy wouldn’t like to lose just to please her best friend.

She’ll try to win her over, “One date won’t be bad.”

But Heather will make excuse after excuse, “Every girl says that before the worst night of her life.”

Chrissy rolls onto her front, sighing so heavily the weight of Heather’s mattress lifts up, like she’s turned to the most stressed little helium balloon and floated away. Maybe she did, off into her imagination, taking her common sense with her.

Maybe she’ll entertain Heather’s concerns, but only if they’re productive, “Well how did you know Jason was being genuine?”

Heather's boyfriend. Track and basketball star, high class social asshole. Chrissys has never been a fan, to be entirely honest. Her earliest memories of Jason Carver were of him shoving over smaller kids in their church group and treating every recess game as pro-level sports. She still doesn’t see what Heather finds so charming about him.

She hopes maybe he’d changed, assumes he’d have had to to win over a critical heart like the one guarded in Heather’s chest.

Oh but Heather gives no such benefit of the doubt to anybody else, “I /don’t/ know it. But /my/ boyfriend doesn’t run over innocent children in his free time.. or whatever the hell it is Billy Hargrove gets up to.”

Chrissy has to laugh at that, it's so absurd, “Oh- He does not! Billy’s /nice./”

“Prove it.” Heather challenges, popping a gum bubble between her teeth to assert her seriousness.

“Hetty.” Chrissy warns, uninterested in playing that game.

Her friend isn’t having it. Heather rolls her brown eyes with so much force she literally rolls over on the bed, sprawling out over top of Chrissy like a beloved golden retriever with no respect for sharing space. It’s always been comfortable with her, coexisting without regard to self consciousness and mothers opinions and Godly image. Probably why she lets Heather get away with being a little catty sometimes.

Like now, as she claims, “Oh come on. Make it a game, have some fun, but show me he’s genuine. Or else I’m kicking his ass.”

“Fine.” Chrissy wants to be stern, but she cracks a little smile, her real, bright one, “If I'm supposed to threaten to kick Jason’s butt, I don’t think I’d be able to.”

Heather hums in thought before presenting a solution, “I’ll do the ‘defending of our honor’ if you help me test Jay back.”

“Pinky promise you’ll be nicer to Billy once we get proof?”

“That’s /if/ we get proof, but you have my word.”

The deal is sealed. They lock pinky fingers, one soft pink nailed and one a flaming red shade. In the ten years they’d been friends since Heather joined their class in 1st grade, not a single pinky promise between them has been broken. It just isn’t done.

Admittedly, that’s a lot of pressure. Talking about cute boys doesn’t feel as fun anymore.

Chrissy’s fluttery feelings start to set in, fidgeting with her hands to hope to drive them off. If she had her bracelets on, she’d shake them and enjoy the way they ring from the hard plastics and metals banging together, but it’s late, she’s in her pjs without jewelry. She picks her nails instead.

Redirecting, Heather hands her a stuffed Winnie the Pooh, and asks a question she knows will catch her off guard, “Soooo. What are you gonna do?”

“Hetty, I haven’t had time to think!” Chrissy complains, squishing poor Pooh between her hands, choosing to abuse the stuffed toy with her anxiety instead of her own skin.

“Oh come on. What do boys care about? Cars, sex, and sports. Pick one and he’ll show his true colors.” Heather says it likes it’s all just so easy, and she already knows it all.

Chrissy isn’t as sure. She considers her options,

“Um, sports sounds the least dangerous.. maybe?”

“Until he tackles your little ass.” Heather points out.

There’s a moment where they both sort of stop moving. They both know what Heather is about to do, but Chrissy's defenses are useless to stop it. She scrunches her body up as tiny as can be, but Heather has pounced, poking her sides gently where she knows her friend is ticklish.

Chrissy used to get all self conscious when Heather would do things like that. Not just touching her skin, so close to where she feels her strongest insecurities, but even jokes, little digs that had nothing to do with Chrissy’s appearance would get her down.

They have Billy to thank for the change. Dating or not, William Hargrove isn’t one to hide his affections. Everyone knows he’s had a thing for Chrissy for a while. It’s deciphering whether he’s chasing tail, or chasing the sweet girl he’d shown enough interest in to replenish her view of herself, hung around and flirted and laughed with so freely it healed a part of her broken heart.

She thinks maybe repaying him a little would increase the chances of getting the ball rolling, and getting Heather’s trust. “What if I cheer special for him during one of his games?”

“Uh, no!” Heather shakes her head, rolled curls bouncing in their pillow curlers back and forth, ”That just makes /you/ public about it. And he can spin that if he’s being an ass for real.”

“But I don’t think-“ Chrissy starts to argue, brow knotted.

Heather holds one of her hands, showing she is doing this because she cares, even if she’s being a little harsh, “Honey, I know I’m a cynical bitch, but I don’t want to see you hurt. Save yourself the embarrassment.”

“I don’t- Heather, it’s not embarrassing to be in love!”

A gasp, slow realization dawning. “You’re right. Oh my god, Chrissy you’re so right!!”

Heather kicks her legs with glee, fuzzy slippers going flying. Right out of a movie, she squeals with delight, infecting Chrissy too with her sudden joy.

Chrissy giggles, going along with it, “I am?”

“Uh, yes! It’s perfect!” Heather scoots closer until they’re shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the ceiling together. She talks with her hands, like she’s painting the picture for her. “Don’t /cheer/ his name. /Wear/ it.”

Only, Chrissy doesn’t think she gets it, “...How?”

“His varsity jacket! If a boy gives you his varsity jacket, it’s serious business. They protect those damn things like a firstborn daughter. If you can get Billy to give you his jacket, you might as well be hitched!” Heather explains, a ball of enthusiasm.

Chrissy knows her longing heart starts racing, probably obvious to Heather too this close together, “You actually think that would work?”

Heather flips up so she’s sitting, burning some of her energy in her dramatic motions, “Duh! You show up to a game repping his varsity, baby, that deal is sealed. I’m talking a proposal at the end-zone. A wedding between quarters. I’m talkin’ baby-making under the bleachers-“

Chrissy, face as hot pink as her pj tank top, interrupts all that, “Okay! Okay. That’s… I get it.”

“Do I make you blush, fair lady?” Heather drawls, in an impression of a boy, eyebrow arched, chest puffed out, lips curled, her voiced dropped ridiculously deep-

Chrissy covers her face, trying desperately not to laugh at the ridiculous attempt, “Heatherrr!!”

Heather clutches her chest like she’s wounded, taking on a sort of accent almost from how badly she’s doing her impression, “Ah! My apologies, maiden. How ungentlemanly of me.”

“Nobody talks like that! /Billy/ doesn’t talk like that!!” Chrissy argues, though she giggles at the unseriousness of it all. So it took a while, but Heather always does know how to make her feel better.

They drop the boy talk for a while, choosing to sneak downstairs and grab some snacks at two in the morning once Heather’s parents were definitely asleep, coming back up with a strange homemade trail mix. Dark chocolate chips, raisins, pretzels, almonds and strawberries. Certainly nothing outside of Chrissy’s comfort zone, careful not to push the limits of her recovery, though it’ll probably give them both a stomachache in a few hours regardless.

Leaned against some bean bag chairs right under the open window, enjoying the birdsong and cricket chirps, they share their homemade creation, and better, more smiles and lighthearted stories. Like they used to, before highschool drama and all.

Nearing 4, Heather turns to her, uncharacteristically dead serious, and declares, “I hope he makes you this happy.”

The realness inspires Chrissy to do the prying now, switching roles, hoping her friend will open up to her in kind, “Does Jason make you happy?”

“/Jason/ does. Our parents practically arranging for us to be married from the time we were newborns, hm not so much.” Heather sighs, drawing her knees in. She doesn’t quite shut down, it’s more for comfort, self assurance, which Chrissy understands. She gives her space to collect her thoughts.

“He’s my guy best friend. And I love him. In more than the best friend way. It’d be stupid not to end up together. But god there’s so much pressure!”

“I think you should do the jacket thing too.” Chrissy offers carefully, “I’m doing it to prove /my/ date isn’t a one-hit creep. You can do it just to remind yourself why you love your boy. And that he loves you. ‘Cause I know he does, Heather. But I know you’re afraid he doesn’t.”

Heather has tears in her eyes and a sad smile when she looks at Chrissy, “What is with you quiet girls and secretly being psychics?”

Oh how Chrissy wished she truly were a psychic.

At the beginning, she wasn’t nervous at all. Her and Heather bullshitted all the time, it wasn’t anything serious. But they’re all four on a date, wandering downtown around the various second hand stores, a typical stop for one couple, and the complete opposite for the others.

Seemed as good a time as any to go through with their silly plan, it wasn’t like it would hurt anything. Except she’d tried all kinds of things to get Billy to give her his jacket, and so far, none of them worked even a little! Not browsing through a selection of jackets at the stores, not shivering dramatically, not clinging to his side either.

Chrissy felt a chip in her little heart every time, feeling like maybe Heather was right. All over a jacket. She’d have her heart broken for a little bit of wool and leather.

With her boyfriend's name on it. Her boyfriend who actually holds her hand, and tells her she’s pretty, and doesn’t creep his hands under his skirt constantly.

She doesn’t know if she could get over losing that.

Her gait down the strip is admittedly less spirited, lingering behind Heather and Jay, but Billy never leaves her behind. He engages her in conversation too, hair blowing all over the place around his face, “How the fuck do you go outside in this shit?”

Chrissy looks at him, wearing an amused little smile, “Like, ever?”

“Yeah /ever/, Princess.” Billy sarcastically, but lightheartedly bumps her shoulder lightly with his arm, “Jesus, I should take you to California. Gonna miss winters without tiny fucking knives falling from the sky.”

Heather doesn’t lose track of that comment for a minute. Excited for Chrissy, she tries to plant the seed for their plan,

“What’s the matter, Billy? You too cold?”

“Hell no. But I’m not a chick the size of a baby deer.” Billy remarks, taking the bait perfectly well, rubbing Chrissy’s arms and feeling how cold she is, “Shit, you’re fucking frozen, Chris. Here.”

And without even thinking he peels off his varsity jacket and starts to hand it over.

Used to the cold, and despite her excitement wanting to make sure Billy doesn’t get uncomfortable, Chrissy protests, “No, no, no. Keep it. I can’t let your California sunshine freeze over.”

Billy disregards that, slinging it over her shoulders anyways, “Yeah, well I’m not letting all the fuckin’ little pixies that fly around your head freeze to death either.”

Jason scoffs at him, turning around to walk backwards with the group, teasing, “Dude, what does that even mean?”

Without even looking Heather flicks his ear, getting his attention back, “Just because you don’t understand romance doesn’t mean nobody can.”

He looks at her like a kicked puppy, but Jason is nothing if not stubborn, “Pixies? Sunshine? What happened to- beautiful and charming and butterflies in the stomach?”

“I don’t know, Jason. Maybe you should fall in love again and find out.”

“Who would I fall in love with? Nobody can beat you, Holloway.”

Heather rolls her eyes, flicking her hair like an agitated horse would it’s tail, “Ah, see you almost got a couple points there. Almost. You’re in the negatives though for using my last name.”

He tries to recover it suavely, “I could call you Carver instead?”

But that isn’t Heather's way. She counters intensely, “No. I’m not being a child bride, thank you very much. Besides, who says I’m taking your name? Maybe I could call you Holloway.”

“The.. I- Okay.” Jason just sputters, turning pink up to his ears.

Behind them, still lingering a good ways back, Chrissy hums, warm and cozy in her boyfriend’s jacket, “What are they even arguing about?”

Billy laughs about that, shrugs his shoulders, “Hell if I know. They lost me a long time ago.”

“It’s funny. Heather didn’t think you were good for me, but she fights with Jason all the time.” Chrissy informs him.

Billy stops dead in his tracks. Gently uses his hold on Chrissy's hand to spin her around to face him as he fell behind,

“Hold on. Take a step back. Heather thinks /what/ about me?”

Chrissy’s nerves spike so quickly she gets a little dizzy, “Please don't take it personally. I want my two favorite people to like each other. Please.”

Her beau steadies her, instead of freaking out, “No problem. I just find it.. fuckin’ weird.”

“It’s because of the way you drive. And smoke. And act. She thinks it’s bad for me.” Chrissy blurts, knowing it’s unkind but needing him to believe that she had no part in it.

He doesn’t seem too phased by having Heather’s disapproval, apparently learning faster than most people do, “Big fucking deal. At least you know I love you, right?”

“Mhm.” Chrissy nods her assurance, standing on her tiptoes to kiss Billy’s cheek and seal the promise.

“Right. Tell her she’s the one making Jason cry his damn eyes out the second he gets tipsy on a sip of anything stronger than a fuckin’ soda pop. I’m tellin’ you, Holloway has ripped out his heart and shoved it up his own pansy ass.” Billy sounds bitter, but not overly mean.

It’s something he’s thought about before. Good to know the gossip street goes both ways.

It’s why Chrissy doesn’t feel too bad telling Billy now, “She doesn’t mean to. I think she’s scared.”

“Sacred of Carver?…. He hurt her?” His voice drops, as angry and mean as Heather warned her about.

They don’t talk much about serious things, serious isn’t their kind of fun, but Chrissy knows about Billy’s life at home. About the type of man Billy could’ve been destined to be.

She rushes to make sure he doesn’t turn on his own friend for thinking Jason was the same way, “Oh no! No, not at all. Never. It’s her mom and her daddy. They sort of forced her to date Jason. She wasn’t ready. I think she’s ready now and doesn’t want to admit it. ‘Cause that would be like taking their orders.”

“Fuckin’ parents.” Billy eventually grumbles, not knowing what else to say.

It seems to be a common theme in their group. A bonding experience for all four of them, whether or not they’re open about it.

Chrissy doesn’t really feel like talking about that stuff anymore, sort of just mumbling, “Yeah.”

Because Billy is perfect, and none of the things Heather says at all, and the actual bullies in their lives makes her want to just hide. Billy notices the drop in her mood, and silently slings an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side as they walk. Keeping her close. Safe.

Maybe someday things will work out beyond Hawkins. They have to. Winning the jacket was a silly, small victory, but it was a step.

Now Chrissy just wants, more than anything, her friends to be happy.

She holds onto Billy’s hand a little tighter.

The next time Heather and Jason get together, it’s for a study date at the end of that week. With Heather being a year above, the only class they have in common is the Biology two class Heather failed last year. There’s coloring sheets of bones and cells to be completed, so it’s not like they need each other’s help, but sitting on Heather’s bed coloring with colored pencils didn’t seem like a bad deal either way.

At some point, surrounded by all the color, Heather realizes something,

“Honey. We’re going shopping this weekend.”

Jason barely looks up from his work, focused on being neat close to the lines, “For?”

“Clothes. You’ve worn three white polos this week. I’m bringing some color into your life.” Heather pokes him with the flat end of the white pencil for emphasis.

Jason blinks, caught off his guard, “I wear green sometimes.”

“School colors don’t count. Yellow either.”

“I think I have, maybe, /one/ blue shirt.”

Heather digs in the pile for a turquoise-ish pencil, “Blue! Blue’s.. good! That’s definitely on God’s rainbow. Maybe a nice pair of blue jeans too, for once-“

That’s where Jason cuts it off. Because that’s where Heather went from playfully sharp to flat-out insulting, “Heather, please.”

She stays on the defensive, “I’m just saying. There’s nothing wrong with branching out from your choir boy uniform. That’s all.”

Sometimes it’s like she thinks if she pokes a bruise enough, it’ll make her seem like she’s strong enough to cause them. Like she’s all in charge and nothing can stop her.

Jason doesn’t want to stop her, he just wants her basic respect, “So what do you suggest?”

Not even sarcastic, just genuinely enthusiastic to share, Heather starts, “Pastels! Your hair is way too strawberry to be a dark dresser. Unless you go with emeralds, no more tacky green. Ooh, or even if you grow it out some! You know, actually-“

Jason runs his fingers over his neatly parted hair, protecting it, not hiding the concerned squeak to his voice, “No thank you, I happen to like my hair short.”

“Again, baby. Boring.” Heather just rolls her eyes, once again. Sometimes it’s like that’s all she knows how to do.

It stings.

“Look, if nothing I do is ever going to be good enough-“

Heather doesn't entertain that in the least. She slaps her hand over his homework page, making him look at her, “It’s not /you/. You know that it’s not you.”

No, he didn’t know that. Jason looks at her, confused, “What?”

“Just because you dress yourself, and you drive your stupid little station wagon around parading your image, doesn’t mean there’s not that voice in the back of your head. Maybe… maybe a tight fist too. Telling you what to do. You’re afraid.” Heather talks with her hands, just enough that Jason can see through it.

That she’s being showy to hide something.

Doesn’t mean he’s not been rendered self conscious and bare-souled all the same. He doesn’t like that, even after months with Heather not feeling safe showing her all his tender parts like that, “I don’t want to hear this from you.”

“Oh, so a girl can’t have opinions, huh? I should just spread my legs now and let something else do all the talking?” Heather heats the argument.

Jason just lets his head fall back, frustrated, “I don’t- You /know/ I don’t want that.”

“Oh please do enlighten me then, your graciousness.” Heather forces what Jason is thinking out of him.

So he lets it go, without regard to her feelings, even though he hadn’t wanted to, “Look, I’m not stupid. I know your parents are a problem, Heather. Everyone that’s read the paper knows Tom Holloway isn’t a kind man. You try to hide it, but you can’t keep it from me. And you can’t- just take it all out on me!”

“I wasn’t-“ Heather tries to backpedal.

He still doesn’t let her, “You were! You always have! Nobody has the key to the lock on your heart, but I’ve been trying anyways. And you just shut. me. down!”

“Jason…”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry we didn’t meet for real until high school. I’m sorry I can’t save you because I’ve got my own.. shit to deal with. But, and forgive me for using His name in vain, Jesus fucking Christ Heather!”

“Jason..” Heather repeats, clearly more misty eyed than before, and opens her arms. A hug is letting him in physically, letting him get close even when the words aren’t easy.

Mostly, she hadn’t realized Jason could read her as easily as she could read him.

He takes the vulnerability to mean it’s safe to say, “I love you.”

“I know.” Is Heather’s response. It’s not easy to say it back, not when she chokes on it every time she tries to say it to her ‘problems,’ let alone a highschool boyfriend she was never supposed to fall for, not in her own heart.

It’s enough. Jason keeps holding her, lips against her shoulder, “I’m sorry.”

Heather repeats herself, “I know.”

Nothing else felt right to say. Because she /was/ sorry too, but saying it second would feel ingenuine. At least, she’d read it that way.

She closes her eyes and feels exhausted. It’s not supposed to be this hard. Their school years are drawing to a close, and yet she can’t even admit her own parents treat her like shit.

Maybe a silent tear drop or two drips off the end of her nose behind Jason’s back. If he noticed, he didn’t say a word.

After a while, Heather needs to do something, sitting and thinking and regretting not doing anything to help, “Can we call Chrissy and Billy and go get some ice cream or something?”

“Sure. I think I owe that to you for keeping myself so.. alone.” Jason admits, bashful but genuine.

And isn’t that just the thing. Heather gives him a tiny smile back, “Ditto, baby.”

Ice cream ran into the evening, all of them itching for an excuse to stay out. Chrissy was the last to finish her bowl of two raspberry scoops with sprinkles, half of it melted into sludge by the last spoonful, and even that’s not a distraction enough.

It’s early spring, which means, as the group informed Billy, that the Hawkins drive-in theater was opening back up. Nobody even needed to discuss it to know that’s what they wanted to do. There were a variety of chick-flicks and even more horror sequels in the box office, which meant the two week delay at the drive-in would make for some good choices at least. Most Hawkins residents would take their trucks out there, not some prissy little station wagon, but it would do.

At least, it should, but Billy started getting impatient with cruising along under the speed limit out to the wooded hill where the drive-in is, “Can’t this piece of shit go faster?”

Heather turned around slightly to face and scold him, “Well, we coulda brought yours if you hadn’t decided to buy the extra tiny, no room for fun model.”

Billy just snorted humorlessly, “We could fit if there was any actual fun going on. Leaving room for the Lord or whatever is what fucks it up.”

For that comment, knowing their company, Chrissy pushed Billy’s arm gently. Still, she didn’t seem to disagree too harshly, since she smiled through when he kissed her next.

Heather seemed irritated, though that tends to be her default honestly, as she huffed, “Not everyone’s a sleaze like you, Hargrove. Get used to it.”

Billy hadn’t even justified it with a response, just waved her off and used the same arm to swing it over the seat behind Chrissy. She was wearing his jacket again, hadn’t taken it off all week, curled into his side and wearing his name. In that bubbly way she does, she was also wiggling her hands about, not nervous, but happy.

Content.

Heather and Jason still had a ways to go to reach contentment.

The pair stay in the car for the movie, their counterparts in a blanket on the grass instead. Cali boy is out there freezing his ass off, but he’d said anything would be better than being trapped with relationship drama.

Heather and Jason try to ignore him.

They fail.

Jason turns to her not even a full twenty minutes after that comment starts working it’s way under his skin, “Heather?”

“Hm?” She hums to show she’s listening, but doesn’t look his way.

That’s not enough for what needs to be said, so he repeats, “Heather.”

“Yeah, that’s me. You need something?”

“I wanted- I just…. I’m sorry.”

Her pretty features screw up in confusion, “For what?”

“For not being good enough.” Jason informs, like it was the most clear thing, “You’d be happier with a guy like Billy. Maybe you could call up Steve-“

“No, fuck you if you think I could ever leave you.” She spits.

And then she grabs Jason by the collar of his polo and kisses him.

It’s nothing chaste, nothing at all like their usual peck of the lips. This is roaming tongues and hands.

Heather reigns herself in when she feels Jason’s hands, holding her hips up under the back of her shirt, shaking.

“I’m not gonna make you do anything. Sex isn’t my endgame.”

He sort of freezes, like it hadn’t occurred to him that Heather wouldn’t mind helping him in his devotion to modesty, “So what is?”

“An apartment. Maybe get a cat. I want to share a space with you long before we do marriage shit.” Heather explains lightly, smile on her face.

Jason relaxes his shoulders, “Make it a dog and we’ll see. Dogs are better.”

“Oh, ha-ha. Make it one of each and I’ll forgive you for that comment.”

Heather kisses him again, without any heat or intensity this time, just gentle, soft affection. She even lets him touch her hair, despite usually slapping his hands away for that. It helps that she’d brushed it out to be restyled before bed tonight, but still, she would have let him even if her curls were laying perfect.

When they pull away, Heather lays her head on Jason’s shoulder. Instead of watching Cat’s Eye on the screen, her gaze falls to their friends huddled up outside, and she muses, “How much you wanna bet Chrissy and Billy run away into the sunset?”

“I hope they do. Hawkins is Hell on earth.” Jason asserts, clearly serious because he usually wouldn’t even mention a place like that.

Heather sighs slightly, “Literally. The kidnappings, the murders. I can’t take much more of it.”

Confident, Jason says, “I’m sure they’d make room for us then. If we wanted to go with them.”

That has Heather sitting up straighter, surprised, “You would live in California?”

Sunny skies, living free- it didn’t seem very much his pace. The order and the mundanity of Midwestern life seemed better for Jason.

He just shrugs for now, “Who knows? We’ll see when we get there.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Heather wonders aloud, as she knows it, finding that Jason prefers to have his entire life planned out.

He only sounds a little tense as he tries to sound brave and strong, “Getting there.”

The tension between them had to have been coming from there. She wanted nothing more than to rebel and escape, while he, even when he was feeling crushed by the weight of parental disapproval, was nothing short of desperate to be back in their graces.

If Heather could be more open to discussion when that made her uncomfortable, and Jason less complicit to begin with, the pair would probably be on the right path again.

She lays her head on him again, and this time, Jason takes his arm out of one sleeve of his varsity jacket, slinging it around her like a blanket. Her heart absolutely soars. The promise to Chrissy was fulfilled, she and her honey were working out just fine now, after she’d gotten Billy’s jacket.

That’s gotta be a sign that things will work out for Heather too.

“Hey, Jason?”

“Hm?”

She feels compelled to finally confess, “I love you.”

It’s Jason this time who, after a soft little kiss to her forehead, says, “I know.”

[danganronpa-ship-tourney]

We're all haters here, let's be real. Now I've seen a lot of tournaments and brackets on this website, and I figured I wanted to do my own. Now originally I was planning on making a favorite ship poll but you know what? It's been done. So after I on a whim on my main Danganronpa blog made a ship hate poll that got over FIVE HUNDRED votes in 24 hours I saw we all crave to be haters at the end of the day.

So that's why I'm running this tournament, to find out what ship in the Danganronpa fandom causes the MOST DESPAIR.

Now to help trip down the obvious rage bait ships and because there's 2 million ships, I'm running a survey for you to put down the ships you think deserve to be here so only the ships people already have some ire towards get put in. Though don't be afraid to show your hated rarepair, do you think Komaru/Kokichi is the worst ship of all time? Please tell us it'll be so funny to put on the brackets. Multiple submissions are allowed! As well as submissions from more niche Danganronpa content like the books or anime! Cross content ships are also allowed! No oc fangans though!

Now I want a clean fight, the rules here are simple. While propaganda and all that fun stuff is encouraged, let's not be dick to actual people! No sending hate for voting wrong or whatever.

For example; "Man I hate this ship vote for it" or "Why is this ship here I love this ship don't vote for it" is fine! "man I hate this ship and this creator specifically because their art sucks" or "if you vote for this ship you're genuinely homophobic and I'm going to send you anon hate" is not! We may be haters, but we are people as well, so we should act like people.

With that out of the way, let the submissions for the tournament begin! I will be taking submissions for the rest of the month.

Now lets be haters together and may the ship even Junko would find utterly despairing win!

[myfaveisfuckable]

Rants!

You x my mom: (ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻

┻━┻︵└(´Д｀└)

┻┻︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵┻┻

(ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻

T_T at least they're a team but I wanted a naruseku sweep ( ≧Д≦)

Narcistoru/secretoru: Yeah i can gurantee this is the only submission for them for Some Reason. Because no one ships them. Like i have searched the internet far and wide and turn up with like. Close to literal zero. And here's the thing, this is entirely illogical. They work together in this evil group and their deals are essentially that they're. Unhappy people. At first you think they're just annoying but actually they're annoying snd Extremely Miserable. In silly ways, they are such losers and so cringefail. I could write an essay on both of them individually, but basically i love how their focus isn't on being better people, it is on being happier. Individually.

The show is divided into clear parts of who is the main antagonist at the time which really makes you FEEL how unhappy they each are. They're a group but they're also not bc they choose to be unhappy ad get on each other's nerves about it and that's a prime focus of their characters. Anyway, these two make me insane, they spend a lot of time together during the middle part of the show, bc the first villain is gone so now it's just the two of them and their leader who isn't doing much yet. After this part, one of them, narcistoru, is defeated so he's gone for the time being. But these two, they hate each other SOOOOOOOO much it's insane. This is because Narcistoru is an annoying bitch and Secretoru hates that. And they're both generally insane people with dumb beliefs and issues that they view wrongly. It's just so glorious to see them annoy each other so much. Post Narcistoru's main screen time, he gets his conclusion episode. He escapes from prison and Secretoru is supposed to retrieve him. But like not because they need him, in fact, they absolutely did not care that he was arrested because none of these people give a flying fuck about each other. It's just that he wasn't supposed to be a risk. Secretoru and Narcistoru have a rather petty and hilarious fight. Because you see. Now they don't have to get along. They are not on the same side. So the hostility is really thriving here. In fact, she manages to capture him, and while fighting the pretty cures (magical girls), hensays some annoying shit and she goes "actually i changed my mind" and shoves him off this rock in order for the monster (they always summon one) to fucking kill him. Like she tries to murder him in cold blood soley because he's annoying and this was entirely inevitable actually. She wants that twink obliterated. They don't bring this up again in the finale when they're both in prison. They just. Kind of hang out now. They've reached a level of tolerance.

And you may think "why do you ship this" LOOK. THEIR INTERACTIONS. ARE SO FUNNY. IT'S JUST. A VERY FUN SHIP. BECAUSE THEY'RE HILARIOUS. The hostility is so great and i think it would be neat if they had some t4t hatesex. It would solve nothing. They mske each other so much worse. But it would be very hot. Also secretoru has a general "can you shut the fuck up" attitude towards him. I don't even technically ship it but i ENJOY the ship.

And yet. I am so alone in this which is insane because i definitely expected ship content for them even before i actually wanted it myself.

But no, of course people ship Narcistoru with actual fifteen year olds. Like so much. And there is ZERO content for the ship with the other Actual Adult that he interacts with on a regular basis and who he has a fantastic and entertaining and INTERESTING dynamic with. So basically, i am not just sad, i am also SO SALTY. They are so insanely rarepair despite being an absolute epic duo. Awesome crackship, 10/10, literally comedy

Obiwan/grievous: Ok so this is a HUGE crackship and some people are not going to agree but like, Obi-Wan is what comes to mind when you think of the jedi and Grievous hates the jedi as a whole because he believes them to the cause of his mutilation and the suffering of his people, but the jedi are not the ones who did this. Grievous is a pawn in the game of the sith and he doesn't realize that his mind has been altered against his wishes or that he will be desposed of as soon as the war ends. Obi-Wan is a compassionate man and is able to consistently go toe to toe with Grievous, making him a rival Grievous can't help but respect in a weird way (his people are warriors, for all we know, fighting could be a method of flirting to his people yaknow? And obiwan genuienly flirts as a way to throw off his enemies, think of the comedic potential if Obi-Wan didnt realize how MUCH hes been a flirt or if Grevious acctualy gets flustered by it because obiwan is such a competent fighter and IF ONLY HE WASNT THE ENEMY-) If Obi-Wan knew what happened he would have tried to make amends and help his people, and if Grievous learned that it was Dooku (a former jedi turned sith) who turned him into a monster against his will, he'd probably be willing to team up with Obi-Wan to bring down Dooku and the Sith plans for Galactic domination to avenge and to protect his people, and they would be an absolute powerhouse since they are already familiar with eachothers way of fighting and from a writers point of view its filled with so much potential angst and drama, and hijinks, and even enhances the plot and creates parallels between the two that the franchise has never bothered to make and it has so much potential even if they don't fall in love they could be really good friends/partners/allies and if order 66 goes as planned they would be badass rebels its such an overlooked possible dynamic PLEASE 🥺

Nightmare Polycule: The cursed creation of like. 4 people on a niche fandom discord. Polycule consisting of pretty much every adult character in the series. It's awful and somehow the best thing ever. The potential for both crack and angst is unmatched. The divorced parents energy is OFF THE CHARTS. Marcia realizes she is a morosexual and has a crisis about it. Gringe confronts his prejudices by falling for a no-good wizard. Jillie Djinn is Marcia's ex and also dead and also GHOSTING ON HER COUCH which makes it very hard to bring her boyfriends over. Marcellus tries to be dramatic about the fleetingness of human life (except his) and gets made fun of until he confronts his trauma instead. Sarah and Mrs Gringe are having tea and getting a break from the drama.

[chainofclovers]

A fandom thing that brings me great discomfort is the assumption that "all" queer fans are naturally going to flock around a single ship, and if you don't see it happening you're definitely straight and possibly homophobic. Those are some wild things to assume!

(I'll note a bit of added context here: I don't participate in Twitter fandom, so Discord and Tumblr are my main exposures to character and ship discourse, and AO3 and Livejournal and fansites are the current and past places I've consumed fic. When I'm into a show, I tend to read widely in the main tags even if I usually gravitate towards one or more favorite ships.)

In my current fandom, my inclinations are mostly centered around a m/f ship as well as multi-shipping a variety of monogamous and poly ships (many/most of which are queer). This is a bit of a departure from most of my previous fandom experiences, which have been centered around very subtextual f/f ships in fandom spaces where the fic-writing and discourse is nearly entirely centered around femslash. My corner of this current fandom includes tons of queer fans (of which I am one), as well as plenty of fans who don't identify as queer. In all the fandom spaces I'm in and in all the pairings (and gen fic) I enjoy from this show, there tends to be a lot of nuanced exploration of gender and sexuality, including explorations of queerness, including within transformative works about that popular m/f ship.

Over the last few weeks, I've watched the ship wars in my fandom, which used to be largely focused around that m/f ship I happen to love, kinda shift into what I think is a bit of an emerging-from-within defensive campaign for a popular m/m ship.

(Some more context: I have zero interest in engaging in ship wars. I believe all ships with adult characters are valid ships. I am invested in what will happen in the canon of this show, but "endgame" has never been the driver for my participation in any fandom, and I'd be shocked if I don't continue to create transformative works about my favorite ships for months and years to come regardless of what happens with the show. I personally don't adore the popular m/m ship, although I definitely see the chemistry and for most of the time this show has existed, I've appreciated the enthusiasm for the characters and the ship even if it's not my cup of tea. I enjoy both characters and their canonical relationship, and completely understand why the romantic ship is very popular.)

I find it genuinely kind of funny and amusing that for ship war participants fighting for basically any ship within this fandom, the arguments they experience from antis are incredibly similar--for character x and character y to get together, or for character x and character z to get together, it would be cliche, it would be tired, it would be unnecessary, we already have plenty of rep like that, or there's no way these characters could make sense as rep like that, there's nothing in the text that supports this ship, etc.

What feels newer is this insinuation that to opt out of shipping a particular thing means you are unable to see it. If you just don't prefer it or don't predict that it will happen in canon, that must mean that you believe the people who do see it happening are delusional, and therefore you are the enemy.

And attendant with that viewpoint is this idea that there are only two options in media: "the" queer ship will go canon, or the entire show is a big queerbaity setup. Does queerbaiting exist? Yes! Is it happening right now? No! Queerbaiting is, essentially, a broken promise from creator to fan.

The reason all this bums me out try as I might to ignore it and continue having a grand time is multifold: it's a gender thing and a rarepair thing and a thing about ship-as-campaign that saps the fun and joy out of (sub)text and text and the beautiful mystery of watching a story unfold faster than anything.

The gender thing: the show I'm talking about has a character who identifies herself as bisexual in the first season. Do I want more about that story? Do I think that story could and should take up more space? Yes! But is it there? Absolutely. And it's been disheartening to see people either ignore her completely or chalk this part of the story up to "lame jokes" as if humor and flirtation are less-than or inauthentic ways to engage with one's sexuality. It's disheartening to hear people talk about how they hope this show will have its first queer representation when there's been a queer woman on the show the whole time.

The rarepair thing: fic writers, presumably of every orientation under the sun, have been creating very queer fic about a multitude of characters on this show (including, notably, characters who are women) this whole time. There are queer pairings with twenty or fifteen or even three, two, or one stories in their tag. And it feels like lately all these pockets of fandom, regardless of what we've been writing, are getting lumped into this generic "straight" soup of people who lack the vision for the thing that's now "the" thing. But the things that made me want to write queer fic (and, yes, m/f fic) about all these characters, including one of the characters who is part of the popular m/m fic, are things I picked up in the source material, too.

The ship-as-campaign thing: it's exhausting. And it takes something that's pretty inherently queer--the communal act of engaging with a text and transforming it in a million beautiful (or depraved, or silly, or gross, or genre-defying) ways--and splinters it into factions. And assumes stupidity (or outright bigotry) on the part of those who don't see it the exact same way you do. Of course there's bigotry in this fandom, and among casual viewers. It's shit. So why invent more of it that isn't there when we could all focus on eradicating what is there? I don't think there's anything wrong with hoping fervently that you get to see the love story you want to see play out onscreen. That's absolutely how I feel. It's the way this stuff gets treated like a political platform that needs to do numbers to win...that's what bothers me, regardless of which ship it's about.

This has gone on way too long and I very easily might end up regretting making this post, which is very obviously about the thing it is about. If you reblog it, do NOT use it to campaign for any ships or belittle anyone for enjoying the ships they enjoy. PLEASE. Every single one of the ships is great and interesting and worthy of being explored by fandom, and you're selling fandom and community and queer culture short if you assume all the queers have to go in one room and all the straights have to go in another. We can be excited about the things we're excited about without making those hurtful assumptions and making ourselves miserable over a thing that is actually extremely cool.