#and I a also ship with a twink like character that i know they'll never canonically date that I've hyper fixated on :)

[iceysnow]

istg men will be like: "yeah i love being married!" then not want to be forcefully castrated (possibly die but who cares?) and forced to be a bride forever in an insane asylum to a delusional incel serial killer with childhood trauma and anger issues 😐😴😑

[maxemilianverstappen]

Hey I am a new f1 fan and i have to say Lestappen is the reason I actually got into f1 recently and I jus realised that Lestappen is the most followed ship tag on f1 tumblr. Why do you think ppl seem to navigate towards Lestappen even though as a ship, we hardly get content as opposed to some other ships, say, Maxiel piarles carlando etc.

Like the amount of fics for Lestappen or their dynamic in general seem to attract more fans than the usual f1 ships. I wonder why. Is it cuz of the enemies to lovers trope or cuz both of them are cuties who have a seemingly intriguing vibe between them or ?

Hello new fan 👋

I can't speak for everyone, but I can talk about why I came to like them:

Purely from an aesthetic perspective, they look absolutely irresistible together. They are both very handsome/pretty guys. They really have this beautiful and vibrant energy around them as individuals, and when they are together, they look like someone's fever dream. So, it is very understandable for people to look at them and think: "Wow, these two would look so fucking hot doing nasty/bad/good/horrible/lovely things to each other, let's write them down so everyone can agree with me."

But it is never just this simple.

Lestappen's true allure lies in the way that their destiny seems to be literally intertivined from day one.

Their past before their F1 careers is filled with so much lore as I am sure you're having fun reading about. They have literally been racing against each other since they were toddlers. Everyone who knows them both says that they are of equal talent in different flavors. That they are generational talents and if they're given the machinery and team atmosphere that they deserve, we'll be in a delicious few years of them fighting for championships against each other (i am looking at you, ferrari). So, the childhood rivals narrative is already grand. At this point, I need to say that I liken them to a reverse Brocedes (brocedes were childhood best friends who broke apart as adults due to their championship rivalry. Lestappen is childhood enemies who as adults became closer and I hope if they get to fight for a WDC, they'll get even more closer like Launt and Makkinen.)

They fit all the popular media tropes both as a couple and as individuals:

They are the Sun and the Moon, the Red Oni&Blue Oni, the Fire and Ice/Water. All the best dichotomies you can think of... Dichotomies are attractive for people and in narration because they generally deal with people sewn from the same cloth who have turned out different due to their circumstances, meanwhile being fundamentally the same. Like both sides of a coin...

They also both fit into these contrasting roles and subvert the trope, too. (I am on the 'subvert the fanpopular assigned roles' team because people cannot be fit into simple stereotypes.)

More than the Enemies to Lovers trope (which i always approach varily because most people write Max like a brute and Charles as a helpless damsel), I think the Fated/Starcrossed Lovers, the Mirror of One's Self/One's Better Half/Soulmates tropes are much more explorable and lend themselves to character study better. Because, their situation looks both simple and yet very complicated.

Of course, I am speculating here as a fanfiction author who works on what I can see/read about these men, but apart from the "differents attract" and the "twink/hunk" flavoured fics going around, what pulls people in is how they seem to have been literally created for each other, this connected by the red string of fate thing they have going on. Their whole worlds seem to be revolving around each other:

They just can't help themselves about showing their fascination with each other (one more so openly and loudly, the other is a bit reserved about it, but slowly slipping and it is delicious to watch).

They are each other's both destinied and chosen rivals (God, the intimacy of this shit right here... leaves no room for anyone else to even be an "afterthought" as long as they have each other in their sights as their target).

The single minded attention they have for anything the other does even if they pretend to not pay attention (they do).

The tension between them. (Sometimes spicy with adrenaline and the need to best the other and sometimes tasting like soft, years long unnamed yearning).

Unnamed, unlabeled... as if the moment they put a name on it, call it friendship, joke about it as a bromance, it will turn into something especially Charles doesn't seem that ready to embrace. Yeah, this is them... They have certainly been something for each other for years, since they were kids... That something grew with them, evolved, sometimes had very sharp edges, sometimes soft and fluffy... the way it never died off, never tapered off even when you think Max has become everything Charles has ever wanted to be, gained everything he has ever wished for meanwhile Charles can only watch and possibly blamed himself for falling short and feeling admiration warring with jealousy in his heart whenever Max looks back at him with an expectant smile as if wanting to share his happiness with him. Possibly hoping that one day, when Charles achieves his dream, he will also look at him with a soft smile and be happy with him, too.

God, it must have twisted Charles' heart so badly when he realized that Max genuinely wants to share his joy with him instead of how he expected him to rub it in his face like many others have done to each other and many people believed Max would have done to him. The way Max is so soft and sunny and kind and thoughtful when Charles must have been expecting a merciless killing machine ready to tear him apart both with his words and his on track moves. But the reverse happened and it is so compelling, like, how the hell Max can be so soft for this guy who repeatedly said he hated him in the past as if he wanted to keep the distance as stable as possible. Lol, it is like we are watching an ice castle named Charles crumble irl, and I bet it is a spectacle for the people of the fandom.

And also, the way Charles can be written as someone who thinks he has more to lose if he falls for/accepts his love for Max, because he might feel he is always going to lose to him and never win against him in a meaningful way... (Here, I must say I don't like the fics where they write Max willingly losing to Charles after they become an item. Charles wants a fight and wants it especially from Max, because in his eyes only Max's kind of fight is both "just" and on par with the way he believes what racing is actually about. This is what made him fall in love with the sports and also with Max.) This right here is soooo juicy to pass for the lovers of angst. You can write Max as his mirror that he both wants to smash and also adore like narcissus did, the way you can write them as soulmates in which Charles feels trapped by his fate, the way you can write them as My Better Half whom I hate....

They elicit a huge emotional response in the fans/consumers of fanworks. So, it is only understandable for people to seek out those strong emotions again and again. They induce heart palpitations and it is an addicitive rush of serotonin and dopamine, so who are we to deny ourselves the pleasure of enjoying them?

[super-hero-confessions]

"he's so fruity and subservient lol what a crybaby! look at his mommy issues how pathetic hahaha i hate men!"

wow.

of all the things i expect from homelander fan girls, deeply rooted sexism and homophobia wasn't part of it. i shouldn't be surprised because i've gotten used to all the other issues across the fandom but in truth i shouldn't have to get used to any of that and this is really gross.

this kind of stuff is exactly the reason men will refuse to be vulnerable. if every single time they show just a hint of it, they're made fun of, called "pathetic" and made to feel ashamed of their own vulnerabilities and humanity, they'll learn that the very same humanity and vulnerability is "undesirable" and not something they should show or ever share. it will hurt them and they in turn will hurt others.

this is the kind of stuff that kills off the empathy men could have and perpetuates toxic masculinity, and it hurts to see that in predominantly feminine spaces because y'all should know and understand exactly what it feels like to have your humanity or vulnerability belittled or questioned, but then you turn around and do that to others?

the masculine side of homelander fans have their own issues and i won't deny that, but i've never seen them blame homelander for getting groomed into severe "mommy issues" by madelyn stillwell or try to reverse the victim/abuser dynamic between them. i've never seen them belittle him for having a reason to cry or just doing anything that is genuinely human. i've never seen them dehumanize or objectify him in such a way that he is an infantilized caricature of stereotyped feminine ideals that just ooze toxic heteronormativity and secret self insert hiding in his skin.

i've never seen them laugh at him for the automatic trauma responses he has as a result of his upbringing, like how camera trained he is. that's fucked up that he has involuntary responses to cameras being present, and i saw some fans concerned and sharing their empathy for that. but i also saw some fans laughing at that and it wasn't the men.

i won't even deny that i'm sure there are masculine fans who do all of these things, but consider that it may be for all the wrong reasons. and those reasons may be the same regardless of where they are.

the internalized misogyny where femininity and victimhood is forcibly tied to submissiveness or bottomhood and how either are treated is nauseating. even if homelander were more effeminate or truly did enjoy feminization, why is this something this part of the fandom acts as though this is shameful or something to make fun of, or some way to "punish" him? this isn't championing progressiveness and free expression. when consistently attached and implicit as something "negative" in a man, framed in a way that's not unlike "bullying", it's ignoring complexities or trauma, misunderstanding them, disregarding humanity and free expression, and showing off homophobia and misogyny among other things.

if you can't make or don't like your "gay" ships, especially but not limited to, as anything besides a hypermasculine "straight" dominant top and a hyperfeminine "twink" submissive bottom and will look for any excuse under the sun to justify fitting the characters into these preordained molds, negating alternative possibilities such as two masculine gays or two feminine lesbians or vice versa and anything in-between? it may be time to reevaluate your own biases and prejudice as an "ally".

the above is what heteronormative fetishized "gayness" looks like, in which queer people are just caricatures for the enjoyment of straight people.

i don't mind people having fun, i want them to. but some critical thinking and self awareness would sure be nice.

let's be clear.

being a victim, showing vulnerability, humanity, having trauma responses. none of that is "pathetic" and the constant shaming of it is what destroys the humanity and empathy in people and normalizes the abuse.

what's "pathetic" is the ableism, victim blaming, victim shaming. what's pathetic is the abuse that even homelander dishes out, but people are still so trained to idealize and revere and respect abuse and abusers. in this case, there's an added edge of toxic masculinity, internalized misogyny, and homophobia, but it all leads back to the same place. deeply ingrained in our own culture, and especially white and religious culture, though certainly not limited to it.

i shouldn't be surprised because of the world we live in, but i would have liked to have a bit more hope for this fandom and media because of what it's trying to teach people. maybe i should know better by now but i won't stop hoping.

"humanity" is not "pathetic".

it's human.

[trashprinceward]

Lack of interaction bothers everyone, you're not saying things that don't make sense. It hurts and it's relatable. Problem is that the more you complain about people not interacting, the faster they'll leave. For example, its not true you never had fanart of your AUs. I remember when you got both text and art for it. You still do sometimes. Less than I could say about me myself, you know? Or many others in this community. You're lucky because you are one of the few people who can say this happened to them. Everyone wants it. You had it and yet you complain it's not enough. It's normal that people who did, might not feel appreciated by you anymore. Because you don't seem to remember it. Sometimes you make comments about how weird it is that people don't like the way you draw Faith characters, but at the same time you jab at those who draw John or Garcia looking too slim for your standards. Or too young. Once a person got nervous, tagging the fandom and telling them to stop drawing John in ships with old men. You didn't like to read that, rightfully like many others. Because people draw what they like. And yet you tag in the fandom and say things like "finally people stop drawing him as a twink! He's not one!" as if you are the only right one here. Maybe they also use their bodies as reference. You're angry and you don't realize you hurt people with what you say. You also talk about how you want your ship to be liked more but people like what they want. Insisting won't change anything. You act like you're the only unlucky one with nobody posting John and Garcia. If people don't like it, you can't make them like it. Which isn't even true, since there are many fan fictions out there on AO3. How many did you link on your page, saying "hey, fellow followers, go read this one!" to give them a hand? How many fan art did you draw for those people who like a ship you say to be less famous? There are people out there that I've seen liking ships I don't even care about who support each other. Such small ships that are even hard to consider. They don't attack, they don't insist. Criticizing Garyjohn and having people leave happened because not many like to have something they like criticized, people get touchy. But it also depends on how you write it. For example I don't care about Garyjohn. I don't even like it, I just shrug and ignore exactly as I shrug an ignore Johncia, because yes. I don't like it. Yet I followed you. Neither are ships I like but that infamous thing that happened some days ago on AO3 made me very angry too. You never did something like that. But you won't decide how sensitive a person is to things they like. About the pillows, it was an investment you decided to do by yourself. I don't know how many people wanted it, how many didn't see it. But it's not always other's fault if your art doesn't get reblogged, if you didn't reach enough people. I don't know how marketing works. I don't know how you guess how many people might be interested or not. This time it went poorly, and it hurts. But it's not our fault. And, we never wanted you to get hurt from drawing too much. Yet you had to almost make us all feel guilty because of that. Because you got hurt. I didn't want you to get hurt. I never told you to work faster and harder.

Happy ides of March everyone!

[busghost]

How big would you want HI to get? I feel like the game deserves more attention, but I don’t know if I’d want to see it blow up so to speak

I would like it if Honkai Impact were more popular, it's my favorite story from pretty much anything and I’d love for more people to experience it. But also, seeing what happens in really big fandoms just makes me scared. Through barely interacting with Genshin twitter I can say that it's just terrifying because you'll get the typical scary fans like "weeb who can only view the characters as sex objects" or "so far up their ass with being the purity police that they can see daylight again". And those people just make it not fun to interact with people. You'll try to start a conversation with one about the themes and relationships or whatever and just get "I want o fuck her, her being 14 makes it better/SEGGGGGGS" or "UM ACKSHUALLY BRONYA SAID RETARD ONCE SO YOU'RE WORTH LESS THAN DOGSHIT AND DESERVE TO DIE" as a reply.

Obviously these are just loud minorities but it's still not fun.

And Honkai is a popular game! Just NOWHERE near as popular as something like Genshin Impact which is what it will always be compared to because they're from the same developer. I saw a report of the revenue from Honkai and Genshin and Genshin made thirty times more money in one month ($2 million vs $60 million). Honkai is still very popular, especially if you look outside NA and EU. Maybe GI is more popular cause it has shippable twinks and fandom will always care more about mlm ships. Seriously Su x Kevin is the #3 ship on AO3.

It's also hard to get people into hi3 because, let's be honest. The game starts off SLOW and in the middle of the story. The main characters' story begins in like 2014 but the game starts 2 and a half years later. And then you mention the comics because there's even more story for context and they want to play it even less cause they'll never believe you that Second Eruption is AMAZING. It would be nice if it were more popular cause it could financially justify the anime everyone's been begging for so long.

Tl;DR : more popular would be nice, but big fandom scares me so hopefully not as big is Genshin

[porcelaintoybox23]

Four issues I had with Arcane

(Because obviously everyone cares what I think /j)

1. Art and animation. 10/10. I only give it a 9/10 because of the overuse of slow-mo. Seriously, it's only impactful when used sparingly. I don't need the fight scene between Deckard and the kids in slow-mo.

2. The characters I give a 8/10. I took off a point because of Vi. I feel that they sacrificed a lot of her character for a ship. She was locked in a prison for years and it's outright stated that she was beaten regularly. She needs more trauma around that and enforcers who she has good reason to hate. She's only vaguely antagonistic to Caitlyn, and has a "romantic" bond appear in all of three days. Girl was ready to go to war with Piltover and was jailed by an enforcer and....nothing? Okay...

Another point off is the black characters. Whoo boy. Sky was fridged. Ekko has barely any development, which I hope they'll fix next season. Mel got better over time, but something doesn't sit well with me by having a black woman be shady and corrupt and a sex buddy with Jayce. Also the way she treated Viktor…

I hated Ambessa. I don't like seeing a black woman who has a more natural hair style be depicted as violent, muscular, aggressive, dressed in black in comparison to her daughter(dressed in white, more feminine) who lives in the more "civilized" city. She's overtly sexual and sexual aggressive to the white twink. I get that many of you are slobbering over a buff woman but it still doesn’t make it any less problematic. I couldn’t explain why she made me so uncomfortable but @siryouarebeingmocked put it into words.

3. The relationships. 7/10

Vicait: I have complained enough.

JayMel: unnecessary but still made more sense than vicait.

Ekko and Jinx: if they had shown them interacting the way Vi and Ekko did, I could see it. Beautiful scene that didn’t hit as hard as it could have.

4. Caitlyn and her gun (no score)

This was a wasted moment that should have been saved. They destroyed the true impact of Caitlyn giving up her gun for Vi for ship bait. They could’ve worked out a different way to get Vi and Cait to the slums.

Imagine how great this moment would have been if we had seen their relationship build up over a season or two. If Vi was given time to heal from her trauma. (Admittedly I find that dumb since uh ACAB and Piltover legitimately sucks). Have their adventure through this season last longer. Have that trust truly earned so that this moment is poignant. I love shipping, but shipping will never be my priority over a good story. Yes there can be mediocre queer love stories, god knows there are a million straight ones, but I'm not giving credit where there is none due. I'm not asking for 15+ seasons and a translation error, just more time at least in show.

Arcane is a great show, with some hiccups, but I'm looking forward to season 2. It's also great evidence of what happens when you give creatives the resources and time to do their craft. This show is lovingly created, except for the Imagine Dragons insert but we still live under a capitalist system. I won't fault them for that.