#and people in this fandom dont seem to understand how complicated her relationships are

[maaaxx]

📓for the ask game. Gimme all the juicy details on a fic you haven’t written yet <3

okay so like i have this one mutual that got me really into shipping Sokka and Azula, (@balsa-margarita , hey bestie <3). And I really want to do something with that, But I have no confidence whatsoever in writing Azulas pov. I do, however have full confidence in writing Sokka and his pov. I feel like I depict him better than any other canon character I write, so maybe I can work with that.

this specific idea is still very new and im still working through the specifics but like, you know those Zuko stories where something happens that throws the course of the story completely away from canon and Zuko's redemption arc coils around that event like a snake and like launches him into Sokka's arms and a lot of his redemption is deeply inbedded in Sokka too??? (Think 'The Art of Burning, Leaving it all behind/Risking it all, Blue I think is another one) I want something like that, but like Azula.

Maybe even without the shipping part of it, but I really want to do a fic where Azula gets an actual support system and has her 'redemption' revolve around that, whether that be the gaang, the water tribe, ty lee and mai or even maybe ursa or zuko if i feel like having the 'repairing relationships' thing a part of it.

i also really want a large portion of that story going into her relationship with zuko and what specifically went wrong there and how it can be fixed to where they act like normal siblings and not what you see in canon. Same with Ursa and Iroh.

[aanglican]

I actually find the relationship between Aang and his children super interesting and complex, in ways the fandom rarely explore, it usually just falls into the "LOK is BAD because they made Aang a bad father" when that is not at all what was intended with that. Aang was a complicated person struggling with balance and what rubs me wrong is people dont read into his children either, they just focus on Aang. For example Kya, who now older and on her own, seems to crave a sense of spirituality and connection to the world, yet rejected it in when she was young as she herself admits, is she trying to connect to her father's beliefs now that he isnt around due to feelings of loss or loneliness, guilt, etc? does she feel separated from the others? or how Bumi chose a life of adventure and "heroics" due to feeling inadequate next to the legacy of his father and still year after his father's passing, doesnt really know if his father noticed this or even approved.. Aang clearly loves his children and they love him but there is so much here that lays in subtle readings. It feels very real, like this is how families actually behave, with so many unclear and complicated feelings.

i love your suggestions for each child’s behavior. kya with her waterbending could have shunned her air nomad half in response to (or to cope with?) her not being an airbender like tenzin & bumi could have used sokka or suki or any other prominent nonbender in his childhood as idols due to having neither ability of his parents and siblings. there’s a lot of expectations and insecurities in this family that couldn’t be solved even if aang was present 100% of the time.

as for aang alone, i never got the impression he was a bad father either— if he were then we would hear of it from katara but she never says anything bad about him. instead she’s understanding and knows exactly what it’s like to have one’s culture ripped from you: the air nomads were wiped out but so were southern waterbenders. that is their most tragic link together. kya and bumi clearly felt alienated from aang and tenzin as they were not airbenders, which may have also resulted in a conscious choice to step back from embracing their air nomad heritage. clearly aang had too much duties for one man— he is the avatar and the only airbending master both— so he could not devote equal amount of time and attention to all his children.

tenzin has gone on trips with his father alone but the fact that he conflates these memories with those he’s spent with his siblings means aang included kya and bumi in trips as well. it’s not like kya and bumi were dead to aang the second tenzin came out looking like an air nomad. i even think those fun memories tenzin has with aang were rewards after aang had dragged him to boring events and diplomatic trainings & whatnot. i can totally picture aang taking a tour of kyoshi island after introducing tenzin to the fire nation court or something. “before we get home to your mom, why don’t we let loose for a bit at XYZ?” et cetera.

i love aang’s relationship with his kids as well as toph’s. sometimes i wish we knew about zuko and izumi more, even. i love it when our child heroes aren’t always the most squeaky clean adults. it happens, the circumstances make the outcome realistic, and it makes their dynamics interesting. no one growing up with child soldiers-turned-world leaders for parents are going to have perfect outlooks on themselves nor their ancestors.

[distort-opia]

do you ever think that joker's character would be hated less if harley was never created? dont get me wrong i love her, its just that her inclusion in the first place was for joker to beat the gay allegations and the abuse isnt rlly fun imo. whining about this is kinda pointless since we cant change the past but i just wanted to hear how you feel about this topic

Mm. This is a bit complicated. I know that it's a popular belief, the idea Harley Quinn was created to make Joker appear less queer, but that's not entirely rooted in fact. Not saying this motivation didn't play a role at all, but if you read up on Harley's origins, some writers involved were against her becoming a regular character on BTAS because it would humanize Joker too much to have a love interest; that was a significant concern. When introducing her to main comic continuity, Dini specifically had Joker be as dark and murderous towards her from the start, and this persisted in most comics featuring them afterwards.

It's not Harley's sheer existence that contributed to the hatred for Joker's character in recent times, in my opinion. It's three combined factors: her redemption arc for the past decade or so, Joker's abusiveness towards her, and the fact she was given a female love interest in Poison Ivy (which turned her into explicit queer representation). The draw of Harlivy as a ship and of Harley being depicted as an abused woman standing up for herself was understandably massive, for a big segment of fandom. And unfortunately, many were eager to forget about Harley's past crimes and choices because of this; after all, it's not difficult to just blame Joker for all the "evil" parts of Harley in order to justify her actions. Joker undoubtedly had a big influence, but it really takes away from her character if her agency is denied entirely (I do hate this recent cross-fandom tendency to take conflicted darker characters and sanitize them). And there is something to be said about Joker being written as a one-dimensional abusive asshole, in order to uplift Harley's character arc and make her triumphs over him more impactful. It is a pity... while I can't say I am a fan of Harley, I find her interesting, and her relationship with Joker has some fascinating aspects to it that get downplayed and ignored in this wave of oversimplification. The main reason she stayed with him was because she thought there was humanity to him, and that she could be the one to bring it out. The tragedy of it, of course, is that she's not wrong-- it's simply that Joker is pretty much incapable of seeing anyone other than Batman as an equal and a fellow human being. Joker does care about her in his own twisted way, but as an extension of himself; a possession, something he created. He also treats her as an extension of himself, which is to say... badly. Because despite how contradictory it might seem at first glance, Joker is suicidal and self-loathing.

Anyway, an analysis of Jarley isn't the point of this :)) To make a long story short, it's true that Harley never being created would've led to none of this happening... but thing is, I do think a female sidekick was inevitable. If they didn't give Joker Harley Quinn, they would've come up with a different character like her eventually, and then who knows where that would've gone. And even if you try to imagine a world with Joker having no one like Harley in his story... the current hatred towards Joker in Tumblr and Twitter circles is quite intertwined with the rise of purity culture and with Joker fatigue (due to DC's overuse of him). Joker as a villain is associated with alpha male toxicity and the whole "we live in a society" mindset, which instantly makes fans on this side of the fence wary; although, even leaving aside the fact Joker has killed countless people in canon, it's more that he shot Barbara Gordon and killed Jason Todd that gets him the biggest amount of hatred. Of course that his abuse towards Harley plays a big part as well, but personally, I don't think it's the main cause. Batman has so many villains, but few of them have harmed Bruce and his Family as personally as Joker has. Seeing as the fandom for the Batfamily is the biggest one, it's not surprising that Joker is disliked within it. (Which is perfectly fine. Issues only arise when fans don't make the distinction between reality and fiction and begin to harass each other over make-pretend non-existent people.)

[gascon-en-exil]

Idk man, it reminds me more of a kind of scenario where Kana and Morgan could S support all their potential siblings. regardless, i dont' care. I'd have to unlock their S support to complete the game anyway. but really if Intsys needs to come up with excuse even this complicated to make it clear to the audience that they should not suspend their disbelief into thinking that those characters are related (because fictional character don't exist so how the heck can they be literalt siblings) I am sure they themself know that they can't put actual incest without having problems. Heck, I married a 2nd gen in Awakening and even shipped the avatar with it, I shall be able to survive.

Oh dear, it seems that my inbox has exploded. That doesn't happen often. Lots of anon answers here.

You know that there will be people adding Alear/Nel and Alear/Rafal to their lists of pairings you're not allowed to ship, alongside all those I mentioned earlier as well as any Avatar/2nd gen, Azurrin, Dimigard, Byleth/their students, and all of the eyebrow-raising Pact Ring options in base Engage. I can't imagine being that uncomfortable with IS being as carelessly tasteless as they always are while still playing these games.

Kink ? Nay. It's just that Instys are cowards. they knew that some palyers would be disappointed to not be able to marry them, so they decided to over complicated things to make it sure that we understand that they are not siblings event though their are Sombron's kids. It's for the player's satisfaction. Just like how we could marry the Royals in Fates.

Incest kink is indeed a thing; do some searching on Pornhub or AO3 and you'll quickly find a wealth of examples. Some players will like having that out, like the whole thing with Byleth not S ranking their students until after they're no longer students just ignore that they keep calling them "professor". Some players will whole-heartedly embrace the incest.

I knew that the whole Nel/Alear Rafal/Alear was gonna sparks up between people saying it's incest vs those saying it's not. I personally don't view it as an incest relationship not only because I am buying Intsys's excuse since I have to suspend my disbelief into this, but because in their interactions, they don't act at all as such nor consider themselves to be related in any way. Heck in her supports with Veyle, Nel literaly friendzone her when Veyle ask her to be her sister. Moreover I am not into that kinks boat, I just like Alear x Rafal.

...And some will see the implication and condemn anyone who ships those pairings, even if they're not being read as incestuous. It's a no-win situation all around, although I could just say that that's in the nature of fandom to argue endlessly about these kinds of things. The best thing you can do is ignore the wankier voices and ship who you like, however you like them.

"even though I haven't seen any of Nel or Rafal's supports yet I'm confident in guessing that their Alear supports lean more in that direction than Alear/Veyle does." oh no. In their S support, Nel strays up says "I love you" and has a ring on her ring finger. Rafal is ring findered too while in Veyle CG she had the ring on her middle finger. It seems the localization did buy Instys's explanation... still think it could have been less weird to make Nel and Nil part of Sombron's species to explain why their are fell child.

"provided you want to read it that way". well I have unlocked their supports and Nel is being like "we are not family we do share an heritage" and the others try so hard to make it clear that they are not siblings i can't tell if it's just to appease the player's conscience or if it's part of worldbuilding. After all one could argue that relationship like Pygmalus dating Galatea is incest because he created that statue or something like this...

Yep, that tracks. Online shipping culture is all about finding any excuse you can to bash ships you don't like, so that's definitely going to be happening here.

Never mind the non incestuous explaniation and the ship wars. Will we ONE DAY know what on earth is going on with Sombron/Emblem 0 ?

My silly headcanon for that is that Sombron's missing Emblem is the player, and that when he's added to Heroes the dialogue will tease at him finding the summoner familiar. It would be delightfully meta.

How is Alear supposed to be Lumera's child in that universe ?? Like it make sense because of their hair being full blue and things having gone different but how is it even possible ?? Maybe I should not ask that because this whole alternate world is giving me even much more of a headache than the Awakening multiverse kids being the shepherds kids but at the same time, not their kids.

It's probably meant to be inferred from the solid blue hair. I'm not going to bother looking any deeper than that; FE dragon lore has never interested me much, and we already know that Engage is extremely on the nose when it comes to color symbolism.

Remember how we nearly escaped the whole "jean anna S support" while people were genuinely confused that 17 year old Alear could marry 45 year old Vander but not 16 year old Clanne ? They really had to bring Kaga's vision. Would'it not have been easier to just make the twins belong to the same species without having the ambiguity of them being an alternate Sombron children even if it's not Alear's father ? No ? to easy to simple ? make it more look like Morgan and all the 2nd gen ? ok

The specific ages thing seems mostly about being sensitive about censorship. It doesn't make much logical sense, but at least the ages don't appear anywhere in the game itself so I suppose you could ignore them if you like. I've never been an active Avatar shipper, so I wouldn't really know how that goes. The twins being Sombron's children was I guess done so as not to complicate the worldbuilding, with the Divine and Fell Dragons being essentially two family lines (also mage dragons exist on the side, but the story never does anything with that). See my above note on my disinterest in FE dragon lore.

I guess no one ever tried the argument "well technically those characters are not biologically related because they are ficitonal character that doesn't exist and therfore have no blood nor actual parentsand believing they are the same family is just part of suspension of disbelief just like when I use 2 doll; pretends they are siblings when i play with it and when I am done i totally rewirte their relationship" because it is way too realistic and is the simple true for any anti to ever acknowledge it. would spare the justification though

Pointing out that fictional characters aren't real never leads to anything, aside from sometimes the accusation that liking certain ships hurts real people. This came up in Three Houses wank on occasion, so it can apply to liking/disliking certain characters.

[tobiolovebot]

i dont wanna speak over black people but i havent seen many people saying this about everyone's reaction to sex education season 3 and i feel like it must be said, but like, tell me if i overstep.

i feel like everyone here is being really shit about viv trying to put herself first and being manipulated by an awful teacher, and everyone is saying things like "they totally ruined viv as a character and i hated her this season" when she literally apologized and tried to fix it and both jackson and cal forgave her?

but then when it comes to otis being like "this is not my problem to fix ❤️ good luck to y'all but i have my own stuff going on" no one says anything???? which like its fine because that's what his arc was about, but why say something about viv then? seems like a doubke standard.

and then the same with how people are like "they ruined eric's character he's on thin fucking ice, how could he cheat on adam and not recognize that adam loves him and break up with him it's like he's a different person". but he was literally just discovering himself and his relationship and taking care of himself and adam by doing the responsible thing by breaking up with him?? cheating wasn't good but that scene wasn't about the other boy was about eric understanding himself and what he wants on a different level and fewling free and happy.

but then with adam y'all apparently forget that he used to bully eric and that a lot of the major issues with their relationship came from trying to heal from that but bumping into all that complicated history. like im glad adam is healing and growing but maybe doing that with the person he bullied wasn't the best idea in the first place.

and im not saying that the show didn't handle these things well because i thought it was amazing. i just think that the double standard in reactions in the fandom, especially on tumblr, to these characters and their actions, comes from anti-blackness.

[dyketubbo]

mkay. ive woken up, it doesnt seem like theres any new developments, so. post explaining what the hells been going on about the ae/emeraldduo qpr discourse ig woo. this is going to be from my perspective, because i am one person. shocker. anyways,

basic summary: i made a post saying that because c!kristin is canon and philza and techno have boundaries against shipping, i believed that maybe there should be a genuine effort to chill out with putting c!philza and c!technoblade in a qpr or platonic marriage, as c!philza being married to c!kristin is based off the irl marriage and c!philza and c!technos friend dynamic is based off the ccs dynamic even outside of the dream smp (such as, of course, the antarctic empire being a smpearth thing). i also said this because i feel like theres a genuine problem in the fandom with how it treats kristin, not only in fanart (making her skinny and white), but also just. in general, overshadowing her with the idea of emeraldduo being married, shit like that, and it irked me esp bc shes a woc while philza and techno are white men.

people get pissed at me, both to my face and behind my back, and i get insulted, called stupid, arophobic, anti-polyam, told i dont understand friendship and that i dont have friends. i joined a server just to wake up and find myself banned and blocked with no explanation, left to assume that i was talked about behind my back while i was unable to defend myself. out of all the people who disagreed with me, one person. one. person. was nice to me and didnt call me arophobic, actually giving me constructive criticism and a chance to elaborate. one. i finally start to feel better two days after the fact, consulting people outside the fandom to get second opinions and getting happy when people agreed with me and even gave insight to things i didnt consider, and what do i get?

someone rbed to tell me "not to go on twitter" because people were talking about me, and informing me that there was a group chat dedicated to "talking about how wrong [i am]". what the rest of the post said, i dont remember, because the person seems to have me blocked and i fucking panicked after being told theres literally an entire group of people talking about me on twitter- of which, yknow. is known for harassing people and even once had a black girl doxxed?? not to mention that the person who mocked me for supposedly not having friends did so when i said to leave me alone, and ive said publicly for people to leave me alone consistently, and. well, insulting and going after someone, or even talking about them behind their back, when they said to leave them alone is in fact harassment, by definition.

im accused of not listening to philza, with the only clip being given to me of him talking about c!emeraldduo being like "the platonic version of achilles and patroclus", as if platonic = queerplatonic. yesterday was the first time i was given a clip of phil talking about qprs specifically, given to me by someone who didnt evem disagree with me anyways, again showing the people disagreeing with me were barely actually willing to cooperate with me. i have. complicated feelings on the clip (mainly with how its worded as just headcanons and only given the definition of "platonic life partners" which.. hm.), but this post isnt about that.

regardless, i vent to my friends, because i was having a delusional breakdown, and one makes a post saying they didnt want to interact with the fandom after people went after me. they inform me that both people who insulted me before and others reblogged from their post to again assert that im arophobic, claim that no one was talking about me outside of people publicly talking about how "arophobic" i am (which.. is people talking about me), claim that i called people racist and sexist (i didnt?? i dont think anyones racist and sexist, not even for what i brought up concerning the fandoms treatment of kristin, it gives me a bad taste in my mouth, but i would never call anyone racist or sexist for it [outside of the whitewashing but thats a different issue from the qpr discussion]), and then they were sent anon hate, one even asserting that they were arophobic and talking over minority groups and therefore deserved to be in their bad home situation. outside of their post being in the dream smp tag, its hard to believe that people just. normally found their post. unless they were going through the recent posts in the dream smp tag (which i dont feel is the case), it is.. concerning that they found my friend trying to defend me so quickly and immediately decided to continue to talk about me behind my back and even insult them as well.

so.. yknow, not great in asserting that there arent people tracking me somehow, which is incredibly triggering and paranoia inducing.

either way, in the end, if people disagree with me about the situation, i dont care, i cant stop them, but i just want people to stop being fucking pricks about it. i want people to stop being pissy at me and about me, i want people to stop insulting me and telling me and telling people i interact with that im arophobic when im not. i want people to stop pretending to care when they tell me to take a break when theyre the fucking reasons i have to take a break. i want people to stop being condescending to me, to stop talking about me, to stop acting like theyre superior while fucking insulting me.

i just wanted to bring up an issue about the lack of respect kristin gets, and people as always turned it into something about philza and technoblades relationship when that was literally the behavior that i was complaining about. i hate that me wanting to talk about how kristin and her marriage to phil is treated turned into me having several breakdowns in one day because i kept getting worse and worse news about how people were treating me. i hate that i did take breaks, that i actively distracted myself, went outside, took care of my pets, took care of myself, talked to my friends, and yet people just acted condescending and went all "if you cant handle criticism then leave :/".

what the fuck is wrong with you people? why is it that this fandom actively defaults to harassment and using ccs against fans when an issue arises? and i fucking hate that this is my first goddamn actual interaction with aeduo fans. im genuinely terrified of aeduo fans now if this is how they react to problems. fuck everyone who talked about me behind my back, fuck everyone who acted condescending towards me, fuck everyone who called me arophobic or anti-polyam or whatever the hell they had up their sleeves, fuck every single grown ass adult who saw a teenager have a fucking breakdown over the shit they did and said and decided to continue. fuck everyone who didnt even bother to have a goddamn level conversation with me before insulting me and attempting to tell others that im arophobic and other shit like that.

this shit happened because of two paragraphs. i said two goddamn paragraphs about a personal issue with the fandom i had and now ive genuinely been pushed almost to the point of relapsing. i dont give a shit if people think i have a victim complex, i just want people to leave. me. alone. its the fucking least you could do. oh, and go fuck yourself. if you genuinely thought id be apologizing after that shit, fuck you. i shouldnt have to be the better person with this shit, i shouldnt be pushed to choking on my own fucking tears because people wont let it fucking be. im not goddamn apologizing after three days of getting insulted and harassed and talked about behind my back for a fucking shipping issue. piss off.

[schnees-and-schnugs]

All of the Schnees for the character meme? Yes, even Jacques. Klein counts as well. :3

Weiss

How I feel about this character: k-k-kween

All the people I ship romantically with this character: *cracks knuckles* SUN, blake, yang, jaune, neptune, ironwood, etc etc.

My non-romantic otp for this character: her relationship with ruby is adorable. Also her relationships with winter and whitley.

My unpopular opinion about this character: something that has been bothering me about weiss recently is that now that she is the Emotionally Mature One (tm), she's just not allowed to have internal struggles? This was super obvious with her conflicts with her siblings in v8. We don't see her have any second thoughts about her and winter going different ways and just seems pleasantly surprised when winter calls her. When willow tells her that whitley felt abandoned by her and that's why he lashes out, we don't see weiss have any normal feelings that would come with that sort of revelation.

If the last time I had seen my older sibling (one that I look up to and am close with), they were severely injured and following a man I considered a dictator- I would have second thoughts? Show a little worry? Idk. If my mother revealed to me that I hurt my little sibling by leaving them alone in a household with two abusive parents and that's why they hate me, I would feel a least a little guilt. Even if I shouldn't, I would. And again, second thoughts about my past choices.

Instead weiss is just constantly self assured in everything she does and shows no complexities (emotions wise) that we saw from her in earlier volumes. And I understand it's supposed to show growth, but it just comes off a self centered and callous much of the time, esp in her arc with whitley.

One thing that I wish should happen with this character/has happened: *bangs pans and pots together* let! her! have! a! conversation!with! her! brother! please!

Winter

How I feel about this character: disaster eldest sister energy

All the people I ship romantically with this character: cinder, marrow, ironwood, harriet?

My non-romantic otp for this character: her and her family uwu + penny.

My unpopular opinion about this character: don't really have an unpopular opinion about winter. I wish they would have addressed winter's complicity in what ironwood was doing in-show, bc her fight with ironwood just kinda rang hollow to me. I was just thinking "winter your ass was up there on the screens with ironwood in mantle oppressing them don't act like you were never okay with it". Winter stans don't @ me.

One thing that I wish should happen with this character/has happened: I want to see her actually have an arc with her brother instead of it getting half assed for time like they did with weiss and whitley (I know it sounds harsh but I'm salty).

Whitley

How I feel about this character: I get overwhelmed looking at his face I want to squeeze his cheeks so bad

All the people I ship romantically with this character: oscar, penny

My non-romantic otp for this character: him with his family, TEAM POWR

My unpopular opinion about this character: I would like to see him talk more with characters instead of only existing to be Dues Ex Whitley. Please.

Also I feel like whitley's turn around was a little too unrealistic? I appreciate that they tried to show that whitley is a good person with a consience underneath all of his survival mechanisms, but an abuse victim like whitley can still be a good person while realistic suffering from the after effects of being groomed and manipulated for years. Whitley showing realistic concern for his father would not have made him a bad person or hindered his healing process. Whitley seemed to truly be attatched to his father, even if it was unhealthy.

They even had whitley bring him up ("after what you did to father") and had shown whitley in jacques' office afterwards. But it was framed in a way that whitley's concerns were trivial and should be dismissed and disregarded (as shown by weiss basically telling him that whitley should get over it bc she's trying to save the world and shoving him aside). It's only until whitley goes along with what weiss wants and forgets everything that he was upset about before is when he's seen as a good person, and it was just a little too quick and convinient for me.

Like.... Whitley should be allowed to be upset about his father, his family reputation, and his mother locking herself up in her room. Even if it's trivial to weiss, whitley at that point had nothing else and was alone. And the resolution to that was basically "whitley gets over it because he saw ruby talking on the broadcast about how they need help and overheard weiss mention family to may in an argument". And idk. It just rubs me the wrong way.

One thing that I wish should happen with this character/has happened: I wish he would have had a conversation with weiss to flesh out their relationship and I also hope that they handle his relationship with winter well whenever they choose to do it.

Willow

How I feel about this character: I have a love hate relationship with this woman

All the people I ship romantically with this character: klein, ironwood, watts, qrow

My non-romantic otp for this character: her and her family.

My unpopular opinion about this character: her cracking a joke about how she's above drinking in the dark was so tone deaf djdjsjsj. Like ma'am u were just neglecting your 14/15 year old son during a literal apocolypse and he had no adult around at all to look after him at all for his physical and emotional needs. I dont think I need to explain how horribly abusive that is. Yes, before she was doing the same thing but at least whitley had staff, klein, and hell, even jacques around. And when whitley is rightfully angry at her about it, her response is to crack a joke at her own expense like heehee even I'm not that much of a drunk and I just-

I know that scene was meant to make me like willow but it literally did the opposite for me lmfao. She should have at least apologized.

One thing that I wish should happen with this character/has happened: I hope they don't pull a qrow on us and show willow just going cold turkey with alcohol esp after they drilled into us just how dependant she is on it. Like she's even lower functioning that qrow to the point where she was barely in her children's lives while they were being abused, so to have her just quite easily is just going to leave me thinking "so she could have quit like this anytime while her kids were suffering?" Not saying that that's what they're going to do, but just not something I want to see.

Jacques

How I feel about this character: bitch ass

All the people I ship romantically with this character: pain and suffering

My non-romantic otp for this character: more pain and suffering

My unpopular opinion about this character: a quick death was too good for him. He should have been forced to live in destitution as t the mercy of the ppl he caused pain to. This would have been better justice wise, and the schnees would get some sort of closure.

One thing that I wish should happen with this character/has happened: I wish we got to see him interact with willow and whitley. Esp whitley, since the fandom seems to think him and his father are a 2 for 1 deal, but yet we've only ever seen them interact once?

Klein

How I feel about this character: the goodest man on remnant

All the people I ship romantically with this character: willow

My non-romantic otp for this character: the schneeblings

My unpopular opinion about this character: nothing really

One thing that I wish should happen with this character/has happened: hope we see him interact with schneeblings that aren't weiss for once.

--------

I have A LOT of thoughts about this family. Too many.

[bellamyblake]

I love your thoughts on stuff especially when you post funny things or metas. I was wondering if you had any toughts on Bellamy's love choices apart from Clarke?

aw, thank you, that’s so sweet! i think im horrible at meta, my brain just won’t order my thoughts the right way.

it’s funny you’re asking me that cause the other day when i was rewatching the scene with mel, bellamy, murphy, finn, monroe and sterling i remembered kimsh*um saying how mel was supposed to be a love interest for bellamy but the actress wasn’t available if i remember correctly.

and that made me think about his love interestest apart from clarke and gina who we saw briefly.

now i think gina would’ve been great to see in terms of bellamy because they met i believe, in our headcanon land, while he was trying to kind of drown his sorrows in the arkadia bar where we see her serving later on briefly, again in season 3 and though i know it wasn’t a deep relationship, it wasn’t a bad one.

 it was one produced out of the circumstances that probably (though we know nothing about her) they both felt like shit but kind of found something within each other that they liked/perhaps enjoyed. maybe gina was a good listener, maybe she let him pour his heart out about all of the mount weather horrors.

maybe, and i am reaching here, but she was the only one who knew about all of it-his torture coming in the mountain, his responsibility for his people and the guilt for those they killed inside. maybe bellamy even shared some stuff of his childhood with her because gina seems like the kind of person who is a good and understanding listener and she wouldn’t offer judgement but she’d get him, you know?

i think that’s why i loved gina out of them all (apart from clarke, like we’re putting bellarke aside in this whole debate) because she was a good kind yet smart and persistent person-a nice match for a hurt, confused guilt-ridden bellamy who felt all alone after season 2 and who had all this anger and helplessness inside him. we can see her worry about his leg after he went out to look for clarke and she worries sending him out there beyond arkadian walls-

basically something i’ve always wished for, for bellamy-someone to give a crap for him ( i exclude e/xho s7 narrative cause it makes zero sense and we didn’t see it in any depth)

so apart from gina we have what? e/cho right? and what makes it interesting for me here when our favorite racist kimsh*m talked about mel possibly being a love interest for bell is that i feel like they wanted to instill this...idea for a bellamy love interest where he falls in love for someone that he ultimately-

saves.

maybe that is also the case with clarke too but it was never explored as we know because they refused to for a variety of reasons, the last one being out of spite, the previous being c/lexa-we’re speaking honestly here and that’s how it was.

so they wanted bellamy to fall for someone he *saves*

which i don’t think is a good like treatment of his character at all. i believe jroth in his stupid brain makes sense from the fact that because bellamy always took care of octavia, his entire life, those were the circumstaces he grew up in, then it’s only logically (and psychologically, yes it is), that he falls for someone that he *saves*, like he saved his sister and raised her from a baby to a grown adult.

so mel was someone he saved and she would’ve been a nice fill was she of age (not sure she was) and was the actress available.

but then came ta/sya and her nepotism, aka her being on the show cause she has connections to jroth and since bellamy so perfectly saved her from the cages in season 2 suddenly mel was easily replaced with-

e/cho. 

of course they played around it for a bit and i assume they didn’t do it before season 5 for two big reasons-

one was that bob who frankly was absolutely right in that, didn’t want a love interest in season 1, didn’t want bellarke to happen in season 1 and thank god IT didn’t cause it would’ve been absolultely nothing left of it by season 3, and the other was 

e/chos betrayal which needed time to simmer into a forgivness and what better way than trapping them on a ring in space for 6 years, right? who would you pair him with other than-oh well it could’ve been raven which frankly, much better choice or it could be e/cho which again-

first to spite the fandom (and i believe we played a big role in jason choosing her and not raven because he saw how panicked we were in season 4 about it especially after 4x13 all everyone talked about was how yep it’d be becco in season 5 and he just said ha-ILL SPITE YOU YOU STUPID FANGIRLS you don’t want it-HA BUT YOU GOT IT and I am sure to this day had we talked more about not wanting bellamy and raven the more we would’ve gotten that instead of becco)

and second cause again of nepotism-here’s this actress who can absolutely not act and has zero chemistry with the main lead-yep, only seems logical we put her as his love interest.

and mind you I wanna reiterate here that bob has chemistry with everyone else including male actors like richard and chuku way more than he ever did with ta/sya so jroth’s logic here that oh yeah beliza were always kind of maybe in love that’s why that worked-LACKS and is beyond offensive

so yes, i believe the idea was always to portray his love interest as a continuation of the cirmustances of his childhood-so he falls in love with someone who he saves like he saved his sister, that being mel (that fell through) and eggo and...ultimately also clarke though with her is much more complicated but think about that

how many more times had he saved her than she him? right?

when is he the saved one?

if we count season 2 when clarke supposedly lets the bomb drop on TonDC to save him though again-grey area, she mostly listens to L/exa who doesn’t want her people to turn on her and then you have season 7 when again Eggo supposedly goes on this journey for him and ends up killing people but not because OF bellamy but because she simply has been hiding the beast inside her for six years and she cannot keep it at bay anymore.

so apart from gina and ...well debatable here but clarke too, he’s never had a love interest that he didn’t save. also we don’t know how exactly he did come by to know gina-did he know her from before? did he maybe save her too? did he just randomly started talking to her?

so that is it on this particular subject and whilst it may be psychologically correct if there is such a term i find it too weak of an excuse for a character like bellamy because when he loves he loves dearly and it is clear that yes he carries the big baggage that is octavia but i dont believe that should attach to his love life and his romance. 

[daydreamrry]

What saddens me the most is how at this point it feels like a competition between us (the fans ) and H&O. It's like bcuz we keep pointing out how fake they look and how pathetic this makes them seem they turn out to do it even more and go extreme. I mean the massive amt of pics they leak just screams "here suckers you think we fake look at me roaming around London and LA w this woman you think I'm gay? Look at me kissing this woman and sneakily taking pics of her and coming to kiss her all while she's reading a book" like it's not even funny it genuinely hurts me to think how drifted I feel from him as a fan. Like hazza , we're not against you we're not your enemies we're just simply pointing it out bcuz it's ruining your image , your career , it's not fair to you or to her family and her kids. The most annoying thing is when i say anything abiut olivia and my friends or holivia shippers say why do you care he doesn't even know about your existence and honestly I'm aware duh but it's the fact that them doing every legit intimate/non-intimate thing a couple could do they do it public and shoving the pictures down our throats is so wrong and insensitive. Like what do you wanna prove? It's like i feel like genuinely apologising to the holivia shippers for fantasizing about me and harry together. Like dude ik it won't be true, ik I'm just a fan chill but me calling out Olivia for being an attention seeker, a lesbophobic, a racist has got nothing to do w jealousy. It's got to do with facts that's been proved. It's got to do with how genuinely pathetic of a human she is. And trust me at this point I don't even like harry. Genuinely, I've stopped stanning him not because he is a homewrecker but because he is continuing with this stunt still. He is easily letting her take advantage of his popularity and how fucking disgusting it is how she keeps acting as if she's a victim and Harry's fandom sends her hate when she fucking literally is playing with us and he's allowing her to . Like as fans very honestly he doesn't do anything for us , he goes to tour bcuz yes he likes to and likes to meet fans but it's also coz it's important for him to make money and he honestly loves this "untouchable guy" image that his management has created. We have no idea where he is most of the times nd then one day he decides to show up in the spotlight again holding hands with a woman who is actually her boss. I honestly don't believe Jeff is trying to ruin harry. They have been good friends for a long while, harry isn't forced to do anything by his management he shows up when he wants to, he makes music at his own pace , he writes about whatever he wants to, whether he's gay or not doesn't matter he made the lights up music video if his management really had to hide his sexuality and throw in Camille and others as a beard they won't even allow such a music video which would raise so many questions. They know that nowadays it's all about being open and supportive so if harry really is gay they are smart enough to not hide it and be supportive of him bcuz that would make them seem good in the gp so it really is either Harry's own personal choice to hide or he's genuinely straight( personally i think he's straight) and hamille was no beard it was pr but it was also real, holivia might also be real but what the main problem with this one is

Is that not only is it destructive of them, their management, their families, their careers, the movie and the other actors it is also not acceptable in any way for two people to be so highly unprofessional to just be in a relationship and not even hide it until the shooting was over. You can't just be like I fell in love what could we do? You can't just let your feelings just so easily get in the way of other things. If it's actually true love with an element of pr its still wrong. Bcuz she didn't think of Jason doesn't matter if they were already on the edge of breaking up, what matters is when you have a baby with someone you're always gonna be family and it's not right to just forget about then and be like it just happened like no you have ethics and responsibilities. This goes for harry too.

As laughable and entertaining this stunt is , it also should be a wake up call for all of us especially who believe it is wrong and is a stunt to not watch dwd, to not follow Olivia, to not search her on Google. They both made a mistake and they should pay for it its only fair. Especially Olivia

And for harry I just hope he realises how valuable and important fans are. We are not shits you can manipulate with , we dont deserve paying money for concerts and not having any guarantee whether it's gonna happen or not untill the end moment, we dont deserve to just be ignored and only be cared for when theres new music or a movie coming up . I hope he learns that even if he's a big star he's not as big as selena gomez, Ariana Grande, Taylor ,Justin or Billie. Even they're super busy but they do things for the fans, there's a gratefulness you can sense, they communicate. But if he continues to be so complicated and drifted he'll lose his fans and I believe he's smart enough to know that by this point!

not gonna lie, this made me tear up.

thank you for sharing this! i think it’s really important for us to talk about this situation and share our thoughts because this is really affecting his fans, in a bad way, and is causing people to drift away from him.

i completely understand and agree with everything you said, especially the part about this being unprofessional. it’s wrong in so many ways. if you look at it from the real side: she cheated on jason, a man she’s been with for 9 years and has 2 children with. harry knew she was with him and has kids, she brought her daughter to the DWD set, yet he didn’t think or care about that. they had an affair while she was still engaged, and she went “public with her bf” just a month or two after calling the engagement off.

the PR side: harry agreed to be in a fake relationship with an engaged woman who has children to promote her career, and to promote the movie (that already has such a talented cast). she’s putting her children on the line just to get more attention and promo for herself. their teams have created such a messy storyline that’s fucked both of them, and there’s no turning back.

this entire situation is messed up, and i hope both of them realize that.

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

Zero Escape rambling/opinions under the cut

I'm not really super involved in the ZE fandom these days, but is sigma/luna generally seen as controversial...? It's hard fpr me to gauge ppl's opinions in the fandom idk... I never played ZTD so i really kinda percieved them to be a potential romance (w the "i love klim" password, luna ending where she holds Sigma & it's revealed he gave her the necklace, also sigma's weird "flirting" w her which i personally wasn't always a fan of but that's another topic).... idk it never read as familial to me so even tho i know canonically ztd sigma says "luna's like a daughter to me" i just.... dont really buy that or put that into account at all when I draw them, I kinda just ignore that....

like i guess it can be imagined as me drawing from a timeline where sigma doesn't develop a familial relationship with luna? I mostly draw them w luna having romantic feelings for him, and sigma having a mix of lingering sentimental feelings for diana/romance in general + soft affection for luna... idk i know i just said i ship them but even then i kinda draw them w sigma trying to keep things platonic between them given the situation, but he does also maybe have some sort of underlying romantic feelings for her. Idk that's just my take on them, kinda not very articulate or clear rn sorry;;

Even with never playing ZTD I personally didn't like how they handled Sigma's plot and stuff so a lot of the game just doesn't feel canon to me & I don't apply to my drawings of the characters;; Honestly some of the decisions made between vlr and ztd just baffle me like if Sigma and Phi are father & daughter, why would they make 22-year-old Sigma make weird passes/comments about her in vlr.... like i think before ztd was released uchikoshi had been like "i dont view sigma and phi romantically for reasons that will be explained later, don't view them like that" in an interview & im like.... you could have avoided ppl seeing them like that if you didn't write sigma making weird comments about phi in vlr...... idk i never viewed phi and sigma romantically while playing & mostly saw them as friends who insulted each other a lot, but i also wondered like maybe they're supposed to be a pairing or something?? So it was just weird for me to learn that in ztd "oh sigma's actually phi's dad" and "oh sigma actually sees luna as his daugter" when it seemed like vlr was implying otherwise...

(again i dont ship sigma/phi and personally never saw them romantically in vlr... I do think it's weird that they made sigma flirt (?) w phi in vlr & think they should've been more careful abt how they handled their dialogue given that they are revealed to be father and daughter.)

Anyway idk, a lot of sigma's character and relationships w other characters is just so weirdly written.... like i know most ppl dont like him for making gross comments abt the girls in vlr and i agree... i think there are ways to write horny characters (or even just characters that find a lot of ppl attractive) without having to make them make a lot of gross comments at people... it's like annoying to me that there's all this weird stuff surrounding him when I really liked a lot of his other characterization (like being kinda a goofy idiot but smart at the same time, his instinct to just trust ppl immediately, his kinda surprising earnestness despite seeming like a self-centered douchebag sndnnxj).

I guess the point is... i like and draw sigma/luna (mostly college au bc post-vlr is kinda complicated) bc i basically ignore a lot of what goes on in ztd and am able to detach myself enough from the game given that ive never played it, but also if it makes ppl uncomfortable truly I do understand that bc he does canonically say he thinks of her as a daughter.... I really really dont see them like that tho so anytime i draw them please know it's not as a father-daughter relationship;;

I don't draw them much anymore but like if it does make most ppl uncomfortable i don't mind not posting what I draw, or like making a tag for them for ppl to block... idk. This is basically a non-issue bc i really haven't drawn sigluna in a while... but i do also want to eventually finish that comic i was working on last year, which kind of has sigluna themes (tho the conclusion is why things can't work between them tbh sjnxndnn idk in post-vlr timeline i kinda hc no endgame romance for sigma... hence why i ship him w so many ppl in my weird college au LMAO;;)

Anyway yeah. Idk what else to say here, there's not really a point to this post just kinda blabbing... might delete later bc i hate having opinions on things jsncndnjc

SIGH in conclusion i think uchikoshi did sigma dirty lmao.....

[mamusings]

Supernatural Season 2 thoughts

Continuing with my rewatch. This season kicks up several gears on season 1. Overall the storytelling is much better. There is a less formulaic approach to the even the MOTW episodes. Its inventive: you get one from the perspective of the ghost (Roadkill), two that layer in the boys run ins with the law. The first 4th wall breaker (Hollywood babylon), first alt reality (What is and what should never be) and I think the first straight up comic one (Tall Tales). This works much better. S1 episodes give you: a kill, work out the lore, find the creature and kill it right back. Instead of s1 espousing the lore and developing the brothers as a team, we now get to explore the show's moral compas and the complexity of what brotherhood means within it. I think Hollywood Babylon riffs off ditching the initial importance placed on accuracy in how Spn presented itself in it's own storyline. Yep we like story telling thank you, realism isnt really the point. The monsters and sub plots more clearly refract on the season themes and plot.

Supporting characters are another aspect of the shows blooming. They are a much more varied and interesting bunch. Gordon helps explore a key issue for the show - the distinction between being a hunter and a killer. Its significant he appears twice - it's a big issue. The psychics Andy and Ava are fun. Bank heist dude Ronald garners the right mix of derision and respect - I'm not sure spn homages to freaks and geeks hit the right note most of the time. And theres the Roadhouse crew and Bobby who really help flesh out what can become an overly confined universe.

The first third explores grief. You get the contrast in Sam and Dean's personalities in how they try to deal with John's death. But you also get the sense of them learning from each other as the season progresses. Dean tries talking. Sam tries keeping busy. Both grow while staying themselves. Nice. You also get a switch from s1 dominance of Dean's concern for Sam, with Sam's concern about Dean's increasingly high octane behaviour here and it's a nice switch. With grief you get guilt. Sam's is the easier too little too late regrets. Dean's is the motherload of guilt that John sacrificed himself for him. Given the shows dominant theology is Christian I find it hugely interesting that the focus here is on the receiver of the sacrifice. The overwhelming guilt Dean feels underpins the opening episodes, gets hammered home in Crossroads and then comes back for an even bigger bite when Dean does the same to Sam in the finale. Bobby's anger with Dean and Sam's devastation leaves me little doubt that as much as we all love that Sam is back, Dean did wrong here. Although maybe Dean's guilt comes from his low self worth. Sam might cope very differently?? But I do think the zombie episode declarations of 'what is dead should stay dead' make the point that thus wheeling and dealing with death cant be good. I personally find the idea that moral rules dont apply to Sam and Dean because of love is a weak one. I think fandom does spn a disservice by reducing something really complicated here into 'well they are soul mates'. Loving someone is not an excuse to chuck the rules out the window. But maybe the show itself descends into a moral free for all with no underpinning message and the blame lies there? I'm not sure. In a way that is what I'm trying to figure out with these commentaries.

What works better in explaining why Dean does to Sam what John did to him is the other big theme of season 2: the idea that right and wrong isnt black and white. This is the focus of lots of episodes some of which explore whether hunters are just killers. And others that explore at what stage something becomes evil and why. Both these questions are crucial in relation to Sam's destiny and how each of them should respond to that destiny. The first half of the season sees Dean trying out his fathers black/white approach and the hardening off of himself he thinks he needs to achieve in order to kill Sam should that becomes necessary. Its the mid season finale that finally answers that one for Dean. Sam goes proper bad, Dean doesn't kill him. Along the way, with Sam's prompting, Dean questions not only his father but also the morality he had assumed of his hunting so far. How Dean outgrows John is a huge theme for me. I find it fascinating because he remains the same kind of man as John. Tough, difficult etc he diesnt become Sam. What he changes ir accepts are that what he prizes isnt what John prizes, but rather the people he loves and he learns that this isnt a failing or a weakness. But it's a long long road.

Sam wrestles with the fact that he may turn evil trying to find ways to hope and ways to cope. He takes a leaf out of the Dean playbook at gets drunk. He prays. He looks for a safety net getting Dean's to promise to off him. Dean promises to save him, but the message in Heart is that sometimes the only way to save someone is to kill them. However, the other message is solving things one step at a time, making the right play for the circumstances and not drawing one arbitrary line somewhere - be it between people and non-people or even that evil acts make you irredeemably evil. Slippery stuff, but that's what makes it interesting.

One thing I really like in this season is how the brothers begin to influence each other. They are still a study in contrasts, but they try out each others approaches and they've learned to value what the other brings to the table. As Sam says in the opener they have just started to be brothers again. Their relationship is so supportive that the comic Tall Tales reminding us how much they wind each other up is a needed counterpart lest things get just too damn sweet. The disturbing siblings at the centre of 2 episodes is also sends the message that it ain't all roses too. Andy has an actual evil twin. The ending of Playthings with the sisters is filled with creepy foreboding is particular to this episode. One sister gives her life up for the other and it feels wrong. Of course its foreshadowing other famous brothers but let's leave that alone just now.

In terms of Sam and Dean, their brotherhood seems to have kicked the S1 Sam and Dean team up into formidable. Their run-ins with law enforcement moves our perception of them beyond boys hunting into being increasingly impressed as they outwit cops and feds. It also moves their interactions with outsiders beyond gratitude from victims towards validation from peers and this feels important. There's the seamless teamwork with code words and all. But more importantly trust and loyalty - Sam is unswayed under police questioning in The Usual Suspects. Folsom Prison Blues most explicitly highlights Dean's almost fanatical sense of loyalty and paying your dues.

This pays off in the final two parter. As strong as All Hell Breaks Lose 2 is, part 1 is a yawn fest. But what is interesting is that while Sam does his best to found a team, Azazel can just pluck them off one by one by appeals to each person's individual self interest. The only one of the psychics who gets that the only way to win is to stick together is Sam. In my view Sam learned this from Dean. Dean is always playing the stronger together card. At this point in the show, brotherhood is about solidarity, trust and loyalty. That's actually the message here far more than love. Of course they love each other. But that alone wouldn't have got them this far. What gets them here is sticking together. When Dean finally surpasses John in killing Azazel he gets his moment of John unqualified approval and love. But right after comes the key dialogue of the season. Sam says 'you did it' and Dean replies 'I didnt do it alone'. That seems to me to highlight what's been going on so far. Learning not to do it alone. Learning to lean on and accept others. That's where the Winchester boys outgrow their upbringing and themselves.

Addendum: the angel episode House of the Holy deserves a mention. Its so finely balanced between being about angels and not when viewed on it's own. Its only on rewatching that the effects and props leave you in no doubt that even if F. Gregory isn't an angel this episode is about angels. Its curious as to why it's in season 2 rather than maybe in s3 - no angel appears until season 4. I refuse to count Gabriel in s3 as an angel appearance as he's for many seasons yet still just the trickster. So why? Maybe it's to help us understand the significance for Sam? Angels give Sam hope - making it even more awful for him that he is the object of their suspicion. Or is it about the need for faith, which tellingly Dean hadn't got.

#supernatural #spn #sam #dean #winchester

[violet-sabres]

Some quick observations re: TROS and some "reylo"musings (spoilers)

- the editing removed A LOT of emotional pay-offs for so many scenes. The decorations and actors change quickly, a bit randomly - in fact it takes a while before this movie finds its tempo and footing. Something weighty happens and no reflection is allowed even in briefest sketch of a reaction. Next scene. Next scene-

- Poe, Finn, Rose and two new female characters were absolutely robbed. Both by the ungodly pace of this movie (there is much potential for scenes that could mean much much more in the whole storyline. As is, they are discarded as soon as they happen). The bond between Finn and Poe got severed in the beginning with some awkward finnrey moments and strange jealousy (was that what it was???) from Poe. I say either carry out the finnrey thread (which was also beautiful actually, though Finn deserves so much better than how she treats him in TROS...) or finnpoe, something which JJ himself built up. Rose should be given an independent arc with no romance involved, or a love interest of her own.

- Rose's infatuation with Finn is never touched. Rose herself is absolutely erased - she is a statist, providing some dialogue with absolutely no weight behind it. JJ treated her terribly - it was his privilege and responsibility to utilize whatever he got from Johnson as he saw fit; but throwing away her potential only underlines the racist sidelining he did to all characters of colour.

- the heteronormativity I can't understand - Finn and Poe are JJs babies after all (and yeah, I know - shareholders...). Why tease hetero relationships for both and STILL leave even them hanging?? Like, he discarded Rose bc first of all racism, second - Johnson's 'leftovers' I guess? Unacceptable. The lady of Poe's was sketched boldly - but still sketched. Her inclusion wouldn't feel so random if Poe wasn't shown to be this randomly emotional abt her all of a sudden. Why now? It felt a bit forced and this is a shame bc she (and Janah, omg Janah...) is super cool. I'd love to read and see way more about all of them.

- Finn and Janah - wonderful rapport, so much empathy and loyalty, they are wonderful together. I definitely could see them together as well - so many threads to explore! There was so much potential to embed meaningful relationships for Finn into the plot. Janah is one of those that felt quite right but deserved more still. She deserves a story of her own. Not for the first time it is a secondary character of colour who carries so much potential and substance and gets sidelined. I dont mind Kylo content btw - but this series was shown to concentrate on 3 people and a villain. Keep to this proportion or perish I say. They didnt keep them and the movie feels unfairly skewed towards the force dyad of Rey and Ren. Hence, robbed. We were robbed of much of quality content here.

- the implication/suggestion that Finn may be Force sensitive held so much promise. I love Finn and Boyega played him with so much passion and dignity. He grew into leadership without pretense or drama, was competent and knowledgeable about the inner workings of the Fleet and found hope he was struggling for. Honestly the problem here is that his prominence was teased to be greater than the actual time and the weight of scenes he was given. This movie should be longer, scene order less abrupt and random - so the characters that were shown to matter in the first part could matter here as well.

- JEDI FINN please. The potential of it was teased - they should scrap some of the scenes and build those kinds of plot points more thoroughly. Finn's arc should be more - but that doesn't mean Boyega played it any other than magnificently. He got what he was given and made it his. I hate that this still means it was not as much as he and Poe deserved it. Same with Rose.

- galactic generals (*husbands) Poe and Finn. It could be marriage, it should be - Isaac played a man in love. I enjoyed this new romantic angle with the spice smuggler lady as well - but it required more buildup. As it was, it made for an awkward and frankly homophobic ersatz for finnpoe plotline of the first and even second movie. I hate wasting the potential of new characters in the movie, and this is what happened here. Also Poe's smuggling past - no previous setup that felt offensive to many bc of its randomness and no previous grounds in existing media. Felt like unnecessary sensationalism here.

- Rey is complicated here. I didnt like her attitude towards Finn and wished for more appreciation of their own idiosyncracies between them. Finn deserved his love (whether romantic or platonic) to be recognized. It was lacking here.

- I loved the fight scenes, the dialogues with Ren that should begin in TFA if they wished for the romance to be acceptably wet up. Driver is so fucking physical and huge, a bit awkward and very strong. To me it was attractive - but to me Kylo always lacked the threat in him when it came to Rey; I know this isnt so for others and respect that.

- Choreography is super effective here, the body work of Rey and Ren is wonderful.

- lighting, the sith locations were one of my favourites

- the creatures - while in the background, theybwere lovely. They made for lusher world out there.

- Palps was eh. Needed for the ending setup, ultimately fell a bit flat. The twist re his endgame would feel better if the whole scene didnt play this fucking quickly.

- the death (you know whose...) is quick and abrupt, passing fleetingly with no real depth or importance. They are rushing to another scene so quickly they forget that if you love somebody enough to accept them fully, this person's death tends to leave some kind of impression. As it is, Rey is hardly the first character robbed of emotional engagement in TROS.

- sigh. Ren. I love to hate him and hate to enjoy him still. Also feeling like a hypocrite bc would I enjoy him if not for my prefernce for how Driver looks like? Would anyone who I respect a bit more than his most fanatical reylo fans? I have no answer really.

I've never seen a character ripped into shreds from so many angles. For incels and dudebros he is a pussy (a lot of girls I know also mentioned that). He is supposedly not cruel enough, not awesome like Vader, whatever.

For others he is a genocidal criminal, and that he is. You can't sidestep Tuanul or his passivity in front of Star Destroyer wiping out whole planets. He is implicated in this genocide - and that scene where he is supposedly mutely watching it from the distance falls flat if its intention was to show he wasn't entirely behind Hux's agenda. He still never stopped him. So yeah, it is obvious that for many he is absolutely undeserving of any empathy, much less a romance plotline with movie's heroine. Especially when the first scenes setting it up were so messed up.

Now I hate the word reylo and I'd rather choke than call myself that. But I did enjoy their enmity and idk love?? towards each other? It should be plotted more consequently and I believe if JJ didn't muck it in tfa people would be a lot less opposed to the whole villain x heroine thing. Nobody opposes it bc of that - it's the torture bed and it's the "whatever I want" line that made so many recoil. It's the absolute lack of coherence at a time where more self awareness was needed from the director of the very first part in the series.

I believe there is a kind of generational divide on topic of their romance. Youve got gen z "antis" who argue about the abuse (and have a lot of good point more reylos should think hard and long about) - and mostly adult to older women (this includes older milennials also!) who grew up steeped in gothic romanticism that, up to gen z growing up, was a dominant romance paradigm in the West.

Youve got your Wuthering Hills, your Pride and Prejudice and Beauty and the Beast. I hate it. I absolutely abhor it, and the more the reylo fandom hammered their whole relationship from this angle, the more I was distancing myself. I believe the whole genre is steeped in toxic masculinity and yes, you can look at reylo from this angle as well - and I understand that when you saw those scenes from TFA, and didn't feel convinced by entirely paradoxal romance teasers (bc JJ mixed them both in equal measure, and thus killed wide enthusiasm for reylo for good) then what happened in TLJ and TROS must look like the embracing toxic hetero romance in entirety. And to some degree it is - entirely by JJs fault. The other elements that you mightve ignored in tfa suddenly get amplified in tlj, in tros and youre left wondering why the hell Kylo Ren could ever be seen as romanceable?

But the thing is, while the analogy of angry white male pursuing a pure young woman seems fitting, it doesnt work for me here. I also acknowledge that it may be in part bc I'm used to the gothic paradigm, attracted to Driver as Ren and feeling safe and assured that Rey would stay herself despite whatever he wanted from her (and she did in my opinion, she never caved even when she loved him). Kylo is white, and he is aggressive - he is a villain, he tortures and hurts Poe and Finn and plays psychological games with Rey, he shouts a lot and is very physical, which in itself looks threatening.

All those could end up somewhat accepted bc he is a villain - people will accept the consequent villain, or paradoxical one done with self- awareness on side of their creator. JJ was absolutely unaware of what a mess he did I bet - the worst elements that crossed "reylo" off the list for so many people I'd argue were first sown by JJ himself in paradoxical chase of I tease this-now I don't. Here's what I mean.

It was JJ who put Rey on that horizontal torture bed, even when Poe's was upright. It was JJ who had Ren say those gross words abt taking what he wanted. It was also JJ who irreaponsibly and paradoxically played with symbolism normally reserved for gothic princes DESPITE the gross elements he himself planted - the mask going off to reveal a goofy Disney prince, the crouching so as not to scare her, the freaking bridal carry, the humanizing via showing Ren's vulnerability. I actually hated some of those scenes - I loved the face reveal no lie, but what followed was unacceptable. Why style your villain this lush and vulnerable when you're shooting your own foot a few minutes after, with dialogue that had whole groups of young women discard him as trash? Why not polish your villain with more self awareness so that the ground for the romance is understood and cautiously accapted?

So youve got an internally cracked TFA that for some was obviously teasing reylo but for others made it unacceptable forever. This is one hell of a difficult mix to continue with and I believe if JJ was given the 2nd part to work with, perhaps he might be able to somehow work with Ren so that TLJ wouldnt feel like slap to the face to those who saw mostly the worst parts of Ren that JJ himself designed. Perhaps he would also polish the romance teasers or got rid of them altogether, idk. TROS shows that while he was eager to discard anything that Johnson had put into motion, he chose to leave reylo content still. This is really paradoxical to me, today as it was back then.

Now reylo isnt super mainstream - if he got rid of it, it would surely anger a lot of people but also satisfy an equal amount of others. Yet he chose not to and I'd argue it is because he planned for reylo to happen from the beginning, just in a shitty way we first witnessed in the worst scenes of TFA.

I'll also argue another point - if Johnson was given the saga from the beginning, reylo wouldnt be nearly as much hated and regarded as abusive for so many. It is this particular humanization of Kylo that was criticized by so many that would protect the 1st part from that torture bed, and from taking whatever Kylo wanted. As it was, when all this sudden humanity followed JJs paradoxical mess, only opposition could come bc it kind of must - it looked for many as woobifying somebody who was already irredeemable. The irony is that JJ probably never planned for this - maybe he thought he could pull this off, somehow work out the agreement between ugly Kylo and Kylo worthy of Rey. Johnson just put a fat line between TFA and his own vision, and irresponsibly ignored all the ugly heritage that should be better worked on if he ever hoped to rectify JJs paradoxes. He didnt do this and thus the mess.

I dont know if it would ever be possible though. Perhaps theres been a shift in ethics, in aesthetics even, so big that for the gen Z this kind of relationship is unacceptable. I dont see anything bad in this - even if I enjoyed a lot of reylo's potential, there will be better content, better romances done by those kids who despise reylo now as well. Meanwhile I plan to stay on this weird pole stuck deep into my ass between reylo enthusiast and haters bc I cant for shit choose a side fully.

Bc I dont see the abuse this clear cut - but am also unsure how much of it is my cultural baggage, the history of normalizing toxic masculinity etc. I bet it's both to some degree, like with all gothic romance genre, - and that there wouldnt be this whole rift at the heart of tfa without toxic masculinity normalization at all. Without it there would be no torture bed and no threats. And the irony is that Johnson would probably see to that better. But not as good as a woman behind the camera to begin with - if you want a heroine at its heart that is.

Like, you can see JJs initial vision as pretty homogenous - the bed, the words, and ignore all the paradoxical romance symbolism in there. You can also look at it as fractured and absolutely lacking coherence, and fish for the elements youd like to stay in next parts. I welcomed Johnson bc he took the best in Kylo and left JJs mess behind. This is also the very reason youre gonna hate the TLJ if TFA felt coherent for you. Bc you cant ignore that which felt threatening and cruel and very much obvious.

I have no easy recipe at dealing with this saga. I cant throw my weight behind reylo fully, ever, but will cautiously accept the potential it could have should it be more coherently written. I love so much of art and those fics that are in line with my wishes towards how Ren should be done from.the beginning.

When I was considering what to.think abt all that, back in the beginning, I didnt want for Rey to cater to emotional demands and baggage of an aggressive male, and I believe she actually doesnt - time and time again she asserts herself, maybe messily but she has the right to her anger and pain so the messy it has to be. She is shown to hope for him becoming better - and isnt manipulated or groomed to do so, and if loneliness was the only reason to stick to him then any other person would suffice, which isnt the case. She is loyal to the cause to the end and happily carries on despite Ren dying, even if it's clear she loved him. She is her own woman and the magnitude of his emotions, the physicality of his behaviour hardly influence her - she neither cowers before Kylo nor caters to him, ever. I love her for this, actually.

So there you have it, my messy thoughts on both TROS and 'reylo' dynamics. I cant say Im satisfied with both. There could be more, Ren could be fleshed out better in the beginning. The potential of so many characters was left undeveloped. I dont feel satiafaction even with elements I loved abt reylo bc there is no counterpart in other aspects I hoped to see developed. I wanted Rey to have more time with Finn, for Finn to have more time with Poe, for Rose to matter in tros as well. I wanted more of Rey and Leia, and for Ren to have more coherence to his character. Ultimately I got crumbs and some bits unable to be stomached.

Go and watch tros, stay in the place of engaging with this series that feels best to you, closest to your needs abd perceptions. Tros will not satisfy anyone in full, also bc of editing and the pacing - which is terrible. Reylo will either frustrate you or frustrate you for entirely different reasons. Dont take JJs shit, dont take Johnson's. Take from the saga whatever works for you.

I dont think it's possible to fully embrace reylo, without reservations. There are grounds for the so called antis to point out the toxic masculinity and potential for abuse. There are tropes suggesting romance despite this still, all in just TFA. It was a mess from the very beginning and it's normal people took sides.

I'm just glad it's finally over.

[occidentaltourist]

Yes thats what truly bothers me. Its that the people who want to try so hard to paint Melissa as uncomfortable dont realize that in doing so they are also painting her as homophobic and i for one have never thought she was despite all the fandom drama. If Melissa is someone you admire, then it would be nice if people would STOP projecting their own uncomfortableness onto her, because these people make her look bad. Shes not, “one of you guys”. And thats a good thing

Fandom seems to have a ... complicated ... relationship with Melissa? Some of it understandable, some of it overreaction or misinterpretation. 

People much smarter and better informed than me have probably written thousands of words about how women in entertainment media are perceived. I remember how tough fandom was on SMG during the BtVS days, though of course now most look back on the time with rose-tinted glasses. Even the XWP fandom - I didn’t even watch the show but it was pretty hard to avoid all the discourse in those days, a chunk of it personally directed at Lucy Lawless (and her private life). 

Maybe she’s not the perfect straight ally who behaves ideally at all times - who does? - but I think it’s a huge stretch to use her facial expression as evidence of homophobia or even dislike of SC, lmao.  

[sometimesrosy]

A kind of more introspective/parenting question for you: Are either of your kids in any kind of online fandom? Not social media in general, but fandom spaces particularly. How do you (or would you) go about dealing with that as a parent who is actually aware of what online fandom entails--more explicit content, shipping/anti toxicity, hive-mindedness, etc? I've been (on my own) in fandom since I was 13--now 26--and was wondering how you would approach it with your kids if they showed interest.

i have kind of not really let my daughter fully engage yet. she’s only 11. My son is more anti social. He’s on the spectrum, so is a little delayed with social things.

To be honest, I don’t really know how to deal with that. My aim has always been to teach my kids right from wrong. To not hurt other people. To not allow other people to control them. To question what they hear and see and think for themselves. We talk about stuff sometimes and sometimes I warn them about the dangers of hive mind, gatekeepers, fanwars, bullying, etc. I can’t guarantee that they haven’t encountered explicit content but I try to talk to them about things. They don’t really want to talk to me about stuff, though. I mean. Why would they? 

It’s all a lot more complicated than people who think they can control their kids say it is. I’d rather give them more freedom to explore, but also keep a relationship with them that allows them to come to me if something bothers them. I try not to be judgmental and let them have their own interests and opinions, but I also get kind of, well, serious when I get the impression they might be disrespectful of other people. Like all kids are sometimes. But I don’t allow bullying. So I need to be clear. It’s hard. Because no one likes everyone and sometimes we think things are wrong or stupid. 

They know I’m in fandom. That I write fanfiction. That I’ve been online since before they were born and make my living online. They seem to be self regulating their content, but I’m not so naive to think they haven’t encountered adult things. Also they think I’m not cool and aren’t in touch with the yutes these days. And I don’t really care. Oh what was it? She wanted to show me how kids shake hands now a days. She thought she’d school me. And did the little thing, and I’m like, oh this? And did it back to her and she was like, HOW DID YOU KNOW??” And I’m like, I’m from nyc, where do you think that came from? I actually distinctly remember being taught that handshake back in 1999, by kids who were yutes then and are now olds. That’s how old I am. I’ve outgrown two different generations of yutes. (BTW yutes=youths. My Cousin Vinny. When you’re as old as I you get to incorporate memes and trends from multiple decades with no shame.) I will actively try to embarrass them. Well just her, he cannot be embarrassed. But we also bond, because one of my daughter’s friends started watching The 100 and said Bellamy sucked, and my daughter just gave her the face and said, “oh you say that now, you’ll see…..” and then I told her about how she said that when she first watched and she was like. NO ITS NOT POSSIBLE and I”m like YES IT IS MY TUMBLR PEEPS WERE HORRIFIED THAT I LET YOU NOT LIKE BELLAMY. And she was horrified too. And we bonded over the horror of people not liking Bellamy, before understanding the errors of their ways.

[asksansweredpdf]

if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to? read: ms marvel  watch: the last jedi listen to: say it aint so - weezer

have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who? yes! andy weir, especially in the martian. the way he writes his characters thoughts is exactly how i think

list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with. star wars: kylo ren marvel: tony stark, peter parker ouat (when i was younger: regina mills hunger games: katniss jtv: jane villanueva

do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better? i dont really have much of an opinion of my name. it’s better than something like heidi. i do wish it were spelled like riya though. that’s a lot easier to read and pronounce. and the spelling is more elegant

do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do? i feel like more a human being. i don’t really do much or have many accomplishments. and i’m more an internal thoughts/feelings person.

are you religious/spiritual? nope

do you care about your ethnicity? not really. i value where i’m pretty sure i come from (it’s complicated - i dont know if my father is my biological father). regardless, i value the cultural norms and values i was brought up with. but i dont place my whole identity around that.

what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime? freddie mercury. because of his flamboyancy and lyrics. and we’re both half indian bisexual people. harry styles also for his flamboyance but also for the value he places on being kind and diplomatic and having a strong sense of justice. david bowie a bit because we’re both bi, love drugs, and love cats. emilie autumn because she has been through so much and is very angry because of it. she loves and believes in vengeance. i don’t see a lot of people (especially women) who seem to understand or express that. most people who have been through stuff sort of bounce back and are fine. but i’m always going to be angry and want revenge about what happened to me. and that’s sort of what she talks about in her songs.  

are you an artist? nah. i like drawing and painting and stuff because its fun and eases your mind. but i get too frustrated at myself for not being able to immediately create something exactly the way it is in my head. my hands dont do what my brain sees. 

do you have a creed? not really. treat people the way you’d want to be treated. and once you know them, treat people the way they treat you.  

describe your ideal day. i get high, i shower high and listen to music, there is food around that i love and either a really funny tv show, or a favourite of mine. maybe even some high sex. i am alone. 

dog person or cat person? cat. i hate dogs so fucking much. 

inside or outdoors? inside. outdoors has like ants that bite you and bird shit and stuff

are you a musician? i taught myself 2 1/2 songs on piano?

five most influential books over your lifetime. in no order: the hunger games, a long way home - saroo brierley, boy overboard - morris gleitzman, the martian - andy weir, and probably tfios because who didnt love that book

if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same? absolutely not. i actually just finished watching jane the virgin 5x01 where (SPOILERS) michael comes back but has amnesia and is a whole different person because he can’t remember his past. i feel the same way. if i had a different past or couldn’t remember mine, i would be very different. i would be a) way more confident, b) wouldn’t have anxiety, c) would be more assertive, d) would be more ambitious. 

would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”? i talk on here a lot more than i do irl. and i talk about things a lot more because i dont know anyone here. i guess tumblr is me but less afraid. since it’s a very anonymous platform, which makes it easier to not give a shit what people will think. and the block button helps but i’ve never had to use it

what’s your patronus? either a black cat or a crow or raven or something. 

which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle? ravenclaw. though if im being honest (and i am because no one follows or sees this blog) i dont know how i keep getting put in ravenclaw. i don’t really feel intelligent these days. and i cant remember the last time i did. 

would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else? dude totally hogwarts! magic is amazing. i’d love to be an avenger but i prefer to keep to myself which isnt really a superhero quality. 

do you love easily? GOD. yeah i do. lately i’ve been trying to not make any friends, and to keep my distance from people i’m already friends with. but its really hard because i love people a lot, even when i dont want to. i’ve decided i can love them from afar, but i’m not trusting them or getting too close. but yeah it’s ahrd being a leo

list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order. (Over)Thinking. Listening to music. Eating. Going on my phone. Working 

how often would you want to see your family every year? ideally, never again. but practically, i guess only on special occasions

have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone? yeah. they were my two favourite people and relationships. my old best friends. but i dont talk to either of them anymore. i do miss the feeling of understanding someone and being so inherently understood. and belonging somewhere.

could you live as a hermit? easily

how would you describe your gender/sexuality? so here’s the thing. i keep swinging from lesbian to bi. i thought i only liked girls for a while. but there have been a few guys (im talking like 5) who i’ve ever been attracted to. and a lot of people say that just means you’re a lesbian if you like all girls and only like a few guys. but i know that i did like those guys a lot. sure, it was different to how i liked girls, but the attraction was there. so im inclined to say bi. but who knows. 

do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”? yeah. unfortunately, my emotions show on my face a lot more than i want them to. im good at disguising them - i do a good fake smile when im sad. but i can never have a neutral, or impartial face. in terms of facial features, yeah that’s pretty close.

on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin? like 10. i try to be really understanding and patient, since i know i get under people’s skin a lot. that’s why i get really upset when someone finally DOES get under my skin. because i give a lot of changes. i feel like you’d have to really fuck up to make me mad

three songs that you connect with right now. goodbye stranger - supertramp, hustle - pink, nobody - mitski

pick one of your favorite quotes. the very cliche “being human is a condition that requires a little anaesthesia” because mood

[kaedekayano]

001; Kanzaki and Kayano. 002: Gakushuu Asano

oh boy i’m abt to get so excited and emotional fuck adkaldjahdhdjsd

kanzaki/kayano

when I started shipping it if I did: i don’t remember tbh. i always lowkey shipped it haha, but i don’t think i really realised it until @wassailtofivehundred was like !! yukikae !! and also i saw cute fanart and i rewatched a couple episodes (kyoto trip ehh) and i was like, fuck i really ship this. also a lot of it was b/c around december (the time i published be your own hero) i started liking kayano a lot more and then that made me salty bc nagisa/kayano was so poorly written and an injustice to her character. she deserved a person who she had actual chemistry with, and i think kanzaki is definitely that person (or one of them).

my thoughts: pure!! good!! beautiful and amazing!! i love it!! so much!! i’m working on a v v long yukikae kayano-POV fic right now and i’m excited to show it to y’all b/c i have trouble expressing how much/why i love characters/ships until i have a fic to support it, haha. but anyway i think kanzaki is really good for kayano b/c she’s so understanding and caring, and kayano is good for kanzaki because — look they just care so much abt each other okay they’re so Good.

What makes me happy about them: so good. so pure. so beautiful. they’re just healthy for each other and i love the idea of kayano’s best friend supporting her through all the shit she’s gone through because fuck, man, kayano’s mom and sister are dead, the only “friends” she had, she built her friendship on a lie, the teacher she tried to kill and then turned out not to be guilty is dead anyway (bye bye, purpose that kept her going for a year despite all her issues), the person she was for a year was a lie but — not all of it, okay, deep down kaede kayano/akari yukimura is still a good caring person and kanzaki knows it even if she did lie and the two of them supporting each other and I just — yeah

What makes me sad about them: i’m always full of salt about kayano so :/ i don’t like it when people don’t acknowledge the kayano arc happened/kayano’s real personality is very different from the one she pretended to be/she lied to the class for a year? yeah matsui just decided to forget about it and sideline her because he’s a shit writer and what the fuck is continuity, but that doesn’t mean you should follow his example. so it’d be great to see those issues acknowledged!! give me kanzaki understanding kayano did fucked-up things and is a messy person who was not the kind, cheerful, sweet girl she pretended to be and loving her anyway!! (acknowledge and justify the kayano arc for why it happened without throwing logic out the window, and i’ll personally send you a thank-you card)

things done in fanfic that annoys me: there are two fics on ao3 for yukikae, lol (i’m planning to remedy this because inexcusable!!). one is kayano third wheeling karmagisa w/ like 5 lines of actual yukikae (no offense to the author, the fic is fine, it’s just Not Yukikae). the other is green’s fic and admittedly there isn’t a lot of overtly romantic yukikae but it’s a really good fic and there’s good worldbuilding and concepts and y’all should read it

things I look for in fanfic: having it exist. that’s what i’m looking for. that being said, see above rant, because while there aren’t many fics about kanzaki (beautiful daughter pls love her more), there is plenty of fic about kayano and it is almost never accurate. it makes me sad. accurate, well-done characterization is what i Live for

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: both of them, okuda. as previously mentioned, kanzaki, maybe yada? for kaede, rio, also yada, maybe kataoka (it’s mentioned kayano admires her and i don’t think that was a lie, akari seems like the type of girl who recognises and respects strength and competence in people). um. the 3-E girls are all good in general haha, the only person i can think of off the top of my head i’d say no to is okano with kanzaki because okano dislikes her and kanzaki is uncomfortable with that, so. :/ although seeing them work past it (and okano getting past her own insecurities regarding her femininity) would be cool, so even then, i can’t say Absolutely Never. just not nagisa/kayano pls

My happily ever after for them: sometime in their mid/late-20s, they move into an apartment together and own lots of books and cute stationery and various trinkets. also a cat. maybe other pets, like a hamster or a dog. kayano is a successful actress all over again but keeps her relationship with kanzaki not secret but lowkey. kanzaki is away from her parents and likes her job and reads a lot of books. their friends come visit them pretty frequently and the neighbors think they’re adorable. they’re happy.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: omg fuck i suck at this kind of thing. i think kayano would be the big spoon and kanzaki the little spoon but i don’t think they’d mind switching

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: um theyre fond of reading and decorating things (apartment they move into together) and baking and taking walks together. probably taking walks with the dog tbh. that was like 4 i dont know sorry im still in the developing stages of headcanons for these two ive only been highkey invested in this ship for like a month and a half okay

gakushuu asano

How I feel about this character: today i started thinking about him completely out of the blue, with no prompting, and then i sat down and wrote 4 pages in my notebook about an AU where ikeda doesn’t die and gakuhou remains a good dad. last sentence is “in another world, gakushuu asano is healthy and happy and okay.” this is pretty much how i am all day every day i love this child so much he’s just. i see a lot of myself in him (hes relatable okay) and he’s so amazing and brilliant and full of curiosity and potential and i!!! love!!! him!!!! i want him to be happy so much!!! i love him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

All the people I ship romantically with this character: karma (obviously haha), um. fuck. im really fond of renshuu (like really fond) but i usually ship it as ren having a one-sided crush on gakushuu that eventually concludes in ren realising shuu’s crushing unattainability (also i hc gakushuu as ace arospec and he’s kinda ehhh abt romance in general. projecting? me? yeah) and dealing with it and they become really really good best friends even tho it makes ren’s heart hurt a lil bit but mostly its okay. fuck i had a fic abt this i started months ago that i never finished i gotta do that but yeah i envision the virtuosos’ dynamic as being very very complicated in general. oh yeah i cant believe i said i ship karma/gakushuu only once in this post so far so anyway i ship karushuu i love karushuu karushuu is love karushuu is life

My non-romantic OTP for this character: the virtuosos of course its not like i wrote like 1k+ of meta on this hahahaha also gakushuu/isogai, gakushuu/kataoka (why cant we see his respect for her acknowledged as well i know isogai gets his own ep and all but kataoka is still important and is also a class rep :/), gakushuu/nagisa a little bit (i used to be super into it and i still kinda like it), i actually really like the idea of platonic!karushuu because those two are cute boyfriends but working their way from enemies to rivals with grudging respect for each other to best friends?? it’s good

My unpopular opinion about this character: he and karma are not the same person or quite frankly anywhere close to it. there’s lots of parallels they’re good narrative foils but seeing people act like gakushuu is just a recoloured karma makes me sad. pls no my son is so complex and wonderful and different pls pls understand this he’s not just karma akabane with orange hair he’s his own character and such a good one

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: he goes to MIT and is separated from his father’s awful awful toxic influence and lives a happy brilliant successful life and is emotionally okay. i mean it’s not non-canon hahaha but seeing it onscreen would’ve been cool. we can assume that happens anyway tho b/c it’s gakushuu. uhh seeing him interact with his mom onscreen (or like, seeing his mom at all) would’ve been really cool!!! for who i imagine his mom as, i pretty much just think of @cosmicyue‘s hideko asano headcanon :)

my OTP: karushuu obviously. ohh man i love these two nerds so fucking much okay. they hate each other so so much but they also have this respect for each other alright if i start talking about why i ship karushuu (something ive actually never done on this blog bc i dont want people to think im trying to push karushuu on everyone ajdkakdkajsh; theres hardly a shortage of karushuu shippers around) then im gonna b here all day and this is already really long. ill shut up

my cross over ship: none i dont rlly think about AC in relation to other fandoms tbh

a headcanon fact: i have so many. fuck. um one of my favorites (ive mentioned it before but) is that the asanos are both fluent in 3+ languages and they talk shit about people they look down on in those languages when they’re around those people, just to make people uncomfortable.

send me a ship, a character, or five characters