#because it isn't exactly romantic but i think it applies to that dynamic too?

[myprongsfootera]

(When Sirius still had access to money) I bet Sirius and James killed it at getting gifts for each other. Not only did they know each other inside and out, but they were both so rich they could buy anything at any price. I bet they would be super over the top about it too, trying to one up each other with the best things. Those rich pureblood boys knew luxury.

And then when Sirius lost access to his own money, you just know Effie and Monty were super generous with him and I bet James got even more generous with him. Sirius may have lost the Black inheritance, but he was never going to want for anything. James never ever ever would have let him.

[miracles-and-butterflies]

This is probably ignorance on my part, but how does Mirabel, who is Aromantic Asexual, having a relationship with Sera work? I mean, obviously AroAce people can have meaningful connections with people, but Sera is meant to be a love interest, right? But isn't being Aromantic mean you're not interested in romance? Gosh I feel so ignorant for asking this, I hope I don't sound like a dumbass. It's obviously very different from a "normal" relationship, for lack of a better term, at least one that I know of, so what's their relationship like? The two of them do have a fun dynamic and I'd love to see more of how they interact. Also, if you haven't already answered, what's Sera's sexuality? I assume she's somewhere on the AroAce spectrum but I could be wrong

Not at all! It’s perfectly okay to ask questions and gain a better understanding.

I’ll try explaining this as best I can!

Being aromantic and/or asexual is more of a spectrum. Some people feel absolutely no attraction or feelings at all, while others do; it depends where exactly you fall on said spectrum. As for what that means in having a relationship, it differs again from person to person - some people on spectrum do still want a relationship, some don’t.

Being aromantic and asexual specifically means that a person feels little to no romantic/sexual attraction respectively. Though some people do just say they are aroace for a number of reasons, as it is an umbrella term: they feel it still applies to them, it is easier to just say that or they haven’t worked out where exactly they fell yet on the spectrum, etc.

As for Mirabel’s orientation…

She started out as specifically aromantic and asexual. But over time, I think she’s become more apothisexual - meaning, she does not experience any sexual attraction at all and is sex-repulsed. As for the aromantic side of things, I’m not too sure where she lands. And can see her as any of these:

Aromantic, as previously mentioned - would feel little to no romantic attraction

Demiromantic - may experience romantic attraction only after an emotional bond has been formed with said person

Recipromantic - may experience romantic attraction after they realise someone is romantically attracted to them

Apothiromantic - does not experience any romantic attraction at all and is romance-repulsed

Because I can see her as any of these, we have alternate universes to play around with her being these different levels of aromantic. The ones that include Sera are the ones where she is more likely to feel romantic attraction. Any universe without Sera, it’s safe to say she probably doesn’t feel romantic attraction at all.

(When she is more romantic, she is panromantic - romantically attracted to people regardless of their gender).

As for Sera’s specific orientation…

She is a lesbian. She has no specific attachment to either the aromantic or asexual spectrum. Though I could see her being somewhere on the asexual spectrum maybe - she feels sexual attraction but doesn’t necessarily want or need to act on it? In any case, she feels way more attraction than Mirabel does.

I hope this answers everything!

I’ll explain their dynamic more in another ask, as this one is already quite long.

[ivyial]

I'm shocked that Leshley/Eagleone is classified as a "rare pair".... like... the potential these two have. It's one of the rare (ironically) ships where both parties could end up genuinely happy together, despite horrific circumstances lmao. Why in the world isn't it more popular? Simple answer? People have no taste and can't read between lines. 😤

(omg my first ask thank u ily)

no cause exactly. i tweeted something similar a few months ago about how people go wild for disney fairytales but not this. especially since at the time, the new little mermaid movie had just come out and everyone on twitter was losing their minds over it. people love a good fairytale, so it's surprising that leshley/eagleone gets this much hate. like the reply to the tweet said, it's probably a matter of other shippers not wanting to change their mind because unfortunately, people are very intense when it comes to ships!! you either have to be all in or fuck off, which to me sounds like a ridiculous way to approach shipping in media. so that's the first reason why, and arguably a dumb one too, because when it comes to franchises that are not going to give you romance outright, like RE, there is no need to invest this much energy into a ship. it's not like there is a ship war to be won, at least not in my eyes.

the second reason is the whole age gap thing. since the loudest part of fandoms is populated by literal teenagers who apply high school logic to both fiction and real life adult situations and a teenager thinks it is wrong for a 14 year old to date an 18 year old (and they'd be right, because age gaps matter greatly as a teenager, due to puberty and the various experiences you either get or do not get at a certain age), they automatically think that any and all age gaps between adults are wrong. UNLESS it's people who are their parents' age. i've seen it happen a lot on tiktok, where kids would be like "you can't ship them, they have a 7 year age gap" and someone would inevitably reply "but my mom is 35 and my dad is 42". so they'd be forced to acknowledge that "yeah, but it's different in your case, they're old enough" (???) because you're not gonna tell a stranger online that their parents' relationship is "morally wrong" (though, honestly, i wouldn't be surprised if someone did).

teenagers, as well as teenagers fresh out of high school, are convinced that your early twenties are the direct follow-up to your high school experience. that is straight-up not true. as soon as you get to 20, everyone you know will be in radically different places in life. i mean, i have friends who are already engaged, some who have never been in a relationship, and i know someone from high school who had a child at 19 and got married right after. to them, maturity can only be gained much later in life, like in your thirties, because their parents are around that age, or because that's when people start to have kids these days. maybe i'm wrong. but that's how i see it.

and that's when they start to resort to the sibling coded thing lmao. and if you look at tweets or tiktoks about leon and ashley's dynamic (not framed in a romantic manner), everyone will go out of their way in the comments to make sure that it's known that THEY VIEW THEM AS SIBLINGS GUYS. like the average reply will be "THEY'RE SO SIBLINGS" or "MY FAVOURITE SIBLINGS" which makes me throw up in my mouth a little. like okay, we get it. you don't ship them and you think no one should either. no need to be flamboyant about it.

and then as you mentioned, there's also the fact that people can't read between the lines, or maybe they don't want to. when i played RE4R, i didn't pay attention to leon and ashley that much because i was too focused on the game itself hahahaha. my primary takeaway was that they had a great, supportive dynamic, and then i'd noticed a few moments like ashley flirting with leon about the armour, or leon's fingers trailing down ashley's arm for no reason on the bed in chapter 13, or leon's weirdly boyish and bashful tone when he says "can you make it down? i can catch you" (seriously. he tried to make this into an incentive and i'm not sure who it benefitted more, him or ashley). after seeing some eagleone content and analyses, i was like hang on a sec... there is something there. i will admit that i personally suck at flirting, or at recognising it for that matter, unless i try really hard. i mean, a guy once tried to get my number with a magic trick, and my only response was that he didn't logically need my number to tell me what my card was, and he could tell me right there and the trick would be the same. like no shit girl. you're fucking dense LMAO. but that's just a me thing. when you really start paying attention, leon and ashley's flirting gets pretty obvious.

i've also seen people argue that ashley's crush on leon is "innocent" and she just views him as a hero so that's why she thinks she likes him. you know, because a 20-year-old woman can't make decisions for herself. she doesn't know any better. obvious sarcasm. in wanting to protect (young) women, people are starting to shelter them to the point where we're going backwards towards (male) guardianship.

so so sorry this ended up being longer than i thought help

[thebreakfastgenie]

different anon and i'm just curious - why don't you like beejhawk? i mean not the ship in the show but just like in general?

Anon hope I understand your meaning. If I'm answering the wrong question, please feel free to send a follow-up! Also sorry for the delay, tumblr ate this and I had to retype it.

The main reason I don't like beejhawk is that I literally just don't see it. And while canon is far from the arbiter of everything, the fact is that it's not only non-canon, there's not even any teasing in canon like there is with Margaret. They are presented as very close friends whose friendship is especially intense because of the circumstances. That resonates with me. The way they behave is exactly how I behave with my closest friends. I really like that dynamic. The only reason I wasn't surprised to see people shipping them is that I've been around fandom spaces since I was 13 and I know the game. If I weren't online, I wouldn't expect people to ship them.

Shipping them is just way too much work. When I do ship non-canon pairings, they're usually ones that slot into canon fairly easily, like spirk. Watching with shipping goggles is exhausting! I don't want to be constantly reinterpreting canon to fit my ship, especially when that involves taking something to mean the opposite of what it says. I prefer to take the show at face value, which says BJ loves Peg and wants to be with her. Even if I were inclined to look for hidden meanings, MASH really isn't the kind of show that does that. MASH is not subtle. Even when it does have a double meaning, which is mostly reserved for the early seasons commenting on Vietnam, it's never in conflict with the surface-level meaning; it's still telling a complete story about Korea. So it just feels discordant to me to be doing that. Other people have told me they see the ship effortlessly and I'm not arguing with that, but I don't.

My general disinterest did sort of blossom into dislike because of fandom. It's just so dominant, it's not just the most popular ship, the entire fandom revolves around it, and the assumption is if you post about MASH on tumblr you ship it. And along with the ship comes a bunch of popular headcanons and characterization that I don't like or see. I don't see BJ as a liar, as evil, as insane, as unhinged, as gay, as repressed, etc. I don't see Hawkeye as a lovesick martyr pining after a married man. There is beejhawk that doesn't use that, but very little, and it's not worth finding for me. I do think punnihawk tends to avoid most of the characterization I dislike, which is why I can and do on occasion enjoy that. And when I did read beejhawk, it always felt out of character as soon as they kissed or confessed their love, even if I was enjoying it up to that point. The image of them growing old together is absurd to me. I'm not usually so frank about that, because I have friends who ship it, but I really can't imagine it. The insistence that there is no explanation besides romantic love is really off-putting, especially when I'm seeing that statement applied to things I literally do with my best friends.

Using that shipping lens does kind of ruin parts of the show for me, too. For example, the end of Where There's a Will There's a War, when Hawkeye is looking at the picture of Peg and Erin. To me it's about mortality and Hawkeye finally realizing what he can leave BJ when he's reminded of what's most important to BJ, what means the most to him. If it's some sort of tragic romantic moment I don't like it.

I have a thing for those comrades in arms type relationships that form under intense circumstances. I think it's fair to say they're something more or something different than the friendships most of us experience in our secure civilian lives, but I also think interpreting that extra closeness as necessarily inherently romantic is reductive. It takes something away. I don't like the Sam/Frodo ship for the same reason, but I do ship Legolas and Gimli, just for reference. Extremely close battlefield relationships happen in real life, and I'm sure some of those soldiers were and are in love, but I'm equally sure many of them were not and are not. And those bonds don't translate to civilian life exactly as they were, so in the case of BJ and Hawkeye I just don't see a path from the intensity they have going on in Korea to a relationship in the United States.

I'm not wild about wartime BJ/Hawkeye because I do see them as platonic and I do see BJ as straight, but I'm a bit more relaxed about that as long as it ends there. I think it undermines the ending of the show to put BJ and Hawkeye back together after the war. They can be in touch, they can see each other, but their lives have to be separate. And they do both have lives and familial obligations on opposite sides of the country. I have reservations about any MASH characters ending up permanently together, though I'm willing to suspend that in some cases for fanfiction. And I get that a lot of people like to put BJ and Hawkeye back together for self-indulgent fic purposes but that's not what I like to indulge in. The fun for me is staying true to the themes of the show as I understand them. And I'm not wild about them spending the rest of their lives as each others' lost Lenores either. They have lives outside each other.

From what I've seen, quite a few shippers view MASH as a love story. I don't. It's a war story. It's a tragedy, because it's a war story. Hawkeye and BJ's friendship is the central relationship from season 4 on, but it's not the only or even the main thing going on in the show. My interest is just elsewhere!

[onewomancitadel]

That whole fucking thing of fucking with settings where the consent is clear because it's baked into the concept (fuck-or-die only happens because we know the characters really want it; it's the set-up and payoff) introducing more offensive concepts like 'dubcon' (if there is any space between 'yes' and 'no', you have now just muddied our ability to talk about rape and sexual assault clearly; either it's bad or it isn't, or you have now given ammunition to the rapist's defense) is so fucking annoyingly shortsighted. If you're too cowardly to commit and tag your fic 'rape' because your only conception of rape is physically violent and a stranger on the streets, then just be honest and think about what you're writing and why and how consent during sex actually works.

I also just hate this deconstructionist approach to narrative tropes. I get that critiquing the gender dynamics of established storytelling tropes is necessary, I do, and I get that there are some darker gender underpinnings, but when it comes to smushing characters together under a magical spell or scenarios where they just have to have sex, I think it's pretty clear like... what the intention of that trope is, and I think playing with it is fun (I definitely have a few in my head I want to eventually work on), but the inability to recognise what they service narratively, undercutting the entire point of them to even making them unromantic (ugh, I've read plenty of those) and then going even further and introducing bad, shortsighted sexual politics? I find this rather offensive. (This even applies to things like gameified soulmate tropes where I'm not even sure I'm reading a romantic story anymore lol).

I understand that the whole culture of 'dubcon' is well and truly accepted, and challenging it is worthless, but my criticism from it comes from the fact that I find it a) craven, b) offensive, c) further evidence of hypermoralising in fandom which ends up achieving nothing. If anybody wants to come at me for feminist reasons, know that I think this is moreso indicative of the way we talk about rape as opposed to being its own critical moral crisis (and fandom running around in circles to police itself) - I think difference of opinion can exist here if you've got good intentions - and if you separately feel there is a grey area between rape and sex, know that I don't really care. The case for this is frequently made by rapists. If it's an approach which says, well, better to overtag than undertag, I've been caught off-guard enough times with a fic where I'm like, what exactly is wrong here? And I otherwise have a sensible approach to consent, and it's made me pretty uncomfortable. In the opposite sense, I've read fics tagged 'dubcon' worth a much darker rating than that, which betrays... quite a lot.

Getting a bit much there, sorry. I just find this type of fandom politicking and overpolicing so tiresome, particularly because there are bigger issues and it's such demonstrable evidence of people not fundamentally giving a fuck and further to that, fucking with basic fucking narrative logic.

[karoochui]

Hello there Mika!! Your art is huge inspiration to me and I love it so much words can't explain it, I absolutely love your sketches, doodles, full art pieces, whatever you make I absolutely adore. Sorry for blabbing but just wanted to ask about things you really hate about sskk, like what the fandom does with the ship that you dislike?😭 Take care of yourself drink some water!💜💫

TW for sa mention!! Sorry but i ramble a bit here so im gonna add a cut!! (Plus the tw) Take care of yourself too and ill get some water right now actually😋

Okay firstly!! Hello!! Thank you so much!! And no worries no need to apologize its very sweet of you im so glad you like my art i really do appreciate it!! Thank you!

And its hard for me to say exactly? Im still very much into bsd but ive been distant with the fandom for a little while now BUT!! From what i remember what i usually didnt like was when people would make them so..two dimensional kinda?? BSD has pretty morally complicated characters and it was really weird when people would flatten sskk's personalities down to just some ship dynamic bc they are SOOO much more complicated than that. And thats just as INDIVIDUALS!! Even when considering them together theres a lot to think about when it comes down to their functionality, whether or not its viewed as romantic or platonic. And of course youre always gonna have those people who just water down any mlm ship into some weird dynamic that doesn't even fit the character's relationship which is just obviously Not Great.

And then as far as the characters individually i feel like a lot of people baby atsushi its really odd. Like that man has gone through some shit he is GROWNNN. I think its because hes the "softer" one out if the two or whatever. Which yeah he's nicer, its made clear akutagawa isn't a great person but atsushi isnt the exact opposite of akutagawa or the "softer" one. They're narrative foils of eachother, they mirror many of the other's character traits and atsushi has also done some Not Super Stellar shit. Do i think most of it was within reason? A little, considering what hes been through and exactly what he did. I do think he is the better person between the both of them - and i feel like thats also proven - but he is by NO means "innocent" or anything weird like that.

Then for akutagawa its really only that weird sa headcannon that originated from something he said in Beast (i can't remember exactly what, but i remember thinking it was NOT enough to warrant a hc like that. I remember that much). And as someone who's been through that a couple times i think its one thing if its some way to help someone cope or feel more seen (more specifically it isnt my business to cast judgement -unless it hurts them or someone else- and im no therapist), but i have seen people apply the headcannon simply because they say its "implied" or it "makes sense". Which, once again, as someone who's gone through that i think thats just. Weird. I dont like it. I personally try to stay away from any talk about it at all from anyone.

I also don't like when people make it seems like Atsushi has to save Akutagawa or something like hes some knight in shining moral armor. Its much more complicated than that and I could go further into this but it would be a whole rant about their characters and dynamic and itd go on FOREVER. So im just gonna say that akutagawa is also a grown man and knows well enough what hes doing with himself, even if its unhealthy (not that Atsushi is any better but lets be real no one is this show really is) and he wouldn't listen to atsushi if he didnt want to anyway. This part is really just personal opinion though, and i don't cast hard judgement on people who see them that way. Im not the type to care enough.

So yeah i guess it wasn't really hard to say at all LMFAO but otherwise i dont think ive had any other issues abt it?? I dont pay much attention to things i don't like anyway so im not easily bothered lol

But i hope this answered your question!! Plz lmk if i missed or misinterpreted something!! It was nice to talk about BSD again anyway though, ive missed it.

[ladyluscinia]

Looks like the topic of the night for the Izzy Hands tag is relitigating the Navy plot vs the toe scene, so I guess I can throw out some thoughts on that.

I think these scenes are only comparable because they are both disproportionate responses to what the other person was doing at the time. They are both part of the overarching narrative of Edward and Izzy's relationship exploding (in order to make space for them to build back up a new dynamic) which is why overall there is no "true victim" between the two of them, but Edward's actions in 1x10 are still NOT a response to Izzy's actions in 1x09.

For Edward, maiming Izzy was not a justified action. First because maiming someone is generally just a cruel and uncalled for option - if he was a threat it would have made sense to kill him or send him away, and if he wasn't then don't maim him. And mainly because Edward is pretty clearly framed as in the wrong here. It is so weird to me how many people look at the Kraken sequence and go "Oh, well, murdering Lucius at the start was bad and horrifying, and marooning the crew at the end was bad and horrifying, and the Kraken is bad and horrifying overall, but that middle bit? With Izzy? That was a reasonable and justified use of force against someone who deserved it and maybe more."

What.

Edward maimed Izzy to reassert control over Izzy when he realized he wasn't ready to give that control up. It doesn't make sense as a threat response, and it wasn't even revenge because Edward stopped caring about the Navy thing as soon as he returned without Stede. He doesn't bring it up. In fact, he banters with Izzy and treats him the same as he did in the early eps. He's not mad at him for the Navy! That punch and the exchange before signing was the end of it for both of them. It's also the end of it as far as the story is concerned, because once they arrive at the school, all focus shifts to Stede and Edward's relationship beats. Them being trapped / pressed into service is solved by mugging a guy offscreen for a dinghy. Not exactly a serious threat or struggle. The toe scene is only in response to Izzy's words in the cabin, and Izzy's words did not warrant that.

Now in another show, the maiming + context would be a moral event horizon or pretty damn close to it, and Edward would be a violent monstrous character. In this show, violence has a distinctly handwavy quality and we can definitely forgive him for being out of line without having to pretend he wasn't. Also Izzy can probably get an anachronistic and instantly effective insert for his boot and not have his fighting ability crippled until it gets him killed, which does make the situation a bit better. Handwaviness can apply to injuries too (Lucius's finger).

So that's Edward in 1x10. What about Izzy in 1x09?

For Izzy, the Navy plot is an overreaction. I don't think anyone disputes this??? Like... I think it's fun that he tries to murder the mistress in the same way I think it's fun that Edward makes his breakup everyone's problem. I think the framing is a bit more serious in order to give Edward's romantic sacrifice some oomph, but it's still ridiculous to act like trying to kill Stede is a traumatic and borderline unforgivable act when Mary will settle on the same solution to her problems next episode. But no, I don't think Izzy was warranted in trying to kill Stede because Edward was upsetting him.

In fact, I think Izzy betraying Edward - not so much the murder plot specifically as just taking initiative to force Edward to choose when he was trying very hard not to (something he thought he had sidestepped in 1x06) - is a significant part of why he goes all in on Stede in an inauthentic way in 1x09 and gets so unexpectedly hurt, and why he overcorrects in 1x10. His disproportionate response here does drive the dramatic explosion of their toxic codependency just as much as Edward's does. It just isn't a literal "I hit you and you hit me back" situation.

Izzy forces Edward to choose, Edward chooses, it goes bad but Edward tries to stick to his choice, Izzy "accepts" the choice by rejecting the person Edward chose to be and threatening to leave, and Edward overcorrects to the worst possible version of the person who gets to keep Izzy.

And since this is as good a time to nitpick 1x09 reads as any... Izzy did also try to get Edward off the boat. That was a pretty significant thing that took up most of the plot of 1x08. Like I understand where you are coming from here about it being terrible to have to nearly watch Stede die, but Izzy very much did put a lot of planning into getting Edward off the boat before any of it.

People bring that up like it was Izzy's dastardly plan or that he callously dismissed that Edward would be upset by Stede's death, but, like, he knew in 1x06 that Edward wasn't thrilled and offered to take care of it. He wasn't trying to make Edward a captive audience. He was quite literally trying for the opposite and still scrambling to keep Edward entirely unharmed when it got screwed up. You can be pissed at him for trying to off Stede, but the "in front of Edward" bit was not intentional. (And acting like he put Edward in harms way is also kind of a reach, seeing as it would have been very easy in the show to, well, show that was a risk. Instead Edward being perfectly safe makes his romantic gesture more significant.)

So yeah. No abuser / victim dynamic here, but it's not because either of them "deserves" to be mistreated by the other when they are. And maybe stop morally justifying mutilation as punitive justice, because the show doesn't frame it that way and it would be kinda fucked up if it did.

[thebrokengate]

I think one of the problems with Melvin's relationship is that they have this ''tell, don't show'' dynamic, which makes it seem fake and inauthentic. It draws a contrast to other relationships on the show. I tried to imagine this same dynamic for Lumax, for example, and it really feels crap. Lumax and other relationships have the ''show, don't tell'' dynamic. We don't have to hear how much they love each other to understand they love and care about each other. The only time a couple tells they love each other is when Jonathan and Nancy explain to other people what they see in each other. Jonathan tells Argyle that Nancy is brave, hardworking etc and Nancy tells that guy (i forgot his name, fred?) that Jonathan is kind and compassionate. But they don't spell it out to each others faces for us to understand they love each other.

And that's the part of authentic storytelling. Good storytelling isn't based on ''tell, don't show'', it's based on ''show, don't tell'' and this also applies to the characters' relationship dynamics. This whole usage of ''love'' word drama that they have introduced for El and Mike's relationship feels weird because they actually didn't have to introduce this sort of conflict for their relationship if we were to understand and realize that they love each other just like other couples on the show. That's why the majority of the people love Lumax, because they are authentic. We realize and see they love each other, and it doesn't feel forced.

Yeah, exactly, that's a big part of it. That's what I was always told in school too, "show, don't tell", every time they gave us a creative writing project. L*max feels genuine because they've explored their relationship with genuine deep emotion and care for each other. They don't have to tell us they're in love for us to believe that. That's why every other relationship dynamic on the show works for me where M*lev*n doesn't (minus how unhealthy it's gotten and their dynamic imbalance where it stands as forced romantic) and falls short, because there's much deeper emotions between those other relationships than what we're told on a surface level. Every other relationship's romantic chemistry works because of the "show, don't tell" method. M*lev*n is never given those deep heart-to-hearts either that the other relationships are given (they always get interrupted or things get too awkward any time they've tried), so in comparison to every other relationship, M*lev*n comes off shallow.

[thejustmaiden]

So out of nowhere I was tagged and quoted by a SR shipper for a blog of mine posted in August of last year. Talk about throwback but, hey, gotta appreciate that level of snooping. 😉

Back in the day I actually used to encourage discourse amongst Inuyasha fans- both shippers and antis alike- but I've since realized that it's a lost cause. But for you, @feministmetalgreymon , I'll grant this exception. Just 'cause it's been a while so why the hell not. haha

I want to assure you, however, that nothing you say will ever convince me that Sesshomaru and Rin are meant to be together romantically or that the story intended it so. Nor will you find any validation here. You can ship them for all I care, but please for all that is good and holy while I have your attention try- I mean really try- to understand why it is so many of us Inuyasha fans are so against this pairing in the first place (newsflash: it's not about ship wars), and why we believe a romance between the two of them is completely and utterly out of character.

For those of you interested in reading this, the blog of mine in question that the above shipper mentions in their counter-argument is here for reference. It's titled "Jaken = Rin's Dad?" I'm going to try and keep this short, but I'm also making no such promises. After all, I'm not exactly known for my brevity. haha Now let's get crackin'!

Like you, feministmetalgreymon, did for your recent blog here where you took screenshots of mine to address certain parts, I will be doing the same and dissecting yours accordingly.

[Snippet 1]

I worked with kids for many years as a teacher, and many people in my family have too or still do. Two of them happen to be just over 5 feet which is quite short for the average adult woman living here. I've also worked alongside many a women of short stature, and never did I hear any of them complaining of issues with their students having difficulty differentiating them from their own peers just because they were short as well. I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous. Kids are quite smart and pick up on a lot more than you seem to give them credit for. Height is not the only characteristic they look at to determine who's an adult and who's not, and it's foolish to suggest otherwise. So unless you're a babysitter who's still in their teens and/or who has very childlike features or behavior then I'm afraid what you're getting at is total hogwash. This is just another example of how you shippers offer nothing of real substance to your reasoning, it's only ever cherry-picking or strawmanning from you guys. Stop deflecting from the real issues please, because this certainly isn't one and only winds up being a complete waste of time for all parties involved.

[Snippet 2]

Okay, calm down now. I wasn't insinuating that relationships between parents and children can't change over time in terms of how they get along. Of course that's possible, as all families experience their fair share of estrangement and abuse. What I was speaking about was in reference to the overall dynamic between the two. Because a bad mother or father can still be viewed as a parental figure to their child even if say they're not in said child's life anymore. Since Sesshomaru and Rin share a healthy bond- and just a friendly reminder that in my blog I even said that he doesn't have to necessarily be labeled her father but that a romantic relationship later would still be inappropriate- I didn't deem it necessary to address what you brought up. Plus, it kinda, umm, misses the point?? Please, let's stay on topic. And it's not captured in the screenshot, but stop acting like there isn't a small part of them that idolizes their parents at some point during childhood. Just like you mention later on how it's normal for kids to have innocent crushes on adults that they eventually grow out of? Well, guess what, the same concept applies here. Kids eventually learn that their parents are far from perfect and make mistakes too. Rin is so damn young in the OG series though that we never even get to see her reach that maturity level.

[Snippet 3]

LOL! Alright, okay, so the "unbreakable bond" bit you're mentioning was actually me quoting you sessrinners. Did you not catch that? I literally spelled it out. *sigh* The whole point I was making is that shippers like yourself make hypocritical and contradictory statements all.the.goddamn.time. One moment you guys claim that Sesshomaru and Rin were essentially strangers and meant very little to each other, only to say in the same breath a few seconds later that they were destined to be together and their bond is like no other. I agree, their bond is special, but why must that mean they're going to fall in love?

That is the root of the matter here. Too many animes/mangas have romanticized this older adult man & young girl growing up falling in love trope that it's become way too normalized and widely accepted across the world- and yes, in some cultures more than others. Sadly, you lack the awareness to recognize how this all works. You know how we know that? When we see that you shippers are so desensitized to sexualized images of girls in the media that you share posts like this one below which *subtly* imply a future romance although one half of that pairing is still just a child in the pic and then try and pass it off as cute. That's like super fucking problematic and it scares me that you can't see that (or deny you do). 🤢

After all that's said and done, Sesshomaru leaving Rin in the village with Kaede is to me the strongest indicator more than pretty much anything else he's done for Rin that proves he is her adoptive father. It's so funny to me how you somehow see the exact opposite though. 🤔 What I think is happening is that you got yourself on some squeaky clean ass shipper goggles fresh out of your little echo chamber. Because I hate to tell you, but what you're fantasizing is what you want to see and not what's actually there on screen or was written into the story. I'm strictly talking about Inuyasha and the manga of course. [For the TL; DR version skip to the last paragraph.]

Parents looking after their kids is what parents are supposed to do. A good parent will do anything to keep their child safe and ensure they are cared for, so what he did for her by leaving her there was in her best interests clearly. Besides, as a babysitter, you more than most people should understand that parents aren't always able to be there for their kids so sometimes others gotta step in to help. Haven't you heard of the saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?" Which in Rin's case is literally true! 😂 Sometimes kids are even sent off to stay with grandparents and that's who raises them instead. Or maybe they have to temporarily live with an aunt or uncle because their single parent's job requires they work out of town 4-5 days of the week so they're hardly home. But that doesn't mean that the parents care or love their kids any less, and it's foolish to assume that Sesshomaru must have thought very little of Rin simply due to the fact that he made the decision to leave her in the village. Come on, y'all are acting like he abandoned her there!!

It's just given the circumstances Sesshomaru finally came to learn that Rin traveling with him was no longer safe. I also like to think it's because he wished for her to live a more normal life and to learn how to fully trust humans again. Plus, continuing to travel with him as young as she was would have proven dangerous and unwise. Now for you to know all this and still manage to turn his past actions towards her while she was just a child into a romantic gesture is what boggles my mind. Regardless of how you look at it, from my perspective or your own, Sesshomaru is in the wrong. Either he's a father figure who impregnates his daughter at the young age of approximately 14. OR he's this man she used to travel with who maybe isn't a father to her but who nonetheless basically rapes her since kids her age can't consent to sex with an adult. Idk about you but it sounds to me like nobody here wins with either scenario we're given. In other words, you should be just as mad as we are. If only one side didn't choose to forsake their morals they know we both have in common for the sake of a ship. Welp. 🤷‍♀️

I agree, incest is disgusting but that's not the only problem we have with this pairing. A romantic bond forming between Sesshomaru and Rin would also constitute as grooming.

You realize that over the years he visited her in the village that he brought her gifts too and essentially watched her grow up right before his very eyes, right? I mean, I know you do, but I really shouldn't have to explain further why pursuing a romantic/sexual relationship with each other is plain and simple wrong. And before you say it's not because he didn't have any malintent, please understand that considering their history and power dynamic up to then that yes this is still considered grooming even if Rin supposedly "wanted it" or "made the first move." Whether you consider him her father or not, as the adult who took on a role resembling that of a caretaker in her early life- a critical developmental time for a child- Sesshomaru is obligated to turn down any advances by Rin and most definitely should not initiate any himself. As the first close adult figure she's had in her life since her parents died, it's unfathomable to imagine how Sesshomaru could go through with taking advantage of this young girl who was under his care and supervision since they met. To think he could be capable of betraying that trust sickens me to the core.

This. Now THIS is how a parent/guardian or a similar adult caretaker (babysitter, teacher, etc.) talks to a child. And, in turn, this is how some young children talk to adults. You'd be insane and delusional to deny it! We see it in our everyday lives, do we not? From where else do you think our stories draw most of their inspiration? Yes, obviously these fictional universes have aspects of fantasy that don't exist in the real world, but so how then do you suppose we're able to relate to them? The reason for that being is because these stories are written by people for people, so naturally there are going to be real life aspects embedded throughout. Sure, a little escapism doesn't hurt as we don't need to take everything so seriously, but ultimately we all need to recognize that the messages in the stories we tell matter. Most stories possess a combination of both light and dark themes, but when it specifically comes to the latter we gotta be careful with how we tackle this in children's media since kids are far more impressionable.

So if at the center of a story we have two of the main protagonists whose mom is basically their same age and to top it off she knew their dad when she was just a girl and who just so happened to help raise her, wouldn't you say that's beyond fucked up or at the very least so fucking weird? Like why would we think it's even remotely okay for our children to watch this garbage?? Really think about it. Try and be objective for once and think about how it would sound explaining this storyline to an outsider who's never watched IY or HNY. Well, antis have tried this before many times and we always get the same reaction: Ewww!

Like I said earlier, if you wanna ship it then fine, but 1) please stop seeking our approval or trying to change our minds - your ship wish came true didn't it, so why do you need us to validate it? 2) even though it's not canon, respect that we don't support this sequel portraying pedophilia in a positive light. It's harmful af to not only allow but glorify the continuation of sexualized images of young girls everywhere. And I shouldn't have to say this, but just because this trope is popular as you say does not make it right. Lolicon themes in the media have been an issue forever and it needs to stop. Yes, even some people in Japan or "the East" would agree. Shocker!

We're pissed off and rightfully so because Yashahime's TV rating is 14, not to mention it airs at the prime time kids in Japan watch TV after getting home from school. That's Towa and Setsuna's age, true, but if Rin being the mom when she's like only a year older than them (please don't argue w/ me about the math- antis have so far been right every time with it) is straight-up disgusting and not something we should be supporting or endorsing. Rin's a whole ass child!! Please don't start with the "but times were different then so her having kids at 15 is acceptable" argument either, because we've already debunked that and every other single excuse you guys throw at us. Besides, how or why would you expect young viewers to know these historical "facts" anyway, especially if as you suggest fiction doesn't affect reality so what does it matter? Yet here we are, arguing over a fictional show in real life almost a year and a half into the "Sesshomaru fucks?" sequel being announced. My ass, your ass, hell all our asses fiction doesn't affect reality!

Look, I do apologize if the tone of this blog came off as snippy or condescending at times. I do not wish you any ill will, it's just I'm not really sure what you expected to get out of all this besides maybe getting on my nerves perhaps. haha A lot of you shippers have been desperately scrambling to interact with us, lurking in our tags, jumping onto our posts screaming canon and getting so defensive even though you sought us out first. We've been sticking to our tags, so how about you stay in your lane too. By the way since we're on the topic, have you seen Twitter or Reddit?! SR shippers there are the actual worst and many Inuyasha fans (not just antis) have complained of not feeling welcomed to engage in fandom spaces anymore. Shippers swarm them and scare them off simply because fans don't like your ship and refuse to accept it. It's pathetic, really. No one should ever be bullied or harassed just because they don't like something you might. We're all fans of Inuyasha, aren't we? So let's act like it. Yashahime on the other hand, you guys are welcome to that pungent heap of trash. Fans have a right to criticize it too, but if you like it then good for you, so keep on liking it and don't mind us.

I'm almost done, but real quick back to Jaken! Let's not forget about how the official Yashahime website- which came out after my blog, mind you- described Jaken. This translation isn't the best one available but it's the only version a fellow anti friend could track down. They do recall a better one done by a native Japanese speaker who was also an anti, and that member confirmed that Jaken is indeed called Rin's babysitter. So you see, I was right in my interpretation. In the original post I did compare Jaken to a brother, but after talking to others (some comments can be found under said post) I did acknowledge that he's more of a reluctant babysitter who's not related. And if he's not at least a brother to Rin, then he's definitely not her father.

At the end of the day, the creator Rumiko Takahashi has the final word. Which is guess what? Hogosha. 💖 Probably should've just started out with that and saved us all the trouble, huh? Good day/night to you.

Papamaru bids you adieu now. 🤞

[imperiuswrecked]

Imperius! I have two questions, if you have the time: could you please share more on P's dynamic with Crystal? I came by a post you made in the past and found myself thinking "awww =[ " Link (1) : Imperiuswrecked (.) tumblr (.) com (/) post (/) 641954414087864320 (/ )big-gay-apocalypse-lil-teddy-bear

Hello, the post you linked, pics here, are a very interesting choice to talk about when it comes to the Pietro/Crystal dynamic:

Pietro is a person who hasn't had an easy life, he was on the run for years with his sister as young children into their teens, which means he did not have time to actually date or become emotionally attached to anyone in a romantic sense until Crystal, which happened only because he was rescued by her and Lockjaw. I believe a Florence Nightingale effect took place on both their parts, she saw him as an exotic human who needed someone to help him, and he saw her as a person who was kind enough to take care of a complete stranger. We don't get much more than that, they don't exactly date or anything.

Crystal had a very sheltered upbringing as a princess, and while Pietro was more world wary even though he was less experienced in relationships as well, they were both in their early 20s when they were quickly married, and not long after had Luna. So I feel for them the whole "married too soon without thinking about it" applies alot and is one of the root causes of their relationships issues. There is also of course, Crystal & her family not treating Pietro well but that's a more general rant since I'm trying to focus on just the couple here.

In X-Factor, Pietro & Crystal are trying to save their marriage but it always felt to me more one sided on Pietro's part, he was the one trying to better himself through therapy and taking those therapy lessons to heart and trying to find some patience with others. I feel as though Crystal's pervious cheating really did a number on Pietro's sense of confidence and his ability to trust Pietro, so when I see panels of Pietro being jealous/upset later with Crystal/Black Knight nonsense, it's because he already knew that Crystal has cheated in the past, there isn't that sense of trust there anymore, he is worried it will happen again and he genuinely loves her more than she loves him. The moment when Pietro is trying to open up to Crystal, once again this is NOT easy for a man like Pietro do to, the only person he ever trusted in his life, especially after his parents died, was his sister, so opening up to Crystal about his therapy and her first thoughts being that Pietro was cheating on her with a woman (Lorna) then a man, is supposed to be played off as comical but in context Crystal thinks Pietro would cheat (even though he has never shown or hinted he would be anything but less than faithful to her) because she has cheated.

In regards to the scene above, Pietro is tormented, he wants to have his family back, (my headcanon is the teddy bear is actually Luna's and he has it with him as a form of comfort because he misses his family) and he has nightmares about Crystal turning away in fear from him because either; 1) He is a mutant, he has had people do that before 2) He was once driven insane/mind controlled by Maximus the Mad to be a villain and she fears him 3) He is worried by the look of disgust or hatred she might have given him during their rough patches. He is worried that a person he loves very deeply would reject him again, he wants her love and he wants to be with her. Pietro is very much a man who loves deeply, he never puts anything less than his whole heart into the hands of the people he trusts most, and he isn't a person who does well when alone, he needs an anchor.

There is alot more to the Crystal/Pietro dynamic that I find interesting especially in regards to how Pietro was treated by Crystal, and I will talk about it as I continue to read through all the comics Pietro is featured in, so I may not have gotten everything in this ask.

[inkdrawndreamer]

I've been trying to figure out why I never seem to read any f/f fic despite liking a lot of pairings, and I think a lot of it comes down to story potential. I read and write mostly m/m fics in part because they are more interesting to me. Because they're allowed to be.

There is a tendency in both original and fan fiction to write f/f pairings as either very wholesome and innocent, pure eye candy, or explicitly unhealthy/abusive. M/M ships are depicted with a lot more variety in my experience. You can find everything from fluffy stories of grade school crushes to violence and manipulation-laced fics that read more like thriller novels. There is something to be said for the issue of romanticized abuse in m/m ships, but I think there is also a greater openness to exploring different dynamics than there is in f/f media.

Who knows? Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places, but up until very recently I have not been able to find f/f media that was as gritty as their m/m counterparts. Shows like Steven Universe and Orphan Black were a huge shift in that respect because they showed explicitly queer women in situations normally reserved for only male or straight characters (and without falling back on the usual psycho wlw and bury your gays tropes).

Part of the problem also lies in how same-gender relationships are demonized when the subjects are male vs when they are female. Boys grow up taught that even the smallest intimacy between men could be considered gay, and therefore bad, so they aren't allowed to be as open or affectionate with each other at any level. Girls are taught the opposite, that they can do everything up to sex with each other and it isn't gay unless they say so. Victorian friendships and all that. Early yuri manga used a similar structure based on this idea of intimate sisterly bonds in Japan. They were often nonsexual, not even necessarily romantic, but considered acceptable because they were supposed to end once the time came to marry (men) and start families. On the one hand, love between girls was more widely accepted, but only because it was considered a stepping stone to a heterosexual relationship rather than a replacement for one. Even then, those stories were very desexualized and had a tendency to end in tragedy for one or both characters, so not exactly a win-win situation...

All this to say, it has taken me years to even attempt to write f/f pairings as anything other than wholesome fluff. I love wholesome fluff—for all kinds of pairings—but I really want to see the same level of depth applied to f/f pairings that there is for m/m. I want to see more cat and mouse games, more war stories, more outlaws, and yes, more horror stories with queer women that don't end in tragedy EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is and write it myself, but I really want to see other people do the same too.