#besties with canon love interest and most popular ship

[citnamora]

You ever have those two characters where the thought of them dating makes you sick to your stomach and the idea of them getting married turns you off completely from enjoying the media they're in? Because I do.

[bluefox4]

I wish AO3 had a tag system for primary characters and secondary characters. Just since I'll look for fics staring Character A so I'll look through A's tags, but what I actually get are Character B centered fics with A playing a secondary to just being mentioned role. Well, just exclude B then. Simple right? Except that A and B are besties. I want to be able to see friendship fics with them but with A as the center focus. I don't mind B being there, but I want B in a more secondary role.

Or there will be those fics that seem like they will focus on a group of characters from the description so its like yes, I'll get my A fix while their sharing the stage with the others (B, C, D, etc) but then reading it it turns out that it really is just a B fic again. Which might be more frustrating then the other case.

Its the one thing that I miss from FanFiction.net. Since they limited how many characters you could tag. I think it was like 4 characters that you could tag a fic as being about. So, if there were multiple characters you actually had to think about who the leads of the fic were. It lead to a greater chance that the story was actually about A then not.

[yukishirostar]

So people are talking about a post in the Zolu tag by a certain tumblr user in regards to their issues with Zolu as a ship. They shall be unnamed because i dont wish to bring attention to them and instead just want to focus on their arguments because they're not the first people to make some of these points and so this is also an opportunity for me to talk about these things (a tweet is going around on Twitter containing these screenshots with the username so you can find it there if you need to anyway).

The way this person dismisses the relationship between Zoro and Luffy as a result of needing to pair gay Zoro with someone is too laughable, they must be very fit in order to be able to do these mental gymnastics. I believe that many people who are going on about the Zolu scenes in the OPLA were already Zolu shippers who were familiar with the original story and are enjoying the moments because they were well, really good Zolu moments? And there is actually, shockingly, many good Zolu moments in the original story too which is why many people ship them. Wild, I know.

Then there's 'straight-washed Sanji'. Equally if not more of a bizarre thing to believe. I might make some people mad especially the Sanji stans out there who constantly insist on the 'repressed queer' narrative with his character, but Sanji is written pretty explicitly to be seen as a cisgender and heterosexual character. The way you say with your whole chest that Luffy is 'canonically' aroace but don't acknowledge that Sanji is 'canonically' cishet is beyond hypocritical. If you believe Sanji looking like a 'misogynistic straight man' is different from the way he is written in canon then maybe you should go back and reread/rewatch series with your eyes open this time. If you wish to headcanon him with the frankly offensive repressed bisexual/transgender cliché then go ahead, but that is clearly not the intention Oda has with his character.

There's also the fact that aroace people can uh. Be in relationships. Get married. Have children. Did it occur to you that many people who ship Zolu ship them as an ace couple or-

First thing I want to say here, as a trans man who is 'mlm', can other dudes stop with this idea that women or fem-aligned individuals enjoying homosexual relationships between two men is inherently fetishising or that as a masc-aligned individual your enjoyment of a ship is morally superior in some way. Stop pulling out your 'mlm/ transmasc / cis gay' card in order to justify why your ship is superior. Its cringe af.

But if we are to insist that 'cishet female gaze fetishising mlm' is going on then ironically Zosan fits that the better than any ship in the fandom. It being by far the most popular mlm ship means there is likely a higher proportion of people who identify as cishet women who ship it. Its also the classic 'two men who dislike/hate eachother and have a toxic relationship but hot sexual tension' slash/yaoi stereotype. Majority of Zosan I've come across is depicting Zoro as the masculine male man in the relationship while Sanji the effeminate twink that Sanji stans project themselves onto and they go crazy for the bickering that is apparently reminiscent to them of a toxic heterosexual marriage. Meanwhile every Zolu/Luzo shipper I've interacted with has been some flavour of queer and Zolu is closest to the 'falling in love with your same sex bestie' narrative that the majority if not every non-heterosexual person has experienced at least once in their lifetime. This is just my personal view of course, but I think noting a difference in perspective on this topic is interesting and reveals that at the end of the day this is totally subjective and based purely on anecdotes.

Also it's just a very weird point here that apparently OP has 'plenty of varied queer rep' (it actually doesn't have that many canonical queer characters in relation to its cast size but anyway) and other media doesn't so shipping aroace characters in gay relationships is valid in those but not in One Piece … HUH???? So you're saying if One Piece had 'less' queer rep, then Zolu would be fine to ship? Idek my brain hurts.

"I have black friends so I'll speak for the black community and get offended for them" (btw this person then proceeded to block aroace people who had issues with their depiction of aroace people).

Also if we're talking canonical depictions, the only thing Zoro has been canonically depicted as is also aroace, equally if not moreso than Luffy. So by your own rules, you can't ship a cishet (sanji) with an aroace (zoro), therefore Zosan is now invalid. Stop erasing Zoro's aroace identity bigot.

'Categorically wrong' makes me laugh. I don't ship Zoro and Nami but like, people can ship what they want to??

'The general public is aware enough of gay people and how to spot them these days' uh... firstly this sounds very homophobic. Secondly the general public (cishet ppl) are famously bad at recognising queerness even when its in flashing lights before them. Thirdly you make it sound like Zoro was going around on roller skates and booty shorts listening to YMCA and Madonna in the show. I do agree he was gay-coded but it was mostly because he had sexual tension with every man he interacted with, not for the strange reasons you pointed out...

Its kinda the elephant in the room too but like. These are just headcanons. You can have multiple headcanons and interpretations of a character's sexuality. I can see Zoro as aroace virgin one day and a gay h*e the next. I'm actually allowed, legally, to do that.

The way they think shipping Zolu is harmful to aroace representation when BOTH characters are closest to being canonically aroace than anything yet ship Zosan, label being anti-Zolu as some kind of pro-ace activism, and then proceeded to block aroace people for criticising their incorrect depiction of what being aroace is...

This was a lot of words to say that you don't like a ship. Just say you don't like it, and it gets in the way of the ship you like, instead of writing a virtue signalling essay to justify your reasoning. Please.

They had some more to say on future posts I'll just pick my favourite bits

They really have this narrative that Zolu is only popular because of OPLA and can't fathom that its just a popular ship in general and always has been huh. And they couldn't make it more obvious that they're totally salty about it ranking in the top 100 most popular tumblr ships, lmao.

Your classic case of 'self-identifying ally who speaks over the people they are supposed allies of'. Its a general rule that you feel the need to declare yourself an ally you're probably not an ally, actual allies know they need to just shut up and do the work. Saying 'this character's aroace' and 'I have aroace friends' actually isn't what allyship is, thats just accepting that ace people exist which is like... the baseline.

Calling a wholesome loving ship like Zolu an icky ship is a severe consequence of online brain (this person is 26 years old btw)

[barblaz-arts]

What do you think of the Alastor x Lucifer Ship?

I'm not like a full on stan because

1) I quite like Lucilith, even if it's more because of the concept. The beauty in an angel and human loving each other after losing each of their "paradise" in Hell of all places is romantic af. The many parallels they have with Chaggie leaves for lots of speculation for interesting events that could unfold. Seeing more of Chaggie's romance could be the key to Lucifer and Lilith getting back together, or if not then healing as individuals after falling out of love for the person that used to make hell home.

2) I get that an ace character doesn't necessarily mean they can't do romance, but Alastor just personally doesn't strike me as someone I could ship with anyone. At best I'd ship him with Rosie, but even then they're more like besties to me.

3) I don't usually like the enemies to lovers trope if it's just for the sake of shipping characters that hate each other in canon. If there isn't any hint of them even respecting each other, i dont really see much potential for romance(yet!)

I don't hate it as much as, like, Charl*stor tho. At the very least there isn't any of that icky feeling I get at the thought of it. Charlie's just too much of a sweetheart for Alastor and their interactions canonically involve Alastor taking advantage of Charlie in some way. Lucifer is basically a jaded version of Charlie tho, and that would leave for a more interesting dynamic that wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable.

Honestly I don't hate the ship at all. There's a few posts i like. Especially the hilarious ones. Also kinda funny how the two most popular ships that include an ace character both has him being a Morningstar homewrecker 💀

[the-ninjago-historian]

I'm feeling sad today, so FLUFFY COLE X VANIA HEADCANONS TIME!

FEAST YOUR EYES UPON MY HALFBAKED SHIPPING IDEAS!!!🤣🤣🤣 Lol. I need something to cheer me up. These or Pixane usually does the trick. Also, I wrote most of these well past my bedtime. So you KNOW it's gonna be fun! Lol! And I have a little post-series stuff thrown in too. So these headcanons aren't canon to Dragons Rising. Just wanted to make that clear. Anyhoo, let's go!

1: Vania fell first. Cole fell harder.

2: They like to go hiking and spelunking ALL the time. They're the cutest little adventure duo ever! They've discovered all sorts of secret places in Shintaro's mountains. And even some ancient artifacts and cave paintings from Shintaro's past!

3: Whenever Cole visits Shintaro, Vania just lights up. She's happiest when she has her bestie with her.❤️

4: Vania once tried to teach Cole how to use the Shintarians Flight Packs. He was absolutely terrified at first. (Falling off of stuff trauma.😭) But Vania told him to focus on something nice so he wouldn't look down too much. He ended up looking at her. Cue mutual blushing and shy downward glances.🤣

5: Cole taught her some new dance moves. (She had been brought up on more refined forms of dance. Like waltz and such.) She wanted to try something different.

6: At first, they are both quite shy around each other. Not quite sure how close to get. But eventually once they got comfortable around each other, they became very snuggly and affectionate. Especially Cole.😊🧡🧡🧡

7: Everyone in the Ninja fam were super happy when Cole finally admitted to liking Vania. He'd always been so supportive of their own relationships. So they were happy he'd finally have a partner of his own to love.

8: Vise versa, the Geckle and Munce were very excited that the Skyfolk Queen was interested in the Son of Gilly/Milly.

9: Vania loves to chatter about her interests and Cole is always happy to listen. (Chatty Extrovert x Good Listener!😁) Vania sometimes secretly worries she's talking his ear off. She doesn't know that Cole loves just hearing her voice.🥹❤️

10: Vania is very protective of Cole. She loves him dearly. Even before they started their relationship. She wasn't kidding when she said she would bring her entire army to his aid. (As seen in Crystalized.) That being said, I think she would do anything in her power to help keep him safe.

Okay, post series ones now!

11: Cole had this perfect plan for proposing to her. Except he wasn't expecting one thing. When it finally came time to propose, Vania proposed at the same time. 🤣 They laughed about it more a good ten minutes before exchanging rings.

12: Cole ends up becoming King Consort of Shintaro. At first, the Shintarian people are a bit apprehensive to the idea of having some who isn't a Shintarian on the throne. But this changes quickly after seeing what a good ruler he is. And he quickly becomes popular with the people.

13: They have three kids. Their names are Valkyrie, Zephyr, and Collette. AKA Cole Jr.✨ More on that later.

14: Val and Zephie here are twins. But, they're aren't identical twins. Val looks more human and is the spitting image of Lilly. Except with streaks of gold in her black hair. Meanwhile, Zephyr looks more like a Shintarian. And he has the opposite. Gold hair with black streaks.

15: Cole was unbelievably excited about finally becoming a father. He'd always wanted kids of his own. When Val and Zephyr were born, he actually cried when he got to hold them. He couldn't believe him and Vania could make something so beautiful.

16: Collette is the baby of the family. She's adorable and definitely a daddy's girl. Also, this happened;👉

Jay: Hey Cole! I guess you missed out on naming one of your kids Cole Jr again, huh?

Cole: *smirks* Oh? Meet your niece, Collette.

Jay: A- *Jay EXE. has stopped*

Cole: *Dabs in victory*

Kai: Son of a gun. He did it.

And FINALLY, this funky quick doodle I did of them. It's kinda "Meh" but I tried.😅 (Vania is a nightmare for me to draw. Lol.)

On a side note, I'll probably do something like this for each of my favorite Ninjago ships. That should be fun!

(Tagging @only-lonely-stars because I know she like these two. Hope you don't mind!)

[mana-jjk]

finally someone who actually understands inuokko and doesn't mischaracterize as an alpha sigma male and Toge as an uwu boy! bestie you don't know how happy I am that you came up on my fyp.

omg hi anon !! 🥺🫶

i love analyzing characters way before any shipping, i could actually read nothing but found family fics because i just feel like they always catch the perfect dynamic. with yuuta and toge specifically, i do feel like you can appreciate aspects of how their dynamic is on an appearance level or how they fit certain popular tropes, but i don’t think it’s the driving force behind what makes them so good together.

i do acknowledge that if we default to the stereotypical gay men tropes without tangible reason, it’s more indicative of getting used to knowing how to write LGBT+ relationships and tending to default to what we might be used to in straight relationships. i say that without any offense intended, it’s just a part of the writing process. especially with toge as a character, who has so much of his characterization sprinkled outside of the manga and anime. a lot of his backstory and characteristics are derived from the fun facts, light novel, and now even the unreleased game has given us so much more content. but i also think that’s why he’s so popular, there’s so much freedom in exploring him, especially if you haven’t discovered the existing content. taking that with yuuta who is honestly a fan favorite of the chad dude straight bros and gets a little too much ‘alpha male’ treatment from them, it can be a little confusing. (it kills me a little to see some one say he’s an alpha male with a bad attitude and smoking guns when manga panels will literally have him looking like this (・・?) 😭)

i do have preferences in how both yuuta and toge are portrayed, but that’s just because i care about them so much as individual characters.

for me, toge is soft and kind, but he was also born as a weapon and has spent his life sacrificing himself over and over. you can still have that softness and kindness, even more so when experiencing certain things, but there’s also a degree of hardening from trauma. i do characterize him to be less overtly an instigator lol, but that’s personal preference in how i see him combined with canon material. i find a lot of his trolling to be slipped in and more of a double take than full on gremlin, but that’s less mischaracterization and more preference. i find his relationship with living and death so, so interesting, especially in how he tries to shield the first-years and yuuta from having any kind of blood on their hands. it implicates him to have done that very thing, and he spends his life silencing himself because of it. i do believe his language barrier is almost a relief, because it acts almost as a self-imposed wall. but despite that wall, he still reaches out because while he himself is okay being alone, the thought of someone like yuuta, someone he sees as exactly like him, suffering by himself is painful to him.

for yuuta, i am a big advocate for the continued acknowledgment of his anxiety, depression, and low key craziness. he had a normal childhood, but that somehow makes the transition to everything with rika so much worse. because he had that normalcy and it was shattered completely. he’s hurt, maimed, and killed people both unintentionally and intentionally. but he sees it as necessary in protecting the people he cares about the most. in a lot of ways, i think his dubious morality and how far he’s willing to go is an expression of his love. for example, killing getou in his eyes is the ultimate act of service to gojo, so he himself would not have to kill him. his character is such a juxtaposition compared to everyone we’ve been introduced to. here you have these child soldiers, ready and willing to sacrifice themselves, where death and suffering is more feasible than ever living their life to entirely. then they give us yuuta, who wants to live so badly in happiness that he’s willing to inflict and do everything for and against their society. it’s almost an unhealthy relationship to a degree, but it’s the only kind of relationship any of them know how to have.

together they work so well, because like i’ve said before, they defy each other’s expectations in what they ever believed they could have or deserve. despite their rough edges, the blood on their hands, the years they’ve lost to fighting battles they never started, they treat each other so gently. as if they are the better half, yet simultaneously knowing exactly how much they have done. yuuta who sees violence almost as a love letter, who absorbs toge’s curse as if it’s something to admire and adore. toge who sees himself as unforgivable in his crimes, who self-enforces isolation and barriers yet took a step out just to comfort yuuta from a mild spell of anxiety, because he couldn’t stand to see him suffer even in a minor degree.

i have so many feelings about them so i’m so glad that they come across the way i want them to !! i love all content, and i’m always willing to share my thoughts, but ty so much for the validation bestie, i’m sure i’m eating up your content as well !! 🥺

[pinksmonkey]

Update on my anti-Byler bestie

Here's the post if you missed it.

First of all, thank you to everyone who shared their favourite Byler evidence, it made me very happy and it was funny sharing it with my friend.

Now, unfortunately my friend cannot be convinced. I'm autistic and have trouble understanding people's intentions and feelings, so I can't tell if he's being fully serious, half serious, or completely unserious, but to me it seems most like half serious. He's strongly in denial and won't really give me a reason as to why, he just says, "No, not happening."

So there's no getting to him, he believes without a doubt that Byler isn't happening (and said he'll start a riot if it does happen, but Idk if he was serious). And he says he's going to find evidence, but his only proof so far has been, "Nooooo." XD

So I've been dealing with that. It's kind of frustrating because I feel like he's not really listening to anything I'm saying, he just denies everything. And I understand sort of because he actually bet me $50 Byler won't happen in season 5 (I didn't bet anything, he just gets to keep the money if he's right). So he doesn't want to admit defeat to that, which is fair, but it was a stupid bet to make in the first place since he didn't have all the information (the proof for Byler).

Additionally, at lunch today we were talking to a girl who's also in our anxiety support class, and I was talking about Byler stuff (Mike's official playlist songs, the way he looks at Will, their flirty scenes in season 4, Mike using the "we're friends" trope, etc.). She agreed with my friend that Byler isn't a thing and said Mike is so straight.

I can argue with them as much as I want but it gets really frustrating and even kind of annoying that they just don't understand all the evidence. I'm just venting here, so absolutely no hate towards people who don't believe Byler is canon, but as someone who cares so deeply about it, it can make me kind of emotional trying to argue that I'm not delusional.

In the end we agreed to disagree, which is fine and valid and I respect that. But with my friend, it's kind of a big deal, because to me Byler is a big deal. I admit I'm obsessed, Byler has been my biggest special interest since I watched season 4 and found out it was a thing. I can't really help it, I'm just so passionate about it and it gets stuck in my mind. You could say I'm hopelessly devoted to Byler, one of my friends online has even said they think it's unhealthy, but how can something that brings me so much joy be wrong?

Ok this has devolved significantly, but what I'm trying to say in this whole rant/vent thing is that yes, I'm very invested in the relationship between fictional characters, because it's important to me. Representation matters, and even though I'm not a gay man, I still love seeing other groups be represented, especially in a show this popular, with a story this deep. The beauty of Byler's story transcends everything.

So it's frustrating trying to argue for something I care so much about. Byler makes me happy, it motivates me, it inspires me. I'm not going to apologize for loving the things I love and being passionate about my interests. Of course I try to be open minded, respect different opinions, and listen to other points of view. If my friend actually had evidence against Byler, I would listen and respond as constructively and respectfully as I can.

Basically, shipping Byler is valid, and not shipping or even being anti-Byler is valid (unless it's just for homophobic reasons, homophobia is not valid). But I love Byler and it does kind of hurt to have something I care about be adamantly denied and torn apart. And you know, as I'm writing this I'm actually empathizing with Milevens. This doesn't just go for Byler, it goes for all ships (as long as they're not messed up obviously), people should be able to enjoy what they enjoy without others trying to tell them why they're wrong.

There's nothing wrong with analyzing Mileven, talking about why it's unhealthy or not going to be endgame, etc. But that should stay in the proper places, we don't need to constantly remind Milevens that they're ship isn't going to end up together. Just let them be happy, and I'd expect them to do the same for us.

Idk how this turned into talking about Milevens and respecting different ships, but it did somehow. Anyway, back to the point, my friend may be wrong about what will happen in season 5, but his beliefs on it are still valid. I just wish we could talk about it in a way that doesn't make me feel bad about shipping Byler and believing it's endgame. Does that make sense?

This isn't that serious or anything, and take everything I said here as just a random vent/rant, I'm just getting out all my thoughts and feelings, because I need to after all the arguing with people today.

If Byler doesn't happen, I'll be sad, but I know I won't be alone because I have my fellow Bylers, my Byler family and community here. We can all be sad together, and support each other. When I feel bad about something, I like to remember this quote:

That's how I feel about Byler not being endgame.

But on a lighter note, I'm pretty sure Byler will end up together, it just makes sense. So yeah, feel free to share any of your thoughts and feelings about this, I'd love to hear them. :)

I just needed to share some Byler positivity at the end because I'm tired of being surrounded by Byler negativity in my class.

Byler rights forever. 🏳️‍🌈

[gaffney]

totally stealing this from you but i am very curious: what are your top 3 julie rarepairs?

ok so after a lot of filtering (why is there fast and furious fic in the julie tag???), i've deduced that the top 3 most popular julie pairings on ao3 are adam/julie, connie/julie, and dean/julie, so i'm considering everything else is a rarepair!!

charlie/julie. i just love how comfortable these two are with each other ever!! like charlie was hanging off of her basically 5 seconds after they met, or him catching julie in a hug after she caught the puck. also this deleted scene in d3 where he's got an arm around her and fulton. she's very relaxed around him and is usually near his side in bg scenes. i also really like that moment in d3 where charlie ices the puck because he realizes julie's having a hard time, and then skates over to tell her 'way to hang tough'. RESPECT. VALIDATION. two things i really wish they'd given to julie more. i don't remember anyone else complimenting julie's skills and i love that charlie looks out for her. (i mean the writers even made her starting 1st all about goldberg's feelings. hell, julie ended up complimenting goldberg even though he basically poisoned her... blergh). we don't really get to see what type of people julie is attracted to aside from scooter who was kinda a snake, but i def think charlie has a thing for headstrong people who speak their minds (hi linda) and julie fits that description. and considering julie actually shares charlie's main interest with him (hockey), it's easy to imagine them together. anyway self-promo but read my charlie/julie fic rose-colored boy bc it is canon TO ME.

guy/julie. SO ADMITTEDLY, i do only ship this if they're poly with connie because i think they would work super well as a trio, but like, d3 made me go 👀 because it felt like (contrary to the popular belief of connie & julie being besties) guy got julie in the divorce. like they were constantly together?? but yeah, honestly, my reason for this is simply that i think guy is a sweet dude (who likes his partners to be able to destroy him) and julie deserves to be doted on and also they are both in love with connie so obviously they are also in love with each other.

julie/tammy. considering they haven't even met i literally have no reason other than tammy's "PEOPLE!" vs julie's "AND GIRLS!" lines. BUT LIKE IMAGINE. i think they would butt heads over how similar they are but then realize they'd work great together and kiss. that's it that's the fic. i will write it one day...

i think there's a case to be made for julie/russ but i mostly view them as gossip-y besties. i would however read it if anyone else wrote it...

[lokiinmediasideblog]

It's just me or Loki stans tend not to care about female character's much? One thing I've noticed about Loki-centric blogs is that some of them have side blorbos, but always male blorbos. They only care about female characters when they have some canon connection to Loki so they can talk about him through talking about her, and only when the connection in question is platonic (Verity, Frigga...). When Loki has a canonically romantic/sexual connection with a woman (Amora, Sylvie, Lorelei, etc) they either demonize her or erase the romantic factor to make them into ~mean queer besties~ like he's her gay bff. There's a difference between disliking het (valid) and erasing the canon dynamic of his relationships with women because the thought of their canon bi fave liking icky women makes them uncomfortable. Face it, Loki fandom: your fave likes boobs and coochie, stop pretending otherwise. You don't have to personally ship het to recognize that some women canonically turn him on and/or matter to him romantically.

I don't think it's unique to Loki stans. It's a misogyny problem that is both based on the biases within fandom and those of the writers. The Loki fandom is far from being the only one that targets a woman love interest so viciously (*cough* ST fandom, I've also heard other Marvel ships are like that too). And I definitely do get annoyed when Loki's bisexuality gets erased because they don't deem the female characters worthy. And yea, they'll always try to make it platonic with women characters. The "these two characters with little shared background that kissed are siblings" shit is so fucking annoying. It's fine if it's not your cup of tea,but pretending they have "sibling energy" is weird.

Writing biases:

S2 gave very little exploration to the female characters. And most Marvel female characters have little depth. Like just look at the Thor movies, we don't know much about Sif (personality is the woman warrior), Frigga(personality is mom), and Jane is just there as love interest for Thor. Valkyrie's interesting but her name isn't given in Ragnarok, and I heard she got sidelined in TLAT, the movie I refuse to watch. Sylvie had decent focus in S1 but was sidelined in S2 and relegated to product placement.

Speaking of the source material, I am not joking when I say many of the female character's characterizations in the comics before maybe the 2010s were nothing but "wanting to fuck Thor." Also, BW was a prime example of Whedon's "empowering" brand of sexualized strong female character and took forever to get her movie after getting unceremoniously fridged.

Granted, I have not kept up-to-date with Marvel movies because I am only interested in Loki and I find a lot of characters annoying, in case the shitty writing conventions for female characters have improved.

Fandom biases:

Fandom can't stomach anything other than saccharine sweetness as a personality for women, especially when they interact with a popular male character. It has been shown that in real life, women are more likely to be seen as rude or bitches for more tame behavior than men.

People claiming that Mobius was "compassionate" for blaming Loki for his mother's death and locking him in a time loop where he's beaten repeatedly, while Sylvie calling him a "clown" was "abusive".

This is interesting and one of the many examples against "abusive women are given a pass" because the "victim" in question is the same Tumblr sexyman, but the woman's non-abusive behavior that makes sense in-context is scrutinized ridiculously and Loki was not hurt physically by it, while Mobius "gave him therapy".

No one can even argue it's because Loki is the Tumblr fandom fave rather than pure fucking misogyny because actual harm to Loki gets passed as being for his own good by a rather vocal portion of fans when it's a man doing it. You'd think the fandom would have lost their shit over one of the OG Tumblr Sexymen being mistreated. But nah. (And yes, I forgave Mobius for risking his skin for Loki in S2, lol. He more than made up for it.).

Also, Sylvie RIGHTFULLY called Mobius out for putting his head in the dirt like a fucking ostrich, and the fandom threw a fit and babied him.

[bbleague-crispin]

✘ Any unpopular opinions about your muse?

// OH DEFINITELY. i project a LOT onto him so. yeaahahhahh

first of them is probably the most obvious one, which is the fact that in this blog's canon he's a gay trans enby guy. a lot of people hc him as a lesbian [WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE!!] but i don't really see it. i'm a gay transmasc myself [not enby though! i am a demiboy] so i just kinda projected that on him [as i usually do. none of my blogs are safe from the Transmasc Headcanon /silly] as well as him being a BOYKISSER !! but crispin being nonbinary is a very popular hc that i don't really need to explain. very androgynous guy with lots of tboy swag dsjfhdsj

i'm also totally shoving aside his huge crush on lacey that's implied in canon, since i see them more as SIBLINGS [non-biological, they just have that sort of bond!] rather than love interests or something. also i hc lacey as aroace so yeahh.

which brings me to my third one! the crispin x drayton shenanigans,, they are like my RAREST rarepair of all time. i love them so much. the schemers.... i originally didn't want to ship them [it was a crackship i had in my head at first] but the brainworms won. /silly. and it's funny since most of the spicytoothpasteshipping [their ship name! again, thank you to my bestie for inventing it] fans are ones i converted [/silly] from this blog,,, [also drayton is 17 and crispin is 15 in this blog's and the drayton blog's canon. please be normal! thank you]

sorry for the long post. im normal abt him

[thebreakfastgenie]

for the ships thing: the last 3 different ships you read fic for

I'm honestly not sure what exactly these were so I'm kinda guessing but I think it was punnihawk (@onekisstotakewithme's Close to the Heart), piercentyre (it hasn't actually happened in this fic yet but it's in the tags, Ben by escapismthingy) and Josh/Donna (my wonderful gift fic I haven't had the chance to finish reading yet but I can't wait, Paper Thin by @librarianmouse).

Punnihawk

It was hard to accurately describe my feelings using a bingo card because they're kinda complicated! I don't think punnihawk is a spicy ship but that's okay, I'm not always in the mood for spice. It can get a little spicy, or at least messy though, and that's when I like it the most. I'm basically into punnihawk sometimes and if I like the story enough. But I still really struggle to see any romantic chemistry between Hawkeye and BJ, so I'm mostly interested in the BJ/Peg and Hawkeye/Peg sides and Hawkeye/BJ is kind of just along for the ride! At the end of the day I still prefer BJ and Peg as a couple having a platonic friendship with Hawkeye (although post-war Hawkeye-BJ friendship isn't my bread and butter either, I have written it). I do mostly still hc BJ as straight, because the BJ in the show reads maximally heterosexual to me, but I can make bi BJ work for the sake of a good fic, so the sexuality sort of clashes but not exactly.

Piercentyre

drives me crazy! (affectionate)

This is a weird case for fandom ruined the ship for me and then it got unruined. See, when I first joined the fandom, I encountered one consistent narrative for piercentyre, and I absolutely could not stand that narrative. I still can't. So I thought I just didn't like the ship until much later I met some people who who doing it in a different way and I was like oh, duh. I still think I prefer them as best friends rather than a couple, if only because when it comes to MASH I prefer canon over fanon always (Larry Gelbart and Alan Alda are better writers than anyone here including me). But I've also started to really enjoy them as a couple and just really enjoy funny silly sex situations for them. At the end of the day they're best friends who love each other and whether they're fucking or not is kind of just the icing on the cake.

Josh/Donna

drives me crazy! (affectionate), Where's the spice?! (affectionate). They're just two people who really enjoy each other's company and that's what makes it so good! Fandom didn't ruin it per se, but I do periodically get tired of it from overexposure in fandom, and I disagree with a lot of popular headcanons and fanfic tropes for them. I do also wish the fandom was a tad less Josh/Donna focused. But then I watch 17 People or Holy Night or Guns Not Butter and I remember I'm obsessed with them. The therapy has nothing to do with their relationship they both just need it for other reasons. I also chose "besties" because I think their romantic relationship is based on a strong friendship and they're basically best friends for the first 5 seasons, and it bothers me that both some fics and the last 2 seasons of the show itself sometimes forget that. I don't actually entirely believe Josh and Donna as purely platonic besties which is a problem for me in Sam/Josh universes, haha.

[glareandgrowl]

Everyone Saw it coming if they are on my blog but

Kiyotaka Ishimaru for the ask game plsssss !

Ask game Here

Sexuality Headcanon:

Now, see, starting off with a kinda hard one... Taka's an interesting bean in what I calculate his sexuality to be. Most people assume Gay since... ya know. And while I don't think that's necessarily a bad take, its the popular take. And I am one who tends to shy away from popular takes. (I am also one to vehemently project onto the characters I love). Hence, I HC Taka as Demiromantic! (and demisexual to an extent...)

Forms strong emotional bonds with people close to him? Check. Only ever seems to fall romantically for those he is extremely close with??? DOuble check babeyyy!

Gender Headcanon:

Aaaand now its simple. Taka's a male. Cut and dry. Rather fondly a guy, I must say. He strikes me as the kinda guy who would be so excited to share with you that he uses he/him pronouns! He probably did some soul searching when he first learned of transitioning and other gender orientations only to find he was rather comfortable and happy where he was. (you know he spent hours studying to learn all he could) and would be all for helping others explore their gender too!

I know a lot of people hc him and mondo both as trans, but personally I think hes just very proud of his manliness.

A ship I have with said character:

I couullddd go the easy route and say Ishimondo... But you all already know that. Instead I'm going to go with a more... scandalous... ship.

Its KiyoKiyo. Korekiyo and Kiyotaka. Its my guilty pleasure ship.

Now, granted, I imagine this as a Korekiyo who has shaken himself of his 'sister's' grasp and is "normal" (Ie LOTS of therapy), so its more like the shy introvert getting dragged along by the loud golden retriever boy but I digress. Its sweet to me. Tall lanky and smol but strong.

(And YES this originated from Danganronpa Redemption FIGHT ME---)

A BROTP I have with said character:

Once again I could go with an obvious, that being Chihiro or Hina, but you ALREADY know this and I GO AGAINST THE ORDINARY!!!

I think Sayaka and Taka would be great friends :3

Hardworking, burnout-having besties who have to be told numerous times to slow down and take a break by their chiller, sweet yet partially annoying boyfriends.

A NOTP I have with said character:

There are so many... who do I begin with... Genuinely who do I begin with. Alr I hardly see this one in the wild but Kokichi and Kiyotaka I despise. Either that's just because I hate kokichi but-- BESIDES THE POINT. Hiro and Taka is another one I don't particularly like.

I get where it comes from, the few times they interract in the canon could be seen as brotherly (I GUESS) from Hiro's standpoint but-- Idk it just kinda rubs me the wrong way. Hiro's character in general does that...

A Random Headcanon:

Taka enjoys, and is really good at boxing. (Or wrestling) Like how some stories I've read put him on the football (soccer for us americans) team (or rugby ig idk.) I have a (self-inflicted) HC that Taka has slight anger issues hes still recovering from as a child and ABSOLUTELY uses the environment of controlled violence as a way to work off pent up steam. Any sport could do that really, but the inherent homoeroticism of wrestling is just *mwah* too good to pass up.

I know people like to HC he's into some kind of martial arts lessons for the same kind of vibe, and the art of him and Peko, but I find the inante physicality of using yer fists and body as a much more... *Taka Centric* activity. Idk.

Its the same reason he really enjoys thrill rides like rollercoasters and horror movies (if he can stand to not postulate the entire plot the whole time, ruining climactic moments and making people shush him.)

General Opinions:

HE GOT FUCKING ROBBED IN CANON MY BOY---

anyway feel free to ask me about more characters!!! This was fun :3

[suite-dee-reynolds]

Wait, you've been a Sunny fan for 8 years?! You've got to tell us how it's been in that time!!! What's the vibe been like here in that time and how has it changed? What were the big fan theories? Was r/iasip always such a hellhole dumpsterfire? What are the big things from the fandom back in the day that we don't know about but should?

Ooooh lets see what I remember-

Charlie reigned supreme- like really and truly so many blogs and so, so much content was Charlie Charlie Charlie, everyday, all the time and I mean he still is insanely popular but definitely back in the day Charlie in the show and of the cast was easily the most popular, like it felt like 7/10 posts were about him. Glenn was next in line but I do distinctly remember Kaitlin and Rob didn't have as much content about them, at a certain point I kinda was the Kaitlin Olson tag, that's not me being up myself I just used to be in her tag constantly and it'd be a lot of posts in a row of just me- the girls of the series def didnt always get the love they should and I'm not really sure that's changed much ☠ But yeah this was also around the time that everyone was also going gaga about Pacific Rim so that def made Charlie even more popular too.

Macdennis has always, always been a popular pairing but their popularity 100% has skyrocketed the past few years, and I mean SKYROCKETED. Like they're on par with some wildly popular mlm ships nowadays and it's lowkey so funny to see em in the ring with like. destiel 😂 now when I go in the tag it seems half the posts feature mac and dennis, which is notable to me bc Mac especially was kinda... Unloved is not the right way to phrase it bc fans have always loved him but Rob/Mac def didn't get /as/ much love back in the day. Like people often spoke of him as the weakest character but after season 13 I think he's gained more appreciation.

Fans have def gotten much bigger on theories and stuff these days, I'm sure they had em back then too but it wasn't as prevalent and none particularly stand out, it was usually just the "X characters are secretly sleeping together" type beat. I also remember a popular theory that everyone was going to die in the inevitable series finale but then the show never got cancelled and I dont know what that was about?

Reddit has always been messy and there def was a pretty big us vs them type vibe between sunny fans back then- though it was less reddit vs tumblr and more "straight dude bros" vs everyone else like I remember so many posts being like "Ugh straight dude bros don't get the show" I probably made some of those posts 😂 Lots of "Mac isn't actually gay" too which is very, very funny in hindsight- No one ever thought they'd canonize his sexuality.

Ummm... Probably the most notable thing to me tho is seeing how popular the cast has become, like 8 years ago Danny was the only "Big name" Like the media absolutely spoke of the show as these no name people and Danny Devito. I mean that was not totally the case for Charlie, he was becoming more and more popular and gaining traction in the mainstream with pacific rim and the likes but with Glenn, Kaitlin and Rob they were definitely not super well known outside Big always sunny fans so seeing them go from that to Rob being besties with Ryan Reynolds and stuff has honestly been super interesting and funny. Like I remember posting rob and kaitlins wedding pictures and getting so many people going WAIT THEYRE MARRIED?? it was hilarious to see the transition.

Yeah those are probably the biggest changes I can think of- it's gotten more popular which explains most of it, shipping has def become a much bigger thing as well, ships were pretty chill back then, there wasn't too much fic or art so thats different now :)

OH BUT ART! There's always been wonderful fan artists but nowadays wowee!! some amazing art for the series, like much more abundant! That's the gist of it :)

[loisinherlane]

lois aaaandddd... (spins wheel. throws dart) tim!

GIVE ME A CHARACTER;

and I’ll break their ass down:

Lois <3

How I feel about this character

I love Lois, obviously. She's such a fun and complex character beyond her identity as Clark's most iconic love interest. Lois is one of the ultimate standards for morality in Superman mythos, along with the Kents. She sets journalistic standards and prioritizes the truth and believes that being good doesn't mean being nice. She has strong goals and ambitions, and she's been hurt in a lot of ways by the complexities of her childhood (with her father especially). This doesn't leave her as a very open person, but it makes her no less good. And most importantly, Lois is a standard for how you have to stand up for what's right in the world. It's no wonder Clark falls for her.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Clark, really. Only. But also this panel does suggest some Lana/Lois fruitiness...

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I really like seeing her interact with Cat Grant, but I don't know if that's necessarily a strong relationship. Mm... I really liked her dynamic with Jose Delgado at times?

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don't know how unpopular this is, exactly, but I do know Jon in general isn't popular, and I think it's a shame because Lois's identity is a mother is very fascinating. Lois is not someone who I think would have dreamed about it, but I think she adores her children more than anything. And seeing them interact makes me think about how she should be more of a model for her son.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Lois and Tim fun times!!! I think they'd be hilarious together.

Now Tim!!!

How I feel about this character

Tim is such a fun and complex character as well. Fanon really likes to break him down, and it's such a shame because the canon is much more fun. He's not always right, and his choices are much more interesting when we lean into Tim making bad decisions.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Mostly TimKon. I have a soft spot for TimSteph and TimTam as well. I also believe that Tim had a crush on Bart, even if he didn't know it. He will never, ever admit it. Tim still doesn't know this, actually, but even if he did, he wouldn't admit it.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Tim and Cassie! Also Tim and Cass. I think these are characters who get him in certain ways that he has not yet realized. Sometimes friendship is like hm... do I tell them or let them realize on their own?

My unpopular opinion about this character

Unpopular for fanon, but Tim's mental illness is not just depression. He absolutely displays signs of mania as well. And the more I reread Tim stuff, the more I see depressive and manic tendencies long before people started considering his issues... So I'm a bipolar disorder Tim truther. (Also bipolar Jack and/or Janet. This is why Tim thinks his behavior is normal.)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

TimKon. No, seriously, I wish Tim got an actual chance to address how his emotions about Kon's death made him act. Tim was in a relationship with Steph not long before he died, and Kon was with Cassie, but that doesn't preclude Tim from having romantic feelings for his bestie, and Tim should have been able to address that. Not with MegFitz though. Oh, I also think Tim should be a journalist and train under Vicki Vale, just to drive her crazy.

[petriichvrs]

THREE  YEARS  OF  NOXTMS  /  six  characters  !

ft  @taciiturns , @lmortem , @kxbellem , @hoggleswart , @rebuildeds , @ofmccnlight  !

GWEN  DURAND  as  played  by  lex  (  on  auroratms  ). lex, where do i even begin and how can i possibly stop when it comes to how much i love you as a person, how much i love your characters and how truly lucky i am to get to have so much of them and of you :( i feel like you are always making an appearance on these things, but it’s because every time they roll around i have something new to shout from the rooftops about, and this time is absolutely no different ! i’ve only had gwen for a short time, but if anything were to ever happen to her, i would kill every character in aurora and then nox, too, in retribution -  she’s so special as a character, and i am so blessed to have gotten so many unique connections with her right off the bat. it’s tough because i also feel like i HAVE to yell about felicity because the grace / henry ship sailing in aurora is one of my favorite things to have come from the au of it and i also feel as if kaela would be a valid choice for all the arturo development i’ve been given and grace, as hande’s tragic ex bestie, is also so important and so well written but- you get the picture ! it’s impossible to choose just one, and gwen only won by the narrowest margin of being a character who i never could’ve anticipated but am so glad exists now, because cordelia wouldn’t be the same and ronan wouldn’t even exist ! god. i just love you a lot ! i hope you know this ! i’ll say it every single day anyways ! and thank you so much for everything, always ! 

GREGORY  GOYLE  as  played  by  m. i am, i will admit it, a sucker for slytherins. i wasn’t when i started nox ! i will also admit this ! i was very normal about them and even disliked the vast majority both because of canon and because of fanon, but oh. boy. nox has taught me that if the opportunity is there and the writer is willing, slytherins - especially the canons - are always gonna end up being the most interesting, heart wrenching characters of the bunch. greg’s no different, and i didn’t ever expect that ! he’s not a popular character for people to snatch up, and when they do they don’t tend to play him as complex as you do, m - the fact that you do and have made it so that i care about him and want to see how this whole mess of a life turns out for him is so cool, and as with everyone else on this list. i’m so glad i get to write with you and see some of that unravelling of his character in real time ! you’re such a talented writer, m, and i’m so glad that you’re here and i hope i get to do loads more with you as the next months pass us by ! 

KNOX  BELLAMY  as  played  by  gabi. gabi, my beloved<3 i have done these backwards, so i’ve mentioned below - it was part of my process to go back and make sure i hadn’t done any of my final picks for this anniversary’s meme before, and i was genuinely kinda shocked that knox hadn’t made an appearance before, from me. i really, really like her as a character, and i think you do such a great job writing her ! it’s tough to have an oc in an rp where canon ( and fanon ideas ) can sometimes feel a bit stifling, even tougher i think to have only an oc to play with, but you’ve managed to slot knox in so well and she’s definitely one of those characters where. like. it’s sometimes kind of tough to tell she wasn’t always there ! i get such a laugh out of her antics ( i hope you know this, it’s my favorite running gag ) and i always enjoy when we get to write together, and i hope we get to do plenty more of that between now and the next anniversary ! <3 

OSKAR  CATCHLOVE  as  played  by  ziggy. you had so many characters i was itching to talk about, but i feel as if it was always going to end up being oskar because - and idk if i have said this enough lately - he’s very close to my heart, being one of the most KEY eliza connections i knew i would need to have longterm muse for the ideas i had for her. it was looking grim for a little while there, but you really came through in picking him up ( which i really appreciate ) and more than that, you made him a character that just CLICKS with who eliza is perfectly, which is a really hard thing to do with connections such as these. i have gotten such enjoyment out of the threads they’ve had thus far because the replies always come very naturally to me and the rapport between them is so very, very clear. that’s also really tough to do ! not just for you but for me, if the character wasn’t perfect, or the connection wasn’t shaking out right ! and with you it is, and with oskar it is, and i really hope we get our kid soon so that we can throw them into the mix too and get even more chaotic with them, because i’m sure they have it within them ! 

TEMPEST  CLEARWATER  as  played  by  vicky. ohhh tempest ! a part of my process when i was narrowing down my list of possibilities for this anniversary’s six characters was going back and just making sure i wasn’t doubling up anywhere, and part of why i felt i had to go back was because i thought i’d already taken a second to praise tempest ! and as it turns out ! i had not ! their return to the nox dash on the heels of their elder sister’s murder - bummer - definitely feels like a good time to throw a little spotlight over them, because vicky ... they are genuinely fascinating, as a character. they go against the grain for what you expect of a clearwater, for one ( and so did penny ), but they also go against what you would expect of a lestrange lovechild, and i really enjoy that about them. you took two different families which could’ve gone in an all number of worn out ways and you made them so new and exciting, and i really cannot stress enough how delighted i am that they - and you ! - are back, and i get to watch what you do with them now ! 

PORTIA  MALFOY  as  played  by  mozzie  (  on  auroratms  ). before i get into this, i just wanna say - it is tough to pick one of your characters. i was really settled on alecto because i LOVE everything that i get to do with her ( jot that down ), and then it was blaise - again - because of just how much i have enjoyed our baby journey, and then it was isidora because i still intend on picking up their brother and i was getting myself mildly excited about it, and then. finally. it hit me. i knew it had to be portia, because like. i don’t know if this’ll be WEIRD to say, but it was such a huge. trust moment ! to let somebody else in on the malfam ! and when i knew it was going to be you, i didn’t even have an ounce of concern or worry. i just knew you were going to get it, and that you were going to get it better than anyone aside from probably emily, and that the weasley malfoy’s were going to gain a whole new level of insight and really level up as a connection as thanks to having you involved with them. and that was right ! that’s exactly what happened ! i feel so incredibly lucky that like. years on, now, i get to not only be your friend but i also get to create this incredible multilayered connections with you that always make me think in ways i haven’t, before, and you having portia is just. idk. does it make sense to call her like. a sign of our love ? :(