#canon doesn't matter because IT DOESN'T EXIST

[alexwilltellyouthings]

Ok I have so many thoughts about painland ending up canon or not and I. Just.

Listen I AGREE that their bond goes beyond being romantic or not. It's obvious, it's beautiful, I love it and I love them and their friendship and I truly do think it is important that media has this kind of relationship portrayed.

But.

But.

I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be disappointed if it doesn't turn romantic. It involves a lot of things.

1: I want Edwin to have that. He'll still be happy without it, yes, but god can't he have that? He's been through so much. He had a speedrun through his sexuality issues and confessed in hell. Like wtf. Can't he have that???

2. Bisexual Charles would actually be so important to me. And yeah he can be bi and not in love with Edwin but come on lol. The thing is, there's not many bi men in media. Even less bi men figuring out their bisexuality. Even less bi men figuring out their sexuality when they were raised in the 80s and knowing their best friend is in love. Do you see how many layers exist here? How amazing his story could be? Charles has so much we still don't know about him. And yes, I would like that one of those things could be something I relate to. Besides trauma. Call me selfish. And like he's so bisexual coded it would be offensive for him to be straight I'm sorry.

3. They exist in other universes. Let them be platonic there. Let them be romantic this one time.

4. I know falling in love with a straight person is a very common story and I don't think it's wrong for it to happen in a show, but honestly, it's not what I sign up for when I'm watching queer stuff. Think Our Flag Means Death. It probably changed my brain chemistry because anything less than that gets really hard to swallow. I know, we all have queerbaiting trauma, and I know this wouldn't be the case, and it never claimed to be something as queer as OFMD. But I got so attached that... Well, I wouldn't stop watching if this happens, but it wouldn't sit well with me. It's a bitter feeling, you know?

5. They didn't have anything be explicit, but come on, they did set us up. Charles got jealous at Monty, and only Monty, for that matter. I wouldn't say his thing with the Cat King is necessarily jealousy, more like protectiveness, but that can be disputable. And both George and Jayden said more than once that Charles' response to the confession let things open. So I mean if that door wasn't closed, then please don't close it now! The road until things happen can be long, dramatic, tortuous, whatever, there's many ways to tell a love story. But if I'm sitting for it, then I don't want to get shot in the face later on (unless it's for plot reasons which ok).

6. Have I mentioned that bisexual Charles

Anyway I feel kinda bad for wishing so much they get romantic because I see and agree with the whole platonic discourse. But yeah those are all the reasons why I can't stop myself. Have a good day everyone

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

I know he's canonically infertile, but do you think Big Boss would have kept the kids if they weren't clones, or at the very least be involved in their lives?

Hello Anon! "They're no sons of mine." "Just a bunch of cells grown in a lab?" "What they are is much sicker than that." -Big Boss and Ocelot, Truth Tapes, MGSV.

Oh man. This is one of those things I waffle on hard. Because I think the real root of BB not wanting to have anything to do with the kids is because their creation, and existence, was born of betrayal.

BB knew people were thinking about him passing his genes along. It's hinted at a little bit in MGS3, if in a sort of 'off-handed' way, but he was certainly aware people around him (like Para Medic) thought about it and had considered it.

To me, one of the key issues with the clones is that he wasn't given a chance to say 'yay' or 'nay'. Everyone just did it behind his back, because they had access to his DNA. That alone (the non-consensual aspect) is more than enough for him to reject his 'sons' completely.

And he isn't wrong to do so, in this regard. The sons themselves are innocent, but that doesn't make it easy for BB to accept them as 'his' when he wasn't given a choice, or any form of capability to consent.

There was also the timing. NOT that him being cloned against his will would ever, in any circumstance be okay, but at the time, BB was still grieving the Boss, and had been used and betrayed by the USA. I tend to keep in mind that the US using him was a betrayal for BB, because before that, he willingly followed the will of the government.

Something the Boss herself warned against.

Caps: DiamondDogs

After all that, people he considered his friends, also betray him. By this point BB must've truly felt that he can't trust anyone, and that no matter where he goes, someone out there is only going to see him as some kind of glorified tool; no matter how much he might've trusted them, or how strong their relationship was.

With all that being said, if we do remove the cloning aspect, and assume the twins to have been born the normal way (that is, the old-fashioned consensual way with Eva) would he have kept them?

I'd say it would depend on the circumstances. There's a brief period after MGS3, before The Patriots are formed where BB is working odd jobs, and just trying to find his place again. Could he ostensibly settle down and be a standard all-American family man?

Honestly, I don't really think so. I think that he knows and understands warzones the best; and that he has a level of discomfort with society that is hard to ignore. I think BB would end up finding a warzone or war-adjacent zones anyway, and that anything else just ends up being a temporary delay or temporary reprieve.

Having children would get in the way of that. (Until later, of course..we know he has Chico and children in Zanzibarland, by the time he's a full-out warlord)

Which shifts me into the secondary aspect, or a possible alternative-BB accepting his sons when they're old enough to be 'useful' to him. In this case, they'd be part of his soldiers, his men, and work under him. Obeying him the same way any of his other soldiers do; and working for the same 'end' goal.

I think he and Liquid would clash even without Liquid's ever-present desire for patricide, but I imagine he and Dave would get along to some degree, if they had aspects they could bond over. Even if that bonding only ever boils down to 'sitting side by side doing some task or another, and not saying a word' Maybe hunting together, or other things they can share.

I don't know that BB would ever see himself as a 'family man'. But I could see him accepting them as his sons if they were wanted by him to some degree. Or slowly accepting them in his life, if they were brought into the world with his consent.

There could maybe be an argument of him accepting them despite the non-con aspect, but I think it'd be more with an element of 'you're men that I respect and like, but I can't call myself your father'.

Which is..essentially what ends up happening, way at the end.

Caps: Shirrako

TL'DR: Maybe he would, but it would be a victim or a situation of circumstance, IMO. I'm open to thinking about it further and discussing it more, though.

[rifari2037]

10. Do you have any other A:TLA ships?

Yes, I have another ships. Is not like I ship them like I ship Zutara, but they are my favourite. It would be long article, but here my thought about them.

Sokka and Suki (Sukka)

In my opinion, Sukka is the best written canon couple. They have conflicts in their journey and resolved all of those very well.

When they met at the first time, Sokka was misogynistic and Suki taught him a lesson. Sokka finally understood his mistakes, learned from it, and throwed away his ego. After judging women badly, he humbly asked to be taught by a woman.

In the end, Sokka also said sorry after thinking she was 'just a woman'. Then she told him that she was a warrior but also a woman. It was very good way to resolve their conflict.

I'm not sure who Sokka's first love was, Suki or Yue? But, it doesn't matter, because Suki and Yue were important characters for Sokka.

When Sokka and Suki met again in The Serpent's Pass episode, Sokka still felt guilty and lost over Yue's sacrifice. Sokka became overprotective to Suki because of his guilt.

When they almost kissed in front of the moon, Sokka stopped it. That's as it should be because you shouldn't kiss someone when you're thinking about someone else. And again, in the end they resolve their conflict and kissed. Sokka could finally move on.

They not only looked good together, but also accept each other. Sokka was so funny that he could always cheer up Suki. Sokka always did efforts to Suki too - even it turned out very ugly - and Suki appreciated him. They show a healthy relationship more than other canon couples.

It really disappointed me that I didn't see Suki and Sokka together in TLOK. I read a headcanon that Suyin was Sokka's daughter, but then what happened with Sukka? Because, I really hope Sokka and Suki were actually happily together.

Also, even though I don't considering the comic ever exist, but I do know some people ship Suki with Zuko based on it. I got some of their moments, maybe there are more.

I don't mind with the shipper, but I don't understand the writers. Like why? I know the writers hate how well-written Zutara than their canon ship and they ruined Zutara potential in ATLA. But why the writers had to bother Sukka in the comic, the only well-written canon couple, to gave another love potential to Zuko?

But, well, whatever their relationship was, I don't read the comic anyway.

Toph and Aang (Taang)

Yes, I love Zutara, but it doesn't mean I hate Aang. I just don't think he's a good match for Katara for many reasons, there's a lot of meta and analysis about it - and it makes sense to me.

Meanwhile, Toph and Aang have more potential than canon. Their arc is actually interesting if only the author would dig deeper and not be too obsessed with 'the hero gets the girl'.

Just like fire and water, air and earth are the opposite element. They are different, but they need each other.

Air is the element of freedom. In fact, Aang was Toph's first friend and he was also the one who offered her freedom, something she really wanted and needed.

Earth people are persistent. Aang wasn't weak, he was strong, but he was too soft. While Katara kept Aang in his comfort zone, Toph was the one who taught him to be tougher and stand his ground.

Aang has a connection with Toph, because he saw a vision of her before they met in person. While Sokka and Katara saw visions of their past, Aang saw visions of his future.

What if at that time Aang was actually seeing a vision of his future and his past?

Because in his dream, he saw Toph had no face, it parallels with his past life (Avatar Kuruk) that lost his lover when Koh stole her face.

It wasn't my original thought, I read this meta from a fanfic and I was stunned with this potential!

I learned that earth was an element that Aang often used in battle after mastering it, even though it was a difficult element for him at first.

Not only that, earth was the element that re-opened his chakra and made him enter the Avatar State. Maybe it's a coincidence, but it still shows that Aang has a connection with his opposite element.

But I think I know why they didn't plan on making Aang and Toph canon even though it would've been a great arc.

Like, no way the writer's inserting-self end up with character who originally a muscular sixteen-years-old boy.

Zuko and Katara (Zutara forever)

I know the question is about ships other than Zutara, but I couldn't help myself to include them on the list.😅 Zutara is too addictive to be missed. 💙❤️

[therealvinelle]

In the recent chapter of Amulett d'Amour it's revealed that Dumbledore invited all those women to see who was missing or acting off. What would have happened if one of them had declined his invitation to come (either because of prior commitments, illness or just not being interested)? Would he have become convinced it must be her who is playing Lucy (even with Lucy not being present)? Would he start stalking collecting evidence a la his "Tom is Evil McEvil and you must kill yourself to stop him, Harry" memory collection? Would he try to confound her until she is "fixed"?

(Anon is referring to Amulette d'amour by @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin and myself)

I had to think about this one for a bit.

See, the thing about Albus Dumbledore per canon is that he doesn't actually require any evidence to determine Tom Riddle is responsible for something. It is enough for something suspicious to have occurred in the general vicinity of Tom Riddle, for Tom Riddle to have visited a household a fortnight before a death occurred, and Dumbledore will suspect him.

Cases in point being when Dumbledore suspected Tom Riddle was responsible for various things that happened at Hogwarts while Tom attended, without ever being able to prove anything. What these things were, why he thought Tom was involved, is never expanded upon. The Chamber of Secrets is opened, Tom was actually behind that but Dumbledore had no proof nor reason for suspecting as much. Hepzibah Smith is poisoned a few days after Tom visited, two heirlooms Tom had been shown were found to be stolen, Tom did it (@rankheresy episode on that subject here, or this post will get far too long. I will say here, though, that Dumbledore never actually received confirmation Tom had the stolen heirlooms in his possession. It could just as easily have been an heir (Hepzibah mentioned having heirs salivating over her things) pocketing these things so they wouldn't have to share. He still decides, without evidence, that Tom murdered Hepzibah and thinks he now knows what two of the horcruxes are. Because he found a memory of Tom being shown two heirlooms and the woman shortly after died).

(JKR is not among the authors who realize that no, you can't have you character instinctively know things. Dumbledore consistently guesses, speculates, and suspects wild things he has little to no foundation for, and while in the real world this would make him a lunatic and a rather stubborn, unintelligent man who refuses to look past his own biases, in the world of Harry Potter he is reciting the Word of God and actually right about everything. The result being that trying to do Watsonian analysis leaves you with a lunatic.)

My point with all this is that Dumbledore doesn't actually require such petty things as proof, or confirmation of his hypotheses. The things he does consider to be confirmation, such as a sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle asking his professor about splitting his soul into a nifty number and receiving a vague "I guess??" answer, or Morfin Gaunt being visited by his nephew (episode!), are so weak that it's only Dumbledore's massive confirmation bias making him consider such things reliable.

With that...

I'm not sure a guest being absent from the party would change a thing. Dumbledore has all the proof he needs, it exists in his own mind and is formed of his own wild but naturally correct speculations. He knows he's right, so he doesn't need outside support from such things as reality.

The absent woman would be visited, and he might decide for himself, "Ah yes. This is the one" and never change his mind on the matter, or he would decide "No, Tom wouldn't want this one. My search continues". I personally would expect the latter as uh no one is special or good enough for Tom.

[dreamingaboutsakuratrees]

Dear God how I fucking hate when people dismiss s character's traits because "that's just a facade! you as the reader have to see underneath it!!" like yeah no fucking shit Sherlock, a well written character has more than one (1) defining trait but that doesn't mean their most prominent one or the one most recognized by fandom ISN'T there

yes this is about people thinking dick grayson isn't actually a ray of sunshine, that it's just a mask. he's much more than the happy one, of fucking course, all batfam members (when written well) are, but that doesn't mean that being happy and bright is not a crucial part of his personality. he brings light to people's lives, he's a beacon of hope, that's what Robin was born for, as a light to Batman's darkness. That's what Nightwing is. He can be serious, sure. He's smart, an amazing strategist, incredibly good at fighting, he can be manipulative and morally gray and sometimes an objectively bad person. But he's ALSO funny and quippy and bright and sunshine. BECAUSE HE'S WELL WRITTEN.

Like Jesus stop making him so sad and wrong all the time just because you want so bad to go against "fanon". It's not fanon if it's literally his core trait. It's not fanon if it's what the character was BORN AS. God.

[crystalleoi]

5C

[metacrisisdoctor]

"rose is allowed to still be in love with eleven/twelve/thirteen/etc"

[belligerentbagel]

closing two artfights! reached my final goal, which was a nice round total of 10 attacks for this first year 😊

Alcarnarmo (ThArtemisHunter)

Phoenix Tian and Kai Terranova (@mimicmerchant)

[celestialtrolls-moved]

I still never solidified my Halloween headcanons for my fantrolls

I feel like Alternian Halloween has got some kind of relevance to the undead and ghosts of Alternia

But I don't know what? Is it a common day for mass hoards of zombies to encroach on living cities? Is the day especially long and the undead are more powerful? Are ghosts able to cross over back to the living realm? Are people more likely to become undead if their corpse is still around that night? Or did one dude exist in the past, Mr. Hallowse Evennynn who was just a necromancer that targeted people, especially during this time of year? I don't know.

I feel like for the living of Alternia there's like...

Parties are common, originally stemming from a 'safety in numbers' standpoint where people would barricade themselves from the undead on this particular day, but now it's just about the fun of having parties or still staying safe from people doing 'tricks',

Dressing up like the undead to 'fool them' so you don't get eaten, or as a mockery of the past or to trick people into thinking they're going to get eaten by zombies (this does sound like something that highblood wrigglers would be encouraged to do, potentially with high levels of actual violence, a trick or treat but the treat is that you survive...)

[thermodynamic-comedian]

hey btw so many snicketverse characters are polyam. did you guys know that so many snicketverse characters are polyam. well they are. now you know. if you guys even care

[hollow-prey]

I'm not jealous of my f/o and their canon ex I'm not jealous of my f/o and their canon ex I'm not jealous of my f/o and their canon ex I'm not jealous of my f/o and their canon ex I'm n-

[helladventurers]

...ok i was wondering about this for a while but the more i find the dragon tears the more I'm like 🤨

(massive totk spoilers at the tags please don't read if you are avoiding spoilers, also please don't post spoilers on the replies since I'm still playing through the story)

Is Totk a reboot????? 🤨

[boygirldykefag]

Team Fortress 2 is like greek mythology to me. Like yes the characters have certain immutable characteristics but also there are so many equally valid interpretations of them. They can exist in any form because they are rich with personality. They can be extremely serious or extremely silly, both feel true to me. Overtime is canon. Emesis Blue is canon. Unusual Troubles is canon. Team Fabulous 2 is canon. Anything Winglet is canon. They're all video game characters but they're also not. The lore is real but not all the time and the fanwork is more original stuff with an unoriginal background. You can do anything with them and it feels right. If I got abducted by aliens and Heavy was there I'd probably say oh hey Heavy or oh shit it's Heavy TF2! Scout is a gamer. It doesn't matter that the game takes place before the invention and popularity of video games, Scout is a gamer. And the heavy is dead.

[horsechestnut]

I just think it's really neat how much fans have latched onto the fact that Stephanie Brown was Robin.

Like, both in and out of universe Stephanie was never meant to be taken seriously as Robin. The writers only made her Robin so that her death in War Games would be shocking and Bruce only made her Robin because he thought it would make Tim jealous enough to come back. She only had the mantle for 71 days before being fired (for doing something that literally every other Robin has also done and not been fired over), and she was only active during 50 of them. There are only six issues where Steph is Robin in the canon timeline.

Her final words before her death are asking Batman (Batman, because even on her death bed he doesn't trust her enough to take off his mask) if any of it was real. Was she really Robin? And Batman assures her that of course she was, that she was part of the legend and no one can take it away from her. Except it's a lie, because despite his reassurances, Batman never puts up a memorial or does anything to preserve her memory. He never really thinks of her as Robin, and even her friends will always think of her as Spoiler before ever remembering Robin.

Meanwhile DC spent years ignoring her time as Robin, to the point where it was completely erased from existence for awhile. It's technically back now, because timelines are weird, but unlike the others it's never been altered. She's never been given a second chance at it, no one's ever gone back and added more issues or details about those 71 days, or even seems to want to acknowledge them most of the time.

But fans have clung on to it anyway. Sure, there are lots of people who make Robin posts that are just about the boys, but there are just as many people who are ready to fight anyone who doesn't include her. Maybe it was only for a little while, but she was Robin, and we're sure as hell not going to forget it. If DC isn't going to bother to remember, than we will.

Stephanie Brown was Robin. She was part of the legend. It was real. No matter what, no one can take that away from her.

[moki-dokie]

been seeing some stuff on blue eye samurai and big yikes to nearly everyone pushing extremely western ideals onto these characters.

this is early edo period. 1600s. the japan you know now did not exist yet.

yall. please. there was NO concept of sexuality in pre-modern japan. that came with both the influx of christianity and western influence very very late in history. like, mid-1800s. (yes, there was christianity pre-1800s but it was not a widespread idea yet and wouldn't be until about the 1800s since, y'know, missionaries were routinely murdered before then)

"so and so is either bi and hasn't figured it out yet or..." no. that isn't how it worked then. nobody gave a shit what was between your legs. anyone could be attracted to anyone else. it was a little more common for male homosexual relationships to be between an adult and younger male - like many other places around the world - but two adult men could bang and love each other just as easily. relationships between women were quite common - especially since so many men were often away at war. there's tons of pornographic prints from the time depicting all manner of fun queer relationships. sex itself had absolutely no moral assignment to it. good sex was good health. it didn't matter who with. (well, social class/caste mattered more than anything else tbh but that didn't stop upper and lower class from fucking.) that isn't to say people didn't have preferences. of course they did. that is human nature. preferences arose more from physical appearance, caste, and circumstances with gender being about the last thing one would look for in a partner - romantic, casual, or otherwise. the only role in sex where gender actually mattered was for procreation.

there would be no queer awakening moment, no sudden switch flipped, no stigma to have internal conflicts about because it simply did not exist as a concept whatsoever. you were either attracted to a person or you weren't, it was that simple. gender played no role when it came to sex and sexual attraction. the japanese were lightyears ahead of western cultures in this particular area - like most cultures were before christianity came in and ruined everything with its backwards morals and strict good/evil dichotomy.

yall have got to realize queer rep will not and should not always adhere by modern western standards. there was no straight, gay, bi, or anything else of the sort. the closest they ever got was referring to roles during sex - as in who is giving and who is receiving.

i know this is mostly a made up story but it is still set within a very specific time period and culture, which should be honored and respected by not making it fit into our box. tons of research went into making this show historically accurate (albeit with some discrepancies but tbh they aren't really that huge) right down to the calligraphy writing. please please please don't whitewash the culture from these characters.

i say this mainly because without this knowledge, so many of you are going to build these characters up on a foundation they aren't meant to be on and then you'll rage about queerbaiting and bad queer rep if it isn't somehow super explicitly stated, if it doesn't match your very modern, very western ideal of what queer looks like. don't try to force this plot and narrative and characters into something they canonically and historically aren't. headcanons are a thing, AUs are a thing, fanfiction is a thing - leave your western thinking for those and let these characters simply exist as they should otherwise. this is one of those times where the queerness really does not need to be examined at all beyond what we get.

i know it can be hard to wrap your head around - sexuality is such a huge part of our identity in the western world and has slowly started to spread amongst other parts of the world in importance. but just keep in mind with these particular characters, that concept would be so very alien to them.

[chewingbatmanlikeasqueakytoy]

Why doesn't the justice league know about Amity Park?

Okay so it's been a bit sonce I watched the show but one of the things in DpxDC is the anti-ecto acts, which I love, but correct me if I'm wrong, I THINK ??? they only show up in reality trip? SO: What if Danny, when using the gauntlet to undo everything, also got rid of the Anti-Ecto acts? but this is babys first time editing reality so he uh Fucks Up A Lil'. As a result when Danny used the reality gauntlet to wipe the AEA from existence he accidentally wiped Amity Park from perception. A big 'nothing matters over here' jedi mind trick, and now no ones looking at Amity. So, the Justice League actually WERE looking into and monitoring the situation in Amity, but when the perception filter closed them off, all of that suddenly went ignored.

This is noticed when someone (Alfred, Dick, Tim, literally anyone) realises theres just. A BIG dusty pile of case files semi abandoned somewhere in the cave when going through a (time period)ly cave cleaning.

They put it down because it's Not Important.

They come back to finish the cleaning the next day and do the exact same thing, but there's nothing to actually distract them this time and it pings as weird. Because why would case files be not important? They are by definition important, because only things flagged as important go into case files.

They try to get someone else to read it, because as long as they don't read the information in the file, they don't put it down.

That person goes to read it, gets a line in and then says something like 'that isn't important' and goes to leave. Person A pushes it and person B ALSO catches on.

Que the Batfam trying to figure out hey, what the fuck actually?

Meanwhile, how is Amity fairing? Canon compliant everything's going alright? Or have knock on effects to No One Look Here started to show?