#i think... i'm genuinely obsessed with them

[kxsagi]

Salutationsss, hiii, I'm the same anon that sent a request, something abt a nerd readerr, I'm sorry for requesting when you weren't taking at the time! I didn't see 😔. But could I req that same trope again?? Thank so much you for your time!

“𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 🤓☝️”

a/n: hiii you’re all good, but unfortunately i don’t have that request anymore so i’m not sure what specifically you requested

bc of that, i turned this into headcanons and i hope you don’t mind! 

ft. isagi yoichi, itoshi rin, itoshi sae, kaiser michael, mikage reo, nagi seishiro, shidou ryusei, karasu tabito, bachira meguru

isagi yoichi

yoichi thought he was smart until he started dating you. like sure, he knows tactics, he’s got game IQ, but you? you’re out here solving riddles on a whiteboard like it’s nothing. 

he once asked if you wanted to watch a documentary with him and you said “only if it’s narrated by joe dispenza or has a plot twist at the 30-minute mark.” 

he genuinely thinks you have a superpower. how else do you know this much random stuff? 

"you know how many stars are in the milky way galaxy?" you ask. "no," he says. "good. neither do scientists. but i will ruin your sleep schedule by explaining dark matter." 

yoichi gets this glazed-over look when you go off, like he’s watching god speak through you. 

“bro, how do you know all this?” he whispers in awe as you explain entropy using a sandwich. 

he’s not even mad when you correct his grammar in front of people. in fact, he gets a little flustered. "did you just… teach me something in public? … hot. whatwhosaidthat." 

itoshi rin

rin fell for you after overhearing you quote dostoevsky and then immediately say “but also, the scooby-doo gang was gay-coded.” 

he will die before admitting how hot he finds your brain. like, he’ll glare at you when you start infodumping about the history of the guillotine, but that glare is just him trying not to fall for you. 

you send him 20-slide powerpoints at 3 AM about why light yagami was right, and he reads every single one. he’s unwell. 

once he saw you organizing your bookshelf by theme, subgenre, and emotional damage, and he just… stood there. watching. blinking. 

“you okay?” you ask. “… can i kiss you right now or is that, like, a breach of the fibonacci sequence or whatever.” 

he has an entire notes app folder full of weird phrases you say. once you said “i want to kiss you under the fluorescent lights of an abandoned lab” and he had to take a walk. 

god help anyone who tries to outsmart you because rin doesn’t even jump in to help. he just steps aside like, “yeah, go ahead. she’s got it.” 

itoshi sae

sae met you once and immediately started saying “shut up, nerd” in the most loving tone imaginable. 

like yeah he acts unbothered, but if you stop talking about your interests for five seconds he’s like “… why’d you stop?” 

you once brought a clipboard and a graph to explain how his sleep schedule is ruining his skin elasticity. he hasn’t eaten sugar since. 

he’s obsessed with how you argue. like, someone will say, “i didn’t really like that movie” and you’ll go, “well actually, the entire point of the cinematography was to mimic isolation, so your brain’s just too small for the themes.” 

and sae’s in the corner nodding proudly like “yeah. eat ‘em alive, baby.” 

he won’t ever admit it out loud, but if you ever stopped being smart? he would simply perish. 

also: he absolutely starts fights on twitter just to screenshot them and send them to you like “babe, look what this idiot said. go ruin him.” 

kaiser michael

oh he lives for this. the way you ramble about history and sprinkle in “violence”? he is down BAD. 

kaiser will interrupt you mid-rant just to be annoying. like you’re explaining molecular structures and he goes “explain it to me like i’m five… and make it sexy.” “the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.” “well then i am the powerhouse of this relationship.” “please stop talking.” 

if you cosplay? he is fully in character. fake accent. dramatic monologue. he once spent $200 on a fake sword just to match your anime aesthetic. 

calls you “my little google doc” or “professor schatz” in public and refuses to stop. 

he 100% cheats off your notes if you take a class together. 

also once used your obsession with linguistics as an excuse to kiss you mid-sentence: “wait wait, how do you pronounce lo–” smooch “oops. distracted you. guess i win.” 

you're the only person on earth that can out-argue him. and he loves it. even when you humiliate him in a debate club meeting in front of six people. especially then. 

mikage reo

rich. nerd. simp. this man once bought you a whiteboard wall so you could explain conspiracy theories and niche film symbolism uninterrupted. 

he funds your hobbies like it’s a government project. need 72 highlighters in pastel? boom. got ‘em. a limited edition sailor moon notebook with gold foil? already shipped. “i just need this for journaling, reo.” “you mean world domination. say less.” 

he loves pretending he doesn’t understand what you’re talking about just to hear you explain it like a teacher. 

he’ll sit there all wide-eyed like, “woah, tell me more about black holes.” 

you once built a 3D model of the solar system for fun. he walked in, saw saturn, and said, “hey babe. just like saturn, i’ll adorn you with the most beautiful rings in the universe.” 

he once got jealous because you were paying more attention to your manga than him. “you’ve been reading for three hours.” “i’m at the part where they confess their undying love, you can’t interrupt now–” “… i’ll confess my undying love right now if it gets me eye contact.” 

nagi seishiro

nagi doesn’t understand a single thing you’re talking about, but he loves the way you talk. 

you could be explaining the lifecycle of a parasite and he’d just go “cool... say that again but slower. it sounded pretty.” 

he gets very attached to your reading time. you’ll be curled up with a book and he’ll just drape himself over you like a weighted blanket and nap while you whisper lore. 

you tried to teach him a game strategy once using chess pieces and he got bored halfway through and started kissing your neck. “sei, focus.” “i am focused. on the smartest person i know.” 

he secretly loves it when you make schedules, take notes, organize everything – he feels calmer with your brain leading the way. 

you once said, “i’d choose you even in a logic simulation.” and he got so flustered he forgot how to hold his phone for five minutes. 

shidou ryusei

you are the one person on earth who intimidates him. not because you’re loud, but because you’re smart and savage. 

he’ll say something like “gravity’s a myth” and you’ll deadpan, “so is your personality.” 

he flirts with you just to hear what kind of insults you’ll hurl back. 

you’ll be like “actually, that’s a misinterpretation of the theory of relativity” and he’ll be like “wow. you wanna kiss me or correct me harder, nerdzilla?” 

he once called your bookshelf a “nerd shrine” and you kicked him out. he came back with snacks and a post-it that said “i’ll behave if you teach me about the holy trinity”. 

he thinks it’s hilarious when you use big words. starts repeating them wrong on purpose. “you’re being extremely cacophonous right now.” “aw, thanks. i try.” 

he says he doesn’t care about your trivia. but the next week, he quotes you during a fight with a ref. “well actually, statistically speaking, you’re 73% more likely to suck.” 

karasu tabito

karasu walked in on you doing sudoku while eating spicy ramen and watching a documentary and went, “yep. that’s my girl.” 

he teases you constantly but don’t let that fool you – he brags about you to everyone. “yeah, she solved a murder mystery in two minutes. sexy, right?” 

he once found your annotated copy of crime and punishment and was like “damn, she’s not just a menace, she’s an educated menace.” 

he makes fun of your color-coded calendar, but then uses it religiously. 

calls your bookbag your “bat-nerd utility belt.” 

you once said “i organize chaos with knowledge” and he choked on his water because how are you both terrifying and hot at the same time. 

he 100% made you a trivia quiz as a date activity and cried when you got a perfect score. 

“i can’t even spell aesthetic,” he sniffled. “but you… you're a weapon of intellect.” 

bachira meguru

bachira thinks your brain is the eighth wonder of the world. he stares at you when you talk like you’re casting a spell. 

he mimics you when you start nerding out. “so actually, the evolution of language–” 

“babe, are you possessed again? blink twice if you’re still in there.” 

he brings you weird niche books from secondhand stores and is like “i got this because it looks cursed. i knew you’d love it.” 

he once watched you do a sudoku puzzle and got jealous of the numbers. “why are you smiling at that box like that.” 

loves playing study music and drawing you while you read. your “reading face” is his favorite thing ever. 

he doesn’t get half the things you say but if someone else calls you a nerd? he’s biting ankles. no hesitation. 

© 𝐤𝐱𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢

[yvilonion]

I think you should make OCs of your own instead of obsessing over Sylus and Zayne. You're absolutely terrible at characterizing them both individually and as a couple. You have 0 clue as to how their characters work, and that's not shocking from someone who draws Slash just because they're creepily into men. I expected you to be illiterate and not be able to understand them, but your scenarios are genuinely horrendous to look at and read, and I'm saying this as someone who ships StarCrow. You should honestly stick to SukuGo or something, because that's a ship I think you could characterize well. But your SnowCrow is not Sylus and Zayne. You took these characters and stripped them of everything they are, and made them into something they aren't and will never be. And I think that solidifies the fact that you're not really a true fan of Sylus or Zayne as characters, and only use them as a way to draw Slash. Which is, by my standards, lazy and cheap.

thats ur opinion which is valid

however i am an artist who has the right to do whatever i want.

u arent wrong about the oc part. ive apologized so many times (on twitter) in the past how im well aware about mischaracterizing them. but anon have u ever liked a character so much you start projecting urself into them? have u ever liked a character so much you subject them into everything despite it being ooc? have you ever liked a character so much u wanna see them in every different shape and form?

what does it matter to you if im not a "true" fan of sylus and zayne? what does it matter to you that im in my own little world, using my own art skills ive polished ever since i was 9 playing dolls with 2 very fictional, very bendable, very versatile characters?

i know they will never be the way ive interpreted them, that's why it's called fanon, fanart, fanmade. i make art to make myself happy, to cope, smth that makes ME satisfied by MY standards, not yours.

and it makes me double happy when i find people who also enjoys what i create. u dont have to stay here if that doesnt apply to u.

bothered by my absolutely harmless snowcrow? make your own.

here's buzzcut sylus from snowcrow band au for no reason

[genderqueerdykes]

to compound on some comments i saw: i was also completely empty during this time in my life. empty is the perfect way to put it. i was an empty shell that was totally devoid of myself and my actual personality. for the past 3 years, i lost my actual passion and spark in life. i was totally drained and devoid of everything. i couldn't put energy into my friends anymore, i couldn't put energy into my own life. i was convinced that i was some type of public resource. i was convinced that i needed to constantly be trying to enforce being a good person.

it's to the point where i see people violently virtue signal when it comes to hobby activities that are genuinely, actually harmless. i was doing it, too. i wouldn't allow myself to interact with anything that could be seen as "problematic". even if there wasn't anything actually harmful or dangerous involved, in my mind, if there was something that could be interpreted poorly, i just couldn't allow myself to interact with it. i completely lost the ability to have fun

that's something that's so crucial here. don't let yourself get so miserable that you can't have fun. at the end of the day, humans need to experience that joy. the amount of moral grandstanding i see when it comes to interacting with fucking fiction is astronomical and i fell into that trap, too. obviously there are pieces of media that are genuinely harmful to interact with, and support, but most things we interact with really aren't that big of a goddamn deal. it's actually pathetic how much i see people get worked up over someone else watching a movie or a piece of animation. again, there are genuinely dogshit pieces of media and art out there that have harmful and abusive messages, don't get this twisted, but the bulk of things we interact with are genuinely harmless.

the way people on here fight over things that don't matter in the pursuit of looking like a good person is honestly just goddamn embarrassing. you don't look like a good person because you refuse to interact with a tv show that has an imperfect narrative. you don't look like a good person because you are obsessed with how awful a character is. you don't look like a good person making other people miserable when they should be having fun and engaging with relaxing leisure activities. i fell into this trap and i'm so glad i'm out of it. i'm not saying go right ahead and interact with racist media. i'm not saying that it's okay to interact with things that are genuinely dangerous, but what i am saying is we need to let go of the idea that it somehow makes anyone look like a good person to kill someone else's fun when they're genuinely not hurting anyone or supporting anything actually dangerous.

people on here love to shit on people who "can't tell fiction from reality," but the truth is that it's most people on here. most people on here really struggle to accept that fictional characters aren't even real and that hating on them and acting like they're better than them doesn't do anything good for anyone in the real world. it ruined my life for 3 years straight because i didn't allow myself to interact with leisure activities. people on here act like you can't interact with something that has a villain or a flawed character in it. one character does something mildly fucked up and the entire thing is bad. what the hell is that?

don't let yourself become an empty shell like i did. having hobbies and interests is crucial to functioning and being a happy person. enjoying yourself and your time is crucial to chasing happiness. don't let people get into your head and think you're being an awful person for doing something that is genuinely harmless. the fact that hobby and leisure activities that are genuinely harmless are being run through this filter is asinine. this is just misery loves company to the most extreme degree. we don't need to make other people miserable just because we are. we have to chase our hobbies, goals and dreams. i don't care how dumb anyone thinks that sounds. i don't care how people think they're cool for shitting on everyone and everything- they're not. that's not cool. you're not cool. you're a shallow, empty asshole and it's time to move on.

we're chasing joy, and if you don't wanna join us, well you can suffer alone.

this website's negativity, knee-jerk reaction to assume the worst and utilize bad faith assumptions, and toxicity will eat you alive if you're not careful. i'm not proud to admit that the same happened to me for 3 years. i became a progressively more bitter and hateful person as i immersed myself more in this website's culture, especially the queer community on here. i found myself talking more about what i hated than what i loved. i found myself focusing on making sure that i wasn't anything like what i hated instead of becoming a person i loved. i didn't love myself, i only saw what i hated.

don't let it do the same to you. my quality of life was nonexistent during those years of my life. i was so negative, it took until people in my life pointed it out for me to see it. i only cared about talking about how i didn't want to be what i hated, i never spoke about what i wanted to be. i lost my interests. i stopped drawing, i stopped interacting others' art. i stopped playing video games. i stopped chatting with friends. i stopped taking care of myself. all i became was a walking vessel for my political beliefs.

i was just virtue signaling all day long. i wasn't helping anyone, especially not myself. that's not what activism is.. i'm not proud to admit it, but it's what was happening for 3 straight years of my life. fighting for a cause ultimately means nothing if you're causing more harm than good. hurting more people than you help isn't worth it. hurting yourself isn't worth it, either. making yourself sick and miserable over trying to do some good isn't helping in the long run.

it's so easy to get sucked into the trap of toxic virtue signaling and moral grandstanding on here. it's so easy to want to show everyone that you're one of the good guys. it's so easy to profess what you hate and how you're nothing like that, because it's all anyone else on here does. be careful. i finally realized it and am digging myself out of it. if you've found yourself in this pit, you can dig yourself out, too. it takes some time and effort, but it's worth it.

focus on what you love, not on what you hate. you can dislike peoples' actions without it ruling your life. it's fine to feel hatred, but it's not okay for it to be your only motivator in life. you're becoming the people you hate when you let this happen to you. it took me far too long to see it was happening to me, but the important part is that i'm putting in the effort to make change. you can do it, too. it's worth it.

[bonertown-hoa]

I HAVE to talk about The Show Goes On by LunoZapp or else I won't be able to sleep tonight

I was really cautious when I clicked on it at first because I haven't heard a fan song I've deeply enjoyed in a long time -- not really at the fault of the creators but rather personal preferences. But when I tell you I was fucking floored...

This is now my favorite vocaloid song, not just because it is spamtenna focused (and extremely well characterized for that matter) but because it is an astounding vocal synth song.

Coming from a critical perspective, I only have ONE issue with this entire song. ONE. And I don't even think it's an issue, it's just like a personal preference thing. I believe it was intentional.

Synth V is already much smoother and easier to understand than vocaloid (in my opinion). I just personally think the engine sounds better, especially the full synths and not the older (now called lite) versions. I remember when synth V first came out, I was overjoyed because I could actually understand what they were saying without having to read along with lyrics (as someone with auditory processing issues due to being ND).

To give you an idea, this song has kicked Hole-Dewlling by Kikuo out of my number one spot. It rises above my nostalgic love for Meltdown featuring Rin. I genuinely can't think of a vocaloid song I like more than this off the top of my head (and I've been in and out of the scene for a decade now).

This song is genuinely so gut wrenching that the butterflies caused me to feel nauseous and I got an adrenaline spike. I am heavily obsessed with spamtenna so that obviously plays a role in my personal reaction, lol. But I do just genuinely think it's an amazing song and I'm so happy I gave it a chance.

My favorite lines (for the lyrics, melody, and flow all together) are as follows:

"All coy and sincere, oh / that dazzling night in the back of the 'dero" (I WILL be putting these lyrics on a craft at some point, I need them physically in my life)

"BOOYYYY do I need a mailman..." (I want this on a bumper sticker and I don't even own a car).

"All I have left of you exists inside a cabinet / If only I could look you in the rosy tinted glasses / I don't know what I'd tell you..."

"must be for old times sake / how you're pulling my antennae / even now! / without even holding me" (Hyperventilating like what the fuck do I even say)

IF YOU WANT ME TO DIE THEN JUST SAY IT TO MY FACE, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE A WHOLE SONG !!!

Last tidbit, the producer is putting it on Spotify sometime soon so keep a lookout for that !!!

[ninihunt]

Ok, so I'M NOT OKAY. I just had the idea of writing a fanfic where Reader is Bradley's sister and wait for it,,, IT'S A MAV X READER... NO WTH, SHOULD I DO IT???? No cus wth is wrong with me? Like I was planning a plot where Mav saw the reader when she was 5, but wasn't as close to her as Bradley. So when he saw her at Top Gun, he was just flustered by her. NO THIS IS NOT OKAY... Lemme know if you want this or like where reader is any other members of the dagger squad's sister, like hangman.. and like Rooster, Bob, Coyote all like her but eventually give up when they see Mav and reader pulling towards each other, so they help them get together? Let me know!

ALSO! Opponent to Obsession on a mission is still in composing... I have till like Part 6 in drafts, but still improvising. I am genuinely concerned about how I will write the Final Reckoning parts because I have to watch the movie while I'm writing the scene. And i cannot rent it from Prime... So yeahhh idk what to do, gimme some suggestions if you have any^^

-----------------------------------------NiniHunt

EDOT: OK SO IM Thinking OF Starting WRITING THIS CUS THE IDEAS IN MY HEAD LAST NIGHT WERE INSANE.. DW OPPONENT TO OBSESION WILL BE POSTED SIMULTANEOUSLY.MATERPOSTS FOR BOTH WILL BE OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

[queenvernage]

Most iconic gay PR ships of each season, in your opinion?

Or like what you like the most about them?

okay i have a loooooooooooooooooot of feelings about queer power rangers ships, so thank you thank you thank you for giving me an excuse to gush. i'm putting this under a read more simply because this post is approximately a mile and a half long and i don't want to clog up the dash… obviously i have more than one ship per season but i tried to limit myself for the sake of not taking seven years to answer this ask <3 honorable mentions are abundant.

mmpr/zeo/turbo: adam/rocky adam and rocky are THE pair of the early seasons. the banter of two old friends who have known each other forever and refuse to let the other win in a squabble, but ultimately have each other’s backs no matter what... that’s the good stuff. ultimate friends to lovers fodder and i live for it. (honorable mention to kim/kat, kat/tanya and jason/tommy).

in space: cassie/ashley and andros/zhane are equally iconic cassie and ashley have that whole “she’s my BEST FRIEND, it’s normal to be obsessed with her and say that no man will ever be good enough for her… a woman however... maybe me? haha just kidding... or am i?” dynamic that comes with so many closeted homoerotic girl friendships. and don't even get me started on the utter devotion of confessing your deepest fears, secrets and hopes to your cryogenic frozen boyfr-- bestie… who you would sacrifice yourself to save. andros can't hold anything against zhane and zhane would do anything to make andros laugh and smile… that's love.

lost galaxy: maya/kendrix please. these two are SO gone for each other. maya was DESTROYED when kendrix died and the tears and the hugs we saw at their reunion in the finale? i tear up myself every time. the episode where they're fighting with each other but have to work together to save the day and maya gets a cut on her cheek, so kendrix tends to it… that's sapphic as hell.

lightspeed rescue: ryan/carter we're talking lingering glances. we're talking "what's it going to take to save you? i'll do it." we're talking "i don't care what you did, i care about who you are, who you could be... if you let me help." honestly, i will never understand jason/tommy shippers who sleep on this one because this is literally like if the green with evil fallout was the entire back half of the season. i just love the embedded angst of the redeemed villain turned hero and the perfectionist good boy falling for each other. and also. carter. we all saw you staring at ryan's tattoo for like a beat longer than strictly necessary.

time force: wes/eric speaking of ANGST?? the rich boy/scholarship student at a private all boys school of it all??? the tragically ex-boyfriends who just never got over each other... i just… they're both so insecure and jealous of each other's strengths. it's "i can only see the best in you and the worst in me" from both sides… incredible. this may be one of the most iconic queer ships in power rangers period… genuinely, no one's doing it like them.

wild force: max/danny when danny is pining for kendall and max gets all jealous and starts acting out? that was his gay awakening. danny has the biggest, softest heart maybe of any character in the entire power rangers canon and max would fight to the DEATH to protect it. (max is the "excuse me, he said no pickles" boyfriend). danny turning to max anytime he needs strength or reassurance is so sweet, that's his safe person <3

ninja storm: hunter/cam there are truly so many good ship dynamics in ninja storm (and i am multishipper to the max with this season to be so clear), but when i think of ninja storm ships, this is the first one that comes to mind every time. i think cam spending so much of the first half of the season laying the snark on so thick that no one would ever know he's insecure and hunter veiling every sincere feeling he has for most of the season behind sarcasm and a side-eye just perfectly collide in "a gem of a day" where we see them realizing the other is the only one they're willing to be fully vulnerable with... cam needs someone who can go toe-to-toe with him on every level and i feel like hunter sees this as a challenge that he can rise to. they're the dad friends who deserve to fall in love.

dino thunder: conner/ethan here we have an underrated and under-utilized ship dynamic: jerk jock/snarky nerd (these are terms i use with love and affection). i think this may be a little bit of a cringe take so bear with me, but conner/ethan is a step away from the statler/waldorf muppets dynamic lol. they'll insult everyone together, including each other, but at the end of the day, there is a love and affection to it. and if ANYONE (minus kira and trent) said anything remotely mean about the other they'd come for them (i am a dino teens polycule truther... trent and kira are not immune to these idiots' charms). conner and ethan are very much "don't call him an idiot/loser, that's MY job!" and i love that for them. (honorable mention for whatever that toxic old man yaoi tommy and anton mercer had going on was lol, and also shout out to kira and her ex-gf kylee… glad they worked that out.)

spd: jack/sky okay. i'm sensing a trend in my own evaluations here. but once more, i must insist you consider the angst of it all. but this time with the added element of "i can't stop thinking about you. i'm obsessed with you. is it because i hate you? let's go with that because it's safer than the alternative" (i'll admit. toxic yaoi is in my taste profile.) the two of them coming to the conclusion that they are one another's full and complete equal. they are fueled by proving to the other that they are worthy of each other's respect. it's. everything.

mystic force: leelee/vida (okay, this is less "iconic" than it is "my favorite"… let me have it please) i do think that mystic force is one of the more purely platonic main team dynamics if i'm totally 100% honest, but if you look just a little bit to the left of the main team, you'll see that leelee pimvare is a lesbian, PASS IT ON. she did not have a crush on nick, she thought the socially acceptable thing to do was to PRETEND she had a crush on nick so no one would suspect that she was secretly pining for vida the whole time. and trading insults with vida is practically foreplay when you think about it. (i know everyone is always like "vida's a lesbian, she thinks leelee's mom is hot" to which i say yes… and also leelee. she also thinks leelee is hot. i was there. no one understands these two like me…)

jungle fury: rj/casey i mean, you knew i'd say this one, right? lol. i love themmmmm. casey learning what rj's capable of and hero worshiping that man only for rj to try to put distance between them because he knows he's got baggage and that if he lets casey get too close he'll see it all and plus he's supposed to be the authority figure here… rj falling for casey's earnestness and strength and eagerness to please… there's much to think of when it comes to them. and boy oh boy am i thinking.

rpm: scott/gem did your boyfriend throw his most prized possession into the corinth wasteland to show you that if your dad doesn't approve of you, he can take his approval and shove it? did your boyfriend literally die protecting you and your city, then come back to life and make it a point to hug you as his first act as a resurrected man? did your boyfriend see beneath your tough guy shell and wiggle his way into the limited soft spots in your heart and make you remember how good people could be? no? that's weird. because scott's boyfriend gem did. (an argument could be made that dillon/ziggy is more iconic in the sense of more people clearly see the vision, and "big, strong & silent protecting tiny, scrappy & yappy" is a good dynamic too… but scott/gem has my whole heart and i can't bear to let an opportunity to gush about them pass).

samurai: jayden/antonio WHAT DO YOU MEAN ANTONIO FELL IN LOVE AT SEVEN YEARS OLD AND SPENT HIS ENTIRE YOUNG LIFE LEARNING HOW TO BECOME A SAMURAI RANGER SO HE COULD REUNITE WITH JAYDEN AS AN EQUAL??? this is some of the most romantic shit i've ever seen in my life. jayden is like "wow i'm the worst person who's ever been alive and nothing about me is redeemable or lovable. i am a human lie." and antonio's like "bitch where? i've loved you since i met you, you are the most amazing person in the world and i'd literally die for you, come back to life, and die for you again." the way jayden's face lights up when he realizes who antonio is? the way antonio sees jayden's walls go up and refuses to be on the outside? the way that jayden isn't himself until antonio is back? the way antonio refuses to serve another red ranger? i'll stop myself here but let it be known i could easily go on.

megaforce: gia/emma i know what they do at sleepovers and it's not sleeping… i've never seen any two characters so "we're dating on the down low" coded. gia has memorized emma's locker combination, fro-yo order, and the placement of every single freckle on her body. emma has submitted at least 14 photography studies of gia doing daily tasks to scholarship competitions because her girlfriend IS art. jake can be in love with gia, that's fine, but he can't have her and emma will make sure of it.

dino charge: chase/riley oh my god they're so gay pride and prejudice coded. if it's not obvious from so many of the aforementioned ships, i personally think an easy shortcut to an instant iconic ship is "opposites attract" and also "you make me so mad i could just… kiss you" of which chiley is both <3 (honorable mentions to the himbo for himbo duo of tyler/koda, the literal knight x prince trope of ivan/phillip and of course, the "i need YOUR approval" sapphic dramatics of shelby/kendall. this team is very, very queer coded, the lot of them.)

ninja steel: victor/monty this (like mystic force) is another season where things are relatively platonic or straight in the main team, but if you're telling me for one moment that monty follows around victor like that for any other reason than he is in love?? wrong. taylor swift's "you belong with me" should play loudly anytime these two are on screen. and you know what, maybe one day, victor will realize that he's never needed external validation the way that he's worried he does and just give into the soft spot he clearly has for monty. (monty lowkey deserves someone who would know this from the start, but it's high school, and high school boys are in fact famously dumb when it comes to emotional intelligence.)

beast morphers: devon/blaze okay, stick with me here. beast morphers (rightly) spends a lot of time on the "doomed by the narrative" love story of ravi/roxy (whom i love and adore), but let's talk about devon/blaze. let's talk about the "i should have been the red ranger" angst. let's talk about the pairing of "the rules don't apply to me, i'm a free spirit" devon and "the rules apply to everyone, ESPECIALLY when they're in my favor" blaze. let's talk about the important enemies to lovers progression of "we're not the same, but i respect you." there's potential here. do you see it? do you see the vision???

dino fury: izzy/fern COME ON SOMEBODY, WE LOVE RIVALS TO LOVERS!! we ESPECIALLY love CANON rivals to lovers who are just two big ol' jocks who literally can't look at each other with out breaking out into giggles… i love them so much, they're such a soft wholesome pair. the prom episode??? when fern told "the green ranger" she loved izzy?? they give me cuteness aggression something fierce.

[shirefantasies]

Omg hello hi I just had a idea I think you might like.

Nori meeting is ultimate counter in the form of an autistic coded person who cannot for the life of them read into his flirtatious comments, or better yet, a person who responds to his teasing remarks aimed to fluster them with the most blunt admission or genuine compliment under the sun.

I just love the idea that they'd be similar in having NO shame, but for completely different reasons.

You are RIGHT I am OBSESSED WITH THIS thank you 😆 Except I ended up being slightly illiterate and taking it in more of an oblivious direction lmao 😅 since they were ok with revealing themselves as the requester, thanking and tagging @millartiste for this one!

Stone Wall- Nori x GN!Neurodivergent!Human!Reader

Whatever action you had taken in whichever past life led you to be granted the perfect stall location, you were deeply grateful for it. Out of all of New Dale, you received a spot at the furthest edge, giving you the perfect view of the mountain's great haven. Massive stairs cut a path zigzagging geometrically up the rough-hewn surface. Dwarven heroes flanked its entrance; you knew not their names, but in your mind they protected not only Erebor, but New Dale as well. You'd given each one a personality, a family, hobbies you could discuss...

"Pottery, eh?"

For the first time in long enough for your eyes to blur and burn softly against the bright blue sky, a voice drew your gaze. A voice softer than the face of its owner, one lined and bearded and shrewdly gazing up at you. His eyebrows were braided up into his head. Or was his hair braided down into his eyebrows? Would that not hurt? Tug upon the skin of his face or—

“Oh-ho, shy, are we?”

Blinking, you brought your eyes back into focus for the second time in probably too short of a span.

“Not generally,” you replied, shrugging faintly and tilting your head down, “Just…”

“Lost in your thoughts?” Your visitor supplied, leaning further on the deep wood of your counter. He was a dwarf, clearly a dweller of the mountain above as indicated not only by his statute but the designs etched on the beads in his star-shaped hair. “Thoughts such as?”

“I was thinking about your eyebrows. Do they hurt?”

“Any pain I feel is minimized at the sight of you,” the dwarf answered with a wink.

Wow, friendly guy. Did he want a discount? “Ah…thank you. All my pottery is priced as listed,” you answered, waving a hand over your array of craftsmanship and enjoying the brief respite of broken eye contact.

Your favorite creations were those painted turquoise, a color you'd spent nearly an hour mixing just perfectly. Every single pot had a slightly varied filigree worked into it, whatever waves and swirls you felt in the moment as your hands roamed free in the one form of moisture that didn't constrict your brain.

"And what if I'm interested in something other than the pottery?" The dwarf quirked up a brow, which put one question in your mind to rest, and gave a little smile.

Your eyes darted once more to your wares, this time running over a set of plates painted white with vivid green vines, red and yellow tulips like the ones you’d seen on a trip to the other side of the lake. Back up and they met those of the dwarf, who leaned a little further onto the edge of your sales counter.

“Then I suppose you’d enjoy the other stands. Maybe the smith’s or the toymakers’,” you offered with a smile you hoped was as hospitable as could be.

Your question was answered yet again at the subsequent raise of the dwarf’s brows. “You do, do you? Feisty. Bet those stands won’t be half as nice to look at, though.”

With a jaunty little salute, your would-be customer swaggered off, his thick fur-lined boots thumping satisfyingly against cobblestone. Bit disappointing he didn’t end up buying anything, but at least he was nice. Not everyone was a fan of pottery, you supposed. At least he’d ventured a look. Maybe he’d recommend you to a friend?

~

That pottery seller was something else. Stone wall, that was what it was. Like talking to bricks, lonelier than lonely… but then again! Nori relished a challenge. A little hard-to-get. Games were a specialty of his and his dear friend Gloin’s, not that Gloin’s wife let him play any, the firecracker. Firecrackers suited Nori’s entrepreneurial spirit just fine if you asked him.

He couldn’t have pried the interaction out of his head with a crowbar for the rest of the week. The image of you was painted with more detail than the tulips he'd seen traced along your plates. All Nori usually did was grab an apple off the top of a farmer’s stand and visit Bofur and Bifur at their toy tent. That week, though? A beeline for your place.

There you were, cute as ever, ever-wandering eyes shining their beautiful colors up to the great statue of Thrór that blended into the stone much as his spirit had all those years ago. Mahal bless him. Nori had noticed the way your gaze lit up at the sight of Erebor’s doors and their guardians, your appreciation for all things dwarven. Well, at least the art. He was still attempting to decipher what you thought of dwarrow themselves.

Sauntering up to your little ledge again, Nori leaned an arm, this time bare. Bare and perhaps flexed. He’d, shall he say, selectively forgone an under-tunic and done some hard work in the mines to get a nice sheen up. If he had the chance, he’d even help you move some of the larger vases he’d glanced at on your floor the previous week.

Mahal! Was Nori…trying to be a better person? Your stone wall act really had gotten to him.

Shaking his head, Nori awaited your rise; not that he didn’t appreciate the view, but he was determined to make a better impression this visit.

Once you were standing and your eyes locked with his, your lips puckered slightly into an ‘o’ of surprise, an expression that spread to your brows and widened your gaze. He liked that expression, wanted to be the cause of it again and again. Always surprising you.

“You’re back!”

“I’m back,” Nori agreed, straightening and spreading his arms confidently.

“You must be in the market for something this time?” You asked, tilting your head slightly.

“Company,” he answered without a hint of hesitation, but with more than a hint of a smile.

Something in your expression deepened, searching. Probing deeper into the back depths of Nori’s brain. For a moment you said nothing, but that silence was quickly broken.

“What a fool I am!” You exclaimed, hand lightly striking your forehead. “I’ve just realized! You’ve been looking for work, haven’t you? And there I was just waving you off thinking you’d gone shopping. Well, I would love to have the help. I assume you can manage some heavy lifting? You look quite strong.”

He looked quite strong, did he? Well, that more than made up for all the work Nori had roped himself into. Hazards of the real job: getting to see that adorable face of yours more. Preening a bit, he followed your beckoning hand around to the back of your stall.

“After a hard day of work in the mines, this’ll be a piece of cake, don’t you worry, darling.” His most fatal wink yet.

“You’ve worked in the mines? Tell me what that’s like! Only have I seen them depicted in old artworks, the long descents miners would take into the earth. Something about it always excited me through the fear.”

“You have a connection to the earth too, I reckon,” Nori pointed out, setting down the first vase you’d motioned to move and smiling up at you, “What with your ability to shape it so.”

For the first time, your eyes softened in his direction, seemed to snap into focus the way they did when they fixed upon Erebor. To be looked at like that...

"You think so?"

Nori's throat felt a bit tight; swallowing, he nodded. "I know so. Who better to see it than a dwarf? Come on, let's go sell some of these beauties. Long as we keep my favorite beauty right here."

"Which one? That grey vase you keep looking at?"

The grey vase sat on the shelf directly in front of you.

~

"I noticed you carry a nice pair of knives," you remarked, glancing down to the twin blades strapped to Nori's belt.

Nori, that was his name. Your newfound dwarf companion who confounded and entertained you, not to mention saving your back a great deal of strain. He'd shared with you the name of one of your statue friends, revealing that the towering figure you'd always admired was not a father of three, but a father of Thráin, the father of King Thorin himself! A man—dwarf—Nori was quick to remind you he defended that very king with those blades, knew him well.

"In closest confidence," remarked your unexpected counterpart.

“That is why you mine and haul my vases instead of speaking in his council?”

A sight you had never imagined, possibly because it did not involve his scintillating eyebrows: Nori momentarily flushed. That rakish sort of look you'd come to enjoy dropped down to the stone upon which your stand's many planks rested. Was he...upset? You took a step closer, haltingly raising a hand his way...

Only for him to straighten and toss back his head, letting loose a high bark of laughter. From your momentary spike of worry came a flood of relief, a relaxing of your stance and a rosy cast over your brain as you realized that was your first time witnessing Nori really loose and widely grinning. The expression brought a smile to your own face.

Taking his own step forward, Nori further closed the distance between you and clapped you on the back. His hand felt as strong as it looked against your skin. Warm too. Typically the sensation of work's warm moisture would have sent your spine stiffening, but something about the feeling of Nori's hand upon you after a day of work, laughter, and sales felt right.

"That's exactly why I like you so much,” Nori remarked, your name drifting from his lips in a warm chuckle.

The sound of your name, the feeling of his touch, all warmed you beyond expected. “You know, Nori? I think I like you too.”

“You think?” Those braided eyebrows rose, one a little higher than the other. “Reckon I had better knock you off the edge, then. Come along, we’ve earned a break.”

Lowering the stall's little barrier, you freed yourself, Nori following suit, and began strolling deeper down the market fair lane. That was until your merry way was interrupted by the loud, gruff clearing of a throat that could have only belonged to the dwarf who carried himself so tough despite his friendly and complimentary words to almost every one of your customers. You turned, peeling your eyes from waving banners and linens, baskets overflowing with red apples and fresh green cabbage heads, and children darting between a glassblower's colorful wares and a standing basket of rainbow-hued pinwheels. There scurrying over to your side was Nori, who ran a hand over his elaborately-dressed hair as soon as he reached you.

"Leaving me in the dust already, eh? Can't stay away from me too long," Nori teased, dangling your keyring between you.

"When— How— What did you..." You sputtered, hands flying to your pockets and back out when they felt naught but empty fabric.

"Here they are, m'darling, just for you," he continued, moving flush to your side and pressing his contraband back into your hand, curling your fingers around it, "I've something I'd like you to see."

Chuckling and shaking your head, you dodged back into the crowd, this time to the right and with Nori taking up the front. Waving, you passed the baker and his wife, who sold beautiful bouquets of flowers, who grasped a bunch of white lilies wrapped in blue paper as you walked past. Two more stalls, two tents, and plenty more neighbors later, Nori guided you to a stall hung to the ceiling with glinting blades.

"You said you liked my knives 'n' all," he explained, sweeping a hand over the lot, "And when you tried to send me to the smith and not Yul here, I knew you'd never been. See anything you like?"

This question was punctuated with a slide in front of the rack of knives you pored over, one of which bore a gorgeous crystal set into its handle.

"Is this your way of getting me to say I like you? Because I do, even if you stole my keys. Running my stall today was much more fun with you, and you gave a name to my companions. I love your eyebrows, too. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

For the second time, Nori's confident eye contact fell, and for the first time, his words faltered. "Er..."

"Good, because I would like to purchase this blade here with the quartz set in, please."

"Ah— allow me," Nori found his voice, remaining between you and the seller Yul long enough to dig in his pockets and splay out a right volley of gold pieces upon the smooth, light wood of the knife stall.

Glistening before your eyes and dancing as Nori and Yul spread them, the gold lit up not only your gaze, but your mind.

"What is this? You've a share of the mountain's treasure! You really must know the king!" You exclaimed, incredulous. "What ever did you need work for with all this?"

"I never needed work," Nori shrugged, "You said I did. I just wanted your company. Same reason I said I wasn't interested in your pottery— 'twas just you I wanted. First I thought you were playing hard to get before I spent hours with you and realized you meant it. All of it, you mean what you say. I fear you're so attuned to the earth, your head's buried deep down there though!"

"Hey!"

You began to protest, but your words were cut off by a quick peck of Nori's lips upon yours, the brief tickle of his beard. This time, it was your face upon which warmth crept, your lips which had been stilled and voided of words.

"Well, don't you look cute now that I've finally got you flustered? If you keep this up, I'll more than just like you, you understand?"

Nodding, you started to reach for your quartz knife, but Nori's hand fell over yours, warm and sturdy and yet so quickly darting as always, and he glanced up at you with a smirk.

"Now, if you'll let me finish buying this for you."

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[a-tangled-mermaid]

I imagine three separate realizations for Astarion. The first is near the end of Act 1, when he realizes he's started to feel a little guilty about his plan for Tav, but can't articulate why just yet. Then he realizes that he feels guilty because he CARES and is horrified. He stews on that until Araj or Yurgir spur him into confession because he decides they have a right to know what he's done and at that point he cares about their freedom to choose more than protecting himself from the consequences of his actions.

Assuming the relationship continues after that, (to his great surprise) I think he doesn't really allow himself to consider himself in love until after Cazador is dead. Until it's done, I think he's still operating under the vague fear that all of this will be taken away from him at any moment and to admit to loving Tav even to himself would make it that much more painful. He's said I love you as a pick up line for years, but now he means it, and it's terrifying to think of what Cazador would do to the first thing he's loved in centuries.

(I also think that's why Ascended Astarion is much more hesitant to say it btw, in fact I'm not sure he ever says the words, just dances around them. Spawn Astarion has a genuine moment of release and grief after he kills Cazador, but Ascended Astarion becomes even more obsessed with not looking 'weak' which means not crying in front of his companions and not putting himself in a vulnerable position by saying something like I love you unprompted.)

Anyway, for fics have my shameless self promotion: Chapter 4 opens up with him in the middle of that stewing process I mentioned, and the whole thing is him wrestling with his feelings lmao.

What’s everyone’s headcanons about when Astarion realizes he’s in love with Tav? Like at what point in the game?

I think he starts having feelings in Act One but doesn’t quite understand them and genuinely has a crisis.

Also bonus points if you send me the link to good fics about this very thing!

[robyn-i-guess]

liking someone platonically is so embarrassing like. yeah i admire you. yeah i think about you all the time. yeah i look forward to every time i see you even if it's only for a minute. yeah it's all platonic and yeah i couldn't explain this because it'd sound romantic. fucking hell

[chalkrub]

thank you for a great art fight! here's some of my final attacks. had a blast, already missing it - see you next year!

[pamrak]

how long will I want you? as long as you want me to and longer by far

PHRAENARIN & KHEMJIRA DENIED LOVE

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[thanatika]

crazy how viktor can't take a shit without people trying to claim that the shape of it is somehow him trying to brand himself with the talis family crest because being romantically obsessed with jayce is his whole personality now apparently.

[originalcontent]

I can't find art of my ship anywhere so I GUESS that means I have to make it myself, here are some doodles.

[lemonduckisnowawake]

You know. Something I noticed about myself is that I enjoy learning to like something. In other words, sometimes I "force" myself to like something or sit through it until I start to actually genuinely enjoy the piece of media. Because, sometimes, it's less about "forcing" and really about training yourself to the direction and way you care about being. I care about seeing better females written in fiction, for example? Then I'll force myself to sit through a story that is well-done, even if it doesn't grip me immediately or even at all. And sometimes, it'll be something I enjoy fondly, sometimes it'll end up consuming my life and give me a new genre to suffer and die over, which is actually the worst. BUT THE POINT

[fluffydice]

A major problem I think people run into when looking at terusai that might make them dislike the ship is that if you don't have an understanding of their development throughout the series, the relationship is going to seem overly shallow. Teruhashi and Saiki are not static characters, nor are they simple. Both of their growth comes from learning that they are just humans at the end of the day. Teruhashi genuinely starts to like Saiki (and all their friends) because she realizes she's not above it all like she originally thought. Saiki is attracted enough to gasp, but only when she shows this true self of hers! If you stick them together when they're still in their early characters, of course it's going to seem forced. Learning to let characters grow, especially in comedy animes, is hard for a lot of people, especially when it's not an 'in-your-face' kind of thing.