#like obviously this is shippy as hell

[sflow-er]

In the last couple of days, I've seen people on various sites say stuff like "there was supposed to be a Walty kiss in the finale but the actors were uncomfortable with it." The only source for this info seems to be "someone said", and given that Uno seemed surprisingly chill about the shipping in his PRP interview, I suspect it might just be one of those rumours that folks on Xitter start for fun.

However.

Whether there's any truth to this rumour or not, Uno, Fabian and the makers of the show owed the viewers nothing. Not a damn thing.

These two background characters were very clearly written as platonic friends to begin with; the rest was just interpretation by those of us who were fascinated by them. The fact that there actually was a very obviously shippy little Walty scene in the finale is an absolutely massive nod to our side of the fandom, and we should be fucking ecstatic that they put that in. Especially if the actors were uncomfortable. Even if they weren't, they did not sign up to play lovers, let alone cater to fic readers and writers, and we need to respect the hell out of that.

So please. Be happy with what we got, and read/write the rest on Ao3. And in case it needs to be said, do not harass the actors with Walty comments or content. Henry and Walter belong to us now, but Fabian and Uno never did.

[olderthannetfic]

I kinda understand “minors don’t interact” and similar things, but one thing I always laugh at is “don’t tag as [thing].” You know — the whole don’t tag posts with the word queer in them as q slur, don’t tag not-inherently-shippy art as ship, don’t tag character posts as kin, etc. First of all, what would you do if someone DOES tag it like that? Call the cops? Second of all, people are gonna tag things however they want, you’re gonna have to deal with that on a website like tumblr.

There’s a similar phenomenon on Twitter where people say “don’t quote retweet”/“don’t private quote retweet” (which is especially funny cuz everyone is gonna see that and go on their private accounts and quote retweet with nonsense to piss you off, lmao)

Like if you’re really SO FUCKING SCARED of your gay post being tagged as #q slur, your Death Note edit being tagged as #Lawlight, your fanart being tagged as #kin, you probably shouldn’t be on the internet. Do you have the right to not view queer as a slur, the right to not ship whatever, the right to not like fictionkin? Of course! But people also have the right to disagree with you and tag your post however the fuck they want. One time I saw someone tag one of my cosplays as [character] faceclaim, and I was a little bit weirded out, but overall it was harmless. I never once considered adding a banner saying not to tag my likeness as a faceclaim, because if I really want to prevent anyone from doing that, the solution will be for me to not show my face online.

Small tangent: When I was younger I used to have a private sideblog that was basically just a venting diary. No one had the password, and, because it was private, my URL wouldn’t show up in the notes if I reblogged something to that blog. Basically, no one knew the blog existed. And I remember sometimes I would see a cool post on my dash, or in tags, and it would be tagged as #dont reblog (this was before tumblr had the option to limit reblogs obviously). And if the post was cool (or edgy, because like I said… vent blog) and I was sad that I “couldn’t” reblog it, I’d reblog it to the side blog, where OP would never know 😭 Rebellious as hell wasn’t I?

That being said — and this might contradict everything I just wrote — I do think people that brag about not reading/not following DNIs are also a bit obnoxious. Not people who just make statements that they don’t read them, but people who make it known how much they hate their existence. It just seems kinda edgelord-y? Idk. Obviously it’s fine to not read them or like them but making it a huge statement is just like…ok? Congratulations? Should we throw you a party? Should we invite Elon Musk?

I have followers—and follow people—who have “Antis DNI” in their bio. I also have followers and follow people who have “Proshippers DNI” in their bio. No one will ever know what side I’m on 😜😜😜😜

--

[cmdonovann]

it's time.

welcome to…

QUANTUM BREAK APPRECIATION MONTH 2024

okay, fuck it, i went too hard last year trying to post every damn day in april. this year, i am taking a break and inviting you all to join me in making too many insane posts for quantum break month.

yes, that means i will be giving out prizes to those brave soldiers who join me in posting about a nearly-dead eight-year-old fandom for an entire month. i cannot promise that they are GOOD prizes, but i WILL reward you for joining me in quantum break hell.

HERE IS MY CALENDAR:

you will notice i am starting on the second week of the month. this is because i have been renovating an office and am exhausted. i will not be taking questions at this time.

anyway, the 5th of april is the 8th anniversary of quantum break's release! if you post about quantum break on this day and send me a link to the post, i will draw you a tiny doodle on a post-it note of one of the quantum break characters.

the week of april 7th - april 13th i have designated as ships week. this week, post about your favorite quantum break ships! for every shippy post you make (and send me a link to), i will put your name into a hat one time and then pick a random person (on the 30th) to recieve a ship certificate from robinboob, a parody website that sells "certficates" saying you "own" a certain ship. (to clarify, this is parodying nfts, but the money actually funds fandom-centric web development projects.)

(i already own certificates for jackpaul and paulcest. see below. but i'm sure you can come up with some fun new ships that i can buy for you ;3)

the week of april 14th - april 20th is blorbo week. who is your quantum break fave? which of these characters do you want to squeeze like a stress toy? post about your fave this week, and for each post you send me, i will put your name into a hat once and randomly pick someone (on the 30th) to receive free art, done by me, of your blorbo.

(i have already drawn so many quantum break fanarts, and yet, there are still characters i have only drawn once or twice. if your fave is underappreciated, this is the week for you.)

the week of april 21st - april 27th is plot week. gimme your meta, your theories, ramble about the plot points you love to hate or hate to love. for every plotty post you make and send to me, i'll enter your name in my little hat of names once and then pick a random person (on the 30th) to win either a copy of the secret history of time travel or quantum break: zero state, your choice.

that's about it! general diclaimers: you can tag your posts with "quantum break appreciation month 2024" obviously (that's what i'll be doing) but the only way to guarantee i see them and count them is to send me a link. my askbox will be open all month for this reason. you're also free to join the quantum break discord server i run and send your posts there, if that's easier! i won't announce winners for anything until the 30th. if i can't get in contact with you to tell you you've won (ie via tumblr message, askbox, discord, etc) i will pick someone else.

also, full disclosure, yes, i am giving out prizes specifically because i am too tired to make a ton of posts myself. but that doesn't mean i won't try! (i'm not going to enter MYSELF into the hat for a prize though, that would be silly.)

anyway. happy quantum break month! go wild my friends!!

[utilitycaster]

(Long ask warning)

Hello! I'm jumping on the appreciation train to say thank you so much for all of your meta and analysis! I just found your blog today, and you've already given me so much clarity and context for things I've been noticing in the CR fandom lately.

I quite literally spent my summer living under a rock (in the woods leading spelunking for scouts!) and so was completely out of the loop from early June through September. And while I am not yet caught up (I'm about to start ep. 65), I have been going through the tags and ao3, because I primarily engage with fandom through fic and I don't care about spoilers. And I can't help but notice that everything being written for c3 lately is just... monochromatic. The Hells have such interesting characters and premises. One would think they're ripe for creative and interesting fic. And yet even what little gen fic that I have seen since returning to civilization has largely been boiled down to reiterative mush with vaguely shippy overtones. I can totally see this being indicative of the cresting and waning of the Imodna and Callowmore shipping you've been discussing.

I've gotta ask though, is it really just shipping that is causing this problem? Or is there something else in the source material that you think could be affecting fic in particular?

This is the first time I've been in a fandom with ongoing source material in over a decade. I'm used to watching people beat dead horses in their own little corner, safe in the knowledge that I can block them and it isn't going to affect my experience in the slightest. I guess I'm just having a hard time believing/remembering that shipping can be this incidious.

So a couple of things: first, I was not heavily involved in fandom until Critical Role; I have a decent amount of background knowledge from being on Tumblr and because I do tend to look into/research this kind of thing because it's very interesting to me, but you will probably have better snapshot of what fandom looked like 10 years ago than I do. Second, fanfic has always been a tiny aspect of what I've engaged with and I do find the bulk of it to be dull and samey (which is why it is a tiny aspect), so again, you probably are a better judge of the quality of fanfic elsewhere.

With that said, as part of a much larger discussion of which I only have as mentioned pieces of the puzzle, I do think there's been a shift over the past decade or so of like...people expecting the source material to reflect fanfic-y desires, and resenting it when it does not; people not seeing the point in enjoying non-canon ships; and a broader theme of self-infantilization. This has to a small extent spilled over into published fiction, though thankfully there's plenty that isn't that. It's not just shipping (though that absolutely can be insidious to the point that people have been harassed and doxxed over it); I think it's a general taste for pablum that has been growing within fandom spaces.

I'll link a few posts I've made and a source that, while I cannot vouch for it per se I did read and found enlightening at the end but I think a really indicative example as of late was the fandom response to the show Good Omens (spoilers for Good Omens S2 in the next link if you are by any chance avoiding those). Obviously do not do anything obnoxious to the person who wrote this question, but there are a worrying number of people in fandom spaces who believe this unironically and uncritically: fiction exists to "save us from hurtful reality." And I do understand that the tumultuous politics and world events of the past decade are probably a factor; but I mean, have you looked at literature from the first half of the 20th century (or like. the second half, for that matter)? It is, in my opinion, only going to help put our modern world and issues in better context and honestly make you feel better in the long run if you read, say, The Great Gatsby or The Things They Carried instead of burying your head in lower case song lyrics ... (hurt/comfort, fix-it, happy ending, 6k) and like, to be clear, I have written a small portion of lower case song lyric-titled fics myself but most of them aren't terribly happy, and even so, god I'd be horrified if that was all people were reading.

We've seen it across fandom at large with the polls; I have not watched season 2 of Our Flag Means Death in part because I've realized with horror that this mentality has swept, plague-like, through that fandom; people are acting like having a canon queer ship on a small premium cable show in 2022 is world-changing and unprecedented while also kind of ignoring everything that isn't the central ship (including valid criticisms of how this takes a real-world plantation owner and turns him into a goofy fop, how there's precious few female characters and none in the main cast, and how the actually far more groundbreaking nb character is pushed aside in favor of the core M/M ship). Spoilers for Good Omens again (sorry in advance, Good Omens 2 was a realization point for me how deeply and widely this rot has set in in some places and I have a bunch of sources of people being like "guys stories require conflict and tension to be good" in response to the overwrought moaning that the story wasn't unambiguously happy) but this is another author responding to the "the desired endpoint of all fiction is obviously to have your ship living in a small house together in bliss and anything else is torment" mentality.

In addition to shipping another factor is, I think, people overidentifying with characters and as such being reluctant to actually put them through any sort of hardship, however minor. I recently reblogged a post about the origin of the concept "Mary Sue" and it led me to read a bit about its history, because it was in fact created by women. It was a woman in the Star Trek fandom who was sick of spending money to buy fanzines (pre-common home internet, let alone pre-Ao3) only to find the vast majority of the stories to be this "here is my self-insert who is perfect and beautiful and pure and every other character thinks she is the greatest even if that's entire OOC". It was a frustration with the abandonment of the characterizations in the original work. And that's true today - I have read a popular Imogen and Laudna fluff fic to see what the deal was and it stripped out so much of their premises and characterizations it was unrecognizeable as them but for the hair colors and occasional cringeworthy attempts to replicate Southern US dialect - but what was notable is that those people were at least being honest and writing OCs (though to be fair a lot of them were also young white teen girls and the only woman in TOS was black and that was probably also a factor). Now, you get people who cannot tolerate any analysis of characters that is less than flattering because instead of having an OC, they are identifying so strongly with, for example, Imogen or Ashton, that they cannot separate out the real character or understand this is not an attack on them (or, to be blunt, as someone who sees some of my own worse traits in both those characters, a necessary critique). It's not shipping, but it is that same "fiction should only ever be a soft blanket or a flattering mirror, never a dark mirror and certainly never a door" mentality.

I do place a little blame on fanfiction itself; I think having something that is roughly made to order and tells you exactly what it is up front means people start to think that is the only way, and that's why we have people claiming Chipotle is the height of cuisine while making gagging noises at the authentic Mexican restaurant except for fiction. I think fanfiction can be great; it's fun to write and I have read some great pieces. But a lot of it is mush and formulaic and as that Mary Sue history points out, always has been.

So anyway, to Bells Hells: I think past campaigns also had a lot of dull fanfiction; I think the Nein lent themselves more to poorly written angst than poorly written fluff but yeah a lot of that was really samey and bland in its own way. Fanfiction has always been formulaic to a degree but I think we're starting to see the generation of people who really have read more of that than like, books, and sure there are shitty books, but man there's a LOT of shitty fanfiction, and increasingly, I find that shitty published books are bad because they're too much like fanfiction. [If I get the chance today I have a post I want to write about the ignorance of fantasy tropes in the current fandom which I think is also driving some of this and which I alluded to in my post about shipping; like, I feel the almost automatic but oddly thought-free resistance to gods and fate and the 'right' way to respond to a tragic backstory comes from this ignorance; this also is a case in the D20 fandom when they've dipped into sci fi.] Shipping definitely is a factor, and I think again C3 has an influx of fans primarily here to ship in that "my ship must become canon and must 'win' for some arbitrary definition thereof" which is probably why so much of the fanfic sucks, but again, this is a larger self-infantilizing and entitled mentality that goes beyond mere ships.

Further reading (mostly my own posts but not exclusively)

The fandom echo chamber (also Good Omens spoilers in a broad sense), not by me

Some discussion on queerphobia being inserted only as a tool to assist with specific shipping narratives (I think this ties in again to like. people need obstacles to justify why the characters aren't already in their cottage by the sea but once the characters are together they discard these obstacles even if they are systemic and would still exist, which makes for really bad fanfic bc it's clearly poorly plotted and thought out)

Me on why this campaign isn't good for shipping but a lot of the fandom showed up primarily to ship (might be the post that prompted this ask tbf)

Fandom monocropping (not my post)

My treatise on Imogen and Laudna specifically which honestly, even now that they are canon, still largely holds up re: the fandom and a related one about similarly fluff-centric Change is Evil and the highest order of fiction is Two Blorbos In A House With Zero Problems mentality (not by me but I've been part of that discussion)

[lunar-years]

Ngl when I see ppl shipping Jamie and Dr. O'Sullivan I think they're at least a little homophobic and very straight.

well, i disagree with a blanket accusation of homophobia, but I do think it's an opinion that holds a very ~straight appeal~, definitely, lol.

there are honestly a boat load of reasons i hate it but they boil down to:

i kind of get why people (esp. a segment of the general audience) might be attracted to it because it's soooo something (bad) shows/sitcoms would do. Like, my god is it TRITE. Predictable, formulaic...boring as all hell! Of course he's going to get with the nameless sister who has less than five minutes total of screen time, just for a little added spice and drama, sure. That's what happens in (bad) shows. But luckily for the rest of us, Ted Lasso even at its worst is not that brand of bad, lol.

it's completely baseless? Nothing wrong with a baseless ship i guess, but at the same time...literally why this one? lol. Like, Jamie and Roy's sister share one scene together in which I don't believe they even say anything to one another directly? There is no chemistry, no...anything? The entire premise for the ship seems to be Jamie telling Roy his sister is hot. Which was very clearly intended as a way for Jamie to get under Roy's skin. Nothing about the scene makes me want to see those two dating.

the big proponents of it i've seen (often, definitely not always) seem to fit into one of two categories 1) people who don't really like Jamie and/or are upset Jamie "got in the way" of their ship, and thus want him to be written into a corner that pulls him away from their preferred couple/inherently shuffles up their dynamic. they don't actually care to watch a plot between Jamie & Roy's sister, they just want Jamie firmly categorized as Taken and thus Not Interested in Roy and/or Keeley, and this is a convenient and predictable(y stupid) way to do it. lol.

OR 2) people who DO really like Jamie and in fact really like Roy & Jamie, but in a very "no homo" way, who want to see more of their dynamic and have a way to define/further explore their closeness, whilst also justifying their own enjoyment of it, that's well set apart from "they have homoerotic tension." Jamie & Roy's sister dating holds an appeal because it more explicitly puts their relationship into firm "brotherly" territory. And I unabashedly loathe that for the same reason i loathe "Roy is Jamie's father figure!" ...foremost because no really, they can just be best friends!! Even if you do not want to ship roy-jamie romantically, you do not need to slap different familial labels on them (or put them into random other pairings) to make their relationship "more." Their relationship is already "more"...they are canonically best friends!! idk if I'm explaining this in the best way but the mindset behind it often feels very rooted in ~the nuclear family is the most important relationship a person can achieve~ and thus a need to fit everyone into traditional family roles (and in some cases that PLUS blatant homophobia) and it gives me a personal ick. Ew.

If you want to see quirky jamie & phoebe antics or roy and jamie bickering, Jamie x Roy's sister getting it on is in fact not actually necessary for any of that? (and imo doesn't add anything to anyone's arc) Going back to point one...using that pairing to get there feels TO ME very boring and sitcom cartoony.

(i also obviously dislike it for my personal shippy reasons and must acknowledge my bias. 🫡 Jamie dating his best friend's sister when he clearly has a crush on said best friend is a relationship-based mental low point/cry for help i do not actually want him to go through as my fav character, LOL.)

(disclaimer: people can of course feel differently and are entitled to ship whoever they want without even needing a clear reason or explanation! that's totally valid! i want to reiterate I don't think it's inherently problematic as a ship. I just personally think it's a rotten tomato of a plot point and i'm so beyond glad the show didn't waste time entertaining it.)

[cadmusfly]

custard [shippy soult/wellington snippet, ahistorical napoleonic rpf]

They could not have walked together like this, so surrounded by their respective men that they were. They could barely even have sat down together at the feast they just shared, capped off with a lovely meringue floating on a soup of vanilla custard.

"Crème anglaise for the Englishman," Soult said, and absolutely nothing about his facial expression indicated that it was the joke that it was meant to be.

But his interlocutor chuckled with the strained humour that it deserved. "I felt quite at home eating that!" said Wellesley. "Perhaps when you come to England, after the war, we will serve you some 'French toast', though I believe it is not actually French? It is bread soaked in egg-"

"Pain perdu. Lost bread, using bread unfit for other uses."

"Much like our soldiers! Of course, I am proud of my ragtag bunch, as you surely are of yours."

And at this, Soult actually smiled, though it was small and slight. "Of course," he said. "Hmmph- when I come to England, will it be as prisoner or victor, I wonder?"

Said Wellesley, "You will be treated very well either way."

"And I suppose you would be the one ensuring that?"

Wellesley's smirk was radiant. "As a conqueror, such a thing could only happen in dreams, so you would be crowned with all the gold they say you have. And as a prisoner, you would be mine, of course, and I do treat what I have caught with respect!"

"Not," said Soult, lips curled in a hungry sneer, "if I catch you first."

"And, pray tell, what will you do with your catch, unlikely as that would be?" asked Wellesley. "I confess, I do not think I would like to be displayed in the manner of your paintings, as beautiful as they are."

"I do not know." Soult sighed. "I have thought about it somewhat, ever since I espied you sleeping in that carriage. So slight, so small, so delicate…"

"How insulting!" Wellesley laughed. "I did not have such lurid thoughts about you when I caught sight of you, but perhaps I should have. Then perhaps I could have indulged in fantasies of being ravished by a devilish brute of a Frenchman!"

"Perhaps those fantasies could still come true." Soult's tone was flat and dark, but he did not look away from Wellesley. "Perhaps I am the devilish brute- what is it your men call me? The Duke of Damnation? Perhaps I could show you what hell looks like."

"Ah, Marshal Soult," said Wellesley, "I believe we are doing quite well in guiding each other into the depths of hell already. But perhaps it could be I who shows you a more personal hell tonight..?"

And all Soult said in response to that was a low and sly, "I would like to see you try."

Custard had clearly not been enough to sate their hungers.

A completely fictional and ahistorical attempt at writing a shippy Soult/Wellington snippet from the prompt "custard" given by @phatburd, Wellington being based on vague memories of the movie Waterloo and some of Sharpe

Set in a dream during the Peninsular War. I don't know anything about the Peninsular War. I don't know anything about Wellington. This interaction could not have happened in any way. I just wanted to write Soult/Wellington, and also something obviously shippy because I tend towards subtle and too much banter.

[pandorasboxoftreasures]

Real Talk For A Sec...

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing all the high quality artwork people make (that doesn't involve certain actions with certain characters and also particularly disturbing shippy stuff), but there's something I keep seeing in OC art that bugs me quite a bit. Because of the likely not intentional, yet if you think about it it's sort of awkward, aspects of it.

That being making Na'vi non-Avatar or Recom OC's look like Instagram models in terms of body proportions and makeup. Even when they're not supposed to be wearing makeup and clearly do not have the access to cosmetic procedures.

It gives the impression of applying Westernised Human beauty and body standards on them and it's really uncomfortable for me how common it is to see in fanart.

These characters don't look like Na'vi in their designs even through the filter of an individual artist's style. They have the skin colour and the stripes and the big eyes and the tails and the number of fingers but what else?

It's got the same feel under my skin as when I see somebody dressing up as a "Native American" on Halloween yet still dressed and wearing makeup to fit to Colonial American early 21st century standards of "sexy" with feather stuff on.

Depicting Native Na'vi like that is like making them into a costume in a similar way but obviously lessened because they're fictional peoples.

Na'vi are aesthetically interesting just as they are if you make them anatomically and culturally accurate. They don't need to be Westernised to hell to make them "pretty".

Not to say I'll rage at you for doing it or that it makes you a bad artist or a bad person for doing that, but it's disappointing not seeing enough Native Na'vi OCs that look like they grew up on Pandora as part of a clan there.

You can still get away with this (to a degree but still not that much) for Avatars and Recoms since they're culturally and physically more human (although why would the RDA bother), but why do it with Pandora-born Na'vi?

Your art is your art, but do you not see the problem here?

Maybe if you're dealing with a modern day or set in the future AU where the Na'vi have been culturally assimilated with humanity and so end up doing the same crap to themselves to the same standards we do, but if it's set during the time or world of the movies and games and comics? Why?

[only-by-the-stars]

For the character ask meme, I feeeeeel like Mipha would be an obvious one, so if you've already gotten her, then uhhhhh Revali or BotW Impa? :> (also, hi. I hope you're having a good day 💘💓💞)

nobody has asked me for her, actually! so I'll do both her and Impa!

Mipha:

First impression: the first time I saw her was in the memory where Calamity Ganon rises up, so I was basically just "ooh, a Zora, she's pretty!"

Impression now: AKJEBFKSFNKJDSFNHLKHKJHDHF I LOVE HER SO MUCH I CANNOT EVER BE NORMAL ABOUT HER, BEST CHAMPION, LOML <333333333333333333333333333333333

Favorite moment: every time I get to fight as her in AOC :3 and also when I get to save her from Waterblight ;~; and when she and Sidon have that cute moment on Vah Ruta ;o; I honestly treasure any time she's onscreen, but those are my favorites

Idea for a story: UMMMM I HAVE A MILLION

Unpopular opinion: she is NOT boring and her character is NOT only about her love for Link and she is NOT written worse than the other champions, people just wanna be mean about her because of stupid ship nonsense/prioritizing male characters (especially the rude ones because they assume those characters are inherently deeper) and in fact I think she's the best written Champion, because she has a family and friends that remember her in BOTW and that you also see in AOC and she thinks about more than just Link, thank you very much. underrated as hell and it makes me so mad. >:E

Favorite relationship: oh, too many choices! I obviously love her and Link in a very shippy way, but I also love her relationships with her family, and the little friendship she strikes up with Daruk, and what little we see of her interacting with others in side missions (there's a cute one where Riju helps her in the Domain, for example), and non-canon obviously, but I love writing her interacting with anyone I can put in there. :3

Favorite headcanon: I have a million bajllion after all the time I've spent writing her and fleshing her out, too many to list here :3;;;

BOTW Impa:

First impression: mainly that she was an exposition lady? she was nice, but sadly didn't really do anything aside from that. :/

Impression now: HOWEVER. I absolutely ADORE her in AOC!!! They really gave her personality, and I love her interactions with Purah and Zelda and Terrako, she is so so so much fun!!! it was really sad going back to little old lady Impa in TotK. :/

Favorite moment: Any time she is encouraging Zelda is so sweet! ;~; and any time she and Terrako clash, it's so funny xD I also love that side mission where she has to clean up Purah's mess with some Guardians, and she's just "-_-" the entire time xD

Idea for a story: I want to write more of my version of her from my favorite fic of mine! and just more with her in general. Like I still have some unused zine pitches that would be fun...

Unpopular opinion: some people don't like her youthful version cause it's so different from past younger Impas, but I love her! I like OOT Impa too, don't get me wrong, but I found AOC Impa super fun.

Favorite relationship: Her and Zelda!

Favorite headcanon: I like to think her not being present in certain memories in BOTW was an oversight, NINTENDO >:/ because she specifically states that she was friends with them back then, and we see in AOC that she really was, so where was she??? hence why in my Mipha protagonist BOTW retelling I have her be present in some of the memories with the group because that's something else that needs fixing.

(I am having a lovely day, thank you! :3 hope you are too!)

[giurochedadomani]

How about a good omens! harringroveson au with Billy as the antichrist and Steve and Eddie as the metaphorical and literal angel and demon on his shoulders?

(it's propheziced that the antichrist will heed the call of Satan and break out the Armageddon and the final, ultimate fight between angels and demons. He...... Doesn't want to do that, though, and something something not following your dad's expectations, the role the story has set out for you, how the antichrist in the story at the end chooses to be a happy, normal kid with his adoptive dad.... And the angel and demon tasked with taking care of him and fulfilling the prophecy would much rather keep living on earth as it is. At first they wanted to influence humans and provoke chaos or holy behaviour, but now?? Now they're friends. And humans are cool as they are)

(We can DEFINITELY keep the popular good omens headcanon of the demon influencing and giving success to popular musicians not because they're nasty, but because they're talented as hell (heh 😅) and he likes them)

Obviously I mean this in a total shippy way, so let's say that instead of caretakers, Eddie and Steve keep showing up on Billy's life as his school mates.

[thinkatoryprocess]

Everyone crying about Roman/Mencken being over and I'm just over there in the corner going ???

When it looked like Mencken was losing the election Roman opened the conversation with calling him a loser. Roman had a sobbing breakdown at the funeral and Mencken opened by poking fun at that. That's what they do!

It wasn't even maliciously said! It was the exact same tone they always use with each other. And then he immediately added he was kidding and asked if Roman was okay. If they were in private, they just would have rolled with it in their usual manner, but they were in public and the vibe was interrupted. But there’s nothing in that scene to imply Mencken now despises poor woobie Roman and the relationship is over and done with. I mean hell, he even looks at him all fondly amused! Compare how he is with everyone else during the reception and the difference is insane.

Now obviously the business side of things is kind of fucked unless Roman somehow manages to come out of it all with some power, but whatever. That really doesn't matter for shipping purposes and can easily be worked around in fic. But emotionally, I literally do not understand all the doom and gloom, when it's the same vibe it's always been. The only difference is that this time it was Mencken poking fun at Roman, which I guess is enough for some people? Couldn't be me though.

Hard agree, tbh. Not just for shippy purposes, but Mencken is not remotely as warm with anyone else in that entire long scene where he's suffering all the foolishness. He shows way more disdain for just about everyone else, except maybe Kendall, who he really does seem to respect. But not Roman. I think it was a jab, and the reason it seems as harsh as it is is that Kendall uses it against Roman exactly the way Logan would. But objectively Kendall doesn't get to determine what that interaction was; he was just doing what he had to do to undermine Roman's connection to Mencken, which he didn't like, which was pointed out explicitly in the Previously On section.

Also there's a lot going on in Roman's breakdown, but I can't imagine that the connection to Mencken being undermined by Kendall that way didn't contribute just a little - for business purposes, but also I think Roman thought he almost kind of had a friend even if you don't read it as a ship. Roman's been very alone lately, marinating in grief, and it's possible Mencken's the only non-family he's been talking to, and the sibs have been all business all the time. So, I don't know. But I don't think it's the death of the ship.

I'd also like to add that no ships will be resolved besides Shiv and Tom and Connor and Willa, and Shiv and Tom is up in the air, potentially. (Hasn't it always been.) We're not gonna get a Kendall love interest resolution. We're not gonna get a Roman love interest resolution. This is the realm of fic. And Succession is ripe for AUs. I would know. The ship doesn't have to kiss onscreen for the chemistry to be there to justify your content, folks. That goes for everyone. Go wild.

[ruakichan]

Some late night, meandering thoughts, but humor me for a moment:

Izanagi said the ending to the Takamagahara arc has played out numerous times, and that Susabi has already visited many worlds in his search for the one where no one is sacrificed.

Obviously, that means Susabi has witnessed that ending many, many times--reflecting Susanoo's own journey to find the scenario which would save humanity a millennia ago--but recall Susabi's words that he would remain with Susanoo until the end. Now think of it in the full context of witnessing this same end over and over. Even when Susabi knows that a particular world and timeline would end the way it has thousands of times before , he remains steadfast with open eyes as witness, refusing to turn away (mirroring what he told Miketsu when they were seeing the Execution Ground in the past during the Final Advent event). He will remain with Susanoo until the literal end. Every. Single. Time. No matter the despair, pain, or weariness.

Tangentially (and less shippy goggles lol), while Amaterasu and Susanoo were both greatly influenced by Izanagi to shape them into compassionate beings, Susabi's contact with Izanagi is almost nil. His initial questioning about the immutability of destiny was already there at his birth, though almost immediately suppressed, but then brought out again by Susanoo's beliefs (as formed under Izanagi's guidance and the kindness of humans). I have to wonder if Izanagi delayed Susabi's birth intentionally... or even, if we really want to get deep into theorycrafting about this, Susabi delayed his own birth as the one who oversees reincarnation, as part of his search for the world where no one is sacrificed. (Who came first, Smolsabi or Susabi?!)

Even more an aside to that, I like to think Susabi does meet Izanagi again in Yomi-no-Kuni, as that is where the Torrents of Destiny flows. They might have a more personal talk; Izanagi absolutely would tease him more mercilessly than Susanoo would. and give ssb the shovel talk cause it's obvious ssn is izanagi's favorite

All of this to say is that Susabi has one hell of an iron will. Not that any of the Divine Children are less driven, but of the three, he has been an unyielding pillar, only losing himself during his orokana ningen period. (Which I like to imagine him having a lot of inner conflict over, as Susanoo greatly loves humans, and a betrayed Susabi questions why Susanoo died for such ungrateful beings. But that's another take for another day.)

(wild tangent but since we're already here, i want to know about that first time amaterasu went to sleep and had to be awakened by suzuhikohime in her old incarnation, as ssn said she woke up as a different person. at first i thought this was when she stripped herself of her sins, but her event showed that happened when she banished izanami, and i feel like ssn wasn't born yet? timeline seems fuzzy here)

... Anyhoooooooo did you know I didn't like Susabi at first and had no idea what his appeal was and why he was popular? Now I'm lying here losing sleep thinking about this deity with terrible fashion and ridiculous hair.

[possessedchain-archive]

dangling some shippy headcanons in front of you like meat on a line...

it doesn't need to sleep but will lie awake all night holding its partner while they sleep.

it hasn't been hugged in at least a few decades. a hug might literally blow this creature's fuckin mind.

it loves flowers. knows all the victorian meanings behind them but cant remember why. red carnations are its favorites.....

obviously can blow minds sexually. like it literally got a PhD in hell from a god for fucking and being fucked. consequentially is an attentive Dom and a devoted sub.

this creature can, will, and must kill for its love interests. very vl/ad te/pes. there's literally nothing more romantic than dying and the lover u left behind destroying the entire world because of it, amirite? </3

alternatively, u can fix it. elliot is in there somewhere. and they are a hopeless romantic who wants to cook breakfast for people at 4am as aftercare

[positivelybeastly]

Plot Wishlist

General:

Any X-characters, but especially Storm, Shadowkat, Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, Abigail Brand, Havok, Dazzler, Colossus, Mr. Sinister, Charles Xavier, Magneto, Sabretooth, et al.

Verse specific plots below.

Feline Hank:

Decimation/Utopia-era plots, perhaps including a PTSD recovery arc for Hank after his torture at the hands of Norman Osborn. Poor guy was literally having flashbacks at the drop of a hat and the best he got was a 'you're the rock, so idk just cope better' speech - would love to dive into this.

Fun, shippy things! Hank is a loveable fella, but utterly bereft of actual self-esteem - tons of ego and bluster, but self-esteem? Wrong house, miss - and I love to see him reconcile the often inflated mental portrait he has of others with his diabolical self-image.

Mutant cure. Hank has a vial of it just sitting in a freezer. All it takes is one particularly bad day.

Post-Intervention Hank:

Anything with any X-character, diving into the period of time between All-New X-Men and Krakoa. Hank screwed up, majorly, and his emotional state is ridiculously fractious - engage with him on this! Force him to change! Or let's have blazing arguments! Let's do both, fuck it!

Inhuman + Kang interactions! Hank was only with them for a short period of time in the grand scheme of things, but I dearly love that he made friends during his time here, and it breaks my heart that he felt like he couldn't go back after Inhumans vs. X-Men.

Avengers:

Defenders interactions! Especially Isaac Christians (Gargoyle), Patsy Walker (Hellcat) and Heather Douglas (Moondragon). I love this team - they're such a weird, kooky team of misfists and emotionally damaged individuals.

Threnody. I'm tired of talking about her as the first brick in the wall for Hank's downfall - let's talk about her as a character, let's engage with the situation, let's call Hank out, let's let him off the hook, let's do something with it!

X-Force:

Any and all members of the Quiet Council, perhaps a thread making sense of Beast's numerous karma houdinis. My portrayal of X-Force Beast diverges from the cartoon character you've seen in Percy's books, but I still want to engage with the situations he must've found himself in and write them like an adult. Let's get political, let's get complicated, let's get cruel, why not?

Any and all interactions where an old friend asks Beast what the hell he's doing and what happened to him. I just want someone to care that Beast has hollowed out his soul and decided it's easier to not care.

Irredeemable Beast:

Pretty much anything, but the tone of this verse suits Fall of X-themed plots and character development over all else. I have an in-progress fic about this verse that I'm working on - I can't tell you how overjoyed I'd be to talk about it with someone. Let's talk redemption, let's talk punishment, let's talk justice, let's talk masochism, let's talk death wishes!

Dark Beast:

Any Age of Apocalypse characters.

A duplicate Hank, tbh!

The guy's a stinker, abuse him, please.

Battle of the Atom:

Any of the time displaced X-Men, future X-Men, or members of the Jean Grey and Charles Xavier School faculty. This version of Hank is so broken and so tragic and so pitiable. Let's engage with that. Let's talk about the future, let's talk about optimism, let's talk about broken faith and mind control and hatred.

President Blaire. If you know, you know.

And obviously, all of the X-characters mentioned above, or hell, any member of the extended X-family, would be much loved as an intersection with all of these plots!

And keep in mind, if you aren't one of these characters, that doesn't mean any of this plot material is off limits to you! Message me, ask me, let's work something out. I crave good character dynamics, hmu. I want to write with you, or I wouldn't be here.

[coolsomejet]

Some notes on Space Camp

Welp, now the movie is out. I have so much I wanna say, but I’ll wait until it comes out on YouTube to rewatch the movie (because the UI on the PBS Kids app sucks) and also I have a college thing to do tomorrow and Saturday, so yeah. More in-depth posts will come later. For now, I’ll just do bullet points (Spoilers abound, obviously)

The writers finally remembered that Face 9000 exists, and he plays a critical role in relaying information about the Deshrinkulum.

The writers, however, forgot that Commander Cressida exists. She’s not brought up once, not even in relation to the Great Galacto. Well, I guess that’s the law of equivalent exchange.

Speaking of the Great Galacto, he seems to be a commentary on YouTubers/social media influencers that do stupid things and have an impressionable young audience. He’s a good guy, though. He’s also Scottish for some reason. Well, Uncle Zucchini is Brooklyn/Joisey, so I’m not complaining.

As I suspected, Jet’s insistence on working alone ends up making things worse for him. Of course, he just wanted to protect Sean, Sydney, and Mindy, but still.

I predicted that Jet would have a “break the cutie” moment in this movie, and I was right. He even cries at one point. Poor thing. It’s even sadder that it happened to such an optimistic character like him.

According to the song “Brother From Another Sunspot Mother,” Jet adopted Sunspot from a litter. Here’s the thing though: in the flashback, Jet looks like the same age he currently does. This goes against what was established in “Sunday Drive.” That Sunspot lived with the Propulsions since Jet was a baby.

The songs in this movie are really great. They go into all sorts of genres too. Ska (Dear Great Galacto), a Disney-style award bait song™️ (Brother From Another Sunspot Mother”), blues (“Super Hyperdrive”), a marching song (“It Takes a Team”), etc

The scenery shows massive improvement. The trees especially look more realistic, instead of looking like stage props like in the TV show.

Stella was handled better than I thought. Contrary to what her actress said, she wasn’t a “villain.” She was just a jerk, much like Mitchell was. She didn’t do anything to physically hurt Jet and the others or anything. And she becomes nicer by the end of the movie.

As for Mitchell himself, well, they didn’t handle them the best. He spends 99% of the movie trying to expose Stella and Jet, and acts like he hates them. He even vilifies them by saying that they’re plotting to take over the world or whatever. What the hell happened here? They just undid all of his character development?

A minor complaint I had about the main show is that there was a small amount of background characters, and when there were, most of them were white. It made it look like Washington had the diversity of a cornfield, when that’s far from the truth. However, in this movie, there are plenty of people of color. For example, Houston is Black, Aurora is Asian-American, and Dr. Chandra is Southeast Asian. Heck, there are even some plus-size characters in the crowd shots. That’s also a good thing, since most of the earthie background characters seemed to have the same skinny body type. Heck, even Stella is a bit brown, and her voice actress is Asian-Canadian iirc.

Dr. Bergs is back, as is Dr. Skelley. Dr. Rafferty doesn’t appear at all. Maybe it’s because her voice actress was too busy or unavailable. Who knows?

Lillian doesn’t appear either. 😔

For those who wanted Mitchlendez or Propulsean shipping moments, you’re out of luck. Mindy sneaks up on Mitchell just for old times sake, and he does lend her his phone at one point, but that’s it. As for Propulsean, Jet and Sean just have standard friendship moments in the movie. Nothing too shippy, and he doesn’t call him “Seanzo” once. It could be for one of two reasons: the crew decided that they hate the ships and tried to remove any “puppy love” subtext between any characters. The other reason (for Propulsean) is that LGBTQ+ characters in kids shows causes major controversies nowadays, more so than usual, with Ron DeSantis and his fascist friends accusing any kids show that includes LGBTQ+ characters of “grooming.” They even tried to take Work It Out Wombats off the air just for having lesbian mothers. Even so, I’m happy if Jet and Sean are just friends. 

Aside from the basic plot of accidentally going to space, it doesn’t actually have much in common with the 80s movie SpaceCamp.

That’s all, folks!

[bethagain]

Thinky-thoughts incoming! Today’s topic: Musings on relationships and The Mandalorian, from someone who doesn't get it. AKA, What’s the deal with shipping Din and Bo-Katan?

Friendly chats about the following are welcome! But, please ignore if my ramblings are going to upset you.

I didn’t get the Din/Luke thing at first, but I have to admit there’s some potential there. And I can see why the Bo-Katan/Armorer thing has its fans. But I do not get the Din/Bo-Katan thing. At all. And because I feel like writing and my fic ideas are absolutely refusing to happen, I’m gonna pontificate about it.

Ok, so: Din and Luke, they’ve got stuff in common.

They both love a hotrod. Luke’s gonna swoon over the N-1 starfighter. Din’s gonna ask if he can try out the X-wing. They’re gonna bore the crap out of everyone but Peli, talking specs over the beer that Luke’s drinking and Din’s got untouched in front of him (because, helmet).

Yeah, Din’s a reluctant hero while Luke’s been a willing one—but by now, Luke’s seen a few things and I bet he’s starting to feel the weight. Bet you they have their moments of commiseration: Oh come on, not me, not again.

Once they’ve committed, though, they’re both reckless as hell. Luke might jump in faster while Din takes a minute, but once they get going neither one of them has much of a sense of self-preservation.

We’ve seen Din be a stone-cold killer, and people like to think of Luke as the gentle one. But Luke didn’t get his Tumblr reputation of “sunshine and tempered death” for nothing. Do not threaten something he cares about, or someone he loves.

Din’s more deadpan and Luke’s more likely to burst out laughing, but I think we’ve seen they each can appreciate the absurd. They’re going to get each other’s jokes.

Bo-Katan and the Armorer? We know less about each of them, I think, but still:

They’ve taken different paths, but their end goals are the same. The Armorer chose stealth and secrecy, keeping the people away from the world that would hurt them, while Bo-Katan chose guerrilla warfare. But they both gave over their lives to preserving what was left of Mandalore.

They’re both extremely skilled fighters, and they both fight with economy and grace. They’re well matched to train together, even if their skills are different.

They’re both intentional leaders. They’ll be able to share notes on the challenges of authority and how to overcome them.

But Din and Bo-Katan? What are people seeing, that makes them think these two should be together?

Bo-Katan obviously cares a lot about her people, but she’s irreverent and sarcastic about Mandalorian culture, too. Din takes it all extremely seriously, to the point of risking his life (more than once) for a point of protocol. They try to get together, they’re gonna drive each other nuts. Especially if they’re trying to raise a kid together.

Bo-Katan plans and strategizes, as she did with building the fleet. Impulse is not really her thing. When have we ever seen Din have a plan that he didn’t make up on the spur of the moment? Imagine them trying to organize a vacation together. Or dinner, even.

The getting-each-other’s-jokes thing. Do they have the same sense of humor? No idea. Does Bo-Katan even have one?

And then there’s the fact that Din promised to serve her. I know a lot of folks thought that was romantic, but I don’t see it. That was a pledge of deference and duty to a military and cultural leader. When Din speaks, he's generally got one of two settings: He's either utterly serious or offering up dry humor. Sure, he's capable of double meanings, but we've only seen him use that against people. It's not a trick for someone he respects. Plus, we never see Bo-Katan offer anything like a pledge to him in return.

Of course, there’s also the fact that my non-shippy heart wants to see more of Din and Grogu’s adventures together, and Din’s development as a parent and as a Mandalorian—and I don’t see any real need to hand him a canon romance. I mean, sure, he’s a bit of a blorbo for me and I want him to be happy. But from a storytelling perspective I just don’t think it’s missing.

[eskelwolfed]

I wanted to keep quiet about this since I have a paragraph on smut in my rules, but I guess I have to be very direct about it once more.

I love smut. I love writing it, I love reading it, I love it when a story is 90% smut and 10% plot. I'm so super comfortable with smut happening, that's why I have a multimuse that's smut centric and I literally have a succubus OC. You can't play a succubus if you're uncomfortable with smut.

BUT ladies and gentlemen and fellow enbies,

that doesn't mean we have to write it if we're active partners. You want a story driven plot? Gimme. You like to fade to black? Alright! You need some time to open up and be comfy with smut? VALID. You're ace, sex repulsed, hyposexual or WHATEVER and you just don't want to write smut? VALID AS HELL GUYS.

Just don't -- don't shame me for being a lover of filth. Don't act like you're holy, because smut is a rare thing for you. Don't put yourself on a pedestal and preach how you need a "connection" or "chemistry" to ship or write smut.

BECAUSE guess what. I'm the same. Sometimes I don't feel the smut. Sometimes just throw your muse at mine and they be fucking in reply no.3. It doesn't matter really! As long as we vibe and respect another! I can write 90% plot and feelings and 10% smut OR LEAVE IT OUT COMPLETELY. I'M A SKILLED WRITER Y'ALL. I'm doing the tango since I'm 14 years old!

We all roleplay for the fun of it, or as an escapism or exploring something you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole in your own personal sexual expression. ALL OF THIS IS VALID. It doesn't matter why you RP, but it matters how you treat your partners, especially when you have different opinions about smut.

I'm allosexual and queer and yes, for fuck's sake, I'm sex positive and I'm ship positive and some of my muses are hella promiscuous. If you demand respect for your choices, you'll have to learn respect other people's choices, too. It's that simple.

Also btw, since the old reblogs confused some of you:

Eskel is not gay. Eskel is not Geralt shipping only. Eskel is not hypersexual.

He was planned that way, because ep. 2.02 broke me, guys. I wanted him to have a happy ending obviously. When I started writing him I did not have in mind to make him my primary muse. But I got so entangled with him, I love him so much, he just became what he is now.

Eskel is pan- and demisexual, I ship him with boys and girls and enbies, I ship him with human characters, with elves, werewolves, demons... but even the amount of sex he has -- you have to keep in mind that all of the threads are technically starting off a 'clean slate'. Means, when he meets a girl and he hasn't felt for a girl in AGES, he'll be surprised, because he is mainly still a little more attracted to men - every thread will handle the connection he has as unique. He has like half a dozen verses, but in every thread it basically starts off in a different timeline.

I still ship him with Geralt, but man, all the amazing OCs of my partners? *chef's kiss* and even though they never met canonically (in the show), right now I'm much more enamoured by Jaskier/Eskel. I love the potential angsty ship Lambert/Eskel.

In my opinion, he indeed shifted from being very hyposexual on the spectrum to the middle.

I started playing him as a massive submissive bottom, and that's still his usual preference with male partners, but he can also take the lead.

Overall, characters aren't written in stone. The longer you write a canon character, the more he becomes "original" as you drop stuff you don't like about the canon portrayal, etc. And we all agree that Witchers are horndogs, right? They're canonical horndogs. ALL OF THEM.

AND ANOTHER THING just because I'm a massive smut slut I'm not less of a skilled writer of what happens inside a character (and I'm not talking about the penetration here). Angsty-Shippy threads can have a much more in depth character building and analysis than a monster killing thread.

This is the very last time I'll speak about this. I'll add a statement to my rules and everyone who follows me and comes complaining about Eskel or any of my other muses being "sex crazed" will just get a block. I'm tired of being shamed for enjoying smut.