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theromanticscrooge · 2 months

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The Shipping Corner: Voxman, A Balm for Capitalist-Induced Angst

Note: I'm sorry this took as long as it did. I've been in a pretty bad slump recently and am just now coming out of it.

Lord Boxman is the black sheep among his peers. This is first established with Professor Venomous' initial distaste towards him and the later reactions he gets when he unexpectedly shows up at Billiam Milliam's villain yacht party. The only kinds of relationships Boxman has with other villains amount to strictly business transactions to create their robot minions. The shareholders that directly fund Boxmore are especially skeptic of Boxman's destroy the Plaza side venture and see this as a misguided, Snidely Whiplash-esque escapade. He's just a Saturday morning cartoon villain and they're the respectable big leagues. When Boxman funnels so much time, effort, energy, and resources towards the Plaza attacks, it takes precious time away from robot production; the one thing he does they consider valuable or worthwhile. They threaten to cut off their support if Boxman's production doesn't increase and then gladly replace him with Darrell when the opportunity arises. Darrell fits the exact mold they need for a CEO: he focuses exclusively on production.

There's no respect. There's no interest in or concern for Lord Boxman as an individual. The dislike is mutual. Of course Boxman doesn't get along with other villains. Most of the known names and faces on screen hold the purse strings and by extension, the fate of Boxman's entire operation. He feels like he has to put on his best face and performance to keep his business afloat. Without Boxmore, he seemingly has nothing and loses everything material. After Boxman was fired by the shareholders, he becomes absolutely depressed and floats around for awhile until Venomous finds him in his trash can. As much as he hates answering to corporate interests, he's locked in as a "robot manufacturer" as much as an Average Joe is stuck at a 9-5 job because of bills, a mortgage; and most frustratingly, how easily someone can fall into the trappings of letting a job define their self-worth or sense of self.

When Professor Venomous gets introduced, he's partly in Boxman's mental bucket of shareholder/necessary business relationships. Boxman goes to great lengths to hide K.O., Rad, and Enid after accidentally booking his business dinner on the same night as an antagonize the Plaza event. He's scared that his 'hobby' would dissuade Venomous from buying any more of his robots and break their already tenuous business deal. Instead, Venomous starts to see Boxman through literal rose-tinted glasses and becomes interested in Boxman's ongoing Plaza rivalry but uses the robots as a continued excuse to check in again on this weird, intriguing man.

Another interesting precedent is that Boxman is more fond of Venomous from the jump. When interacting with other business partners, Boxman is over-the-top and eager to please in video calls and plays the oblivious idiot in casual settings, but behind closed doors, he's bitter towards them. Boxman won't hug his own children and scoffs at open displays of affection. Yet he wants to touch or hug Venomous as often as he can reasonably get away with. Part of his behavior is the same eager to please facade he gives other interested business parties, but the bigger part is a legitimate interest in developing a more personal relationship with Venomous.

The pink shoujo sparkles and elevator eyes Boxman has for Venomous are a blatant indicator he finds him attractive. That's a surprisingly huge part of what kicks off his interest. Look at how he reacts to Dr. Blight in the Captain Planet crossover. Boxman initially shows skepticism and disinterest towards her crazy plans, but the second she flirts with him, the flip switches. The promise of romantic interest grants her access to the full power and force of Boxmore. When she leaves at the end of the episode, Boxman is disappointed. He wanted to continue their partnership, especially their potential interpersonal one.

In Venomous' case, he gets extra points for joining in the fight after the Plaza brats interrupt dinner. He asks about the design and Lego brick-esque connectivity of the Boxbots. He's not above participating in the Saturday morning cartoon skirmish. Rather, he misses that kind of fight and yearns to experience more exploits like it. Venomous is the only on-screen character outside of Boxman's kids that shows a willingness to listen to, try to understand, and engage with Boxman in a more personable, intimate way.

Professor Venomous fell into villainy after he lost his powers and realized how overbearing he found the moral code heroes have. Being a villain comes naturally to him; he likes the fruits of his labor in the vast amounts of wealth, prestige, and material power that he could gain. Fast forward to present-day in the series and he's the picture of a successful villain. He figures out the easy button for amassing stupid amounts of money by threatening a Congresswoman with a death ray. He's sought out for deals involving his scientific prowess. He's respected and liked among other villains to the point he's invited to Billiam's parties. Though while he has a comfortable position, he's become jaded.

Enter Lord Boxman. Compared to the villains Venomous is used to, Boxman dances to the beat of his own drum. He's more interested in defeating the Plaza than an endless vie for prestige, wealth, or power. He says he doesn't care what the other villains think of him and how he does things. No matter what happens, he's going to carve out his own path as a villain and do what he wants to with his life. Somehow, Venomous got tied up in a new, different kind of bureaucratic process as a villain. As a hero, he felt like an outcast and a loser everybody looked down on without super powers. As a villain, he has everything he thought he wanted but it was more of a means to make up for what he lost. It was more compensating and filling in an existential hole vs actually taking meaningful control of his life. In stark contrast to that, Boxman knows exactly what he wants and puts his all into every pursuit, consequences and obstacles be damned.

Collaborating with Boxman is an epiphany. Dreaming up new schemes and plots to challenge the Plaza is fun. It's fulfilling and satisfying to Venomous in a way that heroics and solo villain ventures weren't. There's one scene in particular after Boxman and Venomous join forces for the first time and lose spectacularly. Both of them are smiling; it's joyous. Boxman was down and out without Boxmore, but building Fink's attack trike was a spark of hope that he can rebuild even if its from the ground-up. Venomous just lost his nice house and all of his current material possessions because Boxman blew everything up. But then Boxman turned around and presented the exact existential solution Venomous didn't know he needed by suggesting attacking the Plaza. It's the dinner party attack, but this time, Venomous was a full part of the planning phases. He gets to share in and fully experience the devil-may-care and more whimsical parts of being a villain he thought were long gone.

Venomous offers to buy out Boxmore and root out the shareholders. Finally, Boxman is free of one of the bigger obstacles between him and his all-time favorite venture. Not only does Boxman have free reign, but also the equal partner he so desperately desired; someone that's on his same wavelength and as invested in his kind of villainy as he is.

Another important dimension to Venomous' character is his destructive spiral as Shadowy Venomous. Finding that 'missing piece' in Boxman and Boxmore respectively isn't a magic solution. There's significant baggage in how much emphasis Venomous placed on his need for power. This was such a huge quest and chunk of his life that its difficult to give up on the idea entirely. Its similar to how some people spend so much time chasing after a specific job title or promotion that this elusive thing becomes an important part of what defines them or contributes to their sense of self worth. Venomous left Carol because of a gross misunderstanding that she saw him as weak. He was missing the value he assigned to super powers for so long that every new solution was always a band-aid or a stop gap.

Someone can find a thing or circumstances that significantly improves their life, but they need to see and recognize this psychologically too for it to be completely effective. In other words, Venomous needed to recognize the real-time changes and results from joining Boxmore, then figure out how to weigh those continued changes with his own self-discovery or improvement.

Boxman started improving on being a more proactive parent. Unfortunately, Venomous started getting lost in his own head and pulling away from his other responsibilities or general life. A change as big as a new partner, surroundings, and blended family would be enough to kickstart depression; especially because Venomous hadn't appropriately addressed why he needed this abstract concept of what it meant to be the 'most powerful being.' Success and self-actualization weren't included with the previous accolades he achieved as a villain. It wasn't obvious and forthcoming with Boxman either. The lack of introspection and vulnerable talks with Boxman or anyone else is exactly what led to the wind-up and eventual "I'll destroy everything if it means getting rid of the years of resentment and frustration."

Both Venomous and Boxman have some sort of adult trapped in the shitty corporate world element to their character writing. In a nutshell, Boxman struggles with the existential threat of losing who he is to one specific job he performs; Venomous finds villainy gratifying as more of a hobby or extracurricular activity vs a full-time job. He's successful at it but the version he's successful at is more of a distraction or a means to fill in a missing part of himself than true interest in his corporate role. Boxman's approach to villainy is considered juvenile and worthless. Venomous still loves villainy but he wants the freedom to have fun and go all-out without worrying about reputation or meeting the specific standards that comes with his current position.

In 2024, after the various rise of corporate buzzwords trying to guilt employees back to pre-pandemic work standards and inflation vs stagnant wages, there's new weight to the Boxman and Venomous character allegories respectively. These two are that success story of Boxman giving the middle finger to a crappy boss and Venomous making that leap of faith from an empty, soul-sucking job to the more wild, out of pocket thing. Venomous' ill-obtained funds becomes that treasured pile of "fuck you" money that so many people dream about having and using to take a risk on something personally, meaningfully valuable to them. Or just having a window of opportunity to enjoy life the way they want to without having to worry about bills and necessities.

More importantly though, while they describe themselves as business partners, it's two single, lonely men building a life and trying to healthfully blend their families together. Part of this life is making space for someone new that makes the other man want to work on becoming a better, more thoughtful person. Regardless of where a person sits in their job hunt or even at the height of personal achievement, the most important part is the support network they come home to or regularly interact with.

Thematically, Boxman and Venomous are the opposite side of the coin to the more straightforward found family K.O. builds and maintains. It's a reminder that no one has to be lonely. They can and will find someone that brings meaningful, valuable things to their life; someone that makes them want to change and grow. While this is about an explicitly romantic pair, the message applies whether that hypothetical person and relationship is romantic, platonic, or a new addition to a found family.

#voxman #ok ko voxman #ship analysis #ok ko let's be heroes #ok ko #ok ko professor venomous #ok ko lord boxman #character analysis #ship discussion #shipping analysis #shipping #the shipping corner #theromancescrooge #i'm back bitches

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lenny-zesty · 1 month

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biscuitbites is one of two ships to actually make me feel more than “aw they’re cute :)”

they’ve been doomed from the start. from the moment they met they were damned by the very narrative that brought them together. damned by the narrative that will try to rip them apart. how two polar opposites come together and face the very horrors that have sunken their teeth into their pasts.

and it makes me feel something.

it feels like a wound, one that you think will get better but it just keeps hurting. it’s beautiful. it’s beautiful in a painful, agonizing way.

you want them to be happy.

but you don’t know if they’ll get that.

#lennyrambles #murder drones #nuzi #biscuitbites #sorry I’m at work and I saw an au that made me have a visible pained reaction #like wow you made something so beautiful that it caused me pain #anyways yeah sorry for going nuts I’ll go back to being silly #I’ll admit I’m kind of an apathetic person #the other ship was botw/totk zelink btw #ship analysis #kinda?#idk I’m gonna shut up now

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lunaeclipse1057-ao3 · 6 months

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Hi, I'm here to talk about why Uzi x N is so refreshing to me. If I fuck some shit up, keep in mind I watched the pilot for the first time about 24 hours ago, sooooooooooo-

But N and Uzi's relationship is so refreshing to me because it lacks what so many canon ships have in present-day media: MISCOMMUNICATION.

Miscommunication is such a common and sort of frustrating part of relationships that is just everywhere right now. It was good at one point for me, but then it was so overused and you're just screaming at the screen for them to just talk, and it's often drawn out for so long that it becomes frustrating for me to watch/read.

Their only “fight” was at the end of episode two when they had both gone through a traumatic experience and Uzi was terrified of what she just saw, so she was a bit afraid of N. But when they reconciled in episode three it was alright, no fight, just apologies, acknowledging that they were okay, and moving back to their normal relationship (which then led into one of the coolest scenes in the show, I love that prom battle). It was nice, no miscommunication, no stretching it out longer than it needed to be, and it was satisfying to see it play out all right.

And the way they interact with each other, instantly hitting it off with no awkward phase was cool to see. They bounce off each other so well. Uzi is a rebellious teen and N needed to rebel against his makers. Uzi needed emotional support and N's emotional support materialized. Black cat girlfriend and golden retriever boyfriend.

TL;DR - No miscommunication and awkward phase = good ship for me lol

#murder drones #n x uzi #ship analysis #analysis #murder drones uzi #uzi doorman #md uzi #n murder drones #serial designation n #md n #md nuzi #murder drones nuzi #nuzi #please tell me if i messed something up #I love these two man

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essycogany · 8 months

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Why I Ship Sonic The Hedgehog and Amy Rose?

Hi! I’ve been a Sonic fan since 2022 and wanted to give insight on a beloved pairing from someone who’s only FRESH in this fandom. So I could give a somewhat recent perspective on something others might’ve grown up with.

Disclaimer: This is just my merriment of cartoon madness. Done for fun. It has my everywhere all at once speculations, and opinions. Spat into one big MESS. No problem if you disagree. I wish you all the best in whatever you create with your preferred take on these characters.

I take 0 credit for anything displayed in visuals.

Now, let’s get started!

Reason 1: What Got Me Into Sonamy

I want to recommend people who not only helped me understand the dynamic better, but did so while giving good insight on Amy’s character. Which is one of the most inconsistent in the

ENTIRE franchise. Here they are! In no particular order.

Why Amy is a “Strong Female Character” [Sonic The Hedgehog Video Essay]

Channel: Taro Marshmallow on YouTube.

She helped me understand Amy’s character as a whole. I believe it’s important for people to comprehend Amy’s character in order for them to understand or like Sonamy. No one has to, but it sure was eye-opening for me. So, do of it what you will. I advise people to give it a watch for the AMAZING character analysis alone.

Molinaskies: On Tumblr, this person goes into serious analysis on Sonic’s emotional characterization, and Sonamy too. Words can’t describe how much I appreciate this ship the more I read about their dynamic from someone I can tell has fun doing it.

Sherrydoodlez: This person is the reason I became a Sonic and Sonamy fan at the same time. Once I saw her videos, I was HOOKED. She makes cute, fun, and outstanding Sonamy content on her YouTube channel. It’s mostly Boom!Sonamy animations with voice actors on some occasions. She makes other random Sonic animations as well. It’s a feel good channel you can watch to calm yourself as you head into a romantic cafe of servings you never knew you needed. Give her content a watch. It’s a jolly ride.

IDW (Specifically Issue #2 Page 21): I believe this is the statement which changed Sonic’s view about Amy. At the beginning, the blue blur was still on the run when Amy came around. But after fighting robots together and helping the villagers, Sonic admitted having fun. It could mean he grew more comfortable. Or just loves to fight robots regardless of who’s joining him.

Afterwards, Amy realized their negotiation about Sonic coming back to the resistance was a loss. She happily accepted it and accepted Sonic for who he is. Which made the feelings mutual on Sonic’s part in my opinion. He was even bashful while offering her to join him. Showing he didn’t mind having Amy around a bit longer. I know someone else stated this better, but I hope you get the point.

Sonamy is also the one ship that gets the most hints and jokes. From official writers, voice actors, (ESPECIALLY in Japan. Sonic and Amy’s VAs literally sung a love song IN CHARACTER for crying out loud.) X, Boom, Prime, artist, some of the games, and Sega themselves with their marketing.

Fact check me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure in Japan, Amy’s been called Sonic’s “Girlfriend,” plenty of times and some even theorize they're already together in the Japanese version of Sonic Frontiers.

(Which I’m positive is very intentional)

Can’t forget the creator of the characters Naoto Oshima stated on twitter, “Sonic has the eternal heart of a boy, but were he to one day mature, he’d choose Amy.” I believe if any ship in this franchise at least makes the most since, it’s Sonamy. I’m only scratching the surface, but we’d be here forever if I continued.

Reason 2: The Dynamic

I believe Sonamy works romantically and platonically. Sonic and Amy are best friends so their bond is already close in that regard. I think in times of peace they hang out. Which has been shown in IDW in the retail incentive covers of issue 1, 5th Anniversary.

The reason I think Amy’s the best choice for Sonic is because she can always keep up with him. She understands him and reads him like a book.

(Sonic doesn’t express himself very well, so that’d be a huge benefit.)

She brings an array of emotion out of him, and accepts him for who he is.

Amy wouldn’t slow him down because they’re relationship wouldn’t change at all. She’s always just as down for going out and exploring as he is. Being a hot-head, she’s not adverse for a bit of head busting with her hammer. Amy allows Sonic for a chance at a relationship he couldn’t get inattentive or tired in.

They’d go on their usual adventurers and might only tell a few friends about their relationship.

(Or keep it a secret)

After that, they’d travel together or Amy would leave Sonic to whatever he needed to do. In Sonic’s case, he would appreciate Amy’s understanding and return the favor by giving her flowers. Maybe even show minimal affection.

Like in Sonic X when he gives Amy a rose in episode 52. X also had moments where Sonic constantly protects/holds onto her. Not to mention willingly laid on a pile of hey next to Amy. And kept the bracelet she made him in episode 9.

Sonic X isn’t canon, but IDW has moments of Sonic hanging out or fighting alongside Amy too. Point is, the couple would be an updated version of their friendship. A “POWER COUPLE,” to be specific.

Romance doesn’t always mean you have to be lovey-dovey. You can treat your partner like a best friend as well. Sonic and Amy have a unique relationship because they’re subtle about it.

Reason 3: Why?

I believe it’s important to get this out of the way since these are my weird BIGGIES when it comes to shipping. Why Sonic might have a crush on Amy and why Amy loves Sonic?

Sonic’s (Alleged) Reasons: Amy doesn’t want to change him. She can keep up with him. She’s super compassionate and energetic.

(Sonic stated she was “sweet’ before.)

He respects and might even values her ways of thinking. In TMOSTH, he said:

In Prime he admits she’s, “Pretty great.”

And, he said in IDW Issue #58:

These can be seen as platonic compliments, but it’s the “Accepting Sonic for who he is” thing that homes in the mutual romantic feelings head-canon.

I’d even argue ever since Unleashed/Black Night he had a little crush on her, but felt unsure of it. That is, until IDW. He might still have no clue what to do next.

Sonic lines in Frontiers : “Amy, I should’ve made up my mind sooner.” and “Wish we were sharing an umbrella, Amy.” are huge examples of that and his reciprocated feelings.

Fun Fact: Sharing an umbrella as a couple in Japan is considered a romantic expression, and teens often draw an umbrella with their name and the name of their crush, the way one would in a heart. A very old tradition.

Sharing an umbrella has been seen as a romantic thing in a few American movies as well.

Here’s another detail I find hilarious. I LOVE in instances like Amy being, “The Lady Of The Lake” in Black Night. The time she ran away from Sonic in Unleashed, and became split versions of herself in Prime. The blue buffoon acts as if he grew more fond and I’d even suggest “attracted” to her. He either flirts with her or gets disappointed. To me, it’s a check on the, “Bringing a wide range of emotion out of him,” point.

In issue #2 of IDW it’s similar. Sonic asked Amy to join him. Then she admits being away from the resistance for too long. I’d say it’s a weirdly consistent thing. The times Sonic acts ready to “open up,” he and Amy end up having to save the world and go off to do their own thing.

(That panel in The Metal Virus with Sonic reaching to Amy while she’s freaking out, still hurts.)

Is this a sign they may need to take their time? Fortunately, we have additional content with them interacting outside those situations. I guess the hedgies are allowing each other to be their own person before committing to anything.

Like a “when they know, they’ll know,” situation.

Last thing. Sonic hugs Amy in both IDW and Frontiers. Never happened in official canon before, so his feelings must’ve changed into something.

Amy’s Reasons: He’s her inspiration and motive for loving adventures. Sonic gives Amy an excuse to show off her skills. And she admires his personality.

By the way, can we just appreciate how Amy loves Sonic for the right reasons? Not looks, popularity, or fortune. He always and forever will be her number one.

Reason 4: Conclusion

This isn’t everything, but I’m sure new content will give me new reasons to love this pair. I just wanted to take MOST of what’s already established and use it for a basic understanding.

As basic as overwhelmingly extra can be.

I don’t know whether or not Sonamy will be canon and that’s fine. To me, it’s semi cannon already and there’s a bunch of talented people who create Sonamy stories.

In actual media, their relationships grows stronger and stronger. Which I’ll dub, “Untouched reciprocation,” which is common in videos game ships.

I see Amy and Sonic as best friends with crushes on each other and find that very fascinating. The hedgehogs can just be.

Though on twitter in February 2023, someone asked about Sonic and Amy’s relationship. Then Mario Kishimoto (The director of Sonic Frontiers ) answered, “Sonic is single. But what about a lover? What about Amy? I’m also looking forward to seeing what kind of love Sonic will have in the future.”

Doesn’t prove much, but it could mean Sonic Team is interested in developing this relationship more. Whatever that indicates, I’m intrigued.

All in all this is why I love Sonamy. Hope you enjoyed my over analyzed essay

Stay Creative! 💙💖

#i love this ship so much #my first post #sonamy #sonic x amy #sonic and amy #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #sonic prime #sonic boom #boom sonamy #analisys #sth #essay writing #hope you enjoy #@sherrydoodlez #@taromarshmallow #@Molinaskies #character analysis #ship analysis

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ctrl-alt-cel · 1 year

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when i was 13 i wrote an essay explaining the rationale of puppyshipping to some guy in a skype chatroom. found the essay again. wanted to rewrite it. without further ado:

HERE’S HOW PUPPYSHIPPING CAN STILL WIN: THE SEQUEL: 2 PUPPY 2 SHIPPING (4.3k words)

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kaiba and jounouchi’s relationship stands at an awkwardly undefinable place in canon: they're not on good terms, but they're not enemies either. they know each other too well to be called passing acquaintances, but kaiba hardly acknowledges jounouchi as a duelist, let alone a potential rival. at best? they're mutual nuisances.

or, that's how jounouchi and kaiba choose to define it. both of them would love if their dynamic were that simple, nothing more than a back-and-forth of petty insults—but that’s not the truth. and they'll dance around the truth for five whole seasons, purposefully downplaying why they’re so obsessed with provoking each other whenever they’re in the same place.

they're foils.

—but the term "foils" is so dulled within fandom lexicon now that it can mean literally anything from two guys who just disagree with each other sometimes, so i'll sharpen this further. jounouchi and kaiba see their counterpart less as an individual person but more a representation of who they could have become if they had respectively, in their eyes, never learned the lessons they needed to. they project their own ideals onto the other and come away thinking they already know how the other operates, and the fun thing is, even when working from conjecture, their assumptions of one another happen to hit far closer to home than they have any right to.

so really, they can't leave each other alone because they can't stop seeing their failures reflected back at them. the other is a defective version of themselves that they need to correct because they can't stand constantly acknowledging who they used to be, so they try to bend the other to be more like their own image—an "i can fix him (by dragging him down to my level)".

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jounouchi and kaiba’s parallels run down to their origins, both set up against abysmal family situations they have no choice but to make the best of. seto and mokuba are orphaned at a young age until seto gets them adopted, while katsuya is separated from his sister and stuck with a deadbeat father who can't carry his own weight. trapped in an environment where nobody expects anything worthwhile from him, katsuya joins a gang and lives out a self-admittedly miserable existence before befriending yugi, while seto is in a battlefield of his own, faced with protecting mokuba while enduring against the nightmare that is gozaburo kaiba’s parenting.

what they do to survive those conditions determines the outlooks they carry for the rest of their lives: jounouchi learns that losing is inescapable and the best you can do is learn how to cope with it, whereas kaiba learns that losing is something you must protect yourself from because there's only so much you can afford to lose.

jounouchi is positioned as the underdog, fighting tooth-and-nail for every victory he can manage, while kaiba has power in excess and holds to the belief that it’s all he really needs. one would argue that they have the perspective the other lacks—they argue that they have the perspective the other lacks. but in my opinion? it doesn't actually matter. what interests me is how they treat each other as a result.

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side: seto kaiba

kaiba degrades jounouchi a lot. like, to an uncomfortable extent. you know that one post that’s like “why does bullying exist? why are you mad that i’m ugly?” why is kaiba so mad over the fact that jounouchi loses so much?

it’s projection. he’s just holding jounouchi to the same standard he holds himself to. you need to be powerful if you want to play the same games as kaiba, and seeing jounouchi so openly lean on his friends, ask for help, and have the audacity to lose sets kaiba off because he’s not playing the way he’s supposed to. kaiba rubs jounouchi's losses in his face because he believes that's what loss is supposed to look like, and that it’s jounouchi’s fault for not understanding that yet. kaiba is trying to teach him. to kaiba, this degradation might as well be an act of generosity.

while kaiba stayed true to his own ambitions, seizing kaibacorp from gozaburo and turning it into a children's entertainment company, he beat gozaburo at his own game not by inventing new rules but by playing it better than his adoptive father ever could. and as impressive as that is, it’s not sustainable. gozaburo kills himself when faced with his own defeat, and kaiba internalizes this lesson: that all losses are final, and it’s better to die than adapt to the consequences of a defeat. gozaburo’s death was a suicide, but in the context of their game, kaiba might as well have killed him regardless.

he mirrors this when he threatens to kill himself in duelist kingdom, his heightened emotions catastrophizing losing the duel to immediately equal failing mokuba and coming to the conclusion that if he loses mokuba he’d rather be dead. being someone so fervently self-reliant, any alternate solution, a possibility that he can lose here and still find a different way to rescue mokuba never crosses his mind. and, look, this isn’t his fault. this is the only way of living he’s ever been taught. he’s never learned how to cope in the event of failure because he’s never had the luxury to fail to begin with.

he's burned and rebuilt himself over and over again to survive in the world he operates in, and that’s why jounouchi pisses kaiba off so personally. jounouchi loses so much and so messily, and kaiba tries to show him that if he doesn’t start reinventing himself from the broken pieces of his defeats until all that’s left of him are jagged edges the same way he has, he’s never going to win. but jounouchi…does win. and keeps winning. and even when he does lose, it’s as if he creates new victories for himself, like there’s still value to playing a game with someone when you don’t win it—power of friendship bullshit and whatever. jounouchi is still here, a competitor that kaiba can no longer write off as much as he desperately wants to. (and, yeah, it is pretty ironic how jounouchi will jump through a million hoops to get kaiba to look at him, but he doesn't realize that he doesn't need to do anything to keep kaiba’s attention, only continue being himself.)

jounouchi refuses to compromise who he is and still manages to get far when in kaiba’s mind, that shouldn’t be possible; he’s supposed to be punished the way kaiba was. jounouchi is proof that you can take a devastating blow and move on from it, that even when you do fuck up spectacularly, there’s still something worthwhile in starting again tomorrow.

so kaiba constantly needs to prove that he’s better than jounouchi, that jounouchi isn’t even worth his time in order to justify his worldview. because if kaiba isn’t right, then he'll have no choice but to confront the fact that the war is over. that his circumstances aren’t instant life or death anymore and that even though he’s freed himself from gozaburo’s influence, there’s still further growth as a person he could stand to undergo, now divorced from the harsh conditions of his upbringing. jounouchi is a testament to how it’s possible to make peace and move on from the past without constantly bleeding for closure, that maybe, kaiba’s headlong quest to get the last word on his rivalry with yami yugi may not actually be as fulfilling as he thinks.

but admitting that you might need to change the way you live feels like a defeat in and of itself—it’s infuriating to hear that after everything you’ve had to learn, the way you live now isn’t good enough. that surviving insurmountable trauma doesn’t inherently make you better or more worthy than other people—it just traumatizes you, and is something you must heal from. so, instead of reflecting on these revelations, it’s so much easier for kaiba to tell himself that jounouchi is only ever graceful when he’s dead.

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side: katsuya jounouchi

jounouchi is very stuck on this idea that he needs to be useful. his dad is an alcoholic with a gambling addiction and he believes it's not only his duty to pay his father's debts, but to be the household's sole source of income. his sister needs eye surgery and he believes it's his responsibility as an older brother not only to pay for it, but to act as her primary emotional support to get the surgery and throughout her recovery process. haga throws yugi's exodia into the ocean and jounouchi blames himself for not stopping it. jounouchi gets mind-controlled by malik and blames himself for causing his friends anguish from it. mai literally gets jounounchi’s soul stolen and he apologizes to her for messing up and making her sad. it's habitual, jounouchi doesn't know how to stop taking on the burdens of other people.

if you live with the mentality that you’re inevitably going to fail for long enough, you’ll come away with the belief that caring about your own wellbeing isn’t worth the effort. it depends on how pessimistic you want to read it, if it’s just his love language or jounouchi compensating for the damning act of being himself, but jounouchi quantifies his worth by how much he provides for other people. he’s always jumping in the line of fire for the sake of others because if you constantly undervalue your own wellbeing, you always have less to lose. as the underdog, he may not be as overtly powerful as kaiba or yugi, but he can still give himself away, and he’s convinced himself that it’s what he’s supposed to do. jounouchi is still new to this whole friendship thing. after a lifetime of supporting himself by himself, he doesn't know when he's allowed to ask for help yet—he’s supposed to be the help, dammit.

a key distinction between jounouchi and kaiba’s upbringings is that while kaiba’s biological parents died in an accident, jounouchi’s parents are still alive and they choose not to be responsible for him. jounouchi is conditioned to fend for himself by himself because having a parental figure actually present in his life isn’t a luxury he gets to have. to jounouchi, there has to be a reason why his mother only takes shizuka and never goes back for him in the six years he’s left with his father, and he rationalizes this with his notions of masculinity: he’s a strong man who can handle it. jounouchi is not delicate, he can endure it. men are responsible for their own circumstances. kaiba is hyperindependent out of a mixture of spite, paranoia, and self-defense. jounouchi is hyperindependent because he believes he deserves it. it’s the reason why he believes he’ll finally have a good relationship with his father if he just wins enough money to pay off his gambling debts—jounouchi can fix everything if only he were man enough to, and he can get people to stay if he demonstrates himself useful enough.

so death doesn’t carry nearly as much weight to jounouchi as it does to kaiba. in kaiba’s eyes, death is the punishment for failure, but to jounouchi, death is just the natural consequence for the kind of life he leads. he can't stop himself from fighting for the people he loves until he’s spent everything and forced to stop (read: dies), so during the several times jounouchi is confronted with his own death, he meets it with a solemn acceptance. like, yeah, it sucks, but he doesn’t regret the actions he took to end up here—he’d do it all over again, frankly. it’s better to die than not give everything he can, and at least he was able to give his life in service to someone else. it’s not necessarily good to die, but it doesn’t matter as much if he does.

so where kaiba is afraid of losing, jounouchi is afraid of outliving his usefulness (and being abandoned as a result), and kaiba disrupts jounouchi’s worldview specifically because he puts his ideology on the defensive. to jounouchi, kaiba’s presence never demands a question of “what can you do for me?” (nothing, kaiba doesn’t want jounouchi to do anything for him, and frankly, he’d be insulted if jounouchi even tried) but “what makes you worthy of standing on the same level as me?”, and jounouchi can’t sacrificial lamb get set on fire die a billion times into getting kaiba into seeing it his way (rather, that would only prove him right: kaiba would love nothing more than for jounouchi to lose the ability to fight and finally align with his preconceived notions of how the world works), and he can’t argue that his value is in how much he provides for others because that’s a non-answer. kaiba doesn’t care.

kaiba’s presence forces jounouchi into a position of self-reflection: jounouchi works so hard to preserve the friendships he’s created, but who is he—what does he value about himself in the absence of it? jounouchi needs to acknowledge something inherently valuable about himself if he wants to counter kaiba in any meaningful way, and it’s not like he doesn’t have valuable qualities either: he’s tenacious, he’s resourceful, he’s a quick learner—it takes intelligence to rank as high as he does in tournaments, but he undervalues all of it. these traits are all to be expected, they don’t actually count as extraordinary when it’s him. they’re only remarkable when they’re being applied to something greater. jounouchi believes he has the potential to become strong (and valuable by extension), only with the stipulation that he’s never actually there yet. he focuses too much on his inadequacies, constantly pontificating on how he needs to become a “true duelist”, but by the way he speaks about the title, the only way to be a true duelist is be named yugi muto, i guess.

so it’s very jounouchi-esque for him to miss this point with near deliberate precision and try to make himself useful to kaiba anyway. while kaiba is bent on seeing jounouchi fail to prove that his cynicism is superior to jounouchi’s altruism, the inverse is that jounouchi sees his old self in kaiba and he’s dying to teach kaiba a lesson. during battle for bronze, jounouchi states that they used to be the same, people who only relied on themselves and thought they’d be fine living like that. the argument jounouchi makes is that living that way is fucking miserable. he calls kaiba out: you’re supposed to be having fun. why are you playing duel monsters if you’re not having fun? he’s trying to show kaiba that he can be useful and teach kaiba things if kaiba would just let him, but for reasons mentioned in both of their sections, kaiba isn’t interested in being taught anything.

while less malicious in display, it's important to note that jounouchi’s method of trying to teach kaiba doesn't make him the better person here. jounouchi isn’t coming from a place of understanding when he lectures kaiba, he’s coming from a place of misdirected self-flagellation. and from kaiba's perspective, jounouchi is just dispensing unwarranted advice for the sake of his own ego. the most egregious example is when jounouchi picks a fight with kaiba in duelist kingdom, demanding they duel when kaiba is clearly not in the mood, busy with more pressing matters like, i don’t know, trying to rescue his abducted brother? so, okay, maybe a little bit inconsiderate on jounouchi’s part.

they're two ideological extremes: kaiba lashes out at the world while jounouchi gives himself to it, and jounouchi will keep barging in on kaiba with his life lessons because it’s the only way he wants to engage with kaiba’s arguments otherwise. jounouchi interprets kaiba’s rejection of his ideals as the equivalent of the stubbornness jounouchi had before befriending yugi, and he uses it as a reason to keep pushing, not understanding that while he may have found the most honorable path for himself, you can imagine how constantly burning yourself for others isn’t very…appealing. or sustainable. and that maybe it’s something you need to work on, actually.

⠀

conclusion: how i WIN

what’s fun about jounouchi and kaiba is how wrong they are. they genuinely can't live the way the other demands them to, their respective environments won’t allow it. if jounouchi chased victory with the same cutthroat relentlessness as kaiba, he probably never would have left his gang. or, at least, he’d lose the selfless devotion and consideration he has for others, traits that helped him build his support system, and he never would have found the friendships he values in his life—his willingness to change and start again was how he was able to befriend yugi to begin with. (and if you wanted to get really extreme with hypotheticals, his self-destructive tendencies could have grown so severe in the absence of a support system that he probably would wind up getting himself killed somewhere. lol.) inversely, if kaiba granted himself the freedom to worry less about the outcome as long as he enjoyed himself, he’d put mokuba’s safety at constant risk. kaiba’s guarded nature isn’t without reason, there are powerful corporate executives who would love to see him fail, and there are very real consequences if kaiba slips up for even a second and gives his opposition any leeway. the way they live works for them because it’s theirs. it’s not so much that either of their lifestyles are in dire need of correction, but that the other represents the possibility that they could be living better.

and this is fantastic because it means that, despite what they think, neither of them are in the “wrong” and must learn to change their idiot ways or that the solution is to strong-arm each other into some kind of compromise. it’s a battle of perceived weakness. they need to, naturally and individually, accept that the traits they’ve always deemed immature and beneath them can be just as vital for survival, even when it’s not necessarily their own.

jounouchi and kaiba are essentially the most extreme example of two people who want what’s best for each other (gone wrong!) and puppyshipping is appealing because them getting together requires that they stop punishing themselves for who they used to be. they expect too much out of themselves and then inflict those demands onto each other, but if they’re not wrong for the ways they’ve overcome the circumstances they were left in, then it’s equally true that the ideals they abandoned to survive weren’t inherently naïve just because they weren’t given the space to utilize them. sometimes life will push you to your limits in the hope that you fail, and there’s no deeper meaning to it. it’s not life’s way of teaching you a necessary lesson to make you stronger or a test to see if you deserve to live, or that it’s your fault when it breaks you. sometimes there’s no great meaning to suffering. things happen, and you will adjust to it in order to live. when kaiba and jounouchi believe they know each other as much as they know themselves, pairing them is the hope that they’ll respect themselves enough to respect each other, that they’ll one day be able to embrace the parts of themselves they’re the most ashamed of.

(or, you know, for the alternative crowd, they most definitely can make each other worse.)

for two men who claim to be so self-assured in their own lifestyles, jounouchi and kaiba are fascinating because there’s so many layers of denial at play: the denial that they see anything in each other, denial that there may be aspects of the other that they’ve come to envy, denial that they even care, and it's so tempting to imagine if all of it was forced open. jounouchi and kaiba choose to maintain this delicate equilibrium where they never actually confront anything because the idea of admitting vulnerability viscerally disgusts them, and it begs what would happen if the balance irrevocably tipped for once. watching them is like watching a pencil teetering on the edge of a desk, always this close to some kind of breakthrough. i won’t even lie to you puppyshipping pisses me off half the time because i just want to shake them around until something metaphorically breaks.

kaiba and jounouchi never let each other become complacent in their pasts: whenever their personal tragedies and childhoods are brought up in the context of one another, it’s never because they are being vindicated for continuing to dwell in them, but because they are being contested on how much the mindsets they’ve carried over from their pasts should be allowed to determine their futures.

returning to canon, kaijou operates through the language of competition. jounouchi tries to prove himself as a competitor so remarkable that kaiba can no longer deny him, while kaiba already knows he’s remarkable, and that is precisely why acknowledging it pisses him off so much. so they’ll play their game: jounouchi will provoke kaiba into fighting him because he enjoys going up against challenging opponents in the hopes of becoming stronger, whereas kaiba keeps trying to set up situations where jounouchi will lose to the point of letting him die because he wants so badly to believe that losing does equal death and jounouchi’s existence is the most inconvenient counterargument of all. and obviously, jounouchi keeps not dying. and it's endlessly infuriating—almost slapstick at this point, that much to kaiba's frustration, no matter what he does, he can never make jounouchi submit for very long.

jounouchi and kaiba spur each other on to a ridiculous extent: kaiba enjoys pushing jounouchi past the breaking point, whereas jounouchi enjoys getting pushed to his limits to test his own capabilities. whether that’s necessarily a good thing though is…well…hmm. anyways.

their dynamic is the type of messiness only two prideful high schoolers can get up to. maybe it’s just kaiba's repression and jounouchi's recklessness, but there is a fascination with each other that they’re incapable of leaving alone. there’s intimacy in knowing someone so well and fearing that fact, but kaiba and jounouchi never respond to this fear by avoiding it—they’re engaging with it time and time again. they infuriate each other with a passion that never sits still. kaiba and jounouchi seek a validation from their counterpart while simultaneously denying each other from it, and it’s mean, but invigoratingly so.

at some point, it’s not even about wanting validation anymore, but point-blank wanting its keeper by any capacity: wanting a visible reaction to their effort as proof of reciprocation, proof that says “i’ve finally affected you just as much as you affect me.” because kaiba and jounouchi want to leave a mark on each other, they want their counterpart to fully understand how much they’ve affected them, and they want to witness that reaction themselves. it’s no longer this big, nebulous ideological debate with a reflection: the pull between them is made both physical and personal. so, like, not to go the trite route of arguing that two men who can’t stand each other were ~secretly attracted to each other this whole time~, but how else are you supposed to word this?

in some hypothetical universe where they do come together, even the ways they love manage to compliment each other in its own clumsy way. seto kaiba never does anything in moderation: if he hates something he will destroy it, if he loves something he will possess it, and if he is obsessed with something, he will single-mindedly pursue it at the expense of everything else. his repression manifests itself in a passion so pressurized it’s all-consuming against everything it comes to contact with. inversely, katsuya jounouchi loves freely and transparently: showing affection comes as naturally as breathing to him. he embodies the belief that love is not only about the grand gestures, but the day-to-day acts of warmth and casual acknowledgments that it's there. a man who wants to be wanted by someone so badly it aches paired with someone who makes no reservations as to what he's committed to, capable of a love so overwhelmingly insatiable that it is neither fickle nor delicate, and a man who finds the act of trusting others with his affection so unthinkably humiliating that he’s convinced himself it’s something beneath him paired with someone who makes it look infuriatingly easy. they are going to invent a new language to love each other with. i believe in them. i would not write two separate essays titled “here’s how puppyshipping can still win” if i did not believe in them.

ultimately, it feels cheap to build kaiba and jounouchi’s relationship off what life lessons they could "teach" each other reformation-style when they already have a legitimate dynamic in play. they can be good for each other, or they can tear into each other in ways they’d never expect to be capable of. there’s something exhilarating in knowing there’s someone who has that kind of power and wanting to keep them within your reach, a buzzing excitement in knowing someone who can not only withstand you at your worst, but fight back at you with twice as much vigor. sure, there’s potential for growth here, but that’s because there’s potential for literally anything.

kaiba and jounouchi inspire reinvention and self-determination from each other at the best of times and enable each other’s most self-destructive tendencies at their worst. so i think. puppyshipping is the most fun. when you ship them the same way you leave a fork in the microwave to watch it explode. the end.

TL;DR: me x the guy who keeps breaking my worldview and forces me to reevaluate myself every time i see him which i hate so much that i just want him to DIE

#puppyshipping #violetshipping #seto kaiba #joey wheeler #ship analysis #character study #not intended to convince anyone of anything this was a silly project to do on the side for MEEE #also i genuinely dont think any of the points i make are new #in my quest to be as holistic as possible and read every puppyshipping-adjacent meta analysis i could get my hands on #defense essays. criticism. livejournal blogposts #ive found several times that every point i make has already been made before in some kaijou 200k longfic posted in like 2011 #so if this essay is for ANYONE who isnt me.#its for the kaijou fic authors who have put in the work. god's strongest soldiers etc etc #actually. might reblog with an actual afterword citing my favorite ygo analysis i read in prep for this lol #i allude to a few of them in certain sections but i think youd have to be REALLY chronically online to notice #(coughing)#anyways special thanks to the friends who kindly beta read a document titled 'YAOI THESIS FINAL.docx'#fer + voski + cherry + sully + eric + cleo + gabby + chris + clover + vio #dear god i have inflicted this essay onto so many people #i love you.#you have enabled me and now we're all paying the price #yugioh

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singularsoldier · 11 months

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Why Scout and Miss Pauling are a terrible ship

Alrighty, if you’ve been into tf2 for awhile, you’ve definitely seen this pairing pop up. This whole thing is probably gonna sound like I’m beating a dead horse, but I wanna give my full two cents on these two using canon material (comics, game, and Expiration Date). Before I dive in, my stance on these two is 100% never gonna change. Save the counterarguments and keep scrolling

VOICE LINES

In the game, Miss Pauling has a lot of voice lines both towards the individual mercs and to the player themselves. However, how she speaks to Scout vs everyone else is drastically different. Let’s look at Scout’s when given a contract:

Starting off, Miss Pauling is…pretty rude towards him. “Wrap up whatever you’re bragging about” “I’m assuming you’re talking right now. Please stop” and others. It’s evident that she doesn’t want to hear a word out of his mouth. As we all know, Scout talk A LOT, but if she liked him to any degree, she wouldn’t be this mean towards him. If anyone even tries to say “well maybe she’s mean bc she likes him” no. Sorry, not how healthy relationships work. If anything, that further proves my point on why they’re terrible together.

Now, lets look at other lines (I’m too lazy to add everyone):

See the major difference? Miss Pauling isn’t mean, rude, or dismissive. She’s friendly! She’s joking! Lines like these show that Miss Pauling considers Engie (and everyone else) her friends. Scout gets nothing like that.

By the way, Miss Pauling canonically hangs out with the mercs (and Saxton’s assistant Bidwell). When you look at her contract lines with everyone else (including Bidwell), she’s cheerful and having fun. Scout on the other hand? She’s a frustrated dungeon master because Scout wants to make a muscle wizard and won’t stop flexing.

My experience with dungeon masters has been “fuck it, be whoever you want”. I had the dumbest, weirdest characters, and the DMs didn’t care! That’s the fun of d&d (g&g for tf2). Miss Pauling not letting Scout have a buff wizard, and Scout not even trying to follow the rules, shows how incompatible they are. Neither of them are willing to make a compromise especially because of the fact that Scout’s a pretty narcissistic guy. He’s a pathological liar in the comics (which are coming up) to impress people. Who wants to date that?

Onto the congratulations:

Pretty standard, right? Nothing extraordinary or, honestly, anything outside of standard professionalism. Scout gets a quick thanks and the line goes dead.

For anyone else:

The other classes get something Scout doesn’t: enthusiasm. Miss Pauling is beaming in her lines for the other classes. Also, Scout has the least amount of congratulations (only 5) out of everyone. Miss Pauling also says to a few other classes “i owe you one” and “i knew you could do it”. Again, ten times friendlier than how she speaks to Scout. If she liked Scout, she would have similar lines or ones that are even a bit flirtatious. Nope. Nada.

COMICS

If you’ve only played the game, you’re missing out! The comics are great (and unfinished), and they also reveal more of how Miss Pauling engages with Scout. For example:

Immediately stopping him from talking again, and straight up letting him get hanged. If that was my crush, I would, you know, not let go so they don’t die. She has very little regard for Scout outside of “annoying guy I work with”. Hell, she canonically spends more time with virtually every other class (aside from Engie obviously and maybe Medic) than with Scout. Another thing in the comics:

This right here. Scout has been working for Mann Co. for six years (meaning he joined at 21). In six years, Miss Pauling has made zero indication of liking him. What person goes six years without even trying to flirt or even hit on with their crush? Especially when Scout is VERY LOUD about his infatuation. Even the biggest introvert would jump on that free chance.

Oh, another thing! When Scout tries to get some alone time with her (while fighting for their lives) she turns him down. Pauling would rather watch Soldier and Zhanna fight naked while cover in honey than go with Scout (who wouldn’t?) which, when you think about it, caused Scout’s death because he faced the Spy bots alone. Sorry Scout, ass and tiddies are more important than you!

EXPIRATION DATE

The long adored sfm video. While the video pretty much cements Scout’s feelings for Miss Pauling, it also cements her lack thereof. Lets dig in:

First off, we know that Scout only had the bravery to ask her out because he thought he was dying. How does he invite her? By setting off the briefcase alarm!

As Miss Pauling says, it’s “the one button he’s never supposed to touch”. Not only that, but it wasted her only day off of the year. A fact she is visibly pissed about and refers to a couple times. Scout was pretty selfish to do that. Another thing, Pauling repeatedly refers to the “date” as a prom. (“Are you guys having a prom?”) She literally had no idea Scout was asking her out. Why? Lets face it, she would say no or dismiss him yet again. Even Scout knew that, so he faked a literal emergency that forces her to visit. Once again, lying to try and impress her with a date.

So, Scout comes up with an elaborately self centered plan to get Miss Pauling to come to the base, and when she wants to storm out, he desperately tries to save face with dinner. Cue our bread monster fight where Scout confesses that he likes her. And her response? Nothing. Throughout the whole sequence, Miss Pauling doesn’t answer or even respond to a word he says. You’d think if you were in mortal danger, you’d tell your crush “i love you! Now help me kill this bread monster”

At the end, Scout says “so its a date?” To which our beloved Miss Pauling says, “well, no. You did waste my one day off”. Not only that, but Pauling even offers for him to join her on missions, which he instantly says no to. Idk about you, but I’d bury bodies with my crush any day of the week. The fact that Scout was offered multiple chances to even be near Miss Pauling willingly, yet turned them down, is pretty telling of his character.

Scout wants a date, yes, but how he envisions it. Typical candles and pretty lights with a pretty girl. Meaning, what he enjoys and what he sees their romantic life being like. Not shaving off fingerprints or hiding bodies. Things Miss Pauling does literally 24/7. You know, things she likes doing. Its evident in her vacation lines that she wants to go back to work and that she isn’t a fan of vacations. Once again, Scout’s selfishness stops him from getting anywhere near the girl he’s obsessed with.

So, we have: Pauling doesn’t want to hear Scout’s voice, she’s barely cordial with him, she sees Scout as at best a coworker, and she was, indirectly, responsible for his death. (Note: not making this into A Point, its just fucking hilarious).

All in all, these two have no chemistry. Scout has a six year long obsession, and Miss Pauling has a six year long distain for our quirked up white boy. Their whole dynamic is the age old “dumb jackass loser wants pretty girl” and lets face it, we’re sick of that. Scout couldn’t even come up with a reasonable, honest way to see Miss Pauling in person. He selfishly wanted a date (that fits his myopic view of what dating Miss Pauling looks like) and didn’t care how he got it.

I’m not trying to attack anyone with this post. Its a ship analysis, and I hope it at least points out the major flaws between them. Unless Scout changes his entire personality (he won’t), Miss Pauling is never gonna like him.

#long post #i went off here actually #tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 scout #miss pauling #not tagging the ship but yeah #ship analysis

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crystaljellie · 1 month

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Flower husbands big long over-analysis rant because I'm insane. This is very angsty tbh so no fluff here, even though in my heart they are the softest and most in love couple ever, that's still true they just also happened to go through death games so-

Overall

They make me miserable knowing they’ll never get to be happy because Jimmy keeps running away from the relationship, maybe because he doesn’t want to commit or he’s just happier leaving it in the past while it was literally Scott’s everything and seeing him still teasingly trying to bring it up to Jimmy. Like in a "haha I’m so over it aren’t I so over it look at how over it I am’" way when he’s definitely, joking about it with Jimmy just so that Scott isn’t the only one with memories of what once was a perfect marriage. They got to be in love in third life and Jimmy hadn't been so occupied with Tango or anything (Not Ranchers hate just thinking about flower husbands)

He's hoping those times of peace and love aren’t so far gone that he will forever be the only one to hold them. Because Scott still remembers burying his husband, Scott still remembers arriving at the desert just a second too late. Scott remembers the anger he felt from its loss. Jimmy remembers the happy times, the teasing the loving the smothering the tender love and gentle care for each other yet he still doesn’t want to go back. Jimmy wasn’t alive for the bad times, Scott was, and maybe something about those bad times makes Scott cherish what they had ever dearer. Maybe because Jimmy doesn’t remember, he takes it all for granted, that if he came back, if he ever decided to, it would always be that way, and if he moved onward to someone else, it would be that way too.

The thing is with love is that Scott's only been hurt by it. Except for when he was with Jimmy. Scott’s love came with 3rd life only to have it ripped from him by a husband taken too soon. Scott’s love came with last life only for that loved to be tainted by the nightmare of winning. Scott’s love came with double life, a love so strained and painful that it could hardly be counted as a love at all, the fighting and spite the swords held at each others throats both seeking revenge for their tarnished relationship. Both never willing to sit and understand each other. Scott’s love came with limited life, where he gave and he gave and he gave, and the only thing he received was the scorching hot bucket of lava that covered his skin. And Scott’s love came with secret life, where he trusted and was betrayed, where he forgave and was used, where he loved and he let himself be killed. Jimmy constantly surrounded by people trying to save him and Scott by people who try to use him. Jimmy is the only ever love Scott had that was gentle and it is something that he will never get back.

But Jimmy doesn't have malicious intentions, Jimmy also is just trying to find a way to live. The canary curse affecting everything that happens to him, maybe it's because he knows he'll die before everyone he both wants to live that time to the fullest and not get peoples expectations up because he doesn't wanna hurt people when they lose him.

3rd Life

Jimmy’s 3rd life death I will never ever get over. The last thing he gets to see is his husband being shot down in front of him after fighting for both their lives. And then Jimmy can’t even live for him, he tries to, he tries his best. He’s shot right at the escape tunnel, and somehow Scar who’s been on red for much longer and is much more reckless is still alive. The man who has double-crossed everyone on the server lives, yet the man who only ever wanted to protect his husband was cruelly shot down. Scott running back to the desert to see everything in ruins, and he finds out that Scar pulled the TNT too late, that all of that was for nothing, and the only one who actually died was his husband. Scott not even being there to see it happen, he wasn’t there in his husbands final moments neither of them got to say goodbye. And then Scott being so fucking distraught about it that all of his grief crystallises around his head, so that he can keep his grief with him and out of the grasp of the watchers of which grief they love to feed out. Maybe one last desperate attempt to keep their love untainted.

Double Life

There’s something about how Scott went out of his way to build a ranch. Like he could have called it anything else at all, but he decided to make it a ranch. The same thing Jimmy and Tango called their base. And not only did he do that but he made it basically a couples counselling but so he could break up pairings. So he could break up pairings like the ranchers. Maybe he misses his husband so much he's willing to do things he would never normally do. Because he doesn't want to hurt people or hurt their relationships, but he also wants his husband back

Limited Life

Limited life flower husbands ruins me the most because of what could have been. Scott trying so hard to get Jimmy to say literally anything that could be taken in an “I still care for you sense” and Jimmy just giving him nothing to work with. ‘I gave you a pufferish of peace, Jimmy’ ‘Yeah, someone took it. i don't know where it is anymore, I lost it.’

The whole ‘Love you’ thing, the fact he didn’t even have to mean it but he still wouldn’t bring himself to say it. BUT ALSO!!! Why wouldn’t he say it? If he really didn’t love Scott, then he surely would have no problem lying to him or just saying it was platonic. I mean Scott was offering up a whole 30 minutes for something so simple, but he didn’t. He just outright refused. Which makes me think maybe he does still love Scott; he didn’t say love you back because he knows he means it and he can’t risk loving anyone in a death game.

Maybe Jimmy is avoiding all of this and purposefully trying to sever ties so he doesn’t have to worry about the pain that comes with watching someone you love die. He doesn’t say ‘love you’ back because giving Scott that hope when Jimmy knows they can’t have anything like that is cruel, so in his own way, it’s a sort of mercy. They could love each other, though I mean Scott shows that constantly that he isn’t really worried about the consequences. Jimmy just sees how everyone else has suffered because they’ve loved and doesn’t want that for himself. Which is okay, that doesn't make him bad, he just cares.

End notes

They're both just trying to love each other in a way that keeps them both safe. They love each other too much and neither of them can love the other in the same way. Both are so longing and hoping for third life back.

Tbh I have hope for flower husbands redemption in season 6

But yeah 3rd life flower husbands peak and I am so third life brainrotted it's officially the only season for me

#life series #trafficblr #3rd life smp #flower husbands #last life #traffic life #limited life #double life #secret life #third life smp #secret life smp #double life smp #life smp #last life smp #3l scott #scott smajor #jimmy solidarity #Scott's rambles #ship analysis

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redcracklestan · 6 months

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Redcrackle ship analysis pt.2

I just wanted to talk about the clear soft spot they have for each other

He wouldn’t have done those things for anyone else

The way both of them had a soft spot for each other, I every single one of their versions (black sheep, carmen Sandiego, evil carmen and Gray, Graham and crackle) it’s insane to me.

Black sheep was a rebellious spirit. She wouldn’t listen to anyone, and yet she still listened to Gray, she trusted him.

Carmen Sandiego was a grown woman, who was not afraid of beating some VILE operatives and yet she always had hope on Gray, she always knew he was good deep down, she always protected him, cared for him and she was always on his side as long as possible.

Evil carmen wouldn’t even listen to the faculty, but yet, she listened to Gray when he said to let Tigress go, and I assume many other times since we saw only a little part of the 6 months she was brainwashed.

Gray had some friends, yeah, but no one was like carmen, their bond was special and he never cared of who he had to go against to protect carmen, either it was Tigress, the faculty or whatever.

Graham (brainwashed gray) barely knew carmen and even since their first interaction he was so clearly in love with her, he asked her out on a date and even though she didn’t show up he was willing to go all way to New Zealand just to have a coffee with her. He was willing to help her with “criminal” things even though he was good now.

Crackle worked very good with evil carm and when he realised that she was not the real carmen and that she wanted to kill shadowsan, he got himself arrested so that she could “come back”, and he made himself shock and pass out just so that she could make her own decisions, not the one that were forced to her.

And the way they always put each other well-being and happiness before their own, letting each other go even though they didn’t wanted to do it.

#carmen sandeigo 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix #ship analysis #carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego 2019 #graham calloway #carmen x graham #graham x carmen #gray x carmen #gray cs #gray calloway #graham crackle #carmen x gray #redcrackle #red crackle #red crackle thoughts

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rabbitsrants · 2 months

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SHINRAN AND THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES

words of affirmation

verbal assurance in the form of compliments and (poetic) declarations

chapter 1

chapter 71

chapter 95

BE STILL MY HEART

chapter 143

i'm realizing that shinichi's primary love language is words of affirmation lol (after acts of service ofc, that's #1 for both ran and shinichi)

chapter 173

notice how shin's the only one to openly compliment her cake? lol i love him

chapter 258

OH STOP IT

chapter 260

chapter 409

context: shin can't speak because of his cold

THE FACT THAT HE EVEN PLANS TO SEND HER AN EMAIL LOL I CANT

chapter 428

THATS HIGH PRAISE COMING FROM SHINICHI

chapter 492

chapter 571

shinichi's biggest weakness: ran speaking his love language

chapter 653

btw i love how shin constantly gets teased by others for being such a poet lol:

chapter 752

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LOVE CONFESSION OF THE CENTURY:

chapter 774

i love how he always goes out of his way to verbally express his appreciation for ran

chapter 863

chapter 924

AGAIN SONOKO MAKING FUN OF SHIN FOR BEING SO SMOOTH:

chapter 936

chapter 994

EVEN KOGORO KNOWS

kogoro may be self indulgent but he can be very observant lol

chapter 1005

shinichi thanking ran for the kyoto kiss:

my son's just so sweet yall 😭

chapter 1120

I'M HYPERVENTILATING

chapter 1121

ME TOO SONOKO, ME TOO!

BY THE WAY, shinichi's been fantasizing about declaring his love to ran since CHAPTER 1 YALL

i just love how shinichi's primary love language is words of affirmation and ran's is physical touch, because for most straight couples it's reversed! just goes to show how progressive shinran is and how well thought out their characters are!

shinichi's a detective and big nerd so naturally he's more eloquent than ran - she's a karate pro and jock, so it makes sense for her to be more physically expressive

there are so many layers and details to this beautiful ship, it never ceases to amaze me!

visit the shinran library for more

#shinran #shinichi kudo #ran mouri #dcmk #detective conan #case closed #ship analysis

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corioheinous · 4 months

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Currently writing a post-Blue Lock aged-up kaisagi fic on ao3 and have been struggling so hard with creating a solid foundation for both characters’ Characterizations. but man did it become easier when I realized how many possibilities there are to explore when making Isagi juuust a little bit obsessed with Kaiser. Like we all know Kaiser is a lot a bit obsessed with Isagi (read: tearing his hair out and choking himself over it every other week) but I think it’s fun to explore Isagi’s quieter, most likely unwelcome obsession with Kaiser. Because at the end of the day, all toxic yaoi situationships are at least somewhat of a two-way street.

There’s a great paradox in which Kaiser embodies everything about a professional football player that Isagi wants to become (and look I know Noa exists but they’re not. they’re not foils in the same way okay that guy is pushing 40) while simultaneously being the most infuriating and annoying bastard in the world to him. Isagi recognizes Kaiser’s raw talent and the years of practice he’s put into developing his techniques as both very intimidating qualities to have in a rival and inspirational ones. Because they’re not impossibly far out of reach; these techniques (particularly metavision) are ones Isagi already employs on the field everyday, just has yet to master them at the extraordinary level Kaiser has. Isagi wants to beat Kaiser at his own game, using his own moves, and has unconsciously allowed Kaiser to become a sort of model for him in the process. Despite the fact that he hates the guy’s guts, he’s mirroring his best qualities to the point where even fans can see that they would synchronize well together if they just let themselves.

But Isagi would never let himself. He’s stubborn. He despises Kaiser. He probably sees a rosebush growing on the side of the road and lets it ruin his day. He’ll probably bear ill will toward anyone with blue hair and pronouns for years down the line. Which is why it’s so fun to be writing a more mature version of Isagi, one who has probably put a lot of that childish resentment behind him. Because when you remove his resentment toward Kaiser, you’re still left with some irritation, yes, but the bulk of it is admiration. It’s Isagi letting Kaiser rile him up more than he pisses him off. It’s Isagi wanting to butt heads with Kaiser both on and off the field. It’s Isagi buying a shirt/hoodie/pair of boxers with a rose pattern on it for no reason he could possibly fathom on his own. It’s a quiet, repressed brand of obsession that might take them both off guard when it comes to light, but it’d be a beyond brilliant moment when it does.

#blue lock #kaisagi #kiis #Yknow I claimed to be working on the next installment of kiis fic when really. I just spent the last half hour churning this out instead #Character analysis is still productive. I think #They’re just so silly to me. I want to mash their faces together like dolls #michael kaiser #isagi yoichi #bllk #character analysis #ship analysis

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dearweirdme · 5 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/736764037660098560/httpswwwtumblrcomdearweirdme7367208645743738

Uh, as a Korean American immigrant who has actually lived in Korea as a child, spent time in Korea for vacation and lived in Seoul while studying, this is 100% bullshit.

I really wish people who aren't Korean or don't have any connection to Korean culture would stop commenting in this way and I really wish people would stop taking Korean shippers at their word. A lot of shippers can not be trusted to remain unbiased and honest and that includes K-tkkers as well. Shippers always have and always put their own agenda first. We have all seen how video editors have been able to twist a single moment into something that seems much more and it's no different than what some Korean shippers do with the language.

Jeongguk isn't any more or less formal with Jimin than he is with Taehyung besides the fact that he's a little more teasing with Jimin in a way that could be considered taunting if you dialled it up (and I'm not saying that Jeongguk taunts Jimin. I'm trying to describe what kind of tone it is...more like sibling/close friend. Actually a bit like VMIN but not as much, if you understand what I'm trying to say)

but jkkers will use the fact that Jeongguk often drops the 형 (hyeong) honorific with Jimin but they won't tell you that it's because he jokingly PLAYS up the formality instead. If you listen closely, you will often hears Jeongguk adding 씨 (ssi) at the end of Jimin's name in place of 형 (hyeong). This is essentially calling him Jimin, sir or Mr Jimin.

(To make it clear, Jeongguk does this is a playful manner, not a cold or disrespectful manner and definitely not a sexual one as I've heard some foreigners claim when they find it out )

His language or tone can be very fond at times but this isn't exclusive to any particular member. It's just that shippers will only zoom in on the interactions between members they ship.

As for romantic tone, what are you people hearing, honestly?

Nobody and I mean NOBODY in Bangtan are speaking romantically to each other. Simply because they would never get away with it, making it so obvious. If you hear ANYTHING like that, it will be done in a way to make it obvious that it's a joke or not to be taken seriously.

If there were any romantic overtures at all, it would be done in a way that can be passed off as fanservice since that's considered acceptable and cute within fandoms (though there still a good portion of the GP especially older men who do not like fanservice between idols at all ) You would NOT find it within the language itself. We (Koreans) take language VERY seriously and that is something that would draw the attention of people outside of shippers.

To make it clear, there is none of this 'nuance' between the way Taehyung and Jeongguk speak to each other either.

The closest you will find to that perspective is that they kind of alter their tones with each other in a way that could appear 'couply' if that's what angle you were looking at it from; speaking lower and higher to appear more manly and soft but even then, in Korea this can be put down to a younger brother trying to impress an older brother by appearing more manly or an older brother teasing a younger brother because of the respect/honorific system.

(With all the other 'evidence' I personally considered it from a romantic angle but the point is that it can be viewed a different way)

I'm sorry to tell people but the only people who consider Jikook real or even Taekook real are their shippers. Korea really isn't as progressive as some of you seem to think it is. It's getting better but there's still a whole generation or two who hold onto the old ways and would not tolerate a homosexual couple and there's still a lot of homophobia within the younger generation that would surprise some people. The tide is turning but it's turning slowly I can see it taking a couple more generations at least before we see any sort of significant change. Personally, I think LGBTQ rights in Korea will be led by feminism and that it will be a consequence of women's rights being taken more seriously. I think we're going to have to wait to see a major foothold gained there before the discussion on LGBTQ is even taken seriously. That's just my opinion though.

So if any ship in Bangtan were treating each other or talking to each other in a way that could be considered seriously romantic, we would all know about it because it would be considered a national scandal.

Even when Dispatch highlights Taekook, they do so in a way that falls in line with the concept of fanservice or Dispatch trying to capitalise on their individual popularity by putting them together (like doubling down on their fans, if you understand what I mean)

Being American raised, I do think the fact that Dispatch highlights them so much and specifically focuses on them as a 'couple' rather than playing with the pairings is one of the more suspicious things about Taekook, especially if it is true that Jikook are the more popular couple with the Korean fandom and considering Jimin and Jeongguk are both more popular with K-Army than Taehyung is. (Up until Running Man at least. That gained him a lot of attention and favor with the GP and an older audience and I know his choice of military service would have been received well, especially by older and younger Korean males)

If you pay attention to the actual words passed between these pairings, you will very easily see who spends much time together and doesn't, who is just catching up after some time apart and not, who is pleased to see each other again or who doesn't feel the need to be, who knows more about each other than not. This is the kind of stuff where any 'nuance' lays but I can tell you absolutely that it doesn't lay directly in their language.

Sorry for rambling but it's just really annoying when I see Korean Army manipulating International Army with our language and culture. Yes, there are some nuances that can be missed if you're not familiar with our language and culture but we are all human beings at the end of the day and some understanding between us is universal. A good rule of thumb is that if it isn't coming across in the body language then don't trust it if someone says it's coming across in the verbal language.

If people really want to use language to frame or understand their ship then I would suggest actually learning it so you can be informed yourself rather than trusting the word of biased people. It might not give shippers the results they want but it is a beautiful, poetic language in its own right.

Hi anon!

Thank you very much for this!

#this is what it always seemed like to me #and it’s very nice to hear this from someone who actually knows #thanks anon #straws #ship analysis #taekook

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