#this is NOT a ship and i dont want to ever portray their relationship as that

[godsfavoritescientist]

Billford isnt canon in a literal Sincere Authorial Intent sense, y'all 😭😭😭 please get better standards for how much creators need to include in order for something to be considered officially canon. I've jokingly said "I cant believe billford is canon" too, but I thought we were saying that lightheartedly. I thought we all recognized that it was "canonized" in a wink-wink nudge-nudge way where they fully leave room for people to interpret it as "haha isn't it so funny and clever that they're framing being betrayed by a demon as if it's a romantic breakup!" Please. I'm begging you, do you understand what I'm saying here

[henriiiii-1001]

omg speaking of lesbian ruth:

ive also made that canon to unholy gift/my main au, and i would think it would be so funny that puppet is like "you want me soooo bad" and ruth just pulls out the lesbian flag

like

"reason no. 1: you're an alternate, im not interested in that. reason no. 2: you're a guy, im not interested in that."

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

hello! i’m love your post and arts so much! I look at your posts after a hard day and my mood immediately changes to excellent. can I ask a couple of questions?

which pairing with Ethan do you prefer?

and… can we get to know you better? a little biography?

Thank you for your time! I'll be waiting for new arts! (sorry if i made mistakes, my english is not so good. im russian)

i like basically every ship with ethan! it mostly depends on the mood im in, but if im being honest, mithan, winterfield, and wintersberg gets frustrating to think about because they all dont treat ethan well canonically... lethan is fun because they have never met and i can make my own assumptions!

i used to like wintersberg the most and i still do like it, i just have expanded my horizons to other ships as well...., its mostly like a punchline to me though. they have the funniest potential which is why a majority of their posts is just joke comics. i do not like how people try to erase how karl is arrogant and egotistical tho. thats like removing the flavor.... the way karl acts is just very funny to me, hes so lame in a good way and i like how everytime he talks to ethan it sounds like hes twirling his hair and kicking his feet. canonically speaking, karl was very much in the wrong for trying to use rose and not elaborating and i will die on this hill. ethan is not in the wrong for being disgusted and angry that karl would ever try and propose that in the deal. karl is very arrogant so when ethan says no to him it makes him mad and he tries to use fear to get ethan to take his deal (kicking his chair and warning him) i like karl, i like how messed up and arrogant he is but i dislike how people try to portray him as a nice guy. however, in a AU where everythings the same except he doesnt try to use rose i do enjoy the dynamic they could have, especially if the teamed up (not with the deal where they use rose. ethan wouldnt agree unless karl never involved rose in the first place). karl is just a very entertaining character and i like him a lot, hes funny and his personality can be extremely hilarious

mia and ethan is pretty tragic and thinking about it too much makes me a bit sad, imo in a reality where ethan survives re8, he needs to divorce mia. im not saying ethan needs to hate mia and never talk to her again i just dont think they should be so intimate together because of her behavior... please do not take this as anti mia. they loved each other dearly but it wasnt healthy. their relationship was kept afloat by lies and mia doesnt change even though she deals with the consequences of her own actions in re7. she actively tries to hide her past from ethan and is mostly focused on trying to move on and have a normal life even if ethan will have to live the rest of his life in the dark.

she loves her family so much, shes very afraid of them leaving her so she hides all the bad things in the hopes that they wont leave. its selfish, its human, its real, her character is so amazing and i love her. she doesnt learn from re7 and hides important information from ethan again. i geniunly think they should have gotten divorced after re8 if ethan had survived. its tragic and its sad but they love each other so much. it sad because they both geniunly love rose so much but they themselves shouldnt be together. its just sad to think about it. whenever i draw them it usually takes place before re7. they should have divorced on good terms and shared custody of rose.........

ethan and chris is also frustrating to think about... chris is a major jerk in re8, whenever i draw it, its under a unspoken AU that chris did not behave the way he did in re8. his weird behavior in re8 is probably for a meta reason imo. capcom wanted to set up a twist villian so they make chris very vague and unesscarily cruel. while its frustrating that they turned chris into a jerk for the sake of a twist, it still happens in canon and i will forever roll my eyes whenever i see him on screen. he did what he thought was best but imo, execution matters more than the intentions. same applies to mia. they both did things that hurt ethan because they thought it would be the best but in the end they just hurt ethan.

all the ships ive discussed with people ethan has met canonically just makes it look like i dont even like the ships... LOL ... ethan just has horrible luck with the people he meets i guess... but i do enjoy the ships and drawing them, but again all of them come with the canon baggage that ends up making me sad because everyone treats ethan poorly whether they had good intentions or not

which is why leon and ethan is the most fun to draw without getting stressed... LOL... they have never met but just drawing what i think their dynamic would be like is very fun.

please dont take this post personally, this isnt a post declaring why ur fave ship sucks, this is just my own personal preferences and in the end i draw all of them anyways

if i had to rank the ships based on drawing silly comics it would be

wintersberg

mithan

lethan

winterfield

wintersberg has the funniest potential just because of karl and mithan can be funny if u water it down to "i love my wife so much" and said wife comes home with suspicious amounts of hard cash

i enjoy making joke comics far to much

if i were to rank the ships based on how healthy they would actually be for ethan it would be

lethan

winterfield, mithan, wintersberg (no particular order)

sorry 😭

leon and ethan have literally never met but imo it would still be the healthiest because ethan gets to start new

the three other ships r all unhealthy in some way, at least canonically without changing much about the characters (i do like winterfield but just because of how chris behaved in re8 it knocked them down)

i cant even rank them on personal preference because my opinion changes so often 😭 it changes based on discussions i have with my friends or recent art i see that inspires me... me and my friends recently had a discussion about mia and ethans relationship which made me very frustrated and sad with mia so i defiently wouldnt be drawing them anytime soon... meanwhile i hvae been talking to a friend who really likes winterfield often so the conversations we have give me art ideas and i end up drawing it more. if a friend of mine really enjoyed wintersberg or lethan and talked to me about it often id probably start drawing it more, the joys of being a multishipper

it changes a lot based on how im feeling and if im in the mood to draw something funny or something serious

sorry u asked a really simple question and i responded with a essay

and a little bit about myself is that i go by crumb, i am 18 and i go by all pronouns and prefer it/its

im vietnamese and live in texas

i made this tumblr acc solely so i could post my ethan art and im a re7/re8 girly so if ur here waiting for me to draw the re1-re6 characters im sorry u should probably expect nothing

i also make personal animations sometimes which u can find here

thanks for the ask and sorry for the rant!

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Kairi

kairi is the third protagonist of the kingdom hearts series and the third member of the destiny trio, alongside fan favorites sora and riku. sora/riku shippers HATE kairi, and will go out of their way to discount her at every turn. the hate for her ranges from typical "she's a boring bitch" to fans of soriku making five-hour long video essays reassuring their fellow shippers that the big bad kairi won't show up in the next installment – to quote one video, "she's in a box. she's on the shelf. four walls, no door." kairi is the greatest bogeyman the soriku fandom has ever known, to the point where most of said video essays and fanon meta posts focus not on why sora and riku should get together, but rather on why they don't like kairi.

Literally has a 100+ page Google doc fan theory writing her out of the narrative and putting all of her (few) canonical accomplishments onto half of the popular m/m ship (soriku). Don't even get me started on how her memory was completely written out of the canon plot of re:coded. KH is a nightmare to explain so dude trust me she is THE victim of yaoi

She is so fundamental to the plot and themes and narratives of game and yet it is near impossible to find anything about her thats not ship bashing pre-mlm with the other two characters. I dont even care if she ends up with one of the main characters i just want fans to see her as a cool character to love or like, anything other than “annoying comphet girl.” You can write your mlm but pleaae stop inventing comphet where it doesnt exist. She does not even get to spend time with sora ever?? Why does everyone see her as a threat and a thing to destroy?? Let her have friends so help me

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

[kursedmayo]

This is gonna be a a bit of a controversial take but to me Farcille to me is not very appealing since Falin and Marcille's relationship is a bit too complex to be boxed into a simple ship. There's both gay, platonic and familial implications and I don't think I've seen this type of relationship in media before actually.

In the Anime they really went all in on the yuri domtext- I refuse to call it subtext because its not, in fact sub (jk) but in the manga it's a bit more ambigious. In both media though they're portrayed as close, like way too close just to be friends. I think this might have to do with initial impressions, Marcille treating Falin like a little sister while Falin treats Marcille more like friend.

If you've read the Manga there was an implication that at some point Marcille wanted a younger sibling, but apparently she ended up being the youngest and the last child (if my memory serves correct). When she met Falin, she was a bit shy, tomboy-ish, and seemingly carefree when they met, which can sometimes be perceived as someone being pretty childish. Because of that, in her mind Marcille may have somewhat adopted the idea that Falin is younger than her and such, and then her subconscious childhood desires made her think of Falin as a little sister. I myself is more receptive to receiving or initiating touch with my brothers since I'm comfortable with them, so I can see why they're comfortable being physically close often.

This may also be why she dislikes Toshiro (Shuro) so much, she was particularly defensive of her little sister. I kinda doubt Falin discussed ever wanting to get into a relationship so maybe Marcille wanted to beat back unwanted suitors? At the same time this may just be her being jealous and not wanting to let Falin go, which can be interpreted to be something due to romantic feelings for Falin.

Meanwhile, when Falin met Marcille her impression was that she was a cool academic girl that took interest in her and befriended her. Marcille is most likely her first friend at that point and quickly became her best friend. She clearly admires Marcille and good LORD have you seen that bath house scene?? It was much less yurified in the Manga since Marcille was clearlu tired from using ancient magic and was having delayed reactions but I really dont think that was sisterly in any shape or form, it seems far too intimate. Keep in mind she was the one who initiated the hand locking in the bath house, not Marcille, so that may imply sometjing. So this brings me to my final conclusions.

Marcille probably thinks of Falin like a little sister or at least perceives Falin as someone younger than her that she wants to take care of. At the same time though her relationship with Falin is also hard to define completely by familiar or platonic because Laois is literally there for comparison and their relationships don't seem very similar to me.

On the other hand, Falin most likely sees Marcille as her best friend, someone either her equal or greater in skill or talent. When she has a slightly embarassing problem (like her constant flushed cheeks) she wants help with, she trusted Marcille enough to go straight to her instead of figuring it out herself so that says quite a lot, considering Falin seems to be of the independent type and don't like bothering people. However, there are also some odd vibes regarding her behavior with Marcille that prevents me from also waving Farcille off, so again I hesitate to box their relationship nearly into a single category.

So yeah. No hate to Farcille but I think I'd rather label these two weirdos with "???" instead of just friends, sisters or girlfriends. It feels a bit more accurate that way.

[dungeonmeshi-confessions]

I love kabumisu a lot, and idk if its just me who feels this way or what but.

I don't actually like the caretaking dynamic.

not in the way its portrayed sometimes anyway. especially when it removes a lot of mithruns autonomy (like him being assisted with tasks he doesnt actually need help with. like bathing. its the nursey/clinical vibes I dislike)

its true, mithrun will always be disabled and will always need help in some way. but I dont think making kabru his caretaker is really the solution here.

this is different than saying I dont want kabru to care for him ever though. I just always imagine pattadol as the person who regularly worries over him and makes sure he's doing well. kabru already has a lot on his plate.

now I do think kabru cares for him in more subtle ways (esp if they are in a relationship), and will continue to be the person mithrun brings his revelations and feelings to. Kabru has earned his trust in this way.

but if anything, in my mind, mithrun cares for kabru a lot. I think he starts to notice kabru doesnt ever follow the advice he gives mithrun, etc.

also my mind loves to push together kabru never eating with the idea that mithrun is going to be learning to make noodles. so I just imagine mithrun bringing him food all the time when he's busy bc he knows kabru probably wont take a break if he doesnt. I dont think he's overly sweet about it. I think often he would put the food next to kabru and leave without even greeting him. but I think thats just how mithrun would express his care.

anyway I like when they both look out for each other. and I like when mithrun is given as much autonomy as he can. he'll always need people looking out for him, but its reminders he needs most of the time, not physical interventions. I think most of these feelings are probably bc I am disabled myself, and my personal experience with my disability. how other disabled people may feel is definitely allowed to differ.

either way, this is a very comforting ship for me. 💜

.

[hey-its-danny]

many virtual miles anon here! thanks so much for answering my ask and for the cute doodle omg i cackled out loud. i'll be sure to peep your instagram to see that goodgood sonic art. and at your request! i'll let u know that my ship back in the day was clive and hershel himself! at the time i didnt see why it might be a little controversial since they were both adults over 21 and clive wasn't luke (nor do i think hershel ever thought he was luke, logical guy that he is), but as ive gotten older i better understand why some people are squicky about it. i still think it's more okay than some ships though? and has potential to be really sweet and healing, or messy in a troubled villain reformation sort of way... im still fond of it, when it's portrayed the way i like! anyway yeah that one's mine, u dont have to even publish this LOL i just wanted to answer the little question in your tags!

so i read this ask right away miles anon, and im so glad you took the time to write it bc YEAH theres nothing like illegal going on, it’s dubious at best (and when i say at best this is secretly a double meaning because the ship is also at its best when its a little dubious).

i think the best part about them is the relationship between clive and his identity as ‘big luke’, like both the player and hershel start and end the game with a very vague understanding of the difference of his character when performing for the future london and when he’s at his lowest before he’s arrested. and because of that, it leaves his cry for help as hard to parse. is he genuine? is he feigning (maybe not maliciously but as a self preservation or an attempt to leave layton with the thought of helping him)? and if it is genuine, which is the most charitable and probably intentional outcome, is his and layton’s shared trauma too vast or deep to reconcile? is he in the mental position to enter a relationship?? i dont know, its all so interesting, it’s like clive’s final line served to solidify himself in layton’s mind as a person who’s worth saving, and better yet, that the only person who can do so is him.

[sharkface]

i dont know anything about red vs blue but i want in on this drama what happened what is restoration

The shortest possible version of this. Which is hard to do because this was a 21 year webseries with an absurd amount of background and moving parts to get into as well as a notoriously complicated story.

Restoration was the final "season" of Red vs Blue that to be frank should not have been able to release considering the company had been in gradual collapse for years prior to its announcement and release and most people had agreed the "true end" to the show happened in 2015 even though seasons would keep releasing until 2024. Restoration is not Terrible but it was clearly rushed and had the bulk of its content cut in order to make it happen at all before the company that was founded on its success finally shut down.

Grimmons is a pairing of two cast members which is so ubiquitously accepted as not just fanon but legitimate canon (agreed upon by the guy who made and acted one half of the pairing), like, not just as in everyone agrees they SHOULD be lovers, but like, they have just been stated to have fucked at least twice in series (one of these times got retconned but that itself is complicated so for our purposes can still be considered canon) and are actively portrayed as like, an old married couple who only isn't actually together based on a mutual respect for the current status quo and a general mutual dislike for Change and Emotional Communication. They are essentially in an unstated relationship in universe but what this translates to in real life is a solid 21 years of gaybait. The baiting had been ramping up in recent seasons (a writer for the show would drop his proposed Confirmation Scene that didn't make it in when the company announced its closure) and the trailer for restoration featured the two of them having a Meaningful Moment completely alone looking at the sunset in the place they met. This was The Moment right. Like the only moment they would ever have to do it, the moment they should do it, even if they did it in a kind of half assed way.

Not only did they not do it even though it seemed like they would (like. It had the exact buildup you'd expect and then it just. aborted) but at the end of the show one of them discharged the other form the army and they are separated forever. End of series. If this made you mad to read imagine how the oldheads felt. We felt bad. LOL.

The chucker v tuckington wars are honestly way easier to explain, Church and Tucker were close in early seasons so they were the popular ship for blue team, not as ubiquitous as grimmons but like, the obvious one, Plot Circumstances made it a lot more difficult to ship them, Church leaves, enter Washington who now has the closest relationship with Tucker on blue team, they have a dynamic that is so easy to ship it mostly manifests in fandom in ways that are boring as fuck (when they're not. Racist and ableist. But don't get me started on that.). Washington and Church don't really like each other which means you can't apply the throuple solution and everyone starts arguing about how like, Church had Tucker's heart first but Washington is better for him or whatever, like, very typical ship war shit. The truth is that all three of these men are terrible people and it doesn't matter who Tucker likes because his taste is dogshit either way. People started joking that whichever guy Tucker ends up having a Meaningful Moment with or about in restoration is the guy who wins the ship war but Tucker does not speak to or about either of them for the whole season. <3

LOVE LOSES. RED VS BLUE OVER

[oscconfessions]

i dont get people's obsession with book making up with/forgiving people from her past because is her whole arc in tpot not about moving on from the past and finding new friends. idk people really want her and ice cube or match or pencil or taco or you get the point to make up and i don't see the point. let her have new friends. let her move on. not everything has to end with everybody being happy and silly together. they can be on bad terms/not talking/literally not friends. it's ok guys. I Really Just Want Them To Move On From Each Other and for people to stop forcing her back into toxic environments from her past

i think book confronting her past is important and i personally feel that she's been avoiding it (her lack of objection towards ice cube leaving her in tpot 1 and her dreading having to deal with it in tpot 10) so obviously it shouldn't just be swept under the rug but i Do Not feel like book owes match or pencil (especially pencil because match has been shown to at least be trying to improve. iirc i don tremember like anytihn gfrom bfb LOL) forgiveness. She shouldn't have to be forced to suck up and go back with people who hurt her. i genuinely think it's best that they go their seperate ways.

^ i also feel like the whole "they should just go their seperate ways" thing applies to icebook. their relationship in bfb was mutually toxic and both of them hurt the other with a lack of proper communication and whatnot. soooooo many people want ice cube and book to make up and be friends again it tpot but they're Not Good For Each Other!!! also book hasn't proven that she's grown enough from her time in bfb to even handle being around ice cube again without repeating her same mistakes towards her. ice cube has no reason to not dislike her right now because she's just acting the same as she did in bfb towards her in tpot 12. if book wants to have a chance at being with ice cube again she needs to realize /what/ she did wrong; book and ice cube's boundaries were always a mess and a big problem in their relationship was that constant pushing of boundaries by book, something that she saw no issue with because ice cube never spoke up about it until it got to an extreme point.

i fear if book and ice cube become friends again in tpot they'll A. just repeat their same mistakes or B. have all of those mistakes conveniently disappear so book faces no consequences for her mistakes in bfb which is like Not Good

i get wanting your fav friendships to interact again but *insert nerd emoji here* it makes no sense for her character and the arc they're trying to give her this season acshually

book needs to accept that her past doesn't define her so she can move on from that and move on from her past friendships. she needs to accept that those people are gone for a reason instead of chasing after them. She Needs To Actually Learn A Lesson And Change, Tpot Writers

vaguely related but dont get me wrong i love icebook (peep the blog lol) but maaaaaaaaaan i don't like seeing it portrayed all fluffy and happy and wholesome. you do you but GAFHGFDGFDKG there's so much interesting stuff about the flsaws in their relationship and just how disgustingly attached book is to ice cube and how ice cube allows this to happen until it's too much for her to handle and how book focuses so much more on ice cube than herself and they're so awfully codepdendent and they suck at communication and boundaries and they were honestly always doomed to fail They Won't Work Out Together they're tied by fate and can't live without each other even if it's hurting them and AND AND AND make their relationship uglier it won't hurt to have ship content that's not 100% happy fluffy all the time no flaws ever fix-it fic material (obligatory you do you i don't care that much this is my opinion you are allowed to do whatever you want)

.

[warlock-wizard-mage]

The Fetishization Of MLM relationships

DISCLAIMERS:

1.) this post is not trying to be transphobic or mysoginistic in any way. That would be disgusting and if you are either one of those it will not be tolerated and i will flag and block you.

2.)This is not an attack onany artist specifficaly or ppl who headcanon Sirius as transfem.

Now, onto the actuall discussion...

So this started with my post about 99% of wolfstar fanart making Sirius look like a woman and how it is a gross fetishization of a queer relationship.

As a masc person who ships a lot of MLM myself, i have noticed that sometimes when i see a fanart of my fave mlm ship, one of the more femme one out of the couple gets portraied in a very femmine way, sometimes to a point of no recognition where it straight up almost feels like a gender swap fanart (and its not).

I usually kept it no mind as it wasnt that usuall and didnt really interest me (for example, i used to be a huge Loki fan a few years back and every time id see a hyperfeminized loki it would be a Thorki fanart, so i just ignored it cuz i dont ship thorki )

HOWEVER

recently i got into marauders and when i searched up wolfstar fanart for the first time ever, MAJORITY of it was portraying Sirius as a baby girl (hyper femme, to the point where it looked like a hetero fan art)

That is why i got fed up, bc before it was scarce but this fandom has a problem.( Like how is it a majority of fanart?? you ppl okay??)

SO, how is this a gross fetishization and queerphobic you ask?

Ive actually seen a lot of people talk about it back in 2020/21 and since then had a few conversations about it with my friends, bc im not the only one who noticed this.

There is this phenomenon of CIS and HETERO girls/women that obsess over gay relationships. They ship mlm characters, maybe desire a "gay bestie" (but not a lesbian one), or even would like to have a bi bf (with a perfrence for women ofc).

I noticed this but didnt know what it was. It wasnt until i heard other people talk about it and talk about some research and studies and so on, that i found out what it all was about.

It is because girls/women in this society and era strive to be seen as equal by their partner, want to be seen as an equal by their partner- emotionaly and physically and so on. And subconciously or conciously they know that they cannot get that from a cishet male partner, so they obsess over the fictive desirable world of a gay male love. (Male bc theyre not queer themselves and fantasizing about a sapphic relationship would be very fruity.)

And while all of that is understandable and valid and actually quite sad, it does not change anything about the fact that these people then go on and invade queer spaces, take away representation, selfproject onto one of the men in the ship to the point where they hyperfeminize him bc they dont actually want to see two men in love, they just crave what the gay couple has.

ps: if you do this and you do not identify as a woman/girl, i am very sorry if this made you feel invalidated and i need to say that this doesnt apply to you, queer ppl obsessing over queer ships is no problem at all and you are valid

[fairykery]

If not canon, then why flashy?

Eyesex and a smile?

The guy that hates physical contact is smiling as kohaku hugged him? Not only that but he also looked into her eyes tenderly? LIKE? The other girl going "it wasn't that type of hug" was just referring to the fact that they aren't gf and bf because technically THEY AREN'T and the one girl still assumed that they were. So when they got touch- feely and the girl covered her eyes thinking they were a couple(thanks to the kiss situation) the other girl calmed her down saying they weren't really a couple sharing a hug; but two people that care about each other hugging. While Senku did not return the hug because he is never/and has never been forward about that type of situation, Kohaku is the first he's smiles at, lets hug, and has had people wonder the state of their relationship when being hugged by. She is also the only girl he is close with, that has been hinted at having feelings for him.

The KISS

Sorry, No I get it. It was too soon for this to be a romantic moment. I get it. It was for the sake of comic relief. But if you pay attention. The context of the scene didn't necessarily have to be written romantically, NOT EVEN for the sake of the plot. Cause them kissing had nothing to do with the situation; BUT the mangaka STILL specifically chose to go THAT route with the scene. He, HIMSELF, chose to use a romantic excuse(even if a comical one) as a plot device to move the story forward. And on top of that made them kiss(even if they were both uncomfortable by it still at this point in the manga). With that, making Kohaku the girl he's closest to who he has had the most physical contact with and even shared a kiss with(even if it was just a chin kiss and they both were practically uncomfortable for being forced to do.). No but seriously, the mangaka using SenHaku as a plot device to move the story forward WHEN it is NOT needed should provide some insight of what he thinks of the pairing. Which is that: "it is fun to write about" and "he likes to write about it".

NO TIME?

I like how he reponds with something that implies. "Maybe i'll blush later....not rn we gotta find a way out of here". Can we also take a moment to realize the mangaka/writter interrupted this moment before Senku could respond to the: "and the way i see it that is so very-" from kohaku? Subtle behavior on his part. Is there something on Senku's mind he doesn't want fans to know for the sake of avoiding ship wars? I wouldn't be surprised if this was what was stopping him from making the ship more explicit. Cause shippers get kind of crazy with the wars and MOST mangakas KNOW this and dont want that to affect the sales.

BRIDE STYLE?

He specifically chose one of the most romantic tropes to draw them In? Sorry no. This has nothing to do with their dynamic; but he still drew them like this? In THIS pose? Mangaka definitely shipped them.

Nah; but like never have i ever seen him so touchy feeling with anyone?

idk idk they remain sus. Especially with all of his guy friends hoping him to experince romantic love.

SenHaku also kinda parallel His adoptive dad and his lover(maybe not in the sense of dynamic; but in color aesthetic and how they are portrayed in the covers)

[also look at them being bride style like the senhaku cover lol]

I don't know why people say this ship is impossible because Senku says he isn't interested in romance. Like he also hinted at the fact that he has sex drive, just not a crazy active one where he would attack a female for, especially one stronger than him.

And if you ACTUALLY pay attention every time that topic of romance comes up is not that he COMPLETELY dismisses it. It is more because he does not prioritize it or care to look for it, especially considering that he is so goal-driven. At the same time, it is already revealed that not everything he says(especially when it comes to relationships/bonds)does he mean. He only, like i said, likes to remain goal-oriented and doesn't want anything to distract him.

He also acted pretty detached towards his own father and rejected his overly affections of love. So much so, that Byakuya tried to adapt to his own love language of science. But at the end of the day,it is not that Senku is 100% against those concepts(of romanticized bonds) it is just that he finds them to be waste of time. But despite that, he is still human. He still feels despite how much he doesn't allow himself to do so:

And Riri herself pointed how Senku only acts tough and detached when it comes to relationships/bonds(when talking about his care for the village) but a part of him does care. This is because she is the only one whose seen him cry at his father grave, despite how detached he acted about his father dying at the beginning. But again, he remembered that he had a goal, and wiped his tears; because for him "there's no time for that". It's all about prioritizing his goals, especially when about science.

And there's ALOT of emphasis on THAT.

Even so, so many characters in shounen have ended up marrying/having feelings despite saying/or there being no indicator that they are interested in romance. It is a common trope of it. So even if it were because Senku is not into romance it wouldn't sink the ship. I mean look at Sasuke(another goal-oritented character) said that romance had no place in his revolution; but at the end of the day married sakura and even gave her a ring to ward off insects

[note: is important to note that sasuke was not rejecting sakura here. More like trying to convince kakashi that romance had no place in his revolution. Because he was goal oriented, like Senku(that and the fact that he was still struggling with his darkness). In fact Sakura said that she wanted things to go back to the way they used to be and he assumed that was romance, without anyone saying anything of that sort. And Sakura had already left it clear that she wanted team 7 back; but then sasuke mentioned romance lol]

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Something else worth mentioning is the fact that Senku hates clingy overly-romantic girls or the girls that fall in love too fast with him, as we've seen him cringe or act annoyed with those type of acts. But still, he was able to manage to say something about a type, despite his dismissive behavior. Even tho it was just to brush the conversation off, the fact that he answered his type of girl with "someone that could bring him materials" and then calls Kohaku a lioness, and him as a scientist knows that usually a lioness is one to provide their mates with food from hunting. I don't know. It seemed like a sweet nickname to give her. Especially when in his time period, that type of nickname is considered flirtatious. What is more, is that he initially brought Taiju back because of his usefulness in strength(and the fact he knew he could trust him) & Senku himself noticed the exact same quality in Kohaku.

So someone that could fit his description of his type would definitely be kohaku and seeing that she is the girl who he is the closest, and HAS brought him materials before so i dont see why not. I mean he was already pretty impressed with her first meeting her. Even after having worked with her, he was still impressed by her strength, and doesn't stop talking about it:

There's also people who always dismiss Kohaku's feelings. I mean i think it's already pretty clear

His physical aspect she seems pleased with

And well he already fits the EXACT description of her EXACT type. So it is 100% safe to say that she has feelings for him. It may not be explicitly stated but it was just the right amount of sublte. Similar to Mikasa Ackerman/Touka Kirishima, whose feelings were never explicitly stated; but were always quite obvious. That was the type of subtlety the mangaka was aiming at. And i think there's a reason for that.

Because Senku hates fast paced relationships/love at first sight/mushy girls. Building Kohaku's feelings in a slowburn manner makes Kohaku stand out from all the other girls that have feelings for him/have flirted with him/felt attracted to him. Because, as i said, he doesn't like that kind of stuff. And since he is still sciency I don't think he would ever fall for a romantic type of girl; but rather a useful one that can serve as his partner. The way I see them happening would be by Kohaku being accepting of his anti-romantic nature, and Senku seeing her as worthy Mate that he could reproduce with so that the sciene can live on and keep developing. While he did teach Chrome alot, Chrome also says he wants Senku to live. I think he also meant it in a metaphorical way. Chrome, next to his other male friends kept pushing for or looking for an indicator of him feeling attraction for a girl/or at least want him to understand romantic love so that he doesn't keep downplaying the feelings that they have towards their crushes. Even Gen seemed pretty excited at the thought of him kissing a girl lol. So it's safe to say that the mangaka writing this was him rooting for the same thing for Senku; but not in the way that we exepect.

Again, if he ever did develop a relationsip with kohaku to another level. I dont think he would confess/or admit his physical attraction to her, if he did feel any. I think he would find himself content that he has found a useful girl, that can bring him materials, and doesn't ask much of him(in a romantic light). This would push Senku to allow Kohaku as his partner. I don't think Kohaku would mind it either as long as she knows Senku is willing to reciprocate in terms of just the right amount of romantic gestures/or sexual entanglement(when senku finds the time for her)

Because as he has stated he does not NOT have a sex drive(just not active) nor is he COMPLETELY against chivalry (which is rooted in romance).

So i think if he did develop feelings for Kohaku he will not do much to figure out the why and would instead only try to rationalize it by saying Kohaku is the perfect partner. He would agree to a wedding for the sake of his friends and act like he was peer pressured to doing it, and would probably ONLY compliment Kohaku's looks by saying something like "You know, according to the symmetrical proportions of your face, you'd be considered to be living up to the beauty standards of my time" and Kohaku would be fine with that thanks to the reassurance of her sister about how "he is not the type of guy to be completely against the tradition of bonds/feelings. He just doesn't prioritize them". So kohaku would be fine with that. Especially because she herself has been swayed by his way of living.

As long as she knows that Senku considers her his mate, partner, and important person, I think she'd be okay with that. Especially since Senku is logical enough to understand that he needs to put effort into the relationship with his mate. So he'd do soft gestures for her that will keep her happy in order to maintain their relationship, even if she doesn't ask for it. And that will be enough because by the end of the day that's what most relationships are, Senku just doesn't feel the need to romanticize them, unless it's for the sake of following through with a logical situation. And well him maintaining his relationship with Kohaku would be logical as it would avoid conflict and prevent him from seeking a mate elsewhere. We all know Senku doesn't like to bother with those things. He just goes with the flow of whatever is convenient.

I also think that even though he doesn't like physical contact he'd probably do soft things like touch her hand in reassurance,(he's held her hand), smile at her(as he has done so before), look tenderly at her with pride(has looked and felt proud of her) and lean on her when he is tired(they have leaned on each other metaphorically). Those would be indicators.of him caring for her, but he won't ever stop to think about them, even if his heart rate actually does start to raise he will only rationalize it with talks about "dopamine/serotonin" and Kohaku being his chosen partner; but overall, he'd be most ecstatic about having a partner by his side, and the fact that he cares for such partner. Kohaku won't ask for more and will come to understand that she has what any other girl has(when it comes to romantic relationships), and she SIMPLY has a partner that tends to rationalize everything and dislikes romance; but is willing to do it for the sake of logic.

[thegoldenduckie]

which ship(s) would you actually want in canon? cuz some are much better in fanon imo

Honestly? I think none of the ships should ever be canon

Feel free to disagree with me! I insist! But shipping should really stay as a fan thing, and having romantic relationships in the show would probably detract from the main lesson and message of the show.

I still like it when the show portrays a characters having moments together to fuel the shipping in the fandom, but i dont want any explicit romantic partnerships

[tsukasalover]

I mightve complained about this somewheree else before ? but i was originally planning on writing a one shot where rui and tsukasa cuddle during a sleepover ?? something like that because theyre both still awake but eventually tossed that over to the ideas for art/doodles pile because I cannot imagine it happening at all.

Like of course i can handle ships and all that romantic stuff with my favorite characters it can be really cute but i Hate writing anything with a romantic context so much. Especially when it comes to ruikasa simply due to the fact that i dont like most ways theyre portrayed in romantic relationships and my brain goes No.. No. Needs more funny oddball moments in this. Don’t dip into that corny stuff or you’ll look like one of Those ruikasa fans that doesn’t get them. Even if its not that bad. with aus like set in Entirely different worlds i can be a bit more free but if its based off of them in the canon universe (sorta) i get reaaally picky. i can let go of other people messing up sometimes because we’re just humans but if i got anyone in wxs really wrong id pack my bags. idm any criticism as long as people arent acting vicious and obnoxious but if i try and correct my own mistakes.. 🤕

is part of this also because romance almost never crosses my mind during my free time? absolutely. (exceptions are when my friends need someone to open up to while in relationships. i dont know how good my advice is but supposedly its helped) I could care less if it stays that way. Friendship is a powerful thing. this is always good when it comes to wxs though because its like Hell yes I dont have to overthink about what theyd be like in romantic relationships (i overthink about everything else with them though) and I Love Friendship Lalala Buuut if i ever get ideas for fics that are romantic and just want to have fun for once it gets scary real fast.

[bytedykes]

Hewwo! Yue Qingyuan seems to be a special guy to you, so him for the ask game ✌️

Sexuality Headcanon: gay but i think he's too depressed to date. he has emotional erectile dysfunction

Gender Headcanon: cis man 😔 ive thought about transfem yqy before too but i dont really see him going anywhere with it. he doesnt have time for self exploration he has a sect to run and also all this unspeakable misery

A ship I have with said character: hehe... mqf/yqy... i like them... its really niche but @pathos-logical and i initially thought of it as a joke but it's so serious now. doctor sexy x worst patient EVERRR !! i dont have anything concrete to say about this ship they just eat my brain

A BROTP I have with said character: i actually really like his canon relationship with sqq, even though we only ever really see how sqq thinks of him. yqy reminds sqq of his own older brother which i think is really sweet and also sad :( i also think yqy would like sqq as his own person, if it ever came out that sqq isnt sj. i mean he already likes him but like independently of shen jiu i do think they could have a good relationship

A NOTP I have with said character: QI/JIU. i don't ship them. words cannot communicate how much i don't ship them. i knowww that they're in a danmei fitting all the bl tropes but like i don't want it and i don't see it and i just do not ship it. i find them much much more compelling as a platonic relationship. fandom has also highkey ruined any warm feelings i might have had toward romantic yqy/sj because of the way people popularly portray them - i think the way a lot of people write qi/jiu is very sj-centric and often not very in line with what i think is accurate yqy characterization (also i don't like sj for similar fandom mischaracterization reasons but w/e). but that's just my opinion !

A random headcanon: i think he would be sooo good with babies i think it would be awesome to put a baby in that man's arms and have him hold it for a while. also a mandated beach vacation wouldn't fix him but it would greatly benefit him. also i think he has chronic pain from xs + the qi deviation and his spirit veins are all fucked up and who does he talk about this with? no one <3 <3 <3 #1 sufferer in silence

General Opinion over said character: i fucking love this mankjghilsadhkads IM SUCH A SUCKER for fucked up tragic characters who are stuck in a pit of eternal misery ok i eat that shit uppp. i really like how yqy's narrative is that ultimately he did his best and tried so hard and failed anyway and then could never bring himself to defend himself despite it not being his fault and that's the tragedy. he blames himself so so bad and he will never say anything because he doesnt feel he deserves to!!! the decades long miscommunication with the person who matters most to him is also soooo. ugh. he makes me crazyyy!!! i really like how he's a very flawed, complex person, who is kind and caring but also the #1 enabler on this goddamn mountain. his indirect treatment of lbh is really interesting to me too. i love yqy he sucks so bad <333

ty for the ask!!! you're right he IS a special guy to me and i love him soo much <3

[smiledog15578]

Shipping related question

You know I don't think they're ever gonna go straight into Asta and Harry being a thing until the show comes to a close (and depending on that we'll never know when they'll ever get together)

Honestly for the comics' sake, I hope they do in the end. Tbh slow burns are always the best, but people dont like the TV form of slow burns that or it's done incorrectly, I'm not sure.

The maybe it's cause I've never been the lovey type of person, or the fact I've been in the closet for so long I've never got to experience love for myself but, aren't we supposed to have multiple partners in our life time to help us figure out what works for you and what doesnt? People can have first loves and I think that's beautiful but tbh most of those "high-school crushes" never work out

Harry's first wife was like more of a nuisance to him but when he felt love for the first time with Heather, that rush of being with someone who understands you is a bit of this "it's gonna be forever and we're gonna get married etc etc" but in the end, they didn't turn out to be that way (typical psh... people finding just as love the hard way I guess)

I hope they explore more on like... Harry's relationships with each person he finds love with and how much he gets shaped as a human, whether it is platonic, romantic, sexual,etc etc. I know people are kinda up in arms about Asta and harry having these parental or familiar relationships which to me I see no problem, but I can get if you relate to Asta or Harry. And btw Don't hide that some of you relate to these characters, and sometimes project onto said charactersso you cant really like... expect everyone to follow the same story you wanna follow cause its like sometimes peoplewanna portray a media in a different way. That's a huge pot on kettle black moment so I'm not saying you SHOULDNT do it tho I think fuck whatever the TV bosses and whatever media controllers say we can't and cannot do and just do whatever you want (via fanfic or fanart) as long as its not hurting anyone. Honestly it's just a two sided coin.

With the way media is rn I can only obsess over the meanings behind the story as much as I can.

Basically what I'm trying to say as tired as I am, I really do hope that they know somewhat of what they're doing. Like I see the vision and I love it but I just hope they at least convey humanity somewhat right

Sorry for my ramblings it just makes me go kinda crazy

[raisinchallah]

since you are a queerbaiting scholar, I have a question that I don't remember if you've ever covered. Do you think the t'hy'la footnote in the Star Trek TMP novelization could be considered an example of queerbaiting or is it just too iconic to fall under that category?

oh unequivocally like for clarification for people i guess who have a more narrow and specific definition of queerbait i do think it like kind of dodges around the entire central conceit of hoped for "gay representation" or something that is not really the lens i think its viewed thru in 70s fandom the way it was in 2010s as in like the way people frame queerbaiting they want characters to join this pantheon of confirmed gay characters fitting a mold of existing gay characters on tv to some degree and nobody was assuming like from that tease that kirk and spock would be portrayed as a couple in future movies or anything the way the queerbait dance between creator and fandom was portrayed in 2010s queerbait discourse but i think it was probably the first and most high profile attempt to date for a creator to try and mediate the relationship between the media property shippers and ship haters through like a direct communication of like canon material i guess like i would have to go on a pretty big deep dive back into some of the random star trek zines ive looked at to find sources again im struggling to find it right now but i know i read some various responses from fans at the time and kirk/spock shippers did react negatively to the footnote in much the same way people reacted to like ship tease jokes in classic queerbait tv shows on tumblr which i found really interesting people did think it was trying to shut kirk/spock shippers down just as much as people thought it was energizing them and speaking to them it really threads the needle so perfectly by like opening the door to a whole new type of possibility and whatever to the types of people who want that while also in text saying theyre not lovers hah hah isnt that weird which i think some fans also felt uncomfortable about because it was like shining a light on their niche corner of the fandom letting people know there were people who thought the relationship between kirk and spock might be romantic but again ive only read like two accounts of this so i honestly have no clue how widespread each type of reaction was i wonder if it also like re inflamed fights about if they do or dont have sex lol because that was a whole thing which is slash was for people who believed it was sexual vs kirk&spock was like homoerotic friendship to nonsexual romance fanfic and these were bitter fandom divides as well but of course and like this isnt to paint it all in a negative light but i do think the dissenting voices get a bit lost in the history and i thought it was kind of fascinating how similar a lot of the weird mediations felt to like some actor at comiccon 2012 saying well i dont know but it could be romantic you know it creates the perfect vessel for everyone to see what they want thru it so i think in many ways it was groundbreaking queerbait but also tbh did it better than anything else like truly stoking the fires of fan speculation and probably introduced a lot of people to the idea of "the premise" and planted the seeds in their minds to begin with and again few other queerbait texts are out here inventing special words that mean lover for the characters to call each other few people that bold like again somewhat different context but it does kind of feel like a first of its kind broaching into that messy dynamic between fans and the powers that be as they sometimes called them and truly a fascinating iconic piece of queerbait history

ok upon further looking i believe i must have read a scan of "a careful analysis: the roddenberry footnote" by christopher randolph (a pseudonym for della van hise the author of killing time) that was printed in the star trek zine naked times issue #3 but i have been unable to locate an actual link to the full text beyond the excerpts from fanlore here [x]