#which was half just me being shippy but this made me think about that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

utilitycaster · 7 months

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(Long ask warning)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Further reading (mostly my own posts but not exclusively)

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

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

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

Fandom monocropping (not my post)

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

#answered #Anonymous #long post

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rayshippouuchiha · 1 year

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I just need a moment to scream about Ranna 1/2. It's my first intro to Gender Bender stuff and that, Huh, am I Really a girl? Moments. I love the world building that we could see in the .... Product of it's Time shonen plot? Like, the acceptable humor of it's time but now horribly grates against my LGBTQ+ and gender equality sensibilities makes it a bit of a tragedy for me. Because the author had so many amazing ideas but they covered it in leecher humor when there were So Many ways it could have been a masterpiece? I mean, it was the 70s (I think?) so obviously there wouldn't be very many open-minded concepts from then but it still hurts, almost.

The gender and animal changing pools, the matriarchal Amazons, the Phoenix and Mollusc Tribes, Ranma's mom Nodoka (who really needs to kill her husband and stop scaring her kid) who is a complete badass (I'm sure Genma (the asshole who should've died on his "training trip") went on the trip because he was scared of her, the fic fodder that Ranma's training trip can give you, the Angst of Ranma's Nekoken (Genma deserved to die for that alone, death by cats asshole 🤬) and his possible grandma figure, the "Rivalry" between him and Ryouga (I'm pretty sure if Ryouga knew gay was a thing, he'd be one) over Ranma not making it to their fight because Ryouga got Lost (there's tons of fics right there for his Lost Trips, the Hibiki's are Directionally Cursed™).

My absolute fav fics are the Trans/Gender fluid Ranma ones. When they're on that journey, too. Just learning who they are. When I'm feeling shippy, then Ranma/Ryouga because they have a Connection. But Ranma xovers so easily. His girl form could be made into so many different Magical Girls (Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Tokyo Mew Mew, Cardcaptor Sakura, Shugo Chara, etc.) And his mom! She has no background beyond being a kickass swordswoman and housewife. She can be anything! She just made 3 bad choices. 1: marrying Genma, 2: letting Genma take Ranma on their training trip, 3: pretending that she'll hold Ranma to the contract he signed with his handprint at 3 to become a Man™.

I can't believe that Nadoka would kill Ranma over having a girl form like Genma thinks (but she would kill Genma). She was way too happy to spend time with Ranko (Ranma's go to name for his girl half) and mothering her. I fully believe she'd just be like, You're a woman, too, now so you need to be the Best Woman™ now, too. And just do Girl Bonding. Y'know, teaching Ranma how to look after themselves (cooking, cleaning, financials, more than the same clothes every day), shopping, and of course Swords. Nadoka deserves to pass on her Skills™.

I hate that all of Ranma's fiancees (that he only has because Genma kept selling his son for shit before leaving) are determined to marry him. They all click with Ranma on some level, but more like friends who just happen to be girls rather than wife material. Like, I feel bad for them, but they keep blaming Ranma for all the fiancees when they should be pissed at Genma for selling his son to so many people. Which is probably why I ship Ranma/Ryouga so freaking badly.

Both Cursed, both Amazing Martial Artists, Childhood Friends (for a while in middle school, Ranma's job was to escort Ryouga to class so he wouldn't get Lost and miss school), an actual Friendship to build on. I'm pretty sure Ryouga defaulted to Eternal Enemies over their missed fight because why else would he be so upset and feel so strongly over a missed fight with his best friend?

Anyways, sometimes I just get Feels about Ranma and I had to say it.

Ranma is a classic for a reason

#RayRambles #Ranma 1/2

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basmathgirl · 3 months

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Lately it seems like I'm the only DT fan who doesn't care about MS and their friendship. It seems everyone swoons over them and in fact have gone so far with wild theories and have created fanart pairing their wives together (is that so they can feel free to ship the men without the wives in the way if they are paired off?).

Strange thing is that DT and CT speculation bothered me less back in the day, however, at the time, neither was married to someone half their age irl, let alone both.

What do you think of this phenomenon? I definitely think the actors play into it a bit, which the fans eat up, but something just feels off about it.

Maybe it's just me.

Hello kind Anon

In the same way that I totally managed to miss people being so pissed off with DT for getting with Georgia instead of BP in the first place, over a decade ago, that they threatened her with burning at the stake; I've avoided any such pairing up of Georgia with Anna to leave their main ship free to dally. For that, I am eternally grateful.

In my ancient mind, MS is still with Kate Beckinsale, so what do I know? Obviously not much about him beyond his acting roles. Midlife crisis, successful male picks extremely young partner. How unusual. Not.

Neil stressed that Aziraphale and Crowley are angels without human passions or need of physical expression of desire. With that in mind, I hadn't progressed to the fervent shipping of the two characters in a sexual relationship - doesn't get further than wondering if most of these artists have ever seen a cottage on the South Downs, or can point to the area on a map, if I'm honest - so definitely won't have fantasised about about DT and MS living out a swoon worthy shippy relationship.

Not that I'm dissing anyone who does, but it just isn't for me. As for the actors playing up to it a bit, I can understand that when it's a piece you are very proud of, and want to continue playing in the future. Keeping the fans happy creates interest, funding, and the project actually being made, after all. Plus raising awareness of some important issues that effect lives. I've seen the Pink News being delighted about trans and pride pins DT has been wearing lately, and have nothing but praise for that.

If I was going to label DT and MS as anything it'd be as a brOTP. I love their dynamic and their friendship but I don't ship them.

Does that make me out of step with everyone else? *shrugs* And do I care desperately if I am? Not really. Probably no more than usual. I'm used to being different.

Should you wish to join me, you are more than welcome. I have several teas or coffees to offer, and a couple of cheesecakes that need eating up...

#kind Anon #I'm basically saying it's not just you #sorry if this reads odd #but I still have a migraine #and that addles my brain

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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To the anon who responded to my speedrunning friends story:

"The fact that those very normal milestones made you uncomfortable sounds like a red flag about the other person and the dynamic of the friendship, not about the speed at which the friendship was progressing."

Oh I agree. My point was less that a friendship progressing fast is inherently worrisome, and more that if it's progressing fast, you should evaluate whether you're actually okay with the speed and this person and this case. It's easy to get caught up in the giddy feeling of really clicking with someone and ignore the ways you're letting them get overly familiar because you don't want to hurt their feelings by challenging them. (In this case, the discomfort was less over them wanting to send me something, and more on the sheer capslocked excitement that made it hard to say no, the fact that they asked me twice but didn't pick up on my reluctance the first time I failed to answer and only got MORE excited and capslocky the second time, and the fact that the "postcard" was actually a big envelope containing a postcard, a letter and a keychain, which they ended up paying over THIRTY BUCKS to send, and it all felt a bit lovebomby. But once again, I'm not blaming them for my bad communication. As I said in my original anon, this was a clear fuck-up on my end. I should have just said "No thanks, I'm good". The problem was that it literally felt like kicking a puppy at the time.)

Nor do I think age gap friendships inherently lend themselves to being overly parental, though with this person it absolutely felt like they were expecting me to be their parent or therapist or both. They hadn't moved out of home yet, had a strained relationship with their own parents, and it absolutely felt like they were pushing me to fulfill that need for them.

Also, I had to double-check, but the age difference was actually over 10 years - when we stopped talking, they'd just turned 17, and I would soon turn 29, and at that point we'd been friends about a year and a half. I was a bit taken aback when I found out how young they were (a couple of months into talking) because of how knowledgeable and skilled they were at so many things from art skills to political theory to various random niche things they've picked up like cryptography and lockpicking. So I mentally adjusted my attitude from "this is a peer" to "this is literally a fifteen-year-old, bear in mind what you say to them and how you say it" but I feel like I pivoted too hard into... what, babying them? Spoiling them? Overcompensating for our gap in age and life experience by feeling like it was primarily on me to manage disagreements or relationship dysfunction? I don't even know, but I still wonder how I could have resolved that better short of just not getting "talk every day"-levels of close to them to begin with. Which might have been better. Certainly for my mental health - their ever-increasing, insatiable demands on my time and attention came at a time when I was already struggling with heavy IRL demands and barely holding on as it was.

Oh, also. I had a barely-active RP blog of a character from our fandom. They made several RP blogs for the fandom, including one for that character's canonical love interest, and kept replying to my RP posts in shippy ways. On the one hand, I'm extremely glad I had the sense to not engage with that. (I'd only briefly resurrected that RP blog to begin with and dealing with this made me abandon that RP blog for good.) On the other hand, I'm once again kicking myself for not having a clear and solid "Hey, so you know we can't do a shippy RP, right?" conversation with them. Especially since months later they were guilt-tripping me with "I'm sad that you don't RP anymore :( " shit as part of their "venting".

Just, argh. I really didn't want to say anything to them that would assert my boundaries or challenge them until things boiled to a point where they couldn't continue, huh? It's so surreal to have been manipulated like that by someone TWELVE YEARS younger than me, and even now it feels vaguely scummy for me to accuse them of manipulation or hold them accountable, but this attitude is also exactly how I let things get so bad in the first place. The mentality of "I'm the adult (by quite a wide margin) so anything that goes wrong is on me" is extremely hard to shake, and I let it lead me into "they're a child so they can do no wrong"-style infantilizing. At the same time, I unquestionably helped this along by failing to say no clearly when I needed to. What's weird about it to me is that this has never happened to me before. If anything, I'm a pretty blunt person who prefers giving and receiving direct communication. I already had a very good idea of what different kinds of manipulation look like, from bitter experience. And later in the friendship, after things started spiraling into dysfunction and while trying to salvage it, I started being a lot more clear about things they said or did that I wasn't okay with. But by that point it was too late to put things back on track.

Sorry for the wall of text, this got longer than I meant it to and I'm sure the peanut gallery will have a field day with this pathetic attempt to summarize a year and a half's worth of dysfunctional friendship into a few salient paragraphs. I don't think I'll even dare looking at the notes on this one, because I feel like people will just tell me it's my fault and it's scummy of me to accuse a teenager of being manipulative when I was the one failing to set clear boundaries until it was too late. It took me two years to get over the sheer repressed and belated RAGE from the emotional abuse and how long I let it go on insufficiently challenged, I already spent too long feeling like this was all my fault. But maybe someone else will find this insightful or helpful.

And it was, 100%, emotional abuse by the end. I haven't gone much into it much because frankly even typing it up brings out that rage in me again, but picture your typical clingy-insecure abuser who accuses you of not caring about them because you were DMing in parallel with them and with someone else. Picture someone so afraid of change, and so entitled to a certain static version of you that lives in their head, that they will use words like "mourn" to describe their reaction to you making slightly less fanart for your shared interest than usual, or when you start engaging with your fandom more through streaming than through fanart. Picture someone who, when you ask them how their day went, responds with "Are you pretending to care?" Picture someone who, when told "You can't control your emotions but you can control how you act on them", responds with "I LITERALLY CAN'T", and fill in the blanks. And some hard-won advice: If someone responds to you that way, don't try to parent them, don't reassure them that you don't hate them, don't send them helpful links. Set. A goddamn. Boundary. And make it clear that you cannot and will not be friends with someone who claims not to be able to manage how they act on their emotions.

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marley-manson · 1 year

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@charlesemersonwinchesteriii replied to this post:

I never really understood why people kept calling that scene a big hawkbeej moment, so I'm relieved I'm not alone in that haha. Also you make an excellent argument that Hawkeye doesn't actually "get worse" as the show progresses, which I'd never thought about before! I know people talk about his coping mechanisms becoming less effective in later seasons and I always just passively agreed with that cause I'm not super focused on him and also I've never watched any of the episodes in order (woops!) but now you're making me really think about it..... hmmm..... I can totally see this as another instance of fandom seeing a character arc where there isn't actually one, just like with Charles. Just for myself, the only concrete change I could point to noticing is the obvious and intentional "learns to Respect Women" thing. But I don't know if that's just me not being smart enough to see things lol

lol yeah to me it’s like, yep BJ’s def acting like a guy who’s known Hawkeye for a couple weeks and is totally out of his depth, which is fine and understandable but not really shippy to me. But also tbf I’d prefer that even if I was a huge hawkbeej shipper because I’m not much of an ‘instant magical connections and understanding’ person when it comes to romance tropes anyway.

But I mainly c/ped your comment so I could respond at greater length to the rest of it, so! I definitely don’t think you’re missing anything (and ik we’ve talked about it before but yeah I also very much agre with you about Charles).

tbf I think Alan Alda is the one who said that Hawkeye’s coping mechanisms get less effective, but it’s not the first time I’ve disagreed with his takes on the show lol. And I don’t have a fully solidified take on Hawkeye’s “character arc” tbf. But yeah my impression is that it’s not that Hawkeye changes, it’s that the tone of the show changes. Hawkeye does get more dramatic episodes and he does get more sad monologues as the show goes on, but he never stops balancing them out with humour and hope, he had plenty of sad monologues in the early seasons too, and he never falls apart to the extent that he did in Dr Pierce Mr Hyde or The Late Captain Pierce. Some of the later episodes reference the war getting to him and making him act out in petty ways, eg Dear Uncle Abdul, but like, so did Bananas Crackers and Nuts, the 7th episode of the show. Plus arguably his worst experience throughout the show, give or take GFA, was season 1′s Sometimes You Hear the Bullet, with Abyssinia Henry not far behind either.

He’s always been portrayed as someone who feels deeply and is greatly affected by the war and who’s barely coping - the funnier tone of the early seasons made it slightly less obvious, but it’s still pretty apparent. The dramatic tone of the later seasons gives the writers more leeway to show how affected he is, but again like, he’s never worse than he was in some of the earlier eps until the finale. And I tend to think that the prevailing idea that Hawkeye gets steadily worse emotional stability and mental health-wise throughout the show sells the early seasons short. If I mentally sort of compensate for the tone shift in my head, I don’t see Hawkeye changing - I just see the stress being framed with more black humour in the first half of the show and with more earnest drama in the second half.

I mean logically it makes sense that the more time you spend in a war zone the worse you’ll feel lol, and with the tone shift it’s easy to see why it’s such a common take. But yeah, I just don’t see it myself, at least beyond a potentially deliberate sense of exhaustion in season 11 when they knew they were wrapping up.

And actually I also think the respecting women angle is like, not really the case, imo? I think it’s something the writers were sort of trying for so it’s definitely telegraphed as a thing in several episodes, and it’s kind of become common knowledge that Hawkeye gets more respectful towards women so I def don’t think you’re wrong to pick up on it. I just think the writers failed to sell it at all lol. Like he presumably learned a lesson in Inga eg, but it’s forgotten afterwards as the show goes right back to using his now pathetic attempts at womanizing as a source of humour. He’s definitely less crass to Margaret when they become friends but he never completely stops objectifying her. He has a sad monologue about not wanting to date a 20 year old because he’s too jaded in Show Biz, but he turned down even just casual sex with a 20 year old in season 3 because she was too young for him, so that’s not actually a change, as much as the writers tried to make it seem like one.

And Who Knew (nonsensically) recontextualizes his womanizing as a fear of committment and emotional vulnerability (in the satirical seasons it was a distraction from the war) and suggests Hawkeye getting over that, but Who Knew is ooc, and again he goes right back to pathetic womanizing in other season 11 episodes, like Blood and Guts. He even hits on an orderly in the psych hospital in GFA lol, and the Hawk/Margaret kiss is a (frankly cute imo) throwback to early sexual harassment-y episodes like There’s Nothing Like a Nurse where he kissed her goodbye, or Abyssinia Henry where he told Henry to kiss her goodbye lol. So like, if the writers were aiming to show Hawkeye changing his attitude towards women, I don’t think they did a very good job, basically.

But yk I do think it’s fair to take the later seasons in the probable spirit intended and view Hawkeye getting less misogynist as an arc. I just don’t personally. But also I don’t think Hawkeye was ever misogynist in the way Inga implied, and I think the later show often misrepresented the womanizing a little to condemn it (eg Show Biz and Who Knew again) so yk. I just prefer a happy medium there lol

#mash #marley on mash #hawkeye mash #responding in a new post because the connection to the original post is pretty tenuous and it's long enough that i want it to be #its own thing

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evergardenwall · 1 year

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The new Jason liker is back! Honestly-- maybeeee jasico is winning out after scrolling thru some blogs 👀👀👀

If you have a second, love to hear why you love the ship / what drew you to it

oooohh 👀 feel free to share more of your jason thoughts here! i would love to read them :^)

as for my jasico journey. well. there's how i was first drawn to the ship when i was younger, and there's how i actually joined the fanbase and read fics when i revisited my pjo/hoo phase in 2021....which makes not just one but two origin stories!

so. first of all, you need to know that when i first started reading heroes of olympus, i was already obsessed with nico from reading the pjo series before, and also related to him a lot re: the rejection he faced and his feelings of alienation from both camp half-blood and camp jupiter....it's actually mind-blowing to think abut how my eleven years-old baby queer (who didn't know they were not straight yet) self completely latched onto him, both had a crush and projected onto this character, would spend hours looking at fanart and have their friend drawing shippy art of them with him-- yes, this is a thing that happened (and yes, i was one of those younger nico fangirls back in 2014... kind of cringe, i know, but that's part of why i still am attached to him to this day! he is so important to me! and hey, i turned out not to be a girl so 👀). LIKE. hello. younger sam. i know what you are

and then, house of hades happened; the cupid scene and nico having a crush on percy and actually becoming canonically gay had a stupidly huge impact on me. like, yeah, heroes of olympus is objectively the least good series riordan has written in terms of writing quality, but i would not be the same person today if hadn't read it 😞 and it's my favorite rip

i remember reading hoh for the first time back in february 2014, after a day out in paris with my grandmother during which i had dragged her to a bookstore because it had just been published in france, and feeling shaken to my core -- in a good way --, so closely drawn to this character for a reason i could not articulate. and there was jason's reaction, the way he also was drawn to nico, and his support for hades' son, later sealed with the chalice scene in blood of olympus. which was probably one of the gayest jasico scenes. btw (in my opinion, at least. and frank's pov is so fucking funny). so i was like... 'oh my god. jason and nico. [cannot articulate why they love the later beginning of friendship they have going on so much]' and completely latched onto them, but without realising it nor sharing it with other fans this time! because i was too embarrassed!

i already liked jason as a character before the cupid scene, but his chapters in house of hades and blood of olympus as well as his whole identity crisis storyline, torn between greeks and romans, made me love this character even more. imo, his best scenes are in these two books (although after re-reading the lost hero, i have grown to appreciate this book's jason a lot... thinking about when he meets thalia and the moments with leo 🥺)-- and i loved his dynamic with nico. i didn't openly ship them, because i was too intimidated too explore non-canon pairings back then, until i got into jercy on wattpad (it was certainly another time wdxwshdjs). at this moment, not only reading these silly little fics made me more confident in being a jason fan who read him as bi (because i was 13-14 back then, and all my friends at the time thought he was lame and straight), but it inspired me to write a tiny jasico fic, which i never finished but hey, the passion was there :)

after that, i got into so.langelo for a couple of years-- i wasn't familiar with archive of our own, nor fluent in english, which didn't help me finding content besides from minuiko's work (i regularly stalked her blog despite not having a tumblr account) and amvs with stolen fanart on youtube, so i ended up continuing to keep my interest in jasico for myself. seeing nico having a canon boyfriend when toa started releasing had me very excited, although i didn't really care about will..... (whereas i strongly dislike so.langelo but have a lot of headcanons about will as an individual character now. lol.)

fast forward to 2021: for a reason i can't remember (perhaps the first pjo adaptation news? having met my cousin's girlfriend and talked about the books -- and jason! -- with her very enthusiastically? someone putting random fanart on my dash? the world will never know), i decided to start re-reading pjo for the first time in a while, and because i was finally on tumblr, i decided to look at the different tags to see if jasico had a fanbase... and fell into the rabbit hole! and here i am now, sharing conspiracy theories 😞 /j

more seriously, my 2021 obsession with jasico was the first time i actually gave coherent thought to this pairing besides from the Vibes i was getting when i was younger, and rediscovered the things that made me love each character when i was younger. and oh my god, jason... i projected onto jason so much.

it was very comforting, too, like reuniting with old friends, and somehow made me understand a new thing or two about myself. i love the parallels between jason and nico's storylines and how compelling their pairing is from a narrative viewpoint. like. it makes SENSE. on that topic, i will never stop linking this presentation because it analyses the whole thing so well and i wish i could be this articulate instead of just being like.... poetic cinema reaction picture dot jpg. (my mutuals are way smarter than me. go follow them 🔫)

but anyway, long story short: jasico is very Good and i'm glad to see it's kind of becoming relevant again? <- i am unsure of whether we're witnessing a renaissance or if it's just my dash having a mass hysteria event... but i *am* seeing jasico posts getting more notes than usual and it is intriguing so 👀

#okay also i saw a post making fun of swifties over-interpreting her lyrics and it made me a bit self conscious like...what if my rants #analysing jasico have been sounding the same the whole time 😭#but hey they *do* have more chemistry than so.langelo (and less ableism) sooooo #(and the fics are beautifully written)#replies #anon #jasico #jason grace #nico di angelo

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catgirl-catboy · 1 year

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Satsuki's execution felt too off for me.. Jester and circus thing shouldve been used more i don't know interestingly? I don't find hers and Mikako's execution great, I don't find Mikako's execution great because she was dead the whole time and I wanted to see how are gonna they do something with the exorcist theme

And Yamato was very tragic and Yuki x Yamato is.. yeah, I ship him both Utsuro and Yuki because he was really affected them both to me but surprisingly fandom really slept on them like, guys please stop talking about tsurugi x yuki for five seconds.

And Satsuhiko.. They hurt me, the way Haruhiko loves her and the way Satsuki didn't want to actually do that but in the end they.. are both dead, they should get married in Mexico, they should.

Okay new question what is the most great Danganronpa another (1 and 2 counted) executions and which ships are most tragic to you?

P.s: I even find Haru x Teruya to be beautiful and tragic

Yeah, it felt like Mikako's execution was meant for Yamato, but they swapped it last minute because we had a greater emotional attachment to her.

I am guilty of talking about Tsurugi x Yuki, but I am guilty about talking about Tsurugi x ANYONE. He has a one-sided thing with half the cast.

I feel like Yamato ships would be more popular if we just had more time with him. I mean, imagine the "who the FUCK stole our food scene" when theres a stranger that you aren't sure know whats going on.

Ah weeby news. I stopped watching that channel because she caved into the pissbabies in her chat that were upset about jokes about the SDRA2 chapter three BDA. I feel like once you cave to those people once, its only a matter of time before they run your channel. Which is sad, because I really enjoyed her content! (specifically her meta because I am a guy with very specific interests.) If you can't stand jokes about corpses, don't play the lighthearted death game that contains both jokes and corpses.

How do they survive like, 99% of the fandom's memes. Also, proud member of the Kinjo cult reporting for duty!

I like Teruya and Haru a lot, but its the same dynamic of Ishimondo that I cannot imagine a platonic dynamic for Haru and Sat.

For most tragic, I am very much a fan of Hibiki x Setsuka and Emma x Kokoro. I also really enjoy Kanade and Hibiki's relationship, but more of the phycological aspects than the romantic.

(But I will read shippy content if it delves into what is wrong with either of them (affectionate))

When I said rewatch DRA, I actually am checking out a new LP! I'm almost to the chapter 1 BDA because of listening to the background while studying! I'm really enjoying it so far, but the LPer does have a phobia of clowns. I hope that when the time comes, she will appreciate our queen despite that! Also its a blind play through, since SDRA2 spoils so much.

Also, she likes Tsurugi and thinks he's the Kirigiri. You sweet summer child you are in for a thing or two :) A comment was also made about Kinji possibly being the mastermind due to how calm he was... while she was talking to Akane. I shouldn't find that funny.

As for a Satsuki execution... I can think of all sorts of delightfully fucked up possibilities. >:o) hehehe

#ask tag #crowtalks

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guiltypleasurefandomface · 2 years

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Would you ever write something with poly!queen? (Platonic or no, its up to you :)) youre so good at writing their cheeky banter, but id love to see what youd write about their softer moments?

Right. I wrote this, and then I felt stupid because it's not exactly soft and shippy. And I've spent the most of the last few days trying to write another story for you and it just didn't come together. So, it might not be what you were expecting and I'm sorry for that. But it is intended to be poly, so it's something.

For those who don't know - The Onedin Line was a budget british show done by ITV. It's a show about a man who opens his own merchant shipping company in Liverpool, set in the 1800s. Hardcore fans absolutely loved the show, some of us more sensible people think it's the worst filmed ITV drama ever to be filmed.

It started with Brian mindlessly watching the Sunday omnibus of a show called The Onedin Line whilst lying down. He's not sad, just a bit drained from their busy touring life. Not soon after the second half of the second episode, Roger came back home and joined him in the living room.

Joined him on the couch, actually. Lifted Brian's legs up and then sidled in to sit down, then placed Brian's legs down to be across his lap.

"Do you mind?" Brian asked, after watching this unfold without any word between them,

"No, I babysit."

Brian snorted, "You mean you're babysat."

Roger gently swatted him, and Brian swatted him back, then companionable silence settled as they returned their attention to the television.

John was the next to join him. Unlike Roger who had gone to visit other friends on their return, John had got up early to do some fiddling with broken electronics, to see if he could either fix them as was or frankenstein them into something new that worked. Freddie didn't like the mess it made in the kitchen, where John used to do it, so he made himself a little area in the shed after a good clear out session. (Which Freddie did not join in with, thank you very much, on the very real reason that the build up of dust was bad for his skin, and it had nothing to do with the family of spiders that were living harmlessly under the shed's window)

He came back in, through the kitchen and peered around in to the living room. "I'll make the tea then, shall I?" and dissappeared back behind the door.

"Thanks Deaky!" Brian shouted, trying not to feel guilty.

"Yeah, thanks Babe! Oh hey, can you bring the digestives in with you?"

A long suffering sigh that long since lost it's edge was the only reply, before being drowned out by the noise of water filling the kettle.

"Should we help him?" Brian asked Roger.

"Hmm... We'll make the next pot."

They went back to watching the television, though Roger did get up when John came back into the living room with the tea tray and helped him put it on to the coffee table. Roger leaned with a kiss of thanks, and then plucked the digestives off the tray before sitting down. Brian sat up properly so Deaky could sit on the couch with them, and they shared a warm smile.

"What's this?" John asked, looking at the television at last. "Oh not the Onedin Line!"

"It just came on after the news." Brian said defensively.

John sighed again.

"Biscuit?" Roger asked, passing the packet over Brian to John.

"I suppose."

None of them got up to turn off the television or change the channel.

On the last episode of the omnibus, finally Freddie returned from his parents. Shoes kicked off and coat hung up before he passed by the living room and went straight into the kitchen.

"Hello, darlings, no don't get up i'm fine. There's no dishes of food to put in the fridge, my parents have suddenly-"

Brian got up first, followed by Roger. John eventually followed them in to the kitchen, just finishing the last swig of his tea first.

"decided we're rich enough to feed ourselves. Oh hello, dears, did you miss me?"

"You left before I got up!" Roger shouted, and then hugged him

"I said I was going out early. You deserved the lie in."

"Here, let me take those." Brian offered and then started playing tetris with the stuff that was already in the fridge to fit tin foil wrapped dishes in.

"Oh, good news Fred,” Said John, “I fixed the silver clock."

"Oh that is good news. Hello darling." Freddie replied, kissing John.

"The bad news is, I couldn't save the alarm clock from Manchester."

"Alas poor Quartz," Roger interjected solemnly. "We knew him... Cassio Digital."

"I'm sure we'll get on just fine without it."

"Want a cup of tea, Freddie?" Brian offered.

"We've also got the biscuits out." Roger pointed out, pointing in the direction of the living room.

"Ahem".

"Deaky got the biscuits out." Roger corrected.

"Sounds good to me."

Brian, and Roger, finished making the tea as Freddie and John returned to the living room. Brian half expected the television to be off, or the channel to be turned over but to his surprise, The Onedin Line was still on.

"We're still watching this, then?"

Roger said, as he stepped around Brian to sit next to Freddie. John was between the arm and Freddie on Freddie's other side, that left just enough room for Brian on the other end. It was a good job the couch was long, and he was skinny.

"What is it? Oh not The Onedin Line." Freddie said exasperatedly.

"It's been on all day. Brian was watching it." Roger said, defensively

"I just put the news on and this was on after it." Brian added, also defensively.

“I just really couldn’t be arsed turning over.” Admitted John.

"hmm," Freddie said, "Alright. I suppose one of us should get up and change the channel. Something better should be on by now."

"No, wait, hang on." Roger said, "We've invested our whole afternoon to this, we need to know what happens to Callon.*

"I.... what?" Freddie said.

"Roger does have a point." John replied.

"Oh alright. I see you must have missed me something terrible if you sought comfort in the Onedin Line."

They all readily agreed in a chorus, all found a way to share space with Freddie without looking away from the television, and then continued their afternoon in comfortable mindlessness.

Freddie vowed to take them all with him next time.

#Poly!Queen #Fic #Anon ask #The I wish you would write ask game #Sorry if you're an Onedin Line fan

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idolsummons · 9 months

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That Night

I said I would write a shippy thing for Ren & Seong and nobody stopped me <3

Mostly a talky thing, I wanted to establish them (and I haven't written Seong so I needed to work on his voice).

Non-canon (they don't even know each other in canon) but this wouldn't be the first time I've shipped some of my cuties outside of canon hehehe <3

Trigger warning for smoking.

‘You know smoking’s bad for you?’

‘Fuck off,’ Ren grumbles. His lighter finally flickers with flame, which he uses to light his cigarette. ‘I can do what I want with my body.’

‘Of course, you’re free to do what you want.’ He sounds like he’s smiling. ‘But I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase your body is a temple. You’re free to do as you wish, but it might be worth giving it a bit more respect.’

Too late for that.

‘Who’re you to tell me what to do, anyway?’ Ren finally looks up as he removes the cigarette from between his lips and exhales. His eyes widen as he takes in the taller man standing there. ‘Seong. Shit, sorry, I-’

‘Don’t apologise.’ By the low light beside the back door Ren can see that he is smiling. ‘But you might consider taking my words into consideration.’

Ren feels himself staring and turns his head away, bringing his cigarette back to his lips.

‘Yeah, sure,’ he lies. ‘What’re you doing here, anyway? Thought you’d be too busy to just be hanging around somewhere like this.’

‘Even I need time to myself, you know.’ Seong comes to stand by Ren, back pressed against the brick wall. ‘Hana recommended I listen to your music, so I thought there’s no better way than to catch it live.’

Ren chuckles. ‘So that’s why half the crowd didn’t seem so interested.’ A beat. ‘Well, if you weren’t too busy being bombarded, what’d you think?’

‘Electronic music isn’t really my cup of tea,’ Seong confesses. ‘But you blend authentic instruments with electronic elements - I can see the mass appeal. Are you here every Saturday?’

‘Just tonight. I work most weekends, so I can’t be staying up until 3am every Saturday. Tryna get it changed, though.’

‘Work?’ To Ren, Seong sounds incredulous. ‘You’re not doing this for a living?’

Are you trying to make me laugh?

‘Not until it can pay the bills,’ Ren replies. ‘Not that getting by on a barista salary’s that easy either.’

‘That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to see more of you.’

Of me? Ren smiles. ‘I thought you said electronic music isn’t your cup of tea.’

‘I didn’t mention your music.’

Ren blushes. ‘You can drop by the cafe,’ he suggests. ‘Hell, maybe I’ll get a raise if I mention I can boost publicity and business with my connections.’

‘Hm, but I’d hate to intrude upon you while you work. There’s no chance we could meet a little more privately?’

He’s shaking now. He would doubt it were it not for the quivering of the hand holding his cigarette.

Ren drops it to the ground and quashes it with his foot. ‘I should go load out,’ he says quickly. ‘I wasn’t meant to be this long.’

He turns to the door.

‘Ren?’

At the call of his name he stops, turns to look at Seong who, with almost inhuman speed, has backed away from the wall and is now facing Ren, hand against the wall and arm between Ren - who once again has his back to the wall - and the door.

‘Y-’

Seong’s free hand comes up to Ren’s chin, tilts it so that Ren is looking at Seong. The gentle touch has made this a suggestion; Ren could easily look away if he so desired, but now he can’t help but thinking about Seong’s ridiculously smooth skin, the glint in his eyes that almost seems natural rather than a reflection of the light, and those lips he wouldn’t mind having pressed against his own which slowly appear to be approaching his own.

‘Yeah?’

The hand moves away from Ren’s chin and busies itself in Seong’s pocket. After a moment he withdraws a piece of paper, which Seong holds up so that Ren might see - not that Ren’s paying attention, given that Seong’s lips are mere inches from his own. ‘You’ll call me, won’t you?’

Ren nods only slightly. ‘Sure.’

The smile on Seong’s lips looks so sly, so cunning, almost like he knows exactly what he’s doing. ‘Wonderful.’ His voice is barely more than a whisper, but that’s all it needs to be. ‘Then I hope to be graced by the beautiful sound of your voice again sooner rather than later.’

Seong’s lips brush against Ren’s with a gentle kiss.

‘Farewell, Ren, and I would appreciate if you didn’t tell Hana - or anyone, for that matter - about our exchange tonight.’

Seong pushes himself off the wall.

Ren had intended to say see ya, but the words got caught in his throat as he kept replaying what had just happened in his mind, and all he could do was watch as Seong walked away.

Shit, my gear.

He blinks a few times and it’s as though his mind is suddenly clear. Ren pockets Seong’s number before opening the venue’s back door.

It closes behind him with a mighty thunk.

#little slices of existence ･ﾟ✫ drabble #also i think i'm getting sick?? maybe not my best writing but <3 #future funkin' ･ﾟ✫ side muse (ren ishikawa)#forbidden lover ･ﾟ✫ side muse (seong cho)

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ficforthought · 3 years

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On being SO DONE with M*sha, a rant a decade in the making!

After giving this some thought I'm going to go ahead and give my opinion on Misha and yesterday’s situation in public for the first time ever. I was going to just post on Twitter but since this has been 12 years in the making I have exceeded the number of tweets I can put in one thread! There’s A LOT in here, so my summary is also long. I'm aware that I will lose followers over this, I'm not looking to offend anyone but it will inevitably happen. I wish anyone leaving all the best as fellow human beings.

TL;DR - having kept quiet for so long I’ve finally reached my limit and it’s all come bubbling out. I’ve never been a fan of Misha, I’ve been ambivalent for the most part, but have never criticised him in any hateful way, that's not who I am, but after all these years of putting up with his bullshit, attention seeking and troublemaking I am DONE. Deleting his tweet containing the word Wincest and replacing it with an APOLOGY just to pander to his Minions and save face is the straw that broke the camel's back. He has consistently pushed his ship on not only fans but on other actors (despite Jensen's discomfort, and him having repeatedly made his feelings known on it), he has stood by while his Minions/Hellers have harassed, victimised, doxxed and sent death threats to people based on their FICTIONAL ships. He has pandered to their gatekeeping, constantly demanded attention in obvious and not so obvious ways, and to the best of my knowledge never criticised their actions even though he's aware of it in a very real way. Some of his Minions have now taken their shit into The Boys fandom and created negativity for Jensen before the guy has even got a foot through the set door, and how is that supporting one half of your ship?

Misha has claimed to be a victim of targeted harassment from Wincest/brother fans (not only shippers) yet his fans have said and done the most despicable things on his watch, all in the name of what he must think is entertainment, or even his idea of a ‘joke’.

Any respect I had for the man based on his humanitarian work has gone because I can only take so much hypocrisy. He and his pandering because of a desperate attempt to be woke and wholly inclusive (which is actually impossible, no matter how good intentions are) are beyond pathetic. Whilst I have never seen why people think he’s so great I have friends IRL and online who genuinely adore the man, yet they have been shocked and upset by his contempt for half of the fandom that made him somewhat famous. It's disgusting and I'm not scrolling by any more. Misha, I hope to never see you on anything J2 related in future because none of us need that kind of negativity, *especially* not J2. Be gone, foul fiend!

OK, so to the too long part. Please be aware that these are my opinions as a fan of the show, of Sam and Dean, and J2, not only as a shipper. I can separate canon and fanon, and can view canon from a gen or shippy PoV. Whether you agree or disagree with my opinion let me be clear that I do not condone constant bashing and hate of a person or character so this isn’t the start of a regular thing for me. It's possible to have an opinion and not show the same vitriol that has been following this man around for years, and that’s what I’m doing. I've not posted this to prompt more negativity, it's simply to get it off my chest and make it clear how I feel. I stand by my philosophy of ship who you want to ship, enjoy it, but don't force it on other people and don't be a dick about it…hmm, that kinda sounds like familiar behaviour, though, does it not?!

I have ABSOLUTELY NO ISSUE with other people liking Misha, Cas or Destiel when it’s for the love of the characters and the ship. What I *do* have an issue with is people who are the true definition of a Heller. I don’t see that as a generic term, don't be ignorant and think I do because I know the difference between actual ship fans and the crazies, both ships have ‘em and I want no part of either of their venom. If you are reading this and class yourself as a Heller then you are part of the problem so run along and as you are all so fond of saying, 'get help' and take your bestie king with you.

I’m stating my opinion in what I feel is the most mature way I can, because unlike many people on SM, I am an adult and can act accordingly, with forethought and without resorting to temper tantrums and bullying of other people to get my point across. I am able to tell the difference between reality and fiction, I don't tar everyone with the same shipper brush and I don't expect everyone to agree with my opinion, but as we know opinions are like arseholes, we all have them and sometimes they stink. Unlike some, for the most part in life (online and offline) I *do* stand by what I say and don’t backtrack or delete things to appease the masses. I have spent a lot of time writing this out to be as clear as possible without being intentionally hateful. Bear with me jumping between actor and character where relevant, at this point they're conjoined. I will say this before I go any further, it doesn’t end well for Misha, I don’t mince my words and if you don’t like seeing facts and opinions laid out, this isn't the post for you.

I’ll say right off the bat what most of you have surmised - I’ve never held Misha (or Cas) in high esteem but I have never *hated* on him. I have shared mild criticism of his actions and opinions on Cas over the years but never, I feel, in any way that has made me feel I have something to apologise for. I have said several times I've been unhappy about Misha crashing con panels, taking attention away from J2 when at those cons *most* people paid their hard earned money to see the STARS of the show they love, first and foremost, and anyone else is a very nice bonus. The odd appearance here and there crashing a panel is fine (and Misha isn’t the first or last person to do it), maybe take up a few minutes then leave, but when someone commandeers an entire panel, that's just not on. It's not only selfish, rude and attention seeking but also disrespectful to other actors, fans and to the organisers who work hard to make sure everything ties in to give us the best con experience we can have. Everyone gets their turn on stage, there's no need to try and hog any more of the limelight, Veruca Salt style. Oh, and if you’re reading this and not getting that reference, (a) you shouldn’t be on my blog because you’re far too young, (b) look it up, and if you still don’t get what I’m saying… well then please refer to point (a). Thank you, kindly!

There was a time in Kripke's era where Cas was - I feel - intentionally used as a pawn by the writers to divert *canon* from the ‘questionable’ relationship between Sam and Dean, i.e. Wincest focus. Prior to that people (other fans) lightened up and just accepted the fact that Wincest had been there since day one in terms of the writing of the show and the fandom. All the cast and crew knew - J2, Kripke and JDM in particular - and made light of it, never judging, never shaming and often encouraging it because they understand it’s a fun part of fandom. Wincest was present enough to be part of the not so subtle subtext, as I said people just accepted it. Kink tomato was alive and well, so was ‘don’t like, don’t read’ and we all just scrolled over things we didn’t like without turning everything into a personal vendetta and excuse for bullying others who didn’t share our views. When the angels came into the plot I think most of us Wincest fans gave the Dean/Cas innuendos the small laugh they deserved and then turned back to the focus of the show which was the brothers, as it had always been intended. Misha, however, milked those moments as much as possible which was amusing at the start but got old *very* quickly, not just for fans (shippers and non shippers alike), but for other actors, in particular Jensen who is on record MULTIPLE times showing his dislike for Destiel. He told people outright that's not how he was playing the relationship between the two characters and CATEGORICALLY said "Destiel doesn't exist" but did it end there? No, it did not because neither fans or Misha let it go, in fact Misha only pushed more, goaded fans into flogging the same dead horse as much as possible. He’s never stopped, not even when there was so much discord in the fandom, a huge wedge was driven into it because of ships, which IMO he heavily contributed to.

Fast forward to over a decade later (a decade, seriously man, let it fucking go!) he didn’t even stop when Destiel did partially go canon. I have never doubted that Cas loved Dean (Sam, too) because in SPN lore angels are made to love, even rebellious ones. I, along with many others, liked that about Cas because who doesn't love a rebel, especially one rebelling for very good reasons, and because of those two wonderful men? Sam and Dean allowed him to see beyond what he'd been brainwashed to believe his entire existence. The fact is that although the nature of that love changed for Cas, it never did for Dean and was CANONICALLY UNREQUITED because Dean was incapable of loving anyone else as much as he loved Sam. All that mattered to Dean, even when he saw other characters as "family" was still Sam…ALWAYS Sam, every step of the way. Again for those who have too much Misha shaped wax in their ears, that’s canon. Whether people choose to see that love platonically or romantically is up to them, soulmates don't always have to be romantic, either way, brotherly love won out above all else on the show. No amount of Misha screaming ‘hey look, Destiel!’ changed that, but it sure didn’t stop him trying, did it?

So now that the obvious has been stated, here's something else we all know - never once in all of the years on the show did Misha drop rallying of the troops to his precious, ego stroking ship. Never once (that I am aware of) has he called out his Minions and Hellers on their continued harassment of everyone involved in the show and other fans despite the fact that they have bullied, victimised and wished bodily harm, rape and death on people who don't see their ship and because didn't get the ending to the story that they wanted. Not once has Misha shown any remorse for the trauma his "fans" have caused, and I’m taking REAL trauma, here, not the kind Twitter stans see as ‘triggering’ - people have been driven to close SM accounts, attempted, and in some cases succeeded in taking their own lives. These Minions have openly mocked Jared’s struggles with depression and anxiety, and Misha - who claims to be friends with J2 and be supportive of them in every way - has stood by and let it all play out, knowing full well some of the goings on, if not the full extent of how toxic these people are. We know he sees things being said online, and I have absolutely no doubt he spends time online searching his name for things that are relevant in some way to him in an effort to insert himself into a current conversation, or even start one so that attention is on him. Gotta stay relevant, somehow, right, Mish?

He has actively encouraged bullying by his actions of enabling the behaviours above, both by the flogging of the aforementioned dead horse, AND by not objecting to unacceptable behaviours. Remember when Minions and Hellers were slating J2, particularly Jared, for not posting on SM about BLM and other topics? Yeah, he didn’t ask them to stop doing that, either, even when he was tagged in things along the lines of ‘If Misha can post why can’t J2?’ etc. There have been some token protests, con vids I've seen have show his 'objections' which IMO have been done in a very tongue in cheek way, meaning that those people who needed to be pulled aside and told to change their ways just carried on, because their evil overlord didn’t explicitly explain it in terms a three year old could understand that bullying and forcing your opinion on others is WRONG. Not all of his cult are young and impressionable, not by a long shot, but many of the more vocal and vitriolic ones are.

As a father himself I wonder what Misha would do if he found out that his kids were behaving in ways his Minions are? I’m aware they’re young, but kids are cruel and bullying doesn’t just happen online. Even at whatever age they are, would he laugh it off the way he appears to have done with all of this fandom toxicity? Not bloody likely! I wonder if he’s as desperate to gain the approval of his family, friends and colleagues as he appears to be for that of his Minions/Hellers? I would certainly hope so, but that question can only be answered by Misha, himself, and I can and will not presume to speak on someone else's behalf on things in their personal life. For the record I would never presume I know what J2's answers would be on anything, however I do feel that after 15 years I have an accurate gauge on what kind of people they are so would be confident that any opinion I had on a matter aligns with their morals and ethics. As much as J2 have shared of themselves with us - willingly and under no pressure to do so, I might add - we don't *know* them, but we know enough to have an informed opinion. I can’t say the same for Misha because based on the behaviour he’s repeatedly displayed, things I've heard about from other fans as well as people I know IRL who have had direct dealings with him through cons or GISH (including some very actively in the early days when it was GISHWHES) he just hasn’t seemed like a person I wanted to follow on SM. I’ve never watched any of his solo panels, though I have watched ones with both or one of the J's, mostly being left irritated because of his behaviour. Watching the J’s put up with that shit is painful, and it’s a testament to how good they are as actors that they managed to hide at least some of their disdain for as long as they did. Microexpressions give them away, particularly Jensen, and they certainly have faces I have spent many years watching closely. Beautiful faces to go with beautiful souls, both of them! <3

I have precisely ZERO interest in Destiel as a ship, very little interest in Cas as a character anymore (though I did like him in the early days,and his relationship with Jack in late seasons) so I have absolutely no reason or desire to follow anything Misha does. That said, I've obviously been peripherally aware of some things he's been involved in because of friends, from things I’ve seen on SM and general fandom stuff. Despite the things I've already mentioned about his behaviour, up until now I have been able to maintain a level of respect for him as a person because of the humanitarian and charity work he's done. He seems like someone who really does want to change the world for the better and I am in full support of that fact, so much so that I have supported TWO campaigns relating to him. I bought one of the Super Good t-shirts for the campaign he did with Michael Sheen (a true angel!), the SPN/Good Omens x-over to help homeless charities, and I chose the design with text only and not artwork of Michael and Misha on, basically because I didn’t want to be wearing something with Misha’s face on it and I make absolutely no apology for that, whatsoever. I also bought Alex's #TheEndHasNoEnd shirt, which some of the profits went to Random Acts who do great work, so again, despite not liking Misha I still willingly contributed for a cause bigger than me, and to support Alex, who I absolutely ADORE. I'm aware that Stands aren't popular with some of the fandom, however since most of the cast of SPN are happily affiliated with them then I don't feel it's my place to either judge, or to discuss topics I know next to nothing about. But I digress, as a decent human being I have shown support tangentially to a man who I don't care for out of respect for the work he does outside the fandom. Telling you this isn’t to paint myself in a good light - I don’t need your approval, I’m a big girl, unlike some I don’t need constant validation! - only to provide background on how I’ve actively *not* hated on Misha.

Now though, any respect I had for him has come to an abrupt end, the events of the past 24 hours has seen to that. Whilst I have been annoyed at his behaviour in regards to shipping, I don't feel it's ever gone this far, or at least not that I've seen first hand. This man has, IMO, contributed to so much toxicity in the fandom by way of things I've mentioned before, he's claimed - without actually saying the words - that Wincest fans weren't interested in him as a character when he came onto the show, and hasn’t felt included because of the fans’ love of the brothers. Um, hate to break it to you, love, but when you come onto an established show that is about two people, and you’re a *guest star* you can’t expect everyone to love you. Some characters we as individuals do fall in love with straight away (Bobby, Charlie, Crowley and Rowena are good examples for me), it takes time to establish a dynamic, so if that’s how he felt then it was incredibly naive of him as an actor to expect instant acceptance from anyone. Also, why wait until after the show finished to bring it up AGAIN … oh wait, yeah, that would be to step back into the limelight in a way intended to garner sympathy from Minions and INTENTIONALLY piss off bro fans and Wincest shippers alike? How fucking self centred, desperate and disrespectful do you have to be to shit all over the finale of a show that for the most part accepted you and kept you in paid work for 12 years? Well, Misha Collins levels of all of those things, obviously.

So, on the topics of self centred, desperate to stay relevant, attention seeking and being oh so needy, the tweet yesterday from Amazon mentioned Castiel. He wasn’t tagged in it, so I refer to my earlier comment about searching online, because how else would he have possibly seen that? It’s possible someone sent it to him, I appreciate that, but if we go off past behaviour it’s not any stretch at all to believe that didn’t happen. So, once again, having seen the tweet he took it upon himself to - oh so predictably - turn it into something relating to Destiel. When I saw it I immediately rolled my eyes and thought ‘here we go again’, but then also had a little smile because I really liked the fact that he explicitly mentioned Wincest, therefore seeming to accept that his poor old dead horse wasn’t the only one in the race. I actually mentally tipped my hat to him then because it appeared that he’s matured enough to acknowledge by name the ship that predates his inclusion on the show. Great, I thought, this is a positive thing in a sea of negativity surrounding the man and his sunken ship, because what followed was Wincest trending in the US (it may also have been other countries as well but I had to sleep!) … largely due to the fact that Hellers were responding to it, calling him out on mentioning the dreaded ‘W’ word. I’ll repeat that because it’s been a rare occurrence up to that point… the Minions were actually disappointed with their overlord for mentioning another ship. We all know what they think of it and I for one, don’t give a flying fuck about their opionion. Ship and let ship, it’s all fun (or meant to be) so we have different tastes, that’s life kiddiwinks, deal with it. I mean, you really don’t have much of an example set for you when your king has proven several times over to be one of the biggest obnoxious brats out there, but just give it a try for your own sakes, yeah? Awesome, good on you, besties!

An unexpected development - to my joy and that of other Wincest shippers - them doing that got the topic trending, only *kept* trending by the fact that were all coming online asking why it was trending. Wincest shippers barely lifted a finger, we just flooded each other’s timelines with lovely content and basked in the Hellers - and Misha - shooting themselves in the foot, which was awesome. But did the vitriol stop? No. Did he get the attention he so clearly craves? Yes. Was it in the way he wanted? Fuck no, so poor, emotionally wounded baby backtracked after seeing that his name was trending alongside Wincest because that’s *so* not what someone narcissistic to do it in the first place, wanted.

Now here’s where I could easily have just moved on with an unusually fond chuckle, giving him an ironic pat on the back and a ‘thanks, Misha’ for being the one to instigate hours of fun, but once again his despicable behaviour made that impossible. It’s been more than obvious for many years that he cares more about what his fans think than anything else to do with the show and the fandom in a larger sense, but to delete the tweet and APOLOGISE for daring to be so insensitive to the snowflakes’ delicate sensibilities for mentioning Wincest in the first place was absolutely disgusting. Stating , “I used a term that I had never really given any thought to other than, "that's a thing?! Yuck." is not only complete and utter bullshit, it’s pandering of the highest order.

We all know he has referred to Wincest on multiple occasions, so to say he hadn’t thought about is a flat out lie, which IMO is an insult to everyone, not just Wincest shippers. Does the man have no self respect at all, why would you contradict yourself in the face of such overwhelming evidence? Instead of either ignoring all the people calling him out, or addressing it with another tweet saying ‘yeah, that happened’ or something similar he chose, I repeat, CHOSE the route of claiming he didn’t realise he was being offensive to people who felt ‘triggered’ by him using the word Wincest. He basically shat all over an entire ship and large sector of the fandom in an attempt to appease his own fan base which consists of a lot of children (or those that act like children) who have no idea what RL is like.

Once again, he’s reinforced the idea that if you shout loud enough at someone just because you don’t like something they said, they will back down and apologise for something even when there’s nothing to apologise for. If he wants to be such a role model then he could easily have pointed out that a fictional ship doesn’t condone RL incest, any ACTUAL trauma people have suffered because of RL situations, and made an effort to make sure people understand that. He COULD have used it as an opportunity to do some good in the fandom by encouraging people to build bridges, to accept that people are entitled to their beliefs and that sometimes we see things differently but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t treat others with BASIC HUMAN DECENCY because of it. Instead he YET AGAIN chose to show that he cares more about what Minions think of him, keeping them onside to constantly stroke his unbelievably fragile ego in everything he does.

It is my understanding that Misha is big on (or claims to be big on) putting positive energy out into the world, treating people with respect, helping others and accepting people for who they are, not who you want them to be… all this after YEARS of consistently practising what he preaches only when it suits him. He sends out a message that it’s perfectly OK to bully, to spread hate, to draw attention to yourself at the cost of others, to throw colleagues and friends under the bus and at the same time use them to further your own agenda and get hits for your YouTube channel. Is this really the legacy he wants to leave? Is this an environment he wants his own kids to grow up in as well as future generations? Is this what he thinks is a valuable contribution as a human being? JFC, the arrogance, hypocrisy and the need for constant validation this man exhibits is nothing short of cringeworthy… actually it’s beyond that. It’s deplorable behaviour, it’s not new, and he will continue to act like this for as long as he’s being enabled and this harmful cycle needs to end.

I have friends IRL and online who are (now, possibly, were) big Misha fans, who have supported him from either the beginning of his run on the show, or since they started watching, and this is how he repays this behaviour? He’s willfully alienating decent people (including multishippers) all to make himself look good by being seen to do everything he can not to offend people. Spoiler alert, you DID offend people, you continue to do so time and again and we’ve had enough. I can’t imagine how exhausting it must be to be such a perpetual people pleaser, but let me say it’s not doing you any favours in any way, shape or form.

Misha, you are *not* a role model, you’re *not* someone to look up to when you can't live up to the ideals you preach. You’re spitting in the face of people who have supported you even after some questionable things in the past, who gave you the benefit of the doubt because we’re all human and we all make mistakes. The key to growing as a person is not to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, understanding *why* what you said and/or did was a mistake and making a concerted effort to make changes. I don’t ever see you doing that, you will continue down this path of only caring about Minions under the guise of caring for people in general. You are transparent, you are sad and despite the fact I’ve never particularly liked you, I didn’t speak up because I didn’t want to get involved in the drama. Well now I have spoken up and I’m saying you’re a disgrace, you have no respect for other people and nobody is fooled anymore. If it hadn’t been this tweet it would have been something else, but I for one am glad it happened so soon after the show ended so we can finally be rid of the limpet-like behaviour. It’s over, let it go for the sake of what dignity you might have left, for the sake of your family and friends and for the sake of anyone who isn’t capable of seeing through your ‘it’s a joke’ mentality.

You have been weighed, you have been measured and you have been found wanting. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, Misha.

For anyone who made it to the end of my ramble, thank you. This has been a cathartic exercise and I’m drawing a line under it now, I don’t think I could possibly make my thoughts any clearer. I urge you not to get caught up in any petty squabbles with his Minions, let’s celebrate J2 and other cast and crew members who have shown us all respect and who I am proud to call part of the SPN family. There’s always one member of the family who needs to be frozen out for the good of everyone else.

#ficforthought speaks #sorry not sorry #i spent way too long on this #purging the poison

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nagisasstunningpersonality · 3 years

Text

Retranslation and Analysis of That Fight Scene

So firstly, I just want to say the subs are not bad and convey the general meaning very well, in a way that sounds natural in English. That being said, there's always some things that get lost in literal translation, and I really want to demonstrate how much depth the Japanese in this scene actually has for Karma and Nagisa's characters.

Basically the TLDR point here is that this fight is very much not about Korosensei. This is completely platonic, I promise I resisted making any shippy points.

Karma: Hey, Nagisa kun, aren't you getting extremely carried away?

Nagisa: Eh? (definitely surprised and bewildered)

Karma: The number one strongest assassin in Class E is Nagisa kun, isn't it? (uses yo here, which suggests confidence in the statement). Are you (very directly yourself, your own thoughts) wanting to quit assassination? Let's think about the talentless others who are desperately trying their hardest to kill him. When you put it like that, it's like a woman who 'has it' telling the ugly ones that they should honestly quit being so desperate to get a boyfriend, that kind of feeling?"

So some interesting analysis here is that Karma says "zuibun", or extremely, when the original translation is "a tad". The translation feels more natural in English, however it kind of makes me feel that Karma's trying to make more of a point. Nagisa has the right to be making suggestions and stepping up, but he's gone so far this time it's crossed a line.

I think 才能がないなり (talentless, saino ga nai nari) is also very interesting. Talent is the best translation, but if you look at the kanji very literally, there's "genius" and "ability". This specific word choice more implies that the other assassins are good, but Nagisa's just another level. Japanese grammar is confusing at best, but essentially 'nari' means become. So you take this as kind of like 'students who couldn't develop genius ability'.

The repetition of 'desperate' is also pretty interesting, linking the examples together better. It emphasises the point that they're kind of at a loss with. He also doesn't directly say attractive woman, he says "motteiru onna", which essentially means the same, but is literally "a woman who has (no object given but essentially 'it'). This more directly reflects to what he's saying about Nagisa, he HAS talent, this unspecified natural quality that makes him better than everyone else without trying.

There's also a lot more rhetorical questions in the Japanese, which got combined into single sentences in the English. The "let's think" thing is very literally what he says, like he's wanting Nagisa to actually consider his thoughts for himself.

Nagisa's original argument and intention may have been about Korosensei. Karma may be genuinely opposed to saving Korosensei. But that isn't the point of Karma's argument at all, he's making this about Nagisa because he's reached a limit with the both of them.

In order to spare you, more under the cut.

Nagisa: T-the aim wasn't... Above all, for assassination, your understanding is always better than mine

Karma: Saying that directly (take with slight pinch of salt - he could have also said "fixing your statement") is irritating. In reality, isn't it that you yourself are the most powerful, and you can't comprehend the feelings of weak humans?

Nagisa: That's wrong (also using affirmative yo here)! That's not what I said! These are my true feelings! Do you hate Korosensei? We went to see a movie together with him, didn't we have a variety of great times?!"

Karma: That's why, that octopus did his best to come and make a fun classroom every time, and didn't give up like Nagisa. Without bloodlust, this classroom wouldn't have been built. Can't you understand the effort?! It's not just your body, are you still a fresh elementary school student?

One thing to note here is that Nagisa isn't actually finishing his sentences. You can absolutely tell what he means because Japanese makes sense like that, but he's still dropping words. Or when he does say a full sentence, they're very short statements. He is desperate here, trying to prove a point he can't actually voice into words correctly.

The context here is that this is before we know their full backstory. Nagisa admired Karma, and he can't quite say it right yet. He thinks they're on different stages still, and Karma is frustrated because Nagisa doesn't see the point.

Karma, after all, does have this inhuman image of Nagisa in his head from years ago. The image of Nagisa looking like some kind of snake demon as he kills Karma in his sleep. He genuinely still, here, believes that Nagisa is purposely hiding this. That's why he keeps putting words into Nagisa's mouth. He's also cutting him off at points, not listening at all to what he's truly saying.

At the same time, Karma starts talking down to him. Instead of saying 'no' (how you'd end a sentence to a friend), he starts using 'kai', which is condescending and how you'd speak to a child. There's an argument here to be made for Karma doing this as a kind of defence mechanism too, but that's very complicated. At this point he really is just trying to get to him.

They are not arguing about killing Korosensei, not at all.

Karma: Huh?

Nagisa: *does the creepy eye thing*

Karma: Eh? What are those eyes? You with the social standing of a tiny female animal, are you defying a human?

Nagisa: I was just...

Karma: If you have a complaint, how about saying it after you win a fight for once? It's aimed at me, so come on. C'mon. C'mon. C'mon!

This is actually one of the most significant changes to the original.

This is the thing, Karma was never calling Nagisa a tiny mouse of whatever, he was just comparing him to one. Because he knows very clearly that Nagisa isn't like that. He sees that look in his eyes and it prompts him, in his frustration, to finally try and bring it out of Nagisa. He's trying to prove a point.

But then Nagisa stops himself. He lets go of his bloodlust for a moment, defaulting to Nagisa as we know and love him, literally turning his head away from Karma.

But Karma's too far gone at this point, he's dragged stuff up his past feelings about Nagisa, the ones he's been hiding for a year to be tentative friends with him, and now he can't let them go. He needs to see Nagisa's darker side plainly, no matter what that means.

It's also important that he says "it's aimed at me". I think this is a little deeper than literal. I think what he's implying here is this entire thing is somehow aimed at him, like Nagisa's trying to strip everything away just for his own perspective.

Obviously at this point Nagisa snaps and chokes him.

Nagisa internal thoughts: Even I...

Nagisa: I'm not going with half my feelings!

Karma: This guy...

This is also pretty significant. I'm surprised they cut the "even I" part because that says a lot about Nagisa's current feelings. He still doubts himself. He's aware that he's a pacifist, that he's got a lesser social standing, but Karma's put him into a position where he has to stand up for himself. And this is important to him.

Karma smiles when he says "this guy", getting ready to punch him. He feels like he's succeeded, in a way. Though at first he looked genuinely surprised Nagisa actually did it. There's a certain kind of satisfaction that finally he managed to bring Nagisa's 'true' self out.

Obviously at this point they get separated.

So what does all of this actually tell us? Well, pretty clearly here, this is just Karma's issues coming to light. But also a very helpful and useful moment for Nagisa's development as a character. Whether we agree with Karma using him as a punching bag or not, it genuinely does force Nagisa to get some self agency for once.

Karma and Nagisa will never be characters who sit around and talk honestly about their feelings. But even if they're using a whole situation to mask the fact that they very much are discussing their relationship here, it is still a significant moment where pretty much all the barriers they've been putting up against each other drop. They're just still not entirely on the same page through this scene.

Nagisa thinks Karma is just looking down on him and trying to pick a fight. He's baffled and confused as to why Karma feels so strongly against him.

Karma, on the other hand, thinks Nagisa is better than them all and is frustrated when he 'purposely' acts like he isn't. Karma still feels lied to from when they were kids. And he wants to expose it all, to get Nagisa to understand the position his skill puts him in. I honestly don't think Karma ever thought Nagisa was less than him at all, he just knew it would be an easy way to get a reaction. See how he flips tactic from "you're the best here" to "you're a tiny animal" when Nagisa just went into denial the first time?

I'm not going to go into the whole of their actual full fight, but there's some interesting points that reflect back on all of this.

Korosensei saying "your own answer is right in front of you", basically demonstrating that this entire thing really is just Karma and Nagisa

The entire point of the fight was to get one hit in with a knife, but Karma decides to just continuously beat Nagisa instead. Which yeah, is pretty ineffective. Pretty much proves again that it wasn't about just taking a victory.

Karma took Nagisa's hits on purpose, maybe it can be argued that this is trying to make things last longer, to get Nagisa to actually work for it.

Nagisa demands that he listens to what he has to say. And that's right, because Karma was cutting him off originally.

Karma is a super strategist right? And he was genuinely shocked that Nagisa didn't use his bloodlust to take him down. This is Karma. Sure, he's allowed to make mistakes. But this is odd for him. He was so caught up in his own perspective of Nagisa just having that skill that unfairly made him better. But Nagisa literally throws that skill out and beats Karma on his own level, pretty much disproving him. Maybe Nagisa has this special ability, but he's also worked just as hard as everyone else. He's trained to know what assassination means.

Beating Karma like this, on a 'human' level, was pretty much it. Karma stopped fighting back when he realised that, because he was disproven, and pretty much every wall he put up against Nagisa got literally choked out of him. Karma is already known as kind of an ass and a dirty fighter, you really think he'd worry about the others not accepting it if he stabbed Nagisa fair and square? If he cared that much about killing Korosensei, he would have just done it.

Their fight was never about Korosensei.

#assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #ass class #karmagisa

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yeolmae-s · 3 years

Text

a chanbaek analysis from a veteran exo-l

before anything else there are a few disclaimers i'd like to make:

i am writing this analysis right now because as a non exo stan i'm not into chanbaek that much anymore. of course i like them to some degree since i'm writing this and all but it's nothing in comparison to the way i felt about them two years ago. so i feel like it's easier to keep a less clouded (?) state of mind being where i'm at right now, mentally, in regards to them. i feel like i can look at things more objectively, which is why i decided to write this and share it with you all.

for all the smart asses out there, this is a ship analysis. yes, i’m reading too much into everything. that’s what an analysis is.

all translation credits goes to @/fyeah-chanyeol

i'm a chanyeol stan. this analysis will, most likely, have more information about him in comparison to baekhyun. this is simply because i consumed more content about him since he's my bias (such as magazine interviews, fancams).

i don't stan exo anymore, but it's not because of anything they did. i liked them for a long time and made a lot of different friends because of this fandom, therefore i experienced a lot of hurt, scandals, fights and didn't deal very well with many things, so i decided to leave. this didn't happen because of exo themselves and neither did it happen because of the fandom itself. it happened because of the relationships i had.

that being said, i haven't been following them closely for the past year and a half, but i still keep up with stuff a bit, although not chanbaek related stuff since i gotta dive in kinda deeper for that lmao. so this analysis is mostly in depth for 2012-2018. if anything that you perceive as significant happened after 2018 i'm more than willing to hear your opinions about it.

so, let's get started!!

MAMA ERA

I have always felt like Chanyeol and Baekhyun's relationship was strange. I started shipping them when they debuted and more specifically because of the 130128 ISAC. When I was younger I didn't see a lot to discuss in their ISAC interactions besides it being cute and shippy, but I've started to look at it differently now.

I think everyone knows how ISAC is known for being basically a stage for fanservice. The whole "dating ground for idols" issue aside, judging from the amount of attention they direct towards the fans who manage to attend the event, idols are clearly instructed to perform fanservice. EXO's first ISAC had to be full of it, obviously, and they did give fans a lot to be happy about, content we still get giddy about to this day, and I'm sure they were instructed to act like this to please us. I don't believe that fanservice equals "false interactions": if two individuals are talking, touching each other, they are interacting, even if it is a carefully planned setting made specifically for pleasing fans. They still get reactions out of one another through these interactions, it is still relevant to the way these people's relationship will develop; even though these acts are done with the intent of pleasing a crowd.

Don't get me wrong, though. I don't think the 2013 ISAC fanservice changed anything in Chanbaek's relationship. In fact, I just want to use it as a way to illustrate something I will explain later on.

To be remembered in an industry you must have an image. You won't be getting anywhere without a carefully constructed visual image. Marilyn Monroe is always used as an example of this: she's someone you can easily make a costume of and people will instantly recognize it as her. She's basically a concept by now: blonde hair, red lips and white hair. These aspects take our mind back to her instantly. Of course, most celebrities don't achieve this type of icon status, but it is still important to cling to a specific concept/image of what you want your celebrity self to be perceived as. Without this, you'll be forgotten as soon as your career ends.

When Chanyeol debuted, he clung to the first trait they gave him: being a happy person, a.k.a "happy virus". If you were not an EXO fan back in 2013 then it's likely you're not even aware of this nickname that was given to him, but it's basically just what it sounds like (lol). He was bright, energetic, had a "teeth rich" smile (another nickname that was given to him back then), was able to give 10/10 laughter reactions to MCs and to his members jokes, was always enthusiastic to interact and smile towards fans. He even introduced himself as "happy virus Chanyeol" in interviews (and later on that changed to "EXO's voice Chanyeol" or "EXO's rapper Chanyeol").

I feel like Chanyeol was very much aware of this "must have" that I mentioned, this need to have an image pasted into yourself and have that image be what people will remember you as. We're all complex and multifaceted individuals, but the general public needs something simple to grab on to, something easy to remember. That happy guy from EXO? I know who he is! I'm sure this is the path Chanyeol chose, back when he debuted: to pick a trait given to you by the public and make it a huge part of your image.

However, that image of him didn't last very long. It certainly became tiring to worry so much about how he was being perceived, to carefully construct something so his career would last, specially when his group had so many scandals and went through a sudden burst of popularity that changed their lives completely. By 2017, Chanyeol already had a change of mind in relation to his career, these changes being mostly due to how he felt about music and what he wanted to do with it.

He recognized himself as having always being impatient, which might be the reason why he clung to a specific image so fast right after debuting:

From Fall Magazine in 2017

"At the moment I just want to enjoy myself with the music as it comes, without feeling as though I have to do something. It isn’t a greed from impatience, I could call it more of a greed to do better."

"When I first debuted I thought I was very optimistic, but as time has passed I think a more reserved side of me is showing."

"I think I've grown in many ways. Maybe it’s because it’s as though I perform everyday, but the stage has become comfortable for me. Shall we say I’ve become more calm and composed? [...] I think I’ve become more mature."

He matured. He's still bright and energetic but he's also more reserved. He managed to keep up the fanservice that his fans adore in a way that is more fitting to his actual personality. It still is an image, but an image that's not as exhausting as his previous one, with its strict demands to act in a certain way all the time. I remember specific interview with MCs demanding him to smile (although jokingly, of course) saying things like "Aren't you EXO's happy virus?", so I'm sure he felt pressured.

This is interesting to think about when put side by side with his relationship with Baekhyun. Back when they debuted, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were close friends that clearly felt comfortable with each other, and it isn't surprising to think that Baekhyun would be Chanyeol's first pick when he thought about doing fanservice with someone. Of course, I can't exactly pinpoint their first fanservice moment since I'm not a walking EXO encyclopedia anymore, but I can say with certainty that both of them felt like it worked as soon as they first tried it with the fans, and that's the reason why they kept doing it. Conveniently, they were both good friends, so all was good.

Until well, it wasn't.

At some point, Chanyeol's interactions with Baekhyun seemed too eager for Baekhyun himself. There are various moments where this is visible, such as this one:

Why are you grabbing my wrist out of nowhere young man........

Or...

That one pic where Jongdae, who was in front of them, looked so damn uncomfortable I can't even bring myself to google it

Of course, they had some over the top fanservice that did work out pretty well, such as this one, both of them imitating Jonghyun's and Taemin's Internet War stage, which seems a little scripted now that I look at it properly, with Baekhyun seemingly expecting Chanyeol to do whatever it is that he did on that day. (Can you imagine this: both of them backstage, watching Jonghyun's and Taemin's performance in silence, and one of them just blurts out "We should do that too!". What the fuck was going on)

By the way, if you have never seen the original Internet War performance, you can watch it here.

This is what they were imitating.

Tumblr won’t let me upload the gifs for this moment for some reason, so here and here.

You can't tell me Baekhyun wasn't expecting it already, lol.

Now, know what this moment reminds me of? ISAC. On their Internet War imitation moment, Baekhyun seemed fine, playful, even, agreeing. During ISAC, however, doing basically the same thing again (this time on a lighter way even; since they weren't, you know. Imitating a strong performance such as Internet War.), he appears reluctant. It's a bit painful to watch.

What changed? The ISAC event happened a few months after the SMTOWN concert where they did the Internet War thing, so what made things become so different?

If this has enough likes I’ll make a second part!

#i got tired halfway through writing and i decided i needed some motivation to finish this so i'm posting it the way it is lmao #chanbaek #baekyeol #park chanyeol #byun baekhyun #exo #kpop

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sweetea-rosey · 3 years

Note

Ooo hi I saw you take requests? I have a writing request if you want to :))

So here is my idea:

Remus has a notebook given to him by the other sides to write his thoughts down in. See, Remus has clear impulse control problems so this notebook of for him to write his thoughts down instead of just doing and saying whatever comes to mind. It gives him a chance to think about it. Sometimes, maybe like once a week give or take a few days one of the other sides will sit down with him and read his thoughts with him just to make him feel validated and heard. Well this particular time one of the sides (of your choice) sat down with the notebook and found some rather interesting things.

Now, you can take this one of two ways (it’s really all up to you!)- You can make this something angsty (hurt comfort), or you can make it something shippy! It can be any Remus ship you want but I personally am more partial to intrulogical hehe 💙💚

Take your time and have fun with it!! Have a good day :)

Ah! Ty for the request! I started writing it on the day you submitted it, but Tumblr deleted it after a while of not saving :') so now my motivation to do this is deterred

Anyway, this'll be my first time not writing something Roman centric =w=""

Remus held the book in his hands. He remembered the day Roman gave it to him, when he risked traveling into the dark scape because he knew his brother needed this. Because he did, too.

An outlet.

A place for his monstrosities to be, other than inside his head, allowed to torture him to their best abilities. The illusions his mind creates are no longer just in his eyes. It's no longer insanity- it's creativity. The journal isn't the first one. But he and Roman make sure to keep eachother stocked up; they get filled rather quickly. The Imagination holds an entire library dedicated to their filled journals from over the years.

The journals have also become sort of diaries to them. So, imagine what were to happen if one of them got lost? The possibility of their secrets being seen by unbidden eyes.

Remus burst into Roman's room, "Ro!"

Roman jumped from his spot at his desk, "Jeez- ! What is it?"

Oddly, for Remus, he seemed almost anxious, "Have you seen my latest journal?"

Ah, that explains it. Roman understands the severity of losing something that holds your private thoughts. He stood up from his desk chair, turning to face Remus better, "No, I haven't. Is it missing?"

Remus nodded, unable to speak through the panic coursing through his veins, the hormone mixing with the feeling of the plasma we call blood rushing through veins and arteries, rest in his heart, which is thumping with vigor, the- Remus shook himself. The imagery coming on its own with nothing to do with it, "Thoughts, thoughts thoughts, thoughts, blood, where? Everywhere? It is me, I am thoughts and blood and gore and death and slime, and..."

Roman pulled his brother in, the physical touch of his second half grounding him, finally balanced out with his brother there to help him.

"Breathe, Ree...I get it...I'll help you look for it, okay? Do you have any spare journals?"

Remus shook his head. He had just started this one, he was too busy brainstorming on the pages to remember to restock.

"Okay, do you have the focus to conjur any, right now?"

Remus shook his head again. No no, of course not! He's too focused on the one that's missing!

"Alright, that's okay, Ree. I get it. Here, use this for now," As Roman spoke, he pressed a plain black book in the unstable man's hands, "Get some thoughts out on that, then we can start looking, okay?"

Instead of answering, he made the rest of the way into the prince's room and started letting the thoughts out.

"Feel better?"

Remus let out a breath and nodded, "A lot, thanks. Can we go look, now?"

"Of course, let's go."

It took hours. The sun was gone in Thomas' living room and they were still tearing the place apart, searching absolutely everywhere. Remus was tempted to just dismantle the mind palace and look through the stuff that gets left behind. The fear was boiling in his gut in the ocean of acid.

"What if we don't find it? My blood, sweat, and tears went into that book! Pieces of my heart are in there, I can't lose it, what if someone else finds it and reads it?"

Roman shuddered, because he didn't believe that Remus was being metaphorical, "I understand the severity of the situation, Ree. We should go look in the Lightside, now..."

Remus shrugged as much as his slumped posture will allow, "Sure..."

"We'll find it, Ree..."

"That's not what I'm worried about. If I lose it? Fine, I have others, I can start a new one. I'm scared of someone else finding it and reading it... there's things in there I don't want others seeing..."

"I get it, you know I do. We'll get it back before anyone else can even know it exists, alright?"

Remus just shrugged off his comforting hand, "Stupid prince, always making promises you don't even know if you can keep. Don't do that to yourself and don't do it to me. I'm not stupid enough to fall for that shit."

Roman recoiled, almost physically, "Sometime, people just need reassurance."

"And then, when you're wrong? I know you don't like breaking promises, Princey."

"...Then hopefully we'll figure it out."

"You're such a fucking optimist, it's gross."

Roman rolled his eyes, "I'm helping you look, be nice, you doofus."

"Oh wow, "doofus", I'm so offended," Remus said without much effort.

Roman ignored him.

"It's not HERE!" Remus screamed, a pot crashing through the wall.

Roman manged to muffle the noise and quickly put it back together, "We will, this was only the first room in the Lightside. You need to calm down."

"I can't! What if someone else already found it and read it? What if they hate me? What if they never wanna talk to me again because nothing in there makes sense, what-"

Roman caught his hands, "Woah! Woah...Remus, when did you start caring so much about what the others think of you?"

"I don't!"

"But...-"

"I don't care about what Logan and the other think of me."

"Of what...Logan and the...? Remus...is this about Logan?"

Remus hesitated just long enough.

"Oh great Aphrodite, it is..."

"Aphro-? NO! No, I don't!"

"Remus, is there something about Logan on that book?"

Remus said fuck it in his mind and sighed, "Yes... I...some fantasies...that he might not approve of..."

"Oh, Remus..."

"What if he finds out, and he...? He just doesn't...?"

Roman hit his brother on the head, "This is why you're a doofus. It doesn't matter if he finds it, you have nothing to worry about."

Remus rolled his eyes. Literally. He rolled them like dice and Roman had to look away, but got the message.

"How would you know?"

It was Roman's turn to roll his eyes (PROPERLY).

"I'm leaving you to figure that out. But, I do."

"Sure. Whatever. Asshole."

Roman moved on to look in the next room.

A flash of green leaped onto him and he was tumbling over, the item in his hands flying out.

"Remus!"

The man scrambled over and snatched the book up, "Did you read it?"

"I- no, Remus what is it?"

"It's mine. Roman, I found it!"

Roman? Since when do those two talk? But, as Remus said, Roman walked in.

"Oh, thank Hades."

"Logan had it."

Roman sucked in a breath, "Did he read it?"

Remus shook his head, relief is a weird expression on the man's face.

Logan wouldn't mind seeing it more.

"What is this about?"

Roman took the liberty of answering, "The book is Remus' and it's private. Reading it would be invasive."

"Oh, my apologies, then. But, I had just picked it up, it was left over from Remus' running through the room and into the Imagination, along with some other debris I cleaned up."

"It's alright, nerd."

Logan's gaze lingered on Remus a bit, before he bid his farewells, reminded Roman of some work he needs to do by Friday, then left.

"Y'know," Roman said as they turned to walk back, "You could tell him how you feel."

Remus scoffed, "I'm not self destructive, like you, RoRo."

Ignoring Remus' jabs is difficult for the prince, nevertheless, "And do, pray tell, how it's self destructive?"

"Because he'll say no and that will hurt. I don't like when things actually hurt. I'm not risking him hating me even more."

"Woah, woah, he doesn't hate you."

"Doesn't he? I'm chaotic, irrational, vile, ik everything he fights to keep under control."

Roman digested this and thought hard on how best to explain this, "But that's exactly why you two are perfect for each other. You help him let loose when he's being a stick in the mud and he helps you keep in control of yourself and stay organized.

"You're delusional. He doesn't like me, he can't Ro. It goes against our very beings! Go ahead and fool yourself, but you can't do that to me. That's just cruel." Remus disappeared and Roman sighed as he tried to brush off his brother's words.

As the embodiment of romance, he thinks he'd know when a couple will work out or not. How will he convince his brother and Logan of that? He supposes he can't blame them for that, who would listen to the love advice of someone who loves someone that loves someone else? Kinda hypocritical.

"Just leave me alone!"

"Remus! Would calm down? Just listen to me!"

"No! You're a liar and I hate you! Do you want me to get hurt? You're an asshole you good for nothing prince!" He screamed. Why won't his brother let this go? Doesn't he see that everyone is better this way?

"Fine! You're right! Is that what you want to hear? Call me an asshole, call me stupid, call me evil or whatever! But I'm not wrong! Why don't you believe me? Ha! Why am I trying to reason with the self proclaimed unreasonable?"

Remus looked down from his perch on the guillotine, "Wait, RoRo-!" But he was gone.

"Fuck."

He rushed out, hoping to Loki that he didn't do too much damage.

"Roman!"

But he found who he wants looking for.

"Why are you screaming in the middle of the common room?" Came that cool and sexy voice.

"Looking for my brother, duh."

"Funny, I just spoke to him."

"Where'd he go?"

"Not sure, but he told me to stop being a robotic fake and confess to you."

"He- ? ROMAN!" Remus summoned a hammer and maybe there's a new hole in the wall.

"He was right, surprisingly."

Remus was not expecting that, "Come again?"

"I have noticed, over the course of our interactions, that I have developed feelings that I didn't recognized until Roman brought them to my attention. Remus...I have romantic feelings for you."

And it was the last casual and calculated confession Remus ever heard. He imagined something with ropes. But it was the best thing he ever heard. He didn't expect to be crying.

"Remus?"

"I like you, too..."

Logan brightened and stood up, his heart beating unnaturally, yet pleasently, as he moved closer, "Then... perhaps we...?"

But before he could finish, Remus pulled him in and there was no need for words.

Part 2 with what happened with Roman afterwards?

Ty so much for the request and I apologies for the long wait.

@fireflyjunkie

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vickyvicarious · 4 years

Note

do u have any atla fic recs? all time faves? can be shippy or not

Fun fact, I am incapable of holding back on reclists. In other words: brace yourself, anon. There’s a reason I put most of this behind a cut.

First off, these are almost all Zuko-centric, because I shamelessly play favorites. I’ll sort them by author rec, gen, shippy, and then by other characters because honestly the numbers break down well that way. Within those categories it’ll be more just as I think of it, so no special meaning to the order. I’m not always good about bookmarking even my faves, so some excellent stuff will no doubt be missing, especially since I haven’t read a lot of the more recent stuff yet/forgot some really old stuff, but this will definitely still give you plenty of fic to enjoy.

There’s a good number of FFN links on here so apologies to people who dislike it, but a lot of great stuff is still on there so give it a chance.

Author recs

Everything by @awesomeavocadolove Such hits as Another Brother (Zuko adopted by Hakoda pre-S1), and currently has a Zukka soulmate fic I’ve been meaning to start reading, as well as Unchained Melody, one of my favorite Zukka fics ever. Always quality, you can’t go wrong.

Everything by KimberlyT. I do not kid. She’s written a variety of ATLA fic ranging from Zutara/other romance to gen, seriously emotional to cracky cabbagebending. I think my favorite is probably Mismatched (S1 Zuko adopts a baby) but honestly just go read it all.

Everything by @emletish-fish. She has a very fun writing style and honestly her end-of-chapter notes on why she’s made the choices she has are fun minimetas worthwhile in their own right. Some of her top fics are the Stalking Zuko series (S3 suspicious Katara to Zutara) and The Worst Prisoner (the Gaang kidnaps Zuko in S1 and can’t get rid of him). I think there’s still a good amount of her fic that can only be found on FFN so check there too.

Everything by @botherkupo. Especially her Undying Fire series (healer!Zuko) but also just literally everything she writes, it is all so great. Tends toward Zutara but strong gen fics as well sometimes and a lot of fun. Check it all out!

Everything by @muffinlance. Loves to toy with her readers’ emotions in the best of ways. Tons of fantastic gen Zuko-centric AUs, I have adored every single fic I’ve ever read by her, can’t praise them enough. Very productive as well, her tumblr is a hub for the ATLA renaissance and her fics inspire lots of others. Has also organized a fanmade ATLA coloring book for charity so get that once it’s out. In the meantime read everything she’s written.

Everything by Haicrescendo. My favorite is What We’re Given (the series where Zuko finds more air bisons and raises them), but there’s a lot of good Zukka fic too. I tend to steer away from explicit works in this fandom unless it’s a smaller part of a much longer plot-centric fic, so there are a number I haven’t read, but I really like the Pokemon!AU Zukka.

Everything by @gaycinema. I really love the EK fight club series (Zuko fights in Rumbles/etc.) but all of it is a good read. Some Jetko, mostly a lot of introspective or emotional oneshots. Which isn’t really a great depiction of how good they tend to be, you’ll just have to read them and find out. You won’t regret it, trust me.

Everything by @captainkirkk. So far eight stellar fics, starting with kind Fire Lord Zuko and ranging to Floating Tea Shop!Zuko who doesn’t want to hunt the Avatar. I love her style and have laughed out loud at multiple of these.

Gen Zuko fic

Bringing Out the Blue by maguena1. [unfinished, long] Definitely worth the read. The first ATLA fic I ever got really sucked into. The Blue Spirit never gets knocked out so Aang doesn’t know his true identity; he joins the Gaang on a recurring basis, while Zuko attempts to tell himself this is only for information on how to catch them, they definitely aren’t his friends.

It’s Impossible by Sandra Phillips. [abandoned, long] One of the earliest Avatar!Zuko fics (sort of) and a really interesting take on some spirit stuff.

Embers by Vathara. [complete, long] A landmark fic in the fandom, and for good reason. I didn’t love everything about this fic, but it is very well-written and an absorbing read certainly worth the praise.

the art of description by incandescens. [oneshot, short] Five descriptions of Zuko and Toph’s field trip from various perspectives. Short, sweet, and funny.

Breaking Point by Kryal. [oneshot, short] Zuko isn’t banished but instead sent to serve in the Home Guard. I love Zuko loving his people, and alternate canon explorations, and this is exactly that.

The Alternative by Lunatique. [oneshot, short] The reason Zuko is so determined is because he fears what will happen if he isn’t the next Fire Lord. An idea I support in canon, to a degree, written well.

Hands and Knees by gigerisgod. [oneshot, short] Zuko reflects on the choices he’s made, and experiences he’s had, when joining the Gaang. A nice introspective fic.

Relative Misery by peroxidepest17. [oneshot, short] Toph complains about her family and Zuko takes her on a field trip. Not a fic I take too seriously, but funny in a sad way.

Second Nature by lazyartisan. [possibly abandoned, long] An AU stemming from Zuko’s capture at the North Pole. Well-written and characterized, an old favorite that I actually find needing to reread to give you more detail, but I can promise it’s good.

Year One by peroxidepest17. [oneshot, short] Lessons Zuko learns in his first year being Fire Lord. I really like explorations of Zuko’s journey as Fire Lord and this is a lovely little window into that.

Soft by PenPistola. [oneshot, short] Zuko and Toph bonding after the Ember Island Players. Short and sweet.

The New Phoenix King by JoeMerl. [oneshot, short] Fire Lord Zuko is overthrown, and no one but him is bothered at all. In fact they help. Hilarious crack.

First Name Basis by JoeMerl. [oneshot, short] There’s some popular posts going around Tumblr lately about Zuko not knowing the Gaang’s names, but this fic did it first back in 2008. As amusing as you’d expect.

Male Bonding by glamaphonic. [oneshot, short] The original ‘Zuko and Sokka bond and are also dumb idiot boys’ fic. Katara is permanently rolling her eyes.

it’s not the waking, it’s the rising by isamagicdragon, thegracious [ongoing, series, medium] Azulon tells Ozai to kill Azula instead of Zuko, which leads to heartwrenching fire sibs adventure. I haven’t caught up on the last chapter yet but god is it fantastic and also just a really interesting and new perspective on what could have happened.

Doe-Eyed by Anonymous. [complete, medium] Zuko is a baby, Azula is a loving big sister. More fire sibs and a great exploration on Azula’s POV of turning against Ozai.

kintsugi by discordiansamba. [ongoing, series, long] Zuko doesn’t have Iroh after being banished, and winds up hired as a guard to protect the frail Beifong daughter. Fantastic preseries Zuko+Toph found family fic.

Legacies by WildInkling. [ongoing, medium] Far in the future, a historian studies the journal of Fire Lord Zuko. Also, he was secretly a famous author but no one knows. A funny and poignant outsider POV.

#UndercoverZuko series by naggeluide. [complete, series, short] A completely cracky concept written straight enough to be actually quite touching in parts, but also just really funny. Zuko goes Undercover Boss on his ship pre-series.

Avatar Ficlets by JaggedCliffs. [series, oneshots, short] An ongoing series of disconnected oneshots, mostly post-canon and mostly Zuko-centric. Some a pretty fun, one is a great view on Zuko and lightningbending, all worth the read (and follow for when more come out).

The Blind Leading the Blue by BrusselsSprout. [ongoing, medium] An epic Zuko and Toph field trip set in S2. I love them and this.

half in the shadows, half burned in flames by r_astra. [oneshot, short] Iroh dies, Zuko gets caught on the Day of Black Sun, everything ends up all right but damn does it hurt getting there.

A Tale of Earth and Fire by chiiyo86. [complete, medium] Zuko and Toph are married for Politics in a FN Wins AU, and follows them slowly bonding as friends to beginning a revolution. They’re married but it’s not romantic, just some good friendship.

Eight Principles of Yong by psocoptera. [oneshot, short] An exploration of immediate post-show FN politics (sort of), calligraphy, and Zuko. Also has some lovely non-fighting firebending; I always love when people explore other uses of bending.

Healing Properties of Cinder Sage by Dawen. [oneshot, short] Zuko gets very sick in the Western Air Temple. Some good interaction when he’s new to the Gaang, and Toph+Zuko friendship.

We Ourselves Must Walk The Path by WinterSky101. [complete, medium] The Gaang agrees to make Zuko their prisoner in the WAT. Speaking of new-to-the-Gaang, tension, this fic has plenty of it, and also features some good Toph and Zuko.

Frozen by Aris Merquoni. [oneshot, medium] Zuko is captured in the NWT. Some politics, lots of angst, and eventually, healing. Also actually makes me somewhat like Hahn? Incredibly enough.

Reluctant Hero by PAW_07. [ongoing, long] Avatar!Zuko fic. I got to beta it way back when for a little while before I got too busy, and have always been a huge fan of this fic. Great concept, one of the best executions of it I’ve seen, and also one of the first. Definitely read this.

Morality Chain by Pureauthor. [abandoned, long] Azula and Zuko were always on each other’s side; how this changes canon. I love this concept and would happily read a lot more fics with it (please guys, I need more fire sibs).

A viper-lizard’s tales series by Yumi_Take. [ongoing, long] The world needs more of Zuko adopting pets and small children, and those are just facts. This only has one of the two, but it’s a EK baby! Jet plays a big role in this fic as well, a weird kind of uncle-ish to the baby/friend/murderer Zuko needs to watch closely and hold back kind of thing.

(life happens) wherever you are by howlikeagod. [ongoing, long] Katara doesn’t find Zuko and Iroh in the teashop, and canon takes a sharp left turn. Excellent Gaang fic.

The Best Path series by EudociaCovert. [series, ongoing, long] Zuko meets Jet in ‘Zuko Alone’ and winds up getting claimed as theirs by the remaining Freedom Fighters. Really really well-written, I got quite emotional over some scenes.

Shippy Zuko fic

Balm by Thyme In Her Eyes. [Maiko, oneshot, short] A sweet little fic about Mai’s thoughts on Zuko’s lightning scar.

The Black Games by Mrs. Pettyfer. [Zutara, complete, long] Hunger Games-esque AU. It’s the first in a series, and I lost interest after this one but I remember enjoying the fic and it was more personal preference rather than a drop in quality that had me leaving.

Lie To Me by Inkcharm. [Toko, oneshot, short] I’m not actually a fan of this pairing romatically (at least until years down the line), but this little fic of Toph and Zuko bonding through lying to one another is sweet. I choose to ignore the more shippy parts and enjoyed it.

Zutara? What the heck is that? by Ryxl. [Zutara, oneshot, short] Complete crack, have a good sense of humor and I think you will enjoy. Just the mental image of the Gaang finding a Zutara propaganda flyer had me chuckling.

The Three Chores series (1, 2, 3) by Fandomme. [Zutara, threeshot, short] Zuko and Katara slowly bond as he helps with chores. I will admit it’s been years and I barely remember this, but what I do recall is lovely and I always appreciate people lightening Katara’s load.

read the inscription by suzukiblu. [Zuko/Song, complete, series, medium] When Zuko is banished, he is left alone in the Earth Kingdom to fend for himself. Very touching, and I love Song in this.

Hooked by TGP. [Jetko, complete, long] A classic ‘Jet didn’t see Iroh warming his tea’ fic. They’re almost all this premise but so many well-written and very long ones.

Something To Hold Onto by Wildgoosery. [Jetko, complete, long] The EK fell and Li stayed to fight with the Freedom Fighters to protect the city during its foreign rule. Jet didn’t see the tea fic that goes very AU from canon.

Foxfire by Rahar_Moonfire. [Jetko, ongoing, long] Zuko loses his memories Jetko fic, but with heavy spirit influence and lovable EK OCs, both of which I adore and should be in far more fics.

Once Upon A Teashop by anaer. [Zukka, Jetko, ongoing, long] Cracky Ba Sing Se AU that gets gradually more and more serious. Jet hits on Zuko a lot and Sokka gets a job in the teashop to keep an eye on both of them. Endgame Zukka but heavy Jetko, and both pairings are handled pretty well, not a love triangle that makes me too mad, although as always bear in mind Jet’s messed up.

Names by TGP. [Jetko, complete, long] I feel like I’m forgetting some more excellent Amnesia!Zuko fics, but this is one I do know of. To be honest I don’t remember it super well because it may be mixed up with other Jetko/amnesia fics in my mind, but I think it was really good. I’ll have to reread myself.

Epistles by Lady_of_the_Flowers. [Zukka, ongoing, long] I love epistolary fic and I love Zuko and Sokka bonding earlier in canon. I will be honest I haven’t read this in a long time and been updating all the while, but the premise alone (Zuko and Sokka become messenger-hawk-pals in S1 and then fall in love) is fantastic.

Ozymandias, King of Kings by Think_of_a_Wonderful_Thought. [Zukka, ongoing, long] Zuko rebels earlier and actually is sent to the mines, until he is ‘rescued’ by the Water Tribe. Dark but getting lighter over time, and more reluctant-to-rule Zuko which always wrenches my heartstrings. I prefer super loyal and dutiful to his people Zuko but this trope always makes me feel things.

Crossovers

Fallen Drops of Fire by Chasmfiend. [Fullmetal Alchemist, ongoing] Young Azula and Zuko somehow appear in Amestris, and encounter Roy Mustang. I adore the fire sibs, and their relationship in this strange situation is the star of this fic for me, but it’s also fun seeing the FMA perspective of these two.

The Dragon-King’s Temple by Kryal. [Stargate SG-1, long, complete] The best crossover fic out there. Zuko and Toph get stranded on the other side of a Stargate. I don’t know anything about SG-1 but it didn’t matter, the fic was fantastic, they were badasses, it explored language and culture from an outside perspective, and it was just a ton of fun. Must-read.

Other character fic

Loyalty by Julia451. [oneshot, short] The ship captain didn’t misspeak when he called Iroh and Zuko “prisoners” in the start of S2. A lovely look at a nameless character, giving depth to a small moment and humanity to a FN soldier which I always love.

The Only One by HarlowR. [oneshot, short] An excellent exploration of Azula’s mindset regarding Zuko, her desperate need to be loved and jealousy of him matching his own. I think Azula was one of the greatest tragedies of the show, and this fic makes me feel it.

Blood by theAsh0. [oneshot, short] Katara-centric thinkpiece on bloodbending and healing. Dark but really interesting.

Touch and Go by Cadence. [oneshot, short] After Iroh’s struck by lightning, Toph doesn’t let Zuko drive them all away. A momentary alliance and the seeds of friendship. More Toph-focused but still heavy on the whole Gaang.

Shortcomings by Menamebephil. [oneshot, short] Iroh thoughts during his imprisonment, on the theme of mistakes. I love this man and don’t understand why I am so drawn to fic about him that makes me sad.

Watch And Review, Please by Becca Stareyes. [oneshot, short] The Ember Island Players receive some constructive criticism... sort of. Funny and quick.

Azula Redemption Trilogy (1, 2, 3) by Mistress of Sarcasm. [threeshot, short] Second person and deeply introspective, three short little fics delving into Azula’s head and bringing her closer to redemption.

Echoing Refrains by catie_writes_things. [oneshot, short] I really like nuanced explorations of the whole FN royal family. It’s perfectly fine to write Ozai as pure evil bastard, but exploring what might have been or how he got there, or even as in this fic his talent for music being inherited by Zuko is really interesting too. Iroh-centric.

our curse by ohmygodwhy, and the last dragon by thesometimeswarrior. [twoshot, complete, short] Stay away if you don’t like to cry. In the first Zuko learns Ozai is executing Iroh, and isn’t able to stop it; the second is even worse because it’s Iroh’s POV. I put this in the other characters section because honestly I adore the second fic even more than the first, but they are both fantastically written and will hurt you a very great deal.

Finally, I’m not quite bold enough to put my own fic on a reclist, but just shameless enough to mention I’ve written a few Avatar fics I quite like if anyone feels the desire to check them out on my AO3. ;) But seriously give love to all the rest of these, they deserve it. (And as I said, there’s lots more excellent stuff, this fandom is so prolific and well-written!)

#atla #atla fic #fic rec #reclist #replies #anonymous #i'm haunted by the feeling i've forgotten a lot of stuff #but honestly i need to stop this is huge already #enjoy anon #Anonymous

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