#is it gay to [spoiler] your narrative foil | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lunarharp · 1 year

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was bored, realised i care more about orufrey than anyone ever, then decided to work out my top 5 otps of all time and give them awards

(below) then i got drunk on power and judged them on even more categories... canon rating.. colour-coded rating (??) .. and the mysterious.. Fated Rating.

orufrey

-canon rating: 4/5

romantic narrative that can be reasonably assumed at this point to be “going somewhere” while technically ““not canon”“. i know what she is doing

-colour-coded: 6/5

no words. designed in perfect and homosexual complements. black & white = yin & yang. black hair white shirt black skirt. white hair black shirt white skirt. also they’re fire & water.. elemental coded. qif’s glasses are black & white too... everything about them represents them as a pair. and they both have gold & blue highlights. what is it going to be, white & black tuxes at the wedding or do witches get married in gowns. just skip to that chapter it’s fine

-fated rating: 5/5

The. Tassels. they chose to live together and entwine their lives around each other. it means MORE that it was choice and not fate. nuff said............... p.s. read my fic

ferdibert

-canon rating: 4/5

they can be implied to get married or they can kill each other depending on YOUR choices. 4 points for the chaos of that. would be 5/5 if the pair ending text wasn’t translated in a homophobic way

-colour-coded: 3/5

orange and black. looks good together so points for that. also those colours mean ferdibert forever to me i don’t care about halloween.

-fated rating: 2/5

they used to hate each other. and with slightly different happenstances in life they end up killing each other (with pathos). but that stuff means something in its own way so it’s fine they’re fine.

suipo

-canon rating: 5/5

they basically end up together and kiss at the ending 💗

-colour-coded: 4.5/5

blue & pink. perfect. beautiful. and they match as perfect complements in other ways too. both are named after sweets. suipo 4ever

-fated rating: 4/5

they just met randomly. BUT... they had to meet... they both needed to meet each other to advance their personal narratives. <3 +2 points for dying and ending up in heaven together cause that’s bonkers

wrightworth

-canon rating: 2/5

NOT CANON.....I GUESS.......i literally forget this though. designed by a BL creator or something and a stupidly gay narrative for Friends so how could you say 0/5 though

-colour-coded: 5/5

another pink & blue. or red & blue more broadly. incredible. great. they match in tons of ways. like the wedding rings that capcom made.

-fated rating: 6/5

childhood friends to whatever they are is worth 3/5 in and of itself, but then so many of their choices are literally about each other in such incredibly pathetically gay ways that it’s truly nuts.

joker/akechi

-canon rating: 2.5/5

i don’t know what to say. the narrative and the heartcrushing 7 minute romantic ending song that haunts my waking moments even now are what they are. i don’t know what to say

-colour-coded: 3/5

well... their colours are both black & red... ? kind of? you could say black/red & black/white. i don’t know. it looks good though.

-fated rating: 4/5

(literally loads of spoilers................... !!!!!!!!) they were quite entirely given their powers on purpose to foil each other. but, akechi wants to be free of narratives and doesn’t want to be entwined with anyone else’s life. next time this’ll be his choice. THAT MAKES IT EVEN MORE....WHAT IT IS. also they’re just obsessed with each other and their songs are about each other and no more what ifs, what matters is how you bring joy to life when i said a false happiness would be enough you softly covered my mouth etc etc etc

orufrey: 15

suipo: 13.5

ferbies: 9

wrightworth: 13

j&a: 9.5

WHY ARE FERBIES LAST???? hubert is going to kill me.....that's ok. the fact that i learnt to draw with you means the world <3

P.S. I LOVE BYLITZA!!!!!! from fe3h. but ones like that are so personal that there's no point saying "i love this" like i love the same thing others love. or something

ok bye

#sometimes uve got to have fun online.#i dont know how to draw anyone but orufrey any more. who are these people #p.s. by persona 3p protag i obviously mean the girl one so it's gay.#i doodled this to put it on twt but it would be weird if ppl RTed something so obviously personal & manic #i feel like i forgot some major ship i massively love. there are lots of others i love btw. even a few het ones... (?!) probably.#i didn't used to be much of a shipper cause i didn't use the internet i didn't see fanart i didn't draw. for years of my adult life.#sometimes i get really obsessed with something bc of the time i encounter it. like those two from good omens really got to me #i should do a takarazuka-only version of these. suipo vs everyone else. i've drawn couples interacting and fighting before :')#i like my ferdibert & orufrey crossover comic doodles. for the audience that is me. i like thinking about double date failures.#it really is weird/interesting that i do care about orufrey SO much and draw them SO much but there are ones i dont wanna draw.#^ the commentator (me) watching my award show presented by me for me

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words-after-midnight · 1 year

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For the winter ask game.. ❄️ 🥶 🍲

-Min <3

thank you Min! <3

Winter asks

❄️ Snowflake: talk about a unique trait or aspect of your favorite OC. Have they been living rent-free in your brain? It’s time to talk about them!

I'll do this for Life in Black and White's protagonist.

I had to really think about this: I don't think there's anything particularly unique about Gabriel. He's overall a pretty average young American white guy in most ways (the story follows him from ages 17-27), and was written as such. Depending on your personal life experience, you'll probably find him either very relatable or mildly to moderately frustrating. From a narrative perspective, I suppose a pretty unusual thing about him as a character - I won't say unique, because I'm sure it isn't - is that he's a protagonist in love with the antagonist of his story, and so the protagonist-antagonist dynamic here isn't what I would call typical. But as a person? He's pretty ordinary. I hope so, anyway. I worked very, very hard to make him a realistic, fleshed-out person. Without going into details (spoilers), he's written to be an accurate reflection of a specific type of person, as well as someone who struggles with various specific mental health issues. So I can't tell you what's unique about him as a person, but I can definitely offer some spoiler-free facts about him:

Graduated from high school one year early (16).

Has a fraught relationship with his family, particularly his father.

Drink of choice is vodka, but he can also be found drinking really bland light beer (think cheap pilsner).

Takes Seroquel and Zoloft (the latter is later switched to Paxil)

Chronic insomniac, but sleeps relatively well when in a "safe place" or around people he loves.

Especially in his younger years, he can be described as reserved, moody, and emotionally guarded. He's notoriously bad at opening up about things that are emotional in nature or that deeply affect him, including in therapy. This is particularly the case when it comes to his toxic relationship with the antagonist.

Canonically bisexual (he never says "I'm bisexual" straight up, but it's shown and obvious).

The gay who doesn't drive (he does learn to drive at one point, but spiritually he's still the gay who doesn't drive).

Drinks black drip coffee or double espresso. He is the type of person who will unironically say (or at least think) things like "I like my coffee as dark and bitter as my soul."

The guy who rolls out of bed and throws on the first clothes he sees five minutes before he has to be somewhere.

Has no clue whatsoever about queer culture. Like, one time he thought the antagonist was making up hanky code just to fuck with him (in his defense, though, the antagonist's favorite activity is pretty much fucking with people, like the time he tried to convince his roommate that you can for sure microwave aluminum foil as long as there's a potato wrapped inside).

Loves biking. Will bike anytime, anywhere. In his words, it's essentially the only solitary activity he enjoys.

Doesn't call anywhere "home" other than the antagonist's house for the entire story, including his father's house and, later, his own apartments.

🥶 Ice: what’s been the most difficult scene for you to write?

The most challenging scene I've written to this day is actually a companion piece to Life in Black and White called "Sixteen Minutes" - specifically the second of three scenes, but the whole thing was honestly quite rough. That being said, the piece is also my proudest achievement as a writer, precisely because of how challenging it was for me and how close I was able to get it to what was in my head (it's based on a very realistic dream I had about a month before the draft of Life in Black and White was completed). Though I never plan to publish it or release it publicly, it's extremely special to me. Other than me, only one person has read it (though I've offered it to a few other beta readers). I can't tell you what it's about or the context of the piece, because it's a pretty major spoiler for the novel.

I wrote "Sixteen Minutes" on February 25th, 2013, over two years after having the dream. The only reason I know this is because I recorded it in a dedicated novel diary I was keeping during the process of the first and second drafts of the novel (up to the first version of the manuscript, iirc). I don't remember writing the piece at all. It's finalized now, but it took me nine years to revise it. I would get to the end of the first scene, recall what happens in the second scene, and consistently nope out.

🍲 Soup: share a snippet where a character does something kind.

"Kind" is doing a lot of work here, lmao, but I immediately thought of this part of an early chapter, where they're roommates on an adolescent psychiatric ward:

#ask #libaw #h #snippet #writing

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krokonoko · 3 years

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just in time for pride month: here it is, the rant on BD canon status I promised!

in the BNHA fandom, as in any big fandom, there’s a lot of discussion going on surrounding the subject of whether slash ships will end up canon. this conversation is as old as the hills, happens in every fandom, it can be lots of fun, and I’m not trying to end it!

but as your local fandom elder who over the course of the last 20 years has consumed more shonen manga/anime than you can name, I still wanna add my two cents to the discussion of BakuDeku canon likeliness, maybe dampen some expectations, but ultimately also bring you some good news.

I don’t think BakuDeku will become canon. but I also don’t think it should matter to you whether it does.

just the other day, I saw someone say that Deku and Bakugo being narrative foils might point to them becoming canon endgame. and to whoever said that, bless your soul. I wish I had your optimism. because you are right: if this was about which relationship is the most pivotal to both characters and the entire plot, BakuDeku would without doubt be the one to end up canon. but here's what you need to understand: generally, shonen manga doesn’t care about narrative foils when it comes to picking and choosing what ships to make endgame.

shonen manga rivals can have the most intense relationships, they can proclaim their undying loyalty to each other, they can have the most profound connection - none of that matters when it comes to deciding who will end up married. ask the SasuNaruSasu fans.

I feel like there is a fundamental disconnect between what we (women and queer fans who create and consume transformative work) consider good endgame material, and what shonen manga considers good endgame material.

there’s a pattern here where the character the protagonist marries is not supposed to be someone he’s fought countless battles with or who spurs him on to become the best version of himself. instead, it’s supposed to be someone the protagonist can come home to in order to escape his every day struggles, the intensity of his rivalries, the hardships of his fights. shonen spouse material can be someone who’s been with the protagonist every step of the way, but not necessarily someone he’s had a lot of interaction with. someone who’s nurturing, someone who takes care of him, someone who is always there for him. not his Sasuke, but his Hinata.

aaand in some cases it feels like the less the two have interacted on screen, the better their chances are for ending up married.

in that, shonen manga works a lot like the ancient Rome’s idea of love. only a man can ever truly understand another man, a true connection of profound respect can only be possible between two men, etc.

but if it comes to who you marry, who you have a family with, who you create a home with, that’s what women are for. this reflects a certain image of women, and how manga approaches that subject could fill an entire essay on its own. but I feel like someone more educated than me should be the one to tackle that issue. so we are going to try and phrase this as neutrally as possible and leave it at that: shonen manga has a sexism problem.

Japanese culture is also permeated by some strong conservative values. according to those, boys having crushes on boys and girls having crushes on girls is one thing, sometimes tolerated, sometimes romantically depicted. but growing up, you are expected to leave these things behind as a “juvenile phase”, have a heterosexual marriage, have children, and become a respectable, productive member of society.

another matter we encounter is how we define what is gay.

you might look at Deku blushing at Bakugo, calling him Kacchan, calling him the most amazing person he knows, and for you these might be obvious signs that Deku has a crush on Bakugo.

[long post, lots of images and BNHA MANGA SPOILER WARNING]

but the problem is that shonen manga makes a very hard and fast distinction between who is and isn’t gay. Japanese anime and manga, especially shonen, has clear cut stereotypes when it comes to depicting queer men. there’s a very informative post written by @satans-tiddies which I will link over here. it talks about a lot of difficulties emerging from Western audiences projecting their own views on Japanese media, particularly about the differences between what Western and Japanese audiences consider gay stereotypes.

let’s just say that if a character in a shonen manga/anime is supposed to be gay, most of the time you’ll know, because he will look somewhat like this.

be careful not to generalize an entire population here of course. these kinda depictions do not mirror the view of the entirety of Japanese audiences or content creators. I don’t think they even necessarily mirror the views of the mangaka. but they do mirror what does and what does not fly with the vast majority of young male Japanese audiences, and that’s really all that matters for this discussion, cause they’re the target audience of BNHA.

what I’m saying is, it might not occur to the target audience, or even Horikoshi himself, that Bakugo having Deku-brain and vice versa looks incredibly queer to us. imho, this is what sets this kind of depiction of rivalries between young men apart from a lot of queerbaiting you see in Western media. sure, there is some fanservice directed at shippers to be found in BNHA.

but generally, the reason these two are so obsessed with each other has got nothing to do with baiting shippers, and everything with the fact that it makes sense for their characters - and that it’s just a very compelling relationship to read about.

and I know it may seem contradictory, but there are many instances of shonen walking a tight rope between platonic and romantic relationships between two male characters. take for example Yugi and Jounouchi from Yu-Gi-Oh. not only do these two mean the world to each other, Yugi straight up proclaims his love to Jounouchi in a life-or-death situation.

that never amounts to anything more than this though, because that’s just what their relationship is: an incredibly deep connection bordering (?) on romantic love that neither characters nor the mangaka feel like it needs to be taken to another level. because in canon it just. is what it is.

is that rooted in homophobia? maybe, partly. it could also be that Takahashi tried to get some actual queerness past the radar here, but could not take any further than that. you don’t know, I don’t know, and it is not for me to judge. all I’m doing is try and explain to you what to expect.

and just to show that the general attitude we encounter here is not unique to Japan, another, even better example to explain where I’m going with this comes in form of Western media.

Sam and Frodo have one of the most profound, loving relationships in all of literature. they hold each other through their darkest hours and support each other through the hardest times. they constantly kiss, blush around each other, even call each other beautiful.

Sam even admits to himself that he loves his Mr. Frodo.

yet Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien did not consider Sam and Frodo gay. he was a deeply catholic, conservative man. the mere thought of his characters being considered gay would probably make him rotate in his grave (which is all the more reason to do it if you ask me.) after all is said and done, Sam goes back to the Shire and does not marry the man he has held naked in his arms, who he carried up Mount Doom and who he described as beautiful. instead, he happily marries Rosie Cotton, a woman with barely more than a couple lines to her name. (but Frodo lets them and their children move into in his house and they live together for a couple more years in what to everyone but Tolkien is obviously a fantastic little polycule.)

my point is, people don’t always realize what it is they are writing. if asked about Sam’s and Frodo’s relationship, Tolkien would say he was drawing inspiration from the relationships between men he encountered in World War I. something that for you and me reads like an intense and loving relationship could have been intended by the author to be incredibly close friends, because the point where they draw the line between romantic and non-romantic differs from yours or mine. I’ll come back to this in a minute though, now it’s time for a brief interlude.

"so you’re saying Deku is straight?”

imho, he’s probably intended by the author to be straight, or what the target audience thinks passes as straight. though to be fair, the word “straight” does a lot of heavy lifting here.

“so you say we shouldn’t argue the dudebros on twitter who say that Deku is straight and he can’t be in love with Bakugo.”

lmao no, fuck those guys. for all intents and purposes, there is no proof that Deku is straight. there is no proof that any of the BNHA characters are straight. or cis for that matter. there’s a handy little thing called a queer reading or queering of any given media.

it’s what any of us should always fall back on when arguing clowns. the friendship between Bakugo and Deku has strong homoerotic elements, and to deny that is to be disingenuous. the queer reading of BNHA happens to suggest itself very strongly because there is so much canon material to work with. nothing more, nothing less. your queer reading of the manga is a valid way of interpreting what canon has given you, and it is your right as a reader to interpret Deku as bi, or Bakugo as trans, or any other queer reading you can come up with.

I refuse to let my view of media be dictated by the heteronormative views of their authors or target audience, and you should do the same. if you view Deku as bi, there’s plenty of canon material for you to back up that claim, whether that’s intended by the author or not.

esp anti culture is so damn obsessed with getting the approval of authors, of show runners, of creators, in short: of people they perceive as the authorities. but what if I told you that approval is not necessary. no, even more, that being queer and making transformative work is the exact opposite of that, and that that’s important! disregard authorities! reject them! reject the heteronormativity and cisnormativity of the majority of media and replace it with your own idea of who the characters are and what relationships they have! (but don’t make the mistake of turning around and praising the author for putting it there. it was you who put it there, and you should praise yourself.)

sorry I’m gonna get down from my soap box in a second. but like, that issue is so important to me. I’ve been watching with growing concern how young queer fans are so desperate for that authoritarian approval that they are ready to tear each other to shreds over literal scraps, instead of banding together in solidarity.

if the normies give us representation, that is great! but we’re not dependent on their approval. and we shouldn’t chase after it, or their permission, and we definitely should not throw each other under the bus for it. if the author, or the target audience, or the whole damn world tells you what you’re doing is weird and wrong, ignore them. don’t curry favor with those who dislike you for being who you are. do your thing. be proud of being what they call weird and different. embrace it. wear it like armor.

anyway, soap box rant is over now, back to the topic at hand.

after all this slightly depressing talk about how we always have to claw our way through adversity and carve out our own happiness from the heteronormative, cisnormative nightmare that is this society, I also have good news.

because the good news is, just like Jounouchi and Yugi, just like Sam and Frodo:

Bakugo and Deku love each other.

the feelings these two have for each other are so complex and multilayered and include so many different kinds of emotions that it would be dishonest to claim love is not an important facet of their dynamic. actually, they affect each other on a level so fundamental that it’s hard to call it anything other than love. you could argue what kind of love we’re talking about, but personally, I don’t think it matters.

nothing even comes close to the profound impact they have and keep having on each other their entire lives through. one cannot exist without the other. they are inseparably tied together by fate, and fuel each other’s resolve more than anything else. they are the X, Y and Z axis the other revolves around. they are the key to unlocking the respective other’s full potential. their friendship is what has been driving these characters and the entire story from conception on.

it sometimes is hard to believe that Deku could look at someone like Bakugo and even after all the years of bullying could still see someone so amazing if there is not at least some form of love involved. because Deku does love Bakugo. he has never let go of the affection he’s held for Bakugo ever since they were kids, symbolized by Deku never ceasing to call Bakugo Kacchan. he cannot even imagine a world without Kacchan in it.

Deku is inspired by Bakugo’s resolve to win, his tenacity, his confidence, sees past all his shittiness, and recognizes the amazing person he could be. in turn, Bakugo sees Deku’s heroic spirit, and while he’s ridiculously intimidated by how much he admires it, he learns from it, and grows into a better hero because of it.

no one has inspired Deku more than Bakugo, nothing fuels his will to move forward the same way, not even All Might.

they’re barely on speaking terms and are still not back to being friends by a long shot, yet absolutely nothing makes Deku go as feral as someone insulting Bakugo’s honor...

...or even worse, Bakugo getting hurt.

(don’t get me started on Deku and the gang saving two entire school classes and a small child from villains, everyone’s alive thanks to them, and only one person was abducted - but since the person who was abducted is Bakugo, Deku sees the entire endeavor as a total loss.)

and who could forget about “give him back”?

and on on the flip side?

Bakugo’s feelings for Deku are so intense, he does not even know how to deal with them. one of the reasons Bakugo has been such a dick towards Deku all this time is because he felt he had to bury his feelings, bury how deeply he cares for Deku, or else he would not be able to deal with watching him being as self-destructive as he is.

hell, Bakugo’s feelings for Deku, no matter their nature, are so strong and intense they actually scare him.

Bakugo would, without any hesitation, give his life to save Deku.

and Deku would, without any hesitation, give his life to save Bakugo.

they may not be entirely there yet, but they’re making progress towards being able to face each other eye to eye, to taking each other’s hands, and accepting these unbelievably intense feelings they have for each other.

and when they finally are ready to hold hands, they’re gonna be unstoppable.

my point is: even without any canon confirmation, without kisses, without anything else? these two already love each other so, so much that it’s sometimes hard to take.

youtube

all that is not to say that I think they shouldn’t end up being canon.

I’m not saying we should stop striving for inclusivity, for diversity and representation, and the amount of fantastic manga and anime with a focus on that is growing every year! I’m just saying mainstream shonen manga is probably not where to expect it.

we should still hold it accountable of course, but like... I feel it’s also kind of not our place as Westerners to tell Japanese content creators how to do their job based on our values of how social progress should work.

cause then you get bs like the hate mob dogpiling on Horikoshi, demanding he make their slash ship canon and calling him terrible names in the process. I think it’s what kids refer to as “not a good look”.

...I’m gonna level with you. nothing would make me happier than being wrong about this. I’m not even kidding, if all y’all end up being right and I end up being wrong, and BakuDeku becomes canon? I’ll be the happiest person on earth. it would be so revolutionary, there’s a possibility that I’d die on the spot from a heart attack.

I wouldn’t even care whether it was BakuDeku or another slash ship involving the main cast. just. ANY mlm ship happening between major shonen manga characters would blow my mind so hard I’d have to lie down for a whole month.

but after being here for twenty years, I’m not banking on it. I’ve had my share of deep disappointments, and I’m trying to protect you guys from that. cause believe me, I know how much it hurts. and honestly, I found my peace with what we have. BNHA already is the 300+ chapter slow burn fic of my dreams. it’s a fantastic story about these dorks figuring out how to accept their feelings, their own feelings and that of the respective other, and them both becoming better, stronger people because of it, because of each other, for each other, to be worthy of each other.

Deku and Bakugo already love each other, as much as two human beings possibly can. what more could I want?

#BakuDeku #Katsuki Bakugou #Izuku Midoriya #BNHA #Boku no Hero Academia #MHA #My Hero Academia #BNHA meta #kroko speaks #make room I'm posting cringe #yeah Idk #this got a liiiitle out of hand #but I'm suffering from BakuDeku brain disease and all y'all need to pay for it

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carmenpeach · 4 years

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aauuuauuaaugtgghhhh whats your favourite show rn and why? sell it to m bruh tell me all about it

this may be a surprise but its... hunter x hunter LOL for a lot of different reasons...

without spoilers best i can, first of all the storytelling/ world building of it is so precise and detailed, thought out years in advance to tie so much of it together as it progresses. watching it a 2nd time i saw many more little details of allusions to parts that wouldnt even be written in the manga for years (im think about watching through the end of yorknew again tbh) i think it has such good rewatch value well beyond just for entertainment. and i feel it's worth noting that i have a hard time just sitting down and watching things since it's hard for me to focus for too long (and when i first watched it at 19 i watched 75 episodes in 10 days somehow?)

the narration throughout it can be a little drawn out sometimes but the story would have a lot less impact without it. togashi (author/ artist) goes into such detail about aspects of the story to add to the experience is so well rounded. especially when it comes to nen (the "magic powers" of the series) and how it functions i feel that nen could be real.

beyond that i feel the main pull of it is the characters. even side characters add so much to the story that they dont come across like unnecessary/ filler elements. one fault for sure is how some female characters are just plot elements but that improves over time. but it's the main four, gon killua kurapika and leorio, is what makes the whole thing come together. the way they interconnect with each other is amazing. from narrative foils to the bonds they form. the show is about love at its core, how these characters love each other and how they sacrifice for each other (not always in the best way but in what they think is the best, from self sacrifice to separation).

i know everyone says this, but really it's a love story also romantically. it's definitly about killua and gon being in love, there is no other way to interpret their relationship really. i feel like if i saw this show as a closeted 12 year old then realizing im gay wouldnt have been so complicated tbh but that's besides the point.

it's really how intricate the whole story is woven together, how the focus shifts between the main 4 (and how even though gon is the protagonist, we havent even seen him the current arc and we are back on kurapika and hopefully leorio too, which makes sense since the chimera ant arc was only killua and gon)

it's also how serious the series gets as it progresses which is also another thing a lot of people talk about with it, especially in the manga right now. the chimera ant arc is where this switch clearly happens and it gets pretty brutal (my first watch of hxh i stopped in the middle of this arc since it got a little too intense for me. seeing not only gon and killua having to be child soldiers and dealing with loss and revenge while trying to protect each other and fighting the ants while also seeing the whole situation from the ants part of view) (side note yeah the enemy are ants but they end up being anthropomorphic creatures) and it's when we really see gon and killua pushed to their limits :(

but my favorite arc is the yorknew/ phantom troupe arc because it's a kurapika arc and i LOVE kurapika. everything about his character hurts so much. i feel like kurapika has the most obvious at first development to changes with his character and even though this arc is before the ant one, it definitly sets the tone for how the series is going to slowly change. im definitly more biased towards kurapikas role in the story which i think is... a little obvious by the way every other post by me is about him LOL but this whole part really sets the tragedy of the series too (but also shows that all the suffering isnt pointless and how love still shines through etc but that could be a whole long post on its own....)

anyways the show starts off so fun and happy like most shonen, and even though it follows similar story points like most (journey begins, trials and goals, training under mentor etc) it quickly becomes very unique and goes off track of this average heros journey (though yes i know almost every story follows this, i really cannot emphasize enough that hxh takes it a step further beyond "hero goes out to reach an end goal" considering that goal is met already 2 arcs i think before the current)

and i feel bad not touching much on leorio since his character tends to get sidelined unfortunately, and many people think he isnt too important just because his journey isnt about some huge difficult adventure, it's to be a doctor to help anyone in need for free, placing everyone else's wellbeing as absolute importance (and the way this works as a narrative foil and strain between him and kurapika is amazing too) (and hes handsome)

well i wasnt planning on writting an essay but. here it is, written kinda sloppy since im just trying to get my thoughts out. it's both painful and rewarding to watch but ultimately worth it. pls watch hxh (i STRONGLY recommend the 1999 adaption. i could also write a huge post on the difference between 1999 and 2011 but that's for another day)

#I REALLY WAS NOT GOING TO WRITE SO MUCH BTW #my other favorite shows right now would probably be... utena and alien 9 #i just like so many things and i didnt expect to love hxh as much as i do. i havent been this attatched to characters in forever...#hxh #hunter x hunter #ask #anon #i love u

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quirkless-and-embarrassed · 4 years

Note

Regarding the character ask meme: I'd love to see your take on Tamaki!

HE IS ONE OF MY FAVES. As you can probably tell by my icon. I’m sorry this took me so long, but I couldn’t resist beginning the new season as I was working on this, aaand geeking out over the anime took up more time than I thought 😂

Answers under the cut because I could not resist including lots of images and because whoa this really got away from me. Spoilers for season 4 of the anime!

Favorite things about him:

tl;dr adorable+disaster+badass = instant KO

i. He’s never believed that the quirk makes the hero. Granted, it’s from his own insecurity that he believes that, but even when Mirio’s quirk was a liability, Amajiki looked up to him as a great hero. It’s especially refreshing to see because everyone else places so much emphasis on what their quirk can do.

ii. Also, his insecurity. Amajiki describes himself as a plain, boring person so terrified of failure that his brain goes blank when he even considers it. He’s not blush-y or stutter-y or those other tics associated with cutely shy characters—his face is kinda awkwardly inexpressive…he actually looks constipated when he attempts to address class 1-a during his debut…and I get a sense of stillness from him, like someone who freezes up instead of fidgeting. But he’s not fishing for encouragement. He’s likely to bluntly, unhappily shoot down any attempt to praise him because that makes the pressure even worse! No “thank you for believing in me, I’ll do my best,” no, “oh you’re too kind, that’s not true,” he’s like: “no, just…no. shit. what now? I’m not Mirio.”

iii. His relationship with Mirio. What he admires most about Mirio is how, when he goes down, Mirio always rises back up—like the sun—filled with warmth instead of with self-recrimination. He draws people in and fills them with energy. Amajiki painfully believes he isn’t capable of any of that, but he trusts Mirio, and Mirio tells him that there’s plenty of warmth to him even if Amajiki can’t sense it in himself, and even if Amajiki is filled by fear at the idea of failure, he, too, energizes Mirio when he faces his problems anyways. They talk, build each other up, and accept each others’ feelings. Amajiki still wants to be like Mirio (cue “imitation is the sincerest form of…”), but he’s learning that even though he’ll never be Mirio, he and Mirio are alike in the ways that matter most.

iv. it’s as gay as the day is long.

v. How steadfast he is. Given his anxiety, it’s not immediately obvious, but Amajiki’s doubts and insecurities center on his capabilities and self-worth—not on his principles or about what needs to be done. When he’s worried about something, he doesn’t even try to hide it, there’s something very forthright and grounded about the way he struggles to confront the current obstacle.

vi. He’s such a goofball when he’s alone with Mirio. Here he is pretending to sever his thumb. Look at that smile. And Mirio’s habit of pumping his arms when he’s excited is nearly as cute.

vii. His hero name is awesome. Suneater. Talk about names that represent your ideal self…

viii. Amajiki doesn’t win his battle against Overhaul’s thugs by discovering his confidence and whipping out a super move (which, incidentally, he attempts via flashback+miritama feels and it fails resoundingly). He wins with the power of friendship, but it’s not the typical Power of Friendship spiel.

He fights three side-characters whose names I never remember, so I call them the garbage trio: theft quirk guy (similar to how Amajiki “steals” the forms of what he eats), a guy who manifests crystals, and gluttony guy. Funnily enough, the three have terrible self-esteem issues! They’re fanatically loyal to Overhaul because he’s willing to use them as sacrificial pawns, and being a pawn is better than being rejected as garbage (which each has as his tragic past).

So the narrative presents Amajiki with two types of bonds. Will he identify with the trio’s loyalty to Overhaul, founded on their sense of worthlessness? Or will he identify with their loyalty to one another, founded on their empathy for each others’ tragic pasts? Essentially: what kind of relationship does he have with Mirio?

It’s not even a contest. Amajiki immediately and fully rejects the Overhaul-brand loyalty as brainwashing and focuses on the bond he understands, the “friends don’t eat friends” bond.

So Amajiki recognizes his opponents’ humanity when even they couldn’t. Even though they thought of themselves as nothing more than Overhaul’s tools, Amajiki intuited that the bonkers guy who shouts “eat! eat! eat!” wouldn’t bite his crystal friend when Amajiki used him as a shield. In doing this, Amajiki proved that their lives have more value to each other more than they ever will to Overhaul. He explicitly praises them for trusting each other—something they can take pride in because they forged it themselves—and ultimately removes their masks, symbolically freeing them from Overhaul’s ownership.

It was a cool idea because usually I see the protagonist summon up reserves of power he didn’t know he had in order to protect his comrades, but when Amajiki was inspired by remembering how Mirio believes in him, it doesn’t actually work because the garbage trio calls on their own bond to counter his power-up. Or usually it’s the antagonist who turns the protagonists’ love for each other against them, and here it was reversed. Except Amajiki used their friendship against them not out of contempt for their bond, “oh your love makes you so weak and predictable,” but out of respect for it, “love is what makes you strong, and I know that because it makes me strong, too.”

ix. His weird, pointy ears.

x. His dub voice acting: it’s stellar. Props to Aaron Dismuke, highly recommend watching his episodes in the dub.

Least favorite things about him:

His first name, Tamaki. It just never sticks in my mind—Amajiki is much more distinctive. (Apparently I have some sort of big three mental block, because I can rarely remember Mirio’s and Nejire’s last names, either.)

He didn’t really grow or learn anything from his fight against the garbage trio. He was already confident in his bond with Mirio, and the whole reason he volunteered to fight the trio was that he thought he could win, so it was basically a high-stakes training exercise in sticking to his guns. I think the purpose of the fight was to teach the audience that he and Mirio are a positive foil for bakudeku, providing another way Mirio is superior to Midoriya + amping Mirio up before his tragedy-slash-victory, so it’s a shame Amajiki’s most major scene wasn’t about himself.

I wish he had more screen time, I wish he had more development, I wish we got his reaction to Mirio losing his quirk, I wish had scenes with more characters than just Mirio, Kirishima, and Fat Gum, etc. The usual gripes about faves who are side characters.

Favorite lines:

Ch132 – I love how forthright he is lol. No attempt to put up a strong front.

Ch132 – When the thug Amajiki’s fighting shouts at him, his feelings are hurt 😂 also bonus for kiri trying to comfort him

Ch135 – cool as a cucumber

And two I won’t include the panels for…

His badass line in 141, “I might not understand your rage. Your grief. Everything that led you here…but I know all about solid bonds! And my friends don’t use each other! Because friends don’t eat friends.”

and when he collapses after beating the garbage trio:*THUD* Huh…why’s the floor so close to my face?doofus

BROTPs:

Kirishima!! His pep talks to Amajiki while they were on patrol were really cute. I can only imagine how he handles Kirishima and Tetsutetsu! He’s totally the third wheel, and normally he’s happy to be! But sometimes he watches the two hype each other up and gets depressed about it because he’s never that positive and encouraging. Sometimes Fat Gum leaves Amajiki in charge and it seriously stresses him out because Tetsutetsu occasionally charges off to do his own thing and it’s a whole ordeal to rein him in.

And oh shit, Nejire’s personality is just as cute as Amajiki’s, I’d love to see more of the two of them hanging out. (and just…more of Nejire in general, please. Her debut was so funny and then Horikoshi did nothing with her.)

In class-a, I’m curious to see how Amajiki and Yaoyorozu would get along. They’re both gifted students with confidence issues and quirks that depend on eating, so it would be nice to see them hit it off. I’d also be interested to see Amajiki and Bakugo interact, especially with Kirishima there.

Also, since Amajiki has such a preoccupation with exuberant, confident people, I’d love to see him somehow meet Inasa.

This isn’t a brotp, but I’ll bet Nighteye intimidated the shit out of Amajiki… Mirio told Amajiki endless anecdotes about Nighteye but it didn’t work, till the day he dies Amajiki will still get clammy any time he thinks of Nighteye’s glare or the purported tickle machine.

Again not a brotp, but I’d love to see Amajiki vs. Shigaraki. That sounds like an awesome fight. (…ideally before Shigaraki gets all OP and only Midoriya can beat him.)

OTP:

Mirio.

NOTP:

Nobody comes to mind.

Random headcanons:

Most of the food Amajiki eats goes into his quirk; he doesn’t properly extract its caloric and nutritional value, and if he’s not careful, he could accidentally become malnourished. (It also makes it difficult to put on muscle.) So he eats a ton, to make sure he has enough to fuel both his quirk and his body, and he’s self-conscious at how much more he eats than other people.

When Amajiki vomits, his quirk is weakened to the point it’s basically null. He has to take a break and chow down before he can use it again. …Re-ingesting the puke is…not an option.

Clothing is a big issue for his hero work. He could develop a really powerful fighting style, one that involves producing limbs from his back and torso, if he were willing to wear a little less…but that’s never going to happen. Mirio can run around naked, but Amajiki can’t!

I don’t know if this is a translation quirk or fanon or what, but I adore it when Nejire calls Amajiki “chicken-hearted” in fanfiction. It’s a short, cute joke about his quirk and I wholeheartedly hc it. I also think Amajiki is closer to Nejire than Mirio is.

Amajiki doesn’t deal with his self-esteem issues by minimizing his challenges. He doesn’t make cheap compromises like, “ok, I know I can do this because it’s so easy even someone like me can do it.” He goes for broke, for being the spectacular hero Suneater, because even if he can’t perceive his own positive qualities, he believes that they’re there.

One of the (many) reasons Amajiki admires Mirio is that Mirio admires him, and Amajiki wants to be able to like himself, too.

When it comes down to it, his self-worth is nowhere near as desperately poor as the garbage trio because he knows true friendship. Maybe if he’d never met Mirio, Amajiki would have been susceptible to their sort of devotion, but now he never will be because Mirio’s encouraged him to value himself. Amajiki won’t accept a bond that relies on degrading yourself—which is important to know, since Amajiki constantly compares himself to Mirio. But Amajiki’s sense of inferiority is chronic without being proportionately deep. He adopted the name Suneater to declare himself Mirio’s equal, and his climactic line of the garbage trio battle, “friends don’t eat friends,” is one that asserts equality and puts his quirky spin on it to show he’s made the principle his own. Amajiki may not like himself but he doesn’t let it get in the way of taking his place as Mirio’s peer.

Amajiki’s parents are also anxious people.

Mirio is his neighbor at the UA dorms. It’s perfect because Mirio can permeate their the shared wall and they can hang out after curfew. (Mirio keeps a pair of sweatpants in Amajiki’s room for those occasions lol.) Nejire is jealous and always talks about gate-crashing, but she never gets around to it. Even after Mirio loses his quirk, his sweatpants stay in Amajiki’s room because neither of them can quite bring themselves to give those times up.

I am a sucker for making characters’ quirks reflect something fundamental about their hearts, so here’s my take on manifest. Amajiki manifests what he eats, meaning he absorbs from his environment and re-creates it in his own style. It’s not imitation, since Amajiki with one cow hoof and one tentacle, kicking ass, resembles neither a cow or an octopus, but he takes the best from what’s around him and reinvents it. “Suneater”? Thanks to how his friendship with Mirio gave him a stable, nourishing environment, he’s absorbed his favorite of Mirio’s traits and manifests them in his own way, as his own strength, because as even name of his quirk implies—manifestation makes latent qualities visible.

Like Bakugo, Amajiki could have resented Mirio for his strengths; like the garbage trio, he could have let his failures convince him that he’s worthless; but Amajiki consistently makes the best of the cards he’s dealt, even though it involves plenty of doubt and self-flagellation that could lead him down a darker path…but don’t. He’s greater than his demons.

Unpopular opinion:

Amajiki’s shy, but…not that shy. He gets like stiffly shy.

Amajiki still has a ways to go before he’s ready to date Mirio. (Not sure what’s the popular opinion on this.)

I really wish class 1-a versus Mirio had been class 1-a versus Mirio and Amajiki. It would have been so cool to see what amazing teamwork they had and how their quirks were compatible.

Song I associate with him:

Titanium—absolutely. I like the versions by Sia, Boyce Avenue, and Kurt Schneider (I couldn’t choose). Circles by Veela reminds me of his spiraling anxiety. And, I can’t resist, so I’m adding Chasing the Sun by The Wanted on here.

Aaand my ship songs…Appreciated by Rixton, and All of Me by John Legend.

Favorite picture of him:

Ch141 – Ironclad certainty. I’m not even gonna apologize for the dimensions and the fact this is huge, just drink it in.

Ch132 – If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I will never trust your judgment.

Ch152 – Unless it’s because this is the cutest.

Ch152 – When Mirio loses his quirk 💔

I’ve also answered these questions for Todoroki, Bakugo, Uraraka, Endeavor, Sir Nighteye, and Shinsou!

#amajiki #amajiki tamaki #miritama #bnha #shie hassaikai #bnha s4 spoilers #thanks for the ask!! this was a lot of fun even if it meant crying over the anime way too late at night #amamirio #nerd mumbling #text #ask meme #long post #asks #I had big feels okay?

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ravensroundofrobins · 5 years

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Since most of y'all Don't seem to Know her.... Let’s DO THIS BRIEF HISTORY OF ROBIN!STEPH BUCKLE TF UP BITCHES

(Note: For the most part, Steph’s time as Robin is included in the War Games TPB, especially because it serves as a catalyst for said event. Highly recommended the read, but mind, like, everything about it) ((also also tumblr only allows 10 pics, so I'm cherry picking my fav panels/most important ones. + offering a bit of meta. take this with a grain of salt and Please read War Games and draw your own conclusions blah blah))

So to start with, a little Context to Steph’s Start as Robin:

Tim’s dad found out about his Robining & made him hang up the cape+mask. As any Concerned and Reasonable parent would. Steph is still operating as Spoiler at the time, despite many attempts by many members of the batfam (but especially Batman) to dissuade her from crime-fighting.

Due to a gross misunderstanding (as these things tend go in comics *sigh*) Steph, who is dating Tim at the time, sees a girl who was interested in him make a move & thinks that Tim is cheating on her. She channels this grief/mourning/anger into making her own homemade Robin costume and convinces Batman to take her under his wing (he sets the conditions that she must follow every order, with a ‘one strike, you’re out’ kind of policy). She undergoes an unspecified training period to get in Proper Shape For Crime Fighting and Batman starts taking her on various patrols and investigations.

During this time, she also teams up with Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) on more than one occasion (one of my fav panels below, just bc its so stylized lmao. its Cute)

During this time, in true Robin Tradition, Steph builds up quite the rapport with Batman, providing a lighter/comedic side and being a general breath of fresh air and foil to the Dark Knight. (just LOOK at this banter & Bargaining for the batmobile!!! a TRUE ROBIN)

There’s a couple cases that I won't get too far into (but one i want to briefly mention involves Zsasz and Steph going almost a bit too far when trying to subdue him. its a very clear parallel to Jason & serves as foreshadowing for how War Games will play out i.e., Steph’s fate)

Now during this time, there’s an assassin/merc who is killing off teens who were suspected to be Robin (Tim Drake), which Batman catches wind of and the Dynamic Duo moves in to put an End to. (look at this smug lil robin, catching the Bad Guy™ off guard. ADORABLE)

Another thing to note now, is how Eager Robin is to jump onto the case and into the fray. and how carefully she toes the line when following/questioning batman’s orders. this is touched on many times often either with her able to juuuuust reason with the caped crusader enough to Bend his own orders or even to change his mind on occasion.

(a thing i want to note here with this panel and with this particular time in Steph’s career as Robin is that the writer had her referring to Batman as ‘Boss’. whether this was intentional or not, it most closely resembles, to me, Carrie Kelley’s mannerisms as Robin. i.e. another Robin that the writers may have been using as inspo/to parallel. Carrie’s time as Robin is also defined by Batman’s grief from losing Jason, and is given a very similar probationary status that Steph is given during her time as Robin. coincidence? maybe. but i think not.)

While they lose track of the villain initially, Steph’s quick thinking to place trackers on her is what saves the mission. at the Moment at least. Batman makes a decision to bring Robin along when tracking their prey, but orders her to stay behind in the batplane & ‘not touch anything’ unless ordered to do so. which is where we get the Defining Moment:

When Steph, against orders, jumps into the fray. its something to be admired, and very Typical Robin Behavior (bc where would they be if they weren't impulsive and, well, KIDS, amirite?) but unfortunately, her decision costs them the chance of apprehending the villain, and Batman stays true to his word...

and she's Fired (g o d I'm not the biggest fan of damion scott’s art but this look BROKE MY HEART. i can practically HEAR those choked back tears and see that quivering lip like... G O D BRUCE NO. GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE. ANYTHING ELSE THAN WHATS GONNA HAPPEN)

here’s where I'm gonna TL;DR War Games for y’all bc.... holy shit its a LOT. and Steph’s involvement really only begins it, and essentially ends it. (literally lmao. she's featured a little throughout but like. its a Crossover Event™ for a reason. everyone gets a little bit of the spotlight, which means a bit of shuffling around ofc) but Anyways

tl;dr - steph takes one of Batman’s contingency plans on her way out of the cave & implements it w/out being aware of a few Key Details. all out War breaks amongst the different gangs of gotham, with Batman & company trying to regain control of the city & maintain order. Black Mask resurfaces, catches and tortures Steph to learn details about the plan and makes his own grab for power (fun fact, for those of you paying attention to the Big Picture: this essentially sets up for his position later on in Under The (Red) Hood when Jason starts wrestling that control away from him) Steph manages to escape, Batman takes her to Dr. Thompkins clinic, and Leslie reveals that her condition is critical. bruce makes it back in time to be by steph’s side for this:

and then she dies ;-;

BUT THIS IS COMICS- so its revealed initially that Leslie withheld treatment to save Steph’s life to Make A Point and try to dissuade Gotham Youth from following Steph’s path. BUT-BUT WAIT THERES MORE BC THIS IS ~*C O M I C S*~ so its ALSO revealed later on that steph DIDNT die. Leslie helped fake her death and blah blah blah, Steph comes back, gets to be spoiler again, then batgirl and the rest as they say is history

anyways. STRAIGHT FROM THE BAT’S MOUTH THANKS. Steph WAS really™ a Robin™ and as much as DC wants to pry that from my gay goblin hands they WONT be able to. and anyways... She Earned It. okay. give this girl the Respect she deserves.

(now since I'm a Shipping Blog™, ima add some thoughts regarding her parallel to other robins and how Theoretically a relationship with raven might work out)

Again, the biggest parallel that DEFINES War Games and Steph’s time as Robin, is that to Jason Todd. (fun fact/sidenote: they’re both Leos, so like. Another Connection btwn the two lmao) They’re both impulsive and eager to prove themselves, and follow Batman with unwavering faith and loyalty (up to a Certain Breaking Point that is). They’ve got especially cheeky attitude and flair for drama, and hey. Narratively speaking, writers seem to have a penchant for drawing a few connecting lines between them (again, by starting the WG TPB off with Bruce mourning on Jason’s bday & setting a Tone for the overall event. and then again, by having a major character for UtRH be the very same villain that killed our former girl wonder)

Now with those lines drawn, and with an understanding of how Jason has interacted with Raven in-canon (with mostly cordial interactions and for the most part respectful analysis of each other’s abilities & strengths), & no known connection between Steph & Rae as of yet, we can really only assume a few things:

-like most of the batboys, Raven is very likely to get along with Steph and to respect her abilities given that Steph respects her in turn.

-Steph’s bright, extroverted personality could again work as a good foil/compliment to Raven’s more introverted/muted one.

-theyve got what i like to call the Bad Dad™ connection (with Steph’s being a former Gotham Rogue™, and Raven’s... well.. y'all Know) Steph’s already shown great Morbid Humor regarding this part of her life (shown in her interactions with Cass) and is very willing to bond with others over Sucky Parents

-while stephanie has a canonical Love™ of Waffles, and raven (at least in regards to her Most Popular fanon from the 03 cartoon) has a fanonical love of them as well. Hence, they ARE the Waffle Queens (embrace the ridiculousness, guys. DO IT)

-Since steph is not an Adopted member of Bruce’s family (& again, more often than not they have attempted to dissuade her from vigilantism) and similarly, due to Batmans Dislike of meta-humans/outsiders messing with Affairs in His City, as well as some of his canonical Distrust™ for Raven due to her mysterious background/nature. this could be another minor/potential bonding point between the two

-likely more??? its getting late, and not much else I can think of off the top of my head, but i might add more to this later.

as a ship StephRae has as much potential as any other, and since there’s not a lot of canon to really go off, fans can really take it.... wherever and i think thats beautiful

#randywrites #steph meta #long post #<- for mobile users in case that cut doesnt work bc OMG THIS DID GET LONG IM SO SORRY #I'm still So upset abt war games and i could probably move on & start reading her 09batgirl run but like.... I'm not Emotionally ready yet #she's FUN and she's GREAT and there's a very Obvious Reason why the fandom ignores her as a Robin and i WILL be bitter until they start #giving her the respect she DESERVES DAMMIT #its a Read so be sure to grab some popcorn kids

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sideofwritingsandramblings · 6 years

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A little salt, A lot of Sheith Meta

Alright... So there’s just a lot of things that have been on my mind since the big reveal. (Updated with even more meta!)

Beware there are some s7 spoilers under the cut. (And since I wrote this instead of the prompt for sheith month today I’ll use this as my entry instead @sheithmonth if it is considered appropriate / next)

So as probably most everyone in this fandom knows by now, Shiro has been confirmed gay with the release of the first episode of season seven. As I explained in a previous post, Shiro being confirmed queer has made me beyond excited, simply on the basis of what incredible representation this is.

However, once again I have heard a bunch of people (honestly... probably not actual sheith shippers) yelling “Sheith is dead” because of Shiro’s ex-boyfriend. Well, first of all, it is an ex-boyfriend according to the vld staff. And, while I will admit I have not seen the full episode nor will I seek out any more spoilers, I can still say with full confidence that Sheith is not dead. Which, honestly, I think most Sheith shippers would agree.

(Also, side point: a ship cannot even “die” like... the point of shipping is looking at two characters and thinking they would be interesting together regardless of canon.)

Anyways, I’m just going to go ahead and break down exactly why I actually believe Sheith to be closer to canon than ever before.

I usually never have hope for a canonically queer ship, mostly because I’ve learned to not expect it. Voltron, however, has amazingly made me hope again. And I even dare to hope that the canonically queer ship will also be my otp.

However, my bias aside, there is plenty of evidence pointing to canon sheith. Starting with the entirety of season 6.

Like, don’t get me wrong, I was shipping Sheith from seasons 1-5 too. Keith’s very first scene in the show is his rescuing Shiro, followed by tenderly touching his face while saying his first word of the show: “Shiro?” Following this scene we see how Shiro and Keith have the deepest bond of the group and are consistently looking out for each other. In season two we have Shiro trusting Keith to succeed him as leader and the Blade of Mamora trials with the famous “Your friend desperately wants to see you.” Since then we’ve gotten hugs, tender looks, and promises of: I’ll save you “As many times as it takes.”

Despite all of this I still doubted they would become canon, but then season 6 came along.

First of all this post which is not mine but goes in to all of this a lot, talks about how many of the romantic scenes expected for other ships happened for Sheith instead. Things like: Sheith’s bond being the focus of the season, Keith’s mom picking out Shiro because Keith told her so much about him, backstory, sacrificing themselves for one another, and even an emotional confession of “I love you.” Honestly, if we were looking at any sort of heterosexual ship, they would already be considered a couple by now.

Additionally we have seen some incredible parallels for Sheith as well. Both with Sheith and Keith’s parents and with Zaggar. On one hand we have the very similarly animated rescue scene between Keith’s dad and Krolia vs Keith rescuing Shiro in episode one. On the other hand, we have the very telling jaw-dropped reaction of Shiro with Keith and Zarkon with Honerva.

And now, with the new information from season 7, it adds a whole other layer to Shiro’s reaction. We were joking about his stuttering and complete focus on Keith during that scene was him being a gay disaster. But the truth is he is a confirmed gay disaster. Literally, how else do you explain that scene? Plus, while I know the 2 year jump wasn’t some move by the showrunners to address the “too big of an age gap” claims, I still think it’s an important moment for Shiro. Shiro has never treated Keith like a kid in the series, and they have been shown to be best friends and reliant on each other since the beginning. But I genuinely believe that this moment was when Shiro realized that Keith really has gotten older/more mature/(hotter). “You really have changed,” Shiro said.

And, if we take the parallels a step further (and while some people may call it a stretch, I personally really enjoy this one). We all know how Lauren and Joaquim also worked on Legend of Korra, another show that pushed for lgbt rep and that ended with canon Korrasami The ending scene of which had a very visually similar theme repeated in Voltron. A pillar of light between the two queer characters.

But, regardless of all the observed parallels and incredibly heartfelt moments, we now have an interesting problem(?) on our hands: the introduction of Shiro’s ex-boyfriend Adam. I will reiterate that I have not actually seen the new episode in full (and correct me if I’m wrong), but a lot of the episode’s focus is on pre-Kerberos backstory.

Within this backstory we meet Adam, someone Shiro loves and cares for deeply, to the point that they were practically (if not actually?) fiances. However, as Shiro deals with a chronic illness and pursues his dream of piloting in space anyways, Adam leaves Shiro and tells Shiro that he will not wait for him.

Now, from this information alone I immediately believe that Adam is meant to foil Keith. Where Adam (for whatever reasons, good or bad) could not stand by Shiro through everything, Keith has repeatedly proven he will do anything to protect Shiro and stay by his side.

Additionally, from a narrative standpoint, it really wouldn’t make sense to make Shadam endgame. Now it is true that anything is possible in 26 episodes. It could turn out that Shiro will have his reconciliation with Adam on Earth and they will get back together. In the event that this happens, (and if it happens in a way that is healthy and is good for Shiro), I hope everyone will support the relationship regardless of ships. Because that will still be amazing representation!

However, I doubt that would happen. Simply because we have never heard of Adam before. If the vld staff was shooting for this big queer couple for a while, why only mention him in the last 26 episodes? Especially since a majority of the episodes of season 7 (I assume) will be them just trying to get to Earth, leaving very few to flesh out a Shiro/Adam story. From a story-telling standpoint Shiro should have been talking about or mentioning Adam from the start to more easily introduce this couple to the audience. However, Adam only gets brought up when Shiro has to face the reality that he is making it back to Earth and there is a chance he will see Adam again.

[Edit: Plus, just think of how much has changed since Shiro left. He has been imprisoned for a year by the Galra and forced to fight, had his arm replaced with a robotic prosthetic, been experimented on, has become part of a universe-defending team fighting in an intergalactic war, literally died, spent who knows how long as just a consciousness in a giant robot space cat, and then revived and given the memories of a cloned version of himself. He’s been through a lot. And who knows what Shiro’s gone through better than Keith?

Adam, on the other hand, has most likely had no idea what happened. If I assume this correctly, for this entire time Shiro’s been gone, Adam has believed Shiro to not only be dead, but responsible for the Kerberos mission’s failure. I would assume when the mission was called Pilot Error, Adam would have had his fears confirmed: by taking the Kerberos mission despite being ill, Shiro put his life and the crew’s lives in danger. I honestly cannot even imagine how Adam must have reacted when he heard the news. I honestly can’t wait to see how he reacts to Shiro being alive.

After everything they’ve gone through, will they really be able to rekindle that old flame so easily?]

Additionally, we can argue that season 6 was one of the biggest Sheith seasons of the series. We got that two year age jump with Keith that has Shiro reacting like the disaster gay he is. Plus, Shiro’s reaction to Keith saying “I love you” (while not reacting to the “you’re my brother” line) still sticks with me, along with Keith refusing to let go and accepting to fall to his death with Shiro. We got Keith astral projecting himself by screaming Shiro’s name and then cradling Shiro in his arms in the last five minutes of the season. And to now immediately follow up that season (that was so focused on Shiro and Keith’s bond) with a confirmation that Shiro is gay? I really don’t think that’s a coincidence.

[Edit: Not to mention how I’ve seen multiple posts going around talking about the different dubs. One being the German dub’s ich liebe dich, which is apparently for a stronger/more profound love than ich habe dich lieb. And of course, the Japanese dub’s aishiteru which is also much deeper than the more commonly used daisuki. Like, if you’ve ever watched subbed anime, confession scenes will almost never use aishiteru. Aishiteru is rarely used because it denotes a deeper love akin to saying “I am in love with you from the bottom of my heart.” It is almost exclusively used between romantic partners, and rarely (if ever!) used between family/friends. The choice of aishiteru over suki/daisuki is honestly incredible.]

[Edit: Also, something I wanted to add before but couldn’t find a source at first: I found this article by DenofGeek from this past February very intriguing. It said that quote:

“Montgomery adds, ‘When we set out to make this show we wanted to make one where no one character was solely defined by being in a relationship.’ She’s quick to clarify that the Avatar and Korra characters were of course incredible and fully formed characters themselves but, ‘when we really looked at what was at stake with this show (Voltron) the relationship or romance aspect of it just didn’t feel as important as the work that they were doing to save their universe.’ Both showrunners don’t rule out the possibility of it happening down the line, but only if it happens naturally within the story. ‘We’re not going to try to just put it in there for the sake of needing romance in the story,’ Montgomery explains.”

The parts I bolded were what stood out to me from this article/interview. The showrunners have never wanted the focus to be just on relationships. The focus has, and always will be, on these characters defending the universe together. However, they will include romance if it happens naturally within the story. I really believe that if we were looking for a naturally developing relationship in the show it would be Sheith, and not between Shiro and some brand new guy (or at least new to the audience). In order to truly convince us Shadam is a good ship, the showrunners would have to focus on it a lot in the remaining two seasons. Why go through that effort when they could instead develop the relationship Keith and Shiro already have in the show?]

Not to mention, despite the introduction of Adam in the episode, the episode’s main focus was still on Shiro and Keith. The new episode has yet another Sheith hug, Keith worrying over Shiro in a pod, and many pre-Kerberos scenes (without Adam) that feature Keith and Shiro’s history. (Oh and I just got spoiled this next screenshot, there is apparently a rainbow above Keith and Shiro in one scene?! Also, it’s yet another example of a sunset as a romantic backdrop between them.) In other words, I really believe that Shiro will ultimately have his reconciliation with Adam, but they won’t get back together. Shiro will probably end up having feelings for Keith instead.

Although, I can’t know that for sure and anything could happen. But then, I can’t help but go to stuff outside of the show as well.

The staff have repeatedly shown support for Sheith or at least the bond between them. We have the famous “Shiro Loves you Baby #he’s looking at Keith” from Chris Palmer:

Art supervising director Kihyun Ryu drew this miracle:

And Eugene Lee’s recent Keith he drew on Chris Palmer’s Shiro’s chest like some kind of romance novel:

[Edit: And I almost forgot these two gems (which, while I know voice actor’s don’t have much control of the show’s story, they’re still great): The fact that Josh Keaton (Shiro) at the very beginning of Voltron coined the ship name “Sheith” and Bex Taylor-Klaus’ (Pidge) famous snapchat and quote:]

The staff’s support of the ship, in both fanart and interviews has been incredible. This post has an entire masterlist of the support the staff has given Sheith or their strong bond.

But, anyways. Overall, regardless of where the story heads I will always ship Sheith. If the staff decides that Shadam is the way to go for positive representation I’ll happily take it, but it doesn’t end my love for Sheith.

Honestly though, I think Sheith’s chances of becoming canon are better than ever before and I’m so excited to see how these last two seasons play out.

#voltron #sheith #sheithmonth #sheithmonth2018 #shiro #keith #meta #takashi shirogane #vld s7 spoilers #voltron spoilers #adam #shadam

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