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soft--dragon · 2 years

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Light-Hearted In Limbo

Inspired by this ask here

I changed the prompt a bit, hope that's okay <3

Word Count: 3,368

Warnings: A bit of a depressive episode in the beginning but it leads to hurt/comfort and a lot of fluff :D

This is a SFW tickle fic, if you don’t like that then don’t read :)

ALL PLATONIC, PLEASE DON'T INTERACT SHIPPERS

A low, flat hum echoed in the depressive cold of the platform. It made the space horribly eerie, chilling to anything that could hear it. Though, as far as Wilbur Soot was concerned, nothing heard him. His fingers were raw with how long he’d been scratching his nails down the walls, but he couldn’t stop himself from doing it over, and over, and over again. His glazed eyes were locked to the dried blood on the concrete, the previous attempts of escape of his eternal prison stared straight back at him.

This was his purgatory. A constant, repetitive pattern that never stopped. He was going to suffer this fate forever, he knew it, it was practically written on the wall alongside his blood. He was never escaping. Never. Never.

“-ilbur! Oi! Wilbur!”

Hands landed on Wilbur’s tightly drawn shoulders, the contact burning through the thick trench coat wrapped around the man’s shoulders. He couldn’t keep the scream from wrenching from his constricted lungs, swiping out at the thing attacking him and curling up tighter.

“Hey! Jesus fucking christ, don’t hit me dickhead!”

In his panic, Wilbur tried to shove at the hands still digging into his skin. “Let go of me! Let go- don’t hurt m-me- please-”

The hands left his shoulders almost immediately and Wilbur shuddered, the cold drowning him once more and making his heart ache for the warmth to return, even if it had been overwhelming. He hunched in on himself, shivering against the freezing floor.

The silence was louder than his previous yelling, the stillness in the air making the man’s skin crawl. Then, a small sigh sounded out, making him flinch and press closer to the wall.

“Wilbur, I’m not gonna hurt you.” The gruff voice was quiet, concern lining the edges.

Recognition tingled in the back of Wilbur’s brain and he hesitantly lifted his head to risk a look. A pair of orange eyes looked back at him, framed by mutton chops and gnarled, chipped horns.

“S-Schlatt?” Wilbur croaked, staring at the semi-translucent ram hybrid in front of him. After all this time in his hellscape, had he finally lost it?

The man before him let out a small breath again. “Yeah,” he moved back a bit, not to crowd the brunette. “You look like shit.”

Wilbur blinked rapidly, making the ram hybrid come more into focus. Schlatt was squatting on the concrete, watching him with careful eyes, his ears bent back in clear apprehension of Wilbur freaking out again.

So, Wilbur slowly let go of the vice grip on his knees, then kicked Schatt’s ankle.

“Fuck!” Schlatt fell back with a yell, gripping his foot tightly and gritting his teeth. “What the fuck man?! Why’d you do that?!”

Wilbur fully sat up, eyebrows high and teeth gritted together. “You scared the crap out of me!" he snapped.

Schlatt grumbled, rubbing his stinging ankle. “Yeah no shit, I can see that- fuck that hurt man, the fucks wrong with you?"

Wilbur was too busy trying to wrap his head around the situation to really acknowledge Schlatt's griping. "How did you get here?" He asked.

The ram glared at him but the pain in his ankle seemed to have calmed as he answered gruffly. "Got bored."

Wilbur stared at him for a moment, the cogs in his head screeching against each other as he slowly processed that nugget of information. "Bored? How the hell did you leave your limbo?"

Schlatt shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care. I figured it out somehow." He dropped his hands behind him, propping himself up. "I wanted something entertaining after years of pure hell."

Something angry curled in the base of Wilbur’s gut, and he glared at the man. “Don’t expect anything from me, I’m still pissed at you.”

Schlatt dipped his head to the side almost patronisingly. “Still? Dude, it’s been like, what? Ten years since everything happened? Why can’t we just go back to old times?”

“Because some people become different, Schlatt,” Wilbur curled into a ball, brown eyes burning into the ram hybrid’s own. “Things change. You changed. I changed.”

Schlatt gave a hum, considering the brunette for a moment. “...Mmm, no. No. I don’t think so.”

Wilbur crossed his arms tighter to him. “Good thing I didn’t ask for your opinion then.”

The horned man rolled his eyes. “Humour me,” he tried. “Just for a bit. I’ve been bored shitless for ages, and by the looks of things…” His eyes trailed over the mismatched coloured concrete, noticing the stains were an uncomfortably familiar colour. “You seem like you need a distraction too.”

Wilbur glared darkly, shoulders rising to his ears defensively but didn’t retort. There wouldn’t be much point with how much evidence was painted on the walls.

Schlatt wasn’t deterred by the lack of reply, easily shifting along with his thoughts. “So, I’m thinking we play a simple game. We both come up with something that we used to do in our younger years, and if we still did it before we died, that’s a point.”

Wilbur raised a slow, skeptical brow. “And who wins? The person with the most points?”

“Yeah,” Schlatt grinned widely, happy that Wilbur actually looked interested despite the slightly wary gaze. “The point system is pretty much based on what we remember about each other since we separated. It can be anything.”

Wilbur curled up tighter, silent for a moment before giving a slow nod. “You go first,” he muttered, taking a fistful of his trench coat in his hand subconsciously.

Schlatt’s grin only got wider, sitting up fully to quickly analyse Wilbur. A few mere seconds of scanning the ex-president, he clapped his hands on his knees. “Okay, okay I got one,” he said eagerly. “Do you still think Anteaters are awful?”

Wilbur blinked a bit at the question. Of all the things to start with… he was going with that? “What?”

Schlatt scoffed, waving a hand in Wilbur’s general direction. “You once told me that would commit mass genocide to anteaters because according to you they are; ‘the worst fucking animal to walk this fucking planet, fucking shit animal, should fucking die’. You said that to me when I asked you what you thought ants would taste like, and you launched into a whole ass TED talk about those fluffy bastards.”

Wilbur could only continue to stare. Schlatt remembered that? He remembered all of that? That was… gods, it must’ve been years ago now. He didn’t realise Schlatt meant bringing up things that far back.

Schlatt waved a hand in front of him suddenly. “Oi, did you fall asleep with your eyes closed or something?”

Wilbur shoved the hand away, though it was far gentler than anything he would’ve done earlier. “No, I haven’t figured out how to do it yet.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Schlatt settled back once more, waiting expectantly.

Wilbur rolled his eyes but gave a nod. “Yeah, I still hate them. Freaks”

Schlatt snorted. “Thought so. One point to me, your turn.”

Wilbur only had to think for a moment before a certain memory resurfaced. He couldn’t help his smile at the mental image of it. “Do you still ram headfirst into people that you don’t like?”

Immediately, Schlatt groaned and pinched the skin between his eyes. “I really regret telling you about that.”

A disbelieving noise worked its way out of Wilbur’s throat. “Get out, you still do that? I thought only infant rams did that-”

“Fuck off, sometimes its easier to just ram your horns into someone's ribcage rather than just telling them to go away,” Schlatt crossed his arms stubbornly, though his eyes were starting to dance a bit with mischief.

Wilbur wheezed, his laugh a bit broken but Schlatt found something in his chest easing at the familiar sound. It was much better than the panicked gasping he was doing earlier. Though honestly, anything would be better than that. He didn’t focus on the sound though, not wanting Wilbur to realise he was only listening. He was just starting to get him out of his shell.

Speaking of which…

“Right, what’s something else I could take the piss outta ya for?” Schlatt thought out loud, peripheral vision letting him know Wilbur had settled back against the wall. He thought for a moment then snapped his fingers, his wide grin showing all his teeth. “Did you still do that dumb hair routine? The one with all the gels and hair spray and shit?”

Wilbur immediately bristled, sitting up a tad straighter. “It wasn’t dumb,” he defended. “It looked good, and you can’t come after me about that when you used to spend ages shaping your stupid mutton chops.”

Wilbur scrunched up his nose in thought. “I didn’t do it during Pogtopia, didn’t have the stuff necessary,” he admitted. “Does that still count to you?”

Schlatt barked a laugh, the insult to his facial hair rolling off of him like water on a duck's back. “So I’m right?” He asked gleefully. “You still did it?”

“Nah, not fully. Let’s say a half point then?”

“Hmm, sure. Seems fair.”

There was a gentle kick at Wilbur’s leg from Schlatt. “It’s your turn.”

Wilbur kicked back. “I know dickhead, I’m thinking.”

The game continued onwards from there. Questions thrown back and forth and answered with either semi embarrassed or annoyed responses. The points were surprisingly even between them. Old habits die hard it seemed.

Schlatt was lying across the floor by Wilbur’s legs, having moved closer as the game progressed and Wilbur relaxed into the rhythm of it. The ram hybrid was tapping his fingers against the floor in thought, trying to come up with a new question to test Wilbur with.

Wilbur’s eyes were fluttering closed, sinking his weight into the wall more and more as the time dragged on. The presence of someone else with him instead of the ever constant presence of crippling loneliness was making him feel much safer in limbo. Even if the person in question was Schlatt of all people.

“Oh! I know!”

Wilbur started as Schlatt’s voice rolled around the train station, eyes jolting open to see the ram hybrid smirking widely. That only spelt danger.

Schlatt snickered. “Do you still have that eighth sensitive rib that makes you fold like a lawn chair when it's tickled?”

Heat crawled up Wilbur's cheeks, accompanied by a weirdly familiar curl in his belly. He leant back into the wall, crossing his arms across his chest out of habit and cleared his throat as it had gotten a bit clogged. “No. When you fight two wars your body gets tougher and more resistant to that sort of thing. I’m not bothered by tick- by that kind of touch now.”

If anything, Schlatt’s eyes only got more excited. “Don’t get bothered by… what, Wilbur?” He was sitting up now, his full focus on the brunette who was praying a train would come down the tracks so he could be hit by it.

Instead of giving a proper reply to the question, Wilbur simply flipped him off. “I answered,” he snarked. “You don’t get a point for that, it’s my turn now-”

“Oh, absolutely not.” Schlatt was suddenly moving, grabbing at Wilbur’s wrists to force his arms away from his chest.

Wilbur yelped loudly at the sudden surprise of contact and the unexpected playful wrestling Schlatt had commenced. The pair hadn’t rough housed in years. Schlatt managed to take Wilbur down from the wall to the ground, the pair squabbling like youngsters as one tried to get the upper hand.

“Schlatt! Fucken- let go of me, would you?!” Wilbur yanked at his hands only for the ram hybrid to sling a leg over his waist to try and pin him down, chuckling at the ex-presidents yell of annoyance.

“You’re fightin’ awfully hard for someone who claims to be unbothered by touch, Wilbur. That is what you said, wasn’t it? That it doesn't bother you?” Schlatt managed to wrangle Wilbur’s arms down, keeping them in place as Wilbur tried to wrench them away.

“Schlatt, I swear to god-” he growled, only to be immediately silenced by Schlatt’s fingers being poised over the side of his ribcage. He stared at the frozen hand in suspenseful anticipation, able to feel their warmth with how close they were to his shirt.

“Something wrong Wil?” Schlatt’s teasy voice carried easily in the emptiness of the station. “You’re a bit quiet now.”

Wilbur bared his teeth, trying to press onto the coolness of the concrete away from Schlatt, only for the man’s hand to follow his side. “Schlatt- Schlatt-” Wilbur himself didn’t know what he was trying to ask, just saying the ram hybrid’s name over and over again as a smile unwillingly twitched at his mouth.

“Oooo, I’m seeing a little grin,” Schlatt cooed, his hand ghosting Wilbur’s ribs and making a slow spidering motion agonisingly close to the sensitive bones.

Wilbur jerked away on instinct, a muffled yelp slipping through his tightly pressed lips. He was starting to realise how horribly exposed he really was. Fuck.

There was a delightedly smug chuckle above him. “You’re still falling for that~?” Schlatt purred, wiggling his digits in the air once more at Wilbur’s rib cage just to relish in the sight of him squirming.

“S-Stop being a prick,” snapped Wilbur, though it came out a lot weaker than he intended.

The pair of orange eyes watching him seemed to light up at his words. “Oh? You want to skip the teasing and let me go straight into it?”

Yeah, Wilbur really wished his hands were free so that he could punch those stupid mutton chops right off Schlatt’s face. ”Shut up, that’s not what-”

Schlatt snickered, almost patronising as he cooed. “Awww, can you not handle what you dish out Mr President? Ain’t that something, that’s something else you still do! Guess that’s another point to me.”

“No it isn’t you motherfUCKER!” Wilbur’s words were swallowed up by his strangled yell, his whole body trying to collapse in on itself when Schlatt’s sharp nails gently dug into the muscle and bone.

Schlatt barked a laugh, massaging his fingers into the area, not at all deterred by the brunette’s wild squirming. “Well well well, this certainly hasn’t changed either! That’s sweet Wil, you’re still a wriggler.”

Wilbur really was twisting madly on the floor, Schlatt’s fingers kneading into his sensitive ribs making him spasm uncontrollably. Wild, unfiltered giggles tumbled out of him, his smile stretching wider across his face.

“S-Schlahaha- nOHOhohoho! Stohohohopihihit!” Wilbur howled out, trying to shift away from the probing fingers only for them to follow him, never shifting from that damn rib that made him squeal like a little kid.

“Now let’s see,” Schlatt hummed, not even paying attention to Wilbur’s giggle-fueled pleas. “What always made you shriek? Was it the rib counting game or raspberries?”

A warm flush crept up Wilbur’s neck at the casual words, shoving his head down into his trench coat collar immediately to hide. “Schlahahatt shuhuhut uhuhup!’

“I think it was the rib counting game, raspberries got you to scream, not shriek, didn’t they?”

“IHIHI SAHAhaid shuhuhut uhuhuhup!”

“Mind yourself, Wil,” Schlatt snickered, making sure his knees were firmly planted on Wilbur’s wrists as he put both of his hands on either side of his torso. “I can always make this much worse.”

He both felt and saw Wilbur gasp, the man flinching at the sight of the outstretched fingers, his nervous giggles picking up when they rested on his bottom ribs.

“You ready?”

“Ihihill kihihill yohohou.”

“I’m already dead, dumbass,” Schlatt snorted and began to press his digits in, worming them into the skin and grinning when Wilbur bucked with a squeal. “One…” he drawled, dragging his nails across the bones then shifting up. “Two… Thr- Wilbur, c’mon. You’re gonna make me lose count with all the thrashing you’re doing.”

There was an exasperated whine. “Ihihihi cahahan’t hehehelp ihihihihit!”

“Well you’re gonna have to, I need to know if you’ve lost any ribs since transitioning to the afterlife and I cannot mess it up. Now stay still.”

Wilbur whined again in the back of his throat, sinking deeper into his coat as he felt Schlatt’s hands slide back to his bottom ribs. “Plehehehease- ihihihit tihihihickles Schlahahatt!”

“I know it does idiot,” Schlatt huffed. “That’s the idea.”

His fingers pressed back into the muscle, the sensations sparking through Wilbur’s body and making him want to curl into a ball but with the ram hybrid pinning his waist and his hands, all he could do was throw his head back and giggle himself mad. The slow, tortuous counting continued, Wilbur struggling to control his every instinct to get the hell away.

“Six…” Schlatt was wiggling his fingers into the middle of the ribcage, snickering as Wilbur fought not to flail as he neared the rib that made the man go ballistic. “Seveeeeen~” Schlatt dragged out the word, his fingers dancing along the rib and leaning forwards towards the eighth one.

Wilbur squirmed back subconsciously, his eyes squinty with how wide his smile was with a red flush colouring his cheeks. He then froze when Schlatt paused directly over the hypersensitive bones, fingers stretched out and a hair's breadth away, but not touching. Wilbur could only stand the tension for a few seconds before he melted into his trench coat, a puddle of nerves and giggly euphoria. “S-Schlatt plehehehease-” he whimpered.

The ram hybrid lunged his nails into the eighth ribs, wiggling and pinching and skittering across the bones. Wilbur’s back immediately arched with a loud shriek, the sound echoing down the train tunnel and quickly followed by hysteric cackling.

“SCHLAHAHATT!”

“Awww, there’s those sensitive little buggers,” Schlatt snickered, drilling into the eighth ribs mercilessly and relishing in Wilbur’s gleeful screeches of laughter.

Wilbur kicked and squirmed wildly, throwing away his previous attempts of staying still as ticklish sparks travelled right through him. Schlatt had him pinned good however, making it impossible for him to squirm away if he wanted to. He was trapped in a different version of hell now.

He was hiccupping in laughter as he pressed out, “IHIHIT’S SOHOHO BAHAHAD SCHLAHAHATT!”

Schlatt decided to be a dick, just for old times sake. “Oh yeah? Well I told you not to move or it would get worse, and you’re just squirming away like a worm on a string.” Schlatt’s teeth clacked together in a menacing grin that sent a swarm of anticipating butterflies through Wilbur’s stomach. “Buckle up bitch.”

Schlatt yanked the helm of Wilbur’s jumper up with one hand and ducked down to press a raspberry into his eighth rib, shaking his head to brush his facial hair along the sensitive skin and using his fingers to scratch under the bone. A wild scream tore from Wilbur’s throat, his whole body convulsing at the rush of ticklish energy and cold concrete on his bare back.

“FUHUHUHUHUCK! SCHLAHAHAHATT!” He screeched, the sensations almost overwhelming, but at the same time Wilbur relished in it, deprived of contact and laughter for so long that this was paradise.

The horned man laughed, scribbling and pinching along Wilbur's ribs tauntingly once more. “Yes Mr President?” He teased, “Got something to say?”

“I-IHIHIHIHI- WAHAHAHAHAIT!”

Wilbur was thrown back into hysteric laughter as Schlatt didn’t wait for his answer, dropping another raspberry into Wilbur’s ribs and deviously spidering his fingers along the bones. Schlatt wasn’t intending on stopping any time soon, and Wilbur didn’t seem to mind the childish fun at all. If anything, he was enjoying it.

The dark, depressing space of the train platform didn’t seem as gloomy with the laughter bouncing through the limbo. How could it with such a light, happy sound? And once it had finally faded, leaving a smiling brunette and a fond ram hybrid, the previous questioning game continued, light-hearted jests echoing through the station.

Schlatt didn’t end up leaving the station, even long after the game was done, and Wilbur found himself at ease in his old friend’s company. It had been a long time since they’d shared some time like this, and Wilbur found himself thinking that maybe, just maybe, limbo wouldn’t be as horrible anymore.

#my writing #lee!wilbur #ler!jschlatt #jschlatt #wilbur soot #dsmp tickle #mcyt tickle #dsmp

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chaifootsteps · 8 months

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This is Lemoncritiques, and I just wanted to thank you for at least being neutral regarding me, and my deletion. I didn't always agree with everything you posted, but that's normal. I just want to say that I deleted because I was tired of critiquing things within the show and community, and I was tired of the negativity. I know people have been trying to spin things around and act like I'm running from the shit with Raph but in reality, a bitch is just tired. It is what it is, but thanks for being a real one. Also, don't take this as a jab or anything, but even though I don't fuck with pro-shipping, I didn't want to be the type to suddenly make everything you said or did invalid because of whatever type of pro-shipping you involved yourself in. The community seems to take 'pro-shipping' to mean that anyone who calls themselves that condones every part of that community, when I'm damn sure there's pro-shippers who specifically don't like certain things within the community. There was just an overall issue constantly within the community disregarding that 'gray' area of standards that didn't take the individual into account, but that's also another reason why I left. It was constantly either right or left regarding things, and as someone who constantly stepped out of the mold regardless of what people said, getting your words taken out of context, of manipulated to mean something else also was just tiring too. Like, I'm glad to be gone from the space, but you weren't a bad part of it despite how people like to make it seem.

Sorry for rambling, I just wanted to leave you something here lmao

Hey there, thanks for the message! It's good to hear you're doing alright. Critiquing's not a paid gig, nor should be, and if a bitch is tired, a bitch should hit the bricks. Life's too short to do things you dislike for free.

As for proshipping, I don't even make a habit of calling myself a proshipper anymore -- not because I'm not, but because I can't keep up with the ever evolving definitions people keep assigning to it. Last I checked it was synonymous with Nazi pedo Frankenstein, but the truth is, I simply don't give a shit what strangers do with their imaginations. There are ships I dearly wish I could burn out of existence, ships I'm sure the world would be slightly healthier without, but I'm not going to harass anyone who has their own reasons for enjoying those ships. I'm too old and tired to police how the world interacts with Naruto.

I've always been a big believer in judging, or at least trying to judge people as they are and by what they've actually done, for better or worse. Sometimes that means I defend some pretty crazy people, and sometimes it means defending Vivzie. That's never going to change.

It was fine that you and I didn't always agree on everything. Hell, it was good. Communities need discussion, they need devil's advocates, and they need to be able to disagree -- and to seriously, deeply disagree -- without shitting in their hands and throwing it. I think that's an ability that can be hard to maintain, and takes work, but we lose it to our detriment.

Thank you for your thoughts and insights while you were around, and good luck in whatever comes next!

#Anonymous #lemoncritiques #vivziepop mention #actual blog post

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hydrachea · 2 months

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Hiiii ! I saw you recently in the reblogs of the XingRen post my platonic spouse, Aratribow made for me !

I just wanted to say, welcome aboard, fellow XingRen enjoyer ! It's nice to see I'm not the only one completely bonkers over them. I do have a free hand for you to shake and a lotta future content to propose you cause the brainrot is.

The brainrot is bad. To say the least.

My writer ass can and will rip apart space, time, logic, common sense and the fabric of the universe itself to make this ship a reality (I already did twice in fact but made it FengXingRen and not only XingRen and I'll have to fix that).

But enough with me babbling, I came here with some questions for you but, how do you picture their relationship, the dynamic between them ? I tend to go on a very peculiar way of interaction so I'm interested in what other shippers think !

Anygays, please do have a great day/night and welcome in the XingRen hell (affectionate) 💜🤍❤️🖤

Hello, that's me, local selfcest* enjoyer!

*not quite selfcest but also not quite NOT selfcest, because nothing can ever be simple with what these two have going on, so selfcest for the sake of simplicity.

For me, well... "It's complicated" hardly even begins to cover it. The writing of KiriyaS is one big influence on my vision, on account of them being responsible for my awakening. I especially like "Enigma".

I feel like Blade would have very mixed feelings towards Yingxing, a mix of protectiveness and resentment. Since he knows very well and very personally what he, back when he was Yingxing, has gone through, he really doesn't wish it on him. But at the same time even if he does consider himself a different person now Yingxing is still a complete, unbroken version of him. (You wanna talk about it, Bladie?)

Yingxing meanwhile does not have the frankly impressive baggage Blade has. Not that their shared backstory isn't full of flavor, Blade's exclusive one just has a lot more layers that makes them hardly comparable. So he feels compassion towards him because no matter how much Blade doesn't care for being pitied, well, they originated from the same person with the same deep hatred towards Yaoshi and their abominations. Yingxing understands very well just how awful a time Blade is having, not to mention crafting is everything to Yingxing and he can also imagine very well how terrible he'd feel if he lost his ability to do that. But since they, once again, came from the same mold, Yingxing also understands that Blade still has pride (especially when it comes to himself-but-not-exactly) and mostly keeps his compassion to himself. He can try to help him in other ways, though he's not stupid and knows that "Yingxing" can't be salvaged from "Blade". Which is fine.

Tldr; in Yingxing's mind:

Essentially, your best friend and mine the slowest of burns, the faintest of simmers makes a comeback. They have so much to work through and being the same person isn't even half of it.

#okay let's cut it there i have typed enough #i'm super normal about them who could have guessed #ask #answer #saunne #really kiriyas and gwendee's fics have rewired my brain #so i'm very influenced by their stuff #still this is The Vision #old man yaoi ♡#hsr #xingren #< empty tag which i lament #selfcest #no apologies for the long answer i could have kept going but decided not to #the brain do be rotting

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hmsharmony · 1 year

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5. 10. 19.

Apologies in advance for this having nothing to do with Spider-Man until 19. 😬

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

Merlin/Arthur how I loathe thee. The racism and misogyny I had to witness (e.g., petition to replace Angel with Colin when she was scheduled to do an interview with Bradley). I began the show shipping everyone in the core four (although Arthur/Gwen was my OTP), but the treatment of Gwen by many Merthur shippers soured me on the ship. The final nail in the coffin was when a friend, an Arthur/Merlin shipper, found out I shipped Arthur/Gwen and expressed disgust. Fuck that.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

The one that immediately comes to mind (which will not come as a shock to anyone who was around in 2011/2012) is Merlin’s “Gwen is enchanted to kiss zombie!Lancelot the night of her wedding, Arthur finds them, and he banishes her from Camelot on pain of death because ‘I don’t want to see you dead but I don’t want to see you.’”

A few things that fill me with rage to this day:

zero agency for Gwen (who never finds out she was enchanted the actual fuck!!!);

Arthur using his power as king to deal with a personal issue;*

Gwen going through literal hell on her own (taken captive and visuals/language making clear her captor plans to sexually assault her; escaping when she discovers her captor is working with Morgana and they plan to harm Camelot so even though she can’t return ON PAIN OF DEATH she makes her way back anyway; almost freezing to death during said journey; getting chased down by Morgana, who knocks her out and turns her into a DEER while Arthur is going on a hunting party with a prospective bride; said woman SHOOTING DEER GWEN WITH AN ARROW)

Gwen saying she has what she deserves when she tells Merlin she can’t return to Camelot because she betrayed Arthur;

Arthur finding her ring in the middle of the forest and not wondering WHY it was there or if she’s okay; and

an underwhelming resolution where everything is swept under the rug and they IMMEDIATELY GET MARRIED DESPITE THERE CLEARLY BEING MAJOR TRUST ISSUES AND GWEN MOST DEFINITELY HAVING PTSD WHAT ARE YOU DOING

(Bonus Gwen saying she can’t forgive herself and Arthur saying he doesn’t care I am still livid and it has been more than a decade let Gwen have negative feelings!!!)

Took me literal years to love that ship again because of this storyline.

*It would have been much more interesting if it had been framed as “it’s either saving the woman you love or upholding the law” like they did in Camelot. The show (claimed) to be in large part about how Arthur would create a new, fair Camelot (lmao). They missed a perfect chance to have him wrestle with what that means and the sort of king he wanted to be. I kind of played with that in the spec fic I wrote for 4x09, but to this day I want so much more.

19. What is one thing you hate most about your fandom?

I want to preface this by saying that, because of previous fandom experiences (including the infamous Harry Potter ship wars during my formative years), I was careful to cultivate my Spider-Man fandom experience from the get-go. My first couple years I literally only talked to existing friends who also loved PeterMJ (save for one fanvid I made in late 2019, but really I was just thanking people for commenting). It’s only in the past ~year I started interacting with new people, and even then I’m still very careful about expanding my bubble. So I’ve insulated myself pretty well, and I mostly have only secondhand knowledge of the horrendous side of this fandom (versus my merlin days where I would explore outside my bubble and see so much fucked up shit, usually of the racism variety).

With that out of the way: this is so minor in the scheme of things, but whenever someone calls MCU PeterMJ a slow burn I want to rip my face off. I love these kids but what they had was the exact opposite of a slow burn. And it’s not because it was done in one movie—When Harry Met Sally is 100% a slow burn in my book, and yes, the focus is that relationship, but there WERE things homecoming or far from home could have done. Not putting in the work to establish an existing relationship and instead going straight to Peter liking her is not a slow burn. (Now the way they hinted at MJ’s feelings in Homecoming? That was slow burn potential. Would’ve killed for something similar for Peter. And I say this as someone who had the biggest goddamn smile on her face everything they interacted when I first saw Far From Home.)

Salty Ask Game

#Merlin s4 #in all its shame #shipping: arthur and gwen #clearly never over s4 because look at the caps lock #Harry potter mention for the blacklist #spiderman (mcu)#shipping: peter and mj #it’s been so long since I did a good nice rant #I feel freed

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anyathefandom · 11 months

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To Those Fortunate Enough chapter 31:

@burned-lariat

"I don't want you here."

"No," Wallace laughed nervously, "you don't mean that…you can't mean that."

"I don't want you here," Dex shook his head slowly, his voice firm.

Me: See I don't blame him because last time he saw him he invalidated his feelings and that man got so upset he passed out🤷

Dexter Heller," Wallace replied in the same tone, "relax. You're not in any danger, no one's hurting you. You're in a safe place; nothing's going to happen to you."

"Why can't you just do what I'm telling you to do, you stupid son of a bitch? Is English that hard? Should I say it a different way for you to get it? Fine: Ich will dich hier nicht haben! Raus mit dir! Lass mich in Ruhe!"

Me: Oh you know someone is pissed with you when they switch to another language to tell you to get out.🫣

"I'll calm down when you finally screw off."

"Is that any way to talk to your father?"

Both men turned to look at the door. Ava leaned against the open doorway, looking them over. She pursed her lips before slowly walking towards the bed, standing between father and son.

"Can I help you?" Wallace asked.

"You can," she replied, "Give your son and I some space to talk, if you please. Thank you."

Me: The way I imagined ava entering the scene like:

"Why?" Dex looked at her incredulously, "Ava, you were one of the few people in the family who didn't look down upon me because I exist. You didn't know what Victor knew, and you didn't know he was going to do any of what he did. You have no reason to apologize."

"Aren't you sweet," Ava smirked, briefly glancing through the window behind her, "Mind telling me why you're so irate at your father?"

"If I remembered why, I'd tell you. I just…know I should be."

"Hopefully it'll come back to you," Ava stood up slowly, gently slapping his forearm, "Take it from me: you're in very good hands here."

"Great," Dex smiled before Ava walked towards the door, "Hey, Ava?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for visiting. It means a lot."

Me: Somehow Someway I came out of that interaction an Ava x dex crack shipper.🫢

"Valentin, you're back!" Irina rushed to hug her brother as he walked into the hotel room. He felt her squeeze him tight, earning him a giggle from Anna as she came from behind, "Where did you go?"

Me: It's really hitting that this is a relationship we've been robbed of because the writers don't respect the woman in white.😭

"Irina," Valentin looked between the two blondes, "this is Charlotte. She's my daughter, which makes her your niece. Charlotte, this is your aunt, Irina."

Me: The way my mind went "Imagine Irina took Charlotte under her wing and down the line trained her." Once again we've been robbed.

“...Something the matter?” Valentin looked at Wallace as the door closed.

“Yeah…there is,” Wallace gulped, his eyes red and bloodshot.

"And that is...?"

“My son wants nothing to do with me.”

Me: *Sings* Cause karma is my boyfriend, Karma is a god, Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend, Karma's a relaxing thought, Aren't you envious that for you it's not?

Also me: Like y'all know a love that problematic German man but...

"You look like you went through hell and back," Spencer remarked.

"Funnily enough, I just did."

"Is it as hot as people claim it is?"

"Worse. Not only is it hot, but there's mountains of corpses everywhere, so it reeks too. The world's nastiest men's locker room."

"...Shut up," Spencer playfully swiped at Dex, causing both men to laugh. Spencer felt his spine stiffen when Dex's laughter led to a fit of coughing, "You okay?"

Me: The fact that this is the only time I would ever support Spencer and Dex being friends😂

"...Touché," a smirk broke onto Dex's face, "But in all seriousness, Spencer, if you plan to cut your father out of your life, be sure that you're doing it with a sound mind. I did it while full of rage and adrenaline, and once I calmed down, I let him back in."

Me: Dex...

Let Spencer cut Nikolas out of his life it's for the best.🙈

Why did you let him back in?"

"I don't know."

"If you don't know, then why haven't you kicked him back out?"

"...I don't know," Dex frowned, looking down at his lap. The thought sat with him for a moment or two before he looked back at his cousin, "Look, Spencer, you're the only one who can decide whether or not to keep your father in your life, and whatever you choose to do, I support you."

Me: Good, because Nikolas has been a real shit father for a while now.🥴

"You're German, aren't you?"

"I am."

"So that means you speak German, right?"

"Fluently."

"Prove it."

Dex raised an eyebrow, "You want me to prove I can speak fluent German?"

"I'm trying to keep our conversation going, Dex. Humor me."

My instant thought: This is probably some bougie little test Spencer has going. He's probably going "Hmm he can't be a true Cassadine unless he knows more than one language.🧐"

"Alright," Spencer smirked, hearing the faint sound of footsteps approaching the room, "Who's standing in the doorway?"

"...Meine Mutter."

Spencer turned around to see Irina standing in the doorway, a hand on the door frame. Her eyes were bright with curiosity, fixated on Dex. The young man sucked in a breath at the sight of her, unsure of how to react. A heavy silence filled the room, crushing the atmosphere until a lone question broke the tension:

"Could I speak to my son alone?"

How I visualized Irina coming to his room:

One thing about Irina is that she's going to be excited to her baby.😂

#to those fortunate enough #general hospital

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butwhatifidothis · 2 years

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The more I read your posts the more I wonder what the fresh hell happened in the Bleach fandom lol.

I wasn't a part of it back then, but when I witnessed the collective breakdown from shippers in an ending, to the point of burning their books, I don't think I want to know...

Alright for a very, verrrry basic breakdown of what essentially happened:

Bleach starts, Ichigo meets Rukia

Early 2000's, boy meets girl in shounen and they're bickering, instantly shipped

First two arcs of Bleach focus on Ichigo and Rukia's relationship (henceforth referred to as IR)

Anime overhypes IR, downplays Orihime - Ichigo's actual love interest - and her relationship with Ichigo (the ship of which henceforth referred to as IH)

Anime makes Orihime more ditzy and air-headed + ditzy and air-headed female character in the 2000's + "potential" "love rival" of IR (Orihime is the sole love interest for Ichigo and thus there literally isn't a rivalry but you get the idea) = Orihime becomes extremely hated, consequently making IH extremely hated

Renji and Rukia's relationship (henceforth called RR, though it's less relevant in general) isn't necessarily downplayed by the anime so much as it is mostly ignored by IR because Obviously Rukia Just See Renji As A Friend (spoiler: no she doesn't)

As the manga continues passed the Soul Society arc (also known as the Rescue Rukia arc) written IR interactions drop significantly as their relationship remains as Extremely Close Friends (but like, actually)

Anime still pushes IR anyway through filler arcs + continual erasure of Orihime's moments, now with added IR implications in canon moments (i.e., Nel getting jealous of Rukia and thinking she's in a relationship with Ichigo during the beginning of the Arrancar arc - doesn't happen in the manga). IR shippers start clinging to non-canon material such as colorspreads and merch, character poems are misinterpreted to be about IR when they're not ("I wonder, can I keep up with it? The speed of the world, without you in it?" is often mistakenly said to be about Ichigo towards Rukia, I do believe it's actually about Zangetsu - this specific one happens later on, but you get the general idea), etc. etc.

Fade to Black movie drops, becomes known as "the IR movie" - then the mangaka is said to have said that Ichigo and Rukia were "more than friends, less than lovers" which somehow translates to them being lovers despite IR shippers' own wonky translation saying otherwise (this one genuinely confuses me to this day lmao)

Cycle continues

BOOM Lust Arc, Ichigo dies trying to protect Orihime and is then subsequently revived into a Hollow by her desperate pleas to save her combining with his want to protect her, only to become human again once he successfully kills what was threatening Orihime (in his mind)

Omega IH moment

IR shippers fuckin' hated it, makes the Lust Arc = Fail essay to justify why the Lust Arc actually totally definitely doesn't mean anything and IR will still totally happen

By this point they've believed IR is "basically confirmed" and they go back to hating on IH

Cycle continues, anime is still hyping up IR, though I do believe by this point they stopped downplaying Orihime/IH at least somewhat

Then we do a hard cut to the Quincy arc

Ichigo and Rukia barely interact. Are barely in the same panel. Or on the same page. Or even in the same location. Like, for the majority of the last arc.

IH moments skyrocket, as well as RR moments skyrocketing

Most notable moments for both: Renji thanking Ichigo for bring him and Rukia back together from the bottom of his heart; Ichigo bringing Orihime to fight alongside him against the last arc's main villain, something Ichigo had never done before with anyone else

IR shippers haaaaaate it, deny that anything that happens between IH and RR mean anything since IR is such a shoe-in for canon

Cut to the ending of Bleach, IH and RR are endgame because fuckin' duh

Cue infamous shit-fest from IR shippers

In essence, the breakdown that came from the ending came from a loooooooong history of IR shippers taking extensive, all-expenses-paid trips up and down The Nile about anything and everything that was slowly building up between IH and RR. They (and, to be clear, I mean "they" as in the specific IR shippers who acted like this, not all IR shippers) would also act pretty damn entitled too - they'd chase the mangaka Tite Kubo off of Twitter twice if I remember right, just cuz he wouldn't fuckin' lie and say that IR would be canon.

None of this being at all helped by the anime shitting all over Orihime's character at the crucial beginning episodes of Bleach, with them completely butchering her literal first appearance ever into something that quite literally portrays her as feeling the exact opposite feelings for Ichigo than the manga shows her feeling (and with Ichigo seeming annoyed with her presence, which is where you get the whole "Ichigo doesn't even like Orihime!" take from).

So ultimately the years of IR shippers feeling as confident as they did about IR becoming canon, shitting on IH both as a ship independent from the shippers as a "crackship" and as something that is stupid of anyone to ship and thus any shipper of IH inherently invites ridicule (of which they did a lot of), ignoring all of the signs that IR wasn't gonna happen to the point of taking words from the mangaka that outright stated even in their translation of his words they were not lovers and somehow twisting that to mean that they definitely are lover, taking any development Ichigo had as a character and making it somehow someway all about how he is nothing without Rukia and only Rukia because only Rukia ever helped him because romantic love is the only thing that could ever save Ichigo and Ichigo would totally abandon his still-living friends and family in the World of the Living to be Rukia's lieutenant (hmmm where has this theme cropped up before) - all of that culminated into the absolute STATE they fell into when it was revealed that all of their excuses for their shitty behavior meant even less than they already did because their ship didn't even become canon at the end of the day. You both had to be there and be glad that you weren't there lmao

#ask #exqueuese me princess #not 3h #Bleach was ah... it was somethin'#and it's gonna be back to bein' somethin' in a few months!! genuinely super excited to see the final arc animated after so long!!#nooooot so excited to see Those IR Shippers getting the winds back in their sails and going back to their shitty stupid meta pieces #about how IH is actually Abuse Incarnate and why it's super toxic and actually Ichigo is way better off being Rukia's simp #...I'm a tad bitter if you can't tell lmao

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doydoune · 2 years

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random Bruno and Camilo doodles cause theater kids got to stuck together

#i live for their dynamic there's just so much potential #manifesting more interaction in possible encanto series 🙏#shippers do not interact and go burn in hell #encanto #encanto disney #encanto movie #encanto fanart #disney #bruno madrigal #bruno madrigal fanart #camilo madrigal #camilo madrigal fanart #madrigal #art #fanart #srsly a series would be tge greatest thing ever #dounart

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leather-n-laces · 2 years

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I've been in fandom for a VERY long time

I was BIG into Supernatural, TWD, various games, loads of TV and movies over the years. I've been active on tumblr for over 10 years now. I've been active in fandoms (loud mouthed, sharing my opinion with the world) and I've been passive.

(THIS IS A RANT)

I don't know how much of this will make sense. It might not, who knows.

I don't think I have ever been a part of a fandom that gets so mean and toxic as the Bethyl community. Which is so surreal to me because I was in the SPN fandom. It feels like every day I log on to see some mutuals have been inundated with angry anon messages for no apparent reason. The harassment's is unreal. The worst part is, Bethyl is a small part off the TWD fandom. We are a small group of shippers, a lot of us know each other be it we are actually buddies, or e read/support each others various works. So when you say a name, chances are a lot of us know who you're talking about.

I don't, and have never ever believed bullying/harassment is the way to handle anything. I think it's gross, a bit cruel, and cowardly. I can't understand WHY someone would put so much time and effort into tearing others down. I was actively bullied in school both online and off. I've gotten my fair share of anon hate and drama sent my way. I get how it feels to be on the receiving end. It's super super shitty.

You don't have to like everyone. You don't have to interact with them. You don't have to look at their art or read their stories. There's no rule saying we've all gotta be friends. I do believe there's an unspoken rule in which we should all be civil to each other. If you can't do that for whatever reason, don't interact. Block/ignore and move the hell on. There's nothing accomplished by sock puppet accounts and anon hate. You're just continuing a very toxic and very tiresome cycle. I genuinely don't know what anyone gets out of this type of targeted harassment. Who has the time and energy? If you have some to burn why spend it on THAT??

I was AFK during the first big round of drama last summer. But I heard about it and was really confused and sad. Because if I had been around, I know one way or another I would've been roped into it.

I've tried really really hard to say absolutely nothing, I avoid the Bethyl tags (tho I love you guys and just keep my head down. )

but I'm tired.

We are all adults and we should all be a hell of a lot better than this.

I hate that this is just...the Bethyl fandom now. Every few months like clockwork, people start getting messages, names and accusations start getting thrown around. I know people say and do things when they're super fed up and people make mistakes, misdirect and stuff. Some people are gonna block/ignore messages, some people will respond. I know if you attacked me personally I wouldn't really care, but if you decided to go after a friend - yeah you know what? I'd probably post responses too! Can't fault anyone for responding/posting their anon messages.

Anon, whoever you might be. We're all really fucking tired. We have all got better things to do. I'm sure you do too. IDK what went down between people personally really, and you know what? Not my business. Just...points have been gotten across. No reason why this all keeps happening.

Feel free to anon me and tell me why we can't just MOVE ON from this.

#rant post #bethyl #bethyl fanfiction #fandom drama #fandom hate

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firelxdykatara · 3 years

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I would actually be really genuinely interested to read your defence of Makorra. I’ve never really been partial to any of the TLOK ships but I know that one gets a lot of hate (even though I don’t see anything wrong with people shipping it) and I’m just curious to see your take.

I've been sitting on this a bit, because it's been a while since I actually sat down and thought about what it is I love so much about Makorra--the fire/water and slap-slap-kiss/BST energy aside--and it reminded me that I actually rewatched the first three episodes of LoK not that long ago (which is when I had my revelation about Equalist Asami, and how I think that the Equalist Mako and Korra fight in episode three was originally meant to be Asami's true introduction to the show, to be revealed when it became clear she and her father were Equalists), because of this meta by @devildogdemon on episode three that reminded me just how much those early episodes made me love Makorra well before the love triangle crashed onto the scene and everything went tits up.

I've spoken before about how what I really loved about Makorra was the potential:

I personally loved Makorra, but I loved it for what it could have been, not what it wound it actually being in the show–but that’s because the love triangle was sloppy as hell and poorly handled, and it took the place of actual bonding for the krew and development of their individual friendships.

This still holds true, and I think the foundations were all very well laid out in the meta that I linked above.

When Mako and Korra had time alone together, and were in a stressful situation, they worked incredibly well together, despite the way their personalities--Mako a bit staid and stoic, used to shoving down his emotions so that he could be the parent his little brother needed and, as a result, never learning how to process how he felt in a healthy manner, while Korra spent her whole life among adults and as a result never really learned how to just be a kid, or how to relate to others her own age, so she is brash and reckless and does what she thinks is necessary because she's never been around people who had to ask permission before they just Did Things and hey, she's the avatar, shouldn't she be the one everyone is looking to for leadership???--tended to clash, especially early on.

They slid almost effortlessly into the Battle Couple trope when it came time to fight--to try and get Bolin back, and to protect one another--and those scenes in Book 1 feel a lot like Zuko and Katara training together at the end of book 3, covering each other's blind spots and accomodating for each other's weaknesses. This is also, incidentally, the episode where Korra winds up wearing Mako's scarf--the one memento he has from his parents, who were killed when he was a child. Sound familiar?

-insert image of katara's necklace around zuko's wrist here-

And before anyone gets on me about the parallels, I'm not saying that Makorra is the same as Zutara (although if you told me that Bryke intended it to be, I'd believe it--either because they thought they were finally giving the shippers what they wanted or, more likely, they wanted to show why they believed zk would never work), but the parallels do exist, and it's largely because Mako occupies the same position within the krew that Katara does within the gaang. They also have the BST and the banter more than any other relationship in the krew, so of course they're going to wind up paralleled to the relationship in the gaang that had the most narrative tension. They are still, at the end of the day, very different relationships, because Mako and Korra are very different people than Zuko and Katara.

But I'm just saying, the symbolism of one half of the pair wearing the other's only physical link to their dead parents........it's there. I didn't make this up.

They also, again like zutara, have this moment of emotional closeness and vulnerability early in the book--in episode 3, where Mako reveals to Korra what happened to his parents and why he had history with the triads, which casts some light on why he acted the way he did in the very first episode (I've seen people getting on Mako's ass about how 'mean' he was to Korra, but like, a) he was very calm about it, and b) how else would you expect someone who lived hand to mouth on the street for an entire decade to react to someone claiming they had 'nothing' in the same breath as admitting that they'd never had to want for anything in their entire life?), and allows them to become closer emotionally--as friends and potentially more, given the explicitly romantic framing of the interaction and several others throughout the episode.

Ultimately, what initially drew me in to Makorra was that slap-slap-kiss/Belligerent Sexual Tension they had in the beginning of book 1, but what really makes me think of what they could have been is the way their relationship developed in episode 3 and the groundwork that was laid for a slow-burn there, rather than Korra deciding she was in love with him just in time for Asami to crash into the scene and nab him first.

(Incidentally, had Asami been an Equalist like she was originally supposed to, this could all have been part of a larger plot and Korra could have slowly come to realize what Mako meant to her while examining the things she felt when she saw him with Asami--meanwhile, all of their relationships could have been given room to breathe and grow, especially if Bolin's puppy crush on Korra were dropped, and Mako and Korra clashing over Korra's suspicions of Asami wouldn't have been quite so ugly if both of them were proven just a little bit right. And then allow for that betrayal to shake the foundations of the krew before Asami works her way back into their good graces, and Mako and Korra don't get together until they've navigated the fallout from that and discovered how much they really mean to each other.)

Uh... yeah, I rambled for days, hopefully I answered your question adequately! I just. I really love Mako, and I really love what he and Korra could have been to each other, and I really love who Korra could have become if the show let her actually grow organically instead of giving her Character Development Through Brutal Torture, and all of that has I guess kind of sunk into a ball of how the show would look if Makorra were done better to me lol.

#mako #makorra #atla #lok #equalist asami #makorra meta #mudbend #asked

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makorragal-312 · 2 years

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As a queer 911 watcher, Buck stan, and Buddie shipper, let me just say this...

FULL DISCLAIMER: THIS RANT MAINTAINS POSSIBLE 5B SPOILERS AND THIS IS LITERALLY JUST ME VENTING WHILE TRYING NOT TO CRY SO BARE WITH ME. 5B OPTIMISM IS APPRECIATED.

These last couple of weeks, especially as a bi Buddie shipper, leading up to the upcoming premiere have been both exciting and stressful.

I would always turn in to Oliver’s lives to see what he would spill about 5B and get excited and anxious whenever the latest info came out about Buck, Eddie, and by extension Buddie’s storylines in 5B. And whenever I wasn't satisfied, I would just head to Ao3 and read some amazing Buddie pics to ease my mind.

Needless to say, I was more than ready for what 5B had to bring...

But then THE ARTICLE came out and everything went to ABSOLUTE HELL.

Now, unfortunately, I’m no stranger to queerbaiting (I think my icon says it all) and anyone who has experienced this knows just how much it can fuck you up as a queer viewer. So going into the Buddie fandom and falling in love with this amazing duo, I tried to tread carefully. But the more I watched their interactions and moments, the less worried I became about getting queerbaited because Buddie honestly felt like a slow-burn with all the evidence to back it up.

So when I saw the excerpts of THE ARTICLE pertaining to Buddie, my heart just dropped and all the emotional turmoil, trauma, and gaslighting I experienced came to the surface, along with a bunch of anxiety. You honestly mean to tell me that I’ve been reading into things too much when LITERALLY you’re giving me a bi-coded Evan Buckley, romantic-coded moments between him and Eddie, and expect me to see them as just platonic?

Like honestly, FUCK THAT.

But after seeing some optimistic tweets and posts from 911 fans and Buddie shippers alike, I just pushed it to the side and went with the theory that the writers were just toying with us so that we would be shocked when something actually did happen between Buck and Eddie. So I let it go.

But then, literally 25 minutes ago, I went to the 911 hashtag on Twitter.

Again...like a FUCKING idiot.

And saw something with Buck that sill has me reeling.

Now, out of respect for anyone who either hasn’t seen this spoiler and doesn't want to be spoiled, doesn’t want to relieve the spoiler, or just loves the cinnamon roll that is Evan Buckley, I’m not gonna type out what I saw. But let me just say this: I honestly didn’t expect seeing that to hurt me as much as it does right now.

And I know that Oliver said that Buck was going to do things we weren’t going to like (also, DO NOT IN ANY CAPACITY GO AFTER OLIVER. LEAVE THE MAN ALONE), but not something that butchers five and a half seasons worth of character development for Buck. Like, 5B hasn’t even premiered yet where I am and I’m literally seeing that my comfort character is being fucked up.

There are so many other things that I want to say, but they’re just getting lost in the newfound anger. A small part of me is telling me to go through with watching the premiere for Eddie, Christopher, Buck being in the room and everything else...but I honestly don't know if I can. All I can do now is hope to God that there is someone in the writer’s room who knows what they're doing and actually does damage control with this whole Buck mess and doesn't butcher any other character and their storylines.

Now there’s a good hour before premiere, let’s see what happens.

EDIT: I watched it and I regret everything that has led me to his point...

#911 #911 fox #911 on fox #911 spoilers #911 5b #evan buckley #evan buck buckely #eddie diaz #edmundo diaz #911 buck #911 eddie #buddie #buddie 911 #like I want to watch the premiere #but at this point im just scared to #like I know there are things to look forward to #like buck being in the room #christopher and albert #seeing maddie come home #but what's the point if the whole time im just gonna be thinking about the writers possibly destroying buck #like this isn't even about buddie at this point for me #what's the point if buck isn't the buck Eddie is in love with #like honestly #in what universe would buck ever do shit like that #I need to apply for therapy just for that bullshit alone #5b better be worth my fucking while #or im gonna fucking riot #I already had to go through this bullshit with voltron and klance #there is no way in hell im going through this again with 911 and buddie #even if they don't get together by the end to the season

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aboutmikasa · 3 years

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Hi there. I am one of your readers and I have read all of your RM fanfic stories. And I admire them all.

You also write Mikasa with other men/women which is for me very enriching- in a way that your readers can explore and see the dynamic of Mikasa's character by portraying her in different relationships with varied men/women.

But my question, however, is about RivaMika. In your perspective as a Mikasa stan and a multi-shipper writer: what do you think is the strongest quality of RM among other ships?

Hi! Thank you so much for always being there! I always notice you and I’m super grateful for your support and kindness, it means a lot to me.

As you mention I love to explore Mikasa in many different scenarios and looking at her from different perspectives, without changing who she is and I just want to write and read nice fics about how much love she deserves. Every ship is different, the dynamics and interactions are never the same, and of course, every ship attracts me for different reasons.

Rivamika is my OTP, the ship I spend most of my time writing (things I publish and lots of things I may never publish). For me, what makes them special is [a] they both are Ackermans; [b] how much they have in common, [c] how kind is Levi, and above all, the two things I value the most in any relationship [d] respect and, [e] equality. The last thing is my weakness, [f] a terrible first impression (this is the root of most of the couples I ship because, well, my mothership is DarcyxLizzy).

You can stop reading here or follow my long, long, ramblings on how much (and why) I love rivamika.

I love the Ackermans, I’ve always been team Ackerman. I trust them and I knew they were going to be alive at the end of all of this (I wasn’t a prediction but more a feeling; the feeling that Isayama loves them as much as a lot of us do). This is linked with the things they share and their equality but, it stands alone because, well, the Ackermans are the most iconic clan in the story, they are the strongest and all of them are so freaking amazing. When his last name showed and Kenny showed us the family story… I found it even more alluring. I don’t give a damn about the “they are related” issue because they are not, and belonging to the same clan or having the same last name is so good for creativity and writing purposes (the best inside jokes I've read in fanfiction comes from this). It's as if something is pulling me more and more towards them as a ship.

Even if Levi were no Ackerman, the things they have experienced made them attractive to me. A lot. They are strong and people always assume things about them, they lost their families (more than once), they believe in their friends and tried really hard to protect them, they want to protect humanity even when humanity treats them bad. Levi is as taciturn as Mikasa, and he wants a quiet life. I don’t believe two very different people are a good match; couples need to share and have in common a lot of their essential interests: wanting quietness, stepping aside from crows and the public eye, the loyalty they have… These type of things is not easy to balance if you partner needs/wants something else.

The third I adore and that makes me ship them, is Levi’s kindness. I know most people focus on his strength and I get it, he is stronger as hell, but for me what is more distinctive about him is his kindness. He had no reason to be so kind but he is, he listens and tries his best to help. When he “offered” to break Erwin’s legs, when he understood why Mikasa and Eren wanted to save Armin, every time he talked to Mikasa, his interest in Historia. It's not your usual kind guy but the misunderstood type. Mikasa needs that more than anything. Kindness is something I explore in all my fics with Levi, he is more kind than resilient, and that, I adore about him. A strong, kind, resilient, and awkward Levi is so perfect for Mikasa.

For respect and equality, well, the things they share are as important as their differences. Levi is man enough to don’t give a damn about Mikasa being taller than him, to love how strong and muscular she is, to understand she needs her own space and that she moves at her own pace. Mikasa has hope enough for him to have a bit, so caring that he feels safe, Mikasa wants a family and I can’t imagine someone, anyone, else wanting him to have kids of his own and supporting his dream of having his tea shop. Mikasa learned to respect him as much as he learned to respect her and they the most amazing team ever made in fiction. Seriously.

My heart needs to go from a terrible first impression to "love of my life" and, let's be honest, no other couple can give us the Pride and Prejudice vibe. I read once some EM reference and got offended, not even for SnK, but for my Pride and Prejudice soul and how inaccurate is to say E would be Darcy... a kind, blue, man that is the epitome of romantic hero with a quizzical brow. And Levi grows in her just as Darcy grows in Lizzy's heart. I call it my P&P test, if a couple passes it, it's my ship forever. It's absurd and completely personal.

And as a side note, I love their height difference with a burning passion. Mikasa is as self-assured, as he is, and having a shorter man as his man wouldn’t matter to her. Once she loves, she loves fervently. And my inner self—breaking molds and defying stereotypes and patriarchy—can’t love more how not conventional but still conventional they can be.

It’s not one thing alone, it’s the sum of all of it. They are so good together and I live for it.

Idk if you have noticed but, it’s really hard for me not to mention Levi in my non-rivamika fics, and once he’s there, damn he doesn’t stay put and fights me really hard for her. I can’t explain it better, but he’s the closest thing I can accept as her soulmate.

#rivamika #the otp #why i love rivamika #ramblings about my ship

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mariaantonnietta · 3 years

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Okay, the promised is debt.let"s talk about Gintaka moments!!!

I said a long time ago I was gonna do a compilation of Gintaka/Takagin moments. And I will deliver right now! (op skimmed the jp twitter and is excited/can’t wait to see the movie )

Ok, no, this will be mostly my disorganized headcanons, moments where I can see the ship with my shipper googles on, some paralels? Haha, honestly just to show the ship some love!!!

It’s also my perspective on why I love this ship!!

Of course, I'm going to talk about all the series and go back and fort, so there’s going to be spoilers all around, so if you have not seen the manga end, best skip it.

The rest is under the cut, let’s go!!!!!

So, I started shipping Gintaka/Takagin after the Shougun Assasination arc, best strangled friends story I have ever seen. I like a lot of Gintoki ships, but it became my favourite really fast. Then, looking back, I noticed these haha:

the first meeting in the show (ep 17). I know it was threatening, but watching it again the fireworks exploded over their heads as they met.Isn’t that a romantic troupe? (and also in this scene makes Takasugi face scarier, haha). And also how Gintoki stopped Takasugi blade, so obvious for point one that they knew each other.(the interactions here are so painful in retrospective 'When his father saw his son's head, imagine the rage he felt?😭')

(and then there’s also , in the extra episode where the yoroyuza go to China, they help a poor dude with his first date with a girl, and Gintoki comments how the first date should have fireworks, haha, at the time there were some images on pixiv of child Gintoki and child Takasugi seeing the fireworks together, it was so lovely, good headcanon!)

There's the Senbonsakura arc, and Takasugi appearing at the reunion scene looking at the moon, woah (there's also them crossing paths, but that's more dramatic of the ideologies maybe, still this a shipping post so ' them crossing paths there, the athmosphere of fated (rivals) people!!!')

( ‘They both had sad eyes’)

I like how even as they are different their core is the same, even if not these character are so raw together in their feelings

Let's talk about the movies for a moment: in the movie version of the Benizakura arc, Gintoki dreams with Takasugi, and IDK, but for how haunting it is, it also feels intimate, and that makes it hurt most.

About the second movie when we saw it we didn't know what the hell happened to Takasugi, but looking back he's dead by that time....maybe. (why didn't you give us a clear answer at the end sorachi).Okay but for practical purposes of what the cast knows he's dead (maybe...ahhh let's says it's like that) and well, haha, gintoki of the future dying looking at the sunset haha don't think of him daydreaming things.(When I saw the movie I had the impression that takasugi was dead, for both katsura clothes that are not called as a joke, and future gintoki 'the only one that can kill me is me', if takasugi was alive, he wouldn't let gintoki claim that so hypotrically, that's what I believed.)

There's the mini arc of the underseas dragon palace, (I remembered this one because of takasugi 'monster' form) I'm just gonna said that even if I read too much into ot there are some interesting paralels maaaaaybe, this one is a strech.

Talking about far fetched things, you people remember the Love Chorris arc? The one with the virtual girlfriends game? I think I am not the first person to point this out, but if you analyze Gintoki girl:

Gintoki selects her and (accidentally)kills her son.After that, she is bend of killing him in return in revenge. With his son corpse at her back to haunt him too.

She later confesses to him that she knew he wasn't at fault for her sons death, and that she focused on blaming him to be able to handle the pain, that she's grateful of Gintoki for understanding this.

The spirit of her son aproves their relashionship.

Now tell me this doesn't remain you of someone in particular and his relashionship with gintoki. And this is gintoki mind perspective and hopes, and fears.

(Well it probably isn't that deep, its the chorris arc, but still)

The way you can see Sakamoto’ jokes as a friend teasing because he knows they like each other. The fight when they to a red district gaining another lining.

The rajuko arc, when they exchanged blades to save the other newfound friends/family. The fucking red string of blood that they form together.

In the manga there was the famous saying attributted to takasugi historical counterpart :

'I want to kill all crows in the three thousand world, and sleep in with my heart's master'

This if I remember correctly because crows caw mark the morning, and in a brothel you have to leave.

So the meaning is ' I want to kill all crows in three thousand worlds(so that morning never comes) and sleep/stay in (forever) with my heart' master'

(Of course this could refer to shouyo, but it could be about gintoki, they go directly to meet the other)

It's a famous saying used in songs, I believe.

The part when he doesn’t want to see more rain, its of course because seeing gintoki's crying was imprinted in his mind for so long and influenced how he thinks. He is so important to him!!

And of course the final arc, where they are more open to each other,(the strangled friends are so happy to be together again) both Takasugi who finally let go of that 'burn the world down' and of Gintoki that walks besides him. The way Gintoki looks at Takasugi with a soft expression on his eyes. Matako ' I have never seen before Shinsuke sama with those eyes, I couldn't stop them'

The Glorious Days ending, that's when one (me) realises, 'oh ... this two care about each other and want to save the other' and while it isnt surprising for Gin, it was for Takasugi at the time.Rewatch the openings and endings in general, and see Takasugi place in them. IDK, he is usually the last alone waiting under the moon. And it gets me...cant really explain that.

The radio call, how we couldn’t see gintoki's initial reaction as Takasugi talked to him, gintoki even pretending not knowing (painfully bad) he didn’t know the other voice.

And of course the myriad moments in the final arc, Gintoki promply saying he is the one he wants to protect, the death sequence 'maybe we were just born under that kind of (tragic) star'

Gintoki teading takasugi that his parents would cry if they see the delincuent he is bringing home 🤣🤣.

Fuck, in the spin off Takasugi as a student novel, when he and Gintoki meet they can't keep the skit up, they talk directly to each other.

Also about the special episode, there's another...uh this is more of a paralel, and purely a headcanon, but here it goes: the yorozuya meet with kamui while trying to help a woman about her mother setting her up in blind dates, and in one moment she starts mothering both kamui and kagura and they get, well their eyes are animated different in that moment, and then they start listening to her. They were probably remainded of their own mother. And then I realised that I have seen Kamui make those eyes before (I will look for a pic, it's a very distintive shift), when talking to Takasugi. Is in one op too.

Of course the childhood friends dynamic. Regardless of nature, nobdy can deny the deep connection these two have.

(Here's the image from the op, is less obvios in the ep I think...or I'm overthinking, that's more possible)

Here’s Kamui and Kagura’s eyes when tehy get scold by the mother:

(I’m not crazy, they are similar XD Maybe XD)

I remember thinking to myself at the time 'woah, Kamui shows a admiring expression with takasugi somentimes' and now I fully believe is a childlike more like expression because takasugi reminds him of his mother(subconsiously). I can see the resemblance, especially towards the end of the series. As Gintoki and Umibozuo paralel too(both of them act like Kagura's dads) I just....haha parallel things.

There's a hundred things more, I'm sure I'm forgetting some (may add in a reblog after). All their fucking dialogue with each other is so intense. I I just love this ship sooo much

Totally up to talk about this ship if someone wants to!!

#gintama #gintaka #takagin #gintama spoilers #the movie is close so just to be sure anime watchers arent spoiled #gintoki sakata #takasugi shinsuke #somentines I play a little game called 'which gintama end lyrics fit takagin better XD'#grammar mistakes probably #will edit later...probably #add more pictures since it's difficult on phone #also this post is really a continent away fron serious analysis XD #tumblr stop fucking with my paragraphs order challenge #Edit: there were some sentences out of order still #I added one or two more pictures #thanks for liking my rambles

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bandicoot88 · 3 years

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@featherrwbyrnjr, okay, but how can you expect me to see this if you blocked me? Anyway, this is gonna be long, so strap in!

Okay, but it’s not one person, it’s several. I said a friend, but that friend interacts with many like minded folks. I’ve seen it all. I understand what’s going on. I may not be in the fandom, but I’ve witnessed from afar. I’ve seen enough to understand the basics, something you still clearly lack.

Fine, if it wasn’t you, then I take it back that on this occassion, it wasn’t you, tho I’m still doubtful with how much I’ve seen of you and how many enemies you’ve made. It’s not farfetched to assume it’s you. Point still stands tho; don’t shame content creators for making content. Just say you dislike the ship and go (which is 100% valid btw, and if people hate you for it, then those are bad eggs you avoid).

Yeah but... it’s still canon, like, pretty much... While it’s not in your face “I love you”, it’s clear what the intentions are meant to be. One of the VAs did a whole stream, and in one moment, he was asked what he wished he could’ve said that didn’t make it into the game, the line being something along the lines of “we would’ve been great together.”

Sure, VAs are not the creators of the game, but this goes in par with a statement about how the Shuake relationship is supposed to be a love story. It’s not pretty, Goro being an antagonist who is problematic, but... ships are allowed to be problematic. And he even changes and becomes a better person, because of Joker.

Sorry, but that’s false. There are plenty of multi-shippers out there who don’t just “tolerate” other ships but downright engage with it. My friend is one of them, and she even has friends who also don’t like Shuake. What do they do? They mute it and move on, and nothing else is said on the matter. If you’re seeing people that are doing otherwise, then yet again, maybe avoid them and find people who won’t shit on you, which by the way, you seem to bundling all these people in a bucket and labelling them “problematic” when they’ve done nothing wrong. There’s a reason you’re well known...

People have even tried to reach out to you to help you because this is completely not healthy, but all you’ve done is smack away any offered hands. We can only do so much...

Gatekeeping, there’s that word again. Do you not even comprehend what your actions are doing? You’re the one gatekeeping! “Don’t ship Shuake because it’s a toxic ship! Meanwhile, I’m hogging Goro all to myself.” My friend is not a gatekeeper. In fact, she fought back against gatekeepers. She’s a very open person who welcomes all ships and things. She literally doesn’t give a fuck.

Again, if you run into negative people, block them and move on. Not everyone is out to get you, and if you’d only give them a chance, who knows, you might make some friends. Hell, if you realized what you were doing, they might still welcome you, but you are hell bent on burning bridge after bridge until there’s nothing but cinders.

Actually, let me you a story. Last year, there was a BIG ruckess in another fandom I’m in, and it was ugly. Very ugly. Why? Because many of the fans considered one of the characters to be 100% gay. While I also believed he was, I could see the potential of him not being. My friend (same as the above) was also very heavily involved, because she saw him as bisexual.

There’s little evidence that he was anything but gay, but that didn’t mean he just was purely on what we saw. Of course, many did not like this, and a lot of noise happened. I ended up blocking a lot of people and also being blocked in the process, because they couldn’t handle the possibility of a character being bi, even tho it was never stated he was gay, just hinted at.

Besides, it’s fandom, and things change. Sexualities change, gender changes, all things can change. But no, they’re of the purity culture brand, and if you said something that wasn’t the popular thing, you were shunned. It made me consider leaving the fandom, but I remained.

You see... I too have dealt with such people, and there may be a lot of them. If there are, then don’t give them a second look. Seek out people who are open to discussing all and other things. They exist. If you had a bad experience, then I am sorry, okay? No one should feel that way in any fandom. Fandoms are meant to be fun. I want you to have fun. I do. I don’t want you stressing and yelling and pushing people away.

So I had heard that you use to create content for it, but I implore... do it again. Create solo Goro content. By all means, if you truly aren’t ready or don’t wish to, then don’t, but also, don’t let people win. People will welcome your solo Goro content. There’s nothing wrong with solo content of anything. He doesn’t need to be tied a ship 24/7, but he’s still going to be tied to that ship quite heavily, but it’s not 100%. Nothing will ever be 100%, because you’re allowed to hate the ship, and others do too, and that is fine!

2 years then. 2 years... That’s still a long time. Perhaps tho... these people you interacted with have moved on from the fandom, and in turn, in 2 years, many people have since joined the fandom. Perhaps you are comparing people from 2 years ago to people today. If any of those people from 2 years ago are still around, then don’t engage. They aren’t worth your time if you were polite about an opinion that you have no control over. Liking a ship is like liking a genre of music or TV show. You can’t force it.

You are allowed to want to see solo Goro content, and people do, or ship him with someone else that isn’t Joker. It exists. It won’t be as popular of course, because that’s just the nature of their relationship so of course many are going to be drawn to it, but that doesn’t mean everyone is drawn to it.

You realize you don’t have to pay people within the fandom, right? You can just... approach literally any artist/writer and go “hey, this is what I want, yadda yadda”, they create the thing, you get your thing, badda bing badda boom. However, if you did wish approach someone within the fandom, then do so... So long as they aren’t a jackass about your dislike for the ship, they will most likely create the thing you ask for. People like money, so it pays to be open minded about other ships instead of just refusing said money just because they perosnally don’t like it.

To anyone who went after you, that’s still not a reason to lash on other people for them to witness you at your worst. You’re literally not giving any of us a reason to believe you are approachable, but you’re just angry. To anyone who made you feel like shit, then fuck them, okay? FUCK. THEM. But that doesn’t mean others are going to do the same. I don’t think a single fandom is immune to toxicity of some variety. It’s never going to go away, and that’s the price you pay for being in fandoms.

I admit, my sources are not coming from the source, but from what I’ve seen from others. So give us a reason on why you aren’t the person we all think you are. All I see from you is hate, hate, hate. I don’t want you to be unhappy. In fact, I feel bad for you, scared for you even, because there’s nothing but hatred and foulness coming from you. You can’t expect people to see you and go “yeah, this person is totally approachable.” No, you’re intimidating.

If people pushed you out of your lane, then take it back! It’s okay to not like Shuake or any popular ship. If people are dicks about it, then call them dicks, but the others won’t care if you don’t like it. We’re allowed to like different things.

I’ve said my peace.

#persona #persona 5 #shuake #discourse #drama #dunno if she'll even see this but... i gotta try

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ace-in-a-shopping-cart · 4 years

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Day 7

Prompt: There is a string tied around your pinky the end of which leads to your soulmate.

Word Count: 2,647

Main Taglist: (Send an ask to be added or removed!) @starlocked01, @spoopy-turtle, @lizluvscupcakes, @more-fandon-than-friends, @i-cant-find-a-good-username, @vindicatedvirgil, @star-crossed-shipper, @justaqueercactus, @gayboopnoodle, @sanderssidesweirdo, @the-sympathetic-villain, @8-writes Soulmate taglist:(Send an ask to be added or removed!) @elizabutgayer, @melodiread, @tsshipmonth2020, @mikalya12, @8-writes

Note: I modified the prompt a bit. In this world, everyone can see the string tied around the finger. When the string is intact, it’s red like normal. If the string has been cut, it will turn gray and both soulmates will be seen as ‘lesser people’ for denying their destiny. If a soulmate dies, the string will turn black. Another thing to note is that Logan is asexual. It’s briefly alluded to in the beginning but not brought up again.

Virgil wandered the campus, shoulders hunched in a clear indication that he didn’t want to be seen. He was glad to be able to be here at all after what happened in high school. Even so, he made sure to wear the gloves and stay out of people’s ways. The first semester was hell as he still wasn’t sure how to do anything but still tried. It seemed all his teachers had it out for him on day one as soon as they caught sight of those gloves.

It wasn’t until his second semester that he met someone who wore gloves just like him. He was sitting by himself during the time he’d scheduled for lunch, reading a fanfiction off his phone and trying to block out the world. Someone sat beside him and started watching a nature documentary while eating. He glanced over and frowned in confusion. Before he could gather his things to move to a different seat, the person spoke.

“I see you’re just like me.”

Virgil’s frown deepened. “How is that?”

They held up a gloved hand. “How did yours happen?”

Virgil relaxed into his seat. “I don’t know. I was in the middle of math class in high school.”

They winced, nodding. “That’s tough.”

“You?” Virgil didn’t know why, but he felt a burning need to know their story, to know he wasn’t alone in his struggles.

Their wince turned sour, a look one step away from a glare entering their eyes. “I cut it myself. She wasn’t willing to treat me right, didn’t accept my pronouns and sexuality, so I cut it. I know my worth and she didn’t deserve me. As far as I care, she still doesn’t.”

Virgil nodded, almost in awe of them. “I never met mine but they’ve stayed with me for a while now. I’ve always wondered if I was ever going to be good enough for someone or if I was simply too damaged.” He had no idea why he was telling a random stranger his life’s story but it felt too right to stop.

The stranger shook their head. “They cut it, you didn’t. It’s their fault but you’ve had to live with it. That shouldn't have been the case.” They turned to look at him, a fierce expression in their eyes. “If they didn’t want you, they didn’t deserve you, simple as that. You never got to know them or be known by them, thus it is their fault for cutting it. Never blame yourself for the actions of others.”

With that, they put their headphones back in and played their documentary. Virgil felt his phone buzz and looked down to find that he had ten minutes to get to class. He hastily ripped out a paper from his notebook, scrawled his number on it, shoved it over to the stranger, and ran off to get to class.

He didn’t see the stranger again for a few days but got a text from them that night. They chatted late into the night, talking about classes and life outside of soulmates. They commiserated over their lack of soulmates and the shunning it causes. Virgil was able to complain about his gloves and how much he hated them and have someone agree and understand, something he’d never had before. He was able to understand when the stranger, Logan, complained about the stares they got while washing their hands, how they hated everyone looking at the gray string that hung limply from their finger.

Virgil soon found not only a soulmateless companion, but a companion in academic pursuits as well. They seemed to be intellectual peers so Virgil understood most of Logan’s science babble. Logan seemed to have taken a biologist major as they spoke of creatures found in rainforests constantly. Virgil, on the other hand, was in an arts major, focusing mainly on building models of commissioned structures.

Slowly, brick by brick, Logan rebuilt Virgil’s self confidence. They helped him regain his self love, told him how strong he was for surviving the most grueling years of his life. Logan would never let Virgil apologize for the simple things like running late or using the wrong pronouns for them. They always made sure to let him know that they were not upset and were proud of his progress. Virgil’s sense of self worth grew stronger and larger, finally allowing him to see what Logan had known from the start: Virgil’s soulmate didn’t deserve him.

Over the semester, they grew closer, their bond growing strong. Virgil’s panic attacks lessened, he could stand to hear the word ‘soulmates’ without wanting to curl into a ball and cry, he didn’t jump at the sight of a math textbook, didn’t feel the need to hide his high school passions. He grew enough that he could look at the gloves he had to wear with something other than disdain.

Soon, they had decided to room together the next semester. Luckily, their requests were easily approved as it seemed the faculty were more than happy to have the two students without soulmates room together.

They finished their degrees and managed to graduate without dying, which Virgil counted as a plus. Logan simply said Virgil was being overdramatic. Once they graduated, they found an aquarium with a rainforest section that allowed Logan to work with the animals they loved and gave Virgil a lot of opportunities to make or upgrade different terrariums and enclosures. He was also able to design more enrichment activities for certain animals. They saw each other in the back rooms and in the halls. Most times, they ended up sitting with each other to eat lunch as not many people wanted to interact with them.They still lived together in a small apartment as they didn’t feel the need to move.

Over time, Virgil got to know Logan better and knew he was falling for them. One night, he’d accidentally had too much to drink. He leaned against Logan, who’s arm around his waist was the only thing keeping him upright and relatively stable. Logan deposited him on the couch. “Stay here, I’ll go grab you some water to sober you up.”

Virgil whined, reaching out for them. Once he took hold of their hand, he pulled his roommate close. “No! Don’t go!”

Logan sighed but sat down on the couch anyways. Virgil leaned heavily to the side but before Logan could catch him, his head landed in the other’s lap. Virgil wiggled a bit before he managed to throw his legs over the arm of the couch, fully laying down now. He giggled, looking up at Logan. “You’re really handsome.” He muttered.

Logan smiled fondly, a hand reaching out to stroke through Virgil’s hair. “That’s nice, Virge. How about you try to sleep now?”

Virgil shook his head. “No, no sleep. You’re too nice to me.”

Logan’s smile turned into a frown. “How am I too nice to you?”

“You’re very patient with me, never getting angry at me for jumping at small noises, or randomly leaving a room. You take such good care of me when I’m sick. You’ve treated me with more basic human kindness than most people did during college.” Tears started to slide down his temples but Logan brushed them away. “I love you, L.” Virgil curled up, his face pressed against Logan’s stomach.

Logan stayed still the rest of the night, eventually falling asleep. When they woke, Virgil was moving around in the kitchen. “Sorry, did I wake you?” He asked genuinely.

Logan groaned but shook their head as they stood. “No, but I think we need to talk about last night.”

Virgil nodded, turning the burner off so he didn’t burn the scrambled eggs. “Is this about my drinking? I promise that was a one time thing.”

“No, I trust you on that. I’m talking about what you said to me before you fell asleep.”

Virgil nodded again, shakier this time. He put the dish towel he was holding down. “Oh, that.”

Logan nodded. “I only really have one question for you.”

Virgil looked at the counter, pretending to wipe at the already clean surface. “Sure, shoot.”

Logan put a hand on his arm, staying his movement. “Did you mean it?”

Virgil’s head shot up so fast he was sure he popped something. “Of course!”

Logan smiled, leaning over to kiss Virgil’s cheek. “Good, because I love you too.”

Virgil stood there, dazed, for a few minutes while Logan walked away to shower and get ready for the day. When they came back out, they had a discussion of what their relationship was and decided that they were datemates.

As time went on, they stopped sleeping in separate rooms for one reason or another. Sometimes, one of them couldn’t handle the pressure of the world anymore and ended up crying themselves to sleep on the other’s bed, sometimes they were cuddling and talking before falling asleep. Eventually, they simply decided to share a room. With their combined savings, they toured apartments and found one they liked, with a bedroom they could both make theirs.

A few more years went by and they were happy. When around Logan, Virgil could almost forget about the grey string tied to his finger, the string that decreed he was unlovable, unable to marry, unable to adopt. The string and all implications that came with it ceased to exist the moment he caught sight of Logan.

It was in one of those moments that he knew: he wanted to marry this beautiful human beside him, the one holding him close, the one who makes him forget the world, the one who loves him just as much as he loves them. He also knew that the gray strings hidden under their gloves denied their marriage. Only soulmates bound by a red string could get married, adopt, love.

Virgil raised his head from it’s position on Logan’s chest, looking them in the eye. “Marry me.”

Logan chuckled, a hand running through Virgil’s hair. “I’d love to but you know we can’t.”

Virgil shook his head. “If our marriage would never be legal, why should we use legal means?”

Logan’s smile slid into a frown. “I don’t follow.”

“How does a wedding go, babe?”

Logan’s smile returned at the pet name. “It usually involves the soulmates saying vows and swapping their soul strings, which proceeds to glow golden around the base of the finger while the rest of the string stays red.”

Virgil nodded, his smile growing. “So, let’s do that! We don’t need any witnesses if we’re not able to make it legal anyways. What do you say?”

Logan had gotten a look in their eye while Virgil was talking that he knew all too well. His datemate was plotting something. “Well,” he said finally, “if we’re doing this, I’d want to do it as best as we can.”

Virgil nodded, moving to sit up so he could see Logan better. “Like what?”

“You mentioned vows?”

Virgil smiled, feeling excitement and just a bit of anxiety growing. “That’s doable.”

“I could pick up cupcakes instead of a wedding cake?”

Virgil nodded, grinning. “Would it be too much if I were to wear a suit?”

Logan smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Not if I wore a dress.”

They continued to plan their ‘wedding’ over the course of a few days, both preparing vows in their free time. Virgil was once asked about what he was doing by a coworker but said he was giving a speech at a relative’s wedding, not wanting to give away that what he was doing was technically illegal.

The day they’d set arrived. It was a joint day off so neither had to go into work. Virgil woke up before Logan did, depositing a kiss to their forehead before slipping out of bed. He ate breakfast, making one for Logan to find when they woke up, before heading to the spare bedroom to prepare.

A few hours later, he walked out to the living room they’d decorated the night before. He stood at the arch of paper links, his gloves discarded and suit on. He fidgeted with the edges, wanting everything to be perfect for Logan.

When they walked out, it felt like his breath was sucked out of him. His eyes swept over Logan’s frame, their dress accentuating their features. Logan’s smile could have sent birds singing when Virgil’s eyes finally made their way back up. He held out his hand for them to take as they arrived. “You look gorgeous.” He murmured in awe.

Logan chuckled, dropping their bouquet gently onto the couch. “Thank you. You look amazing as well.”

Virgil gripped Logan’s hands tightly, knowing he was first. He looked directly into their eyes while he spoke. “I’ve chosen you. To be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you and trusting who you will become. In a world that is based on who you were destined to love at birth, I’ve chosen to love you. It is free will but that does not mean it is false love. I will gladly share your name and care for you, in sickness and in health, in fair weather and storms, in every battle life throws at us. I will stand by your side and fight with you. We shall always be equals in this marriage and I would never wish it any other way. I love you and take you, Logan Croft, to be my unlawfully wedded spouse.”

Logan smiled, squeezing Virgil’s hands before beginning. “All I have in this world, I freely give to you. I promise to love you every second of every day, not just for a moment, nor for an hour, nor for a day, nor for a year, I will love you until eternity ends. Until the mountains crumble into the sea, and the oceans rise to consume the land, I will love you with everything I have. I will put you back together when you are falling apart, I will laugh with you, grieve with you. Our love is unique and something I will cherish beyond anything. I found you without the aid of a string, without anything tying our souls together, and our love is stronger for it. We have fought to love, fought to live in a world that does not want us, and we have grown and clung to each other through it all. I cannot tell where I end and you begin and I would have it no other way. I love you with all my soul and take you, Virgil Storm, to be my unlawfully wedded husband.”

They both carefully untied the gray strings around their pinkies, Virgil tying his around Logan’s left ring finger before Logan tied theirs around Virgil’s. Once they did that, they shared a kiss. Logan was the first to pull back, their eyes going down to look at the soul string tied around their finger.

The part tied at the base was now a glowing silver instead of a muted gray. Following the ends, one ended as normal while the other had grown and now connected to one of Virgil’s ends. His own string was also glowing a bright silver while the connecting string was a soft pink.

Virgil stared in shock before locking eyes with Logan. “Do you know what this means?”

“That people who have cut strings can choose their next soulmate? Or that the prejudice against those with grey and black strings is no longer justified? That we could probably go register at a courthouse and be lawfully wedded now? That-”

Virgil surged forward and captured their lips with a kiss. “It means that no one can tell us we are broken. No one can rip us apart.” He whispered before Logan tilted their head up for more kisses.

#tsshipmonth2020 #analogical #soulmate au #virgil sanders #logan sanders #ace!logan #aphobia mentioned #transphobia mentioned #ace writes

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theunconcernedembalmer · 3 years

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what’s the issue with elisop? is it just bc you hc aesop as ace? im so concerned by seeing ppl adamantly opposed to mlm/wlw ships but im also genuinely curious about why you dislike it and other lgbt ships so much lol

hmm. that is a strong accusation, n i find it just a bit odd. are you new here? or perhaps you are taking personal offense at my dislike towards a favourite ship of yours and using the lgbt argument as moral high ground?

whatever the case may be, i thank you for asking. if u r truly looking for an answer, its below the cut n it is very very long. mind u these are all my personal opinions n i am in no way policing how others enjoy ships. just in case this wasnt clear; i dont wish to start discourse on this blog, especially since my takes are probably... unpopular.

firstly i would like to address the “disliking lgbt ships” bit, because this has very strong implications in itself. i have nothing against lgbt ships. i enjoy them, even. if the two characters have chemistry between each other, i ship it. however, the moment characterization is broken for the sake of romance, i lose interest. this is generally my stance on ships in general, n this applies for both straight n lgbt ships.

the ships themselves are fine. however, i do have issues with the ship dynamics, so ill let u in on that.

i want to touch on mlm ships in particular; i believe u are familiar with the top/bottom dynamic that is rampant in these kinds of ships? (i wont deny that this dynamic can be found in other types of ships, but for arguments sake i will be focusing on gay ships because i feel that this occurs more commonly here) its such a popular dynamic that is prone to stripping the personality from one if not both characters, only for them to be reduced to being dominant/submissive. for a character to be pigeonholed into a stereotypical category based on... preferred sexual positions? its just downright insulting, never mind the larger more problematic implications of it. top/bottom is not indicative of someones personality, by the way. flattening multi dimensional characters into these stereotypes is so so so insulting.

unfortunately this is The Most Popular portrayal of just about any gay ship around. ive seen it being used everywhere in so many fandoms n it just about becomes apparent to me that ppl come to stories looking for a Ship. not the stories, nor the characters, just a ship. while id like to say theres nothing wrong with that, keep in mind not everyone is just looking for 2 characters that look pretty next to each other. if i ship something, i see interesting n meaningful interactions between 2 characters, which is so often not the case once u bring in the top/bottom dynamic. why is it so popular? because somehow this is what ppl like from a gay ship n hence it sells. ppl want the drama, characterizations be damned. ppl want to see the big kiss that happens in the end, n maybe the sexy parts that come after. characterizations be damned.

so u can say im a little wary of gay ships when they cross my feed. hell, as a joseph aesop shipper i see this trope everywhere n im pretty disappointed as well. small tangent but i feel like this is the reason why zh0ngli n ch1lde is so popular in g3nshin. i try to see the appeal, i really do, but after a long while of analyzing their respective characters i dont think they have as much chemistry as ppl think they do. dont even get me started on how incredibly ooc they make either of these very interesting n unique characters in ship portrayals. all because of the top/bottom dynamic that ppl want to see. i say this for that particular ship, but this is pretty much the case for a lot of ships out there, n the latter part is painfully true even when the 2 characters do have potential between each other. ill say it again im disgusted by the blatant disrespect to the characterizations if all ppl ever want is 2 pretty puppets to mush lips together. cos thats what theyre essentially reduced to this way.

n its so obvious to see when an artist subscribes to this rhetoric, because u can so clearly see it in the way they draw their characters. the “top” generally has sharper features to go with their “dominating personality”, while the “bottom” has disturbingly softer, feminine, dare i say sometimes child like features “to submit”. n thats where the uwu soft gay trope comes from, i believe. which, in case u still dont know, i hate with a burning passion.

so again for ppl with impaired reading comprehension, im fine with ships, including lgbt ones, but the moment u break characterization for the sake of the ship, im not that okay with it. u want to do it for a short crack comic? fine. but if thats the only way ur portraying the 2 characters then im immediately wary of ur content. ill still look at it cos usually the art is really good, but im very very wary. so im not “adamantly opposed”, just very critical of how the ships are being portrayed. if other ppl want to enjoy their ships like that, sure. just dont expect me to join in on something i dont agree on.

now id like to address not shipping “because i hc aesop as ace”. for ppl who are new to the blog (hello there), im an ace in a romantic relationship, so thats definitely not the reason i dont ship elisop. its more of being in a relationship has largely shaped my views towards romance as a whole. even before i met my boyfriend, i hated the romance genre in stories n media. most of it comes off as incredibly forced, especially those love triangles they seem to love putting into teen novels. thats one reason why i stopped reading when i was younger, but i digress.

did i partake in shipping when i was younger? i did. for a gay ship too (if anyone really wants to know, its kurotsukki from haikyuu. at least this was one that i can remember, i was mostly working on my 20 odd ocs for the longest time). i also used to write little short romance ficlets that i never posted anywhere cos i hated (n still do hate) my writing. but writing romance when u dont have experience was really just a way of projecting n probably a way of coping for myself, not that i knew at that time. but after i actually started a relationship with my boyfriend (whom i love n cherish a lot thank u very much), i began to see how much all these have skewed my views towards romance n have actually done some harm to our relationship. the bullshit that the general media feeds u constantly doesnt help in the slightest either.

quick topic shift to elisop in particular (about time, right?). i already stated that i only ship characters if i sense chemistry between the two personalities, n if u have seen the part where i dont ship elisop then u must have seen how agonized i am over not being able to have a concrete personality for eli. that is the main problem i have with elisop: eli does not feel like a solid character to me. n that is a huge problem, because if he doesnt have any defining characteristics besides being mild n nice, then he can be whoever i want him to be. (i have done this in my exorcist comics, i will admit this. n the fact that i can just do that... it really does not sit well with me personally.)

n that is dangerous.

back to young me doing lil ship things. i think its also pretty safe to say when u really do ship 2 characters, chances are u kinda really relate very very hard to at least one of them. that very quickly can turn into projecting, n shipping therefore is not “exploring the relationship between 2 characters” n it becomes “my preferred dating simulator 101″. of course this isnt always the case, but at least it was for me, n subconsciously it might be for lots of ppl too. n since this is ur mental playground, u call the shots, n there is no consequences if u slightly (or even entirely) alter one or both personalities to fit ur desired narrative. n u wouldnt even notice or know, cos ur blind to ur own biasness.

we bring our perceived notions into real life, im sure u know that. so when ur partner does not become that perfect knight in shining armour, or when they get upset at things that u do (which is a very normal thing by the way), n u think (very subconsciously), That isnt what my otp would do, something is wrong here (nothing is wrong, actually its just ur skewed perception of a stable romantic relationship). why wouldnt ur otp do this? because u are both halves of ur otps, there is no hidden secrets between them (apart from the pining part but thats irrelevant), n again they have been altered to fit ur preferred narrative.

a real relationship requires a lot of communication between parties, because newsflash, liking someone doesnt mean that u have to like every single thing they do, they will make mistakes n it will hurt u, n guess what, the reverse is also true. if u do go with absoutely anything that they would do with 0 objections whatsoever, ur not crushing on someone, ur idolizing them, n that power imbalance is detrimental to a relationship. these things are not obvious to ppl, especially when the whole climate is hell bent on getting into romantic relationships by a certain age or some bullshit. communication is key n is pretty much the only way to solve relationship issues, because the other person has a lot that u r not seeing n vice versa. as similar as 2 ppl can be, i doubt u can have 100% the same thoughts on all things. i dont make the rules.

so in ur mental playground u focus on the fluffy parts, maybe there is communication, but rarely is there any meaningful conflict. thats unrealistic, n if u bring that mindset to an actual relationship, thats not going to end well. i say meaningful conflict, because yes, generally u shouldnt have conflicts with ur significant other. but inevitably when ur with each other for long enough, u will realize that there are habits that u must change in order to be with the other person. habits that are harmful to the other person directly, or harmful habits towards yourself that indirectly harm the other person. these are meaningful in a sense that if left alone, it will manifest into larger problems that will harm u, the other person n the relationship as a whole. its meaningful to the relationship.

all these is made even worse if ur neurodivergent. maladaptive coping practices, self sabotaging behaviours, inherent disabilities. all these must be adjusted n addressed. im so incredibly thankful for my boyfriend for being incredibly patient with me when working all these out, n it has not been easy for me to work on myself n all my problems, n im still not done working on them. this aspect is often not explored in romance in general (or properly), n there is a very good chance i would have still been stuck in the unhealthy mindset of “this isnt like my otp, maybe we’re not meant to be”. because loving someone is a choice. no one is made for each other, it is a conscious choice made between 2 ppl to make things work. this is how arranged marriages work, i am told, n i do see the appeal, not that it actually does appeal to me culturally.

special mention to the kurotsukki ship, cos from there i found a very, very good fic that explored their relationship before n after getting together, n it actually showed aspects of this problem in the incredibly slow burn of (at that time) 20+ chapters. it was just one fic (n a very good one at that, i believe it was called Leviticus), but it had a lesson i never thought i needed to learn, n learn it i did, with a lot of help from my dear.

this is also probably the reason why i dont really want to delve too much into romance now. i know its a lot of work, n everything (mostly) that the media feeds u is really false advertising, but ppl eat that shit up n so it remains one of the most popular genres to date. im just very wary that if i do start on a romantic story, i want to be able to show it in a way like that fic did, the truths of relationships, because i dont want to make something that sells, i want to make something that meaningful to me, if a little indulgent. n that also includes being very careful in how the respective characterizations will change in a relationship. almost too careful now that i think about it, but its not something that i mind. i was never one for romance from the start, n now im very careful about shipping because of what happened to me persoanlly.

okay enough about me, lets talk about aesop. in any au u put the character in, the essence of the character must remain despite the change in environment. so lets say we have ur typical modern au. dead mom, check. shitty mentor doing illegal stuff? also check. autistic boy with social anxiety? we’re good to go. all these have implications on aesop as a character, n while ppl are aware of this, again the way they go about portraying it can go, in my personal opinion, very wrong. ppl who immediately woobify aesop completely because he has autism annoy me. ppl who reduce him to uwu soft boi cos he has social anxiety do not know how the disorder really works n as someone who has that i hate it to the core. ppl who do all these for the sake of ship have lost my respect. its insulting.

remember the top/bottom dynamic? not that elisop is completely free from that (even if i dont know much about eli, to put him in either one of those stereotypes feels very insulting to his character. i wont even say anything about doing it to aesop its so upsetting), but its not entirely made up of either. but now i want to introduce another trope i am very wary of, which is “i can fix him”. im sure u guys have seen the meme going around poking fun at this trope (for those who havent, its along the lines of “u can fix him? well i can be his worst nightmare”) n no doubt yall would have seen it n gotten sick of it in some forced hetero romantic bullshit. we have one damsel in distress with a saviour that solves all their problems just by existing n being romo with each other.

remember “my preferred dating simulator 101″? this is not mutually exclusive n from my point of view this is dangerously close to this trope. lets be real, if it was actually a thing that all ur deep rooted trauma magically disappears if someone were to waltz into ur life, we would want it. definitely. no painfully dissecting ur own problems n constantly facing them head on. real life states that this is not the case, but it will not stop us from dreaming. n so this trope is born n lives n will go on.

(finally) pulling aesop n eli into this, at least in my mind, u have one severely traumatized boy with lots of issues n u have this. nice mild guy who can be anything u want him to be. i hope u can see where im going with this, n thats the direction i see some elisop heading towards (i dont read a lot of elisop to be fair). if u came from my eli character talk, i mentioned that it is incredibly one sided. this is exactly what im talking about.

putting it all together in case u havent already, aesop is the damsel in distress, whose problems magically disappear because of elis godly kindness n little to no work on improving himself, n they lived happily n gayly ever after.

can u tell how much that does not appeal to me.

never mind the butchering of character that inevitably happens somewhere somehow, the unrealistically perfect themes n implications of this trope makes me so viscerally uncomfortable. this is, of course, due to personal reasons, n i definitely see the appeal of this dynamic because i would probably have been interested in this once upon a time as well. but as i am now, with everything i have explained up there n everything i have been through, i would politely rather not.

n its difficult to think of another dynamic, because of how little i know about eli apart from him being this saint, which easily makes him a candidate for being aesops trauma panacea. never mind aesop rarely, if ever, does anything for eli as a character in return, n its so damaging to buy into this rhetoric, where a person like this who would solve all ur issues no strings attached exists somewhere in the world. they really dont. a relationship has to be mutually benefitting, or it will be draining n disastrous. maybe u say, Oh its nice to imagine it once in a while. n yeah, i agree, except once in a while is a little difficult to keep track of n that is sort of what happened to me. id rather stay as far away as possible from this kind of unrealistic fantasy, i just got this shit sorted out with myself n my boyfriend.

i have some other reasons, but theyre more personally problematic, so i wont go into them here. but this is mostly n generally why i do not ship elisop romantically. if u do, u do u, and have fun, but again dont expect me to join u. thank u for coming to my ted talk, this took a lot longer than expected.

#mun rambles #its me the mun #unconcerned ramblings #posting this now cos this is a question ive been getting #although this has been worded in the most unnecessarily passive aggressive way possible that i do not appreciate #im wary about all u so called social justice warriors championing this n that liberal idea when all u want to do is stir shit #thankfully i dont have much experience with this but just passively seeing all these ppl run their mouths is getting very annoying #but just know that i will not tolerate any of that bullshit here. because if u really do care about ppl as much as u say u do #then why r u attacking ppl period #ur really just hiding behind a righteous excuse to harm people. thats disgusting. i dont want u here

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