i don't think this applies to any mutuals but i've been stewing vaguely over tp fans who think link only fell for midna when he saw her true form. like. we did Not play the same game apparently

A question I'd ask MHA: Is killing people bad? Nezu and everyone at UA was on board with killing Tomura, deciding to turn the school into a "Coffin In The Sky" with people like Kaminari and Momo helping to keep it running. Hawks killed Twice. Endeavor tried to kill AFO and the entire fight after AFO rewound himself was to push him so he'd be rewound out of existence. The vestiges are constantly harping to Izuku about killing Tomura. Their society has a death penalty and their torture prison exists to punish people and be a fate worse than death. Gran Torino's last words to Izuku before he fell into a coma were telling him to kill Tomura. We had Hawks see Toga clones disguised as Twice and his first action was to scream to kill him now. Hawks gave a begrudging press conference after Twice's murder where he showed no upset for what happened, and no one cared. Previously, the government was assassinating people who were against its interests and Izuku's reaction to learning this was to decide he'd be a hero. This somehow convinces the ex-government assassin to put her faith in him. He does not reflect on how the peace of the past was built on a mountain of corpses. He and the heroes then don't have to deal with this at all because Redestro proceeds to kill them, and a new government gets formed off screen. Why's this series send so many mixed messages? If we're just going to kill people, how do they decide when and where? There was a group of guys sent to go free Gigantomachia and Kurogiri, but the heroes could have just killed them both. Thus making the rescue efforts totally worthless. The PLF would have arrived to find corpses. If we're at the point where we plot to assassinate our enemies and convert schools into elaborate death traps, why not do summary executions? Mic was about to kill Kurogiri himself, after he waited in his cell to ambush Spinner. They could have just shot Dabi and Toga. Well, Dabi's a lot harder to kill than Toga, especially with bullets, but he wouldn't exactly expect Shoto to pull a gun on him. Why not just fire guns into the crowds of people outside the hospital? Real talk: if they already created a trap to kill a high ranking PLF member, why not use the hospital as another? That's exactly what it was. They had intel that the location of Kurogiri was leaked, and they didn't move him to another location or evacuate the hospital. And the story acts like the villains are the bad guys for attacking a hospital which they're using as a prison for one of their allies? Why would they keep him here if not to round up all their foes and take them out in one go? Shoji is there to lecture the mutants, but he doesn't pay any attention to why this is even happening in the first place. If they put Kurogiri on a boat and only told the crew of said ship about the mission, the PLF would have never had a chance of finding him. Are they gonna search the entire ocean around Japan?

It's odd. The hero kids designated to save their villains don't reflect on or discuss anything related to killing nor are they pressured to do so. Izuku was going to be on a strike team designed to KILL TOMURA and he didn't have any issues with this. What was he going to do had Toga not dragged him away? Beat Tomura down and go "Actually guys, I want to take him alive." He would have sat through this briefing and had everything discussed with him...and at no point did he say anything. I'm not advocating FOR them to do this, I just think that they should be consistent. If you kill once, there's no reason not to keep doing it. The public has already shown they don't care. The heroes aren't troubled at the idea of taking lives, nor do they hesitate when they feel they must.

Right, so I'm glad you asked this.

The canon explanation is, it's frowned upon to kill but heroes are allowed to if they deem it necessary. This is why Hawks received so much backlash for killing Twice even though it was his legal right to do so. But that explanation is flimsy at best.

A lot of people harp on Batman, but he's right. Or at least, he has the right mindset. There is no singular force on Earth- or even the galaxy- that can stop the Justice League should they ever turn evil or take over. So the minute they stop abiding by their morals, it's up to them to "leash" themselves so to speak. But in some instances, they can't.

Everyone will talk about Injustice, but I always felt like "A Better World" from the Justice League animated series was a better example. Basically in a parallel universe Lex Luthor becomes president and kills Flash (Wally West in this show) which leads to Superman killing him. Him and the rest of the League (they call themselves the Justice Lords) then become authoritarian dictators, squeezing every ounce of freedom out of the world in the name of "justice" and killing whenever they deem it necessary.

What makes the DCAU so great- and what DC fans who've never watched it tend to miss- is that it isn't about whether certain villains deserve to die or not. It's about the League (especially Batman and Superman) holding themselves accountable and to a standard. They hold an insurmountable amount of power and all if they let themselves snap, they're at risk of abusing that power. Their no killing rule is about self-control.

(Wonder Woman (and a few others) is a little different as some versions of her have been shown to be able to kill and not lose herself in the process. But that's not important here)

Horikoshi's never taken any of this into account. His heroes are a bizarre, toxic mix between celebrities and cops who are given too much power and publicity. Giving all heroes the legal right to kill is a horrible decision. Not everyone is All Might or Izuku, mercy and empathy don't come naturally to the majority of heroes. Bakugou is one of the primary examples, he revels in violence and doesn't know how to hold back. He'd kill a petty thief and not even blink twice.

There has to be a measure of control and accountability enforced on the heroes. They can't make arrests, but they can kill whoever they decide needs to be killed? What sense does that make? That's just more incentive for them to kill if they're facing a villain that's difficult to contain.

Honestly, it's an aspect of MHA I have to ignore or it'll drive me insane

Why is it so easy for them to jump ship and just.... Start shipping a random dude with Buck? I don't get it at all. I hate this fandom. And don't even talk about what's happening on ao3

I’m going to be honest and agree with some of what you said. I enjoyed BuckTommy to the extent where I think it’s harmless fun, the Tommy actor seems like a hoot, and got excited by the visible, explicit queerness on screen. I also don’t begrudge people liking a ship different to mine - what’s confused me is the attitude of either complete despair from buddie shippers or alternatively ‘buddies dead get over it’ like it hasn’t been 5 and a half minutes of a hundred episodes of show haha.

I’m honestly a little biased from disliking Tommy in the flashback episodes - he’s a big bag of fine but he’s not exactly charisma manifest. It doesn’t bother me at all though - I’ll reblog a BuckTommy gif like the best of them but I’m just confused by some of the discourse.

Eddie has been a pretty inconsistently written character over the years but the one through point has been his deep connection and chemistry with Buck. This is the only person he trusts to keep his child alive, who he has in his will, who he opens his home to and clearly has a deep genuine love for. The idea that this is now secondary and he’s just going to be a chill ally, when he clearly has a lot of issues in his relationships with women (way more than Buck really), is absolutely bonkers (I’m a gay Eddie truther aha).

So yeah I just find it wild that some people have given up buddie, am not bothered by BuckTommy (it’s fun - bi Buck 4 lyf), and am excited to see where it all goes

No one:...

Me: I have this idea on how to kind of improve the storyline of Pidge being picked on while adding a bit of a more complex type of relationship into the background of the plot cause she strikes me as a character that would fight back with viscious verbal responses. Basically one of the people that is mean to Pidge also has a parent on the kerberos mission (obviously with the result of there being more crew members) who dislikes her because she's sometimes a bit smug about doing so well on tests and it rubs this person the wrong way cause they're insecure about their struggling on tests and are mean to pidge as a result. But also pidge is the sort to really poke the bear when it comes to that, very much being quick to immediately zone in on this person's insecurity whenever they're mean to her andthis often results in things like being shoved or having her phone smashed.

No one still:....

Me: which ends up changing the conversation between pidge and her brother after a scene of this as a flashback where instead of being like "having brain is the best thing ever nerds will run the world" is actually the one to highlight the way pidge is quick to antagonise people especially by means of viewing her intelligence as making her better than them and suggesting that maybe there is another way to deal with this. Which is an example of bullying that can be underrepresented cause ultimately it is bad what this student is doing, but also shows the ways people can sometimes develop an unhealthy way to cope with it. We then see that Pidge, after really picking on this kid back and antagonising him about struggling to pass tests resulting in them getting angry and shoving her phone to ground and smashing, decides to apologise for what she said. The kid points out that they will never be friends and pidge says she knows, but that them being an asshole didn't justify her being an asshole in a different way.

No one:

Me: later when pidges brother and dad go missing in the mission she is left without much to focus on at school. Calls from the ship to families were prohibited from being stored or recorded. But one day from a random number she is sent some.pictures of a birthday of one of the crew members taken on a concealed phone. The bully's mums birthday. The bully when she asks about it in private denies sending her anything but it's clear that they did. They're still not friends but there's a begrudging respect there. And these pictures (I haven't thought of how cause I'm a hack) somehow lead to pidges theory that the garrison are covering something up

Still no one:

Me: now this goes further cause they find the bully's parent on their search for pidges family she's one of the only other crew members that survived but she unfortunately passes giving something yo pidge to give back to her kid if she makes it back to earth and when they eventually do, pidge decides to be the person to.give them the news about what really happened to their parent. She goes and they initially don't believe her but she gives them the message and the keepsake she gave her. They ask her why she bothered with how they were to her in school (it's been a few years since then obviously) and she reminds them of the photos they gave her that they sent her, tells them how it lead her to realise that garrison had been lying and thanked them for it and that it was only fair and right that she did this for them and how she's sorry about their mom. The bully tells her that this still doesn't make them friends and she nods. She leaves and Keith finds her on her way back, really upset and feeling like she should've done more and Keith assures her that there wasn't much more she couldve done. I just thought this could be a bit more interesting and true to her character than just getting called a nerd once and crying about it

No one: ..... what?

I think you should get into the Jackles and Chaos Machine of it all (this is a sincere request)

so the thing is that jensen has said/done some genuinely hurtful things in the past and i don't begrudge anyone who has felt or continues to feel hurt by that. that's perfectly valid. BUT the narrative that he is this insidious homophobe who is not-so-secretly disgusted by gay people is not only deeply annoying, but actively harmful.

this is a man who has taken very obvious steps to grow and become a better ally. is he always the most eloquent with his words? no, he is not. but to me actions speak way louder than words and what we know about his actions are that he 1. is lovely and open and accepting to queer fans who tell them how much dean and destiel mean to them. 2. is vocally supportive of the queer community and queer causes and most importantly 3. created an entire production company with a mission statement to uplift diverse stories and creators and is actually doing that.

the winchesters has two (probably straight) white characters that are what they are by virtue of their origin and there's nothing we can do about that but almost every other character has been a person of color with interiority and nuance and a backstory and a life outside of john and mary. like, there are two interracial romantic pairings already and neither of them include a white person and we're only on episode six.

and we have queer characters!!! queer characters who are not reduced to their sexuality or shoehorned in for the sake of diversity while meaning absolutely nothing to the plot/story!!! they matter. and we've got quotes from the creative team about how even if the language wasn't there at the time, those people existed and their stories deserve to be told!!! like. y'all can make all the jokes you want about homophobic texas christian boy jensen ackles who hasn't said dean wants to shove his tongue in cas' mouth so he must hate gay people.... but the man is out here hiring queer creatives and uplifting their voices and getting their pronouns right and being fucking normal about it unlike y'all who somehow manage to have the most insanely biphobic and acephobic takes while supposedly defending queer people and that means so much more to me than his opinion on a ship that he has zero control over.

like. if you can't get over the hurtful things he's said in the past, that's fine. there's no judgement from me on that front. but please don't pretend like they are indicative of what he is currently doing and please don't pretend like you actually care about the problems that supernatural had if you're out here disparaging the winchesters every time you even look in the spn-universe's direction without ever having watched the show (especially if you're saying you refuse to watch the winchesters because spn was racist/homophobic/whatever.... but are still watching spn?? like?? WHAT?). the show that jensen put his creative heart and soul into is actively working to fix the things you supposedly hated about spn and your hottest take is that it still sucks because jensen doesn't have a perfect track record? wow, cool. i hope the view is nice from up there on your high horse where you can't even see the people you're claiming to stand up for.

What do you think would happen when Tails introduces Sails Mangey and Nine to mints?

Oooh good question!

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Sails:

Honestly, since we don't know all that much about No Place, I like to think that mints are still a thing, just the kind of thing that Sails has to sneak on the ship and can only get once in a while. So whenever he was able to get them before, he kind of had to ration em out.

That also being said, I think it would be funny if the mints in no place don't look like the ones Tails offers to Sails. So at first Sails hesitates to eat it, although he has no reason to distrust Tails, so he does try it. I can see Sails sort of commenting his thoughts aloud on how it tastes, but ultimately he probably tries to sneak some mints off of Tails.

Although Tails is pretty much like "You can just ask. I've got a bunch"

So whenever Sails visits from No Place he lets Tails and the others try the mints from No Place, and he uh takes a good amount of Tails' mints back to No Place with him

However, if Sails has never tried any mints before, I think he'd become hooked pretty quickly (still explain the taste out loud you know) and end up trying to snatch some before Tails is like "Hey, just ask and you can have as much as you want"

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Mangey:

Hohoho boy

While there's at least a decent chance Mangey has just straight up eaten mint plants before, I think he would become pretty hooked as well. In my head, I think he'd keep begging for more after Tails initially gives him one to try, and it gets so out of hand that Tails, Sails, and Nine have to consciously keep mints out of sight and locked up.

But before they realize how bad Mangey gets about them, Tails gives him like a tin or a small bag of mints he can take with him, and Mangey can't even make them last a day. He is in the presence of mints, he snacks on mints.

Just cause they hide em and lock em up doesn't mean that Mangey doesn't find them or that he's never allowed to have them. I think sometimes when Sails is playing that game with Mangey where he's working on something and Mangey plays assistant, they often use mints as something in exchange for helping when they're not exhanging kisses.

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Nine:

While we know more about New Yoke than we do about most of the other shatterspaces, like with Sails I'd like to think Nine has had mints before. In this case, since nothing really grows within the city, I like to think that occasionally New Yoke will get mints in as an import.

Essentially, I think Nine used to see the resistance handing them out once in a blue moon after a successful raid or would see them sold on shady street corners and alleyways. He always tries to limit the contact he makes with people and the city itself, but he kind of had to to be able to get the matierals to create his equipment and have enough food to survive. So he managed to get ahold of a small handful out of curiosity.

It was too much of a pain to get ahold of more, so even though he liked them quite a bit, he almost never was able to get ahold of any.

With that all being said, I can see Nine sort of marveling for a moment how easy it was for Tails to get ahold of so many mints before remembering that green hill and Tails' world is much more plentiful than the city of New Yoke. I think after trying them when Tails offers, he's reminded just how good they are.

That being said, though, I think Nine would pretend that he likes them but of course has restraint, unlike the other two. So he would only take the one small bag or tin when Tails offered to give them more mints. Other times Tails offers, I think he starts out as begrudging but does eventually accept the gift of mints whenever Tails offers some.

If Mangey eats em like candy and Sails is always taking a large stash with him, though, even though he acts like he has more self control and is more normal about mints than them, that is a lie. After taking the first bag/tin back to The Grim with him, he starts figuring out how create a constant lifetime supply of mints there. He doesn't eat them like candy when he does accomplish this, but he still does eat mints about as often as I think Tails does. That's all to say that sometimes mints are just something he eats a couple of when he's bored, when his breath smells bad, occasionally when he needs to make deals with Mangey, as a special little treat when he feels down/accomplished something, and when he hasn't eaten in a while but needs to keep working, so he needs to trick his stomach into thinking its not starving by letting mints dissolve in his mouth.

In the event Nine has never had them before though, I'd think he'd still make a visual expression of enjoying the first one he tries, but he'd still try to be modest and seem "normal" about them by only taking one tin/bag of mints before he ultimately figures out how to keep a constant stash in The Grim like Tails does in his many labs

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Thanks for the question, anon! If you have any other questions about them or their relationship(s), feel free to shoot me another ask🥰

going thru fan forums of old makes me miss the age when fans knew what they liked and stuck to their bubbles or, if it was a general thread, there were unspoken rules that everyone act civil bc you're all there for the same reason (gushing abt a show / character / actor / ship you like). and of course this didn't always work, people will be people, but that's why they also had moderators! to make sure everyone stayed on topic and threads didn't devolve into mud-slinging fan wars.

the problems we have with the wide open roaming fandom spaces of now is, many people will engage with the same media and have different interpretations of it. that's fine! that's good even! but fandoms should be fun !!!! fandom are hobby and leisure spaces. you should primarily be having fun in fandom. if you're not having fun, if you're getting upset over other people's interpretations or seeing too much of what you don't like, then you need to step back and curate your space better.

irl should you live in a bubble or echo chamber? no, not at all. but if in fandom all you want to see is specific content about one ship or character or just play with your headcanons like it's a sandbox? then sure! find like-minded people and have fun.

and this is said as someone who gets very annoyed at certain fandom echo chambers for existing bc imo they're doing bad faith readings or misinterpreting large swaths of canon and still !! i won't begrudge those bubbles for existing, i just wish we could be more considerate and understanding that we are coming from different places and interpreting things differently and stay in our lane, stay in your thread, etc. don't hop onto another person's post when they didn't ask just to start "discourse" or argue your point.

and we don't have to be completely isolated, of course not. because i think it is fun and good to expose yourself to other ideas and interpretations. but if people want to have conversations, send a message! have an friendly debate or conversation if the other person is open to it. it's all fiction anyway! there's no reason to get mean or ugly about it.

but if you're really feeling miserable in fandom and not finding joy in it for whatever reason, it might be time to hit the bricks whether it's find a new fandom or find other people to follow or just take a step back for a bit. but yea, my motto is fandom should be fun!! you should be enjoying yourself!!

raiden 4 the character hc ask thing ^^

RAAAAGH. Doin' MK11 cuz that's my fav. PREPARE TO BE SICK OF MEEE Sexuality Headcanon: Raiden doesn't care for labels, he sort of sees them as a human concept and he is, well, not human. If he were to pick one, he'd probably fall on the grey/ace spectrum. Demi, maybe?? He doesn't easily fall in love, or anything, there has to be a deep, emotional connection. Because he's immortal, he isn't able to find that in mortals, either. He keeps a professional distance because he knows he wouldn't be able to handle losing someone he found himself loving. Gender Headcanon: Like you!!! I headcanon him as a He/Him agender. Human gender concepts don't really?? Apply to him??? He just picked a form he liked and let the rest of the pieces fall, whatever makes it easier for them to come to terms with what he is, and his purpose on earth. A ship I have W/ said character: Uhhh!!! I don't like shipping him with mortals, because the thought of THEM DYING SOON AND HIM BEING SAD HURTS.... That being said!! I like him with Shang Tsung, and Sindel...Just depends on if you want something more chaotic, or something more tender and domestic. And it goes without saying I like shipping my oc with him LMAO. BROTP: IT GOES WITHOUT SAYINGGGG FUJIN & BO RAI'CHO !!!! But also, I like him and Sonya Blade. Before he becomes Dark Raiden, he and Sonya both share a fondness (begrudging, though Sonya's is romantic and Raiden's is more of a valued respect) for Johnny, and they both have a strong sense of duty. I'd like to think that they got along and knowing that she dies really does upset Past! Raiden. Still, he puts duty first and honors her sacrifice, as what she'd want him to do is keep her daughter & husband safe and alive.

A NOTP: Again, without saying.... Fujin....Because ew. Disgusting literally get out of my face. Also Liu Kang. I personally HC that he took Liu and Lao in as children so it makes me feel icky. Random Hc: Polyglot!!! He knows many languages, from outworld and earth realm! I also like the idea that he has a photographic memory. For better or for worse, he has a hard time forgetting things/people. General Opinion of Character:

I LOVE HIM SO DEARLY. He's easily one of my favorite MK characters. One thing, though, I dislike that Ed Boon insists on making him so?? Serious. Like yes, he can be dedicated to his duties, but he seems so BORING about it whenever Boon has control over every little thing. Let him have a bit more of a sarcastic edge, showcase his appreciation for the world he protects. He can be strict, and rigid, and dutiful but he can have more of a personality than his anger and his stoicism. I like his ending, and when he's human! It showcases the care he has better. I do like the idea of him being a little...awkward? But not in a shy way, just like he's been so rigid and tense for so long, he sometimes forgets how to relax and let loose. Fujin helps him with that a lot, I think :)

One decent Zvtara argument I heard that was actually done in good faith was that Zuko and Katara both have abandonment issues and they are dating people who constantly leave them with Aang always leaving his family and Mai breaking up with Zuko in tense moments.

Now that is a decent argument but I think for KaTaang it was debunked with yes Katara had to go through the trauma of people she loved leaving her but Aang was the one person who always came back to her.

As for Mai...Well I cannot exactly begrudge Mai for breaking up with Zuko in The Beach episode. And Zuko broke up with Mai through a note but I guess ZK shippers forget that.

I was going somewhere with this...I haven't read the graphic novels but from what I can understand I dodged the bullet.

I don't think that argument is made in good faith. At all.

Literally the ONE time Aang ever "leaves" Katara is in "The Awakening", when he decides he'll not hide and will instead face the Fire Nation head on - which is obviously a bad idea, but comes exactly from a place of him being TIRED of running away and "failing" people. It's not like he's leaving for good. And it's very clear that the reason Katara is so upset about it because she's having to process the trauma of HAKODA leaving, and the episode has her understand that it was necessary and hurt him just as much. Very convenient of Zutarians to ignore that aspect of that parallel.

Even when he "lets her go" so he can master the Avatar state, he only did it because it was a literal life-or-death situation. HOW is that the same as "abandoning her"? Especially when Katara never seemed upset about it?

As for Mai supposedly "abandoning Zuko", a break-up is not the same as abandoning someone, and like you said she had EVERY REASON to break up with him on The Beach, AND he had to break up with her too, even though he obviously didn't want to.

A specific circumstance forces the characters to be apart for a little while (sometimes not even a full episode) and these people call it "Katara/Zuko being abandoned by Aang/Mai"

It's just zutarians throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks. There's no thought put behind the "argument."

As for the comics - yeah, you dodged a bullet, my friend. Literally EVERY CHARACTER was ruined. And it's funny when Zutarians try to use the bad Kataang/Maiko moments in it to hate on the ships, when the same comics have Zuko and Katara barely even remember each other's existence AND even get downright hostile a few times. So much for the "pure, healthy epic love" they try to force down our throats.

Opinions on Saiki K ships

Involving Kusuo:

Terusai - I think that they want such different things from life that it's hard to imagine them being happy as a married couple. However I think that they could bond over their experiences to become really great friends. That said I think they can have a really entertaining dynamic with how she can't confess to Kusuo outright (because her army of rabid fans would try to kill him) and Kusuo can't reject her outright (because her army of rabid fans would try to kill him). I also like how their feelings towards each other progress. On Teruhashi goes from wondering why won't this guy won't "offu" for her who does he think he is -> self-imposed challenge of trying to get Saiki to "offu" -> realizing it is actually kind of nice to have a guy who is normal about her and can see beyond her persona. Meanwhile for Saiki the progression goes from judging her for being stuck up and arrogant while being incredibly arrogant himself -> trying to make Teruhashi lose interest in him without giving in and "offu"-ing (he's too proud) -> begrudging respect for her commitment to the bit -> wanting to protect and support her because he is increasingly annoyed that other people only care about Teruhashi Kokomi as an ideal and not as a person.

Saiura - I'm not super into it for reasons not entirely clear to me. For one thing I think that Aiura deserves better. Not that Saiki treats her badly or anything but he mostly goes to her when he needs her help with something. Also her feelings for him strike me as unreciprocated in a way that makes me feel kind of bad for her. Mostly though this is just a case of a lot of the fics I've read for the pairing feel kind of OOC. Nopsi's take on the pairing does do a good job keeping them both in character while making it work though.

Satosai - Suffers from the fact that Satou is duller than dirt. It's kind of funny when it's doomed and impossible though. Also I like Oatmealcrisp's takes on the pairing which turn Satou into a paranormal romance protagonist (with the levels of being kind of an asshole that this implies).

Torisai - Took me a while to warm up to this but I can kind of see it now. I like it because it makes Toritsuka (and to a lesser extent Saiki) suffer in an amusing way. I don't get why people write angst of this pairing though.

Kubosai - Don't really ship this myself but I have read enough of it that I'm intimately familiar with the appeal. It's about finally having someone to protect you, to advocate for you, to get righteously angry on your behalf. Or alternately about protecting, advocating for and getting righteously angry on the behalf of someone you love. The nice thing about this is it can go either way though you do get Aren advocating for Kusuo somewhat more often than vise versa simply because Kusuo has a lot of difficulty advocating for himself for reasons that could be a whole post of their own.

Saikai (or whatever Saiki/Kaidou is called) - I dislike this for reasons that are somewhat unclear to me but probably have something to do with the fact that it was *the* big m/m ship in the pre-Reawakened Saiki K fandom. I feel like fanfic authors tend to get Kaidou wrong a lot too. They don't make him cringe enough.

Nensai - This could have been the big m/m ship in the fandom if those early Saiki K fans weren't COWARDS who'd only ship conventionally attractive characters. I'm pretty sure I started off shipping this as a joke but after reading the light novels I'm dead serious about it.

Saikechi - I like this one probably because it has a lot of excellent opportunities for pining and unhinged acts of devotion both of which I am embarrassingly fond of. Some people would object to this pairing on the basis of the lingering trauma from the classroom incident but firstly I don't think that's necessarily an insurmountable obstacle and secondly it adds some spice to things. Anyway I really like Akechi.

here's a negative-leaning rant about saiouma, or more about the amount of content about it. read if you really want to (read more included, because i know it would be a pain in the ass to try to scroll and ignore a post like this)

(also tl;dr at the end... i should've pasted it here but uh-)

-🔎🎲-

i ship saiouma… sometimes. i used to love this pairing a lot, and it's what prompted me to love ouma more and more. but because of ouma being my favorite character, i decided to check out other pairings; from oumota, kiibouma, and oumeno, to irouma, oumami, and ougoku (side note: i can't really blame people for seeing this as problematic, but i truly don't believe it to be "toxic" or "abusive"). they're all really good ships which have my whole heart, so i focused on them more frequently, and took a break from saiouma. i even gave ouharu a shot, and yes, there's a lot of hate there, and i do prefer them to at least have a begrudging friendship, but like. it's interesting okay

of course, saiouma is the most popular ouma ship there is. seriously, it has around 4000 more works on ao3 than oumota, the second most popular. this is because it's the protag x antag ship, like komahina (which, holy shit, it has 5846 works on the sdr2 tag, while kuzupeko, the second most popular, has 987). so, being an ouma multi-shipper, who thinks saiouma is a decent ship but isn't that fixated about it anymore, seeing said ship pretty much everywhere? yeah, i was bound to get sick of it. well, not the pairing itself, mind you, but rather how oversaturated it was in my eyes.

it got to the point where, if i saw saiouma tagged in a fic, no matter how promising i thought the summary was, i would groan and try to motivate myself into reading it. like, if it had the same premise, but had a different ship/no ship at all, i would read it in a heartbeat. even if ouma was shipped with a character i had zero care about, then sure, i don't mind. (well, there certainly are exceptions, i have to admit)

yeah, that might sound a bit immature, but it's not like i won't read saiouma fics no matter what. it's just that oftentimes i simply can't gather the motivation to indulge in the pairing, if that makes sense. so it's a bit tiring when i keep seeing it when i really don't feel like it.

-🔎🎲-

there's also the thing with their dynamic. they're foils for truth and lies, yes, i can't deny that. but i feel like the main appeal of the ship is the fact that "saihara is a detective, and ouma is the personification of a mystery!"

…except, saihara kinda sucks at figuring ouma out? yeah, he can catch on to ouma's lies better than others, but if i remember correctly, that's only in the ftes/bonus modes. in the canon storyline, he couldn't realize that, hey, ouma is a liar, and his lying patterns tend to be quite complicated! that means he can lie about whether or not he's lying! but nope, let's just believe his claims to be the mastermind, because he's the only one cruel enough to manipulate a murder into happening without remorse, so there's no need to consider any other possibility besides the one he conveniently laid out for them. oh, not to mention the points that he makes occasionally, but they come from ouma, so there's no use to thinking about the validity of such statements.

saihara, you are an incredible detective, and you are the furthest thing to undeserving of your ultimate, but i don't think behavioral patterns are up your alley. i don't think saihara hates him, as he's more capable of tolerating him than most, but sometimes it's like he gets dumbed down for the sake of making ouma the antagonist.

(the saiouma fics i used to read had saihara getting flustered as a result of ouma's advances and "flirting," but in canon, he doesn't have much of a reaction to ouma's "my beloved" comments about him, at least, that's what i remember. i don't think "but the canon!" is a good reason for not shipping something, so this part is pretty minor, but i just had to point it out.)

-🔎🎲-

as i'm writing this, i realized: holy shit, when i first started to like ouma, i only got into saiouma because it was the most popular ouma ship. the only unique traits that charmed me about the pairing was saihara's ability to see through ouma's lies, and the sudden boldness he'd exhibit, but aside from that? i essentially treated the former as a blank canvas (sorry, saihara), only wanting some shippy ouma content. but after going through other pairings, those "unique" traits weren't so unique after all (a very good example is oumota. while yes, he trusts the notion he has of ouma, telling him he's a bad, untrustworthy person, he's still perceptive. this is shown by the way he's the only one who acknowledges the change in ouma's behavior in chapter 4. his boldness is also more prominent than saihara's, as well). how ironic that i'm starting to have a problem related with the ship because of the same thing that got me invested in the first place.

oh, but it's not like the aforementioned "detective and enigma" dynamic can't happen. we can be canon defiant and improve saihara's ability to understand and unravel ouma for the sake of bettering the ship. (ooh, and the methods of how he'll do so… fluctuating between analysis for ouma's lies and just spending time with him so that he'll open up at his own pace…)

so, it's not exactly a bland ship, but there are others that are more interesting to me, and deserve to have just as much popularity as saiouma does, in my opinion.

-🔎🎲-

tl;dr: in my opinion, saiouma's a decent ship, however, it's popularity is a bit undeserved when you take other pairings into account. i don't dislike it, but as someone who isn't that passionate about it, it annoys me how much content there is, while ships that i felt had equal amount of, if not more captivating dynamics weren't as popular due to the fact that saiouma was the protag x antag pairing.

Supernatural Characters That I Liked :D

On 2nd April 2023, we finished watching all 15 seasons of Supernatural. My history with this show is that I didn't really know it was a thing while it was popular and then by the time I joined Tumblr it was "that series people on Tumblr like that I don't think would be for me". Up until late 2021, the only things from Supernatural that I'd seen were the Destiel Confession (TM), a short scene of Dean telling Sam & Jack that Castiel was dead and the montage of Sam dying from the final episode. Beyond that, I genuinely knew nothing about the show But in 2021 (I think?) my housemates and I had finished BBC Merlin and were looking for a new long series to try, which ended up being Supernatural. Our set-up was that Gemba had seen up to Season 12 (and thus had to endure us asking many questions about it), but Amber and I had never seen any of it Now, no one needs me to review Supernatural. Enough other people who know more about it than I do have done that. But it's been a long ride and I wanted to do something to celebrate it. So instead of picking apart the good and the bad, I thought I'd simply make a list of the characters I like. This is not an all-inclusive list, as in over 15 seasons there are bound to be a few fun one-off characters who I'll forget. But I tried to include as many characters as possible Starting off with my beloved - everyone's favourite Supernatural character whose name begins with the letter C...

...Crowley! (Don't worry, Castiel is also on the list lol)

I cannot understate how much Crowley kept me going with this show. We'd just come off the back of the Trickster dying and I was bummed about that, but then Crowley came along with all his yelling and his bisexual villainy and I was won over immediately. Everything about Mark Sheppard's performance was a delight and all his interactions with the rest of the main cast were so fun. When Crowley ended up on the path from enemy to frenemy to begrudging ally, it never felt like character-derailment at all. Though having said that, I also fully understand and respect Sheppard's choice to leave because he was disappointed with how Crowley was being written - as much as it was a big miss for me to see Crowley go. Crowley is my blorbo for this show He is also incredibly shippable with Sam

Next up is Sam, Mr. Skrunkly Himself and the greatest shipping bicycle I could ask for Now, some of you who I have talked to about Supernatural might remember me saying that I didn't like Sam, which certainly was true in the earlier seasons. I just feel like in the beginning, Sam's stick-in-the-mud attitude needed a bit longer to bake until he became the absolutely endearing, doe-eyed giant that he would become later on. I also think that Sam becoming a better character ended up lining up quite well with Dean becoming... less of a characters that I could enjoy, so that worked out nicely. I'm sorry that I was a non-believer to start with, Sammy, but I'm 100% a Sam Girl now lol

You're on tumblr, you know who this is I now definitely understand why this website was so obsessed with Castiel. What could've easily been a throw-away character was turned into a series main-stay and I'm sure that a large part of that was due to the clear love that Misha Collins had for the character and poured into his performance. Every time Castiel was around it was always great and, like a lot of people, my biggest problem with Castiel was that they didn't use him enough. They (probably accidentally) wrote one of the best autistic characters I've seen in a while and also, his Dadstiel scenes with Claire and Jack are one of the few times I've really enjoyed seeing a character take on the role of a parent Castiel is also incredibly shippable with Sam (sorry Destiel shippers, I'm Sastiel through and through)

Queen of my heart, Rowena! The treatment of female characters in Supernatural is another topic with not a great reputation, but you've got to believe me when I say that Rowena is a brilliant character, one of the best and most-fun female villains. When she was introduced as Crowley's mum, I knew we were in for a great ride and, sure enough, every episode she was in was charming. Ruth Connell really ran with the concept of "vengeful Scottish witch". My fears for Rowena had been that she would be killed off shortly after Crowley's departure, but I was delighted to see that she continued to be a main-stay for most of the show, ending with her destined death scene with Sam, before being triumphantly crowned Queen of Hell Rowena is also incredibly shippable with Sam, though I've also gotta give a shout-out to my short-lived OTP of Rowena x Gabriel

Speaking of Gabriel, the Trickster was definitely what kept me watching at the start of the series. In the beginning, Supernatural was a bit dry for my taste and he injected that shot of fun into it that it needed to keep me interested. His episodes were few and far between, but just knowing there might be a Trickster episode on the horizon always kept me going until Crowley came along to take the mantle from him. I was glad to see Gabriel return later on, even if I feel like they didn't really use him or play to his strengths quite as much as they did in the early episodes The Trickster is also incredibly shippable with Sam

The best baby boy, Jack! On paper, the concept of Lucifer's son joining the team felt like a desperate attempt by the writers to show a new, younger audience that they were still hip and relevant, but that ended up not being the case. From the moment Jack appeared, he was wonderful, bringing the same energy as Castiel, but with that child-like optimism attached that would lead to him ultimately saving the day and making a better world for everyone. Seeing the trio raising a son was also brilliant and actually the perfect kind of fanfic-fodder the show needed. My biggest regret for Jack is that he came along after most people stopped caring about the show, so he didn't receive the appreciation I think he deserved

I actually feel bad that it's taken me so long to get to Bobby, as he's one of my big faves, but in my defence he wasn't in the later seasons very much. Bobby went from being "Guy who tells the brothers where the monster of the week is" to the actual perfect father-figure they deserved. There was a reason why when Dean gets to heaven it was Bobby waiting for him and not John, and it wasn't just because getting Neegan back was probably expensive. Bobby is another underrated autistic icon imo and excellent boyfriend-material for Crowley. Even though I was sad when his time on the show was cut short, he was one of the few characters who I felt was given the right amount of fanfare for his send-off

Ketch! I love Ketch! He's our fave in this house. After the very dull Darkness season, I had my hopes low and was rolling my eyes when the British Men of Letters were introduced, but then they ended up being so cringe that it cycled back around to being funny again. We would cheer every time Ketch appeared

Yes, I like Bela and think she was fun in her appearances, you're all just mean about her :(

This version of Meg specifically was wonderful and top-tier shippable with Castiel. It's no wonder that she was the one they called back to play The Empty all those years later. Meg's flirty banter was the perfect foil for Castiel's serious cluelessness and I would always look forward to scenes with both of them

I'm gonna be real with you: most of the season-long villains were very hit or miss for me, but Zachariah was one villain who I thought was excellent. It's a shame he was so early on, so I don't remember too much about his specifically, but I do remember enjoying him and how powerful he made the angels feel

Pamela or, as she was known in our house for a long time, The Woman Who Was Fine About Everything. When Pamela first appears she's like "Two brother? Awesome, let's have a threesome!" ...Then she gets her eyes blasted out. When we next see her, Pamela is totally cool with being blind and is even using it to help her work. ...Then she gets killed off. But when we next see her in the afterlife, wouldn't you know it, she's totally cool with being dead. Even when she later appears as a figment of Dean's imagination, she's fine with that, too. So here's to you, Pamela. Wherever you are, I know you're totally cool with it!

Kevin Tran and his mum. These two characters are the absolute example of deserving much better from the writing, especially Kevin. At least his mum got some cool scenes when she tried to rescue him, but poor Kevin was basically the Wincester's hostage who then died to give Dean more man pain. Which is a shame, because Kevin was great and I really wish we'd been given more fun scenes with him

Hannah (Agent Stone version) ...Look, it's Lee Majdoub, the guy who plays Agent Stone in the Sonic Movies! Turns out he had a brief role in Supernatural as one of Hannah's vessels. I wish he'd stuck around, but as a big Sonic fan I'm glad he moved onto other things :')

Claire Novak - I never expected the kid from Castiel's vessel's old life to come back as a full character later on, but Claire filled the role of the vengeful daughter who grew to respect Castiel so well and I definitely wish we'd seen more of both Claire and her short-lived relationship with Kaia. I also had the exact same Grumpy Cat plushie that Castiel gave to Claire, so I was very endeared by that

Both the original Death and Billie who came after him were excellent! Both very different and strong personalities who filled every scene they were in - when these two appeared, you really knew Dean had to sit up and pay attention, because shit was about to get real

Another one of my top faves, Eileen! Imagine my surprise when Supernatural of all series introduces one of the very few portrayals of a deaf character I've seen and she ends up becoming a recurring character and love interest to one of the main characters. Eileen was annoyingly killed off-screen, but then they made up for it by having Sam go to such lengths to bring her back. She had an adorable relationship with Sam. ...Then they killed her off again and left us to only assume that she must've been returned to life by Jack, but never actually showed that. Oh well, I will choose to believe that the blurry woman they showed with Sam in his montage in the last episode was Eileen and they got the happy ending they deserved

Rufus went from having a somewhat subdued first appearance to being Bobby's partner in crime and that was when he really shined. Another character who was killed off far too early, wasting his potential, but I enjoyed the few Bobby & Rufus episodes that we did get

Garth was just a nice guy and I wanted good things for him. After his short, but successful, role as The New Bobby, I'm glad that Garth was able to retire and live with his werewolf family without becoming yet another victim of characters dying by association with the Winchesters

Becky went from being a very fun nod-to-the-fandom character to having that... one very uncomfortable episode with Sam... to disappearing for a long time and finally coming back to be shown living her best life with her family and thriving. Screw Chuck for killing her off, but I choose to believe that she came back

Crowley having a son who was brought to modern day from ye olde Scotland and then let loose into a park somewhere will never not be funny to me. I liked Gavin for the few episodes he was in

...And I'm bored of looking for screenshots now, so I'll cap this off by also giving a shout-out to fan-fave, Charlie, who they once again killed off before they should've done but at least had some good episodes, Balthazar, who was the idea friend for Castiel and gave me big Dionysus Hades Game vibes, Metatron, who really grew on my from his initial introduction as villain to reluctant frenemy, and to Chuck, who was a character who really annoyed me for most of the series, but then once they started playing him as a straight up villain it felt like he was the perfect way to sing the series out. Amara also got a lot better in later seasons from her unfortunate first appearance and it was a shame about her hand-wave ending I have mixed feelings about Dean. Goodnight

I got something for you, so I'm sure you're aware that one of the arguments KCers used was Klaus "picked" Caroline first. I remember back in S7 there was an itw with JP and she was talking about Caroline and the pilot and said something like "We've set her up that in a way she'll get picked first in the end" which was true, Stefan walked away from Damon. There was a KCer who commented and said "She was already picked first by Klaus but you never did anything with it." Even though Caroline grew way beyond that insecure girl we first saw, since the pilot was referenced KCers always left out one key component of that. Caroline said "How come the guys that I want never want me?" It wasn't about her just being "picked first", it was about her being picked first by the guy that she wants, there's a big difference.

I mean let's flip this around on someone else. We all know Katherine loved both brothers but when it came down to it her choice was Stefan, like she said "It was always Stefan." However, never did I hear anyone say Stefan should be with Katherine because he was her "first choice." I'm sorry but don't both Stefan and Caroline get a say in their love lives and who they want to be with? Why was it ok for Stefan to choose not to be with Katherine but it wasn't ok for Caroline to choose not to be with Klaus? Like seriously, how does that work? Like out here in the real world, there's people that I liked who didn't like me back and vice versa, that's life, it's about finding the person where you're right for each other. AKA Steroline!

Omg. I remember that argument. It was such a weak argument (there's a logical fallacy in there somewhere). "Caroline should be with Klaus because she was his first choice." Um . . . okay except Caroline's character growth is about not needing outside validation to feel good about herself. Caroline's character arc on the show is learning to feel confident and secure in her own worth. And by the time Klaus arrived in Mystic Falls, she was. She wasn't looking to be anyone's first choice because she wasn't insecure anymore. Season 4 Caroline is a different character than season 1 Caroline.

And your Klaroline/Stefarine comparison is a good one. I've always thought that the Klaus & Katherine parallels were deliberate, including their attraction (both romantic and platonic) to Stefan and Caroline. Yet, I don't ever recall anyone arguing that Stefarine should be together because Stefan was Katherine's first choice.

I don't begrudge anyone shipping Klaus and Caroline. To each their own, you know. But if someone is going to make an argument for a ship (and flood my inbox with it as many of them did when TVD aired) then at least pay attention to character development.

Mitsurugi and Naruhodou

YAY THE BOYS

Mitsurugi

Sexuality headcanon: he's so aroace it's UNREAL he's romance favorable and sex repulsed but most people are not brave enough to see it

Gender headcanon: cis man but i have positive feelings towards the trans man headcanons people have

A ship I have with said character: while i started out only partial to qpr narumitsu i'm fully on board for narumitsunoko now. i love every possible permutation and get-together order there is.....as long as it's still qpr-flavor anyway dkjhfdk

A brotp I have with said character: MAYOI. they are the friends ever and i think we should get to see them casually hang out more often in official media. they need to have tonosaman watch parties together

A notp I have with said character: any romantic pairing ever sorry not sorry

A random headcanon: this is silly and based on absolutely nothing but. terrible cook. he always follows recipes to the letter. it never turns out. he is endlessly distressed by this.

General opinion over said character: man i knew he'd probably win my heart even though i really didn't like him in the first case, i just wasn't really expecting it to be this thorough of a victory for him. the minute they gave him trauma i knew it was over for me. i really love how willing he is to grow and change once he realizes what's happened to him, and how much he wants others to have that opportunity too. i'm also really fond of how he too is a silly little guy despite the Everything, and that he was weird even before the trauma, instead of being weird because of the trauma.

Naruhodou

Sexuality headcanon: disaster bi. everyone is too Pretty

Gender headcanon: same as mitsurugi. cis man, but i have no objections (pun intended) to trans man naruhodou either

A ship I have with said character: again, same as mitsurugi sdkdkjs. qpr narumitsu is my original home but now i'm fond of narumitsunoko especially. our specific take on the trio simply cannot be beat.

A brotp I have with said character: mei! i really loved when they were investigating together in bridge to the turnabout and i think they should do stuff like that more often. mei's hard-won begrudging respect for him and his pseudo-fearful respect for her is so fun to see play out. i want to put them in a room together and watch the shenanigans unfold.

A notp I have with said character: ayame. it's just....no. regardless of any lingering feelings, i don't think it could ever work. naruhodou has changed too much, and ayame hurt him a lot, even if he's not willing to admit it. even if her love for him was genuine, she did still lie to and manipulate him for eight whole months, and that's not something that can just be fixed so easily, especially when naruhodou's feelings for her were essentially just puppy love. i dunno, maybe i'm too aro for it, but it just really bothers me. i don't even really care for their interactions at the end of bridge to the turnabout after the Reveal. stop that naruhodou!

A random headcanon: he can fall asleep literally anywhere. he does not take advantage of this power. he is constantly running on the minimum sleep required to function.

General opinion over said character: soggy wet pathetic man who just keeps getting into situations and doesn't understand how. his distressed sprite is one of my favorites i giggle every time it happens. i think he should just keep being a disaster forever it's great actually

Not the other two anons from before, but just to give my 2c: it's more like whatever the other characters do, keith reaps the benefits. It's very main character/side character npc behavior, when they really should all be equal.

We can take hunk and keith working together to free Hunk's family in season 7 as an example. The take away and the character development we got from that ordeal was "keith has come a long way emotionally" instead of anything to do with Hunk. Hunk and his family was just the vehicle to deliver the +10 charisma to Keith. Because ultimately, Hunk didn't gain/learn anything from it and it's never mentioned again.

Or Keith getting to kill Sendak instead of Shiro. We're once again left with this "lesson" of "keith is the strongest fighter and will protect Shiro" instead of Shiro getting closure and tying up his own loose ends.

And we're not going to even get into Lance...

I don't think any of us are blaming Keith- but the writers weren't shy about setting up this divide between Main Character Hero Keith and those other guys who does things for Keith's growth.

It's also the common take away from new watchers of this show, people who went in without fandom bias or influence: Keith is the one character they come out saying had the best development and the best stories and they will have walls of text about his character. The other paladins are really just a "who? uh (generic platitude about them existing)" deal.

(I don't know if the below text is from the same person since you were both anonymous, so I'm just going to assume it was and add it on here:)

"Just to tack on that last ask. I ultimately blame the writers for the poor handling of...well everything. I love Keith too with all my heart. It's just not great seeing the writers act like parents with that one golden child and the rest like the step kids they feel obligated to raise."

As I said in a previous ask, I just don't see Keith this way.

I don't begrudge anyone who does, and I believe I can understand where you all are coming from with this viewpoint, but I just don't see it.

Of course it was clear in the later seasons that the other paladins/characters were pushed to the side (seriously was Coran even there?). That is just a fact.

But the way I see it, the only reason why anyone would think Keith got character development/better stories than the others in the later seasons was because he...did stuff.

It came across to me in a similar vein as when they wrote themselves into a corner - oh, look! All of a sudden Allura has the magic power to fix this! Woohoo!

I don't see this as Keith having any kind of character development. I see this as him just becoming the one who could suddenly do things.

"All your paladin equipment is being guarded? No worries, Keith can summon his bayard just by closing his eyes!"

"Need to add some drama? Let's separate Keith from the rest of the team. All the time. For...um...plot reasons."

However, this in no way equates to character development or stories. Because we were never told why he could do things. Or why he was continuously separated from the team.

It was all a just because.

And just because Keith was turned into the stereotype of a Main Character doesn't mean his character arc wasn't also forgotten. The only difference is that he did stuff. And things.

The later seasons weren't written to benefit any character imo. They were written to just get the show over with as quickly as possible. And the only reason I can think of that Keith was given stuff to do in those seasons was because the fandom collectively had the hots for him (seriously, he was shipped with literally everyone).

But, again, to be very clear - that has absolutely nothing to do with character development or even plot.

Ok feel free to ignore but could you give a rundown of what on earth is going on with MCR fandom these days? I am old. I was a massive fan in 2004-2009 and the fans were also unhinged back then and i see a lot of the same patterns going on and it's making me have war flashbacks. I don't know if these are old fans/new. I don't want to begrudge ppl their fun but seeing from the perspective of an adult now I'm just....what is going on

i think certain things happen to any fandom when it gets to a certain size (attempting to cancel anyone who likes characters or ships you think are problematic, literally censoring women from the media, policing who doesnt like your favorite character enough, trying to cancel people en masse who said something someone popular disagrees with, overblowing the symbolism or social justice aspects of things, blowing some stuff out of proportion while ignoring some other serious issues with the media, completely misconstruing history, etc)

fall out boy fandom also got pretty bad and i was definitely a participant and aggressor in ways i look back on and cringe, but such is the nature of being 16. every bandom did, the difference between mcr and the rest of them right now is that mcr fandom is currently enormous.

however two things i think are more unique to mcr fandom are being incredibly weird about gerards gender and mental health. i dont want to be specific about any of this because quite frankly these people scare me and i saw a vaguepost about me completely misconstruing what i said with like 900 notes last week but whatever.

i feel like this is slightly worse in recent years because gerard rarely does interviews and has left social media so people can project whatever they want.

im 23 so im seeing a lot of behaviors i saw in 2015ish repeat but with a more modern twist haha, im way too young for 04-09