they went for a walk in new t-shirts Inspired by amazing ff Anti-romantic Duo = Romantic Couple

not someone comparing caryl and destiel PLEASE i haven't even seen supernatural and i know for a fact they're not in the same league at all

"Prepare for trouble" "And make it double"

More commissioned work from the absurdly talented @ookamihanta!!! (because tbh, I'm kind of obsessed with them) 🤭

I know you're probably like "what? why? this makes no sense!" and that's completely valid but hear me out, this came to me in a dream. Like, wouldn't it be cool if Flatline and Respawn started working together? It's just too perfect because their names flow and sound like a really cool anti-hero or villain duo, their names together imply a never ending cycle of death and rebirth and that's both tragic and beautiful. I also feel like they would mesh well, she's in charge and he's all too willing to follow her lead, could be because he's in love with her or could be because he's desperate for a friend and a sense of belonging (this doesn't have to be a romantic ship, but it also could be).

Like, can you imagine if like things don't work out between her and Damian (🤞) and now one of the Super Son's enemies are his ex and his half-brother who hates his guts. Like imagine ALL THE ANGST! Damian might still be struggling with the loss of his first "girlfriend" (kind of one-sided tbh, he's a cringe little loser /affectionate) and NOW she's hanging out with his brother?! The brother that hates him!!! (also completely one-sided, cringe runs in the family) Anyway, they roll up on the Super Sons and Damian is completely off his game and Jon has to really step into the protector role, something that Damian doesn't usually let him do, but he's so caught off guard he can't even think clearly. Jon is just like, "what is happening right now? I guess I'm in charge? who are these people and why do they make bestie sad?!"

Anyway, go check out their page to see more art!!! Also, their commissions are still open so go check that out as well!!! I definitely recommend them!!! 😘💋

A Word With Jikookers

“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduces them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” Gustav Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

You might have known that most of my posts go under categories like analysis and reviews, and I usually don't address hates and haters in this blog except a few times that I had to respond to some anonymous asks, which is now turned off.

I'm aware that no Jikooker likes to be policed by other Jikookers, I hate that too. I hate woke Jikookers so much, and this is not about policing you guys or telling you what to post about. But, as someone who reads tweets on army Twitter on a daily basis and follows almost every drama between shippers, I'm aware that antis sound so bold and brave recently for no specific reason, and this is expectantly triggering most Jikookers to fight back.

Haters get hit tweets by "comparing" moments, shading members, bringing back their old and frequently debunked theories, and fabricating the dumbest stuff to give themselves some sense of winning against the loud and clear truth of Jikook. If there was any competition, they had lost it many times since 2017, but this breed is not going to admit their defeat, and you can never convince them no matter how strong your logic and evidence are. 

I did that a few times, yes. I convinced several hardcore Taekookers that their ship is not real, and if there is one duo in BTS that might be romantically involved, it's Jikook. They admitted that to me after facing the evidence and facts that were hidden from them, but it didn't last long. Just a few days of interacting with their Tkkr fellas was enough to get brainwashed by more appealing theories and call me a liar and manipulator lol. This chain will never break, looking at the community of shippers in 1D made me sure about that.

It's not that they are trying to convince you (us, Jikookers), they are trying to convince themselves, the newcomers who have no clue about what goes on, the Tkkrs with some brain cells left who start to lose faith, and any weak mind out there is their target. It's already a lost battle for them, and they know it well. All they want is fewer losses.

But it's not just that, besides their attempts to keep their community big and in the majority, they are doing their best not to let you feel satisfied or winning (in the competition they made inside their minds). You need to knw that this is a mental war against Jikookers, and it's not just done by Tkkrs, all the breeds of Jikook-antis are on it these days, that's why I'm addressing them as antis and not just Tkkrs. For example, the other day, a JJK akgae tweeted something like 'jikookers are mad because JK likes girls', but in the quotes and replies, she had admitted that she was annoyed by Jikookers celebrating Jikook's new military photos. 

It's clear who is mad here. They deliberately and blatantly lie and project to belittle you, trigger you, and reach some level of satisfaction by affecting you mentally. So, don't let that happen, don't give them what they want. I already said there's no battle or competition, but don't let them win this mental war against you.

Why So Serious?

Joost Meerloo, in his famous book 'The Rape of the Mind,' says: “Logic can be met with logic, while illogic cannot, it confuses those who think straight. The Big Lie and monotonously repeated nonsense have more emotional appeal than logic and reason. While the people are still searching for a reasonable counter-argument to the first lie, the totalitarians can assault  with another.” Although we are not fighting a totalitarian regime lol, this is the exact reason that arguing with antis is pointless. They use 'theories' to debunk the 'moments', and call the real moments 'delusional and fake' while celebrating total lies.

 

Debunking lies is necessary, and everyone should do that as long as they are armed with perfect and mouth-shutting evidence. Otherwise, you should avoid it because nothing is more damaging than doing a bad defense. And these debunkings and defendings don't have to turn into arguments.

Joost Meerloo, in the same book, talks about a solution: “We must learn to treat the demagogue and aspirant dictators in our midst with the weapon of ridicule. The demagogue himself is almost incapable of humor of any sort, and if we treat him with humor, he will begin to collapse.”

Yes, you can debunk, correct, educate, and even argue in an unserious manner. Shipping is not that serious, anyway. Good humor is not insulting, we don't want to drag down or set anyone up. Spreading facts and truth positively and debunking lies with humor and ridicule is all we need to do instead of endless fights and anxious clapbacks.

This post was supposed to be a word, but it turned out as a long and boring essay of information that I'm sure most of you already heard so many times. But it doesn't hurt if we get reminded sometimes to think more deeply and get a better view on what we are dealing with.

Anti-bylers say we hate El and Mike because we are trying to sacrifice their happiness for Byler, but that's not our goal. We aren't praying for their downfall. We just want what's best for these characters.

El is clearly not happy in her relationship. Mileven is bones, and you just don't want to admit it. She is not loved the way she wants to be by Mike. She begins the season fabricating her life in front of Mike in hopes of restoring a relationship that's already broken. By the end, she is annoyed with Mike lying to her, leaving them off on a bitter note. El’s character arc focuses on her independence. If the Duffers have been building this throughout the show, why would they ruin it for the last season and throw all this progress away so she can stay in a relationship that’s no longer bringing her joy? In the third season, when El dumps Mike, she seems so much happier. She is paying more attention to others at the party (like Max). And with her independence, we see her go on journeys of self-discovery. We see her true self shine, so she isn’t just the buzz-cut girl with telekinetic powers and a funny name. She is so much more than that, and having a relationship with Mike that relies on kissing isn’t teaching her much about herself, her surroundings, or her other relationships.

Mike, on the other hand, has been pretending in his relationship with El for the longest time. He doesn't want to seem like a nerd, so he ditches D&D to make out with her. He puts on a facade at the beginning of season 4. We know El's intentions for putting on the facade, but what are Mike's? It's almost as if he is hiding something. Once El is gone, he continuously has vulnerable conversations with Will that lead to acceptance and mutual understanding. Conversations that Mike and El have never had. The only vulnerable conversation was their fight in S4, which did not end on good terms.

I don't understand how Milevens think this is a good dynamic. How is lying to each other about your personality good for either of them? Their relationship is at its end, and I think they both realize it. Frankly, Milevens don't care about El's or Mike’s feelings. They just want to see more straight couples pop out babies and have sex, even though this show is literally called Stranger Things, and the nuclear family construct is "normal," the antonym for strange. We don't need another straight couple. We especially don't need another straight couple with no real love. Don't get me wrong, they have good chemistry, but I view it platonically rather than romantically.

Mike and Will don't have to lie to give and receive affection. They are the most honest duo on the show. I consider that a way better dynamic than Mileven. And, if you pair their good communication with the classic romance tropes used for Byler, you can't really deny Byler. 

I just hope Jkk going forward take a more realistic approach about Jikook. Esp JK's lives and the scenarios surrounding the timing in which JM leaves the country. Does there seem to be a pattern now, 3rd times a charm, not to mention all the meat touring when JM was gone previous times or posting Ramen out of the blue? I would say yes, its enough to say its an established pattern, but what happens when JM leaves next time and JK doesn't go live or the next time and so on? We will be right back to insecure Jkk screaming "JK isn't going live when JM left, did they break up" scenarios. Frankly, I'm exhausted with insecure Jkk more then antis. Taennie going public, does not automatically mean Jikook are real or going to be more public as well. I can admit this & I wish others would as well. If anything the whole Taennie situation taught me, not everything is as it seems and you can get slapped in the face hard that your ship is not real & that you can and will still delude yourself and choose to die on that hill, like some are doing right now, cause they made it their whole personality and life to ship a duo based on lies and manipulations & their so called gut feeling. I think Jikook have had enough proof, not just verbally from each other, but also physical proof that alludes to more then platonic friends. I personally think Jikook are in a romantic relationship. I also think Jikook love each other. however, I am not gonna allow myself to sink my teeth into this pattern of JK going live and JM leaving, in case JK catches on and changes his routine or it just doesn't happen again. We are going to be fighting Antis and insecure Jkk all over again, if it happens. We are confident and we know Jikook are in love, we just need to stay grounded and realistic and aware that we don't fully know or things can change. Sorry for the mini rant, I just see people getting carried away lately.

On the contrary, I encourage everyone to get carried away as much as they want to.

Tweet

I won't tire of saying this but Jikook are real because they are real. Not because Taennie is real. Not because of any other factor. They just are. Even if JK changes things up, it doesn't erase the fact that there has been an undeniable pattern so far. And it didn't just start the other day. It started with the meat tours like u mentioned whenever Jimin was busy.

Fuck tkkrs, fuck antis and fuck insecure jkkrs/ the wishy-washys with something sandpapery. I don't give a flying fuck what they have to say. If JK changes it up, then he changes it up. So what? We will just watch out for the next pattern. Or the next sus thing. It is what it is.

But for now, I'm gonna be celebrating the fact that our boy is predictable AF and its simply adorable.

If anything the whole Taennie situation taught me, not everything is as it seems and you can get slapped in the face hard, that your ship is not real.

Jikook is real. I know in my hearts of hearts. This is a fact. I don't need to pump no breaks, I don't need to be careful. I know what I know. I've seen what I've seen. I am extremely confident in their relationship. They ain't never gonna prove me wrong coz there's nothing to disprove. I've said this a million times, if Jikook aren't Jikook anymore, it will be because of a break up. And everything will change between them. I don't even think they will be able to remain friends or stay in the same band. If they break up it will ruin everything. Because they love eo too damn much. They are way too interdependent. If they break up we will know. Believe me when I tell you, we will know. But understand, it will be a break up. It won't be because they were never real.

You can rant whenever u want to anon. But I got carried away a long time ago and I have 0 regrets. I feel very safe and confident in my support for Jikook. Caution was thrown to the wind a long time ago and I've never looked back. These 2 are in a relationship and are going very strong; Doing very well. I love their love and I've got their back

Anyway, back to our regular programming:

it's time to ask some real questions: Why are there only like 3 Fingon&Hurin fics on ao3? like where are fics about Fingon and Hurin being besties? Where are the fics about them getting drunk together, drunk dancing together at parties? Them throwing snow at each other's faces? Just overall messing around? Where are silly comedies of Hurin being about to meet Mae for the first time and hearing from anti-feanorian residents of Hithlum some stories of Maedhros, of how horrible and a monster and a spy of Morgoth he is. And Hurin after hearing that, going to Finno and being like ,,I'll do anything in my power to protect you from that awful person'' and Fingon's like ,,????....oh, you've heard these weird rumours? Don't mind it. My husband is the most lovely person you'll see!"" and Hurin being like ,,.... your... husband?'' and it's just such a shock for him because Fingon has never mentioned being married before (he thought it was obvious or sth). Anyway, there comes the day when Hurin finally meets Mae. And for a while he really is close to believing the stories, despite his bestie being so fond of the guy, because Mae's zobie-esque looks and overall grumpy manner (he was tired after the trip, like, the way from Himring is long, cold and on top of that he has to deal with phantom pains, everyone would be a bit moody in his position) However, at the end they would bond over their love for Fingon ( romantic and platonic respectively) , Hurin would probably tell Mae some of dumbass shits Fingon has done when Mae wasn't around to be his voice of reason ( or even just self-preservation instinct, because Fingon himself has NONE). Silly story ending with Hurin promising Mae to look after his husband & drag him out of all the dangerous situations he might get himself in. Also I think maybe some short Fingon agenda - Hurin being a bit taller than Fingon and constantly teasing him about it

Idk what else, at this point probably anything. WHY IS THEIR FRIENDSHIP SLEPT ON *sobs into my pillow like seriously, they have so much chaotic duo potential

WELCOME TO THE EARTHLING-ALIEN DUO SHOWDOWN!

Lilo and Stitch. Kirk and Spock. Batman and Superman. Over and over, our stories LOVE to make earthlings and aliens besties. And why shouldn't they?? Aliens are great! But what is the BEST earthling-alien duo? That is what we are here to decide! Submit YOUR duos, and watch them duke it out in a battle of propaganda and unfettered favoritism!

Rules:

No real people. MCYT roleplay (and other forms of roleplay, if it is indeed clear that it is roleplay) IS ALLOWED, though, as long as being an alien is canonical to the character and not a fanon interpretation.

"Besties" is a catchall for any type of relationship, be it romantic or platonic or a secret third thing, so feel free to submit any relationship type!

Submit as many duos as you like, but only submit each duo ONCE. Don't spam, it's rude and risks eliminating that duo entirely.

I will only allow TWO duos per fandom into the bracket. This is to keep fandoms that are earthling-alien duo heavy (cough Homestuck Doctor Who Star Trek ETC. cough) from overtaking the bracket. This DOES NOT mean you can't submit as many duos from a fandom as you like, but do take this into consideration when submitting and asking your friends to submit.

I use some examples of earthling-alien duos here as well as in my clarification post, but I DON'T have any default duos lined up. Submit your guys if you want to be Sure that they'll be up for consideration!

Not sure if your duo qualifies as an earthling-alien due to technicalities? Here is some clarification as to what I mean!

With all that in mind,

SUBMIT YOUR CONTENDERS HERE!

(This bracket was inspired by the likes of @mad-scientist-showdown, @purplegreenbracket, @anti-canon-trans-showdown, @blueandorangebracket, and many others!)

On the note of Nel burning soup (Girl how 😭) are there any skills that Nel has/absolutely does not have that haven't come up yet? Hobbies, too. She can read, shoot, and banter like nobody's business -- but does she have any weird or secret skills lol? Ones that make people think "How and why do you know how to do that?"

Or are there any critical role failures? Such an abysmal lack of skill at something that she could get banned from a place for even making an attempt (cooking in the kitchen, singing karaoke, shopping at Walmart, etc.).

And finally, Al might not be a pet person, but what about Nel and Grace? Do they like animals? Any in particular (cats, dogs, a secret third option)?

Sorry for all the questions. I absolutely love Yours Truly! Your writing is amazing, and the character dynamics are immaculate! Nel has so much personality to her, and I love both Grace and Marie with all my heart. Shout out to the stinky deer loser, too, of course.

Oooooo this is FUN!

Secret or unusual talents? Let’s see…I’d say writing. It’s not unusual but it is a little secret since she doesn’t dabble in it much. Nel reads a fair amount and grew up with her nose in a book when she wasn’t battling swamp creatures (now she battles a different kind of swamp creature as an adult lmao), so she’s had years to absorb literature. Specifically, she’d be baller at writing overly flowery and romantic poetry. Will she do it? Only in private and she’d never willingly show anyone.

Critical failures? Intentional comedy 100%. Nel is hilarious when she doesn’t mean to be. She is the reluctant straight man of her and Alastor’s weird little comedic duo. The second she attempts to be funny it falls abysmally flat, like Dee’s standup comedy routine in IASIP levels of bad. Don’t ask her to tell you a joke. Please don’t do it.

Animals! Both of the girls like animals. Grace especially LOVES cats and her dream is to get a Persian kitty. Nel enjoys most animals casually but I think she’d be a really cool bird mom. Her curly ass hair is perfect for a parakeet or dove to sit in while she works. The reason they don’t have any pets is because their father was very anti-pet. He was a hardass that didn’t want to worry about animals in such a shitty economy. Even though he’s been gone for several years, his memory still weighs pretty heavily on both of the Sheridan girls so they haven’t gotten around to getting a pet. Maybe one day.

That got dark at the end. Oopsie!

satosugu antis are so funny to me cos manga + prequel + light novels + anime + movie clearly gave us enough canon material to legitimately question whether they were romantically in love or not (to the point where i personally think akutami purposely wants us to think they were without having to explicitly confirm it)

so why are some people "pEoPlE rEaLly hAtE bEsT fRiEnDs", "tWo mEn CaN iNtErAcT iN cAnOn aNd bE OnLy fRiEnDs", "wHy dO yOu hAvE to ShIp eVerYoNe" as if we were deliberately shipping two random characters rather than interpreting the canon material about a given relationship, as if said relationship wasn't crucial to the plot

also, no one seems to be so aggressively against shipping nobara with yuuji or megumi, even tho she has explicitly expressed not to have any interest in them. same thing shoko with satoru and suguru.

so, is it about 'being only best friends' or about them being two men? i'm convinced that if stsg was a straight duo, we wouldn't even be questioning whether they were romantic or not

gay people go here

james/icarus/patroclus | he/it/they + she sometimes + neos! switch it up

18 | traumagenic system

blog is rated 16+ interact at own risk

follows and likes from @faggotcowboys | alter blog: @lowresolutionboyfriend

hi! wewcome to my bwog uwu i am a longtime tumblr user moving blogs

i mostly post hermitcraft/trafficlife but i dabble in some other stuff too <3

i am a fan of the dream smp but i dont post about it and i have most of the fanbase on here blocked from ye olden days. i dont like interacting with the fandom other than fanart so dont expect that from me if ur blocked nothing personal just how it is

i'm a writer. in theory. mostly i liveblog and shitpost and reblog art but occasionally i will upload my own art or writing

i do not tag for shipping mostly because i am absolute dogshit at remembering. i am an adult and i don't shy away from reblogging suggestive or the occasional nsfw post, but usually they're tagged under #suggestive or #nsft.

i am a beginner artist! please be nice to me :') i use krita

for hc s10 i'll be maining grian, joel, scar, and etho, but as of right now i am also caught up on mumbo, iskall, gem, zombiecleo, and i'm trying to slowly work my way through other people's povs

i main grian and joel! i go apeshit insane over scarian and smalletho, but i also enjoy gribeans/joelian and smallidarian/badboys content. treebark fan by osmosis. outside of trafficblr i watch a lot of content creators but ive been a fan of slimecicle and jschlatt for a while

used to be a wilburian. still like c!wilbur, disappointed and ignoring the actual guy. support shelby shubble and victims of abuse

i dont tag things as duo names i think its dumb as fuck i portmanteau their names or use "ship names" even if i dont care whether its romantic or platonic. if that bothers you block button

i dont believe in dnis but if you are a fan of dreamteam vivziepop jkr matpat or brendon urie i am probably going to block you. no terfs no swerfs no maps no zionists no racists or anti-semities and i am NOT pro-endo but i dont really care?? as long as you dont cause syscourse ur welcome idgaf

i <3 heart weird problematic labels like boygirl fagdyke mspec butch lesbians bi lesbians bi gays cisgender het aros furries neopronouns xenogenders objectum and if any of that bothers you. well. block button

Antis DNI - Block the tag "comship" if this causes discomfort.

Remember, you are voting for the ship you prefer, not the ship you find more problematic

Propaganda for both ships under the cut.

Disclaimer: All ships (other than NozoCoco) on this bracket are FOLLOWER-SUBMITTED ships, the Mods do not always hold necessary knowledge to be aware of any errors or fanonizing what should be canon material that may arise.

Zackray Propaganda (MinorxAdult, Toxic Dynamic)

"Ray is a 13-year-old girl who wakes up in a weird building without memories. Oh, there are some weird killers in the building with her too. Zack is one of them and the first time they meet he runs after her with a scythe. Love at first sight <3 (/joke)

At first, her memories return and she remembers why she was in that building in the first place. With her memories back, she becomes apathetic and almost indifferent to everything.

After Zack saves her from a very creepy doctor, she turns to him and asks one thing: `Could you kill me?`. Zack is very confused, but after he realizes that he would never be able to leave the building alone, he offers her a deal. He would only kill her after she helped him leave the building. This is the beginning of their connection.

I can't give too many spoilers, but seriously, they are a duo that subverts all expectations. Although Zack is a cold serial killer and blah blah blah, Rachel can be more cursed and scarier than him. It's really funny that she spends the entire anime begging him to kill her, and his reaction every time is `Wtf is wrong with you`. And yes, Zack may be an adult, but Ray can be more rational than him and is very good at understanding things quickly. She is the one who always finds a way for them to escape the traps of the other killers in the building.

He spends the entire anime asking her to smile, because then he would be more excited about killing her, but every time she tries to smile, he laughs at her and says that her smile is lifeless (and it really is, my poor girl).

At one point in the anime she says that he is her god. It's serious. She even hugs a knife he gave to her very intimately.

He compares her to a doll a few times in the anime. It's so weird and cute <3

They're not canon, but I would argue that the romantic subtext is there. Anyway, they are weird, traumatized people who end up getting very attached to each other."

Family Rentarou Propaganda (Pseudo-Incest - Hakari and Hahari are related, Rentarou dates both. Kusuri and Yaku are related, Rentarou dates them both, Pseudo-Age Gap/Pseudo-Teen x Minor - Kusuri and Yaku both use an immortality potion making them LOOK 8, Rentarou is 16, Incest, MotherxDaughter - Hahari french kissed her daughter Hakari, Age Gap, AdultsxMinor, AdultsxTeen - Yaku is 89 and Hahari is 29 while Rentarou is 16, Nonconsensual Drugging/Nonconsensual Love Potion - Kusuri keeps doing this to Rentarou)

"The God of love in Rentarou's world has legitimately declared these are Rentarou's official soulmates. He is required to date all 100 of these girls. When he even considered cheating as an option, he beat himself up for an entire night before settling on making this a proper polycule circumstance. Even when Hakari's mom enters the polycule, the polycule still keeps going strong! He's the first harem protagonist I've ever seen who says `You know what? Let's try polyamory! That's a way better idea!` and manages it healthily

With the polycule growing strong, with this many girlfriends, you might think that Rentarou would run out of energy or time to care for all of them. He doesn't! When it comes to Hakari and Karane, he manages to please them both despite their clashing deredere and tsundere personalities and jealous attitudes. He gets them to fall in love with not only him, but it's heavily implied also with each other!

When Shizuka - a mute girl - enters the picture, he spends entire days staying up all night to transcribe every word in the book she uses as a talking tool into a proper text to speech app, despite the book not having an App Reader version yet. He even downloaded the app he made to his own phone to show it was safe to her!

He's able to understand Nano's lack of emotions and need to do everything logically, but also able to see the subtleties in her mostly neutral expression and notice when she's enjoying herself. With Kusuri, he tries to both support her endeavour of making weird and new drugs, but ALSO to keep her safe. He does everything he can to keep these girls safe.

When Hakari's mom tried to prevent Hakari from dating Rentarou, he and his girlfriends staged a girlfriend rescue mission where they'd snatch her back and find her a new place where they could be together forever, no matter how much it would end up with Hahari trying to hunt them down... only for Rentarou to find a relationship with Hahari as well, after convincing her he was right for her daughter! Hahari fell in love with his genuine and sweet way of adoring each of these girls! If I talk about the rest of them this'll become far too long, so I'll leave it here! I adore Rentarou's family. The best depiction of a polyamorous group I've seen in any media, despite all it's wonks."

So now that I've seen the last season of the Nine Realms, I can finally give my own personal review on it, and the last seeing as how this was the last season and TNR is officially over.

So needless to say SPOILERS BELOW! PLEASE STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST SEASON AND DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!

So let me start out on a, sadly poor note with this: this season was super disappointing... The big finale, the end-all, the conclusion to The Nine Realms was...flat. Boring. Pointless. Like, this was actually probably one of the more poorer seasons...

So let's start with The World Serpent (Yeah, I can't spell the other name, so I'll just refer to it as 'The Serpent' for ease. This dragon was honestly a really cool design, but not as a "predator of all dragons and the destroyer of The Hidden World". First off, a top-tier predatory animal that is meant to destroy all dragons and the dragon ecosystem...doesn't make sense. Why would an animal like that exist??? If The Hidden World is supposed to be this perfect dragon paradise, then why is there a dragon that literally goes against this notion. Also, this dragon was literally seen poorly trying to catch a terrible terror in a flock of three that was just casually flying around its face like a cat trying to catch a fly and not doing very good at it. This is the dragon that can supposedly take down any dragon such as a Red Death? A bewilderbeast? Any titan-class dragon? No, I don't think so. The poisonous gas attack it has is powerful, but this dragon just doesn't scream "Destroyer of The Hidden World" to me. Not that a dragon that is destined to destroy the world all the dragons that are damned there forever makes sense anyways, but still. On top of that, this dragon spent most of its time "defeating the Riders" by hitting them with the same amount of power any other dragon enemy has and then just taking off. That was pretty much it. It hit once or twice then ran away. The series literally only made this thing to be "unbeatable" because they made the Riders' dragons have 2 HP per battle and have the bad guy dip afterward, thus drawing this out through the entirety of the season. This dragon wasn't powerful, it was long-winded. Finally, the final battle was so.......boring? The group brought in an "Army Of Dragons" to defeat this thing, which would have been cool if it weren't for the fact that they basically just brought one or two dragons a piece. That's not an army and if a handful of common dragons with two special bosses (the Faultripper and the Sky Torcher) is all that it took to beat this thing, then this dragon was never the ultimate dragon destroyer the legends made it out to be. I could really go more into how The Serpant and the battles with it were pointless, boring, and just anti-climatic, but this section has gotten long enough, so I'll leave it at this.

Next up, Tom and Jun. Their romance drama was so pointless and added literally nothing to the story. This is the last season and it's only 6 episodes long. They don't need teen romance side-drama this late into the series, they need to concentrate on what was supposed to be the issue at hand. That, and Jun breaking it off with Tom over him doing the same thing he's always done since Season 1 really shows their compatibility as a romantic duo. But yeah, their whole romance here was just completely pointless and added nothing to the series. Also, Alex and Eugene was also completely unnecessary with what they were trying to build.

Then we have the villains. So Buzzsaw's goons and Linda are the most pointless characters in the villain side of things. The bumbling side kicks to a villain can be charming, but when every villain's group are just kids in adult bodies that still need to be babysat or else they can't do anything right, then it gets annoying and kind of pointless. Linda was probably the worst of them. As for Buzzsaw, his redemption was too much a play off of Dagur and, in my opinion very unnecessary. It felt like they only redeemed him because they didn't need him anymore, but didn't have the time to properly deal with him. As for Sledkin, she was actually a decent villain for what the series was giving, but ultimately fell into the weak trope of "I'm so desperately obsessed over my final goal that I am just throwing self preservation out the window so I can be pointlessly reckless despite being a very intelligent individual" and ended up getting killed over it (which I'm surprised TNR actually had a human death in this).

So let's finally move to my final complaints with this season:

-Thunder being "alpha" is bullshit. There is no way the night lights (yes, even the Elder Night Light) are the "Kings of Dragons" when most dragons didn't give them two glances. So there is no way Thunder is an alpha. I'm sorry, but no. Also, with the Elder Night Light passing, it's nice to see how literally no one cared since Thunder can glow like a radioactive lightbulb now, I guess. They grieved Sledkin more than this dragon. Thunder hardly even cared. Along with the night light thing, Thunder's family is not only useless in the series, but seeing as how we never get a real reason as to why night lights are breeding with each other, I am not convinced that this family line isn't just a messed up family wreath than a family tree at this point. Nothing was explained, so the fans only have the fact that there were only 3 night lights from Toothless (Toothless who was basically never mentioned in this series) and the Light Fury (who wasn't mentioned at all) and no others exist, but we see night lights having kids with each other....I....ew.

-The Raker episode was literally just not necessary and could have been left out altogether and nothing change. This is the last season, we don't need pointless spoilers.

-Olivia was being built as a true character earlier in the series, shame she was basically forgotten about. Same for the other parents.

-The Gods Realm was boring and really uninteresting to look at. Like...it might as well have been any chamber in any cave around the world, not the "Lungs of the Hidden World", which the dragonite still makes no sense and there's no way they would have run out of oxygen in that massive chamber that quickly with the stone removed. None of that made sense.

-There's no way Tom would have ever learned how to communicate with dragons with Valka's staff. I don't know where they got this "Hypnotizing" thing from, but Valka lived alone with dragons for 20 years. She communicated and learned their language that she developed replications of in her own way. Tom cannot learn that in a short montage because Valka's power with dragons came from her connection and understanding from more time of experience with dragons alone than Tom has even been alive for. The staff was a tool, not the power itself. That, and Hiccup would never use his mother's staff. That's A. not his approach to dragons anyway, and B. his mother's. Valka most likely would have had her burial with that staff. Oh, and it's nice to see yet another thing just be casually destroyed and not cared about.

-And I think the last thing I've got for this massive post is the ending. Yes, the dragons leave. What a surprise. This time, the dragons choose to leave and more or less say "Sorry kids, you guys...eh, kinda suck.". The Riders were basically pleading with their dragons (mostly Tom) that there had to be another way and the dragons wouldn't even let them touch them anymore. They acted like they had their fun and it's gone stale so it's time to leave. Great...bond??? Of course, it was over "HOOMANS BAD." so why bother to fix the world when you can just hide in a dead-looking cave system forever? Right? Not only that, but the group itself also split up, expect for Tom and Jun of course, because how else can the series end off with the romance that they pointlessly shoved in.

So yeah, this season was......not good. I really had my hopes out for the series ending much more interestingly, but in the end, with the dragons shoving themselves away again, nothing came from this series other than Tom gets a girlfriend and the group learns the true power of video calls. So in all, I give TNR a personal 5-6/10.

Hello...just want to say, so happy !! Finally my best friend who is anti-shipping in shounen (and love to make fun of me because I have ships in every shounen that I watched/read), said that he can't find any het explanation for Gojo/Geto and Bakugou/Midoriya relationships...

Especially when I showed him your posts (that is based in canon and so true). Thanks for sharing your wonderful posts....

What do you think about JJK s2 op1 and ed1? I can't believe when I reas that the op is about geto from gojo's perspective (so romantic)....

OH ANON. HAVE I GOT SOME BRAINROT FOR YOUUUU. I've also noticed some of my older Satosugu posts are attracting attention and subsequently feel like I need to just list out all the most tragic things about them that I hold dear in a separate post because you've basically prodded a festering wound within me.

Re: Your last ask (maybe the same person?), I really only tried to focus on stuff that's already been animated because I try to avoid spoiling the fun for everyone. 🥹✨

It's hilarious that Gojo/Geto and Bakugou/Midoriya are the two relationships that stick out specifically considering their creators intently make them complements of one another.

Gege Akutami cited specifically that Gojo and Geto were designed to be a duo in an interview with Mandou Koboyashi (shout out to twitter user @/soukatsu_ or @soukatsu here as the real MVP for translating and adding further context for other fans). Fans seem to recognize their yin and yang design everywhere. There are countless salt and pepper shaker videos set to Ricky Montgomery's "Mr. Loverman" on tiktok, I'm positive. This is despite being marked by their dissonance.

Kohei Horokoshi has Bakugou and Midoriya recognized as two halves of the same whole by other characters in the story, most remarkably All Might who in many ways carves the deepest chasm(s) between them. The wax and wane of their unique development as individuals being integrally related is also something to note.

But this isn't unique to these two stories. I haven't even watched Naruto but know that Naruto and Sasuke serve as the sun and the moon to one another (literally within the story, their seals and by design/disposition) and I'm sure we could find this in other shows I haven't hyperfixated on haha

There's probably nothing new I can add to the MLM shipping discourse in shonen/seinen genres that hasn't been said, especially when it's been so eloquently broken down by IG user @/ariavelz. I also think there's a fair amount of queerbaiting in mainstream media and anime alike. Five seasons of Free! comes to mind...

Now the MUSIC!? In JJK? Bestie.

S1 already had me gagged with this brain worm. But, the fact that the song playing during Yuta and Rika's final moment in the fight vs. Geto and subsequently during the final moments Gojo and Geto share in that alley in JJK 0 was called "This is Pure Love"??? That's when I knew there were some Satosugu's on staff at Mappa. I don't think we need to dig into the parallels of how Yuta's fondness for Rika being the catalyst for her becoming a curse was the same way Gojo's fondness subsequently led to Geto's "comeback". Gojo, based on his experience at the time, said "love is the most twisted curse of them all" and time showed him just how twisted it really could be in season 2.

NOW THE OP!? It's just so lonely. Their cursed techniques being at odds with one another is so tragic, in a sense, and ultimately creates this divergence from one another. Geto, a genius of diligence, nobly consumes and sullies himself with the curses he has to imbibe like a martyr. Gojo, a genius of happenstance, is pristine. Born into privilege and untouched by the need to work hard or literally touch curses which Geto later grows to resent.

Meanwhile, Gojo's largely a product of isolation as imposed by his status and cursed technique and "Ao no Sumika" or "Where Our Blue Is" by Tatsuya Akitani waxes on about how, despite his best efforts, he could never reach Geto. The irony. As the story continues, we do, in fact, see that Gojo's never changed in the canonically affectionate way he regarded Geto. I think about this dissonance a lot. Literally, how did your Six Eyes miss that?

We could have shared everything. // Little by little since that day, // The curse of me being different from you grew thicker. The sorrow behind your smile, // All the way, I’ve regretted missing it. // To you, who bloomed and fell away as a fruitless flower, // Farewell. Our blue still lives, // Our blue is still clear. // No prayer or word could ever reach you, // No matter how close they could get to you. // In such a color as if it were a silent love, // Or as if it were a summer rolling down a cheek. // I’ve got a curse word for you stuck in the back of my throat. It is the unvoiced voice that says, // “We’ll see each other again, won’t we?” // Like star grains in an infinitely expanding galaxy, // Spilling through the gaps between my fingers

Now, I initially assumed the EP was from Gojo's perspective because Geto only seemed to smile in his presence (who's blushing face are we trying to see, afterall?). However, it is said to be from Geto's perspective and that, too, makes sense. Two viewpoints acting as bookends of the history between them.

I think what's sad about it is the way in which Gojo's POV is centered wholly on Geto, regardless of who or what he became; whereas Geto's perspective is more broadly applied to Gojo in part but also his own turmoil and moral dilemma.

Part of why Geto is thrown into such chaos is because of his inherently principled existence and yet, he is still the moon to Gojo's sun (Naruto, what are you doing heree?). Where Gojo always held a place for Geto, I think Geto assumed that his radicalization and subsequent defection marked a departure from Gojo because he was never really one to exist in shades of grey. Even if his impetus for this new society was ultimately to protect Gojo (and others like him) in the only way he felt he could.

Before my goodwill crumbles away, // I should have told you everything. // In a life descending and dissolving into the night, // Fuzzy emotions, a flickering light. With nothing to search for, love sways. // Living while concealing, // Hence, the moon is dark, head in flight. // Today, unable to go anywhere. // Sleeping, sleeping towards a brand new morning, // Loneliness under crying Though I understand a wounded heart // Why do I end up hurting and leaving the same scars? // Labeling it as ego, grouping it all together, // The true essence of you and me, burning transparently. Longing for change, but the feelings stay the same, // Only the form crumbles away, // Holding onto the hand of hope, your ghost Realizing that something seemingly everywhere // Exists only here, // In the trivial silence of the night. // Only I, residing in memories, awaken It exists only here. // I want to touch you, // Even with trivial conversations. // Show me your blushing face once more...

Pardon me, anon, while I burst into flames after reflecting on all this. 🫠

Edit: just adding this visual for everyone because SAME. 🥹

What a fantastic day to remind everyone that no romantic m/f duo parallel Miles and Gwen as much as Nico and Percy do-Keyword being romantic,since the latter are found sibling soulmates in every universe-because:

Nico and Miles are autistic boys with transmasc swag who're super soft and nerdy,fast food lovers,optimistic despite all the nonstop bullshit life throughs at them and way more powerful than they look,act and believe themselves to be

Percy and Gwen are pastel punk trans girls who're also autistic and super snarky with anger issues but also total sweeties,rock music lovers,have shitty corrupted dads and were framed for a crime they didn't commit at a big turning point in their story

And the younger one met them while attending a weird school they didn't fit in at and instantly developed crushes on them over thinking they were THE COOLEST EVER and how nice they were to them only making them grow and the older one was there because they're part of the new world they were about to join

After the beginner stage that included their older relative getting murdered in the line of fire,they were seperated for a whole year and missed eachother deeply while being literal world's apart(Respective dimensions/Earth and The Underworld)until one of them visited to the other's room for world saving bussiness and they welcomed them in with open arms and led them to the party their Mamí was hosting to give them food as they spent the second they arrived having catching up convos that moved onto hero talk too

Then Nico and Gwen worried about what their monster's of 'father's' would do but for the time being they were just happy to be with Percy and Miles again and they were happy to have them back too as their buried love for eachother grew stronger over the course of their second adventure together

Only to 'betray' them due to having no other choice and just trying to help them and being upset at only themself for it because they knew their other half was right to be angry at them for hiding things and them eventually understanding that too after lashing out in justified hurt and angry that they regreted afterwards anyways

And repaired their best friendhood afterwards thanks to apologies,healthy communication,going back to having fun and fighting together again and the shatterment of the idealized versions of eachother they made up in their heads making them properly appreciate eachother,all of which they managed by breaking canon itself and undooming of their narratives(Miles refusing to let bad things happen because he knows canon events are stupid and inspiring Gwen to do the same in Beyond/Rick insisting that the og Dead Sea Siblings hate eachother now only for it to be obvious even to Percy antis that they see eachother as siblings and mom and son)

What do you think about people who use the Jikook tag to announce they no longer believe in Jikook as a ship? Or who post opinions such as no longer believing their friendship is special? I’m sort of torn because on one hand the tag isn’t technically a place for only pro-ship opinions, but on the other hand I thought it was general knowledge that most people use it to seek out positive content (and I don’t mean only pro-shipping, just positive content about whichever duo even in a platonic manner).

I just find it odd someone would feel the need to announce their personal, negative opinion about a ship publicly in a ship tag (especially if they go on to then complain in said ship tag about any negative response they receive). I also don’t understand why they thought their unprompted opinion was worth sharing in the first place when it seems like something only their friends and followers would really care about. It almost comes off a bit… self-important? Or maybe I’m just overly conscious of how I use tags and most people don’t think like this? I don’t think it helps that a lot of these posts carry an air of superiority where they paint themselves as more rational and objective than shippers… and it feels almost intentionally antagonistic to then purposefully post it in a place full of them.

Do you think my opinion is unfair or oversensitive? Am I wrong about how people use the tag and am I underestimating the demand for critical shipping content? Is it too controlling or unfair to criticize or judge a person for posting debunking/negative posts about a ship and their overall bond in their ship tag? Does this mentality negatively contribute to the toxicity of shippers and the overall hive-mind mentality of requiring each other to 100% believe said ship is real? Would it discourage or push away people who don’t believe in the ship but still enjoy and positively contribute to shipping spaces?

It’s obvious who I’m talking about if you go into the tag and I hate gossiping about other bloggers (and have absolutely nothing against them and hope people leave them alone if they don’t like their posts) so I don’t expect you to post this. But if you ever feel like writing about any of this, because it’s something I’ve seen multiple people do, I’d love to know your thoughts. I really like your stance on anti-shippers so I’d be curious to know your opinions on things like tag etiquette and the phenomenon of people needing to publicly announce when they no longer believe in a ship.

I know some people like to have an outlet to express their doubts on a ship being real or not and that’s valid, obviously there's a demand for spaces like that, and the tag doesn’t belong to just one group of people… but as someone who doesn’t even have a strong opinion on the nature of Jikook’s relationship, I still feel like it’s an odd way to spend your time when you could just have fun enjoying them without having to commit to thinking they’re romantic or not. And spamming a space people use to seek out positive content with your negative, cynical (and sometimes equally biased takes) just feels like such a douchey thing to do. But I still can’t tell if I’m being like… a bitch about it when obviously there’s a desire for content like that, people have a right to post whatever they want, and overly zealous shippers can be just as annoying.

Sorry to go off about this in your inbox! But if you have any thoughts to share on any of this one day, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for sending me the follow up ask with the link. I'm not reading all that rant because I don't feel like getting angry in the morning and especially over a ship of all things. I have that person blocked since the beginning, I sort of clocked what their deal was. Not that difficult to figure it out.

I also understand why you have all these questions and it's perfectly valid. There is no single answer though. We do need to be careful to not transform online spaces in echo chambers, but the solution to that is not being antagonistic either. In some cases, that's clearly the purpose and you can see it in the username, usage of tags, how it's targeted and so on. We all end up knowing how things work on the platforms we mostly use.

Healthy conversations surrounding ships and shipping spaces should take place. But that space needs to be created in a way that feels inclusive and not exclusionary. It's one thing to want to talk about all aspects of a ship, what clicks to you or not while being open minded about it (phrasing and tone are an indication of that) and another is to purposefully want to spread an agenda. Not just this blogger you're referring to, but also others that I've seen throughout my time here. There is no conversation taking place, it's an invitation for like-minded people and thus creating their own echo chamber in which arguments in favor of the ship are dismissed. Ultimately, all what people want is to share their opinion and for others to approve it. There is no real conversation, just the illusion of it and somehow the lie is more prevalent in anti-shipping spaces in which so called rational, anti-delusional thinking is a sign of superiority, just like you pointed it out.

I don't think we can/should control what is being posted in a tag. Perhaps there's an established etiquette that I'm not aware of, but looking at it that way can perhaps be harmful in the long run. Nevertheless, I also don't believe that flooding a tag with mostly negative takes is the right way to go. Perhaps there should be a separate one for anti-shipping discourse or keeping it in-house.

It's also a personal choice at the end of the day. People can write whatever they want on their blog. I know that in my case, when I know that I write something that obviously has potential to upset/anger fans of a ship/person, I choose not to tag the name because I know nothing productive will come out of it and it will only lead to a confrontation. Which is ultimately a waste of time.

Having very strong opinions over a k-pop ship to the point of preaching it's realness or the opposite, its lack of romantic nature, is not something that can have moral superiority attached to it. Regardless of each side, I don't think most of the people actually know the private lives of these idols so perhaps being more chill about it should be the way to go.

I've said this numerous times, but as much as shipping is villainized as opposed to supporting or even anti-shipping, it is (or should be) ultimately a fandom practice that can be fun, without necessarily getting too deep into it or a reason for conflict. It's in our hands the way we behave and what we write.

And perhaps not being complete assholes about it helps.