What makes Buffy and Faith such an excellent pairing for me is the ambiguous, undefined nature of their dynamic. BTVS never explicitly states their relationship as romantic (and even with the piles of subtext, a lot of it is ambiguous enough for an unsuspecting audience to be none the wiser). And a lot of character dynamics in media tend to focus more on the romantic end. We all want to see an epic romance (I do too), and of course romance can be complicated and messy, but what fascinates me the most are the complicated dynamics that aren’t straightforwardly stated as “the characters have feelings for each other/are in love.” What has me captivated is when their dynamic is left up to interpretation, able to be explored on several different levels at once. I think Buffy and Faith have one of the best dynamics on the show because they are not explicitly romantic. I think a canon recognition of such feelings for each other would actually limit the reading of their dynamic (and I know this sounds strange coming from a Fuffy stan but hear me out).

Buffy and Faith’s dynamic has several facets to it, most notably:

1. The Slayer-bond — They are the only two people on the planet that know what it’s like to be the Slayer. They are sisters, in that regard. You could almost say they’re blood-related, united under a birthright and an ancient system which oppresses and controls them. Cut from the same cloth, whether they choose to accept it or not. Both envy the other, wanting to be the other girl. Both feel like they’re being replaced by the other. They are Cain and Abel. And after everything, when the Potentials take refuge in Buffy’s home, she and Faith have to step up and be the leaders the girls need.

2. Desire for the chosen family — Faith will never admit it but she wants the love of a family, what she never had in Boston. When she meets the Scoobies, she hopes they can be that for her. And Buffy, though she does have a family in Sunnydale, still feels like they can’t truly understand her. Once Buffy and Faith meet, the potential is there for them to both get exactly what they need. But failures on both sides prevent this from happening. And it doesn’t help that the Mayor is the thing that the Scoobies couldn’t be for Faith. She admits more than once how much she covets Buffy’s friends, family, and Watcher, and her exclusion from the “in-group” continues to be a point of contention throughout the series.

3. Antagonism — It hurts hard when Faith betrays Buffy. Even if they didn’t get off to a great start, their connection develops over the season, and you can tell they never wanted to be enemies. But due to their individual natures, as well as the building of emotions surrounding their slayer bond, the attempts (or lack thereof) at making Faith feel connected to the in-group, and the fallout after Allan Finch, their relationship fractures. Faith feels driven to evil and that’s what she becomes. And being someone who fights evil, Buffy has to go against her. And it hurts so much for both of them — because you think you know someone and can trust them. You feel like you’ve finally found the thing you’ve been looking for all this time. And then one day you wake up and all that’s gone. And you do horrible things to each other. And you know that it’ll never go back to the way things were before. And neither of you will be the same person again. Even years later, when they come together to stop the First, the history is still there between them. Will the elephant in the room ever go away? Or will it always be a trigger for the both of them to jump right back to old times?

4. "They were in love” — Of course we cannot forget the lovers lens when talking about these two. In a lot of ways, it’s the interpretation that makes the most sense for them. The levels of intense emotion that these two reach, especially on Faith’s end, can be hard to justify in a platonic light. And that was after Faith’s flirting, her dismissal of all men, disdain for Angel, and making everything in her life about Buffy. There’s also the deliberate parallels of Faith to Angel and Spike (main two explicit love interests) to the point where Riley (third explicit love interest) is often overlooked in favor of Faith. Buffy is ultimately her weakness. She wants Buffy to care about her, approve of her, be there for her, and to see that they are the same person. And when the shit hits the fan, Faith is absolutely devastated. Heartbroken to the point of aiding in the apocalypse, trying to kill the Scoobies, Angel, Joyce, doing the body swap, etc. Anything to hurt Buffy back. And Buffy is heartbroken because of Faith’s turn into evil. She begs Faith to let her in and help. She fights for Faith in the hopes of bringing her back to sanity, but once she realize Faith is helping the Mayor, she shuts her feelings off because it’s easier. And when she has to put a knife in Faith? When she kisses Faith’s forehead in the hospital (mirroring Faith’s first kiss to her)? When she dreams about Faith? When Faith wakes up months later and Buffy’s first thought is that she’s hiding somewhere, feeling sorry and wanting her help? Anyway...

All of these different aspects/lenses carry a unique weight in viewing Buffy and Faith’s connection to each other. But I think that by putting a significant amount of weight on the romantic lens via canon confirmation, the other lenses lose the ability to stand on their own outside of a romantic reading. Because then it becomes strictly “they went through all that they went through and did all those things to each other because they always had feelings for each other.” All moments of affection/obsession one of them has for the other are seen solely as romantic. Which, is a fine reading, but it overshadows other ways of viewing the dynamic, and becomes the most important/only way of looking at it. We then miss out on the sister dynamic, the “I want to be you” dynamic, the “you are the one who understands me the best but I actually want to be completely separate from you,” the estranged family members dynamic in S7. Ultimately, I think we rarely see two characters on the same side obsessed with each other in a non-romantic way. It’s so fascinating and occupies this unidentifiable space in human relationships. It becomes less easily explainable and understood.

And it does a justice to both Buffy and Faith’s characters if we see their actions as existing outside of their relationship. I love seeing Faith’s development as she becomes her own person separate from Buffy. She breaks out of prison to save her best friend and prove she can be a Slayer again. She chooses redemption for herself. She makes amends with who she can. She rejects the First when it comes to her in the form of the Mayor. She experiences what it is to be responsible for the lives of other. And after their last confrontation in ‘Sanctuary,’ Buffy gets to move on from Faith and heal/focus on other things in her life. And she goes through a-fucking-lot from S4 to S7. Before I want Buffy and Faith to get together, I want them to HEAL and to GROW. I want them to be the best versions of themselves and not so codependent (as much as it makes for good drama).

So that’s what I appreciate about Fuffy — the romantic reading isn’t the Official reading, it’s just one of several fascinating angles. It’s like the cherry on top. Some of the best dynamics in the Buffyverse are the ones that are friendships, or more familial (siblings, parent-child), or complexly antagonistic. Somehow Buffy and Faith are capable of doing nearly all of it at the same time without actually ascribing any one label to themselves. Amazing.

GAH LONG POST..

xingqiu and chongyun have insanely good potential for angst my god. xingqiu in particular is so fun to think about in the context of chongyun. what do YOU know about chivalry boy

thinking about how he and hu tao kinda operate on similar notions of justice and all that shmick except hu tao is more strictly averse to disrupting the Natural Order (incredibly vague and generalized concept rn sorry) whilst xingqiu sets his principles more arbitrarily. chongyun's presence somehow foils a lot of his notable character traits. gestures hands vaguely in the air but sth sth hu tao would not approve of xq's moral infractions

perhaps im just reading too deep into this but shrugs ill admit something's changed in Me the last 2 years and coming back to xq and cy has me like. scratches head now hold on im not entirely sure if i even like the way xq treats cy. its kinda one of the main points of their dynamic- the whole.. pranking this oblivious guy who i really adore etc. but its deeper implications leave me a little unsatisfied and a little troubled (?).. in the long run i personally dont really see anything substantially appealing about their (leaning towards romantic in this context) relationship other than like ?? the tropes that mhy imposed upon them. they were created as a compatible Duo ykwim. they reference each other a lot in their lore and even in-game but.. idk maybe i just view them separately instead of a joint unit that anaylzing them individually revealed a lot of crevices and cracks in their ship that's built upon their mainstream appeal

but anyway i've thought a lot about them as a duo and is it nuts to say i like them as a romantic ship but if they were unrequited. i can see them working out but it necessitates a complete subversion and reconstruction of xingqiu (chara development basically LOL) on my part that i would totally invest myself in but im not entirely sure how to execute it

i like xingqiu a LOT as a flawed character. i wouldnt go as far as to say hes toxic, just very conflicted and insecure. hes a fun character to think about. re: the hu tao bit i mentioned above, i think they would have a really fun, witty, and transformative friendship

but anyway. yes i like xq and i still like xy. theyre just a bit more complicated now aha. im still capable of enjoying fluffy ship dynamics but lately ive been in a Character Study Mood ... mmm.. ive yet to organize my chongming thoughts

I don't know what brought it to mind, but I got to thinking about Han's hilarious expression when Leia tells him that she loves Luke because he's her brother, and we all know exactly why he's so "lol what" until he decides to roll with it.

I do really enjoy that he's allowed to have this response that doesn't minimize how absolutely batshit this reveal would be for anyone actually involved in the situation, despite it working conveniently to wrap things up in the narrative.

I also enjoy that after he processes the shock of Luke and Leia being siblings and Leia knowing about this (with zero explanation of how long she's known about it at that point), he's like ... eh, whatever, this is awesome actually.

Being overly invested in the lives of mildly obscure Arthurian characters is like “If you ship Caradoc with anyone other than Guinier or Dinadan with anyone at all then so help me I will go rampaging through the countryside like Lancelot, Tristan, Merlin, Roland (no, not Roland, Roland is a Paladin, to heck with Roland), Dagonet, Yvain…”

AroAce Hunter and/or Willow theorists when they see Hunter in the previews seemingly dressed as a Borg version of Data from TNG, who was (albeit roughly handled) aspec coded:

AroAce Hunter and/or Willow theorists when they realize Hunter’s cosplay character is named after Chief Engineer Miles O’ Brien from TNG/DS9, who canonically marries a botanist:

i’m not even a zosan truther to be tbh i just tagged that comic with it for the shits and giggles

you may have answered this before, but do you have any thoughts about fixing some of the ships with age disparities? i know some of the age disparities are bigger than others, so for cats in particular it probably wouldn’t come across as anything strange if both cats fall in together after they’re above a certain age, but nonetheless… it’s still odd to see ships that are completely saccharine, like bracken/sorrel, and remember that tpb specifically featured scenes where one was a warrior & one was a kit, even if he was a very Young warrior at the time…

I don't mind answering questions multiple times! At worst I'll just answer privately with a "I answered this here (link)"

For age disparities, my hard cutoff for romantic ships is 4 years. When it's above that, if I can't fix it, it's an honor siring. I used this for Leopardfoot and Pinestar (and actually im reconsidering leopardfoot as an adderswift kit. I Hate You Adderfang. I Hate You Swiftbreeze.)

For Bracken/Sorrel, I rule that that one is fine because Bracken shows no interest in her when she was inappropriately young, and was NOT her mentor (eliminated mentor/apprentice pairings completely as well).

For Blossomfall/Thornclaw, that one was utterly eliminated and Blossomfall's litter is sireless (she actually had a stint with a rogue).

For Dust/Fern, I'm still actually trying to fix that one since the political drama of TPB is pretty tight (it is actually a plot point that Ash and Fern are apprenticed when they are, to whom they are apprenticed to), and I'm fixing that by preventing warriors from taking apprentices before they're two years old, besides Fireheart and Graystripe... and Graystripe's utter failure to train Brackenfur is why the code is amended.

For Tiger/Dove, Tigerheart is shuffled out of the older litter and into a second one for Tawnypelt, so he's around the same age as Dovewing (and they are actually apprentices on the beaver quest together! Tigerpaw's mentor is Marshwing, son of Tallpoppy, one of my kit saves)

Astrid et Raphaëlle update, there's this one guy who's a colleague called Nico, the one they're trying to push in a relationship with Raphaëlle, and this other guy who works with them, Arthur, who's like a tertiary character. in tonight's episode there's a very short moment where Arthur gets knocked out on the job and when they're leaving Nico like, gives him a hand up and pat's his shoulder and 👀 listen if we're on a shipping spree why not them. Nico's girlfriend isn't even a real character she's just there to make Raph jealous for the inevitable conclusion of when they get together! Why not these two! Let's make all the cops gay!! Why shouldn't they be?

thoughts on dion and gisu as friends/interacting in general?

Okay, let me give you my biased answer first. I don't particularly like them together, only because I think Gisu is super cool while thinking Dion is a bit of a dick who needs to apologize to Raz before I feel like he is redeemed. I'm just really biased about this, but I have seen some cool comics/art with them being fun!

Now that's that is out of the way, I can see them being good friends. I do like that Gisu is teaching Dion more about psychics and expanding his views on them. Maybe she can help him patch up his relationship with Raz at some point.

But honestly, these two seem like they could do some super tricks. Gisu is already really agile on her skateboard and Dion grew up in a circus. The two could pull off some AMAZING stunts!

Like imaging Dion on a trapeze and catches Gisu who jumped off one of Morris' launch pads with her skateboard and the two let go and do some really awesome flips and air stunts before landing on a rail and grinding it for a bit! They honestly feel like a really fun duo that would push limits on stunts and then yell affectionately at each other when something fails but no one got hurt, blaming each other while laughing and then figuring out what went wrong.

My main gripe is Dion never apologizing to Raz, but having Gisu help him through his issues with Psychonauts, maybe even introducing him to Morris and the three have fun hanging out, then I hope that the three help each other and properly apologize to Raz. (Like I am pretty sure not everyone explicitly apologized to Raz, but their actions showed they were sorry and wanted to help, but a verbal apology and taking accountability for their actions is something I want for all of them. Raz was able to be held accountable for messing with Hollis' mind, the others should be for messing with Raz so much).

Okay small rant over. Gisu and Dion can be really cool friends! I'd like to see them do some sick stunts that would make the Aquatos proud of psychics and make the psychonauts more appreciative to non-psychic people. They are a good bridge to show the coexistence and trust needed for a psychic and non-psychic to have a relationship/friendship.

LOL! So is it the fact that I prefer to throw the douchebag murderbot in with the Obi-Wan/Padme hotness? (It really is stupid how pretty they are. I mean look at them. And they're so competent and intelligent! Now relax as I add an out-of-control rage machine with no impulse control and a tendency for dictatorships.)

Or is it me dangling Obi-Wan and Leia at you? SHE ASKED IF HE WAS HER FATHER. AND HE WAS ALL REGRETFUL WHEN HE HAD TO TELL HER NO.

Currently reading the Assassin and the Underworld so slowly because I love Sam Cortland so much & I know how this book ends😭

… I just want to enjoy them falling in love (just a little longer) before I can inevitably never re-read it the same or unread his death (which is going to rip me to pieces)😅🖤💀

To the people that see me interact with ships, I genuinely do not ship anything and see it as free real estate

Tartaglia is utterly loyal to his Tsaritsa, but he is also close to Lumine/Aether. Do these intersect at all? Would Tartaglia ever betray Yana for Aether/Lumine, or would he follow any orders to take out the one twin if the Tsaritsa wants him to?

He likes the Traveler. He even trusts them, and that is no small privilege, especially from a Harbinger. If the Traveler tries to cultivate a friendship with him, then they know each other well enough that they both know where they stand. He likes to think the Traveler knows they can trust him with Important Things and he'll honor that trust.

However, the two of them have separate goals and personal codes that sometimes cause them to clash, sometimes bring them together. Heck, the Liyue Archon quest ends not long after the two of them fight, and while they part with relative amicability from Tartaglia's side, he holds zero regret over using them and turning on them when they got in his way. He did it once and if need be, he'll do it again.

If he does, it's nothing personal, just business, and 'business' or serious conflict of interests are really the only reasons he'd have to turn on them.

If the Tsaritsa asked? Yes. He'd kill them.

My dream canon scenario for him is to be the Dragon to her Big Bad, the last Harbinger standing between Her and the Traveler, and he will not budge. He is a friend, but he also stands in opposition, both of them woven of unbreakable willpower.

"It was always going to come down to this, you and I. Don't disappoint me."

There is infinitesimally little to no chance that Tartaglia would betray the Tsaritsa unless there is an equally unforgivable betrayal from her first — so that means no chance for Tsaritsa Yana specifically. She'd have to do something like take out his family, which she never would because she knows it's the one thing Guaranteed to lose him to Her forever.

He is loyal to the Tsaritsa not because she is Snezhnaya's Archon, or even a goddess, but because when he met her and looked upon her that first time, and all the times after, he saw someone that he felt he related with on a personal level, a leader whose goals aligned with his own, and a person he could respect, all coalesced into one being.

He pledged himself as her weapon; she has used him as such and in ways he agrees with, even revels in, and she values him for both who he is and what he can do, treasuring and loving him in ways that are honest, accepting, true.

Is this a coping mechanism for his trauma? There are absolutely shades of that in their relationship, but that is not a bad thing. In both his personal goals along with his devotion to Her he finds purpose in life, a drive to not only continue but excel, overcome, conquer.

It would take more than the Traveler to drive a wedge between Tartaglia and his Tsaritsa.

​bro I was so deep in wordgirl fandom on deviantart in like 2010 I did not even know there was a pretty sizeable tumblr now fandom omg

every time i see someone say “proshipper dni” they always mean. like. very specific ships from very specific fandoms theyre in. like they dislike certain ships that you can argue are morally objectionable from a certain perspective so they put it under the umbrella term of “proshipper” like im supposed to know wtf theyre talking about.

likewise every time i see someone say “antishipper dni” it’s always because they like very specific ships from very specific fandoms they’re in. and other ppl in the fandom don’t like the ships that they do so instead of saying what specific ships they don’t want to argue about they just say “no antishippers” like im supposed to know wtf that means.

like babygirl vaguing ppl like that is only if you dont want them to know youre talking about them. just say you like/dislike certain ships/types of ships and ppl who disagree with you can take the hint or get blocked it’s okay.

hunter and willow is one of the most forced ships ive seen ngl they had No chemistry when ppl decided to start shipping them and continue to have very little chemistry