Hot Take, But Kenhina Is My Favorite Haikyuu Ship Because Their Dynamic Is Simultaneously "I'll Give

I’m still working my way through Wrath, but I think one thing that continues to irritate me about the way Rick writes Percabeth is that it’s always being re-iterated to us that Percy feels insecure/inadequate regarding his role in this relationship, but we don’t usually see Annabeth worry this much about whether she’s ‘good enough’ for Percy.

On the one hand, you could probably say that it’s her pride that prevents her from worrying…….but I also don’t buy that because Annabeth has been demonstrated to ruminate over her relationships with others and whether they’re going to last. But we’ve never seen her worry about whether she is doing enough to ‘serve’ the relationship; it’s always about what the other person is doing.

I think why this annoys me in particular is because it feels like more missed opportunities for Annabeth to finally tackle her fatal flaw (hubris/pride), learn what it means to actually do some meaningful introspection/self-reflection (a very important part of being a truly wise individual), and make more meaningful demonstrations of humility. I’m not saying she needs to hate herself or anything, but if I can be honest, self-hatred is NOT the definition of humility and it’s disingenuous to treat it as such (for all you people who are inevitably going to complain about “omg11!1!!1 Suggesting that a female character should show humility!!?!?? How sexist!!!1!!1!).

Humility and introspection are important parts of being wise because despite your unwillingness to admit this, sometimes your problems are not always caused by others and/or external factors. Sometimes, your problems are in fact your own fault, or at the very least, some of your behaviors are exacerbating the problem. Sometimes, you’re not doing the best that you could be doing in a relationship, or there are some behaviors that learning/unlearning would benefit the relationship a lot. And it demonstrates a lot of courage and maturity to be able to admit that about yourself.

I bring this up in relation to Percabeth, because I’m a little tired of reading about how Percy always worries about his inadequacies in the relationship, but we never see Annabeth question herself about whether she’s being the best girlfriend she could possibly be. We don’t see any examples of Percy making a new friend who seemingly acts like/questions whether Annabeth is a good match for him. It makes the dynamics of the relationship feel unbalanced, like the responsibility is solely on Percy to service the relationship; Percy does most of the giving, and Annabeth does most of the taking.

When was the last time Annabeth sacrificed something that she wanted to do/say to make Percy happy, the way he often does for her sake? When was the last time that Percy’s traumas and emotional struggles were given front and center spotlight in a conversation of theirs? When was the last time that Annabeth realized that there was something she was doing wrong that was maybe hurtful to Percy, and maybe she should change that behavior? Why is the onus always on Percy to pull it together for the relationship, when his girlfriend has ways in which she could grow too? Why does it often feel like Percy is expected to do most of the emotional legwork?

Why do you even ship them?

In the past couple of months I’ve seen a lot of people genuinely confused about one or the other ship existing, so I wanted to explain some common reasons characters might get shipped.

But before we get into it: The point is usually just good, plain old fun! The entertainment of them being together !

And for entertainment and fun, it doesn’t matter whether they’ve even been in the same room or not! Hell, it doesn’t even matter if they’ve been in the same universe or not! Basically: It’s all not that serious and the ppl harassing creators/actors/fans about said ships are usually the minority and frowned upon!

First of all, there are different ways in which people enjoy that ship:

In canon, aka it either is canon or they want it to be canon

Half canon, this means either post canon or if a very specific thing would have happened differently within canon

Canon divergent, aka it’s only enjoyable in theory or alternative universes and they don’t actually want it to happen within canon

In other words, there are different ways in which people support this type of relationship

It is the perfect relationship and everyone should strive to find and be this kind of love

While they have their flaws, this is a realistic way a healthy(ish) relationship can come out on the other end of all the horrors tm

This is (somewhat) toxic but in the universe/story line it makes sense and is the best possible outcome for them

This is the truly worst thing that could come out of it for the both of them but that’s why it is so interesting

Usually it boils down to these emotions:

It would be funny if they go together.

It would shift the impact of all that angst and trauma

It would be super cute. Plain old romcom vibes. Specially if the of story is not that at all and you just want something good for them.

Some basic reasons, that are more about the concept of them than actually them: :

They are fan favourites

They are both hot

Everyone else in the group is coupled up

They fit a certain stereotype/common trope

They resemble another popular ship juuuuust enough

The actors have played a couple/ship in another show

Spite! To annoy the author/other fans

Some personal reasons of the individual fan:

Reminds fan of their own crush

Fan relates to some aspects of their story

Fan relates to some aspects of the characteristics

Character looks like them/ like their crush

Based on the characters/stories design

They claim to hate/dislike/annoy each other but are somehow always found in each others business (willingly or not)

Opposites attract: They have opposing color schemes, personalities and/or views. The more differences the better.

Parallels: They have the same color schemes, personalities and/or views. The more similarities the better.

Based on their relations

You just want something good for this character and they (other character(s)) ARE that something good.

You just want something annoying for this character and they (other character(s)) ARE that something annoying.

Them being together would annoy this other character to noooo end

Even tho they don’t interact on screen (often), there is evidence that they did so off screen: they keep up a certain level of relationship (good or bad) despite everything else going on

Purely about the characters

They don’t pay attention to anything or anyone else nearly as much as they do about each other, especially ppl they should objectively care more about.

They’re the only ones who survived/left to deal with the aftermath. Even if they didn’t talk much prior to this, this is something to bond over. To keep the memory alive.

The expectations set on them are/were the same. And despite the different support systems and coping mechanisms… the other is truly the only one who could even find a glimpse of understanding of what they’re going through.

Yin and yang: a perfect mixture of parallels and opposites: They’ve gone through the same thing but deal with it widely differently. OR They come from widely different backgrounds and reasoning but end up at the same conclusion.

BECAUSE they’re so codependent they just wouldn’t make sense with anyone else, regardless of wether they themselves make sense

BECAUSE it is unhealthy and toxic and it’s interesting to explore such a relationship

BECAUSE if they’d be in literally any other genre/time they’d be fine. Nothing this bad would’ve ever happened if they’d just lived in another universe.

Why not ? It’s fiction.

These are all the reasons I can come up with at the top of my head but feel free to add!

Alas I want to encourage everyone to be open minded! Either to genuinely try to understand why a ship exists or, if you don’t want to waste your time on sth. you’re sure you don’t like, just filter and block the ship and their fans!

None of us can afford to waste our very limited free time on arguing with and harassing others about something FICTIONAL …that we don’t even like. Instead, please focus on making and/or supporting art about YOUR ship! This is not only much nicer to the fans you don’t support but also to yourself! Positive interactions will result in more positive interactions after all! Mostly.

‘that ship doesn’t even make sense they never even interacted in canon!’ have you considered that i ship characters based on their dynamics and the potential they could have had if they did interact

Triton: I have only had my infant demigod half brother Percy for a day-

Tyson: but if anyone hurts him you'd kill them?

Triton: -and he's already uspered my position as dad's favorite, endeared himself to all of sealife on the east coast to the point where they go to him for help instead of me, and-

Amphitrite, swimming by: Aww, are we talking about my second youngest child? He's such a good little fish-

Triton: -STOLE MY MOTHER!

Tyson:

Tyson: But if someone did try to hurt him-

Triton: *sighs*

Triton: Yes Tyson, if someone tried to hurt Percy I would eviscerate them to the point where regeneration is impossible.

Tim: I can’t tell dick?? I don’t want him to think I’m crazy or not trustworthy bc I’m doing something reckless??!

Jason who saw Dick make out with a mark to steal something from his pocket when Dick was 17:…

Bruce who saw Dick jump off a moving plane and hum the song “I need a hero” instead of calling for Superman:

Wally who say Dick go fuck it and infiltrate a sex trafficking ring as a stripper bc someone said he was too pretty to work for the mob:

Roy who has smacked dick out of delusions 15 times too many:

Clark who saw dick stay in a radioactive city for vibes:

Diana who has heard Donna’s concerned ramblings since she was like 12:

Damian who saw that Dick turned the bat ears into projectiles that can electrocute you:

Steph who saw the same thing:

Tim who refuses to believe Dick Grayson can do anything that isn’t brilliant, premeditated and completely the best option: I CANT HE’ll be so disappointed:(

We have soft lesbians. Distinguished lesbians. Lesbians who wield the blade. And now this AU has even more disaster lesbians.

#greatly_approved

Another fem vanoé cus i love them

"Shipping Regulily is the same as shipping Snily."

No, it's not. And here's why:

Snape and Lily started out differently than Regulus and Lily. Snape was her childhood friend. While Lily probably had muggle friends, he was the only one to understand what she was going through when she had bouts of accidental magic. He showed her she wasn't a freak like her older sister was saying. Which is why what happened between them was a betrayal. He was already her friend, and he called her the worst racial slur possible against muggleborns (in public, no less), because he was embarrassed when she stood up for him like the good friend she was. Because it wasn't just about calling Lily names. It was the fact that he thought poorly about muggleborns, and Lily was just the exception.

And instead of taking that moment as a learning experience and turning neutral, at the very least, with the hope that they could restart their friendship if he shows he's actually changed, Snape doubles down. He joins Voldemort and moves up the ranks. There's a train of thought that if Voldemort hadn't killed Lily Potter, then Snape would have remained a death eater, and I agree with it whole-heartedly.

Compare that to Regulus, who was canonically kind to his house elf, a creature most are dismissive of at best and downright abusive to at worst, despite growing up in the Black House with Walburga of all mothers. Would he have ingrained prejudices due to his upbringing? Of course. But he is willing to change, and that is the difference. He sacrificed his life to betray everything his family wanted for him in order to help stop Voldemort.

The best part? He wasn't Lily's friend originally. Their relationship could start of with cool indifference and being coldly polite with each other. It's only after spending time with Lily does Regulus start to critically think about his prejudices. And Lily, who realizes this, is more than happy to show him that there is more to muggleborns and muggles than his family thinks.

Regulily is different than Snily because when Regulily gets together, whether romantic or platonic, Regulus has already faced his internal prejudices. There isn't an undertone of, "I dislike muggleborns, but I like you."

Of course, this is simply my opinion.

don't raise your pitchforks at me but yoo joonghyuk is technically doksoo's love child if you think about it

yoohan is such an underrated dynamic.

he chops of her head when they first meet. they hate eachother. theyre in love with the same guy. kdj thinks its funny to ship them. they banter like an old married couple. she tortured him in a dungeon. he killed her multiple times. she pranks anna croft with him because she saw he was upset. hes her self insert oc. shes his creator. he begs her to kill him multiple times. she ruined his life and then cried when he died. he signs a sponsorship contract with her!!!!! they're insane!!!

I didn’t realize you were the person who did the fanfiction tag drinks.

ahah yeah that's meeee!!

If you guys are interested they are all available as stickers on my RB!!