[ SECRET POST #3271 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3271 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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02.
[Mysterious Universe Podcast]


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08.
[Elias Ericson]


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10.
[Danny Phantom]


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11. [SPOILERS for Jessica Jones]



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12. [SPOILERS for Homestuck]




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13. [SPOILERS for transformers: more than meets the eye #47]



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14. [WARNING for rape]


















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #467.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

07. http://i.imgur.com/8OX9mXS.png

Transcript by OP

[fscom]

Collapsed for length.

[fscom]

[Images] First Image: Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi laughing from Haikyuu!!, Second Image: Bokuto Kotarou and Tetsuro Kuroo poking fun at Tsukishima Kei from Haikyuu!!, Third Image: Saitama and Genos posing from One Punch Man

[Text] I really hate when it's pretty clear a ship is popular for extra shallow reasons. This is really hard to explain, and I'm talking about general fandom, but I'll give an example.

Tsukishima/Yamaguchi vs. Kuroo/Tsukishima from the anime Haikyuu!! It couldn't be more obvious that people ship Kuroo/Tsukishima because they don't find Yamaguchi "cute/hot" enough for Tsukishima. The canon interactions are massively stacked in favour of Tsukishima/Yamaguchi (Kuroo and Tsukishima interact like...once, briefly, while Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are pretty much attached at the hip). This is actually just one example (even though it's one that bothers me!), but I think it illustrates my point. It just gets on my nerves, people may as well have neon signs proclaiming their shallowness. I feel like cute-but-plain characters like Yamaguchi get this sort of treatment a lot. (I see this trend in One Punch fandom too, where Saitama seems like he's just "tolerated" by some fans because it's obvious Genos is completely in love with devoted to Saitama.)

S!B: "People like what they like", "Get over it anon", "People are allowed to ship for whatever reason"....and yeah, I get all that, but I still want to get this off my chest because it still irritates me and I find it kind of gross.

Bonus!Secret: I always inevitably find the cute-but-plain characters in series adorable and relatable too, and it's even more frustrating knowing how they would be a "total fandom fave" (in some cases I've seen people outright admit that this is a reason) if they were more conventionally attractive.

[(Anonymous)]

I can't speak for the anime world, since I'm not well-versed in it and I don't know how similar or different it is from other types of series out there.

But considering a lot of series are full of nothing BUT conventionally attractive people to begin with, that kind of doesn't leave a lot of options or variety open for fans in terms of shipping. Even the plain characters in a lot of series are "Hollywood plain", or if they start off looking plain, they wind up sexy eventually. The series often wind up beating the fans to the punch in terms of shallowness!

All of that being said, however, I do agree with you that it is a shame that plain characters don't get as much love or attention.

Re: Transcript by OP

[(Anonymous)]

If that theory is true, why are the Matsu brothers a monster six way juggernaut? They look like human Garfields.

Re: Transcript by OP

[(Anonymous)]

1. They're still by far the most attractive characters compared to everyone else in the show.

2. For many, I suspect incest kink outweighs all other factors.

3. Most artists ignore the canon style and draw them as bishies anyway.

Re: Transcript by OP

[(Anonymous)]

Oh come on, are we really going to deny the unwritten rule that characters that are in any way "plain" looking get ignored by a large percentage of fandom, and that they'll find a way to ship a hot character with a hot, one-episode side character before they'll acknowledge the fact that the hot character has a cute-but-plain sidekick/partner/whatever that has heaps of evidence?

Of course some series with "unattractive art" gets shipped, but the vast majority of fandoms ignore the plain characters, especially if there are other, hotter characters around. One of my very first fandoms when I was a twee little babe in fandom, Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, taught me that if you have 5 extra pounds on you in canon you're doomed to be "the fat one" (something passed down through the ages, how many people in fandom call Bolin the "fat one" despite him literally just being thick and muscled compared to his taller, thinner brother?), or that if your eyes are drawn a little more sparsely without the typical "anime sparkle" despite looking no different from anyone else in the show you're going to be the "plain one", etc.

This is pretty self-evident and happens in way too many fandoms for it to be a "theory".

[(Anonymous)]

Note: Wow this became long. Sorry, I started typing and boom.

I kind of agree secret!OP. To be honest Haikyuu!! fandom really freaks me out with Kuroo/Tsukishima, especially how they perceive the relationship from a fanon perspective. Like whenever I see him paired with Kenma fans have him acting like a normal high school boy, he acts closer to his canon personality, he's light-hearted and fun etc, but whenever he's paired off with Tsukishima fans do this odd fucking...thing I can't even explain it, but like Kuroo becomes this stalker-lite, loping seme lothario on the prowl (and we're not talking a/b/o fic here lol), like they age Kuroo up and oversexualize him to the max or something, and it's something I haven't seen with literally any other Haikyuu!! character, it's so odd and
unless you take notice of it it's kind of hard to describe. It's like...here, fanart pictures describe it better.

http://p2.i.ntere.st/15bb93158f613b45cd96c09eedd284c4_480.jpg
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi? Cute high school boys.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BvmGbNNIcAAeiIc.jpg
Kuroo and Kenma? Cute high school boys.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xpf1/t51.2885-

15/e15/10611155_424339984407697_1190428836_n.jpg
Kuroo and Tsukishima? ....Something else entirely.

It's just this strange trend I've noticed. But yeah, considering the fact that Kuroo and Tsukishima barely interact and it's once in the entire series so far, I think it's pretty damn obvious why people are shipping them. It's because they're weirdly oversexualizing Kuroo, and
weirdly oversexualizing Tsukki with a huge heaping of major ukification (seriously I've seen people do bottom!Tsukki without turning him into a major uke stereotype, it can be done people so why do you keep doing this?), and poor Yamaguchi is considered "too plain" to ship, even
though that relationship makes the most sense shipping wise, canon wise, etc. Also, isn't Kuroo pretty canonly like obsessed with Kenma? Like all I remember is thinking Kuroo acted like a puppy dog with how AMAZING Kenma was and THIS and THAT about Kenma.

Eh, I mean I'm sure I'll be alone here on this but I get ya OP, and I agree completely with the overall tone of your secret too, even though I went off on a Haikyuu!!-specific tangent. I'm not completely done with One Punch Man yet and I've stayed out of the fandom so I can't really comment on that part yet.

[fishnchips]

Agreed. There is a lot of massive oversexualisation in the Haikyuu!! fandom in general but especially when it comes to Kuroo. People have this weird idea that he's this kind of super experienced, kinky, suave sex god type when in canon, he's just a high school kid (who also is a huge dork).

I think the reason Kuroo/Tsukki is so extremely popular is because all fandom is and was a sucker for the "I'm annoyed by you so I totally want to fuck your brains out" dynamic. Super close attached-at-the-hip childhood friends (with matching bags and all) just can't win against that, I guess - too boring or something.

Yamaguchi gets the "he is completely traumatised, depressed, suicidal and self-harms" treatment all the fucking time. It's ... ugh. He also gets shipped with Yachi a lot lately, which in itself... ship and let ship, right, but people act like it's canon (and I suspect a lot of them do it so they have a way cleared for their Kuroo/Tsukki shipping).

But eh, I have given up reading fic and actively following the fandom when it comes to Haiykuu!! anyway, so whatever.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. There is a lot of massive oversexualisation in the Haikyuu!! fandom in general but especially when it comes to Kuroo. People have this weird idea that he's this kind of super experienced, kinky, suave sex god type when in canon, he's just a high school kid (who also is a huge dork).

THANK YOU. Jesus fuck I thought I was the only person who saw this and was extremely bothered by it. It happens a little bit in the Kuroo/Kenma fandom too but not nearly as much as outside of it. Whether he's being shipped with Daichi, Tsukki, whatever, it's like people act like Kuroo is about 5 years older than he is, and has fucked half the populace. I see shit on tumblr like "I bet Kuroo is a champion ass eater" like...jesus christ the poor guy is probably still figuring out how to jerk off! He's such a dorky guy though, why do people feel the need to do this!? That is part of his charm. I fell in love with him when he was goofily fanboying about Kenma.

I think the reason Kuroo/Tsukki is so extremely popular is because all fandom is and was a sucker for the "I'm annoyed by you so I totally want to fuck your brains out" dynamic. Super close attached-at-the-hip childhood friends (with matching bags and all) just can't win against that, I guess - too boring or something.

I mean...I guess I could give this pairing a shred of validity if this was something that went on constantly, but they barely interact outside of one time. There is no hints that the two even speak to one another. Tsukishima just brushed Kuroo off coldly, and that was that. It's not even the sort of "I'm annoyed by you so I wanna fuck you" dynamic that say, Hinata and Kageyama have where they're constantly together, bickering and learning and growing together.

What bugs me too is that the whole "too boring" thing doesn't even fly with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They're best friends, yes, but they have a dynamic that is obviously very different than your usual "best friend" dynamic. Tsukishima being an unapologetic bully, Yamaguchi following suit (and it being pretty obvious he does it mainly for points with Tsukishima, he wants to impress him), like there is definitely plenty of problems. Hell, it even comes to a boil at one point in the manga! They're not...say, Makoto/Haru levels of "two people one body" synergy or anything, and going from friends to lovers between those two is something I imagine filled with awkward goodness that could span novel-length fics. :P

Yamaguchi gets the "he is completely traumatised, depressed, suicidal and self-harms" treatment all the fucking time. It's ... ugh. He also gets shipped with Yachi a lot lately, which in itself... ship and let ship, right, but people act like it's canon (and I suspect a lot of them do it so they have a way cleared for their Kuroo/Tsukki shipping).

Oh god don't get me started on the weird shit they do to Yamaguchi. I think it's obvious in canon he has self-esteem issues, he hates his freckles, etc, but he's still well within normal teenage boy levels of angst. People start getting into emo level "CRAWLING IN MY SKIN" bullshit in fanworks with Yamaguchi. It's like they misinterpreted Yamaguchi's supposed-to-be-relatable struggles entirely. And then what is worse, I see people act like Tsukishima and Yamaguchi would be "unhealthy" (lmfao concern trolling much?) because of this completely made-up psychosis they give Yamaguchi.

Aaand yeah the whole Yamaguchi/Yachi thing, I'll be the first to admit the people pushing that shit the hardest are Kuroo/Tsukki shippers. (What kind of gets me is like...even if he were dating her...Tsukishima barely acknowledges that Kuroo is alive and Kuroo is pretty obviously glued to Kenma's hip anyway, so it's like...congratulations for nothing? :/) Actually it kind of irritates me because I could probably get into Yamaguchi/Yachi sometime (although I'll admit I'm more into the femmeslash with Yachi, she's just super cute over Kiyoko), but when literally 99% of the people shipping it are hardcore Kuroo/Tsukki shippers I'm just turned off entirely.

I'll admit I'm just freely bitching right now, but secret!OP unleashed the floodgates over something that has really been irritating me about Haikyuu!! fandom.

[(Anonymous)]

Kuroo and Oikawa suffer the most when it comes to being portrayed as sex crazed casanova's in fandom. Yeah, they are both charismatic but they are equally dorky and definitely not as smooth or horny as fandom portrays them to be.

I feel like most haikyuu ships capture the cute, awkward, and funny personalities of the characters very well... but Oikawa and Kuroo ships are always way more sexualized for no good reason.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh yeah, another thing is I hate how uke-fied (can't think of a better term) Tsukki is when he is paired with Kuroo/Bokuto/Akaashi.

Tsukki is the most sarcastic and deadpan character in the entire series. I can't see him shy, shivering, and crying because of anyone. If anything he'd just walk away or make some snide remark of Kuroo or anyone tried to be smooth with him. Like how he actually behaves in canon.

[(Anonymous)]

This is moving a little away from your main point, but I really wanna say fandom's huge boner for Kuroo was something I didn't see coming at all. Usually I can see why fandoms find whichever characters attractive even if they're not my type, but Kuroo never looks anything but goofy to me and IDGI. So yeah, that and me forgetting they even interacted led to much confusion about where the Kuroo/Tsukishima ship came from for a while.

[(Anonymous)]

It kind of surprised me too. I mean, I think he's cute, but I think all the characters are cute. The huge fangasm over him in particular surprised me, and I think it's because a bunch of people misinterpret his character. He's a dork, not a sex-god.

[(Anonymous)]

Not familiar with the other fandom, but I can totally get on board with what you're saying wrt One Punch Man. Sometimes I think I might be the only Saitama/Genos shipper who likes both of them equally.

Sure, Genos is the prettier one, I'm not gonna begrudge anyone their eye-candy, but it does sadden me to see my fave characters being reduced to their appearances. _{And honestly, the fact that so many fanartists like to draw Saitama still having hair makes me think that maybe it's because of some weird aversion to bald dudes.}

[(Anonymous)]

Sometimes I think I might be the only Saitama/Genos shipper who likes both of them equally.

Count me in there too. In fact, I think I enjoy Saitama a little more. He's such a fun character, and while Genos is super cute with his puppy-dog devotion to Saitama, and I actually have a huge cyborg/android/robot fetish going on, he's a character archetype I've seen plenty of times before.

And honestly, the fact that so many fanartists like to draw Saitama still having hair makes me think that maybe it's because of some weird aversion to bald dudes.

Can I crawl into your lap and stay there? Seriously this disappointed me so goddamn much, and it's a huge bad habit that both the Japanese and the Western fandom have pretty equally. I was on Toranoana because I had $100 to blow and instead of hookers and blow I decided to spend it on doujinshi, and the One Punch Man section had so many goddamn doujinshi where he magically gets his hair back. I felt an immediate aversion, like it crawled up my spine in an overwhelming surge of "what is this shit?"

To be honest? It's kind of disrespectful to the nature of the pairing in my opinion. Genos adores Saitama for how he is, not what Saitama was before.

[(Anonymous)]

I find Saitama more physically attractive then Genos (when he is drawn seriously), but I wouldn't ship them if Genos wasn't so devoted. I would just be into Saitama/Licenseless Rider.

As for people who aren't into Saitama for looks, it happens. Some of my ships involve people I don't find particularly physically attractive, but enjoy for their emotionally chemistry.

[(Anonymous)]

GODS YES. To both Saitama being attractive when actually drawn seriously, and the fact that if Genos weren't so devoted my other OTP would be a thing.

And hell yes to emotional chemistry. I remember when shipping was about that. _{Ah yes, when I was a wee shipper in the TFArmada fandom.}

[(Anonymous)]

Am I missing something with the whole Saitama/Mumen Rider thing? I haven't gotten into the comics yet so I might be missing something but so far I think the shipping stack is pretty in favour of Saitama/Genos. It's obvious Saitama has grown to feel affection for Genos, and it's pretty damn obvious how Genos feels, but for Mumen Rider all I see is the 'Thank You' note moment and them eating together, that's pretty much it. I'm not disparaging anybody into that ship, I just don't understand it and so I wonder if I'm missing something, which is entirely possible considering I haven't delved into the comics. It's kind of the same with Speed O' Sound Sonic, like I don't really see why people are shipping him with either Saitama or Genos. I think both Mumen Rider and Speed O' Sound Sonic are extremely fascinating characters (Sonic makes me laugh, it's been awhile since I enjoyed a character being a little unhinged so damn much), but I don't really ship them with anybody atm, I just appreciate them as-is.

As for being into characters without feeling physical attraction, I feel you there, I have some of those myself (although most characters kind of grow on me a little, and to be honest I'm one of those people who could probably fall in love with a completely alien species, chemistry for me is more about how well I get along with someone, and the more I get along with them, the more sexually appealing I find them), but that's actually kind of the opposite of what we're talking about in this secret. It's all about being super shallow with your ships, not the other way around! XD

[(Anonymous)]

Might be a little off topic, but on the note of haikyuu ships....

I love all HQ ships but the way KuroTsuki, KuroKen, and IwaOi are so overly sexualized really bothers me. I know all ships in every fandom have some kinky stuff, but those three in particular are so sexualized it's ridiculous.

Especially IwaOi. It's the fandoms juggernaut ship and every time I go into haikyuu tag I can always count on finding several new NSFW or lewd fanart/fic of them. I could make it into a drinking game and come out wasted after browsing one week worth of the haikyuu tag. Yes, the 'haikyuu' tag, not even the actual ship tag.

If someone has a doujinshi of KuroTsuki, KuroKen, or IwaOi that isn't centered around having wild kinky sex.... please show me. I'm beginning to think it doesn't exist.

I don't even have a problem with nsfw in general, but how do these relationships become so sex-centric? People mistake Oikawa and Kuroo's charisma for them being nymphomaniac sex gods.

[(Anonymous)]

As someone who is into KuroKen...I don't really feel they're that oversexualized much at all? I agree completely in the case of IwaOi, I'm not touching KuroTsukki because that ship is honestly one of my bigger NOTPs in years, I just find it so fucking grating, in no small part due to how oversexualized people have made it from one extremely brief meeting that had absolutely no tension whatsoever. It's one thing when you're oversexualizing two people who are at least close enough that they could have plausibly been having romantic/sexual relationships with one another for awhile, but these guys met once, and yet somehow they're the most oversexualized ship in the entire fandom. Probably because there is literally nothing else to base it on. I hate being bitchy about it, but it's kind of true when you think about it. There is no "relationship" between them to build off of.

But yeah, for KuroKen, honestly Kenma is the only pairing with Kuroo where I see Kuroo acting like the goofy high school kid he's portrayed as in the series, which is pretty amazing to me since Kenma is literally the most "classic uke" looking in the entire series especially when juxtaposed against Kuroo, who is much bigger and bulkier than he is. Maybe Asahi and Noya take the second prize, but Asahi is very much an atypical seme (and truth be told, I think Asahi and Nishinoya would switch in the bedroom, seme/uke dynamics are pretty ridiculous, especially when you're dealing with teenage boys eager to try out all that sex has to offer).

Mostly I see Kuroo and Kenma portrayed as amicable boyfriends who sort of slipped into a romantic relationship after being childhood friends for so long.

Now, IwaOi? Holy shit is that oversexualized. I don't mind sex in my Haikyuu!! fandom experience, but is it really so hard to portray them like the young most-certainly-virgin teenage boys that they are? Oikawa is not your fandom slut. Kuroo is not your fandom lothario. They're teenage boys and would be dealing with all the sorts of awkward first time romantic and sexual feelings that go along with finding someone you love in high school. They would also likely be dealing with sexual orientation crises, trying to play off their crushes as simple admiration/friendship, etc.

[(Anonymous)]

NA

Haikyuu!! Fandom in general is kinda shitty.

As for shipping those two.... I apologize but I just do not get it. Like you mention you enjoy their little interactions, but didn't they literally have like just one brief scene together in the manga, and it gets shortened even more in the anime? It just seems like such a shallow ship to me simply because there is literally zero to work with, especially when you compare it to the interaction with almost everyone else. Their entire "relationship" is like one quick moment of Kuroo (and Akaashi) making fun of Tsukishima, and Tsukishima brushing them off in irritation. To me that just doesn't scream ~romance~ and shit, sorry. Like literally everything you're quoting is all fanon imagination, working on their relationship and hooking up and shit. As far as canon is concerned they haven't spoken to one another since. I would believe Tsukki/Tanaka before Kuroo/Tsukki to be quite honest. At least Tanaka and Tsukki see each other every day and interact.

Like another anon mentioned, there's really nothing to base them off of. It just makes zero sense to me, especially as someone who has to have some actual meat to work with to enjoy a pairing. That's lacking in this instance.

I don't know, this secret spoke to me because I've just found Haikyuu!! fandom to be really uncomfortable and OOC and kinda shitty, massively oversexualized for certain pairings (an anon above illustrates the point really well with some fanart), and I just noticed the weird obsession fans have with KurooTsukki, like when I first joined I thought KurooTsukki were gonna have subtext out the asshole because of how OBSESSED everyone was with them. Instead I found that Tsukki and Yamaguchi are like stuck at the hip (oh yeah, that bothers me too KurooTsukki shippers kind of just will Yamaguchi out of existence, like they couldn't make it any more obvious if they tried, either that or they'll push Yamaguchi/Yachi in order to just kind of lazily get Yamaguchi out of the way in the most hamfisted manner possible) and it took me asking several other fans wtf was even up with KurooTsukki because I literally saw nothing.

So, yeah. Sorry I sound super grumpy, it's late and I'm overtired but Haikyuu!! fandom is just kind of gross for me right now, and this secret hit on why. Like as much as you say it has nothing to do with hotness or shallowness, I have a sinking feeling that you and many other fans wouldn't ship it if say, Kuroo looked like Yamaguchi and Yamaguchi looked like Kuroo. Suddenly magically the fandom would be all about ~the power of friendship~ and shit, and people would scoff at the "Yamaguchi" (aka Kuroo's personality with Yamaguchi's looks)/Tsukki shippers because they interacted for like two seconds once. I think so many people like to read so much into Kuroo/Tsukki precisely because they think Kuroo is hot, and Tsukki is hot, and they want to see Kuroo top Tsukki.

I dunno, like secret!OP said, "ship what you want", I'm just personally burned out on all this, Yamaguchi is probably my absolute favourite character, and I hate seeing how shitty fandom treats him because he's not uber hot.

[(Anonymous)]

Or, and I know this is a totally wild idea!, TsukkiYama isn't a dynamic that draws in a lot of shippers while KuroTsukki is. Like, I'm always in for the potential snark when two snarky people get together and get to know each other, and also the mentor-mentee thing, but not for the besties since childhood.

[(Anonymous)]

Lmfao snarky!Kuroo is like 99% fanon invention though. He's a total dork, he's obsessed with Kenma and that is like 60% of his canon personality, and Kuroo and Tsukki barely interact.

Try harder.