#ship analysis

This post made me think about what I actually find attractive in my ccxoc (Raphael bg3 x Maria) ship, what inner need it expresses, and what is the healthy behaviour that I am looking for in real life.

I said that Raphael manipulated Maria into "loving" him and that at least that shows that he put some effort into it.

That's not wrong. The underlying need/desire in this case is consistency, and the healthy representation would be a partner that is not volatile or unpredictable. Someone coherent when is courting and dating you (and after that as well). Someone who doesn't make you question if they like you.

The second thing that I mentioned is Raphael obsessing over Maria to always have her by his side. What I was thinking in their case was mainly him sabotaging all the situations that could lead her away from him.

Thou very similar to consistency, in this case, the need/desire is the ability to face unpredictable events (adaptability); like: one of the two partners moving to another place for work, or even a much simpler thing like finding together a solution and replanning the time to spend together when life gets hard (ill relatives, busy week due to work or house problem, ill partner, etc). So the healthy behaviour would be: showing up to say "no matter what, we'll find a solution and stick together".

The third thing that I mentioned was "the fact that he lingers as some more powerful figure who can solve any problem".

At first glance, one may think "omg, mansplanning", but this is not what I have in mind. The need is pretty much reliability, and the healthy counterpart should be a (calm) partner whom you can rely on to fix things together, share opinions, and find the best way to solve whatever you're facing.

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But there are also things about them that I don't find to be toxic or, even though they're expressed in a kinda toxic way, are really easy to identify as some unexpressed need or personal trait.

For example, I like to imagine that what made them build up their mutual slow burn (it took them at least three to five years, in which she despised him in the beginning, as much as he only saw her as a tool) was actually mutually shared interests (arts). I like to imagine that she loves listening to him play some instruments or sing, and in return, she reads him some poems or something like that.

All of this is really easy to identify: quality time, my favourite love language.

Things that may be expressed in the wrong way are their personal love language: for Raphael would be words of affirmation (obviously, he's a man of words), which is something I need as a person who struggles to take hints; for Maria is act of service (again, very much obvious as a loyal warlock), which is my most natural love language.

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There are also themes about their relationship that are very personal to me.

I think Maria loves Raphael also because she feels free with him. I know, right? This comes really unexpected for a warlock who sold her soul, but walk with me for a moment. She was a hellrider, she sold her soul to save the city and was banished not even because of her deal, but because of her race (Tiefling). She did everything "right" and yet was on the losing side.

As a previous hellrider and citizen of the puritan Elturel, it took Raphael sometimes to deconstruct Maria's rigid mental pattern, and yet despite her becoming more "gray", she still retains some of her core values and a certain degree of independence to choose what's the best option according to her beliefs.

Raphael finds this amusing, interesting (like a case to be studied), but also very valuable. Why? Because to be loved by someone who is still internally good is sooo oh satisfying for a devil. But there is also something deeper than that. He knows that her devotion knows no bounds; he knows that would he be something different (a demon, a goblin, a night hag, a common human, a rock!), she would still love him. Because she loves him for what he is; she doesn't see "a half-devil", a cambion, or ladder climber from hells.

And in this sense, the theme for Raphael is pretty much "I love you because you make me feel seen". Thou he would never phrase it this way or probably even say it.

So the love theme for my two toxic babies would be: be free (as an imperfect person) and be seen (and accepted anyway).

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All of this long post just to say that, even if you think that what you write/fantasize about may seem cringe, poorly artistically executed, kinky or shameful or whatever, it always brings out something of you, it always speaks to you.

Sometimes it doesn't even have to be that deep. Sometimes it can also just point to a new area of interest in a superficial way.

And it doesn't matter, have fun!

For a while now, I could never connect with spamtenna in a fluffy way, no matter how many beautiful pieces of fanart and fanfic I found. There was always something missing, but I was never able to tell what it was until today, when it finally clicked for me.

I want them to have Bojack and Diane’s arc in Bojack Horseman.

These characters’ history with each other runs deep. Both mean a lot to each other, they see themselves a lot in the other, they are really close friends, probably each other’s best friend if we’re being honest, and they can have very long and meaningful conversations, like the other is the only person in the world who understands them.

But, at the same time, they are terrible for each other. They both have baggage that hasn’t been thoroughly unpacked and it clearly impacts their relationship. They have insanely high highs, but the lows are also incredibly low. They argue, they scream, they often disagree and don’t respect each other’s opinions on the thing they disagree on, and it escalates into a lot of resentment that doesnt get addressed when things do get better between them.

They mean a lot to each other, but the relationship is also toxic and hurtful. They have baggage that can’t really be worked through by keeping things the way they are now.

One quote from Diane that I really like is “I think there are people that help you become the person you end up being, and you can be grateful for them even if they were never meant to be in your life forever” and I think it sums up spamtenna’s relationship pretty well.

They mean the world to each other, share a deep and meaningful past and appreciate everything the other has done for them in the time they spent together. But while all that is true, for them to grow as people and flourish into their best selves, they must leave this relationship behind.

Deltarune has a deep theme of growing up while also keeping your inner child alive. Growing up doesnt mean throwing your past away and forgetting it, but instead making peace with it and keeping the happy memories alive, and I think spamtenna could echo that really well.

At the end of the day, they love each other, but they need to move on from their past if they want to grow as people. 

Maybe they talk. Maybe they don’t. Either way, they make peace with what happened, as shitty as it was, and move on while still appreciating the good memories they made together.

Some relationships don’t last. And that’s okay. It doesn’t mean it never happened or that it didn’t mean anything.

It means you’re growing.

Everyone around them is growing.

Everything around them is changing.

The short of it, is that I think batjokes is canon in all, yes all, main continuities. Comics, animated, live action. Simultaneously as a mutual thing, and a one sided thing. Allow me to explain.

Batman and Joker seems like a rediculous pairing in canon. They hate eachother, or at least Batman undeniably despised Joker with every fibre of his being and always has. But I call into question what can qualify as a ship. Obviously it doesn't need to be healthy, half of the ships on the internet aren't, canon or not. It doesn't need to be mutual in theory or in practice. It doesn't need to be traditionally romantic. Nor does it need to be positive (i.e. love). I propose that batjokes is a ship built on what I will call mutual all-consuming obsession.

It's pretty self explanatory, really. Batman and Joker are shown repeatedly, again and again, time after time, to be obsessed with each other to the point of mental illness. Both of them will drop everything they're doing for the other, even when it's fully irrational and destructive. Batman is the most important think in Joker's life, and Joker the most important in Batman's. Hell, Bruce abandoned his own actively dying son that *he himself* had potentially fatally injured, to go run after Joker (*cough* batarang incident *cough*). There is nothing that could ever be more important to Batman than the Joker, and just because it's out of hatred doesn't deminish my point. Batman hates Joker more than he loves his family, and at times more than he values his principles and ideology. Not consciously, but in a subconscious manner. Almost like an addiction, he does it by instinct.

Batman has an obsession with Joker of a negative nature. He despises Joker, wants him dead more than anything despite his unwillingness to kill him. Joker however has a positive obsession with Batman. Not to mean that it's "healthy" or "good" in any way. But to say that he likes Batman. Loves him, even. Batman is the punchline to all his favorite jokes, Batman is his primary source of entertainment.

I'm tied between two main theories.

Joker doesn't care about/can't distinguish between positive and negative attention. He only sees that Batman is obsessed with him to the same degree that he's obsessed with Batman. He doesn't take into account what that obsession stems from.

Or alternatively, he's just kind of a masochist. Maybe he actively prefers a negative obsession. Or maybe he just prefers specifically Bruce's obsession in whatever form he can get it. He got bored of Harley because her obsession built on love felt too plain. It wasn't enough fun, didn't have enough tension, didn't feed him the way he craved. Batman's negative obsession fills all those gaps, leaves him feeling full and satisfied every time. He could never get bored of Batman.

In the end, regardless, Joker couldn't care less *what* the emotion is. As long as it's intense and genuine, it'll get him going.

The irony of these two is that they orbit around each other. Rely on each other. They are foundational to each other's characters and persons. Without Batman, Joker would get bored of being Joker. He would lose interest and quickly just quit. He's a performance artist who only needs an audience of one. An audience of Batman. With Bruce, the jokes don't land the same, he can't get the reactions that he wants, specifically the intensity that he wants. Joker craves the intensity of Batman's hatred. He doesn't give a fuck what Bruce feels about him, just that it's real, it's raw, and it's the strongest emotion Joker's ever seen. Joker hates boredom. He'd lose purpose without Batman.

And Batman, no, he wouldn't outright cease to be without the Joker there, but the Joker is foundational to the architecture of his ideology. And if there's one thing that can compare to Bruce's obsession with the Joker, it's his obsession with his ideology. Joker acts as a pushback, the ultimate test for every boundary Bruce has, which as a result, makes those boundaries easily defineable. Remove the Joker and those boundaries don't have such clear lines anymore. Taking the Joker from the equation threatens the structural integrity of what defines Batman, and by extension Bruce. No, he won't topple immediately, but it would irreparably destabilize everything that makes Batman, Batman.

It's part of why they always come as a set. One just feels wholly incomplete without the other. They need each other in the most unhealthy and bat shit crazy way possible.

Today, I'll go to see you as well Then I'll sit beneath the shade of a tree And let out a sigh The flowers have stopped blooming I'll go to see you again tomorrow Spring is coming to an end Time is falling like the remnants of the past

There aren't enough words out there to sing of love It's too much work to even make it rhyme There's no way words can convey the blossoming present Gently falling, we're now forgetting even our voices And it's too much work to even blink Only the two of us are here to watch the cherry blossoms And I'm begging for the spring storm to not stop just yet

Just a little bit left I can count the ones left Two flowers left Just one more flower left Only the leaves are left now, gently falling Right now, spring has come to an end

Okay, first a full disclaimer- i do actually ship stannarrator and i am refering to their in-game relationship, not au's or other stuff.

Now that thats out of the way, stanley and the narrator have such a complex dynamic because they hate eachother but they also need eachother and they will constantly wear the other down but the other is also what gets the other going. This dynamic applies to any way you see their relationship, whether it's romantic, platonic or father and son, if you ignore these aspects of their relationship it isnt them. and of course the stanley parable is a game of contradictions so they are obviously going to be a complicated duo.

for a while i've wanted to make a post about Nai'o and Kenyatta's relationship as someone who appreciates both characters and loooooves the nuance in their relationship

also after coming across some older takes about them, i realized there weren't many takes from players who do support them???  (at least from what i could find here)

soooo why not add smth new to the conversation?👀

will do my best to keep Part 1 objective-based by going over in-game canon lore, then later i will share my own personal interpretations and other thoughts in a separate Part 2 post