OH BOY TWO MEMES IN ONE POST
★1. Answer each of the questions using the flickr search engine.
★2. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
★3. Copy the URL of your favorite photos to make a mosaic here.
★4. Then share with the world. [SAVE, then upload]
1. First Name
2. Favorite Food
3. Hometown
4. Favorite Color
5. Celebrity Crush
6. Favorite Drink
7. Dream Holiday
8. Favorite Dessert
9. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up
10. What I Love Most In The World
11. One Word That Describes Me
12. My Nickname
And now, the pairings meme, day 16--the wankiest one!
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Many a year ago, Final Fantasy X was my introduction to online fandom. True, I'd roleplayed before then, but I'd never really gotten involved beyond the MU*s. If Fullmetal Alchemist was what threw open the gate to changing that, FFX was what unlocked it. And that meant that for the first time, I was subjected to the phenomenon of popular pairings that make no sense and are OOC for both characters. Since then, only one other pairing (below) has in and of itself raised my ire as much.
Let us start with the facts. Rikku is young and perky. Auron is grizzled (if not exactly old) and dead. They barely interact over the course of the game. Let us move onto my primary objection. Auron is not interested in romance. He is certainly not interested in romance with someone less than half his age, who has nothing in common with him aside from a shared interest in protecting Yuna. Basically, I do not like Auron pairings (except maybe just a touch of Auron/Lulu), and I like this one least of all.
Lyle/Feldt is three things, to me. First, it is a horribly inappropriate relationship for both characters in every way. Second, it is a reflection of some of the things about the second season of Gundam 00 that frustrated and disappointed me the most. Third, it is home to an incredibly obnoxious and stupidly creepy fandom.
First: how could hooking up with the twin brother of your dead first crush be in any way a good idea? How could hooking up with the girl who had a crush on the dead brother who gave you an inferiority complex just by existing be in any way a good idea? These are both very bad ideas. That in itself is not enough to turn me off a pairing--I ship plenty of terribly unhealthy things--but it's a start.
Second: where do I even begin? I hate nearly everything about the way the show handled Lyle as a character (the exceptions being largely the stuff after Anew's death). I am perfectly well aware that he was conceived as the "true" Lockon and was supposed to be treated as both separate to and intertwined with Neil in his character arc. The problem is that in practice, Lyle got shafted for screen time and interactions with the rest of the crew, and it felt to me like the show expected us to like him simply because he was Lockon rather than because he had a character of his own. The issue of how incredibly fucked-up it was to replace someone the crew had cared about with his identical twin after his death was never addressed. As a result, every time Lyle was on screen, it was impossible to forget that even though he'd been intended as his own character, he was being used as a cheap replacement, and we were simply supposed to accept this and move on. Meanwhile, there was Feldt. The last episodes of the first season set her up beautifully to have her own arc of badass and heartache in the second season. Then...pretty much nothing happened with her. She got totally shafted. Just to rub it in? Instead of her getting her own character development, she was used for one of the few bits of characterization Lyle got on screen. He sexually assaulted her (mildly, and I'm not going to say it makes him a rapist or something, it just makes him kind of a dick; I'm more upset at the writers than at him as a character for this), and the show backs him up in doing so, endorsing it as a valid way of acting out his inferiority complex and distinguishing himself from his brother. So putting those two together is just going to remind me of two things that pissed me off: the cheap, lazy characterization of Lyle by the writers and the sexist, hurtful way Feldt was used in said characterization.
Third: despite all this, there are actually people in fandom who wanted these two to hook up in canon. This horrifies me far more than it should. Most of them treat Neil/Feldt and Lyle/Feldt as indistinguishable, because hey, quick and easy replacement Lockon! Which is exactly the reason I'm unhappy with the way the show handled Lyle in the first place. Not to mention they're excessively bitter that it didn't happen after all, they bash Anew just for getting in the way of a pairing that was never going to happen anyway, and they're...just creepy. Period.
Day 01 - What is your current favorite ship?
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now?
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry?
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry?
Day 06 - The best kiss?
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene?
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
Day 09 - The most believable relationship?
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life?
Day 11 - What is your dream pairing?
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding?
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing?
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever?
★2. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
★3. Copy the URL of your favorite photos to make a mosaic here.
★4. Then share with the world. [SAVE, then upload]
1. First Name
2. Favorite Food
3. Hometown
4. Favorite Color
5. Celebrity Crush
6. Favorite Drink
7. Dream Holiday
8. Favorite Dessert
9. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up
10. What I Love Most In The World
11. One Word That Describes Me
12. My Nickname
And now, the pairings meme, day 16--the wankiest one!
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Many a year ago, Final Fantasy X was my introduction to online fandom. True, I'd roleplayed before then, but I'd never really gotten involved beyond the MU*s. If Fullmetal Alchemist was what threw open the gate to changing that, FFX was what unlocked it. And that meant that for the first time, I was subjected to the phenomenon of popular pairings that make no sense and are OOC for both characters. Since then, only one other pairing (below) has in and of itself raised my ire as much.
Let us start with the facts. Rikku is young and perky. Auron is grizzled (if not exactly old) and dead. They barely interact over the course of the game. Let us move onto my primary objection. Auron is not interested in romance. He is certainly not interested in romance with someone less than half his age, who has nothing in common with him aside from a shared interest in protecting Yuna. Basically, I do not like Auron pairings (except maybe just a touch of Auron/Lulu), and I like this one least of all.
Lyle/Feldt is three things, to me. First, it is a horribly inappropriate relationship for both characters in every way. Second, it is a reflection of some of the things about the second season of Gundam 00 that frustrated and disappointed me the most. Third, it is home to an incredibly obnoxious and stupidly creepy fandom.
First: how could hooking up with the twin brother of your dead first crush be in any way a good idea? How could hooking up with the girl who had a crush on the dead brother who gave you an inferiority complex just by existing be in any way a good idea? These are both very bad ideas. That in itself is not enough to turn me off a pairing--I ship plenty of terribly unhealthy things--but it's a start.
Second: where do I even begin? I hate nearly everything about the way the show handled Lyle as a character (the exceptions being largely the stuff after Anew's death). I am perfectly well aware that he was conceived as the "true" Lockon and was supposed to be treated as both separate to and intertwined with Neil in his character arc. The problem is that in practice, Lyle got shafted for screen time and interactions with the rest of the crew, and it felt to me like the show expected us to like him simply because he was Lockon rather than because he had a character of his own. The issue of how incredibly fucked-up it was to replace someone the crew had cared about with his identical twin after his death was never addressed. As a result, every time Lyle was on screen, it was impossible to forget that even though he'd been intended as his own character, he was being used as a cheap replacement, and we were simply supposed to accept this and move on. Meanwhile, there was Feldt. The last episodes of the first season set her up beautifully to have her own arc of badass and heartache in the second season. Then...pretty much nothing happened with her. She got totally shafted. Just to rub it in? Instead of her getting her own character development, she was used for one of the few bits of characterization Lyle got on screen. He sexually assaulted her (mildly, and I'm not going to say it makes him a rapist or something, it just makes him kind of a dick; I'm more upset at the writers than at him as a character for this), and the show backs him up in doing so, endorsing it as a valid way of acting out his inferiority complex and distinguishing himself from his brother. So putting those two together is just going to remind me of two things that pissed me off: the cheap, lazy characterization of Lyle by the writers and the sexist, hurtful way Feldt was used in said characterization.
Third: despite all this, there are actually people in fandom who wanted these two to hook up in canon. This horrifies me far more than it should. Most of them treat Neil/Feldt and Lyle/Feldt as indistinguishable, because hey, quick and easy replacement Lockon! Which is exactly the reason I'm unhappy with the way the show handled Lyle in the first place. Not to mention they're excessively bitter that it didn't happen after all, they bash Anew just for getting in the way of a pairing that was never going to happen anyway, and they're...just creepy. Period.
Day 01 - What is your current favorite ship?
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now?
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry?
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry?
Day 06 - The best kiss?
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene?
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
Day 09 - The most believable relationship?
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life?
Day 11 - What is your dream pairing?
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding?
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing?
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever?