#//disclaimers because well shipping wars are serious trash

[dianapocalypse]

Alright y’all, with the release of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, it’s time for me to share my playlist for the entire trilogy.

I’ve refined this over like six years so scientifically speaking it’s probably good right. oh also it’s four hours long. so if you have a road trip or a boring job, this one’s for you. disclaimer, it’s entirely possible I have garbage taste in music. I also missed some characters and moments because there’s 65 songs here and I am merely human.

If you don’t have the patience for four hours, I recommend starting at track 45 and listening to the end, as the Mass Effect 3 portion is the strongest in my opinion.

UNDER THE CUT FOR DESCRIPTIONS WE GO!

FIRST MOVEMENT - MASS EFFECT 1

1. Atlas - Coldplay Eden Prime

“Sometimes the wire Must tense for the note Caught in the fire, say oh We're about to explode“

I really like the atmosphere of this song. It’s ominous, but also somehow hopeful, and makes me feel like Something Huge Is Coming.

2. I Will Not Sing A Hateful Song - Constantines Paragon Shepard

“But I was also born and raised To always speak and listen clear To know the last sound that I make Could be the last sound that I hear“

OK, listen, I think this song is about vampires, and I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be a metaphor or not. But I think this is a great song about controlling one’s temper, about knowing that you have to Rise Above the parts of you that want to lash out sometimes to get things done and have peace. Seeing as how paragon Shepard, to me, always seems like they’re three deep breaths away from snapping, but manage to keep it in check, it fits them to a T.

And also maybe they’re a vampire.

3. Hard to Kill - Beth Crowley Renegade Shepard

“So I let the rumors Turn me into a legend 'Cause I'm only human But a good myth is hard to kill”

This one’s a recent addition, but holy cow, I love it for Renegade Shep, particularly an Earthborn or Ruthless, but it works for any of them.

4. We Own the Skies - Five Iron Frenzy Joker

“My hands are bleeding where they often crack The stars will sometimes burn with longing Through the choking black Of night shifts piling each against the next”

This really vibes with Joker’s backstory for me, his super driven serious self in flight school, contrasted with who he is when he can fly a ship. He’s the best pilot in the goddamn fleet and I love him.

5. I Just Wanna See - Smash Mouth Kaidan Alenko

“Mister moon checkin' on how y'all livin' The stars all winkin' at the day that's dimmin' I just wanna see”

This song fits into his reactions to first showing up at the Citadel and his former romanticism about living in space. Ironically, it’s a song about Earth, but I feel like it works well for him. Also, Smash Mouth absolutely sounds like the kind of music Kaidan would listen to, no I will not be taking questions or constructive criticism.

6. Don’t Give Up - Noisettes Ashley Williams

“She's got a talented face and a suitcase Ain't got no desire to go no place In her case she's got no desire with her hand in the flame say's she don't feel the fire “

The energy of this song is just perfect for Ashley’s no-nonsense chip on her shoulder attitude.

7. About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All - Dan Mangan The Council

“I was thrown in the boat/Cast out to sea Friendly with waves/There were sharks below Hungry for me/So I dangled my leg”

I mean, the title says it all.

8. The Captain - Guster Anderson

“Courageous, just like the captain Marching forward with no doubt in his head”

I have adored this song ever since my friend played it for me, and it’s the ultimate mentor-protégé jam for me.

9. Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers Garrus Vakarian

“Here's a man who leads a life of danger To everyone he meets he stays a stranger Oh, with every move he makes another chance he takes The odds are he won't live to see tomorrow”

I have to poke a little fun at Garrus and how seriously he takes himself in Mass Effect 1. I romanced him across four playthrus, I’m allowed!

10. I’m Getting Too Old For This Shit - Kill Lincoln Urdnot Wrex

“This random apathy/I swear it's killing me But I guess it's all the same, till the devil knows my name”

I don’t know ANYTHING about this band, but this song fits Wrex’s disillusionment with the Krogan well, plus, like. The title. (And also, that he secretly DOES care what happens to the Krogan.)

11. Bird Song - Juniper Vale Tali’zorah nar Rayya

“I want to dance on the horizon line But there is something I am caged behind I have a heart made for take flight But I'm low, so low”

I adore this song and the sound of Juniper Vale in general. The etherealness of this one, combined with the youthful optimism, feels very Tali. The line about ‘something I am caged behind’ works well for the suits, too. This one’s especially good if you’re a Talimancer!

12. 11. Green Garden - Laura Mvula Liara T’Soni

“And I’ll fly on the wings of a butterfly High as a tree top and down again Putting my bag down, taking my shoes off Walk on the carpet of green velvet”

I really like this song’s vibes and I feel like Liara fits it well, particularly in ME1, before all her youthful optimism is stripped from her. The scenery descriptions feel very Thessia, too.

13. Feed Me (Git It) - Little Shop of Horrors The Thorian 

“The guy sure looks like plant food to me!”

Do you get it. Do you get my joke. It’s because the Thorian is a plant that eats people. (I’m not funny)

14. Blindness - Metric Matriarch Benezia

“I was a blind fool, never complained All the survivors singing in the rain “

I don’t love the use of blind here as a negative, albeit metaphorical, descriptor, but I think this song fits Benezia’s indoctrination and death well. If you have suggestions for another, though, let me know!

15. Technologic - Daft Punk Saren

“Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it”

I just think it’s Neat

16. Watershed - Vienna Teng The Reapers

“ While you were building your empires I was still sleeping”

I think this is the song that inspired the entire playlist. Vienna Teng sat down and decided to write a song from the perspective of a natural disaster, and it’s so ominous and gut-wrenching.

17. Hourglass - The Hush Sound Virmire

“This is how it ends We believe every lie and say we'll be friends How long will it last? Before we scratch all the scripts and we rework the cast “

hahahahah rework the cast get it because you have to pick who DIES

Seriously tho I really like this song for Virmire and that moment of choice that feels like it lasts 100 years on some playthroughts.

18. Pompeii - Bastille The Siege of the Citadel

“ And the walls kept tumbling down In the city that we love”

Throwback to when this song was on the radio like three times an hour. Which is around the time I made the first draft of this playlist, incidentally! It’s such a good Final Battle Jam for the Citadel, and the part about “if you close your eyes/does it almost feel like nothing’s changed at all” I think work really well for Shepard in this sequence. Shepard knew the Reapers were coming, had been fighting them all along; this attack on the Citadel is just retreading familiar territory for them, as horrifying as the war being brought to their doorstep is for the Citadel’s citizens and the council. James Vega has some good dialogue about that kind of thing in ME3.

INTERLUDE THE FIRST

19. Starships - Nicki Minaj The Normandy Crew

Starships were meant to fly Hands up and touch the sky

I like to have a little fun OK

20. Gravity - Yoko Kanno The Death of Commander Shepard

“Am I alone? is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet still the road keeps on telling me to go on”

Welcome to mood whiplash, it’s my specialty! This is the part where you die. I think it also works for her coma very well, when she’s just drifting between life and death, not sure what’s going on, but something keeps trying to pull her back to the world.

SECOND MOVEMENT - MASS EFFECT 2

21. The Phoenix - Fall Out Boy The Lazarus Project

“Hey young blood, doesn't it feel like our time is running out? I'm gonna change you like a remix Then I'll raise you like a phoenix “

this song has no right to go as hard as it does and if  you think it’s melodramatic shut up

22. My Body Is A Cage - Peter Gabriel Commander Shepard

“I'm living in an age Whose name I don't know Though the fear keeps me moving Still my heart beats so slow “

This works particularly well if you romanced The Virmire Survivor, but this song captures the energy of Shepard freaking out bc they are trapped with Cerberus, because Cerberus rebuilt their body from the ground up. That jarring, caged feeling is so palpable in ME2 that when they gave me back Joker the first time I played, I BURST INTO SOBS from relief.

23. The Lady is a Vamp - The Spice Girls Miranda Lawson

“That's all in the past, legends built to last But she's got something new”

Listen. She’s a bond babe. Handbags, heels and pistols rock. She’s got class. This is a song about Miranda. That is all.

24. Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down Jacob Taylor

“ I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon After all I knew, it had to be something to do with you “

This one’s about the Vibes for me. Also can apply to his past relationship with Miranda. I’m also super showing my age on this song, oof haha.

25. Stable Song - Death Cab For Cutie Colony Abduction

“Rows of deserted houses all Our stable mates highway bound “

I really like the mood of this one for showing up on the very first abducted colony, the eerieness and sadness of it all and Shepard’s resolve to do something about it.

26. Konichiwa Bitches - Robyn Kasumi Goto

“I'm so very hot that when I rob your mansion You ain't call the cops, you call the fire station”

THAT COUPLET ALONE MAKES THE ENTIRE SONG. I love how playful and cheeky it is.

27. Seven Nation Army Glitch Mob Remix - The White Stripes, Glitch Mob Zaeed Massani

“And I'm talking to myself at night Because I can't forget Back and forth through my mind Behind a cigarette”

Pretty sure we all had this on some playlist or another when it came out, and it’s the perfect Badass With A Grudge song.

28. Science is Real - They Might Be Giants Mordin Solus

“ And when a theory emerges Consistent with the facts The proof is with science The truth is with science “

This one actually got added by my wife to replace a song that wasn’t on Spotify, but that has the same energy; Hank Green’s “I Fucking Love Science”. I get more into the emotional side of Mordin in the ME3 section, but I also really just love his Hamster On Coffee energy and this song captures it really well.

29. Prove Yourself - Radiohead Garrus Vakarian

“I can't afford to breathe in this town Nowhere to sit without a gun in my hand Hooked back up to the cathode ray

I'm better off dead “

The absolute rock bottom mental state Garrus is in when you get back to him in ME2 is so heartwrenching. Might not always agree with my boy’s methods, but he’s one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

30. Rat a Tat - Fallout Boy Feat. Courtney Love Jack

“We are professional ashes of roses, this kerosene's live You settled your score, this is where you come to beg”

It helps that Courtney Love sounds exactly like Jack to me, NGL.

31. Defeat You - Smash Mouth Grunt

“Hey I know what you've done It makes it that much better to defeat you “

Only I am brave enough to put two songs by Smash Mouth on the same playlist, to be shared in 2021

32. The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot - Brand New Horizon/The Virmire Survivor

“If it makes you less sad I will die by your hand Hope you find out what you want Already know what I am “

Hits harder if you romanced the Virmire Survivor. Mostly from Shep’s perspective. This is a Shep that feels Bad after that encounter rather than Mad, so Your Mileage May Vary.

33. Violet Stars Happy Hunting! - Janelle Monae Tali’zorah vas Neema

“I'm an alien from outer space I'm a cyber-girl without a face a heart or a mind”

I just like the vibes of this one for Tali! I know it’s more about an actual AI but...IDK. I like it. So there.

34. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd Thane Krios

“There is no pain you are receding A distant ship smoke on the horizon”

This song works both on a Literal level with his Kepral’s syndrome struggles, but also Metaphorical re: his Battle Sleep. Plus, Thane is a dad, so he gets Dad Rock.

35. My Medea - Vienna Teng Samara

“For I have made her prison be Her every step away from me And this child I would destroy If you tried to set her free “

Mom of the year award, here

36. Toxic - Britney Spears Morinth

“There's no escape, I can't wait I need a hit, baby, give me it You're dangerous, I'm loving it”

If Morinth weren’t so under-utilized after recruitment and didn’t get killed off in the background of ME3 I’d probably actually recruit her sometimes. I almost did on my most recent playthru bc that Shepard just HATES SPACE COPS. Anyway the song explains itself

37. Turn me On - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj EDI/The Collector Attack

“My body needs a hero Come and save me Something tells me you know how to save me”

I know this song is a metaphor but also it works really well both literally and metaphorically for Joker saving EDI

38. Robots - Dan Mangan Legion

“Robots need love too They want to be loved by you “

The Geth just want to live peacefullyyyyyy 

39. Be Still - The Killers Love Interest Theme

“Be still / someday you’ll leave fearlessness on your sleeve”

This song works so well for the night before Omega-4. If you had an ME2 love interest, anyway. Also “fearlessness on your sleeve” is one of my favorite set of words ever written.

40. No Cars Go - Arcade Fire The Omega-4 Relay

“We know a place no spaceships go We know a place where no subs go “

This one’s pretty literal.

41. Rocketman - Elton John Suicide Mission

“ And I think it's gonna be a long, long time 'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find I'm not the man they think I am at home “

I like sneaking some Classics onto my playlists, and I think this is how I generally approach Shepard’s mindset during the Suicide Mission, mostly the chorus. I’m also a sucker for ballads during action sequences. This one isn’t a perfect 1:1 but the Vibes check out.

42. Blast Off - David Guetta feat. Kaz James The Normandy Crew

“Got all my people with me And none of us give a fuck So put dem hands up higher Let's smash this party up”

You have to imagine they partied HARD after recovering from Suicide Mission, but before Shep got arrested, right??? This is the Starships for ME2.

INTERLUDE THE SECOND

43. I’m Not Your Hero - Tegan and Sara Liara T’soni

“ Feeling like I am now lighting up the hall I was used to standing in the shadow of a damaged heart Learning all I know now, losing all I did I never used to feel like I'd be standing so far ahead “

This feels like a good coming of age moment for Liara, as she copes with the choices she made in the 2 years of Shepard’s death (giving them to Cerberus), losing Feron, etc. This is her coming into her own as the Shadow Broker. She’s not meant to be an uncomplicated Big Damn Hero, but she can do good from this position.

44. The Well and the Lighthouse - Arcade Fire The Alpha Relay Incident

“I'm serving time All for a crime I did commit You want the truth? You know I'd do it all again“

These opening lines I feel capture the Alpha Relay Incident really well, and how Shepard did what they HAD to do there, and would do it again, but it still feels like shit. I always wished there was more choice on that mission, but also, having something like that happen without player agency is interesting. Shepard is at their most interesting, I think, in times where we DON’T have a say in what happens to them.

45. Reignite - Malukah Commander Shepard

“Crush my heart into embers, and I will reignite”

Is it cheating to use a Mass Effect fan song on my playlist? I certainly don’t think so, and this is the best Mass Effect fan song ever written.

THIRD MOVEMENT - MASS EFFECT 3

46. This Is War - Thirty Seconds to Mars Leaving Earth

“It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie The moment to live and the moment to die The moment to fight, the moment to fight To fight, to fight, to fight “

It feels Too Easy to use this here but I’m gonna anyway. You’ve seen AMVs of this set to everything. It’s the ending song of DA:O. It’s the quintessential World At War song.

47. Battleborn - The Killers James Vega

“Up against the wall There's something dying on the street When they knock you down You're gonna get back on your feet”

James Vega is massively underrated and I will love him til I’m cold in the ground. Aro icon.

48. Handlebars - Flobots The Illusive Man

“I can hand out a million vaccinations Or let 'em all die of exasperation Have 'em all healed of their lacerations Have 'em all killed by assassination”

The way this song escalates fits TIM and Cerberus’s fall back into being Just Full On Evil really well. Perfect song for a power trip.

49. Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect - The Decemberists The Virmire Survivor

“And I am nothing of a builder But here I dreamt I was an architect And I built this balustrade To keep you home, to keep you safe From the outside world”

I like this song for how the Virmire Survivor feels about their survivor’s guilt and also about Shepard. I honestly wish they were both more heavily utilized in ME2 and 3, but I realize it’s hard to write a ton of content for characters who just aren’t in half of all peoples’ playthrus.

50. Heaven Knows - The Pretty Reckless Grisson Academy

“One, two, three and four, the devil's knocking at your door Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie Show your life with your head held high“

This song is so perfect for Jack and her biotic kids that she’s one of the only returning characters that gets her own song on this playlist

51. The Great Fire - OK Go Javik

“But when the flames die down, and everything is gone, Will there be fire under the ashes still?”

Self explanatory. Javik is the fire remaining under the ashes.

52. Bring the Hammer Down - Paragon Priority: Tuchanka/Kalros

“ Hammer strikes the anvil A rage that breaks the chain Strikes down like a lightening In our ranks “

KALROOOOOS

53. Wake Up - Arcade Fire Curing The Genophage/Mordin Solus

“If the children don't grow up, Our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up. We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turnin' every good thing to Rust I guess we'll just have to adjust”

I just really love this song as an image of Mordin’s spirit looking out over Tuchanka as the genophage cure is dispersed, and watching over future generations. If you didn’t cure the genophage, how dare you. No song for you.

Anyway started tearing up listening to this one while writing the description don’t look at me

54. Ballad of a Politician - Regina Spektor Councillor Udina/Priority Citadel 2

“A man inside a room is shaking hands with other men This is how it happens/Our carefully laid plans”

traitor

55. Cyborgs vs. Robots - Ludo The Geth-Quarian War

“But your iron fist will never knock me down 'Cause I'm powered By a conscious right to conduct my life without fear.”

This is probably a bit silly for this awful war. But also. It does fit. You can’t tell me it doesn’t. Just save them both at the end and you can feel fine having some fun with it!

56. Artificial Heart - Jonathan Coulton The Geth

“It's not a real heart It is a real artificial heart”

Just a little fun with the Geth! This works best with Reaper Upgrades.

57. With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Anderson, Jim Sturgess The Citadel DLC

“What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you, but I know it's mine

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends”

I happen to prefer this version to any other because of how much fun it sounds like they’re having

58. Dark In Here - The Mountain Goats Priority: Earth

“Steal away at sundown, pick a place to hide Check for signs of ambush, hunker down inside Tired of running, tired of never standing still Hear them riding up the hill“

You know I had to get the Goats in here. Would it be a fan playlist if there wasn’t one?

59. Adieu - Yoko Kanno Leaving your Love Interest/Shepard and the Beam

“My love for you burns deep inside me / So strong Embers of times we had And now, here I stand / Lost in a memory I see your face, and smile”

...do I need to say more than that?

60. My Way (Minor Key) - Chase Holfelder The Indoctrination of The Illusive Man

“Regrets, I've had a few/But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do/I saw it through, without exemption“

This cover takes this song from something I tolerate when I hear it to one of my FAVORITE songs. The frenzied way he sings the “through it all” verse is PEAK Indoctrinated TIM.

61. I’m Alive - Disturbed Refusal 

“There will never be a reason why I will surrender to your advice To change myself, I'd rather die/Though they will not understand”

Honestly I didn’t “get” the Refusal ending until I heard this song, then I was like, OH, I SEE IT ALL SO CLEARLY NOW. This is my favorite in-universe Shepard take on the Refusal ending. I always got it from the player’s perspective of being dissatisfied with the options, but this one puts it into the world for me. This is a Shepard who does not trust the Starchild. This is a Shepard that chooses to end things on their own terms rather than submit to their designs.

62. Machine - Regina Spektor Control 

“I collect my moments Into a correspondence With a mightier power Who just lacks my perspective And who lacks my organics And who covets my defects “

I used to have Adieu here, actually, because like Refusal, I didn’t used to GET the Control ending. Now, I do, in part thanks to hearing this song. I mean, just go look at the full lyrics. If this song hadn’t been written years before the end of Mass Effect 3, I’d swear it was a fan song for it.

63. Maybe Tomorrow - Yuki Kajiura Destroy 

“The moon is gone And the night is still so dark I'm a little bit afraid of tomorrow“

I’m a Destroy Ending person, I won’t lie. Full on “the starchild is a liar and my synthetic friends are FINE” indoctrination theory level destroy ending. But this song is not about that. It’s about the canonical destroy ending, and if you prefer a Shep that survives it, this song’s for you.

This song captures the exhaustion and melancholy of the end of a long journey so well. Shepard is afraid of what comes next, the collateral damage resulting from their actions. But they know that, at least, it’s over now. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

64. Waiting For the End - Linkin Park Synthesis

“ I know what it takes to move on I know how it feels to lie All I wanna do is trade this life for something new Holding on to what I haven't got”

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. The hardest part of ending is starting again. Oof. Gets me every single time. Shepard finding the resolve to sacrifice themself for the hope of something better, of things not going how they planned, ever, of learning to make peace with that and the people who loved them learning to carry on without them? OOF.

65. Shine - Vienna Teng Epilogue

“Shine with all the untold Hold the light given unto you Find the love to unfold In this broken world we choose“

Vienna Teng is a master of capturing life’s softer emotions, and this fits perfectly with the epilogue scene for me. Tell me again about the Shepard.

“Find the love to unfold in this broken world we choose” has to be one of the greatest lines about the human experience ever written.

[blainesebastian]

ship history meme!

Embrace your past and get to know your friends’ fandom origins!

Rules: Post gifs of your fandoms / ships starting with your most current hyperfixation and work backwards. (Bonus points if you share any stories about how or when you got into that ship! But not necessary!!) Then tag anyone whose fandom history you’d like to learn about!

Okay here we go! I have a LOT of otps but I’m just gonna do 10 cause, yikes. I was tagged by the amazing @twobrokenwyngs​ thank you SO much <33

1) OTP: You look amazing from Prodigal Son

This ship kinda snuck up on me. I was enjoying this show for what it was but then I was hit in the face with feels. I’m not sure if they’re going to actually end up in relationship but their small moments are very electrically charged with meaning (to the point where it encouraged me to write fic, and I usually don’t do that unless it’s serious lol) Also honestly, the moment Bright said “you’re the one I like talking to” put air in my sails.

2) OTP: I’m gonna teach you from Good Girls

I make jokes that it should probably be ‘I’m gonna shoot you’ but it always feels too soon ;) uh, I don’t know, these two everyone is probably into if you watch the show. They’re kinda the couple that you love to hate and really want together all at the same time. I think they could be SO GREAT with better communication. They definitely unlock something in one another and I’m not sure they’re going to get back on track (or if it’s even possible) but they’re still great to watch with one another.

3) OTP: My truest self from Sanditon

Ugh first of all? This is all because of Theo James and I am a fucking sap for period pieces, so I knew when I went into this that it (a: didn’t end well and b: wouldn’t stop me) was going to destroy me. I love the amount of emotion and conversations that are applied through touch and eye contact and period piece dances really do that. I also love Theo James playing an asshole character who was jaded about love that turned into him finding the love of his life (and yes, he loses her, but there are SOULMATE conversations that make it worth it). This bitch actually said “i believe I am my best self, my truest self, when I’m with you” and i cry every single time.

4) OTP: Just like me from Peaky Blinders

Just as the OTP title suggests, these two for me are different halves of the same coin. They bring something out in one another; two dangerous men that keep ending up working with one another. There’s a lot of backstabbing and bribes and miscommunication but they are the same and that’s how they thrive together. I feel like there’s not a lot of people Tommy truly trusts--but the fact that he shot Alfie and didn’t actually kill him and then knew he was alive and took care of his dog like--come on, that’s some soulmate shit. The one scene where Aflie is screaming in Tommy’s face is peak cinema and honestly, one of the most energized and arousing scenes like get a damn room. I’m really hoping they work together in the next upcoming season.

5) OTP: You’re not alone from Star Wars

I mean, the darkest dark meeting the lightest light only to realize that it’s actually BACKWARDS and that they’re fucking dyads in the force? Like fUCK OFF. Literally they are two halves of a whole and I’m all about that shit. I’m also suckers for tragic heroes and my trash son Kylo finding his redemption arc through Rey? Yessss, I’ll eat that shit all day.

6) OTP: A touch of destiny from The Witcher

There’s not much to say other a big grump who didn’t think he deserves love meets someone who’s on her own self-journey and they discover that they actually need one another. It’s beautiful.

7) OTP: End of the line from Marvel

I have nothing to say other than: when Bucky couldn’t even remember who he was, he remembered Steve--the man on the bridge. I have nothing to say other than: when Bucky went to ‘finish his mission’ Steve was going to let him pummel him because he was ‘with him until the end of the line’. s o u l m a t e s.

8) OTP: Isn’t that kinda the whole point from Supernatural

This one doesn’t really get old but these two have literally died and sacrificed themselves for the other that I can’t even get into fifteen seasons of examples. But they’re soulmate material, made of the same stuff, they are one another’s heavens. I love them more than myself. They’re also touchy as fuck.

9) OTP: Do I look like a freshman? from Glee

Once again, these two do not get old for me. The moment where Blaine felt wanted by Sebastian, I was sold. Granted, they don’t get developed very well across the show (that’s what fic is for) but I think if the writers would have actually given them a chance compared to shoving Klaine down our throats, they could have been something with some character development. Regardless, I still feel like what we got of Sebastian is ten times better than we ever got of Kurt--and that’s the tea.

10) OTP: Break you in two from The Originals

Klaus is one of my favorite male characters over the arc of The Vampire Dairies-- he’s so complex, a tragic hero and legit someone who struggles with wanting to be a good person and the demons he has that prevents him from doing that. Cami was someone who saw through that dark side and I knew the moment I saw her on the first episode of the show that I was going to love them. They go through a lot of soulmate moments, including the one in the gif mentioned above (basically, he says that no matter the situation, no matter how he would have ended up in New Orleans--that he would have found her). And even though Cami dies, Klaus promises to ‘carry her with him’, therefore always remembering her. I cry a lot.

Some other mentionables in no particular order:

Barry/Caitlin from The Flash

Caroline/Stefan from The Vampire Dairies

Elizabeth/Reddington from The Blacklist

Isaac/Scott from Teen Wolf

Ichabod/Abbie from Sleepy Hollow

Disclaimer: No gifs are mine, nor do I claim credit!

Tags: @badguywindow @floweryshell @hunoncall @captainallthingspurpleme @kanversrph @seblaineaddict @riosnecktattoo @blackisblackisblack​ @medievalraven​ @ttinycourageous​ @taraknowless​ and anyone else who wants to dig in :3

[the-dark-fantastic]

askhoennlegends replied to your post: @secretandstrange i like fantasy/fiction/sci fi/historical fiction!

Okay, yeah, we are definitely in my element, then!

I’m guessing you’ve probably already read (or are at least aware of) the kind of current standards, things like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, anything by Neil Gaiman, probably Pullman’s His Dark Materials, but if for some reason you haven’t (other than straight-up, “I have reasons to suspect they aren’t my thing,” which I can respect), I’ll get more specific on those. ^^

Io9 regularly puts out lists of upcoming books, often with reviews, and sometimes even excerpts, so I’d also recommending checking that out, because they’re a lot more on the ball with new stuff than I am!

All the things I’m going to rec for you now are older (I think mostly from the 70s to the 90s or so), so I don’t know if that’ll make it more likely you’ll already have come across them, or less. I don’t know what Teh Kids are picking up anymore. ^^; (Behind a cut, because this got long!)

Bernard Cornwell’s The Warlord Chronicles (The Winter King, Enemy of God, & Excalibur) is one of my favourite series to introduce to people who don’t know it already - it’s his retelling of the Arthurian legends, but much more on the dark and gritty side than the mystical and romantic. It’s set in very early medieval Britain, it’s as much political (warring kingdoms and true heirs and the like) as it is magical, and even the magic has more basis in what humans have actually practiced than full-on wand-waving wizard magic (there’s some of that, too, but still filtered through a more historic lens than a fantastic one).

The warning I’ll give for those is that they’re graphic af - a lot of gory illnesses and wounds, war, death, at least a bit of sexual content (ti’s been a few years since my last re-read and I can’t remember how explicit it is on that front, but I’d say less descriptively sexual than descriptively violent), and there’s some paganism vs Christianity stuff throughout that gets stronger toward the end (including a coerced conversion).

Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book is a sci-fi/historical fiction mix (time travel that switches between story in the near-future and the Middle Ages). It’s not particularly graphic, but some of the major plot points concern illness and death. It’s rather sad in places, and does touch on some issues like the arranged marriage of a teenager (again without being overly graphic), but I enjoyed it enough to re-read it repeatedly (particularly when I was getting ready to head up to the Ren Faire). She has at least one other set in the same universe (To Say Nothing of the Dog) that I believe travels to the Civil War era, but I’ve never managed to get my hands on it and couldn’t say if it’s as good or not. (I should remedy that, really!)

Gregory Maguire’s The Wicked Years - adult retellings of the Wizard of Oz, what the musical Wicked was based on. They’re again on the darker side of things, probably do need some disclaimers about violence, questionable dynamics, sexuality, so that’s one for the “If you like those kind of dark adult themes” pile. He does some other twisted fairy tale stuff, too.

I pretty much raised myself into adult sci-fi/fantasy with Anne McCaffrey - primarily the Dragonriders of Pern series, a lot of which feels much more fantasy than sci-fi (though it turns out, as you go on, that it is indeed the latter [not to suggest the two are mutually-exclusive, but - well, it’s hard to explain why without spoilers!]). She wrote many, many books for it, and I didn’t particularly care for the later ones, but the others I absolutely wore out. Dragonflight and Dragonquest were written first and if you start with them, you’ll get the same “discovery” experience as the characters, without knowing any of the world history that lead to that point. The Harper Hall trilogy is set around the same time and was where I started myself, along with Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern, which takes place somewhat earlier in the world’s history. Dragonsdawn is the “how this all started” book, and The White Dragon and All the Weyrs of Pern would optimally be read after those others, both because that’s chronologically when they take place, and because Weyrs in particular changes the world dramatically. (Those are kind of the ‘core’ books; like I said, there are bazillions of others.) I started reading them when I was twelve or so and there was never anything I found upsetting, so I don’t know if there’s any kind of warning I need to put on them or not.

She also wrote ‘harder’ sci-fi (more focused on things like technology and space travel) - The Pegasus trilogy is mostly set on Earth and deals with the awakening and government management of psychic powers, and leads to the Tower and Hive books, which are set farther in the future and include space colonization and first contact along with the psychic stuff. (Pegasus in Flight has plot points of child trafficking and forced population control.) The Acorna series is about a ‘unicorn girl’. In space. Crystal Singer, the Ship Who and City Who books, all of those are straight-up sci-fi with standard sci-fi tropes and I don’t recall them being particularly offensive (but it has been YEARS since I touched any of those); she’s got some other stuff, but those were what I had.

Dragonlance I was always fond of (D&D-based, standard fantasy tropes; definitely start with the Chronicles and Legends; everything else is expansion from there); David Eddings’ Elenium and Tamuli trilogies (warnings for some class and racial stuff, slavery, and a consensual romance with a sizeable age gap); Brian Jacques’ Redwall series (don’t let the cute animals fool you; they're quite serious books)...

If you know of Howl’s Moving Castle from the Studio Ghibli movie but not the book, the book! It (along with its sequel and Diana Wynne Jones’s other wizard series, the Chrestomanci Chronicles) is traditionally for younger readers, and from the era before young adult stuff got darker than grown-up books, but I always liked them. (In the same “younger readers” vein, but in this case absolute teenage girl trash, The Secret of the Unicorn Queen. Six books about a high school girl getting dumped into a fantasy world, all the standard Mary Sue stuff, complete tripe, and I absolutely loved them.)

(Not that I'm under the impression you’re teenage girl trash! I’m just trying to think of some things that are more “light reading/kind of silly” to offset all the harder/darker stuff. ^^ I hope at least something here will hit the mark, either way!)