#I am such a sucker for evil dude becomes friends with the hero trope

[artobotsrollout]

Friendship Wins the War

Optimus or someone being genuinely nice to Starscream and/or other cons and Starscream/cons having zero idea if it's a trick, what to do with it since it's not, and how to even begin to respond and potentially begin to reciprocate is the good good content. *chefs kiss*

Optimus and crew ends the war by being nice to the enemy and treating them with basic human cybertronian decency. Instead of giving up on all Decepticons, Optimus changes tactics. Instead of convincing Megatron to choose a better path he instead puts that energy into befriending all of his subordinates.

No I will not take criticism./j Give me that good good character development and friendship content. You love to see it. No I will never tire of seeing it in fics. Yes it'll be in my AUs a lot.

[darkmagickingdom]

Gush hours! Tell me your OTPs and why you love 'em

You have opened the floodgates now

I'll only talk about my Disney Villains ones for now because that's all that relates to the blog, but if you want to hear about the ones I have outside of the disney fandom I would be more than happy to gush about those too.

The Lich's Dark Fairytale--aka the Horned King/Maleficent

- Okay, I talked about this one a bit a while ago. But unsurprisingly, I have more to say. So this wasn't my first enemies-to-lovers ship--I think my first one was created at least four years ago, but it's probably closer to six, and even that might be undershooting it--but this was my first "oh they'd try to kill each other, that's spicy" ship.

It started as a thing that wouldn't last, just a way to explore the kind of pairing where they're both trying to kill each other while trying to ignore their less-murdery feelings for each other.

It was a pairing dynamic I didn't really explore before then. Then I ended up liking both characters, their similarities, their shared dynamic--so much that I just had to make it a sincere enemies-to-lovers. And I'm a sucker for villains that have a soft side for someone but are still, y'know, evil. And given how Maleficent's whole thing in her movie is sticking it to the "true love conquers all" trope, I like the idea that a relationship wouldn't magically make her good. Sorry, Jolie, but she's just more fun of a character to me as a bad girl.

I would also love to see someone as gleefully evil as Maleficent try and lift the King out of his bitter and somber little grave. It'd be good to hear him maniacally laugh more often. Or really, at all. Maleficent's come back to life a ton of times, and might not be fully killable, while at least in my personal headcanons, the King can't ever fully die, being able to remain aware and keep his soul in his body no matter how horribly its damaged. So there's none of that immortal's angst that either of them would get from a relationship with a mortal.

I also love seeing characters be ruthlessly protective of one another, and I think these two have great potential for that. They both have potential to get absolutely bloodthirsty on the battlefield, even if Disney never really let us see either of them doing that. But you don't get a reputation like Maleficent's by sitting on a throne all day, and you don't achieve a reputation like the Horned King's by never riding into battle and cutting a few thousands down upon an accursed, blood-soaked blade. In fact, book-accurate depictions of the King have him surprisingly jacked, and looking a lot more battle-ready than his animated counterpart. I like to think that's how he was when he was much younger, before he started rotting. So if it comes down to it, they'll both wreak havoc on a battlefield, or they'll form an impenetrable defense to shield the other. And that is my JAM.

If I had to pick one song for them, it would be Love Me Dead by Ludo. But I have a whole playlist for them tbh.

Cards & Dice--aka Facilier/Oogie

Now this one is just. Fun. These two have such a similar aesthetic and flair for elaborate jazzy song-and-dance numbers (with use of blacklight!) that I just had to have them become friends. And gradually I decided "okay. But what if...they were friends-to-lovers?" And thus, Cards & Dice was born.

Honestly I think they'd be the most fun of my OTPs to play third-wheel to. They'd get up to all kinds of villainous shenanigans, make a TON of enemies, and make a narrow getaway every time.

Also? Considering they're both more nervous on average than the average Disney villain (with Oogie being one of the only ones actively terrified of his hero, and Facilier one of the only ones seen nervous and afraid before his demise) I like to think they could help each other with their respective fears. Facilier standing up to Jack, Oogie standing up to the "Friends" (even if neither are actually powerful enough to win). Oogie just sitting and hearing Facilier out when he's freaked out about how the "Friends" might still be searching for him. Facilier saving the HBIC (that's Head Bug In Charge, aka the Brain Bug, aka the green earwig Santa squished) just in time when the rest of Oogie's body gets destroyed. That's all just so good to me.

And don't get me STARTED on them singing and dancing together, completely stealing the floor every time! They're WONDERFUL, Your Honor.

If I had to pick one song for them, it would be Poker Face by Lady Gaga. But I got like a whole playlist for them in the works lol

A New DIRECTIVE--aka AUTO/Doris

Yes, I did just come up with that name. I think it's quite good.

So this one started as like. A joke. A what-if. A "hey, they're the only robots so they oughta stick together". How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, IT WAS ONLY A KISS

So I am a sucker for the trope where the more chaotic one breaks the orderly one out of their shell and gets them to be less rigid. What if that, but evil?

"Hey boy, how would you like to go from lawful neutral to chaotic evil?"

"I don't suffer from 'I could fix him' disease. I think I could make him worse."

Theirs is like the inverse of the "love makes the bad guy turn good" trope. Love makes the robot disobey his programming, go rogue, and help his girl take over the world.

They're like the evil version of WALL-E and EVE. Except with the roles reversed, because the guy is the one from space who wants to follow his DIRECTIVE while the girl is the one from Earth trying to be like "no dude, check this out, I can control people and stuff all by myself. We should totally rule the world, it'll be awesome."

I usually imagine this pair with humanoid android forms because it's. Kind of hard to get invested in a ship's wheel and a hat. They're both a lot less expressive in their base forms than either WALL-E or EVE, so giving them cool android forms helps. I don't imagine them as super human-looking droids though, cause if they're more obviously robots it looks cooler. Though I DO think Doris deserves a face so she can go >:D sometimes. And AUTO deserves the ability to go >o|

If I had to pick one song for them, it would be Daisy Bell by Harry Dacre. Because they're both HAL 9000 references (Doris a lot less obviously so, but she's still got that one red eye), and evil robots the way HAL was, and that's the song HAL starts singing before he's deactivated. Which in and of itself is a reference to the first speaking/singing computer-generated voice program, IBM704, which famously sang the song Daisy Bell. (there's also a Futurama episode where Bender dates a HAL 9000 reference character, and there's a montage of them doing romantic things set to Bender singing Daisy Bell. For all my fellow Futurama fans out there ;) I'd especially recommend this version, where someone had both the original IBM704 and VOCALOID4 sing the song as a duet. (Because I like the idea of Doris getting a Vocaloid or Vocaloid-like voice if she was able to speak actual words instead of that admittedly really cute droidspeak language from the movie)

There are also plenty of villain ships in this fandom that I've seen that I love (such as FireSerpent--aka Jafar/Hades--, EvilPuppies--aka Grimhilde/Cruella--, and SeaDragon--aka Ursula/Maleficent) but I wanted to talk about only the ones I developed myself, since I think the creators of those ship names would be better equipped to talk about them.

[howlingday]

About Jaune ships...

I have opinions. You may not agree, but they are mine. They may change in time, but not now.

LANCASTER ( RUBY X JAUNE )

The old tried and true. I mean, what's not to like? Cute girl falls for first guy she meets at Beacon? Classic romance trope, and after reading how much Ruby loves romance stories (I consider certain parts in the manga canon), it makes sense. In fact, after Arkos sank (A moment of silence, please . . . Thank you), many moved to Lancaster, which isn't bad. Happens all the time in fandoms. Sad thing, though, is far I think she'll last. If we're talking Volume 5 or earlier, then maybe. However, I feel if Ruby were to have an endgame in romance, it would be RoseGarden (I have opinions on that as well, but today isn't the day to discuss that), mostly because Oscar bumped Jaune's role from male lead to male side. Not to mention that while Jaune is becoming a beast in his own right, Ruby is a different creature altogether and evolving her character more rapidly and chaotically than anyone else (Must be all that screentime).

TLDR: I want it to be canon, but I might just be hoping.

WHITE KNIGHT ( WEISS X JAUNE)

Doofus in tin foil meets princess who hates daddy (Am I in the romance section of the library? You know, the corner for adults only?) No, but I do like this ship. I'm always a sucker for the fantasy genre, and using a zero to hero male makes it relatable. I also kind of ship it because the same reason I ship NaruSaku in the Naruto fandom: he likes her and he's willing to go the distance. But enough about that; instead let's talk about canon. Will they hook up? It's a soft maybe for me, for two reasons. 1. Rosegarden is most likely to be endgame, and after Ruby and Pyrrha, I'd say Weiss is Jaune's next to be his love interest. 2. Weiss has warmed up to Jaune. Sure, not lover or crush level (Yet), but she's definitely changed her opinion on him. In Volume 1, Jaune was bugging her, like all the time, which I could see as him getting mixed signals on (Exhibit A: Tall, blonde, and scraggly). When Volume 5 came around, everyone jumped onboard because he saved her life (Don't lie, because I'll admit that I did it, too). Not the best reason, but still reason enough, I'd say. Then in Volume 7, she hangs out with him and Oscar to the movies (It was either that or awkward Bumbleby all night. I feel ya, sister). Nothing romantic happens, but it does show how much their relationship has developed. If Weiss is Jaune's endgame, then they have set the pieces up perfectly to do so.

TLDR: High likelihood to be canon and I'm a sucker for Knight/Princess ships.

KNIGHTSHADE ( BLAKE X JAUNE)

This is the part where I say definitely not. Not in a million years, but I'll explain why I like the ship, though. As for why it won't work, the answer is Bumbleby. They haven't kissed yet, but you know they're going to eventually (Because if they don't, the fans will attack like a swarm of hornets). But here's the question you might be asking now: why do I ship this? Well, it's part of the allure of "opposites attract" ('Cause I'm dressed like a cat!). Blake is an intelligent, outspoken, and agile ninja with a criminal history of terrorism who spends her free time reading novels. Jaune is a B at best on his tests, soft-hearted, and ground-based knight who's worst crime is fraud (Still a crime, but peanuts compared to literal terrorism) and spends his free time hanging out with his team. Day and night. But they also tried that with Sun for a season and a half and it didn't last (BECAUSE BEES).

TLDR: Not even a snowball's chance in the summer sun, but so much story potential if you do (Which I do)!

DRAGONSLAYER ( YANG X JAUNE )

This, I would say, is the opposite of Knightshade, where Jaune is the day and Blake is night, here Yang is the Sun and Jaune is the Moon (Like their crests! Remember those? Y'know, when they were relevant?) Will it work? Even less so than Knightshade. However, it does open up some interesting paths considering how... provocative Yang can be, and Jaune, compared to the other guys, is the nerdiest, geekiest dude at Beacon. It's like the cheerleader/nerd romance, except the cheerleader is the captain of every sports team... and rides a motorcycle. The Volume 8 preview introduced us to Yang and Jaune riding motorcycles and we went nuts over it. Yang was back in her element, roaring down the street, riding on walls, popping off tricks with Oscar riding- Back to what I was saying, people were asking, "How did he know how to ride a motorcycle?" and the elementary answer is "He didn't." He almost fell off his bike from a small box in the road. True, anyone would, but look at how he reacts: he stiffens, he refocuses on the road. This kid literally started riding at breakfast, and I DARE you to prove me wrong. But hey, great fic material right there, though, eh?

TLDR: Never gonna happen, but I don't care. All I care about is writing that they love each other. And they also fu-!

ARKOS ( PYRRHA X JAUNE )

I'm sorry, I need a moment. . . . Alright. Do it for her. This ship... was perfect. Probably the best ship out them all. I legit almost cry every time I think about Volume 3. Pyrrha was everyone's favorite. Her background, her interactions, her choreography, everything! But, of course, like everything in our lives, she was too good to be true. But let's honor her memory by talking about her ship, Arkos. Pyrrha was the champion of the world, the Brothers' and Oums' gift to Remnant. She could do no wrong and she HATED it. Her plight was with how she was seen. Everybody knew her! Everybody, except Jaune. And he only figured out she was "a big deal" was because Weiss had to spell it out for him! As time went on, they became the best of friends, two peas in a pod, the perfect odd couple! They worked together and trusted each other, they cared for and supported each other, they lo- No. No, I can't say it. It's been years, and it still hurts. So, I'll explain something else: the reason why Jaune SHOULD NOT be shipped right now. That reason is Pyrrha. Jaune was helpless to save her. He's suffering from survivor's guilt and he's still grieving. In Volume 4, he would sneak away and train until late at night to scroll recording of her. In Volume 5, he confronted Cinder and got Weiss almost killed because he let his grief for Pyrrha take control of him and let his emotions run wild. In Volume 6, he finds the Pyrrha statue and he... I don't know how to say this, but he let's go. He accepts that Pyrrha is gone and he's starting the healing process. He's finally ready to move forward.

TLDR: T.T I never felt that it was wise to wish too much~

MARTIAL ARCS ( REN X JAUNE)

I'll be honest, I don't really ship it. Yeah, it's cute, and it falls perfectly into the "if I had to pick a guy" part of me, but to be honest, I don't ship it. 10% because Renora and 90% it just doesn't click with me. They both just seem too soft, too quiet, too introverted. Best friends? Yes, definitely! But lovers? Eeeeeh, not really.

TLDR: I will only ship as neccessary.

NORA'S ARC ( NORA X JAUNE )

I've only just got in this deep with the fandom only recently, so I don't know if a lot of you know me. Heck, I'm probably just some RWBY fan you happen to spot as you move through your dash. However, old or new, I want to be made absolutely positively clear on this. Of all the ships here, this has got to be my-

O T FUDGIN' P

Wow! Never thought I'd feel so strongly about a crack ship like this. And yes, as sad it is to say, this is a crack ship. Renora was planned from day one, so it can't be helped. At least it didn't blast me in the face all of the sudden (OH NO, NOT THE BEES! AAAAARGH! THEY'RE IN MY EYES!). But why this ship? Well, for one thing, it's that whole opposites attract thing with Nora as the bubbly, outspoken, airhead powerhouse and Jaune as the soft spoken, introverted, nerd tactician. But wait, there's more to this trope, because it can go deeper: Order VS Chaos! Who makes all the messes? Who cleans up those messes? Who follows all the rules? Who makes their own doors? It's just. So. Damn! GOOD! One sad thing about this ship though is that it's not only not canon because of Renora, it's anti-canon because Renora. Every fan fic of Nora's Arc requires an explanation for Ren and Nora to not be together-together, like you have to write a formal apology to the FNDM for liking something that's different from what is canon or commonly accepted. If that's the case, then I'll be the anarchist here!

TLDR: I LOVE IT! What's that? Not canon? Who gives a damn?! I just explained why Jaune won't be shipped anyways! Now, if you'll excuse, I have some fan fics to find.

ARCFALL ( CINDER X JAUNE )

Oh, here it goes! Now, if we're talking ships that'll never happen, this is where we find better reasons than "it's not canon" and "character development". No, this... This is a declaration of war. Allow me to explain. Cinder Fall is evil. Like, down to her core. She wants power and she'll cut through anyone to get to it. Including Pyrrha. This woman sank Arkos by means other than "X and Y kissed, so..." She killed X, leaving Y alone. And her interactions with Jaune tell me she wouldn't even be worth a hate-bang. But, as Momma always, there's a thin line between love and hate. This is where the appeal comes in. Cinder is evil with no past, which leaves the previous chapter's of her life story blank to be filled in. Jaune is good with a troublesome, albeit easy past, but untapped potential for more. It's another opposites attract, but different from INTRO VS EXTRO and CHAOS VS ORDER; this is GOOD VS EVIL. Who will win this battle of wills; will our hero purify the tainted heart, or will he slip deeper into darkness, never to return to the light?

TLDR: Should be a NOTP, and yet the allure pulls me in.

What do y'all think? Do you agree? Let me know!

[dangermousie]

So, here is my list of telenovelas to watch

099 Central (Argentina) - hot cops fight a super psycho who is hero’s brother and make out. I am in it for the leads who I will watch in anything (they are the OTP in Padre Coraje.)

Alborada (Mexico) - like one of those old-school romance novels, our hero is a hunted nobleman whose paths cross with a mistreated wife.  Wife’s evil in-laws blackmail him into pretending to be her husband on pain of death (go with it - just think of Kathleen Woodiwiss) because they need heroine to have a kid. That happens and they meet years later. I am here for fine lawn shirts, swords, tight pants, and make-outs in the field of flowers.

Alma Pirata (Argentina) - three friends, love stories, revenge blah blah. Watching because recommended. 

Amazonia (Brazil) - it’s period, that’s all I need to know. 

Amor del Bueno (Peru) - have never seen a Peruvian one. Also politician’s wife and hardcore journalist falling for each other when they are kidnapped? Yes PLS.

Amor Gitano (Mexico) - noble woman in love with a gypsy in the Middle Ages? OMG where do I sign up! 

Caminho dos Indios (Brazil) - a telenovela set in India? Frankly I am checking it out because It sounds so strange!

Chocolate com Pimento (Brazil) - 1920s, flappers, chocolate factory, poor heroine makes good.

Corazon Salvaje (Mexico) - 1993 version. Pirate x nun. That’s all that needs to be said.

Corazon Valiente (US) - two lady bffs meet as adults. There are cops and stuff and it’s on Netflix so I am gonna give it a try.

El Elegido (Argentina) - adultery! masons! blah blah blah!!! It came recommended and I like the actors but frankly I know little about it.

El Zorro, la espada y la rosa - Zorro!!!! Mmmmmm!!!!

Gabriela (Brazil) - small 1920s town is shaken up by the arrival of Gabriela, a sultry and mesmerizing migrant and Mundinho Falcao, a young reformer. Surprisingly they do not hook up but have parallel stories and OTPs. Hooray. Based on one of my very favorite novels though only very very loosely.

La Dona (Mexico) - lady and her daughter fight for the same man. Okaaaaaay. But looks pretty!

La Esclava Isaura (Brazil) - yup, am gonna rewatch the 70s novela of my childhood about boring but virtuous white slave girl who finds happiness despite her evil master. The main heroine is blah but ahhhh the side stories! Ah, Henrique my love! 

La Gata (Mexico) - poor girl, rich boy. Oh, my girlcrush Maite Perroni, ILY!

La Mujer en el Espejo (Colombia) - ugly woman becomes pretty during the day thanks to a magic mirror (and back to ugly at night) but what happens when it breaks? This sound awesome!

La Passione (Brazil) - lady learns her husband gave away her kid. My fave plot trope, sorry!

La Tempestad (Mexico) - I am here for William Levy. The end. I am sure there is some sort of a plot but does it really matter?

La Traicion (Colombia) - two hot identical twins in the 1890s fall for the heroine. Pity that one is evil and will stop at nothing to separate her from her true love, the other twin. (Lady, why be picky? Either one looks like Mario Cimarro.) This sounds so bonkers I simply must. 

La Usurpadora (Mexico) - if I discovered I had an identical twin, I’d find better uses for that knowledge than to ask her to swap with me so she could put up with my husband, who is awesome, sexy and looks like Fernando Colunga. But what do I know?

Made in Cartagena (Colombia) - lady is ordered to seek revenge on awesome guy. Geeee, I wonder what will happen? Mainly to see Miguel de Miguel play a sweetheart as he was so repulsive and terrifying in La Esclava Blanca, I cannot imagine it.

Mas Sabe el Diablo (US) - the mob plus the male lead looks a lot like Aidan Turner and I am a shallow woman!

Milagros aka Mas Alla del Horizonte (Argentina) - set in 19th century, this has it all - evil families, star-crossed lovers (he is a white boy brought up by Indians! She is a well-off white lady!) etc etc etc! 

Montecristo (Argentina) - modern day count of monte cristo. Yum.

Morena Clara (Venezuela) - 1980s clothes and mullets (yes, one of the characters has a mullet!) terrify me but I am a sucker for star-crossed lovers and want to see Luis Jose Santander as an earnest romance hero after watching him steal the show as a charming scoundrel in Pasion. P.S. I am aware Morena Clara was made in 1994. Somehow it still has 80s hairdos and fashions.

O Clone (Brazil) - a woman is torn between her lover and his clone. Ummmmm. Solutions that come to mind are not suitable to family television.

Padre Coraje (Argentina) - yes, I am still watching this beast of a show! It’s almost 200 eps and I am on 135. Noble bandit pretends to be a priest to solve a crime, hooks up with the victim’s daughter, there are psychos and supernatural conspiracies.  if you ever wanted to see a reincarnation of Jesus nibble on a woman's neck and caress her legs, this is for you.   

Pasion (Mexico) - am on ep 70 of 95 now. Pirates, damsels, evil lords, costumes, wigs, multiple OTPs oh my. It’s not deep or realistic in any way, but sometimes I have a yet for a picaresque fluffy romance novel of a show.

Pasion de Gavilanes (Colombia) - it feels like I’ve been watching this for a decade because this is pretty and shippy but so slow I can literally hear grass grow as I watch.

Pasion y Poder (Mexico) - poor abused oppressed rich wife wants to leave her monster of a husband and reunite with her first love. Ooops, everyone in the audience apparently is bored to death by first love and evil husband steals the show. The fun is watching the poor writers trying to madly rewrite the story halfway through and turn supposedly evil husband into a misunderstood woobie. Eh, who am I kidding, I am here for Fenrando Colunga, 50 but still fiiine, going from villain to hero on the sheer force of his charisma.

Ramona (Mexico) - noble Indians and noble Spanish fight evil Americans in the 1840s. I am here for Eduardo Palomo in a loin cloth and also because I’ve never seen Kate del Castillo in anything. Secondary dude has an unfortunate 70s mustache but alas we can’t all be perfect.

Reina de Corazones (US) - Our heroine wakes up not remembering her marriage to a hot hot guy. I wish we all had such problems.

Resistire aka Siempre Julia (Argentina) - talk about married to the mob! Poor heroine unknowingly marries an evil mobster with a plan to take over the world. Luckily, one of his assistants (a) also wants out of the life (b) is madly in love with her. Witness protection and make outs ensue!

Rosario Tijeras (Colombia) - a mob hit woman gets involved with two different dudes and nothing good happens to anyone. I’d prefer the Mexican version but can’t find it anywhere with subs and this is on Netflix. 

Senora Acero (Mexico) - bring it on, cartel queen in love with a federal agent! On Netflix.

Sortilegio (Mexico) William Levy and his biceps star as an amnesiac who is told a lady is his wife but little does he know she was forced by his evil brother to pretend to be so to steal his cash. We all should have such luck!

Terra Esperanza aka Esperanca (Brazil) - true lovers are separated by a trip to Brazil where our “hero” (I use the term loosely) acquires another wife. Ooops, his first love is not dead and somehow sets to win her hapless, spineless but very hot man back. Good luck to you, lady!

Terra Nostra (Brazil) - lovers are separated by a trip to Brazil where our hero acquires another wife. I am noticing a theme here. Luckily, heroine also acquired a husband so reciprocal angst and misery for everyone.

Yago, Pasion Morena (Argentina) - villager x city lady. Here purely because of my Facundo Arana megacrush.