#I'm not going to tag it with the pairing I don't ship because that's rude

[callingcxrd]

God okay I don't normally complain about petty fandom problems or whatever but I just got a poll from a tag on my dash on if two characters are dating that literally one of them canonically HATES and is outright extremely rude to the other who did nothing and it overwhelmingly voted they were. This is not a cutesy baby and a tsundere one of them is just fucking awful to them for no reason YOU GUYS HAVE TO STOP CARING ABOUT CHARACTERS JUST BECAUSE YOU DECIDED THEY SHOULD BE SHIPPED TOGETHER

CARE ABOUT CHARACTERS OUTSIDE OF BEING A SHIP THEY ALREADY HAVE THEIR OWN STORY AND EVERYTHING STOP CONTRIBUTING TO THE EXTREMELY REDUCTIVE PRACTICE OF TAKING AWAY ALL CHARACTER DEPTH AND STORY BECAUSE TWO CHARACTERS STAND NEXT TO EACH OTHER

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest.

Eddeth

Day #30 - Fame & Fortune | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Fake!Eddeth, Steddie | Tags: Modern AU, Stop Trying to Make Eddeth Happen, It's Not Gonna Happen, Eddie & Gareth Are Best Friends, They Are Also: Idiot², Paparazzi, Social Media, Luddite Eddie, Steve Harrington Has To Clean Up All Their Messes, But What Else Is New?

"Did you know they're shipping us?" 

"Shipping us where? I hope they poke holes first," Eddie says, looking over at Gareth as he's scrolling on his phone. Gareth isn't listening to him, doesn't even laugh, which Eddie thinks is rude. That was a great dad joke.

He's picked up dad jokes from Steve, because Steve's corny as fuck. 

"Not like that," Gareth says, "like, shipping us together. We have a name and everything."

"Speak English," Eddie demands.

"You know, like Bennifer? But we're Eddeth," Gareth says.

"Who's Bennifer?"

"Which version?" Gareth asks, "Nevermind. You don't care. It's the ship name for Ben and Jennifer together. Do you never read the tabloids?"

"No. And I don't like that," Eddie says.

"Well, I knew you wouldn't. But now they're thinking about us. Together. Romantically. Enough that we have a mash-up of our names together."

Eddie barks out a laugh, "Well, alright. Whatever floats their boat."

Gareth sits there quietly for a bit, then says, "Maybe we can use this. Drum up some attention for the band. Get our name out there. Be a trending hashtag."

"I don't know what that means," Eddie says. 

"I know you don't. But we could, like, get in the zeitgeist."

"I hate everything you're choosing to be right now," Eddie says.

"Eddie. This could blow us up."

"Well, sure, in that case I'll tell Steve to just step aside."

"Not for real, dummy. Just for the paparazzi. Get our names talked about more. If they see more of the band, they may like the band more."

Eddie says he'll think about it, but he has no intention of doing any of that. They are exactly the right amount of famous. He can walk down the street without being harassed, but they live comfortably. He isn't about to upset that apple cart.

But it persists. There's buzz, apparently. At least according to Gareth, anyway.

So, at the next show, Eddie hops up on the drum riser and covers Bang Dem Sticks, while flirting with Gareth. It is possible to flirt platonically, and he does it very well. 

The next day, Gareth shows him all the chatter. The tiktoks. The commentary. And, well, maybe they could use this to their advantage. Just for a minute.

So, they walk down a dozen different sidewalks, and no paparazzi cameras pop out to snap pictures. Which is normal. He isn't sure why Gareth suddenly thought they'd make TMZ. 

But Gareth persists, and they even go to the Ivy, and still nothing. 

Even LAX is a fucking bust. 

That night, Eddie crawls into bed next to Steve, and sighs.

"What's the matter with you?" Steve asks, tipping down his iPad to look at Eddie.

"Nobody will take my picture with Gareth."

Steve laughs, "What the hell are you talking about?"

So, Eddie tells him their grand plan, and Steve is laughing his fucking ass off before Eddie can even finish. 

"Eddie. You have to call the paps if you want to do a pap walk. They aren't mind-readers. They don't just show up. Do you think all those pictures of celebs you see are actually candid? They definitely aren't."

Well, Eddie never looks at pap pictures. He has no fucking clue. He likes to fly under the radar.

"Really?" Eddie eventually asks. 

"Really. Do you want me to organize a pap walk for you?" Steve asks, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Well. Kinda," he says, "we're Eddeth."

"I know, honey. I've seen all the videos of you flirting with him on stage."

Eddie laughs, "You know that's not real, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm not new here," Steve says, "I'll call it in tomorrow. You can be photographed to your heart's content."

And they are. As if it were magic, a handful of photogs are suddenly very aware of where they'll be on various outings. Eddie holds the door for Gareth. Hugs him on the street corner. They get an inordinate amount of coffees that Eddie doesn't even like.

The pictures run, and not a lot of people care, but they are being discussed in some circles. 

So, they keep doing it. Dinners and movies and trips through the airport where they're not really going anywhere. Only going through security, as if they were.

That's a brand new kind of torture. Who goes through TSA when they don't actually have to? 

More coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee. Eddie's never bought this many drinks in his life. 

And then the bottom falls out. 

Someone makes a video that goes extremely viral, explaining everyone in their Corroded Coffin circle. 

Including Steve. 

In fact, it's almost mourning the breakup of them. Steddie. They're Steddie, apparently, and now the fans, the real fans, those that actually have followed them, are upset. Pointing fingers, assigning blame. Some to Eddie, some to Gareth.

Fuck.

"Uh, we've got a problem," Eddie tells Steve, and Steve just shakes his head, already aware of the situation.

"Do we have to do a pap walk now?" Eddie asks, worrying his hands together. 

He never did anything romantic with Gareth. It can all be explained away, swept under the rug. 

He thinks.

He hopes.

"I really don't want to," Steve says, and that's that. They won't.

Now, Eddie's either a cheater in the eyes of their actual fans, or they think Steve's gone. 

Instead, Gareth does a couple pap walks with his girlfriend, and she's branded a beard, immediately. They really fucked this up, big time. 

"We'll go to dinner. The four of us," Steve says, "I'll call it in."

And Eddie kisses his cheek, over and over.

Just to be safe, Steve has their publicist send TMZ a copy of their marriage certificate, and some boilerplate that Eddie and Gareth are just best friends, and always have been.

As they settle into the booth at the restaurant, pictures still being taken, Steve asks, "Are we done trying to be tabloid fodder? Have we learned our lesson?"

"Yes, Steve," Eddie and Gareth both say in unison.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @corrodedcoffinfest and follow along with the fun! 🦇

[vodika-vibes]

I had a thought! You'd said you liked to write for Bacara but he was sorta niche... what if reader needed to learn Bacara - as *he* wants to be known. Let's say that Reader catches his attention (do we want to do medic!Reader?) and whether it's Bacara coming in with a brother or himself as the patient, he develops Feelings for Reader. He wants Reader to know what makes him unique from his brothers, his best qualities... allllllll that stuff, but I'm also trying to utilize this as an intro to Bacara because I don't know a thing about him! *the truth comes out* So like Bacara's Best Sides, According To Him or something? If this isn't hitting, feel free to ignore! Thank you 🌑

Best Of Me

Summary: You're a Doctor attached to the Nova Corps, and Commander Bacara is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Luckily, he wants to be more open with you.

Pairing: Commander Bacara x F!Reader

Word Count: 1821

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: I couldn't quite make your request work as written based on Bacara's personality, but I hope that this is okay too!

“How are you holding up?” You look up from where you’re checking your kit, and it takes you a moment to recognize Commander Bacara under all of the muck covering his armor.

“Oh, Commander,” You straighten, “I’m okay. This isn’t really what I was expecting when I was sent to the Nova Corps, though.”

You watch as he removes his helmet and sets it on a chair, and you frown when you see a bruise over his eye, not to mention the dark circles under his eyes. 

You fight the urge to force him to sit down to give him a full exam. Commander Bacara only allows his brothers to give him medical attention. You know this.

“You’re not doing terribly,” Bacara says, high praise coming from him honestly, “I half expected you to complain about being forced to leave the ship.”

You frown at him, slightly hurt, “I wasn’t aware that you had such a low opinion of me, Commander.”

He blinks at you, seemingly surprised by your words, “I…no. That’s not what I meant.”

You squint at him. Commander Bacara is a loner, the other men in the Nova Corps were all very careful about making sure that you knew that. They warned you that he, likely, wasn’t going to talk to you much, and when he did, he was going to insult you.

And, in the year that you’ve been assigned to this battalion, you’ve come to recognize that he is something of a loner. And a perfectionist. But never rude, and in fact, this is the closest he’s ever come to insulting you at all.

“Are you alright, Commander?” You ask, “Did you take a hit to the head?”

He frowns at you, “I don’t have a concussion.”

“I think you should let me be the judge of that, don’t you?” You ask gently, though you don’t move closer to him. If he doesn’t want you to treat him, then you won’t. But if he leaves, then you will shoot a message to Syringe, the CMO of the Nova Corps.

Bacara doesn’t say anything for a moment, and then he sighs, “Fine, but make it quick. I need to get back to General Mundi.”

You smile at him warmly, “Of course, Commander.”

He sinks into one of the chairs, and you walk over to give him a quick exam. You keep your touch gentle, not wanting to give him any reason to now want to come back to you for medical attention, “This is really unnecessary,” he grumbles.

“Better safe than sorry, right Commander?” You ask with a bright smile as you tilt his head back slightly, “Any nausea?”

“None.”

“Headache? Dizziness?”

“No, and no.”

You move your fingers to his jaw to tilt his head a little bit, but his hands come up and wrap around your wrists. Firmly, but not roughly, “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Worrying is what I do, Commander. It’s part of my job. But you seem fine, so I’ll let you get back to work.”

“I appreciate it.” He releases your wrists and gets to his feet.

Bacara towers over you, but you’ve never been intimidated by him. Instead you smile at him, warm and soft, and then you step away to go back to your project.

Bacara grabs his helmet and he hesitates for a moment, “Hey, Doc-?”

“Hm? Is something wrong, Commander?”

He absently passes his helmet from one hand to the other, “No. Not wrong.” Bacara finally says, before he flashes the smallest smile in your direction, “I’d like to get to know you better, when we have the time.” He admits, “I know what my brothers told you about me…and I’d like you to meet the real me.”

You blink at him, and then you flash a bright smile, “I look forward to it, Commander.”

His small smile widens a little bit, and then he pulls his helmet on and he’s gone. Back to the fighting. Back to the war.

You turn back to your work, a small grin on your lips. 

You’re not unused to the men in the Nova Corps flirting with you. For some of them it comes as easily as breathing. But Bacara has always been a little different.

Honestly, you’re not even sure if he was flirting with you. But hey, a girl can dream, right?

Bacara sighs as he walks through the darkened halls of the ship. It’s late enough that he should be in bed, just like the majority of his brothers, but he can’t seem to settle his mind enough to actually get some rest.

The Nova Corps has been fighting on this planet for four months now, and he’s long since moved past tired and onto full on exhausted.

But, since he can’t sleep, he might as well get some work done…or maybe just work out some of the energy on the training mats.

He pauses as he passes the medbay. The light is still on, which is strange, since he knows that there’s no patients at the moment. Lightly he raps on the door, and then slides the door open.

And the moment he sees her, his breath catches.

To be completely frank, his crush on the pretty doctor is humiliating. Especially since he knows he’s one of over a dozen men who are crushing on her. One of over a dozen identical men, many of whom are more approachable than he is.

She lifts her gaze from her datapad, and her pretty eyes zero in on him, before a brilliant smile crosses her lips.

Bacara feels his heart skip a beat, she really is unfairly pretty. And that smile of hers should be classified as a weapon with how much it affects him. 

“Commander!” Even her voice is unfairly pretty.

He’s so kriffed.

“You’re up late,” Bacara notes as he glances around the room, and sees that all of the beds are empty, “Shouldn’t you be taking a break?”

She laughs, “I laid down and ended up just tossing and turning, so I thought I’d just bore myself to sleep.”

He pauses, “Want some company?”

“I would love some company.” 

He steps into the room and allows the door to slide shut behind him as he crosses the room and sinks into the chair across from her with a sigh. 

She’s still smiling at him, all warm and pretty, “So, why are you awake?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Bacara admits as he tilts his head back, “I’m so kriffing tired, but I can’t sleep.”

Her smile is sympathetic, “I have something I can give you to help you sleep, if you like.”

“That’s nice of you, but no thanks.” He glances at you, “So, what are you working on?”

“Just making my notes in the files of the men who saw me today,” She rests her chin on the palm of her hand, her gaze locked on his face, “It’s a shame that we’re always jumping from one battle to another. I have some ideas that I wanted to try to work on-” 

“Yeah?”

She shrugs, “I’m a medical doctor, yeah, but I started off as a medical researcher.”

“Researching what?”

“Viruses, bacteria, cancers,” She shrugs one shoulder, “Honestly, I find your enhanced aging fascinating, and with enough time I’m sure I could reverse it.”

Bacara stares at her, “Why would you do that?”

“Because you all deserve a chance at a regular life when the war is over,” And then she laughs softly, “I haven’t actually started doing any research yet though.”

“Why not?”

“I wasn’t sure anyone would agree. And I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.”

“You should. I’ll let you take blood or whatever from me,” Bacara offers.

“I might just take you up on that offer,” She replies with a small smile, “You know, I think this is the longest conversation we’ve ever had.”

“Yeah, well…” He shrugs, “I know my brothers told stories about me.”

“They did.” Her voice is soft, “I haven’t found any of the stories to be true, though. I think you’re very likable.”

Bacara’s heart flips again, “...how likable?” He can’t stop himself from asking.

She laughs, though there’s nothing cruel about it, “Very likable.”

“Oh, good.”

She pauses and twirls her pen between her fingers, “Actually, Bacara,” She says slowly, and he jolts as she says his name rather than his rank, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Are you…that is, do you have any interest in dating?” She asks as she doesn’t meet his gaze.

“I suppose,” Bacara says slowly, his mouth slightly dry, “That depends on who the other person is.”

“If it was, say, me?”

“I’d be very interested.” He replies immediately.

A small smile lifts her lips, “In that case, would you like to go on a date with me? There’s not a lot we can do on the ship, but we can still have a movie night or something.”

“Yes!” Bacara blurts, and then his face heats, “Ah…I mean, yes. I would like that.”

She giggles and Bacara’s even more smitten, “Then it’s a plan.” She pauses for a moment and sets her pen on the table, before she gets to her feet and walks over to him.

Slowly she ducks her head and presses her lips against his temple.

Her lips are warm and soft and it takes every ounce of his will power to stop from wrapping his arms around her and pulling her onto his lap and kissing her like how he’s been dreaming of for months.

“Was that okay?” She asks softly.

“Yes.” He replies hoarsely, “It’s more than okay.”

Some of the worry fades from her face, and she smiles at him warmly. And then she gently takes his hand and pulls him to his feet. “Why don’t you lay down on one of the beds here?” She offers.

Bacara frowns, “I’m not sick-”

“No, but you are tired. Maybe you’ll sleep better with me in the room with you?”

The offer is a kind one, and, really, there’s no harm in trying. So he settles on one of the beds. She dims the lights and then returns to his side, and lightly trails her fingers through his hair, “Goodnight, Bacara.”

“Hm…night.” He replies as he drifts off to sleep.

And an hour later, he stirs when he feels a gentle weight on the bed. He blinks, blearily, trying to get his bearings. And then a small smile crosses his face when he sees the Doc with her head resting on her arms, fast asleep while sitting in a chair.

Slowly, he eases her into the bed next to him, and he wraps an arm around her as she tucks her head under his chin, already mostly asleep.

Sure, he’ll have to deal with his brothers’ teasing in the morning, but it’s worth it to have her in his arms.

[always---wrong]

Okay, so I wanted to discuss the situation with Alastor, his canonical sexuality, and fans.

I have seen the two sides alot.

So one side ships Al with numerous characters and sees this as casual fun.

And the other thinks this is disrespectful cause he is ace, or Aroace.

(I believe that he is Aroace. His va said so, his character has shown no interest in romance, and Viv may have confirmed it at some point)

Now, I am sex repulsed ace and I'm aro. And I have strong opinions. Alastor is my favorite character in Hazbin Hotel, he is also the FIRST confirmed ace character I've seen. (This doesn't include subtly implied characters) Because Al is the first and I care for him he is very important to me.

My opinion is really mixed because on one side it's; yeah, it is a fandom, and fandoms ship. It's what they do. Its also kind a rude to judge someone for their favorite pairings and stuff, in my opinion.

On the other side though I'm hurt. I am a queer person with basically no rep. And I hadn't realized how upset I was by this until I saw discourse over this character. I had FORGOTTEN that it was possible to have confirmed canonical ace characters. I had gotten so used to that just being a head cannon. And not only just an ace character but also an Aroace character. And not just that but a seemingly non sex favorable ace character. I would even argue he is sex repulsed.

My real problem with all this is:

Yes, I KNOW ace characters can have sex. But do you know who else can? Literally every single allosexual character. I KNOW aros can date. But you know who else can? Everyone else. The appeal of ACTUALLY having characters with the same sexuality as me is that they would be like me. Cause I and other aces like me never, ever get stories like that. So many times in media I would be enjoying a character who had shown NO interest in sex/romance and would suddenly be partnered up with another just for the heck of it. This has happened SO many times it's not even funny. It's incredibly frustrating.

So, the point I'm trying to make is that; YES, there are aces who have sex. HOWEVER, a large number of us do not. And it's like everyone forgets that. Your not writing Alastor having sex with Angel cause your showing the vast spectrum of asexuality. Your most likely writing it cause it's sex between two hot characters. It's simply maddening.

(One thing I wanted to say was, despite the fact that Al is ace i don't think it's bad to find him attractive. He is very pleasing to look at so I understand allos finding him hot. However I'm not sure where I stand with people sexualizing him. I think I'm leaning towards, 'please don't do it'.)

Now, the worst thing though is when I'm looking for content to enjoy. When I found out Al was canonically ace I was so happy and excited. I'm pretty sure this situation wouldn't make me nearly as frustrated if it weren't for the overwhelming amount of sexual content for Al. Some would be fine. I could just scroll past it if this were the case. But it is not. Content for Al is MOSTLY sexual. That's why I don't believe people when they keep saying they aren't invalidating aces because almost every time I go looking for a fic I have to scroll for HOURS just to find few non ship fics.

I can't even use the Asexual Alastor tag because all that does is bring me to a bunch of fics where the author is like 'he's ace trust me,' then proceeds to write smut.

Why can't I even use a tag made for aces without being drowned in smut. It's so frustrating! Like I'm getting to a point where I wish the authors would stop using the tag and openly admit they made him not ace for the story. Like I know your trying to not throw away his canonical sexuality but I mean at this point I think it'd be better if you did. And if someone is going to write sex favorable ace Al then please leave it to the aces. I trust us to at least weave it into his character instead of stating it and acting like it's there when it's not.

So basically: I don't mind if you ship him, just don't say he's ace or Aroace if your neither of those in ship/smut content. I'm sick of trying to find content that isn't sex/romance in Aroace tags!

I don't want to judge people for liking a ship. But I'm really tired.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE, I would love to see content with Al and Lucifer. Like them hating each other to like frenemies. It would be so funny.

Anyone have any platonic content with Al and the rest of the cast???

[heartfulselkie]

Look

If you see a post that is clearly for a certain ship and decide to reblog it - it is completely unnecessary for you to add tags along the lines of "I know this is for X ship but..." / "wow you can just tell they don't have chemistry" / "you can totally tell character A is thinking about their true love character Z instead of the one they're with here!"

Why?

Because its just plain rude!

How many times do we need to have this discussion? Someone put their time and effort into making a post/fic/art/whatever for a ship they enjoy! So what if its a rarepair or pairing that deviates from the main ship? If it's not to your taste then don't talk shit in the tags!

Or better yet just don't reblog it if you don't like it that much!

There's plenty of content available for the mainstream/canon ships for you to enjoy. So stop stomping over and making fun of the ships other people like. It's rude to the person who created something for a ship they like only to get someone saying "yeah I know this is about X ship but I'm going to talk about the real ship instead!"

Why does this continue to be a problem?

Some of you need to grow up.

[starrywooyo]

treasure: four

synopsis: when y/n gets whooshed into an alternate universe, an adventure: one with pirates and monsters and much, much more

pairing: ot8! pirate ateez x fem! reader (hongjoong / wooyoung focus towards end)

genre: pirate au!!

!!warnings(per chapter)!! - [bellow cut!] alcohol, drunk!teez, implied bullying (not actually) swearing, mentions of blood, mc is too nice for her own good, guns, knifes, jealous wooyo.

notes: finally a new chapter!! whoop whoop!!!

word count: 4.4k

tag list: @toxic-babexe , @sunnyhokyu

(if you wanna be added or removed to the taglist just lmk)

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“so, you can fight. you know how to use a sword. So I'll cut to the chase. I was talking to my crew and given your situation with your family, and the fact I lost some of my crew today, I'm still against the idea of having a woman on board but my crew seems to like you. so, I'd like you to join us. and Second, I wanna thank you for saving my life. I could've been heavily injured or dead if it wasn't for you. don't get me wrong though, just cause I'm thanking you and asking ye to join my crew doesn't mean i like you nor trust you.” he stands making his way to the door, opening it and just before he leaves, he turns to you again.

“you've got till we dock to give me your answer, what'll you do? join the illusion or you can get off my ship the next time we dock” he says still cold before leaving out the door to let you ponder your decision. 

what will you do...?

Join his crew? 

join him after how rude he's been to you? after all his insults... and all his sexist comments about women and ships... 

you couldn't deny the fact these thoughts made you not want to join his crew.

you just don't get him. How could he be so rude, cold, practically despising your presence one second and the next he saved you  and helped you through a panic attack... 

Does he have a split personality or something...

Despite these thoughts of the cold captain, the positives about joining the crew outweigh his bad points.

joining his crew could mean you can figure out how to get home!!... if you can get home that is.. and besides, you quite like the rest of his crew. they're nice and some are sweet. you can't just get up and leave them.  

so, you make your way out of your room and up the stairs onto the main deck, there were still traces of blood from the fight

you really wonder what happened and why those people attacked...

“Y/n~~” you heard your name being called, turning your head towards the voice.

oh? It's Yunho...?

looking at him you notice that he too has a few injuries of his own, he has a few cuts on his face and arms and it looks like he's got a bit of a busted lip...

“Oh Yunho... hi”

He makes his way down the rigging and walks towards you.

“so…” he begins. ”i uh overheard the captain saying he wants you to join us to seonghwa earlier,” he said.

you slightly nod gazing out towards the water.

Yunho tilts his head in your direction.

“are you going to?” he asked

he raises his hands in defence 

“I mean I'm not forcing you or anything but I think you should. We enjoy your company on the ship. and you're nice to be around, and… you might not know it yet but everyone in this ship is here because of a reason. So just think about it, okay?” he said and pats your shoulder. walking away to go elsewhere. 

you stand and watch the waves a bit more, the sound of them crashing against the ship calming. 

sighing you push yourself away from the side of the ship. and make my way inside. 

...

standing In Front of the door your palms began to sweat and slightly shake as you raise your fist to knock on the door

you knock, its quiet for a minute before someone sighs 

“Come in” a voice calls out.

opening the door you enter and the door swings shut behind you as if sealing your fate.

there he sits. map rolled out in front of him on the desk of a dark coloured bottle sitting on the corner. 

he shakes his hand angrily through his red hair 

“What” he spat out coldly. his eyes burning holes into me 

you clasp yor hands together in hopes to get them to stop shaking.

“i- i have my answer” you voice hoping it was loud enough for him to hear. 

he sighs out and rests his chin on his hand. 

“And what is it?” he asked.

“I'd like to join,” you say more confidently. 

He stands placing his hands on the table.

“Alright then. you may leave now” he said, still cold as he started to look over the map again. 

“yes sir” you quietly said and turned for the door.

“Stop” you heard him call out. you turn to face him. He makes his way to the front of the desk.

“If you're gonna be a part of my crew you best learn to address me properly” he spoke.

you just stand. blinking at him.

“Seriously” he sighs out and crosses his arms over his chest.

“It's the captain. c a p t a i n. captainnnn.” He said drawing out the last captain.

oh.

“ah, yes c-captain sorry” you apologised 

“good. don't apologise, just do it and get out and leave me be now” he spoke cold and proceeded to push you out the door.

you stand and turn back to face the now closed door that you were just shoved out. eyebrows furrowed and mouth slightly parted.

asshole. 

...

“Land hoooo!”

and there indeed was the island, it didn't take long to sail towards it nor dock the ship. and Soon all of you were on deck.  the captain giving out orders of who's to fetch what while on the island, you on the other hand didn't have a role. 

you were to simply fetch yourself some clothes for you to wear. if you were a part of the crew then you'd need your own instead of borrowing. and the person who was tasked to go with you was seonghwa.

so here you were walking with seonghwa as you looked at and bought various shirts, pants and even a skirt for some reason. Now you were just browsing the vast amounts of stalls.

you walked past a stall showing different styles of corsets, now you weren't gonna lie a few did catch your eye but you couldn't possibly wear one of those besides how would you breathe? 

“See something you like?” 

you jumped and turned to the voice 

seonghwa..

“yeah but I was just looking. I couldn't possibly get one” you told him. 

he tilts his head

“Why not?” he gestures to the countless women around you both, every one of them wearing a corset of some type. “they're all wearing one,” he said.

you laugh and shake your head.

“I just wouldn't feel comfortable wearing one,” you said. a half lie. you wanted one that's true but at the same time you thought you wouldn't feel comfortable with the constriction of your lungs while trying to breathe wearing one. 

he nods to your explanation 

“Okay” he said.  then you both start walking away from the stall

“Seonghwa~~~!!! Y/n~~~!!!” you and seonghwa stop at the sound of your names being called and you turn to where you heard them being called.

and there was wooyoung running towards you both, San and Yunho promptly running along after him.

Once he reaches you both. He flings his arms around both your necks pulling you both close to him.

“Hey you two!! Having fun? did you get some clothes for yerself y/n?” he asked, wide eyed looking at you.

Seonghwa shakes his arm off as San and Yunho catch up

“What’d you thinks in the bags woo?” he says to him waving the paper bag in his face.

“Okay, okay. Let's not argue. let's say we drop these bags back at the ship and~~” Yunho says pull you from wooyoung's grasp by your hands. pulling you close to him and wrapping his arm around your shoulder

“we all go get a drink at the tavern huh” he finishes looking between you all. biting his lip slightly. 

no one answers. seonghwa seems to be thinking about yunho's suggestion while wooyoung's eyes linger on yunho's arm that's around you.

just as you're about to open your mouth San pipes in.

“sounds like a great idea! besides, we could all use a drink couldn't we?” he said. 

everyone ends up agreeing and you all head back to the ship to drop off the bags and the things Yunho, wooyoung and san had bought. telling the others on the way about your plan to go to the tavern.

though you all forgot to do one very important thing...

...

Now here you all are sitting around a table in the bustling tavern, music slightly playing unheard over the countless men being loud and rowdy. you lightly sipping on our drink every so often. you didn't drink alcohol much.

while the others... well let's say they drank, and by drank you mean a lot. 

you don't know how long you were there for, but the table slowly but surely started to fill up with empty pint cups. you were all sat listening to jongho tell a story. Most of the guys tried their best to listen but most were dazed and out of it. eyes hazed over. poor seonghwa looked as though his head would hit the table any minute. 

jongho moving his arms ecstatically in his drunken state nearly hitting a poor guy walking past

“And there I was!! the criminal trapped right at the end, nearly had the sucker. THEN!! he socked me one and he would've gotten away but that's when i met the captain and-” 

SLAM 

jongho's story is interrupted by a heavily drunk wooyoung standing and slamming his hands on the table. He winces from the sting and staggers as he points his finger with his whole arm. 

“I'll tell you something about the captain,” he says, his speech slurred from drunkenness.  and goes on to tell his part.

you however being the only sober one notice something that everyone else doesn't in their drunken state of mind. 

a familiar mop of red hair entering the tavern and scanning the place until his eye lands on you. you feel yourself sinking into yourself trying to hide and as he marches to your table you focus back on the group and current drunken story teller: wooyoung.

“now. don't get me wrong. I love our captain but.. he can be a real mean asshole sometimes. makes me wanna take my dagger and ram it up his a-” he pauses mid-sentence and is looking at you. 

his eyebrows furrow

“what? what's with that face?” he asks his voice cracking at the start

and your eyes as well as the rest of the crews slightly shift to the furious red haired man standing behind him with his arms crossed

you forgot to tell the captain...

“what are you…” wooyoung begins and then follows your stare and everyone else's at the table and slowly oh so very slowly turns to face the captain

“Oh” he says.

the captain just stares at him, nose slightly flaring from anger.

wooyoung nervously smiles.

“hi hongjoong” he says

the captain or hongjoong raises his eyebrow.

“Excuse me?” he begins. His voice is laced with so much fury it makes you want to crawl into a hole and never come out.

He eyes all of you at the table.

“do.. do you all know how worried I've been!!?” he says, raising his voice as he slams his fist on the table as wooyoung did before only this time with more force as it tips over a few cups. 

“I came out of my room to find my crew. My crew. gone. no one seemed to bother telling me. Hell you didn't even leave a note.  I thought anything could've happened to you all. anything. I.. I thought you'd all been fucking captured or something!!” he yelled gaining the attention of other tavern goers. and the tavern goes slightly silent 

hongjoong laughs out in anger

“but no.. you're all here..” he says a bit quieter looking at the table now. the others looking down in shame but you. you saw something on the captain's face..

“drinking.. laughing.. and making fun” he added.

sadness 

That was what was on his face.

you could've sworn you heard him whisper out 'of me' at the end of his sentence.

He lets out a bit of a laugh 

“Whatever” he said biting his lip and wiped his face,

“Just hurry and get back to the ship. It's late. and we start planning our journey to find the Cromer tomorrow” and he made his way to the tavern door before shouting

“What are you all looking at! mind your own damn business!!” and then he was out the door.

...

After the outburst, most of the crew seemingly now sober after the scare from Hongjoong. Everyone was trying to tidy the bar table. but you. you had questions so you pestered seonghwa for the answers which he gave most likely because though looking sober he was still pretty drunk. 

you wanted to know about this Cromer thing the captain mentioned and all seonghwa said was it was the treasure they needed to find before it got into the wrong hands.

wrong hands. who could possibly be after this thing and if it's in the wrong hands then why are these people bad...?

but there it was. the beginning and plan of your first adventure...

you quickly leave the tavern, slightly shivering from the cool of the wind and make your way back to the ship.

only you don't get to the ship, you see hongjoong sitting on the beach watching the waves.

he sits, knees tucked up. his jacket discarded on the sand and his shirt's sleeves rolled up slightly.

carefully you tread your way towards him and settle on the sand beside him.

you stare at him. He makes no move to look at you and keeps his stare on the waves peacefully crashing in.

it's quiet for some time, nothing being spoken between the two of you. until it wasn't.

“What” falls past his lips ever as cold as always.

you suck in a breath about to answer him, but he speaks again.

“Why are you still sitting with me?” he says.

you're confused.

“after everything they were saying at the tavern.. I'm sure you agree with them” he says with a sniff.

he's... crying!!?

you softly smile to yourself.

“I think you've misunderstood, captain” you begin.

he side-glances at you confused.

“Your crew weren't bad mouthing you at all! they really care about you. In fact, they were telling me about how you saved them. how you saved each one of them and they're really grateful for you…” you finish

This only made the man cry more.

“hey hey” you say in a soothing tone and take his hands in yours and try to look at his face.

you gasp.

“y-you're bleeding!” you say. as you watch the blood seep out from underneath his eyepatch.

removing one of his hands from your hold he touches his face, and sure enough there's blood

he laughs slightly

“Oh. This just happens sometimes. it's nothing to worry about.” he tells you

nothing to worry about!!?

you stand and pull him to his feet

“What are you-” he begins but is cut off from you, starting to walk back to the ship and pull him into san's medic study.

you sit him down and search for some things. and once you find the things you turn back to him only to find more tears rolling down his cheeks.

“why” he says.

“Why are you being so nice to me when I've been a complete asshole to you…”

“well you are an asshole but I think you're more broken and kind than you let on captain” you explain to him as you wipe the slowly drying blood from his face

“hongjoong” he says.

you look at him.

“hmm”

“hongjoong. call me that” he says

you slowly nod. 

“okay. well hongjoong. Does it need to be cleaned under your eyepatch?” you say as you reach for it. he grabs your wrist.

“it's okay i can do it.. thanks y/n.. y-you can go.” he says. 

you stand and put a hand gently on his shoulder

“Are you sure?” 

he just nods ever so slightly.

and with no other option if he's not comfortable, you leave the room.

...

A few days had passed since the moment you had with hongjoong on the beach and in Sans study and it was sort of safe to say he was slowly changing his way of acting towards you and now you were also back on the waves beginning the search for this treasure.

 you were yet again leaning on the side of the ship watching the waves crashing on the wood, then a familiar mop of red hair pops in your peripheral vision.

turning to the side you see hongjoong also leaning on the side 

he looks at you and smirks a little

“enjoying the view,”  he asks.

you nod. 

“yeah, i am it's so peaceful” 

he smiles

“yeah it is. it's so freeing to me y'know?” he says, holding onto the side and leaning back as the wind blows through his hair.

he looks at you, only to find you looking back at him. His eyes looking conflicted in the next second.

“ah! yeah i was going to say. This voyage is most likely going to be dangerous. Now I know you can fight but you're missin a few points. I'd also like to train you up on using a gun and cutlass better if you're comfortable?” he says

your brows furrow

“you mean... you.. train me?” you ask to which he nods

“yeah.. if that's okay..” he adds

you agree

he claps his hands together once. 

“Great training starts tomorrow, okay?” he said and began to walk towards seonghwa who was at the wheel.

so training with the captain. How fun. if only you knew.

not long after the captain left you, another crew member saunters over to you 

wooyoung.

“so..” he begins

“training with the captain huh?” he asks 

“y'must be dreading that. with the way he treats you” he added

wooyoung lets out a nervous laugh ”you could.. always train with me.. y'know?”

you smile.

“That's sweet of you Woo. Thank you. but…” you say as your gaze drifts from him to where the captain stands now at the wheel 

“i'll have to get back to you on that one”

you miss the hurt that flashes on his face 

“no, no. That's okay. I was just saying because of how rude he is to you but whatever” he says and walks away.

what. what just happened.

you stand still looking in the direction wooyoung left in. perplexed.

shaking the feelings away, you make your way to yeosang's study. knocking on the door and entered once you heard his quiet 'come in'

you find him at his desk looking at the large map

“hey” you say to which he says hi back. you watch as he makes markings and little notes which you assume is for hongjoong about this journey.

“so..” you begin. “where are we going anyway?” you ask him 

He points to an island on the map.

“captain wants to go 'ere and thinks we'll find somethin useful there.. i disagree nothing but bandits there.” yeosang spoke his opinion. 

“maybe he knows something.. maybe there is something there” you tell him.

yeosang looks at you and sighs

“perhaps but its awful dangerous”

dangerous.. so that's why he wants me trained up you thought

...

Wooyoung sits in his crow nest with yunho.

yunho looking with his spyglass actually doing the job of a lookout, while wooyoung... well his spyglass is long forgotten on the planks of the crows nest. 

he sits with eyes fixated on you and the captain..

he watches as your cutlasses clang off each other and how hongjoong stops to adjust something about your stance or just giving pointers  

he doesn't fail to take notice of hongjoong's smile on his face nor the one on yours.

he sits arms crossed, tongue poking his cheek as he lets out another sigh

yunho sighs too

“wooyoung. why not instead of sitting and sighing. you do your job?” he says as he chucks the spyglass at him.

wooyoung lets out a laugh

“technically I am Yun. I'm observing the crew” he says

yunho shakes his head and continues to look through his own spyglass out a the waters

Yunho's words fall short as wooyoung continues to glare daggers at the pair below on the deck.

...

“again!” hongjoong said as he took his position, you followed suit, sighing. 

your whole body hurts. you've been doing this training for hours.. all day for the past 3 days. and let me tell you. hongjoong is not a lenient teacher. you definitely see why he's the captain. 

your cutlasses clang against each other and yet again he disarms you.

“Y'know if this was a real battle you'd be dead” he says throwing his head back running his hand through his red hair. when doing so he catches a glimpse of something or rather someone.

he lets out a chuckle

“Oh wow. this is great” he mutters under his breath, a small smirk making its way onto his face.

you stand and pick up your cutlass, hongjoong smirks

“again”

the metal crashes against each other

The cutlass again slips from your hand and pain shoots through you as you land on your butt.

the captain laughs and his sword points at your throat

“dead.. again” he says

nope he's still an asshole 

he holds out his hand for you to take it, you smack it away picking yourself up and your cutlass

“again” you say

hongjoong smirks again

“okay... determination i like it” he says and ready's himself 

and the clanging of metal begins again

he's being cocky you thought, and it was then that you saw your chance 

using your foot you slip it under his own making him fall on his own ass. 

“YESS” you hear being shouted. your eyes immediately flicker about to see who it was. then your eyes go up to see yunho with his hand over wooyoung's mouth as he raises his hand in apology

you shake your head with a laugh and turn back to the captain who's still on the floor glaring up at wooyoung

you lean yourself on your sword and then extend your hand to the captain

“well now you're dead captain” you say teasingly

he takes you hand and lets out a “ha ha”

he was about to say something-

“captain! land ho!!” yunho shouts from the nest. 

it was now that you took notice of your surroundings 

There it was! an island with rainforest looking trees. very dense looking. you're brought out of observing by hongjoong explaining what was going to happen.

“alright crew. we'll camp on the beach for now and some of you will stay 'ere and guard the ship. I don't think we need to worry about the bandits right now as we're on the other side of the island and at first light we'll make our trek to find her” he says 

and then the 9 of you plus a few extra pile into a few row boats after gathering some supplies and make the row towards the beach of the island. 

after getting to shore you all set up camp. and got started making a stew

“y'know there's still a few hours of light left. how'd you feel about training with one of these?” hongjoong asked you holding a pistol “you don't have to. i'd just feel calmer if you knew how to at least get a shot with one”

you reluctantly agree to do more of this training.

so now here you were a little ways further down the beach with some empty glass bottles on some crates.

“you ever shot one of these?” he asks

you shake your head 

“no.. we don't have guns back home or so to speak we're not allowed them” you say

“oh.. That's odd, nearly all towns and villages allow them here that I know of.. Right then.. well i'll show ye first then you can try okay?” he says and you nod.

and then hongjoong points the gun and bang! the glass shatters

you jump from the loud noise 

he notices and places a hand briefly on your shoulder

“You okay?”

you nod and then he places the gun in your hand

“now you try” he says 

and let's just say it's not going well. you've shot everywhere except the glass bottles. you've shot the sand, the crates, water even the tree just behind the crates

“y'know what” hongjoong says. ”I think I might have something that'll help you. i'll be back” he says as he makes his way back to the camp.

... 

again wooyoung sits eyeing the both of you still huffing and puffing. only this time instead of it being yunho its poor jongho that's getting the sigh’s in his ear.

that is until jongho's had enough.

“Why don't you just go over there and help her hmm? instead of huffing over here? Yer giving me a headache” he asks him, ”Look the captain’s coming back here so you go help her instead of whining to everyone about the captain being the one to help her.”  and with that jongho shoves the blonde in your direction down the beach.

“okay. i will just.. distract the captain for a bit will ya?” he says to jongho and then saunters his way down to you.  

... 

“Need some help?” 

startled from the sudden voice you turn to face them

“oh wooyoung.. yes please hongjo- ah the captain just disappeared on me” you say.

he takes the gun from your hands and settles himself on the sand patting the space next to him

“i feel you can't use a gun properly unless you understand how it works” and then he began explaining the different parts of the weapon to you

by the time he finished explaining the sun was starting to set

“okay now show me how you shoot, so i can see what it is you're doing wrong” he says

so you take aim and again miss the glass.

he nods

“hmm i see, 'ere try this and take aim” he says and passes you a smaller pistol. 

you take it and it feels much better in your small hands and then you aim for the bottles like he said

“you're also aiming too low.. try and aim just above the place you want to shoot” wooyoung spoke

he stands behind you almost flush. he gently touches your shoulders

“relax.. you're too tense you'll get hurt if you're too stiff” 

breathing in and then out trying to calm yourself, your shoulders visibly relax.

“good” he says

his hands slide from your shoulders down your arm to your hands where he raises your aim

“okay.. hold it there” his hands glide back up your arm and fall to rest on your waist

“shoot” he orders

BANG

his hands on your waist steadied you from the recoil 

the glass had shattered!!.

“better?” he whispered

you nod

“thank you” you turn to look at him his hands still on your waist

he was so close..

you saw how his eyes looked into yours, how he took in a shaky breath

“y/n I..” he whispered

you both were so close that your noses where almost touching, that you could almost ki-

a loud terrifying shriek comes from the forest.

wooyoung's quick to grab the pistol from you and aim it in the direction the noise came from

“w-what was that!?” you ask trying to steady your breathing

“the beast” hongjoong said eyes bore into you both. 

a/n: hihi!! I don't normally do a/n's but I just wanna apologise for how long this chapter took to get published-

I'm very deeply sorry I've just been writing wips for other little au's, oneshots and series I wanna post for you all!! I also just had no motivation to write for the treasure series. I don't wanna get burned out. hence been writing some wips!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter though!! till next time!! <3

previous | next

[msmargaretmurry]

but what if i want to hear about the similarities between how ovi is written in sid/ovi fic and how leon is written in some matthew/leon fic

hello from fully three weeks later i am finally answering this, sorry to you and the anons who asked about it after i posted my sid/ovi thoughts for that ship meme 500 years ago. (also maybe helpful reading are my extended thoughts on how the ovi media narratives played into all that.)

disclaimer that i am absolutely not saying that ALL matthew/leon fic is like this because it very much is not (and i'm sure not all sid/ovi fic is like this either, i haven't looked at what's going on in that pairing tag for probably like a decade). i'm also not at all trying to call anyone out or say they're writing fic "wrong" or suggest they're wrong for enjoying these types of narratives. truly people can do what they want with their own fanfiction. i'm just speaking to general trends i've personally observed and find interesting!

the comparison here obviously arises from how we have two rivalry pairings of a north american anglophone character and a european character, who are pitted against each other by a combination of regional rivalry and media narratives. so it's totally understandable that this would lead to some similar themes/plots/etc/whatever.

what immediately stood out to me when i started reading matthew/leon fic was the tendency of a lot of the fic to center the experiences and feelings of the north american anglophone character—usually being from their pov—while the foreign character is treated with less nuance, often embodies some light stereotypes, and kind of serves as the reward the anglo character gets in exchange for his troubles. i think of this as the "x derserves a nice thing and y is a nice thing" story and it is definitely not limited to these pairings, but it is pretty prevalent.

like i don't think anyone would argue that there is a LOT of woobification of matthew in fic for this pairing (especially in the "keith's a+ parenting" subgenre), and much less so of leon. and honestly i don't think there's anything wrong with indulging in a little bit of woobification — i don't even think there's anything wrong with inventing difficult family situations for your woobified guy to be saved from (as long as you stay aware that you are making shit up and don't imagine abusiveness onto real-life people, obviously). a lot of people, especially young people, use fic to work through their feelings about those types of situations, and also fiction is allowed to be personal fantasy and it's allowed to be problematic, don't like don't read, etc, whatever. this post isn't here to fight that fight, lmao. anyway!

it's not a one-to-one comparison (they are all different people, obvs, and among other things sid's canadian hockey savior archetype is quite different from matthew's bratty american archetype), but the point is that to me that the centering of matthew's experiences and feelings while leon is kind of relegated to the role of hot european rival who unexpectedly saves our boy from his suffering/is the nice thing our suffering boy deserves feels SO similar to sid/ovi fic centering sid's experiences and feelings while ovi played a similar role (except with way more emphasis on his russian-ness, honestly i feel like the russian stereotyping was worse than the german stereotyping is now). i feel like you can also see this when fics emphasize behavoiors associated with negative stereotypes — e.g. ovi getting a kind of "sexy caveman" treatment, leon being characterized as overly rude or abrasive (as opposed to, like, self-admittedly sometimes grumpy and abrupt as facets of his larger, nuanced personality).

part of this obviously is just a inherent fanfiction thing. people love tropes and archtypes, they see these tropes and archtypes and they just run with them without thinking to hard about it. and i also understand how anglophone north american characters might seem more accessible as both pov guys and vessels for fantasy from a fanbase that is largely anglophone north american. like i said, i'm not trying to call people out or anything. but i do think the parallels are SUPER interesting and speak to the ways that we, hrpf fandom as a larger whole, engaging with hockey in transformative ways, are so very deeply NOT immune to the way the media and our sociocultural contexts shape our thoughts about players and teams and narratives in an often overwhelmingly north-american-centric and anglo-centric way. and that is worth thinking about!

"but becky," you might be saying, "doesn't haw engage in a lot of the things you just described?" well — yeah kinda! first of all, when i say WE are not immune, i very much include myself in that! but also, haw was an attempt by me to kind of interrogate and/or subvert those things (although i'm not sure how well i succeeded, lol). the story was borne out of my experience reading several "matthew deserves a nice thing and leon is a nice thing"-type fics and deciding that i would really like to read a story that was more like "maybe matthew DOESN'T really ~deserve a nice thing~ because he's just constantly creating his own problems, but in the end, after a long character journey, he accepts that he deserves love anyway. because he's a person and people deserve love." like, matthew in haw sees leon at first as this rude and abrasive guy — but that's not who leon actually is. matthew in haw has a complicated and kinda strained relationship with his dad — because of the mental place he's spiraled into, not because his dad doesn't love him. etc etc.

like i said, who knows how well i succeeded at actually subverting/interrogating that stuff. maybe i didn't at all 😂 but i wanted to mention it as a hopefully helpful example of how thinking about all this can expand one's fanfiction horizons, not limit them.

okay i think that's all i have. once again this is really not targeted at anyone specific or meant to make anyone feel bad or wrong. just something i noticed that i found really interesting and that i think is worth thinking about!

[mycadences]

That side: "Lucien and Vassa will carry book 6, the final ACOTAR book! Vassien FTW! Vassien has so many shippers! It's a major ship!"

^ They're literally called a lesser known ship (I blocked out the accounts of the other two just in case any enraged Elriel tries to identify them... but if you search the Vassien tag you'll find the original posts). Vassien was competing against the other rare pairs (aka no real major ships like Feysand/Nessian/Gwynriel/Elucien and yes even Elriel (I'll admit Elriel is a major ship... BUT VASSIEN ISN'T)).

I know posts like this may seem like I'm mocking Vassien shippers, but I'm actually calling out the Elriels who disguise themselves as Vassien shippers and try to paint some strange narrative where Vassien and Elriels are the top two shipping fandoms like they are not lmao.

It is fine to ship rare pairs. In fact, it's great because it introduces more pairing diversity into the fandom! If you are a true Vassien shipper reading this then I hope you continue doing what you like! What is not fine is pretending to be fans of a rare pair and acting like you're making some 3000 IQ move when you're just clowning yourself.

I've always been of the opinion that it's insulting and beyond rude to act like you're a fan of a ship you're not for your own hidden motive.

Bonus:

Ah yes, the ship you love so much that you don't even know its name... Thanks for shipping Jurian and Vassa! (This was an angry Elriel post ranting about Gwynriel that I stumbled across. I'm not going to share the name of this poster since, again, I don't want anyone to identify them and hunt them down. But I just thought it was kinda funny lol, I've seen so many Vassien "shippers" (cough ELRIELS cough) misspell their own ship name.)

Anyway the whole point of this post is to show that if there are two full-length novels left AND each book will follow one main couple with alternating POVs, then the only way the math adds up is if the next two books are Gwynriel/Elucien in any order.

Because if it's Elriel, who will take the last and presumably most important final book??

I keep seeing them say either Vassien will take it (but they have almost no fans ;-; and at the end of the day I'm here for the romance, I'm not going to read a book about a couple I don't support...) or the final book will be about the three Archeron sisters but... SJM literally said it's going to follow one main couple??? Or are you telling me the Archeron sisters are endgame (yikes)...

[lavenderprose]

The thing about fandom is like. Okay here's an example. I broadly dislike Calico Jack. I don't ship him with anybody (Aside from Anne&Mary because I enjoy the Problems they would cause) and while I do like nuance for him in fic, I have no wish to read any interpretation of his in-show character that is not 'Dirtbag man from dirtbag land.' But if you're a Calico Jack apologist and want to see him in a different light and ship him with people, I'm glad for you and hope you enjoy your activities. I'll be over here with my Barbie dolls and you'll be over there with your Barbie dolls and we don't HAVE to talk about how I think one of your Barbie dolls is wearing an ugly shirt. Or whatever.

That is literally what 'don't tag your hate' means, and it's been a core fandom tenet FOREVER. It's been a thing since before TAGS were a thing. Back during the Internet heyday of forums, best practice was to not seek out forums that were discussing topics you personally found objectionable. If Our Flag Means Death aired on network television in 2003, I guarantee you that there would be a forum dedicated to Calico Jack and it would be MY job to never go in there because I wouldn't like what I saw. And if I did go in there and make a nuisance of myself, it would be my own damn fault when someone came after me about it.

We don't have forums anymore. What we have are tags. And, generally speaking, people are going to be in the tags of certain topics because they ENJOY them. I don't go in the Homelander tag for The Boys because that's where the people who are horny about him hang out and that's not me. When I was in the Yuuri on Ice fandom, there were certain popular side pairings that I didn't enjoy and I NEVER went in the tags and talked about how I disliked those pairings. Because that would have been rude.

It just reads as. I don't know, childish? To make very vitriolic posts and tag those posts with the tags that you KNOW enjoyers of that thing use and frequent. Like, at a certain point you have to admit to even yourself that that's not the intended function of the tag. And I'm not sure if it's for attention (Like, signal boosting) or if it's just general misbehavior. TBH, it's something that's been happening for a long time. The McKirk tag was regularly inundated with hate (Tho less actual meta and more just straight up trolling) right after Star Trek Into Darkness came out and McKirk exploded weirdly in popularity. So even very old fandoms are engaging in this kind of behavior.

Honestly I'm not sure what the solution is because as we've all seen by now, asking nicely and asking...not so nicely both do not work. I think it starts somewhere from a place of just respecting your fellow fans and understanding that it's okay to dislike or disagree with a person or character or ship or plot without being nasty about it. A little respect and tolerance could go a long way.

[cvbullshit]

Okay, this will be the last time I talk about this.

I'm not doing the joke war anymore.

People started misunderstanding and getting rude over it.

To those who I unintentionally upset with it, I'm sorry. It was a big joke that I wasn't taking seriously. I do have my own opinions on what I like in a ship name but I don't really care if it gets used or not. I will still be using the ship name MurderVictim though, along with similar ship names such as MassMurder, but from now on in the tags I'll put cv/cv!/ship next to it so it doesn't get confused with actual things.

I started the "war" as a joke because the idea was funny to me. I tried to make it clear that it wasn't serious with tags and very goofy ways of speech. But it's clear no one got that and I do understand to an extent, tone indicators are hard to do online.

I'm keeping MurderVictim as a ship name for my CV pairing of Geno and Dust. You do what you want, I never cared about actually "converting" people to what I like.

But that's it. I'm done with this. I'm just going to move on with what I like and I'm gonna do regular scheduled posts.

[mrsreginagold]

I need to edit my weekly Nikari, but what happened yesterday regarding my accidental stumbling across a hater (either of my ship or just of me "spamming" the category on AO3, who knows but I'm not interacting with them to find out), started this cycle of self-doubt that's plagued me for years in fandom. And I need to ramble to exorcise it from my system.

Generally my experience has been that I get swept under the rug. Whether it's because I ship something rare or from a defunct fandom, I sadly have gotten used to being ignored. But it's also what's always made me hesitant to post my work somewhere more public than I'm comfortable with.

Back in my OUAT days, it took a *lot* to get me to finally start posting Golden Queen over on fanfiction.net. When I eventually got brave enough for AO3, I began with a small Star Wars ship that only mildly took off, and then moved on to my beloved Calibessa from Penny Dreadful.

My public posting hiatus occurred when I finally got fed up -- mostly due to the fallout of canon Golden Queen and an influx of explicit fic gaining more popularity by default than the virtual library I had been creating for years, I think anyone could understand me getting just a smidge bitter. But instead of bemoaning I took my leave. I was starting to suffer from some burn out anyway, so it was a good time to quietly exit.

I was fairly content taking a break and then slowly writing for myself again. I had ships that I enjoyed making private content for, and over the next few years I regained my passion for something that I consider a deep part of who I am: which is creating in general.

Then I got into Nikita, and Nikari came along.

You have to understand that I had not had a ship drive me the way they did since Calibessa. Sure I had some new pairings come along that I loved. I also delved back into beloved older pairs for variety. But Nikari just...sparked something in me that I can't fully explain.

I am incredibly grateful that I met some lovely souls in the Peter Outerbridge tag who coaxed me into sharing my work again. You all know who you are and your opinions are the ones that actually matter to me. The only reason I'm feeling any hurt and anger right now is because people just don't know how to be polite about pairings anymore. Bring back the term squick. It gets the point across without sounding rude.

Full disclosure: Pirahnashipping squicks me. Hell, John Kramer in general squicks me (though kudos to Tobin for his iconic performances in the role). I don't go bemoaning the fact that most of the content for William Easton is that, because I know it's what makes other people happy. I block/mute as appropriate, write my silly self indulgent crack ship for Will, and go on my merry way. It is *incredibly* simple.

The TL:DR of this is that it's very important to recognize that what you may view as a yuck is another person's yum, and that there is a person with feelings at the other end of the screen.

Anyway that's all for now. I've wasted enough time and must go edit now.

Oh and who knows if I'll ever properly archive my other works for other fandoms on AO3. If someone can get all up in a twist over Nikari, I shudder to think what Golden Queen or my tokusatsu based het will do.

[bensonstablers]

I was tagged by @sothischickshe (thank you!!! 🥰) to answer 20 questions for writers:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

205.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

609,094

3. What fandoms do you write for?

fandoms i've written for include:

Law & Order: SVU / L&O: Organized Crime

Good Girls

Gotham

Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel

Criminal Minds

Graceland

Stranger Things

The Walking Dead

Riverdale

Castlevania

Preacher

Four Brothers

Outer Banks

Gilmore Girls

while no longer available, in the past i've also written for:

Fast and Furious franchise

MCU / Marvel

Boondock Saints

Hocus Pocus

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series

DC

(plus more i'm probably forgetting about)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Shared History (Good Girls/Brio)

Degree of Separation (Good Girls/Brio)

Milkshakes (Good Girls/Brio)

Deep Sense of Belonging (Good Girls/Brio)

Sacred Art of Kissing (Good Girls/Brio)

5. Do you respond to comments?

i read all of them for sure but i'm terrible sometimes at responding although i do try my best

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

ooft, okay. there's probably more than this but the following have major character death warnings that could very well be classed as angsty lmao:

i wrote this little ficlet: Gone (SVU, bensler/EO) in which a raid goes wrong and it's just pain from start to finish and then there's Until Long After She Takes Her Final Breath which is a Good Girls/brio fic in which their reunion at the beginning of season 3 goes very differently.

Why don't we go to Venus? is another Good Girls/brio fic in which the summary is: Rio killed her and that was supposed to be the end of it but Beth doesn’t seem to be done with him quite yet.

that one is probably my angstiest overall but the ending is probably the least angsty bit about it??? haha

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

honestly? i have no idea and i have no clue how to check 😭😂

8. Do you get hate on fics?

there was someone going around the SVU/OC fandom leaving weird hate comments on people's stuff (anonymously) and i got one but while it felt rude, it didn't feel like hate, but also it felt like it was supposed to be hateful, y'know? pretty sure i just deleted it though (i for sure ignored it) 😂

but generally, no. i'm lucky to say that i tend to avoid hate on social media and that includes fanfiction.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i have done and the variety isn't huge but it's there? i guess?

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i have done! beyond the obvious (where shows, etc share worlds), i did a boondock saints/the walking dead one (which was also co-written) because norman reedus stars in both 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i'm aware of?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

again, not that i'm aware of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! the aforemention boondock saints/the walking dead fic was co-written on ff.net and i co-wrote (with the same person), a fast and furious fic.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

i lost myself a ton in writing olivia/elliot from svu/organized crime as well as beth/rio from good girls so they'd probably battle it out for top spot.

BUT

if i'm being brutally honest, my all time favourite ever to write were fast and furious ships 😂 especially the OGs (specifically vince and leon) with my OCs (although there were canon ships i loved to write too!). it was just so fun and freeing and i constantly think about it.

(i also loved when i wrote random marvel/mcu pairings, winterwitch was probably my number one for them and again, i think about it a lot)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i think it's unlikely i'll finish a lot but especially a degree of separation. i kind of hate it, i'm so sorry 😭😭😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

the thought of analysing my own writing right now sounds painful but two of the most common nice things people tell me is that: 1) they like how i write dialogue and 2) they like my writing style in general

(but of which i highly appreciate!)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i don't do it enough?

nah. true but seriously, there's a ton, however, i do tend to waffle on and write something in several sentences that could have been just one 😭

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't think i've ever done it? if i have it'll be dialogue or whatever that's already in the show/move/etc

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Fast and the Furious 🥰

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

still on ao3: it has to be Why don't we go to Venus? but also Knock First which is a Beth/Rio/Original Male Character threesome fic that was SO MUCH fun

no longer posted: a fic for The Fast and the Furious. it was a Vince/OC story. it was so much fun to write and it was one of my most popular back when i was posting on ff.net and i miss this story all the time (even though it's probably awful 😂) and always think about re-writing and posting it again on ao3

Tagging: @conscience-killer @constant-sinner @astarkey @xstrawmari @blainesebastian if ya like! (sorry if you've been tagged before!)

[skeptiquewrites]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @tackytigerfic (here) and @maesterchill (here). Emerging from my post illness hidey hole.

How many works do you have on ao3?

32, a number that both seems too large and smaller than I thought

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

254,835. Wild.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly HP, although once in a while I peek over at other fandoms. And I have a joint Check Please fic in the works.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All Drarry. None really surprised me but the final one, I hadn't realized it climbed that far up the kudos. Huh. 1. Yours Truly - my romcom fic about Harry feeling left out when everyone's coupled up, telling a lie that gets out of control, and also how hot magical ecology is 2. Home Truths - my Quidditch fic about the complications of fame, love of the game, Harry finding out who his family was and letting himself fall in love 3. Special Affinity - how quickly one can justify fucking one's coworker given a bonding spell while having no idea if the feelings part is reciprocal 4. Winner Takes It All - Draco feeling caught in impossible circumstances, working too much, caregiving for a parent, and how small kindnesses can mean the world 5. A Little Time - mistaken for a couple, forced proximity, Healer school, and everyone in a small town hating you and all your friends on sight

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I love responding to comments, but it takes me a while. I read every single one, and I try to wait until I have the time and energy to respond with something thoughtful. I'm months behind at this point.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm a fairly happy ending sort of person. I tend to go more for straight angst for drabbles and micros. Maybe Beside Manner? They're formerly bonded and dealing very badly with the dissolution.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh, gosh, most of them. I'm most enamoured by the Big Damn Kiss at the end of Home Truths. I love No Distance because Harry and Draco are very much in love and not able to hide it. I am particularly fond of the end of Winner because I was able to leave Draco in a very good place that felt right for the fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really I think. I get the occasional rude bookmark rating. Once, a very unpleasant person who sent lots of hate for months over a fairly inconsequential aspect of a fic. And then there have been a few comments where it's clear the reader wanted me to write a different fic, which I don't really take that personally. Nice comments far outweight the negative.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not much. Tender, expressive, evocative. Light on details mostly.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I am not a crossover person.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think anyone has ever tried.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. Two by the wonderful Bluebubbling which I was thrilled by.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've always wanted to. I'm trying my hand with another fandom, but one day.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Drarry. It just hits different.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I'm one of those people who has a dozens of ideas. I think I'm unlikely to finish my Veela!Harry fic, I just don't think I have the range. I have yet to successfully write and finish a PWP. Would be thrilled to finish some of my rare pairs.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm. I think dialogue, efficiency, and atmosphere.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

More complicated or mystery-oriented plots, the mid-level between an ensemble cast and an intimate chamber piece, anything with significant length, spending lots of words on one scene.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

One of my ideas about writing is that not everything has to be maximally accessible to all to be an authentic expression in a fic. If that's what fits or feels right, go for it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

You know, I found out the answer for sure recently, and I will be keeping that information to myself. Highly embarrassing and yet formative. Let your imagination do the rest.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Winner Takes It All. Exactly what I intended, turned out beautifully. Some of my favourite writing.

tagging @magpiefngrl @lettersbyelise @lqtraintracks @quicksilvermaid @goblinmatriarch @teledild0nix @boxboxlewis and anyone else who is interested

[grollow]

Uh hi, hello there! Sorry to bother but you're the only person I can ask this since your username is named after the ship (that and I've seen your works around and seen you mentioned by countless artists/writers so to me, you're like a higher being in HK Community so by default, you have most answers)

So why's Grollow such a popular ship? I've seen like 10 fanarts of it passed by my dashboard every time I'm here. Can you tell me what's going on rn? Is an event going on with this ship? Was there a confirmation from Team Cherry these two had a thing? Is this HK people's way of coping while they wait for Silksong? All fanfic/arts of it is amazing, don't get me wrong but I've recently got into HK so I'm not sure if I like it yet nor even any ships at all in general besides canon plus that hc of Grimm and Radi being twins makes me confused on why Hollow would be with somebody who's sister tormented them for so long. Makes it so overwhelming, you know?

Sorry if this offends you in any way. I don't mean to do that. I just want to know what's been going on and why's it so popular is all. Again apologies for being rude if I am

Hi Anon!

Gotta admit, this is the first time someone’s ever called me a Higher Being in anything, hahaha. Especially since I’m not only not the origin of this ship (I got the username from my sweet friend @sundimus who let me have it) and I’m also relatively new to the fandom. I think I’m just very loudly outspoken. I don’t usually get into ship discourse, but this sounds like it’s coming from a place with good intentions, so I’ll reply to you with my genuine opinions!

So before I go into explaining why I like Grollow, I will preface with this answer: shipping is a highly subjective topic. In any fandom, bluntly. Sometimes people pick “I like these two because they have similar names” and sometimes people go “I like them because I think they’d be pretty together” etc. Shipping in every single fandom will always be based in large on people’s own personal headcanons and aesthetics. And for everyone who picks a ship not explicitly confirmed in canon, it’s for whatever reason they want, and for the most part I am very ‘ship and let ship’ while avoiding whatever I personally am not interested in.

(FTR, I also think this is an attitude most people should adopt. You don’t have to like what I like. I don’t have to like what you like. What you write or draw is absolutely none of my business. You like sparkle? Draw sparkle.)

Toward that end, I am not here to convince you to like Grollow, nor am I here to imply that disliking it is wrong. It is not a canon ship. There is nothing in canon to indicate that Grimm and Hollow have ever met. It’s not confirmed by Team Cherry, and I don’t think shipping is a ‘coping’ mechanism for waiting for Silksong. I think why people ship things vary anywhere from ‘they’d be cute’ to ‘I saw artwork I liked of them’ to ‘this particular fanfic’s dynamics made me love them.’ And that’s true for ANY non canon pairing! And all of them are valid reasons. Hell “I ship this because my friend does” is even valid. Shipping is such a subjective thing that people can and should do what makes them happy and stay in their own lane, really.

I’m a big fan of the old fandom term ‘YMMV’ (Your mileage may vary). There are some ships I really don’t like. There are some I straight up do not understand. And there are others, like Grollow, that I stand in the corner yelling from the rooftop about. As long as ship is tagged correctly, I am very “if you see something you don’t like but it was tagged, that’s on you. The blacklist exists for a reason.”

Sorry if this kinda sounds a little mean, I don’t intend it to. I just see a lot of people being shamed for liking pairings (And I have personally been shamed for liking Grollow – not by you, but there’s been a few anons I’ve ignored) and I don’t agree with, or support that. I want to make that clear.

So with all that out of the way, time to talk about my * favorites * ~

There are a LOT of reasons that I think Grimm and Hollow work. To start with the most superficial one: they are palette matches. Grimm’s color schemes are red and black, Hollow’s are pale blue and white. They complement each other very well. They also have similar movesets canonically. Ever seen the video from Fireb0rn of the mod where they’re fighting together in the Colosseum? Where their AI practically works together? It’s delightful. It’s undoubtedly unintentional by the developers, but it’s absolutely wonderful and gives me life.

From a lore reason, I will say that I have not, and will never, headcanoned Hollow as the type to blame Grimm for something that his sister (Bc I also subscribe to “they’re siblings your honor”) did. My personal headcanons aside for Hollow, blaming Grimm for the Radiance is something that seems wildly unfair – and since Hollow is a blorbo that is mostly a blank slate in canon, I say they’d never do that.

(I’d like to point out though – so many people ship them with moth OCs. The same argument could be made there. If they’d blame Grimm for Radi, why not her moths who are indirectly responsible for her never dying properly? The answer is because none of us want to believe Hollow is the type to hold a grudge over that against uninvolved people.)

Grimm is literally the antithesis to both the Radiance and to the Pale King in terms of what he stands for. They run from and fear death to varying degrees. Grimm embraces it. He welcomes it. From death he is reborn, and so instead of running from it, he runs towards it. He’s a Higher Being who directly involves himself with mortals instead of staying aloof. He uses a mortal vessel (just like the vessels were created to hold Radi, his own are created to hold him) but everything in canon suggests that, at the very least, this is an agreement, not forced. You CAN argue that he’s forcing Grimmchild into this ritual and that it’s bad – Brumm/the Banishment ending certainly implies that – but I’ve never subscribed to it because every other character’s dialogue disagrees with that. I’ve personally always took it to be ‘Grimmchild and Grimm 100% agree to this.’

In this regard: They are cinematic foils. Grimm, who dies to be reborn, a willing vessel for the Nightmare flame, who chooses this existence. Hollow, who cannot die despite trying, a ‘willing’ (if very heavily forced into it) vessel for the Radiance, who clearly does not want this existence and is doing it out of a sense of duty—to their father, to Hallownest, to whatever motivation you decide to chose for Hollow here.

Canon is very loosey-goosey in personalities. The beauty of environmental storytelling is that we can fill in a lot. And as the above: I’ve filled in that they are foils. That’s where my mind took it.

So how do these people who are veritable opposites meet, how can they become romantically attached?

I took one look at the Radiance and went ‘abusive.’ I have my own interpretations of her, but the easiest explanation without this becoming entirely about her is one of Grimm’s lines from my own fanfic: “Those with similar scars recognize them in others.” [1]

Abusers are people first and foremost. The Radiance, in my headcanons, is very abusive to everyone in her life. That includes Grimm. I do not see them as loving siblings, because her nature is very self-absorbed; she clearly, canonically, does not see other peoples emotions. Do I think she intended to hurt Grimm? Probably not. But I do believe that she was abusive, because someone who was willing to wipe out Hallownest to try and maintain control would not simply be that way overnight, and only at one specific enemy. People like that… they’re like that to everyone. It’s not an if they abuse you. It’s a when they do it.  

Starting to see where I’m going with this? I believe that the Radiance was cruel to Grimm – and that he’d see very similar traits to himself in Hollow.

I also believe that if you headcanon that Hollow can dream – before, after, during the imprisonment – there’s no way in hell they did not have Nightmares. The most common interpretation in fandom is after imprisonment with the belief that the seals would’ve kept Grimm out (a theory I subscribe to) but it’s clear that Hollow could dream when Radi was sealed within them. For this ship to work, most people say that they can continue to dream after. And nightmares would naturally bring them to Grimm’s realm. I personally subscribe to the belief that he would absolutely interfere to help them, because as I said: I believe he has similar scars, and he’d want to help.

A very common fandom interpretation is ‘Hollow is afraid of Grimm’ and I think that’s very valid. They probably would be at first. He’s a dream god. That’s frightening to them after what they’ve been through. For this ship to work, both of them have to be willing to work through that. Which circles to my next point of: this ship only ever works if its written with them becoming friends first. Friendship based on patience, understanding, and respect, as well as healing. Hollow straight out of the egg, in my opinion, ain’t crawlin’ into anyone’s bed. You’d be lucky if they even wanted to crawl into their own. Pretty sure they just want to sit and remain still until a new order comes. Poor traumatized thing. In every interpretation of this pairing that I’ve liked, Grimm has been working with Hollow to work through their pain, from a place of genuine understanding and empathy from what they’ve experienced. [2]

As for how this friendship becomes ship? The Author Is Demi, my friend, and I headcanon both of them to be as well. Any good romantic relationship should, in my opinion, have a very strong foundation based in friendship, in genuine fondness for one another. And it is COMPLETELY OKAY to leave their relationship here, if you’re ‘hey I support aroace’ or even just think that’s all that it needs to be. But me? I’ve always looked at Hollow as someone who loves too much, loves too deeply, pours their whole heart into something. It’s a hard heart, riddled with scars, from people who have mistreated it throughout their life, but their base nature is someone who does nothing halfway. You get everything or you get nothing.

So of course I headcanon them as a romantic, who wants someone to love and accept them unconditionally, who wants someone who sees their scars and rather than wanting to fix them, wants to complement them. Of course I headcanon them as someone who, below their façade of feeling nothing, wants to be complete, wants to belong, and wants to be good enough when all their life, they’ve been told that what they are is wrong, isn’t okay, isn’t right. And Grimm, who is old enough to understand that and may even have similar history depending on how he’s written, is perfectly suited to do all of those things. To be that person. Because, personally? I believe he wants all the same things. Someone to accept him as he is. Someone who is not afraid of death. Someone who isn’t intimidated by the Ritual. Someone who will stay.

In short: They’re cute, your honor.

At the end of the day, it’s all about what you think fits with the characters. Some people write them as never getting along. Some people write them as just friends. Some people write them as straight enemies. Since they never meet in canon, it’s an open sandbox. This is the castle I’m choosing to build. You can, and should, build whatever one you like.

Obligatory: queer platonic relationships are ALSO valid, if you wanna take that spin on it. My q key is being a jerk to me so I was avoiding that word in this massive reply dskdksgj but it's still very valid

But if my soap box has brought you onto team Grollow, or at least opened your mind to the possibility, I’d be happy to recommend some of my favorite fics. If it hasn’t, I hope I’ve at least clarified things for you, anon. Thanks for your question!

[1] White and Gray, chapter 33: The Last Laugh is Mine

[2] Yes, I know, my most popular Grollow fic doesn’t wildly play with this. Shades of Black does. Living Dead was more ‘for fun,’ less ‘I feel the need to explain this ship.’

[ancientevangelions]

Hello! I'm new here! Just the other day I was going through the AsuShin tag, found your fics, and loved them! I also spent some time reading your thoughts and theories. Which brings me to ask, how do you perceive the changes and (lack of) relationship between Asuka and Shinji from Evangelion, EoE and Rebuild?

Specifically regarding Rebuild, I found it disheartening how they set Shinji and Asuka aside so easily. I'm not talking strictly nor only about shipping. I grew up watching the 90s Evangelion. And a big part of the story and its exploration of psychological themes and characters's psychology and motivation was Shinji's relationship with Asuka. Most of all in EoE, which, to me, is the ending I find most fitting.

It was dreadful to watch the redone beach sequence where Shinji thanks Asuka for admitting she used to like him, then him saying he used to like her back. Only for them to have that "everything is suddenly happy now" ending. This sequence seems to discredit most of the themes and sacrifices made in the original story, and does not satisfactorily brings their story to a close, but instead seem to try to brush it aside or bypass it somehow. Again, I do ship AsuShin but my grievance has much more to do with the way Rebuild handled them, I don't think in a story like Evangelion we could ever have had hopes of them living happily ever after or even be together necessarily

Hello!

Thanks for being here. I wanted to answer this as thoughtfully as I could! Asuka and Shinji are definitely a complicated pair. Regardless of shipping, they require care and attention to understand.

In NGE/EoE, the focus of the series is on their interactions, especially with the End of Evangelion. Episode 9 onward is focused primarily on the interactions between Asuka and Shinji, their highs and lows, the back and forth and their eventual downfalls. I always find it funny how people are highly critical of the interactions between the kids. From my memory of high school/being a teen (2004 to 2009 mostly), it was very much like this. A lot of back-and-forth denial of feelings and messiness trying to avoid pain, not wanting to speak your feelings due to embarrassment, and a lack of knowledge on consent or anything romantic or sexual. It all was a very realistic portrayal of my teen years, primarily because of the depression and mental illness (spoken as an undiagnosed mentally ill teen).

The realism with Asuka and Shinji and the non-linear progression/recovery felt extremely important to me. It was evident that they had a massive attraction to one another. Still, they fell into the trap I had in my youth of being unsure how to communicate my feelings without being rejected or experiencing pain. Even without romantic or sexual feelings, Shinji and Asuka live together, attend school, and work together. They are often abandoned by Misato at home alone, left to their own devices. They are two kids competing to see who can grow up faster. They have a compelling dynamic because they are so messy! In NGE, we see their ups and downs, learning about each other, fighting together and building trust, kindness, rude words, misunderstanding, poor communication, etc.

I love End of Evangelion. I don't need to see what happens after Asuka returns; I know now Yui was telling the truth that anyone can return when they are ready. Of course, it would be Asuka next after Shinji; their destinies are intertwined. She has every right to show him compassion AND to still be angry after all he did to her. The point of the ending scene is that there is love and affection in the world, but it's not forced; it's not a given; it's realistic. No one owes you anything, not love, not compassion, but when we choose to be kind, how amazing is that? Asuka and Shinji can continue to learn, grow and survive together. There is hope; they can be happy, but they must rebuild, work together, and try to find that happiness. 

Rebuild of Evangelion is so Shinji-centric at times it feels like it doesn't care about anyone else's motivations or backstory. Rebuild disappointed me so much with its focus on cinematic fights over substance. Rebuild also falls into the trap of forcing a perfect happy ending, which is unrealistic and annoying. Real change is messy and takes effort, years and years of action, and instead, we find perfection in imperfection. It's okay and expected if everything doesn't go exactly as planned. Rebuild needs more focus. It's evident that there was no overarching plan for the 4 films and that they underwent rewrites and delays for years. Of course, ideas would change. It took years to finish the series. It went from "Evangelion for new fans, a retelling that doesn't require you to watch NGE" to "The action sequences are good; let's make money off of sexualized children."

A lot of the AsuShin content is added on later in canon bonus material later added to 3.0 + 1.0 to clear up misconceptions about the relationships. It's subtle, and it feels tacked on. Shinji spends so little on-screen time with any of the characters that we don't get the same interactions, world-building, or character development and the flatness of the characters bothers me so much. What are their motivations? "Well, he cooked for her, so she likes him." Okay… that seems flimsy since she spends all her time alone, and he spends all his time alone… 

Shikinami might as well be 14, screaming that she is an adult now. For all the ways she has changed between 2.0 and 3.0, stewing in her anger doesn't seem very adult. The children telling us they are adults really doesn't convince me. The time skip accomplished nothing as no one reflected on 14 years passing in a realistic way. Shinji didn't grieve lost time or grapple with being an adult in a child's body. The deus ex machina at the end might have been "And then Shinji woke up, and Wonderland was gone" or "Asuka clicked her red heels and said there's no place like home."

Pixar films are popular because "Life doesn't always go according to plan, but you can still find happiness in the mess of life." The idea is that things are imperfect, and we make the most of what we have. Sometimes, what we want is different from what we need. Rebuild fails to capture this and instead falls into a trap I see in YA novels where the epilogue is much too neat. We see ourselves in the characters, and we identify with the struggle, but then the ending is too tidy. The protagonist gets a hetero-normative end with children and a picket fence and marries one of the love interests introduced early on. The protagonist becomes unrelatable to us because they fall into complacency where they have a 9 to 5 job and do nothing to better anything after the "fall of the tyrant." To quote The Who with their song Won't Get Fooled Again: "Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss." How can we, who are struggling daily for our survival and happiness, find the changing of one problem to be satisfactory in solving all issues? No more Evas, cool, but now he is under capitalism which we all know SUCKS. Sounds perfect, Shinji. Thanks for making your lives miserable in a new way. Trapped in wage labour sounds excellent. 

That's why I'm not a fan of "happy" endings. I only need some of the problems solved. I want to see work to build a new world. In the Rebuild ending, I dream of Asuka and Shinji working side by side to rebuild cities, prevent new child soldiers and be active in a community that fears them. We don't need a dream of paradise. We need hope that WE can make a difference, too. 

[amethystina]

Shipper Tag Game

I was tagged by @a-very-fond-farewell! Thank you so much, darling! Though I'm not sure how good I'll be at it x'D

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1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don’t care anymore?

Honestly? None. While I did have some ships I was interested in, I wasn't obsessed with any of them. And I kind of still care about them? In a very nostalgic way. So I kind of fail at both parts of this question x'D

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

If I'm going with the one I got really invested in? Destiel tbh. Mainly because I was very much a late bloomer who didn't really discover fandom and fanfics until I was 20-21. I mean, I HAD read some before that but since I didn't have internet in my apartment until I went to university (I was too poor xD), it wasn't easy for me to access them. Shipping is just easier when you have internet.

But, once I had it, I DID revisit a couple of ships that were technically older than Destiel that I had never really gotten into before that, many of them from video games, anime/manga, and books I'd read. But they were all overshadowed by Destiel so that's the one I remember as my first.

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Are we talking reading or writing? I guess I'll do both?

Reading: I think it was a Zell Dincht/Seifer Almasy one from Final Fantasy VIII that a friend printed out on actual paper and gave to me back when I was 16 or 17 (again, no internet). And I honestly can't say why he picked that pairing xD (I'm definitely more of a Squall/Seifer girlie now)

Writing: Sterek. Because it felt interesting but also not too intimidating. And I also just like werewolves?

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

Not really, no. Since I've been drawing for so long I spent more time looking for art than fanfics when I was younger so I probably stumbled over a lot of them without even knowing it.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Not if I can help it, no. I tend to stay away from that sort of thing as best I can and just let people ship whatever they want. It's honestly none of my business.

6. Did you use to have any no-otp or have it currently?

I have several, mostly based on what I find triggering or squicky. But I don't announce them publically because that's just rude to those who DO ship them. And, as stated above, I try not to get involved in what other people ship or don't ship.

7. Who were the couples in the last fanfic you read?

Choi Yoon/Yoon Hwa Pyung from The Guest. Because who doesn't love some pining and Catholic guilt?

For real, though, I read very few fanfics right now and actually had to go check my history on AO3 to figure this out x'D The second to last fanfic was a Strangers From Hell one. And the one before that was a Guardian one!

8. Currently do you have any OTPs?

Several. Honestly too many to list x'D I'm one of those people who don't really let go of ships I like. They're not always at the forefront of my mind, though, but I remember them fondly and coo a little when I think of all the fond memories.

But if we're talking about the ones I'm the most focused on right now I'd say Kang Yo Han/Kim Ga On from The Devil Judge, Yoon Sa Wol/5-8 from Black Knight (currently struggling with chapter 6 x'D), the aforementioned Choi Yoon/Yoon Hwa Pyung from The Guest, and Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan from Guardian.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Sterek. But that has less to do with my dedication to the characters and more to do with the queerbaiting and how extremely shittily Jeff Davis handled that whole thing. To use the Sterek shippers for publicity and hint that maybe it could happen, only to turn around and do everything within his power to not make it happen?

I take that personally, not because I have a huge stake in Stiles and Derek as characters, but as a queer person who, for once, thought that maybe we would actually get to see a couple we really liked get together, and then didn't.

I had more hope for Sterek than I ever did for Destiel, which technically had more in-canon queerbaiting, because the people behind Teen Wolf did their damndest to give me hope. Only for me to be ignored and basically told I was being gullible for ever thinking it would happen.

And that's a betrayal I'm probably never going to forgive.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

Not... really? I can't think of any, at least. But that could be because I always have a pretty good reason for disliking the ships I dislike. As mentioned, it's usually based on triggers and squicks and those don't really change. So my opinion on ships I dislike aren't likely to change, either.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

I mean, considering the social climate right now? Even Sterek qualifies because Stiles was underage when I started shipping them and Derek most certainly was not xD That said, I always prefer the fics when Stiles had time to turn 18 before any of the sexy stuff happened.

12. What was your favourite crack ship?

Okay, so, I've actually read a lot of fics for ships I don't actually ship, just for research purposes. Like, I find it FASCINATING to watch what other people like, how they choose to write about the things they like, and how they decide to portray the characters. Basically, I like to analyse authors just as much as I like to analyse characters. It's a hobby of mine.

And one of my absolute favourites was reading fanfics for Newt Scamander and the original Percival Graves from the first Fantastic Beasts movie (Sidenote: She-who-must-not-be-named is an asshole and this is not an endorsement of her franchise or shitty beliefs). And why I loved that so much was because the fics were about THE ORIGINAL Percival Graves who, technically, was never IN the actual movie (he might not even be alive anymore?). Like, it was Grindelwald all the time. We never actually SAW the original Percival Graves, just Grindelwald's impersonation of him.

And I just had so much fun reading various authors' takes on this character who was never actually seen but, based on Grindelwald's impersonation, can sort of be hinted? Because he must have done a good enough job of it that the people around Graves didn't notice? It was like an anthropological dig of Percival Graves transpiring right before my eyes and since I got on the train pretty early, I could see authors being inspired by each other and how the fanon developed over time. 10/10 would recommend if you're interested in watching a fandom evolve.

(also, some of the fics were so fucking good. So there's that, too xD)

13. Who is the couple you read most fanfics of?

I'm not entirely sure if it's Destiel or Stony, but definitely one of them (Sterek is most likely in third place). Partly because there are just so many to partake in (those fandoms are HUGE), but also because they've been with me for so long and numbers accumulate. That said, I haven't read any for those ships in a long, long time. But considering how many fics I devoured during the time I was the most active in those fandoms? It's going to be difficult for any of the ones I'm currently into to catch up.

Also because I tend to be in much smaller fandoms now >_>

14. What do most of your ships usually have in common?

WELL. A while back I would have said that even if there are some enemies-to-lovers tropes and antagonising in some of them, they're all mostly unproblematic and pretty healthy.

... I can't really do that anymore, can I? x'D

I mean, Kang Yo Han is problematic all on his own, but even HE is a green flag compared to Seo Moon Jo. That fucker is just a straight-up psychopath x'D

A more serious answer: An interesting dynamic. Which sounds like a given, but is actually a bit more tricky than that. Because I've only gotten more and more picky over the years. I've actually spoken to my wife and friends about this, because I've seen a pretty noticeable shift in my own shipping practices lately.

I gather fewer and fewer new ships and that's not because I watch/read fewer things, but because I'm getting pickier about them. There has to be an extra spark that interests me, often connected to the characters' personalities and how they play off each other, while, before, a bit of chemistry was enough.

But that also makes me more versatile, I guess? Because I focus less on tropes and more on characters and dynamics. But that also makes it harder to spot similarities xD

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

I mean, hate is a strong word. But, again, it would mostly be connected to my triggers. I don't like ships that are too abusive and unbalanced. A little bit of danger is fine, but things like abuse, infidelity, grooming, non-con etc. don't work for me, personally.

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I don't really know who to tag so just do it if you want to! :D