#Let the fic writers enjoy their ship in peace

[celestialholz]

Live long and fuck in Hondas (or 'why that Vulcan salute is way more significant than you think it is')

Hey. Hey Holz. Did you know Deadpool and Wolverine fucked in the Odyessy? Did you know that they now live in a one-bed with Blind Al? Did you know that -

Yes, friend. I know all of it. And you're all super fucking valid for pointing it out.

... But maybe all of you aren't seasoned Trekkies like me. Maybe not all of you gorgeous people understand the true significance of this.

Or maybe you just want a definitive way to win the argument of "are these two fucking?"

But either way, I'm here to help, and to tell you why, amongst all the absurdly homoerotic text of this film, this moment? Might be the gayest of them all.

Now, we must start by saying that although you wouldn't know it from the bullshit Abrams films, these two:

Are the fathers of gay fanfiction. Spock and Kirk here are the reason you're living in the fantastic timeline where you can write/read men fucking without any other shred of plot and that this is a legitimate and normalised internet experience - everyone say thank you, iconic papas. These guys were so homoerotically coded that even in the 60s, the era of wondrously overdramatic performances of all kinds and fairly prevalent homophobia, The Girlies still took notice, still started mailing each other fics and making zines and being just hugely excited at the thought of these two getting space-married. They are fandom as we know it today's beginning, and seventy years later they're still an enduringly popular ship on AO3. (You should all go and watch Amok Time, by the way. Contains the Honda Odyessy scene of the 60s, except there's weird biology and wrestling and just go and put it on your screens, thank me later. They fucked on that planet.)

Anyway, these two were as close as early colour TV could ever allow two men to be, deepening their *coughs* friendship almost every single episode or film - Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry even gave them a unique word in Spock's Vulcan language, with the meaning of 'friend, brother, lover.' (And if that isn't ringing any Poolverine bells, I'm not actually sure what you want out of this post. Enjoy it anyway, love you.)

... And then we get to 1982's The Wrath of Khan, and to that moment that every iconic screen couple must face - the ol' classic, it's you or me and I won't let it be you.

Sure, the set-up's a little different here - the chamber Spock's in is filled with radiation, and the scene's quieter, softer. And Kirk isn't a mutant so he can't smash his way in, he can just sit there and inwardly die as his emotional support Vulcan does.

... But you get where I'm coming from here. Ryan Reynolds doesn't take a million other potential love scenes from across the cinematic ages - no, he takes this. What is for many the romantic acknowledgement of a whole generation. The humble and desperately sweet beginning of it everything we fans know and love nowadays. The most ambiguously romantic homosexual relationship in television, directly comparative to what is now arguably the most ambiguously romantic homosexual relationship in cinema. And lest we forget, Wade doesn't believe in a fourth wall - this is a conscious choice, both in canon and in the writer's room.

Oh it's so clever and so beautiful a girl could weep. Ryan just introduced the MCU to the gays, just as Kirk and Spock did all those years ago to the masses of the time.

And then there's what it means.

This is the Vulcan salute, created to mean either 'live long and prosper' or 'peace and long life' - it's used more or less interchangeably.

But part of that's irrelevant when you're as immortal as these two.

So we're left with the sentiments of prosperity and peace, given to a man who up to this point can't imagine ever prospering again, is the furthest thing away from being at peace. Wade gives Logan the opportunity to go on, to find the things he's been lacking for so long now - things he has already helped him find. Spock tells Kirk during The Wrath that 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,' and that's exactly what Wade's doing here - sacrificing himself for the greater good of his friends and his newly beloved, however much it will hurt them all.

And that's lovely, and poignant, and character-growing, and I think we all would have been content to leave it at that and have our noble sacrifice, however much we would have wept. Kirk goes on to find the remnants of Spock's soul in the next film in the series, to bring him essentially back from the dead because he felt it was more than his own soul's worth not to have done... which, again, ringing a bell anyone?

Because Logan, in not so many words, tells dear Wade to fuck right off, and we get this.

What we've got here is a direct translation of one of cinema's gayest moments, made somehow infinitely more gay. A true achievement here - I genuinely think I spontaneously acquired tetanus in the cinema for a good minute, my jaw dropped so hard on seeing this. The pillars are the same colour as Kirk and Spock's original uniforms, for fuck's sake. I'm dying out here.

What we've done here is create narrative equality. The whole film's kinda done that leading up to this anyway - they're both mentally fucked up men who can't die, who are constantly dying anyway, who are evenly-matched in battle and both enjoy Honda fucking, who have forged a real love even as they piss each other off at every turn.

But here, they place one another in narrative equality for the first time. It's not about a sacrifice, not now, even though they're assuming it is one - it's about what should be done. It's about righting wrongs, being heroes, being together because every option other than that is unacceptable, because neither understands quite how to lose anyone else. They've both made the same choice, and that's not to let the other die alone.

It's about holding hands and loving and never letting go, even if it kills them.

... It's just about the most romantic and gorgeous thing I've ever fucking seen.

There are no more instances of masks, once they're done in this station. They don't need them any longer; they will never need them again.

And that's only emphasised by the parting shot we get of this... almost directly after Vanessa and Wade share a final sweet look.

I don't know, man. It's almost like the true conclusion is hidden behind the acceptable masquerade. Imagine that in the MCU, folks.

They've taken one of the most intimate and sweet moments in screen history, and made even more glorious.

They did The Wrath of Khan better than The Wrath of Khan did it.

And that's... that's gay. That's just about the gayest thing they could ever have done, and I adore it to the smallest pieces.

So remember, the next time your friends disbelieve you... show 'em this. Show them that they redid the very beginnings of slash fandom, and did it better.

(And then you can add on that they now live in a one-bed with their grandma, daughter and dog, and will do for the rest of their lives. Kirk and Spock didn't even get THAT shit.)

[silentsamlikesham]

Happy Birthday Zoro!!

I was meant to write several short fics today and instead I accidentally wrote this...enjoy!!

N.B: In Japan a birthday is generally spent with a significant other and you meet your friends/family on a day close to it (according to the Internet, I'm not Japanese). I used that idea in this fic for some miss communication! So yeah keep that idea in mind!

.........

A seagull flies tiredly towards the sight of land. It had taken weeks to fly this far into the Grand Line, its important letter pressed safely to it’s chest. It’d been paid handsomely for the journey. The two buffoon humans had given it very clear instructions to deliver the letter on this date exactly.

The bird’s sharp eyes scan the docks as the bird approaches closer to a large portside town. It spots the Jolly Rodger it’s been looking for and swoops to the deck, delighted to have a moment to rest its wings.

The deck is empty, much to the bird’s annoyance. It spots an open barrel of clear water though, and flaps over to it, drinking hungrily from it.

“Oi, bird.” Its eyes flick to a blonde-haired human stalking towards it. It pulls its beak from the barrel, happily sighing after hours of seeing only the seawater beneath it. “That’s for us, is it?”

It presses its chest forward, letting the human unclasp the string on the pouch and pull out the letter tucked inside.

“Eh? This isn’t the paper.” The curly eyebrows on the human’s face furrow as he inspects the envelope. 

Sanji does his best to read the smudged name on the front, but the characters have bled together too much to discern it.

“This definitely for us?” The bird stares at him before pointing its beak at the Jolly Rodger above them. Before Sanji could ask how much they owe the bird, it takes off, clearly satisfied with its job.

“Weird.” The cook mutters to himself as he returns to the galley. He’d been enjoying the peace of organising the pantry after they’d restocked it yesterday. Everyone was off the ship except for Franky who was up in the crow’s nest on watch. He must be tinkering with something though, seeing as he didn’t notice the messenger bird himself.

The rest of the crew had disembarked to explore the island. Last Sanji had seen them most of the crew had been heading to the centre of the town to explore. Except for the mosshead that Sanji had watched head the opposite direction, inevitably in the middle of getting lost.

Sanji grabs a small knife from one of galley’s drawers and neatly cuts the top of the envelope open. A small piece of paper rests inside along with some berri. Sanji lets the money tumble onto the counter, now even more confused. 

The slip of parchment is in much better shape than the envelope, but the handwriting is almost just as bad. The writer clearly didn’t have much experience in writing, but Sanji manages to read through it. His eyebrows raise as he takes in the words, slowly realising it’s meant for a certain green-headed idiot. It’s signed off by the two bounty hunters Sanji had met at Arlong Park, old friends of the Marimo. 

They’re wishing him a happy birthday, the date on the letter matching perfectly with the day itself. They must have sent it some time in advance for a seagull to get all the way here to them. 

It was the idiots birthday? He hadn’t said a damn word about it to them. He knew Sanji always cooked the crewmate’s favourite dish and dessert for the day. Nami probably would have given him extra money for a nice drink too, knowing how kind and wonderful the woman is. 

Sanji lights the cigarette hanging from his lips. Unless the moron didn’t want them to know. It’d be just like him to see something like a birthday as unimportant or being embarrassed by the attention. He shifts his weight from foot to foot as he takes a few drags, reading the warm message sent by the bounty hunters, telling him to buy a drink on them with the berri enclosed. Clearly, he had told them about the day, had celebrated it at least once before with them.

Sanji slams his fist angrily on the counter, not quite sure where the emotion comes from, but screw the Marimo. He isn’t getting out of celebrating his birthday just because he thinks it’s above him. He’s sorely mistaken if he thinks he’ll avoid Sanji’s wrath when it comes to making a birthday dinner. 

With his resolve solidified, Sanji begins piecing the ingredients together. He doesn’t realise it until he’s an hour into crafting the food, but he’s only making enough for two people. Well, he must go find the idiot. There’s no way Sanji will get the crew altogether at this point, and Zoro doesn’t have a chance of being back before midnight if he’s gone off on his own. As it stands, Sanji will be lucky to find him before nightfall. 

He packs the meal into a basket when it’s ready, carefully packing it so nothing will be smushed or ruined. He briefly thinks of bringing two glasses with him but decides to just pack a bottle of sake and wine, the oaf will happily swig from the bottles anyways.

He calls up to Franky when he finally disembarks, the sky is coloured pink behind the crow’s nest, and Sanji feels a tension inside him to hurry up. The engineer hollers a goodbye as he leaves, making his way down the same route the swordsman had gone hours before. There’s deep sand on most of the route, and Sanji can make out the fake indent of the only pair of footsteps that have taken the path today.

----------------------------------------------

He finds the swordsman just as it’s getting dark enough that Sanji’s cigarette is becoming a guide of sorts, helping him from tripping over rocks and roots. The Marimo is swinging his swords around, cutting lightly into the bark of trees as his body twists and his legs seem to float beneath him.

For everything that Sanji hates about the other, he’s a beautiful fighter. There’s a grace to his power, a purpose to his strength and an elegance to his footwork. Sanji watches him for a moment, almost forgetting about his reason for showing up. 

He’s soon brought back to the moment as Zoro catches sight of him in the corner of his vision. Of course, the idiot turns in his surprise and lunges forward, expecting the worst. Sanji easily kicks him out of his course to skewer the blonde. The mosshead isn’t expecting the kick and the darkness briefly confuses him as he stops his motion against a tree, coughing as the impact of the kick rattles his ribcage.

“Oi, what the fuck dart-brows?” He’s glaring at Sanji now, his pupils holding a glint from the flame of the cigarette. “Only way to land a hit is to sneak up on me?”

Sanji bites clean through his filter, letting his cigarette fall to the ground. 

“Maybe if your reactions weren’t as slow as a door, then you could have blocked it.”

“Eh? You want to say that to me again?” Zoro’s voice is dangerous as he marches forwards. 

He’s been training for hours, trying to work on quicker footwork rather than brute force. He’s tired, but also itching for a proper fight. He lunges at the cook, only being stopped as the blunt side of his katanas are blocked by a leg catching them in an X. 

Sanji barely moves an itch at the impact, one of his hands in his pocket, his body somehow almost perfectly upright despite the angle of the kick. Zoro will never understand how a man can be so flexible. 

“Watch it, idiot. If any of this goes to waste, I’ll kill you.” Zoro’s eye flick down to where Sanji briefly looks, only now noticing the basket handle he’s clutching. 

“What is it?” Zoro leans back, his swords falling by his side as he studies the woven basket. It’s one the cook usually brings onto an island for lunch when they eat out on the sand. Maybe he’s doing the rounds on the crew.

“Food, so put your swords away and wash your hands over there.” Sanji motions to a nearby stream, his nose wrinkling at the sight of how sweat covered Zoro is. The swordsman listens for once, rolling his eyes as he heads over to it. He’d argue more but suddenly his rumbling stomach is reminding him that he hasn’t eaten anything since breakfast. He can always beat the cook’s face into the ground afterwards.

He uses the jumper he’d thrown off earlier to dry his face and hands after washing in the stream, and by the time he returns he’s met with quite the surprise. Sanji has sat himself down on a picnic blanket, he’s fussing over the layout of some rice balls on a plate. Rice balls, Zoro’s favourite thing to eat. Beside them is several plates of Zoro’s favourites food, most of them dishes he’d grown up eating. A nice bottle of Sake rests beside the empty side of the blanket, Sanji having a bottle of wine resting against his hip. Zoro feels like he’s accidentally walked into an alternative universe, maybe the forest is haunted, or this is some devil users influence.

“What the fuck, cook?” He stands over Sanji, his arms crossed as he deliberates unsheathing a sword or not. 

“What?” Sanji growls, staring up at him with his one uncovered eye. “You got a problem, Mosshead?”

Zoro squats down, getting close to Sanji’s face, studying the familiar bump of his nose, the curve of his brows, the sweep of his hair. Sanji freezes, finally looking as confused as Zoro. 

“You look like, Curley. Did you bang your head or something?” Zoro leans back on his heels.

Sanji is reeling, his lips still tingling from the tickle of breath that had ghosted over them when Zoro had spoken so close to him. He’s used to feeling breathless when they get that close, used to feeling a flush on his neck and a tightening in his gut, but usually it’s because he’s pissed off and about to unleash his best attacks. This isn’t that.

“Wha-What are you talking about?” Sanji shakes his head, trying to clear it.

“This.” Zoro waves at the blanket. “Why the fuck did you make all this? This is- well this is all stuff I like. You make this for the whole crew?”

Sanji breathes out a sigh of relief. Of course, the idiot is confused.

“I do this for everyone’s birthday, moron. Even yours.” He lights himself another cigarette, so he doesn’t have to look at Zoro’s reaction. 

Zoro stares at Sanji for a long uncomfortable silence. The cook made all this for him? He came out here with it prepared for just the two of them to enjoy together? Not the whole crew, not like usual, not really. This is different. He’s treating Zoro differently. He’s planned this for just the two of them…on Zoro’s birthday…

Zoro sits the other side of the plates, grabbing a rice ball and taking a bite out of it. As always, it tastes annoyingly good. Every flavour and texture exactly how Zoro likes it, the weirdo having studied him for the months they’ve been travelling together. Hold on-

“How did you know it was my birthday?” 

Sanji can feel the tick of annoyance on the back of his head. Of course, instead of giving any sign of enjoying the food or a compliment, the brute has to be suspicious. Instead of replying, Sanji grabs the slip of paper out of the inner pocket of his blazer and passes it over to Zoro, grabbing a rice ball for himself as his hand passes back over the picnic. He’s hungry too.

Zoro reads it while loudly chewing on another mouthful of food. Sanji tries to ignore how disgusting it is by studying the expression on Zoro’s face. The mosshead must feel him watching because he keeps his expression schooled, although his lips still perk up in the corners. He laughs a bit as he tucks it into his pocket. 

Zoro doesn’t say anything more about it. The two eat in silence for a while, Zoro making his way through the sake at a scary pace, before pawing at Sanji for some of his wine too. The cook allows him, for once, given it is his birthday. But when the sound of eating starts to die down, he can’t help but ask the question that’s been eating at him ever since he opened the letter.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone it’s your birthday?” 

Zoro wipes the back of his hand over his mouth, wiping away the dribble of red wine from his lips. He’s messy about it though and his bottom lip still glistens a bit, the shine only lit by the moonlight that was breaking through the trees above them, and the one candle Sanji had lit so they could see what they were grabbing.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Zoro shrugs, eating the last of the fish to clean the final dish. “Plus, I didn’t want one of your shitty cakes.”

“Excuse me?” Sanji is genuinely floored by the comment. How dare the green haired idiot-

“They’re too sweet.” Zoro complains, playing with the hilt of his sword instead of saying it to Sanji’s face.

“No, you just hate sweet things.” Sanji huffs, putting some plates away in case he needs to lunge at the green-haired idiot to strangle him.

“And I wouldn’t make one for your birthday anyways, Marimo. I wouldn’t be the future pirate king’s cook if I was that bad at reading my crewmates tastes.”

Sanji feels his cheeks heat up as Zoro turns to him with a studying look, suddenly intrigued, or maybe impressed. 

“Although now I don’t think you deserve the dessert I did make.” Sanji folds his arms, not quite over the earlier insult. 

Zoro ignores the pout and reaches into the basket instead, Sanji watches him out of the corner of his eye. He can’t explain to himself why he’s suddenly so nervous about what Zoro will think of his choice of Birthday dessert. 

The swordsman pulls out a small tub of one of the few desserts he genuinely enjoys, one that he remembers eating every summer at the dojo, passing them out between his classmates. He picks up one of the warabi mochi like it’s delicate, like he might crush it before it makes it to his mouth. Sanji had only made the dessert once, and Zoro had complained about some aspects of it. He thought the cook would never bother to try it again.

This time, it’s perfect. An honest moan leaves Zoro’s mouth as he swallows, his tongue licking at some of the filling that was left on his lips. Sanji feels his whole face flush red at the sight. His heart is drumming in his chest now, his eyes flicking between Zoro’s eyes and his lips. He watches his Adam’s apple as he swallows the first piece. 

Sanji’s mouth dries up, his palms suddenly clammy. Zoro has never reacted so openly to anything Sanji has made for him. It unsettles him, it leaves him feeling warm and clumsy. He throws the bud of his smoked cigarette away and finds his fingers are shaking. 

“You made this today, just for my birthday?” Zoro’s voice is soft, a foreign tone to Sanji’s ears.

“Obviously, idiot.” Sanji looks away then, he can’t look weak. He can’t let the mosshead realise how sick he suddenly feels. He wants to run away, to forget that Zoro can be soft, that the two of them can sit like this.

He hears Zoro moving, can feel him getting closer on the blanket. But he doesn’t say a word. When Sanji turns his head to see what the fuck is going on, he feels Zoro’s hand as it grasps the back of his head. He stares at Zoro’s closed eyes as their lips meet. 

Sanji is pretty sure his heart stops. He feels winded as rough lips kiss him softly, as Zoro’s grip on the back of his neck is light, nothing like the way they usually grab one another. His lips taste like the syrup drizzled on the mochi and Sanji’s chef brain registers how it interacts with the dessert wine he’d brought with him, unintentionally matching the two so they form the perfect taste between their lips.

Sanji is breathless, his stomach now feeling like its own oven as a fire ignites. He can feel blood rushing south, his body reacting in a split second to something he hasn’t had since he left the Baratie, something he hasn’t had time to have. 

He’s enjoying it, getting lost in the other body that draws itself closer to him. It’s only when Sanji’s eyes flutter closed, when his lips match the rhythm of the ones against them, that his brain catches up to body.

This is Roronoa Zoro he’s kissing.

Sanji pushes against the Marimo’s chest, Zoro falling back on his hands as he stares confused at the reaction. As though Sanji is the crazy one. Sanji places two fingers to his lips, his expression horrified.

“What the fuck was that?” He screams, waving his hands around, not sure if he should be kicking the oaf or running as quick as he can back to the ship.

“What?” Zoro huffs, not moving away from the blonde but glaring down at the sand in front of them. He looks confused too, like he wasn’t expecting Sanji to question him.

“What? What? You just kissed me, Mosshead. What the fuck is that about?” Sanji realises he’s panting between his words. He’s pretty sure he’s going into shock from how quick his blood pressure has risen.

Zoro’s gaze whips to the blonde, feeling hurt that Sanji is making a big deal about this, as though the cook didn’t start it.

“People kiss on dates!” He throws back, defensive as he realises, he’s just been rejected.

Sanji can’t even process the words Zoro has just spoken.

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind.” Zoro goes to get up then, beyond embarrassed as he realises he’s spent the last half an hour misreading the situation entirely. Might as well make the rest of this as painless as possible to hopefully save face. 

“Wait, you stupid fucking moss for brains.” Sanji grapples at Zoro’s wrist, pulling him back onto the blanket before he can straighten up. The cook is panicking now, thinking back to everything he’d said since arriving, unsure where Zoro’s logic had jumped to thinking it was a date.

I mean, the situation was very date like, Sanji muses. But it’s Zoro and Sanji, having a picnic beneath the moon and stars isn’t a date, it’s a truce. 

Zoro looks furious now, his whole body is tense like a spring coiled to bounce. Sanji is starting to piece together the blush on the other’s face is genuine. Zoro thought it was a date. He kissed Sanji because he wanted to. He likes him.

The earth tilts beneath Sanji as he realises he’s not instantly disgusted. He stares at his own hand, anchoring Zoro in place. He clearly doesn’t want the swordsman to leave. Sanji doesn’t want this to be over. 

“Why did you think it’s a date?” He almost whispers the words, afraid he’s hallucinating. That Zoro is going to turn and ask him what the fuck he’s on about. 

“You- You made me a picnic for just the two of us…on my birthday.”

The sentence still doesn’t make the most sense to Sanji. He supposes, if he’d done it for a woman, maybe Sanji would see it as a possible first date. But the term first date and Zoro has no connection in his brain. It feels impossible that the two could be linked.

“I- I get that, baka. But- Well I- that doesn’t automatically mean it’s a date.” Sanji protests, letting Zoro slip his wrist away when he realises he’s not going to bolt. 

“Well, that’s what people do on their birthday.” Zoro grumbles, looking anywhere but at Sanji. “They spend it with someone they like.” 

He says the last word with a heavy emphasis so that it can’t be misunderstood. 

Sanji is at a loss. He’s never heard of such a thing.

“Marimo, I have no idea what you mean. Most people spend it with family and friends.”

Zoro looks at him then, with genuine surprise.

“Not where I come from.” He splutters, showing his embarrassment now as his face flushes bright red, even worse than before. “Couples spend it together, and then- then you spend it with friends on a different day.”

Zoro wants the ground to swallow him up. He can handle rejection, he can handle being wrong, but he hates that he didn’t realise what he was doing. He though Sanji had been the one to be vulnerable, to offer up a date the way he did. He’d been surprised by the blonde’s bravery about it, had accepted the silent confession and responded to it as confidently as he could muster.

He’s an idiot.

Sanji takes in the unfamiliar expression of regret on the other man’s face, and feels his chest tighten. He doesn’t want Zoro to regret this. Sanji doesn’t regret it. As the confusion lifts, Sanji properly accepts his own reaction. It’s…unexpected…but then again, everything is on the Grand Line. 

“Look Cook, just forget-”

It’s Zoro’s turn to be surprised by a hand grabbing his chin, by lips pressing onto his own and by the blonde that leans forward so close, Zoro could swear he was sitting on the swordsman’s lap.

“I was surprised, idiot. I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” 

Zoro stares into Sanji’s eyes, their foreheads resting against one another as Sanji separates from the kiss long enough to speak.

“Well, you seemed fucking pissed off.” Zoro defends, muttering the words almost against Sanji’s lips.

Sanji sighs, Zoro scrunching up his nose at the sensation across his skin.

“That’s…fair.” Sanji feels Zoro’s arm wrap around his waist, he relaxes against the other man’s chest, a hand reaching up to caresses the side of Zoro’s face and run itself through his hair. 

Sanji lets out a chuckle.

“This feels like a dream.” He admits, suddenly wondering how much wine he drank. Maybe, this is a dream.

“I know.” Zoro agrees, his arm tightening it’s hold on Sanji. His other arm wraps under Sanji’s ass and tugs him up onto Zoro’s thighs. The position a lot more comfortable than sitting side by side.

Sanji laughs as he’s manhandled, not used to someone as strong as Zoro holding him in his arms. Strangely, it’s the least intimidated Sanji has ever felt in the presence of the other man.

“I don’t want to wake up.” Sanji confesses, his heart fluttering as he comes to terms with what’s happening. The brute can love, the brute can be soft and gentle and hold Sanji like he’s both diamond and glass. 

“You’re such a fucking sap.” Zoro groans, his cheeks pink from the words. “Just don’t say another fucking thing and kiss me already.”

Sanji laughs as he tightens his grip on Zoro’s head, pulling at the tufts of hair hard enough that Zoro lets out a hiss of pain. That the moss-head looks at him with the same eyes he uses before they fight. The electricity is there, static between them, as fiery as ever.

“Anything for the birthday boy.”

Sanji is right about his earlier prediction. Zoro doesn’t make it back to the ship before midnight. Although, it’s not for a reason he could ever have predicted. 

Instead, when midnight rolls around the pair of them lie on the picnic blanket, everything else packed away. They stare at the stars as they lie side by side, Sanji’s head resting on Zoro’s arm as they hold each other. 

Zoro stares at the blonde as Sanji points out constellations and tries to explain to Zoro how he can use them to not get so lost all the time. But the swordsman is not paying attention. Only one thought remains in his head now.

He has one hell of a thank you letter to write to his bounty hunter friends. 

[alicentflorent]

why did you become anti rhaenicent? I remember you used to reblog gifs and posts about them not too long ago. No hate I'm just curious since you've been posting anti rhaenicent stuff lately

It wasn't until after season two started airing. First, the fact that the writers wrote them meeting in the sept while ignoring the pain and loss they both went through at the hands of each other's loved ones. It felt like queerbaiting, because rhaenicent will never happen and while the childhood romance is implied they resented each other for a long time. That scene could have been written to show to mothers grieving the loss of their innocent children, let them be vulnerable with each other but also let them hate each other and hate themselves over the fact they feel anything for each other that isn't just hatred.

What really ruined rhaenicent for me though was the dragonstone scene. We watched alicent get "punished" all season, constantly humiliated, her sex life being tied to her grandsons murder, not being respected by anyone because she chose her children over Rhaenyra. Then of course the only way she can redeem herself is to sacrifice her sons and she isn't just giving up on her rapist and war criminal sons but Daeron too, and her lover, her brother, her father basically everyone she loves aside from her daughter who might be spared. Alicent is the one who has to become humbled who has to listen to Rhaenyra insulting her without saying anything back, without even bringing up her murdered grandson killed by Daemon, who Rhaenyra brings back into the fold. Alicent reverted back to her teenage self and has to put Rhaenyra before everyone else but no one would ever expect Rhaenyra to give anything up for Alicent. Imagine the outrage if Rhaenyra had offered to give Aegon the throne to make peace with Alicent over Aemond's maiming? After Alicent treated her like shit for years? The fandom would absolutely lose it.

It boils down to hate it when one half of a ship even if I ship it is put down in favour of the other half of the ship. One half of the ship needs to humble themselves and jump through hoops to prove their worthiness to the other half of the ship. I hate that trope especially when it is a woman or poc or anyone with less power that has to prove their worthiness.

I enjoyed young rhaenicent, the childhood lovers who are fated to be enemies and the AU fics where Alicent isn't married to Rhaenyra's father against her will but right now after Alicent's treatment I'm struggling to engage with this ship in any capacity.

[rzyraffek]

A confused and concerned yautja with a reader who loves books, and cries or smiles when reading

Yo babygrills im on streak! Second fic today! And that request is cute!

Tw: jelousy

They/them, sfw, Request open

Yautja with emotional bookworm s/o

First time when s/o asked him nicley to get them some books he didnt really question it, maybe its a human thing? He is a good boy so he brings them to some earth library and s/o almost started jumping out of excitement? Well that must mean he is a good husband😊

So he lets s/o 'borrow' some books and they go back to ship

Well he is kinda happy? It's pretty common for him to disappear to hunt for days, and its nice to know that s/o isn't just sitting bored at the ship. Makes the hunt less stressful. Before he was always worried "what if I hunt bad prey and mate will be disappointed? They waited so long..."

But he kinda gets worried when he hears them randomly giggle... uh what's so funny? Ooh the wooden plate said something funny? Cool

He gets jelous when s/o reads some romance stories and giggles and blushes over some words... he should be the one making them feel this way :(

But when s/o cries??? Dude litteraly hisses at the book. Nuh uh bbg you are getting break from books!

Ofc he cant ban them from reading books for ever! He just pressures them on avoiding romance books cus they make him jelous! He should be the one! He senses how some of those books make you feel.... Stop!!!

He enjoys lisening to s/o talk about characters, plottwists, lore. Its like the type of podcast you would lisen to fall asleep. He will wrap his heavy arms around s/o and slowly drift to sleep, or place their body on his and feel their body move and vibrate due to all this talking

Loves to lisen about s/o theories and how they react once they were right! Yay your crazy totally not obvious theory way right yay

He still can't relate to idea of enjoying funny looking wooden square that clearly is sending you a telepathic messages... it doenst sound intresting, he hates reading

Ate one of s/o books

Loves how s/o shit talks writers of books for cliche endings or dumbass main characters or totally obvious plottwists, he loves how dramatic they get over peace of paper

Yes yes I know your sad cuz guy from book died and it's so so sad... anyways i made us dinner, wanna eat in bed

Can't relate but supports

The only NO for him are romance books and horrors

[dreamingcloudie]

❛❛ When Two Worlds Meet ❜❜

✎ ❛❛ What a fascinating creature... ❜❜

Pairing(s): Dottore x Mermaid!GN!Reader

Genre/Format: Fluff (oneshot)

Warning(s): Use of Dottore's (speculated) real name

wc: ~2.8k

Notes: I'm sorry if this isn't one of the requests 😭 I'm still on writer's block and I wanna write something to give myself some ideas or to warm up. I originally wanted to write reader as female but nah. I want everybody to be able to enjoy, so please tell me if you see any female pronouns!

Anyways, request fics will be coming in slow, I'm sorry :'(

With a curious mind, one would hope to seek more of the world around them. To salvage knowledge for their minds to ease that inquisitive hunger. As both a scholar and a scientist, his thirst for knowing more thrived. If there was an opportunity to learn, he wouldn’t turn it down.

He was now on a ship, sailing from Snezhnaya to Sumeru; he had research to conduct there. It rocked along with the foamy waves as he stood there on the top deck, overlooking the vast ocean before his eyes. It was a sea of turquoise, with sun glitter bouncing off of the water surface. He usually didn’t care for such mundane things, but even he had to admit, it was quite a lovely view.

He took out a watch from his pocket and took a peek at the time.

Still had a few hours left before he’d reach the Sumeru docks…

He groaned a bit before putting his pocket watch away. As much as he enjoyed the view, he wanted to start his project already. Any moment longer and he’d—

“Sir!”

His thoughts were cut off when a Fatui agent ran to him. His face was covered by a mask, so The Doctor wasn’t able to read his facial expression. However, judging by his frantic movements, it seemed to be urgent.

“There’s a—”

Before the agent could finish his sentence, a brief moment of bright light flashed, followed by an ear-piercing rumble in the distance. The Doctor turned his head to where the sound came from and he could see the clouds in the sky were getting darker. He then started to feel multiple droplets landing on him…

A thunderstorm was heading their way.

His gaze went from the sky to the raging sea when he felt a strong wave crash against the ship. As it tilted, he held onto the railings as tight as he could, careful not to slip on the now wet floorboards. Everything was a mess, the screams of the staff on board were lost in the roaring winds as the waves got more intense. It was as if the gods of the sea and sky were doing anything they could to make them sink.

“My lord!” One of the staff yelled.

Before The Doctor could learn of what caused him to yell. He felt a sudden force hit him from behind and a piece of wood pierced into his leg. He gritted his teeth at the sudden sensation and lost his footing, also causing his hands to let go off the railings subconsciously. Before he could make sense of everything, he was wondering why the ship was upside down and he was getting further away from it.

Why was it that everything around him was blue and it felt so cold?

And why… Why did it feel like his lungs were on fire?

He opened his mouth and tried to breathe, but he saw bubbles floating to the top. That was when he realized he was swallowed by the ocean. With his leg injured and his body weak from whatever hit him. He was unable to do anything. He could only watch as his body slowly got further away from the surface above…

Was this how the world was going to mark the end of “Zandik’s Legacy”? Was it a way of punishing him for the unorthodox crimes he had committed? For he, who had to make sacrifices in the name of science, to fulfill that curiosity of his, was looked down upon by the gods who deemed it as “unethical”?

His eyelids had never felt this heavy before. Perhaps… Perhaps he could take a little nap?

Yes… Yes, that sounded nice, he thought. Everything felt so peaceful right now, a little rest wouldn’t hurt…

---

The sound of giggles and water splashing could be heard in the distance. 

You were just enjoying your time swimming around these more foreign parts of the ocean, exploring every nook and cranny that you could get into. Other than to explore, if you were lucky, you’d also find what you considered “treasure” that fell down from the world above. Collecting all these bits and pieces of human items had become a hobby of yours when you first learned of such species.

Their existence was fascinating to you. How could one not live in water? What do they eat? What is this “teapot” that they use? Is it an instrument? You tried blowing into it once but it did not make a sound so… maybe not.

But the most curious of them all, how do their “legs” work? You always shuddered at that, you couldn’t imagine having your fins split in half.

So many questions, and yet, so little answers.

You were swimming out of a cave when you saw something blue glowing on the ocean floor. You got closer and squinted your eyes when you tried to look at what it was. Gasping a little, you realized it was probably another human item, as you have never seen this before. You picked it up and held it in front of your face. It was an odd looking tube with some blue liquid inside of it.

“Woah…”

You were mesmerized by its glow, it was hypnotizing. You inspected it further, the top and bottom of this tube was adored in gold, and there was some kind of hook on it. Smiling in triumph at this new find, you swam ahead to see if you could find some more. As you did so, you noticed a merman slowly falling onto the ocean floor.

You were concerned as he looked like he was unconscious, so you decided to swim near to see if you could help. Once you did, it was then you noticed he wasn’t someone of your kind.

He had… legs.

Was he…

You didn’t know what to do, there was a human. An unconscious human right in front of you. Should you help him? This was the first you’ve ever seen one in person as well, you didn’t know if he’s dangerous or not…

Your dilemma was quickly settled with your morals. You could worry about that later, this human needed help. You held his hand and with all the strength that you could muster, you swam him to the surface. Looking around, you spotted an island he might be able to rest on and you brought him there, laying him on the sand.

You looked at the human before you, he was wearing something funny on his face and, well, he looked funny in general. You touched whatever that was on his face slightly and realized you could move it. You took it off and you were pleasantly surprised. He had a sharp jawline and his lips looked so soft.

You were starting to doubt the rumors you’ve heard about them. How could someone look like this could be so… dangerous? You shook your head and placed whatever that was on his face back on him.

Well then, what to do now?

---

The Doctor groaned slightly as he began to gain his consciousness again, he could feel the senses of his body coming back to him. His nose could pick up on the pungent smell of something fresh and he could hear the sound of ebbing waves. Not long after, he could also feel his hands again. He touched the ground and he could feel a gritty texture, was it sand?

Wait, sand? And he could breathe? 

His brows furrowed in confusion, he could’ve sworn he was in the ocean…

He slowly fluttered his eyes open, adjusting them to the bright light. Once he did, he turned his head left and right, trying to make out where he was. Not too far from where he was laying on, there were a few palm trees around him.

Ah, so it seemed like he was on an island. He assumed that he got washed up. Well, lucky him. It seemed like not even the angry seas and skies could take him down. Of course they couldn’t, he’s the second of the Fatui Harbingers!

He sat up and looked around him. As he did, he noticed a person sitting a few feet away from him, humming to themselves. He could see their upper half clearly and their bottom half was submerged in the water.

Who was that? He thought.

Anyone would think they were just an ordinary person. But he could sense that they were different somehow. Something about them was… alluring.

He continued to observe them, listening to every note they hummed. It felt as if he was in a trance. Their voice was gentle; it could lure him to sleep. He was mesmerized by whoever this was, how could one be so captivating?

His body was still aching but he tried to stand up quietly anyway, only for him to fall back down onto the sand as a sharp sting sent through his leg. His breath hitched he hit the sand. He cursed under his breath, there goes his chance of being stealthy. He made quite a loud noise and there was no way the person didn’t hear him.

And he was correct, the person turned around when he fell. When they did however, he now got a more clearer view of them. Instead of legs, they had… fins?

He stared at them in wonder.

Fins?

Was his eyes seeing things correctly? He knew of this mythical creature. Mermaids, was it? So, were they not a myth, after all? But was it truly scientifically possible for a creature from fairytales to exist?

The more he stared at them, the more questions started to conjure in his mind. He had only just seen them and yet, he wanted to know anything and everything about them, like:

What are they?

What’s their favorite food?

What’s their origin?

It was all so new to him, to have discovered an entirely new species. He sat still when the mermaid crawled closer to him cautiously, getting even closer when they sensed that he wasn’t going to hurt them.

He was just sitting there, intrigued on what they were going to do.

---

The human that you saved a while ago was now awake, and you assumed he was looking at you since he turned his head in your direction. You inched toward him slowly. Once you made sure he wasn’t going to make a move to hurt you. You got closer to him.

You didn’t go on land often, and with your fins it was proven to be a little difficult. But you managed to reach him.

You were now just staring at each other, no words were exchanged between the two of you.

You were wondering if you should say something but was beaten to it by him.

“I have to say, you have quite a soothing voice.” 

Baffled, was what was written on your face. You expected him to speak. But not to make a comment about your voice.

You could feel your face heat up. You turned your head away and cleared your throat before facing him again.

“I’m glad you’re awake now, I saw you were unconscious so I brought you here.”

Ah, so he wasn’t washed up. It was you that saved him.

“My, thank you for saving me. What can I do to return the favor?”

You looked at him with wonder glinting in your eyes.

“You can answer my questions. You’re a human, aren’t you? You have, uh, legs?”

He chuckled a bit before answering.

“Indeed, I do have legs and I am a human, but I’m more curious about you, my dear.”

You tilted your head at him, gesturing to him to continue.

“And you, are a mermaid, correct?”

You nodded.

“So, what do you know about us humans?”

“I heard you guys were dangerous, and supposedly, have a scary appearance. But you’re not scary…”

Not scary? Oh you naive little thing… if only you knew. He thought to himself as a little smirk grew on his face. What an interesting creature you were. He wouldn’t tell you what he had done or was capable of, oh no. That would scare you away and he was just starting to get into you.

“Is that so?”

You smiled and let out a noise of “mhm”.

You then looked at his attire again, pointing at the funny thing he was wearing.

“What’s that?”

He followed where you had your eyes on, and they landed on one of his gloved hands.

“Oh, this?” He lifted his hand up.

“It’s called a “glove”, we usually wear these to provide warmth or to protect ourselves,” he explained. He held his hand out to let you get a good look at it. Judging by the questions you had for him so far, he assumed you barely knew a thing about human society. You were naive, and he was quite amused by your curiosity.

You took his hand and held it gently, examining its design and tracing a finger to feel its texture. Unbeknownst to you, your tender touch had sent a tingle down his spine. Even through his glove, he could feel just how soft your skin was.

He was caught off guard when you pulled on his glove slightly.

“...It’s alright. You may take it off if you’d like.”

You then took his glove off and you were surprised at what you saw.

He wasn’t sure how you’d react, but judging by your expression, he could only assume you either found it interesting or disgusting. His hand was covered in many scars that he got from battles and experiments. Although he had a big ego, he silently hoped that you weren’t disgusted at it.

You looked down at your own hand before looking back at his, and placed your palm against it. As you did so, your eyes widened once more. And he was also equally as surprised as you were now. He did not expect you’d… touch his hand like that.

“Our hands… they’re not so different…” You looked at your connected palms in awe. Your hands were almost exactly the same, albeit his was bigger than yours.

“Indeed.” Was the only word he could muster out. He now found himself staring at your face, darting his eyes from one detail to another. 

Your eyes… Your adorable little ears… The scales on both sides of your cheeks…

Truly, a sight to behold. So enticing, so vibrant, so perfect.

What was it that you were doing to him? He had only just met you. So why was his heart racing? Did you put a spell on him?

His thoughts were cut off when your hands left his. He was a little saddened at the loss of your warmth, but he didn’t say anything about it. You then handed his glove back to him. He took it and put it back on, muttering a “thank you”.

It was then he realized he saw a familiar accessory of his laying beside you.

“Ah, I see you’ve found my earring.”

You picked up the glowing blue tube you found earlier and showed it to him.

“You mean this? I found it when I was exploring the ocean floor. I thought it looked pretty so I took it.”

It was subtle, but he could see you were disappointed when you knew you’d have to return it.

“You could keep it if you’d like, I have more.”

What?

His mouth and mind acted on their own before he could even think. This was ridiculous. He was convinced that you put a spell on him now, what else could explain his impulsive action? But not a spell he objected to… Quite a nice one, actually. 

Your eyes lit up, “Really?”

He nodded.

You were about to say something else when you saw a few more humans running up behind this man. 

You gasped at their sudden appearance and without saying a word more, you retreated back into the water and swam away.

He was startled at your sudden departure and yelled. 

“Wait!”

But you were already gone…

“My lord! We’ve found you!”

He turned around and a few of his underlings ran up to him.

“Are you alright, my lord? Our greatest apologies. It shouldn’t have taken us this long to find you!”

The Doctor tried to stand up again, being careful with his injured leg, he looked down at it and it was being wrapped neatly with a leaf. It must’ve been your doing when he was unconscious.

“I’m fine… Let’s just go.”

They nodded and led him back to the ship that was anchored not far from here. Before he left, however, he looked back at the ocean that you fled to in a hurry, and his hand that he could still feel a lingering warmth from you.

He didn’t even know of your name, but he knew he wanted to see you once more…

No, he needed to see you.

“Until we meet again, my dear.”

[laufire]

Ask meme: Duke Thomas, or Jason Todd (or both, dealers choice)

I have no idea of what Duke is doing rn in the mainline, so I'm gonna sidestep that and cheat, because what I'd want to write for him isn't a comic: it's his introduction in the animated show Batman: The Caped Crusader. He'd be perfect for it, and there's already an incredibly easy way to introduce him, as Joker's arrival and laughing gas is set to be the plot in s2. He's the only Robin I want in that show tbqh. Bring him!

The show would want to grow him up a bit, though I'd want him to be in his teens still, and for this to be An Issue. They'd probably want to remove the meta aspect, which I can understand; I could work either way. The point is that he'd be someone doing things on his own, taking matters into his own hands, and not Batman's second. More like how he started in the comics.

A cool design is mandatory -the show is a mixed bag in this department, and particularly bad with the men. Do NOT give him short hair. Have fun with him, animators.

For Jason I have basically THEE post gotham-war/brainwashing run in my head. It'd start with him getting gravelly, irreversibly injured due to what Bruce did to him, in a way that would force him to change how he approaches superheroing, among, u know. His entire life. My top choice at the moment is blindness, but there are others.

The run would drag him to his lowest point before he raises up. Like, the injury would happen while trying to save someone, who dies horribly because he can't overcome the toxin this time! Maybe a kid, because I'm not above doing what Gotham War writers refused to.

I'd also pair it up with an old idea I had when I still entertained the possibility of writing prime earth fic: Jason facing the consequences of adhering to the no kill rule, with someone he let live killing again, Jason becoming fixated on the victim... eventually decing to give up the "acceptance" he got to follow his own morals, for his own peace of mind.

Combined, he wouldn't be able to go at perpetrators the way he used to; between the toxin that reacts to adrenaline and the injury, I think he could take a more distant, macro approach to crime fighting. His goal is to permanently stop his targets; sometimes that can be done non-lethally. Sometimes, it really can't.

But we're definitely bringing the saw-traps back. He also loves dramatic irony and would enjoy pushing people to hang themselves with their own rope. Metaphorically. Or...

Anyway. LOL. Bonus Duke & Jason idea! I have quite a few, but those are strictly new earth (with my own headcanons about how to introduce Duke in it!), and I'm still determined to avoid that for this ask game.

DC wouldn't let me go as far as the above, but hey, maybe I can injure Jason and put Duke through his own identity evolution (I don't like the signal name and also in this pocket universe of mine the batclan is in shambles añlsdkfjf. Changes are ahead) and have them team up. Jason can be the guy in the chair. IDK about the plot but I'd include a lot of cameos from other characters, Just Because. I'm thinking Tatsu, because why not. Jeffeson Pierce, because he and Duke have a established dynamic I find interesting (and also, we could re-canonize "Pay As You Go"!). Mia, because I'm launching that ship. Talia, because again, why not. Gotham Girl, who also has an established dynamic with both of them. I'm re-canonizing Sasha and Colin too, because this would be a 100% Gotham-focused run. Just watch me.

[onigiri-dorkk]

Some thoughts, and a thank you to the Rivamika fandom 🤍

Honestly I have so many complaints about the final part, but I’m going to slow myself down and just keep soaking it in: we got post-war Levi and Mikasa animated at long last. They both made it out alive. They both can live peaceful lives. And it is absolutely canon that they reunite someday, eventually.

That’s all I’ll celebrate from the story for now 🤍 AOT is such a special series to my heart despite the disappointment I feel in many areas. It got me through some tough years and brought joy and excitement. It inspired me to draw again, and literally helped me discover a love for writing. Most importantly, it created fandom community and friendships which have brought daily joy and fun into the most mundane moments of life.

Levi and Mikasa deserve the best. I will love to continue exploring their possibilities and healing and love and belonging through art and fanfiction with fandom friends 🤍

This is a ship and series that I know will stay imbedded into my heart (the same way ATLA and Fruits Basket have always been permanent to me). I’m not going anywhere 😭

Someday, fandom people will trickle away from AOT now that it’s over, but I’ll still be around. And I wanna thank every rivamika shipper, new and old, who withstood alllllll the shit together. There’s been beautiful solidarity and support for so long. I love us! And I love all that we created through our mutual fixation on Rivamika 🤍

Thank you to every fic writer who fueled our imagination through story. Thank you to translators who helped us enjoy stories all around the world. Thank you to artists who created visual masterpieces. Thank you to theorists and analyzers who helped us find more crumbs lol! Thank you to editors who made it possible to see our characters together in creative ways. Thank you to video editors who made incredibly fun and beautiful compilations. And thank you to everyone who may not have created for fandom, but you were around, lurking, liking and supporting all of our posts to add to the collective support. For however long you were/will be part of the magic of Rivamika, thank you!

I’ve had such a pleasure writing, drawing, analyzing for Levi and Mikasa, and hyping y’all up too!

Let’s continue to create for our beautiful couple 🥹🤍

[rofell]

Hi folks.

I wanted to share some thoughts and love about creativity. Fair warning this is going to be sappy. Please don't let it fool you - I am still a grumpy cynic mostly focused on sharing fics, GO smut, and slowed down gifs of Michael Sheen's tongue. But anyway.

This fandom unlocked a world of creativity for me. Creativity that I thought was lost to me. Dreams I thought I would never come back to. I thought the ship had sailed - yes, I wanted to be a writer when I was a kid, but I'm an adult now and it wasn't going to happen. I had made peace with it.

But when this fandom took me by its wily claws I discovered that not only could I actually write a little bit of fanfic, yes, sure, but I *needed* to write. It poured out of me - all of this observation, and emotion, and creation I didn't realize had been bubbling along under the surface this whole time.

I bring this up because I'm about to hit a milestone. When I first starting writing fic I asked myself "How will I know if I'm successful?" The answer I came up with was "Well, most 'established' fics I see get to 10K hits, and if I can do that, I will have made it."

This was the wrong benchmark. I have since become highly skeptical of AO3 stats and even more skeptical of chasing fame and acclaim.

I was successful the first time I wrote a scene of fiction and burst through a 15+ year writers' block.

I was successful with the first story I finished. I think there is so much to be gained and so much to be said for finishing. your. stories.

I was successful the first time I provided beta to someone else, and learned so much in the act of examining someone else's work, and gained so much in the richness of community.

I have been successful this whole time. And the creativity has been one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. I'm now working on a piece that is deeply vulnerable and challenging to write. It may never see the light of day but I. will. finish. it. and I will enjoy the gifts that writing it provides.

All of that is true and - I'm also about to hit that first, silly benchmark I set for myself.

The Cure for a Broken Heart is about to hit 10K hits. This was my first long fic, still the longest thing I've ever written. It was a labour of love and written with the help of so many of the wonderful folks at @whickberstreetwriters. (@azeutreciathewicked @springofviolets @playdohangel thank you again for your time and your insights)

So to anyone else who needs the push - do the thing. Make the thing. Finish the thing. It doesn't matter if it's good or if it's seen. It can be just for you. But life is not for being perfect. It's for creating and discovering and savouring.

xo,

Ro

[dipplinduo]

Hey there! I'm actually a big fan of your work , and as a rookie writer myself, I wanted to know if you have some motivation advises (Comparison gives me so much writer blocks and I don't even post)

I love how I received and chose to answer this ask after having a lack of motivation streak that I only broke quite literally a few hours ago xD

I think it's interesting you're bringing up comparison - it honestly might be at the root of what you're specifically experiencing so I'm gonna focus my response on that. I could be off, but it sounds like seeing what other people are doing feels intimidating and puts a lot of pressure on you. So if it isn't "perfect" or "up to par" with what others seem to be doing, it's not good enough to post.

This is my personal take:

I saw a post (wish I could link it but can't remember where it was) that really resonated with me not too long ago. It talked about how we've been conditioned as a society in a way to see a lot of the arts as something to perfect; if you want to sing, you should focus on learning how to become a good singer. If you are a dancer, you should focus on learning forms to become a better dancer.

The post goes on to make the point that this is not why the arts were founded in the first place.

We as humans began to sing because we enjoyed singing. We danced because we liked to dance. We paint, write, and draw because - at each art's purest and most rudimentary form - it is the power and experience of personal expression. The benefit wasn't to be perfect, it was to enjoy the creative outlet in itself.

This is what has always connected me to writing. This is why I'm okay with posting the way I do, and why I don't mind light humor about my typos and all that. Because at the end of the day, you're writing because you enjoy it. You're writing to express and share with others. And you're doing it all for free. Your willingness to give the gift of your creativity out to the world is beautiful in itself.

This next part might sound a lot easier said than done, but again, this is all just my personal route that goes in conjunction with this philosophy:

See other writers/creators as your peers. Think of it like a potluck - everyone's bringing their own food, and everyone has different ideas. But it's cool because now you have mashed potatoes along with your favorite food, and someone else brought ice cream. No one dish is going to "win" - it's the culmination of everyone's efforts that fills plates up and make the event (fandom) enjoyable and connective.

Recognize the way in which your fic is uniquely yours. What's the touch you want to have? Things you enjoy that you want to feel yourself as you create, and perhaps share with others? Romance, humor, fun, peace, angst? Maybe certain situations for characters, or a moment you want to see with your favorite ship? The more you get in touch with what you want to portray, the more credit you'll be able to rightfully give your own work.

Engage with creators/commenters that are additive to your personal enjoyment and creativity. Going with the whole "this is all for fun, and is basically everyone's hobby over life and death" thing - the people you surround yourself with, or even the content you consume, can directly affect your experience in writing for a fandom. I personally get a lot out of talking about my ideas with others and through inviting and responding to feedback from people that engage with my work. If you like engaging with someone else's work, go ahead! See what stands out to you as inspiring, and let that be your takeaway to mull on (as you're essentially learning more about yourself and what you find entertaining or engaging).

I'm gonna get off my soapbox now (lol), but I also wanted to add one more thing:

There unfortunately is a competitive culture in a lot of recreational spaces, and especially with the arts and over the internet lol. There are people who like to overly criticize because it makes them feel better about themselves/their own work, there are people who may choose to dislike you or your work simply because they view you as competition, etc.

These kinds of choices some (not the majority of people!) may choose to make hold no actual reflection of your character or what you're writing. It is someone else's reflection being projected onto you. You may not be able to control what they do, but you can control how you respond. And my advice on that?

It's your free time. Don't give the haters a platform, just disengage & tune into the folks that uplift & encourage you instead. B)

[toburnup]

I don’t understand why people care enough to negatively comment on work because they don’t like a character…

I don’t like some characters that my friends reblog and I just scroll past like a normal person, I’m not going to dictate or judge what people like and I can’t stand the way people say “oh I block people who like *insert character they dislike*” like it’s so petty and strange… I like all your work I think you’re a great writer do I ship all the same people as you? Nope but does it bother me? Not at all. There is no letting people have fun in this fandom I swear to god!

i find it very odd. it's especially easy to avoid on tumblr, so i don't understand people's reactions (also, sorry, i accidentally wrote a whole essay here)

i'm not sure if it's because so many people in the ST fandom are newer to fandom in general, or it's just how things are now (i'm afraid it's this one), but i find that a surprising amount of people see any interest in a character as like... symbolic of someone's personal morals and values. and this is especially rampant among steddie shippers which is unfortunate. i block a ton of people on twitter because they say "hellcheer dni" and then i see passive aggressive messages on discord about how i blocked them. is this because people make the media they consume their whole ID? or people trying to play activist? (i've said it before on here but my activism isn't an online activity for me, it's my work and it's my personal life, and i'm intentional about separating these. i don't share much about my life on here on purpose).

billy anti's are actually scary at times. i personally don't see the logic of harassing real people in the name of fictional characters (and this is a generalization, but most of the time it's white shippers pulling that shit which just feels performative at best). this isn't billy-related, but joseph quinn fans bullied a jquinn fan account (run by a woc) off of twitter because she wasn't retweeting social justice-related posts. lmao. people really see sj rt's as the be-all and end-all of Being a Good Person. like people have lives outside of fandom and they can't see that.

LONG STORY SHORT, i know that posting my hellcheer and metalsandwich fic is going to make some people hate me or whatever, but i'm really tired of feeling like i can only openly like and enjoy steddie in order to have value here. if people are going to stop reading what i write, or blacklist me or whatever, i'll make my peace with that. and let's be real, who's really the one losing out in that scenario? because it's not me.

[wibzenadarksiderwithasoftheart]

Making Of Monday What to do with plot bunnies.

I've found that one of the wonderful and terrible things about being a fic writer is all the many plot bunnies. They breed, the little bastards, and I'll never be able to write them all, sadly. I do enjoy playing with them though, just letting my mind run wild with a weird idea. They're something positive for my overactive brain to focus on, and for that I'm grateful.

But what to do with them.

Of course there are the ones I choose to work on, the ones that end up being more than just a plot bunny, but those are the special few. There are many that I should kill off, but I'm possessive and can't bring myself to just let them go, so I put them in deep freeze (stasis sleep) so I can find them at a later date. The list is now incredibly long, there are so many small and large iders just waiting for their chance, but I have no idea if I will ever return to them.

A few I've released, set them loose on Tumblr so that they might torment/inspire others, and I should do this more often, but like I said, I'm possessive of them, so it's difficult.

In my note app on my phone, I have a running list where I can quickly write down the pesky bunnies when they come to me, usually at the most inopportune times. It can be anything from a single sentence, or just the title, to something more.

This is my current list: It's far from all my bunnies, as I'm constantly moving them to the deep freeze (a document on my PC) or promoting them into real plot ideas with their own note.

To have one last day with you

Ghost Ship

You're a pretty devil, I have to agree (Halloween fic angel and demon)

Same age Obi Luke Ani

The elven prince and his human, Elver Obi human Ani

To love a god is a terrible and wonderful thing

The dragon in the soul, Anakin turns in to a dragon

In to the woods, Quiobiani, Werewolves, Found in the woods, Forest time strange, Motorcycles

Hig treason, You are found guilty of having assinated the hig Chancellor and will be executed, They found Padmé in the crowd

Bride of the Dragon

Seeking comfort, Padawan and master sleep together, Ahsoka and Anakin didn't know it but with this they continued a tradition in their lineage.

The Pact, Sith and Jedi married every generation So there is this very old peace treaty saying that in each generation of Sith and Jedi two will be designated to be 'married' to maintain peace and balance (this would probably be in a universe where there are more Sith)

The dark fairytales of the galaxy

R2 secret recordings, Luke discovers that R2 has recordings of sex between two hot men and a woman. He shares with Han and Leia… Unaware that it's their parents and Kenobi. Poor R2…

first kiss reveals a soulmate

fan meet, Anakin Obi and Padme are all fans of meet, modern

song fic, you are the reason, in the end

darkness, gone blind, living in darkness, turning to new other senses, the power of sight.

Feel free to ask about these, I would be thrilled, and if there is one you would like to adopt, abduct, make yours, let me know, I need to practice sharing and letting go.

[stillboldlygoing]

fic writery thing

thank you for the indirect, sort-of tag @lauronk -- and also you @ameerawrites

How many works do you have on ao3? 2

what's your total ao3 word count? 36k!

what fandoms do you write for? Currently only for "The Last of Us"

what are your top five fics by kudos? wellllllll I only have the two 💀 but: The Garden Set Us Free Like a Rock

do you respond to comments? like, obsessively

what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I can genuinely say that the only draw, for me, in writing fanfic is giving people the happy endings canon didn't-- so everything I've ever written ends happily. (Minus the WIPs that never ended at all, RIP. 🪦)

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The Garden Set Us Free -- so wildly fluffy I was worried it would be a flop

do you get hate on fics? I had some... let's say... brutal reviews of my early fics, but tbh it was all deserved. (Not to excuse leaving rude comments!!)

do you write smut? if so what kind? I've written all of it! Slash, femslash, het.

do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written? It doesn't really count as crazy because it was in-universe, but Voyager/TOS.

have you ever had a fic stolen? I have no idea -- but if you're gonna steal a fic, please steal the ones I left unfinished 10+ years ago after writing myself into a hole and then tag me cuz I'd really like to see how they end.

have you ever had a fic translated? no 🥲

have you ever co-written a fic before? only round-robin style!

what's your all time favorite ship? Like most fandom trash I am constantly embarking and disembarking -- but my OTP with the most longevity is still my very first OTP, Kirk/Spock

what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I no longer post as I go-- but I have a truly absurd amount of words written for a Jaime/Brienne (Game of Thrones) "You've Got Mail"-style AU that I fear will never see the light of day. I love the plot, I love the setting, I love the vibe-- and my original self-imposed posting deadline was... December 15th, 2017, which was the day AOL shut down AIM. May the me that truly believed I would make that deadline rest in peace.

what are your writing strengths? I had dial-up for, like, years after everyone else switched to high speed-- and therefore have a deep wellspring of patience. I am never in a rush to post!

what are your writing weaknesses? I'm an underwriter... to an extreme. I'll be on the 58th draft before I realize I've never once, in 80k words, described a single outfit.

thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I try to only sprinkle in words/phrases that can be 100% understood via context alone -- or words that are used so often in canon that even the most most casual fans would recognize them.

first fandom you wrote for? Star Trek: Voyager <3

favorite fic you've written? Like a Rock. I don't know that I'll ever be able to recapture the joy I felt posting this one... I hesitate to call it a crack fic because I did write it in earnest (and in homage to one of my favorite fanfic writers) buuuut I knew people would go "wtf", and there are few things my inner Hellmo enjoys more than people looking at me and going "wtf"

NO PRESSURE BUUUUUUT.... if you want to do it!! And also I apologize if you were already tagged!! I tag @bearrycool, @howtotrainyourdoofus, & @becomethesun

[constantcrisis19]

20 Questions for Fic Writers (& Artists)

AN: I wasn't tagged, but I saw this and just had to do it!

1. How many works do you have on ao3(Tumblr)?

34 works on ao3

51 works on Tumblr

2. What's your total ao3 (Tumblr) word count?

559,311 words on ao3

84,623 words on Tumblr

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Honestly, whatever I'm into at the time (but I have a tendency to bounce around a lot) so I'll just list off a few of my favs to write for:

Call of Duty: MW2

Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse

Rick and Morty

Teen Wolf

Stranger Things

Supernatural

The Walking Dead

4.What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

What Is Meant To Be (Always Finds A Way) | Geraskier | 2,841 kudos

Tell Me Every Terrible Thing You've Done (And Let Me Love You Anyways) | Montgomery Gator & Gregory [Gen] | 2,425 kudos

The Goal Isn't To Live Forever (It's To Create Something That Will) | Winterberg | 2,035 kudos

Sometimes Peace Come From Painful Things | Winterberg | 1,252 kudos

It’s Funny Only Just A Moment (Can Reveal The Universe Intent) | Winterberg | 836 kudos

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

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

I don't always respond to comments, since I usually leave that task to my co-writer (and partner in crime) Tibby. It's the most convenient way to do it because we both collaborate on most of the fics I post and they're much more comfortable with responding to comments.

But if it's a solo fic, then I can usually manage to work through my anxiety and respond to anyone who's kind enough to leave a comment because I genuinely love getting feedback, and seeing people enjoy my work really inspires me to keep writing!

Uhhh... That's gotta be my newer oneshot, Free Fall. It's a SoapGhost fic and a rewrite of the ending of MW3 (Yeah, you know the scene).

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've got a few (cause I'm a sucker for a happy ending) but the one I'm gonna go with has to be The Goal Isn't To Live Forever (It's To Create Something That Will). It's a part of the list above and it's currently one of my only completed, multi-chaptered fics.

8. Do you get hate on any fics (Art)?

Unfortunately, yeah. I recently got a particularly rude comment accusing me of using chat ai to write my Geraskier fic, even though it was first published way back in 2020, before chat ai was even a thing that people used regularly.

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

Yup. I usually stick to my comfort zone and write M/M stuff.

Though, in my longer fics, the smut isn't really the main focal point so I tend to keep it pretty tame.

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

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Oh boy. My co-author has actually got me hooked on a crazy rare pair to the point where we wrote a whole fic for it (and are working on the second in the series). It's a Daryl Dixon/Dean Winchester pairing set in the TWD universe.

Nope, thank god.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup! Someone reached out to me and asked to translate my FNaF: SB fic into Russian.

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

Sure have, but only with one other person.

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

Omg, no! I have to pick!?

Well, if forced with a gun to my head, I supposed I'd have to say Rinch (John Reese x Harold Finch from the TV series Person of Interest). I love the show and the characters and the story and the world building. It's just a pairing that I will always keep coming back to no matter how many other ships/fandoms I fall into.

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

My KiriBaku x Among Us crossover fic. The main page, where I had planned out the entire fic, was accidentally deleted and I don't know if I'll ever recover from that since I'd have to rehash the entire rest of the story from scratch if I decided to one day come back to it.

However, that being said, I'm still holding out hope that I'll randomly get a burst of motivation for the story. Who knows.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd say my strengths are writing angst, witty banter, and transition paragraphs (since my co-author often gets stuck going on tangents and writing really detailed scenes so they often ask for me to make a segue in order to get us to the next plot point, which works out for everyone).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My weakness is definitely in-depth, detailed scenes, hands down. It's kinda embarrassing, but my writing can sometimes lack the descriptive, engaging language necessary to make the story/situation/characters interesting (especially when it's decidedly not a writing day) and it often reads like boring exposition.

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

I am not fluent in anything other than English, but that doesn't exactly stop me from relying heavily on google translate in order to use other languages in my fics, especially if the character that I'm writing for prefers another language. Take Miguel O'Hara for example, who is canonically bilingual.

The same kind of goes for accents too. I try my best to emulate how the words would sound if the character was actually speaking while writing dialogue. Take for example my SoapGhost fics, where both characters have a thick, distinct accent.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Unofficially (as in never posted): Vampire Diaries.

First fandom I posted to Wattpad (yikes) when I was like twelve: BBC Sherlock

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Jeez, another difficult question. Um... I'm gonna go with What Is Meant To Be (Always Finds A Way), for several reasons.

It was the very first fic that I posted to my ao3 account.

It was the first multi-chaptered fic that I'd ever completed.

I managed to finish and post the final chapter on my birthday (which was a pleasant surprise).

I love it so much that my co-writer and I are actually currently in the midst of lovingly revisiting/revising the entire fic to make it even better!

_____

That was fun! Now for the tagging!

@mistertiberius, @ghostao3, @captain-mj, @fogsrollingin

[joeys-piano]

20 Questions About A Fic Writer

Tagged by @voxofthevoid who is pretty much a writing god as far as I'm concerned. The breadth of his works are wide, and he be doing things for the hell of it.

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

230 since 2016.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

841,020. I mostly write oneshots and short stories.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Whatever scratches my writing itch. I used to settle in fandoms when I was younger, but now I wander around and write for whatever catches my interest during that season of my life. It keeps me fresh. I found my insecurities were a lot louder the longer I settle somewhere because it's easier to make comparisons. So I just stroll around. It's a lot simpler life. It keeps me from chasing AO3 stats and lets me write things I wouldn't have the courage to do in other fandoms. So that's nice.

Currently I'm writing for Link Click.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

From Yuri on Ice.

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

Yes. Often, I leave long replies that are ficlet length at least.

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

My mind tells me those fics are from the Harry Potter fandom.

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

Maybe you can tell me because I've written a lot and I don't remember.

8. Do you get hate on fic?

Rarely. I've written for ships people have issue with and have not yet received hate for it. It unfortunately happens to my friends and writers I respect, so that sucks. The only hate I've really received was when someone argued with me in the Harry Potter fandom that English Breakfast tea does not exist. And I was so weirded out by the comment that I just deleted the fic for my own mental peace.

Other than that, I don't recall any other hate. I have recieved passive aggressive comments, but those were from years ago. Overall, it's either positive or neutral.

9. Do you write smut?

Maybe once or twice a year. It's not that fun, really.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I used to.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge. I had a request once, but I don't think anything came out of it.

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

Yes. Two of them for one fandom. My writing style and process is better suited for solo writing. I've tried co-writing with what I do currently, but it doesn't mesh well.

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

Odazai. I don't write for it currently, but I still enjoy seeing it. Which is something I cannot say for other ships I've done in the past, so that means a lot to me. I might pick up writing for it again if I feel that's my season to do it.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but probably won’t?

Whatever is in my "Not Currently" folder. I'm of the mind that if a story or idea ends up there, it's a doomed attempt trying to resurrect it. So I let it die. Yeah I'm haunted on a constant basis if I think about it, but that's just life I think. Nowadays I write stories I do carve time for, not ones that I want to carve time for. There's a difference.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Introspection. Rhyme. Character voice. Vibes. My willingness to experiment with my writing and challenging myself to strengthen my weak areas. Nowadays, I write the stories that I write to challenge my technical skills as a writer. It keeps me from feeling stagnant and I often start writing things I don't normally write, but this gives me the mental library of how to do certain things because I've done it before.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. Heavy plots. Physical affection in a romantic or sexual sense. Fluff because I get violently ill every time I write it (like covid, the flu, it aggraviates my flares up and that's not fun). Angst because it drains a lot of me and I get tired. So, I realize that limits what I can write, so I try to be really good at what I do write.

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

Personally, I don't do it. If I have a character speaking in another language, I summarize it through narration. If some words are borrowed, like a good example is names of food or certain phrases, I'm fine with putting that in dialogue. When I was younger, I used to italicize that stuff. I don't anymore unless emphasis is directly on those words.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Vocaloid.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

At the moment, nothing comes to mind. While writing them, I'm sure there was a lot of love because I willingly pulled the stories together. But other than that, I don't have a real favorite.

[takaraphoenix]

What are your motivations to writing fanfictions? What made you start writing fanfictions? And why did you keep writing them and what motivates you then vs now? How do you find the motivation or reason to write a particular fanfic? I hope you don't mind me being curious

That's such an interesting ask to get, I totally don't mind!! I never mind asks ;)

Mh, my motivation when I first started writing fanfiction was... greed, I think? Like, when I was a kid and discovered fanfiction, that totally blew my mind. I could get more with the characters I love in the world I love? And then I realized that I could let things happen that I want to see with said characters in said world, things that canon wouldn't let happen, and that just unlocked something in me, I guess.

My first fandom was Beyblade and it was very... warm. The fandom, I mean. The German Beyblade fandom in the early 2000s was a real community, you met each other at cons, you had forums where you talked about your fics and organized events (bit like Discord does now, bless it). And that was what really made me keep writing, because I had all these friends, we supported each other and helped each other improve (plus, I was very young back then and the majority of the people in the circle were 20+, so there was a lot of mentoring and guidance and people teaching me how to behave in fandom spaces).

When the German Beyblade fandom started fizzing out and none of my friends wrote for it anymore, I... lost my motivation too. I felt like I was only writing for myself anymore, and it was also kind of... lonely? Since most of the friendships also faded out, with us moving into different fandoms.

I didn't really write, for a few years. Until I discovered FFNet and got good enough at English to actually read/write in it.

What got me back into it was actually Sky High - little fun fact here, part of my username today is still rooted in that; I used to go by Peace Phoenix back then, which was my headcanon for Warren Peace's hero name, but later on, when I got into PJO, I kind of merged my old Beyblade username (Firefox_Takara) with Peace Phoenix to create a new identity as a writer for myself that still tied to my Beyblade roots but also kept part of the username by which I had been writing my fics on FFNet at that point. So, that's why my username is Takara Phoenix.

Sky High got me back in the groove in the sense of me reading so many fics for it and trying to write one myself (I never posted that though), and though I didn't end up with this becoming like a fandom I'd really write for, that one fic reminded me just how much I love writing, and how much I love exploring worlds.

And that's when the Percy Jackson movie aired in cinemas and I got hooked on that. Loved that movie, bought the books, dove into fandom to read all I could get.

Which is where we'll get to the part to what motivates me now.

Still greed, in a way, but also... I don't know what to name that, but when you want something and you can't find it, it isn't there, so you make it yourself. That feeling.

The fandom was smaller back then, there wasn't all that much, especially not on the things I enjoyed, so I decided to make it myself.

Which is, in general, what motivates me to write specific fics. Because I want to see it. More of a specific ship, certain tropes or AUs for a particular ship, exploring a certain character, or a platonic dynamic. I want to see it, so I'll make it happen.

Also, the ADHD brain helps too, to be quite frank. When I hyperfixate on something, my brain won't let it go until it's done. Currently hyperfixating on Stiles Stilinski and fully sucked into Teen Wolf because of that and... there's a difference. Like, there really is a difference between just writing for something that I like and enjoy and genuinely hyperfixating on it because everything else around me just kinda fades and I can spend hours on it until it's done.

I hope this answered your questions? ^^

[esther-dot]

For a while, until season 5, when I still thought Tyrion was a good man and never considered Jonsa as a couple, I thought Sansa and Tyrion could be a possible couple. A kind of Beauty and the Beast story. I know that parallel was made for Sandor and Sansa but I always found difficult to think of them as such and in political terms made no sense. Before Jonsa, who did you think Sansa would end up with ?

Oh, I think you are quite right to read some Beauty & the Beast into their dynamic, anon! I've gotten some questions about "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" which is his in-world song along those lines and he’s associated that or B&B to a number of relationships. Finding traces or even direct references to it in a certain dynamic doesn't necessarily mean a mutual romance or an endgame couple, it may simply be one of the facets he wants to explore of a certain idea. So to me, it's certainly valid to find it and talk about it there, especially when there's such a contrast between the beautiful prince who abuses Sansa and the man society has tried to dehumanize who stops him. None of my "anti Tyrion" posts are meant to deny that, they're just written to highlight how he too wronged her, even if Sansa wasn't quite fully cognizant of it.

Tyrion may be a villain only slipping further into his villainy, but he has those moments when, like the Hound, he protects Sansa. The fact that he wanted the North so much, but stopped himself from sleeping with Sansa we can read as a moment that defies the expectations for him who has been stigmatized. On the one hand, well, it's the bare minimum, he isn't exactly a hero for not sleeping with a child who was forced into the marriage and is a prisoner in KL, but many times over, we're being shown that he isn't quite the monster his family/society made him out to be. This is not to say he is a good man, he did marry her because he wanted power, but I think it is meant to criticize society's prejudices.

Anyway, I actually didn't ship Sansa with anyone before Jon! I was a very casual fan who wasn't involved in the fandom, and I was simply happy to enjoy the show as it was. It was during the long hiatus that I become very curious about what the ending would be, found Jonsa, and am now a living testament to the power of smart meta writers, wonderful gif makers, talented artists, fabulous fic writers. The damage is immense. Just say no to fandom, kids, or this may be you! 😂

Even though I enjoyed Tyrion, I could never stomach him (or the Hound) with Sansa. Their interest in her while she's so young, the way Tyrion took advantage of her situation for his own benefit and the Hound threatening her....I couldn't be at peace with that. If say, Tyrion had married her and took her away to safety, or if the Hound had offered to help her escape KL without the frequent insults/threats of death/the assault, then you could imagine that Martin might be planning to have these play out in the fairytale way, but he didn't do that. He might be talking about the trope, is certainly referencing bigger ideas here, but it isn't following the path of the og story.

Also, I don't think Tyrion's choice to marry Sansa is defensible. She was a child bride. She was going to be forced to marry someone. She couldn't really say no, so her agreeing to it isn't meaningful. It's good Tyrion felt bad, but Sansa didn't have good options. I was very disturbed that D&D wanted us to think Tyrion was a great guy in s8 even though he was angry with Sansa for abandoning him and also wanted to reestablish his relationship with his child bride. Creepy AF.

Let’s see….I do think Sansa x Pod is a cute idea, Sansa x Jeyne is sweet, I think you could write aged up Sansa x Willas fics, lots of fans fell in love with the unnamed Prince of Dorne from the finale and started listing the benefits of long distance relationships...but even if Jon didn't exist, I don't think there is a canon option for Sansa that has both the potential of happening and would be good for her which is why a lot of people believe she'll marry a rando post canon. And I could be happy with that if the rando has a long face, a very large dog, and a surprising familiarity with Winterfell!