#PARENTS USING TELEPATHY TO BOND WITH THEIR CHILDREN RUINS ME

[amtrak12]

oh no I’ve discovered angel telapathy while reading Lucifer fic. MA’AM I grew up in the Doctor/Rose fandom, YOU KNOW TELEPATHY IS MY WEAKNESS.

[arofili]

gen freeform exchange letter!

See my signup for likes/DNWs/etc.

This is not the most detailed letter, just kind of a collection of my scattered thoughts about how the tags I chose apply to the characters I chose. these are of course completely optional, you can follow my prompts or pick something completely different, whatever you’d like. thanks for writing for me!!

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Request 1: Kidnap Dads Fluff

this is the Kidnap Dads Fluff request! some of these are pretty Maedhros-centric, bc he is my favorite character; you don’t have to include all of them but I’d love it if you included Mae.

I like my Kidnap Dads either extremely fluffy OR extremely complicated and handled with care. This request is for the fluffy stuff. Please don’t make anyone a bad parent - definitely not M&M, but also not Elwing & Eärendil either, and if you’re writing about M&M’s childhood at all I need Fëanor to be a good dad. Things can be Complicated™ but I need there to be love at the root of parent-child relationships.

For the relationships outside of the various combinations of Elrond & Elros & Maedhros & Maglor:

I would love to see Elrond & Gil-galad viewing each other as brothers because Russingon-baby!Gil shares a dad with Elrond!! or Gil somehow visiting Mae while he and Mags are taking care of E&E? idk. just, Mae as Gil’s dad and also Elrond’s dad, that’s good content. (though Jaz, if you get assigned me feel free to write your Gil and Elrond platonic marriage idea, haha)

for Eluréd & Elurín & Maedhros: an AU where Mae saves them? maybe they get to take care of their nephews! or maybe Sirion goes differently, oooh

accidental parent acquisition: M&M didn’t INTEND to care about E&E but they do, E&E realize that they’re closer to M&M than they were to their bio parents

"We're Family Now and There's Nothing You Can Do about It": E&E claim M&M as their parents despite M&M’s protests that No We’re Evil You Don’t Want Us As Parents

Adult Siblings acting like Children: this could work for either set of siblings; I’m imagining E&E goofing off while Elrond is visiting Tar-Minyatur in Númenor and Elros’ nobles are sweating like “wtf is happening”; OR it’s M&M who have a moment of levity and sibling shenanigans that they don’t normally indulge in and E&E see and are astonished and start to trust them more

Awkward Conversations with People You Tried to Kill: M&M comforting E&E immediately post Kinslaying

Bedtime Stories: M&M telling E&E about their shared dead relatives? M&M telling E&E about Aman? E&E telling M&M about the petty squabbles they witnessed between the various nobles in Sirion?

Building A New Life: none of them really expected to survive Sirion, and they certainly didn’t expect this family situation, so they have to figure out where to go from here

Casual use of powers in a setting where the character should really be more careful: Maglor using Song magic when he doesn’t need to? Maedhros getting all Spirit Of Fire-y while protecting the twins from orcs? eldritch E&E abusing their Maia powers for petty childhood pranks? any one of those, but in front of an audience of outsiders?

Character A and B work together to take care of hurt/ill mutual loved one: E&E and Maglor caring for Maedhros who’s having a bad pain day

Characters Hanging Out In The Kitchen Because They Can't Sleep: accidental family gathering in the kitchen, every character sneaks out individually and is surprised to find the others in the kitchen too

Characters Teaching Each Other New Skills: i LIVE for this stuff with kidnap dads!! Mags teaching music? Mae teaching swordfighting? History? Politics? Magic? whatever!

competent parenting: this is almost a Requirement tbh, but idk, show a moment where E&E expect M&M to be too harsh or to be pushovers but M&M establish firm boundaries and do the Right Parenting Thing

Family Fluff: that’s this entire request tbh

Disabled Character Kicks Ass: Maedhros!!!!! protecting the twins!!! :D

Fluff and Angst: yesss, angst with a happy ending is my JAM

Food as a Metaphor for Love: Maedhros who bakes :D

Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids: I nominated this tag specifically with Maedhros & E&E in mind :)))) Maglor being surprised Mae gets along with the kids so well, and then remembering “right he used to be older bro Maitimo”? E&E expecting Mae to be the strict one but no it’s actually Maglor, Mae’s a big softie? an outsider watching Mae switch abruptly from “intimidating warlord who can and will kill you” to “doting father”?

The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair: ELVES AND HAIR PLS. maybe M&M having Noldor Hair Culture Norms that make hair a Big Deal, and E&E having Sindar norms that are like “whatever, it’s just hair”? things that are really meaningful to M&M but E&E don’t get the depth of it?

Hope vs. Despair: E&E giving Maedhros hope when he’d almost fallen permanently into despair

Identical Twins Swap Places to Mess with People: just. E&E shenanigans. bonus points if M&M are the only ones who can still tell them apart.

Oaths & Vows: literally anything to do with E&E reacting to/discovering/understanding the Oath of Fëanor

Platonic Soulbonds: adoption bonds!! my hc is that (for elves) blood family have a soul connection to one another innately, but when you adopt someone you have to initiate that bond yourself (kind of like a marriage bond but not). anything to do with M&M adopting E&E - or, E&E adopting M&M!

Post-Canon: AU where Mae lives pls??

Protectiveness: M&M protecting E&E from an outside threat OR E&E protecting M&M’s reputation after they’re separated

Raising a Child or Children Together, platonic co-parenting: M&M brotherly bonding :’) they feel like Real Family for the first time since their little brothers were little

Ruined Castles and Fortresses: Amon Ereb as a makeshift fortress long after it should’ve fallen? E&E visiting Tol Himling post-canon?

Sibling Rivalry: M&M competing over E&E liking them the most? E&E competing over M&M spoiling them the most?

Telepathy: ósanwë!!

Trans Character: make some characters trans! have M&M be supportive of E and/or E transitioning! have M and/or M be trans and explaining that to the twins! or whatever! I love trans stuff!

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Request 2: Kidnap Dads Angst

Okay, here’s the Kidnap Dads But Angst request :)))) A lot of the same prompts....but make them angsty......I would like a happy ending (or at least a hopeful ending), though, so hurt/comfort would be great, or someone thinking things are worse than they turn out to be, that sort of thing. If there’s a specific prompt that would work better with an unhappy ending I’ll mention that, but unless I request it please don’t do it.

Non-Kidnap Fam relationships:

Elrond & Gil-galad, Mae & Gil: again, was thinking Russingon Baby Gil here, but this time Gil has angst about Mae being his dad. Elrond reassuring him that Mae is a good dad? Or maybe they’re both remembering Mae after he dies :(((

Eluréd & Elurín & Maedhros: a canon take on this where Mae keeps comparing the first E&E twins to the second set.... or maybe Eluréd and Elurín are haunting Mae?

"We're Family Now and There's Nothing You Can Do about It": M&M adopting E&E before E&E trust them fully, they need to make sure E&E are cared for but the twins are still afraid of them. OR E&E adopting M&M, but lean into the angst of M&M not feeling like they’ll be good enough parents

A and B mourn death of person they both loved: Maglor & Elrond & Elros mourning Mae? Maglor & Elrond mourning Elros?

Angst - Characters know exactly how to hurt each other: SO much angst potential here... maybe Mags needling Mae right where it hurts in an attempt to get him to take a more active role in their lives? Using Fingon against him? :)))

Angst with a Happy Ending: my bread and butter, this is kind of the ideal story I want for this request

A assumes that B will abandon them; B reaffirms their loyalty to A in A's time of need: Maglor and Maedhros right before the theft of the Silmarils? M&M assuming E&E will abandon them as soon as they get the chance?

Awkward Conversations with People You Tried to Kill: immediately post-Sirion, dial up the angst factor

Building A New Life: post-WoW, everyone going their own ways

Character A and B work together to take care of hurt/ill mutual loved one: E&E and Maglor care for Mae on a bad pain day or with an injury from battle BUT instead of cute sickfic everyone’s terrified Mae is going to die, Mae kind of wants to die, Elrond is worried he’s not a good enough healer for this, Maglor blaming himself for Mae getting into this situation, basically everyone’s on edge and not having a good time

Character discovering own self-worth: E&E teaching Mae to love himself again!!!

Character draws negative attention onto themself to protect another: OKAY so my angsty headcanon for this is that Maedhros intentionally draws the twins’ ire to him when things get tense between the Fëanorians & their hostages, so they associate negative encounters with Maedhros and positive ones with Maglor. Basically he wants to spare Maglor the brunt of their anger by taking it onto himself, sabotaging his own relationship with the twins. bonus points for E&E figuring this out and fucking up his plan by loving Mae too.

Character expected to die but didn't and now has no idea how to live anymore: MAEDHROS LIVES AU FT. ALL THE ANGST

Child A comforts Child B after B has nightmare about their dead parents: E&E in the first few years of captivity :))

Characters with complicated pasts struggling with guilt and grief and forgiveness: is this not just the Fëanorians???

complicated family dynamics: just make it fucked up and difficult, E&E shouldn’t love M&M but they do anyway, they still love their bio parents too but have mixed feelings overall

Depending On Each Other To Survive: Beleriand is literally falling apart around them, they have to rely on each other or they WILL die

Difficult Decisions In War Time: M&M sending E&E to Gil-galad? M&M choosing to go after the Silmaril, E&E reacting to that?

It's the end of the world as we know it and Character(s) feel(s) fine: E&E have literally only ever known wartime, this is normal to them. OR Mae feeling better when things are horrific than he does during peaceful-ish times.

Oaths & Vows: E&E try and swear the Oath of Fëanor in order to get M&M’s approval, M&M are horrified

Platonic Soulbonds: M&M doing the adoption-soulbond thing with E&E because without a parental soulbond baby elfs can DIE..........

Post-Canon: early second age angst :)))

Redemption: M&M redeeming themselves through being good parents to E&E...but does that really redeem them?

Refusing to believe a loved one is dead: E&E refusing to accept that Maedhros is dead :))))))))

Regret: M&M post-Sirion

Separated for an Extended Period of Time and the Slow Road Back to Normal: AU where Mae survives but is separated from everyone for a long time? Canon Mags does his emo wandering thing but finally Elrond drags him to Rivendell? post-rebirth Mae and Mags and Elrond??

Take me instead: Mae sacrificing himself for the sake of the twins ;-; OR the twins trying to sacrifice themself for M&M??

two people really want Found Family but are too emotionally stunted to admit it: Maedhros desperately wanting to be included in Mags & E&E’s new little family but not able to admit it on his own

Us Against The World Mentality That Might Not Be Healthy But The Characters Find It Comforting: is this not just the Fëanorians at the end of the Silm....

World-weary broken people find comfort and understanding in each other: MAE AND MAGS....

competent parenting, Disabled Character Kicks Ass, Fluff and Angst, Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Hope vs. Despair, Raising a Child or Children Together, platonic co-parenting, Telepathy, Trans Character, Protectiveness, Ruined Castles and Fortresses: see previous request!

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Request 3: Maedhros and/or Fingon and/or Finrod with a Kid!

Please note my Russingon preferences for this request, it’s in my DNW section.

Okay I have two basic concepts for this request - though I like all of the relationships I requested so if you have a completely different take that would be great too - but here’s the idea: Maedhros and/or Fingon and/or Finrod end up semi-accidentally adopting a child! The kid is either Gil-galad or Maeglin, probably :)

Some possible scenarios:

Maeglin!

Aredhel and Maeglin go to Fingon instead of Turgon when they escape. Something happens to Aredhel, maybe Eöl follows her and she dies like in canon? Or maybe she’s still around, she deserves to live. But Fingon gets custody of Maeglin, and then ropes Maedhros and/or Finrod into helping him out.

A young Maeglin goes on a journey outside of Gondolin, against Turgon’s wishes, and gets captured by orcs...but much earlier than he does in canon. And this time he gets rescued by Maedhros! Now Maedhros is stuck with a kid who has a lot of the same trust issues he had post-Angband and he calls Fingon and/or Finrod in for help. Probably Fingon considering Maeglin is his nephew.

Aredhel and Maeglin go to Himlad instead of Gondolin. When Celegorm and Curufin go to Nargothrond, they go with. Again, maybe something happens to Aredhel? Or not? Whatever you’d prefer. But Finrod gets involved in Maeglin’s upbringing.

In any of these scenarios: Turgon gets worried enough about his missing sister and/or nephew to go looking for them, finds them in the care of someone else, is frustrated he “wasn’t good enough” to take care of them. Probably Finrod knocks some sense into him.

Tags that work for these situations: "We're Family Now and There's Nothing You Can Do about It", Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, AU where disaster character has good role models in their youth, Building A New Life, Character thinks no one is coming to save them; MULTIPLE people team up for the rescue, competent parenting, Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids (MAE!!), Hair Braiding/Care, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Helping Friend to Recover from Trauma, Nightmares, Overcoming Trauma, Raising a Child or Children Together, Unlikely Team-Ups, platonic co-parenting, Long Lost/Secret Relatives

Gil-galad!

For this request, Gil-galad is probably adopted. (Though, if you want to make him a trans!Russingon bio kid, be my guest.) He could either be a random baby that needs caring for OR the son of Lalwen (and Círdan?) that they can’t take care of for Political Reasons OR whatever other Gil-galad theory you prefer. (Just don’t make him Fingon’s bio kid unless he’s also Mae’s bio kid.)

I love the idea of Fingon adopting Gil-galad and writing Maedhros to say “we have a kid now!” Mae panics because WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE A KID?? (Doesn’t have to be romo Russingon, could just be that Fingon assumes his BFF is going to be involved in raising his son because of course??)

Fingon or Finrod adopt a baby Gil, but he gets passed around between them + Maedhros for Reasons. Gil has SO many dads.

Tags that work for this situation: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies (pls just give me some shenanigans with a happy ending), competent parenting, Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids (MAE!!), Hair Braiding/Care, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meeting, Raising a Child or Children Together, Unlikely Team-Ups, platonic co-parenting, Long Lost/Secret Relatives

I also threw some tags in here that would be fun for scenarios that don’t necessarily include Gil or Maeglin.

Mae, Finno, & Ingo: Bonding over being the oldest sibling, court intrigue, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meeting, Character Finds Support In Queer Community, bonding over both being gay Give me some Valinor shenanigans, or war leaders in Beleriand goofing off, or them all being The Gay Cousin :)

Mae and Finno: A assumes that B will abandon them; B reaffirms their loyalty to A in A's time of need, Character Adjusts To Newly Acquired Disability, Fealty Dynamic, Helping Friend to Recover from Trauma, Hope vs. Despair, I trust you to remove me from the equation if I become a danger to others, Loyalty - King/Queen and Lionheart dynamics, Person Used to Being Treated Like a Weapon Gets Rescued & Treated Like a Person Again, Stoic Character Breaks Down And Admits They Need Help, Sworn Loyalty basically these two being Ride Or Die for each other <3 <3 lots of post-Angband trauma that Finno helps Mae unlearn! If you go with this part of the request, please please please keep my Russingon preferences in mind; since this is a gen exchange I’m not expecting romantic Russingon but I do need them to care for each other very deeply, and I don’t want them shipped with other people. a platonic marriage situation would be EXCELLENT.

And a few more things I just love in general: Platonic Cuddling, platonic declarations of love, Platonic Soulbonds, Telepathy, Holding Hands For soulbonds: please do it in the canon style of choosing to soulbond with a person. For telepathy: ósanwë shenanigans.

And of course: Aroace Character(s), Nonbinary Character(s), Trans Character all of these are a “YES PLEASE” situation no matter what prompt or character!

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Request 4: Silm Fake Relationships!

Fake dating is my JAM, I love it, and I especially love it when it stays platonic all the way through! Requesting some pretty light-hearted stuff here, I just want shenanigans and fun times, mostly.

Amárië & Finrod: Okay I don’t really ship these two At All in any circumstance, Finrod just feels....so extremely gay to me....so my default headcanon is that they are BFFs who are mutual beards for each other! (Bonus points for minor/background Amárië/Elenwë and/or Finrod/Turgon) Other kinds of fake relationships would be great too. Possible tags: Becoming Friends With Your Ex (like...they DID date, it didn’t work out, they’re better off as friends), Character remains friends with their ex after an amicable breakup (see previous), court intrigue, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meetings, mutual beards, Platonic arranged marriage POWER COUPLE, Platonic marriage of convenience, Pre-Canon, Shared commiseration over being forced to attend a formal event

Aredhel & Celegorm: They’re both very aro in my mind (Aredhel ESPECIALLY), I can see them pretending to date to get people off their backs about being in a relationship (or a FWB situation but this exchange might not be the best place for that haha), or maybe they’re taking one for the team so the Mae/Fingon relationship coming out is slightly less scandalous after they already revealed their “relationship.” Also, them platonically co-parenting Maeglin in an AU is very good if you’d like to include that. Possible tags: Character enthusiastically agrees to doing something dangerous (they have that vibe), court intrigue, Dumb friendly competitions, Family Fluff, Friends Discussing Treason Over Tea, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meetings, Platonic marriage of convenience, Pre-Canon, Shared commiseration over being forced to attend a formal event

Caranthir & Haleth: Fake marriage for tax purposes. Enough said. (also they’re both aro.) Possible tags: Characters Become Roommates At College (would be a funny modern AU), Former colleagues work together again; surprised by changes (Moryo visits Haleth in Brethil?), The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair (bonus points for cultural misunderstandings), Immature note passing during otherwise adult meetings, two people really want Found Family but are too emotionally stunted to admit it

Celebrimbor & Finduilas: You know I’d never much considered their relationship but I saw it nominated and it got my brain working! Maybe they’re fake dating to piss off their dads, haha. But I can also see them having a really unlikely friendship in Nargothrond, having each other’s backs, etc...people assume they’re dating and they just don’t bother to correct anyone? Bonus points for Fin-galad! Possible tags: A assumes that B will abandon them; B reaffirms their loyalty to A in A's time of need, court intrigue, Friends Discussing Treason Over Tea, Platonic arranged marriage POWER COUPLE, Shared commiseration over being forced to attend a formal event (first meeting perhaps?), Worldbuilding: Politics & Diplomacy

Lalwen: I love the fanon of her and Círdan being buds. Them in a fake dating for politics situation would be amazing. Or her just being badass on her own! Possible tags: court intrigue, Platonic arranged marriage POWER COUPLE, Worldbuilding: Politics & Diplomacy

Other tags: Aroace Character(s), AroAce Marriage, Aromantic Character: I always want this but ESPECIALLY for this request! Fake/Pretend Relationship Stays Platonic: that’s basically the premise for all these requests, haha Late Night Conversations: could apply to all of these. I just really love like...it’s late, you’ve been hanging out all day, your inhibitions are lowered, you start saying shit you normally wouldn’t and have a heart-to-heart...that’s the good stuff Platonic Bedsharing, platonic declarations of love, Platonic Soulbonds: really close platonic relationships :’) 5 times this happened and 1 time something else happened, Nonbinary Character(s), Character gets a hug, Holding Hands, Trans Character: Just things I love in general that I requested on all my requests

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Request 5: TAZ Amnesty

Please don’t have Minerva and Duck in a romantic relationship. Additionally, if you could not call Duck “Wayne” that would be great.

A & B have an honest and completely frank discussion about difficult subject: Arlo and Mama talking about what happened to Arlo

Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates: I think this would be funniest if it’s Duck & Pigeon? or maybe always-mundane!Duck and extraterrestrial-who-is-really-bad-at-hiding-it!Minerva

Aroace Character(s), Aromantic Character: my headcanon for Duck is that he’s aromantic! so him and Minerva being best friends or QPPs or something would be awesome. really I just thought the ending with them being together romantically came out of nowhere so idk, a fic where Duck realizes he’s aro and doesn’t /have/ to be in a romantic relationship, and Minerva supporting him and them remaining really good friends, that would be amazing.

Begrudgingly Respectful Coworkers to Friends: Arlo and Mama :)

Casual use of powers in a setting where the character should really be more careful: Duck frantically trying to get Minerva to act normal in public

Character Finds Support In Queer Community: Duck realizing he’s aro? maybe Pigeon helping him get involved in Kepler’s queer community? OR Pigeon realizing she’s queer and older queer (trans?) Duck awkwardly trying to be in solidarity with her

Character Forced To Reveal Their Secrets: Arlo & Mama pre-canon?

Finding Bigfoot: this is just too funny to NOT have as an Amnesty tag. Maybe Pigeon goes hunting for Bigfoot and Duck has to stop her from hunting down Barclay!

Thing character has built a large chunk of their life around comes to an end; finding a new path: this could go for most of the characters, but I was especially thinking of Minerva here

Unexpectedly Meeting People From One's Past While With New Companions: Duck introducing Minerva to his friends/colleagues? Mama introducing Arlo to everyone after he gets back to “normal”?

5 times this happened and 1 time something else happened: I just love this format :)

Nonbinary Character(s): Pigeon maybe? but really anyone as nonbinary would be awesome

Character gets a hug: Duck deserves hugs. I feel like Minerva would be good at giving them.

Holding Hands: platonic hand holding is just. so good

Missing Scene: seriously WHAT happened to Pigeon???

Trans Character: trans Duck trans Duck TRANS DUCK (ngl the “Wayne” reveal really disappointed me, I much prefer trans Duck haha)

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Request 6: TAZ Balance

Please don’t have Lucretia in a romantic relationship, or Magnus having had romantic feelings for anyone other than Julia.

Literally any gen relationship in TAZB would be delightful to get a fic about, don’t feel boxed in by the nominated characters. I also cannot BELIEVE I forgot to nominate Kravitz & Barry, that’s one of my very favorite possible friendships.

Angus + THB: would love to see an exploration with Angus’ individual relationships with them :)

Carey & Magnus: this friendship means A LOT to me, especially because I headcanon Magnus as arospec and so Carey’s lasting and important friendship with Magnus despite also having a romantic relationship that’s important to her....ahhh I get very emotional just thinking about it ;-;

Edward & Lydia & Kravitz: I do like the theory that Kravitz=Keats, so exploring that would be neat. OR Kravitz isn’t Keats, but he has to track down and deal with these two rogue liches.....

Edward & Lydia & Taako & Lup: AU rivalry shenanigans? canon enemies-to-friends? these two pairs of twins just have a lot of parallels that are very delightful :)

Johann & Lucretia: idk I just think they should be buds. also I headcanon both of them as aroace, so you could have them bond over that maybe.

Kravitz & Merle: I just think that Merle blaming Magnus and not Kravitz for losing his arm is HILARIOUS, would love Krav feeling awkward about that but Merle not even registering it fdjhskfjdsh

Lucretia & Magnus: these two are so sweet, especially during the Stolen Century? like they’re the only two humans, they’re both pretty young, I think they had a very special bond. (I love queerplatonic Magnus & Lucretia, especially with aroace!Lucretia and demi!Magnus)

Lup & Taako: chaos twin siblings :’)

THB: I mean give me shenanigans with them all day long! during the Stolen Century would be amazing, as foreshadowing for canon, and with the other IPRE members being baffled by their antics

Ren & Taako: I just think they’re cool! Would love to see Ren’s transition from a fangirl to Taako’s no-nonsense assistant :)

Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Characters Become Roommates At College: just. IPRE shenanigans. or Magnus and Carey as roommates!

Aroace Character(s): aroace Lucretia!! aroace Johann!!

Aromantic Character: see above but also, pan+arospec Merle! demiromantic Magnus! (that’s my VERY FAVORITE headcanon, you can’t change my mind)

Begrudgingly Respectful Coworkers to Friends: can’t believe I forgot to nominate Barry & Kravitz here, smh... if you’d like to do that go for it, but otherwise, the IPRE would be amazing here, or Kravitz and Merle if you stretch the idea of “Coworkers,” or some AU or situation where Edward and Lydia have to get along with Taako and Lup despite being bitter rivals. or djhfskjfdhk Merle and Angus!!

Best Friends Have Bad Ideas Together: THB and/or Lup and Taako have a collective one brain cell and it’s gone missing

Canon-typical shenanigans: yeah.

Catching up with an old friend: Carey and Magnus post-S&S!! or THB post-S&S :)

Casual use of powers in a setting where the character should really be more careful: this just screams Taako. Ren telling him to calm down a bit? Lup encouraging him? Angus doing damage control? Edward and Lydia vs. Taako and Lup in a drama contest?

Character enthusiastically agrees to doing something dangerous: MAGNUS RUSHES IN

Character Finds Support In Queer Community: queer BoB!! queer IPRE!! if you write me some arospec Magnus and his friends I will DIE of happiness :)) (bonus points for qp!Magcretia)

Bonding over shared memories of past lives: was really getting IPRE vibes for this one

Character loses everything and can only turn to enemy for help: Edward and Lydia forced to come to Taako and Lup for help :)))

Drinking Games, Drunken Shenanigans, Dumb friendly competitions: THB or IPRE probably. just fun silly things happening for laughs.

Enemies to Friends But In A Situation Where They Must Pretend To Still Be Enemies: Edward & Lydia & Taako & Lup? Kravitz & Merle?

Families of Choice, Family Feels - Us Against The World, Family Fluff: IPRE !!!!

Friends to Enemies to Friends Again: Magnus & Lucretia :( OR again, can’t believe I didn’t nominate Kravitz and Barry, but, those two before Krav realizes Barry is a lich and then after and then post-S&S

Friendship that's more important than Character(s)'s romantic relationship(s): Carey & Magnus!!! obviously Carey/Killian is Excellent, but the fact that Carey prioritizes Magnus in her life as a friend makes me SO emo, just. ahhhh love this so much. also Takko+THB :)

Making the morally right choice sucks: Angus & Taako? Ren & Taako? Edward & Lydia & and their bro Kravitz? orrrr Edward & Lydia & their not-bro mortal-enemy Kravitz??

platonic declarations of love: yes please! Magnus & Lucretia especially :)

Team Living Together and Learning to Deal with Everyones' Bad Habits: IPRE and/or THB. maybe THB being surprised they already seem to know each other’s terrible habits...

Unexpectedly Meeting People From One's Past While With New Companions: this has Weird Voidfish Stuff written all over it

5 times this happened and 1 time something else happened: just a good trope

Nonbinary Character(s): nonbinary Taako? yes please. or anyone else tbh, I just love nonbinary characters.

Character gets a hug: Magnus gives VERY good hugs and there’s very many people who deserve one

Holding Hands: just...so good <3

Missing Scene: so much time in the Stolen Century to explore...or BoB off-work shenanigans...

Trans Character: canon trans Lup! headcanon trans Magnus!! any other character as trans, I love trans stuff!!

[diaryofanobsessivefangirl]

Masterlist of Ships Subtropes

Dynamic tropes

Puppy love

Romance between children.

Examples: Gendry x Arya, Arnold x Helga, Mike x Eleven, Shaoran x Sakura

Childhood Acquaintance

They meet when they were children, regardless of the frequency or how close they were. They may have been raised together, may have saw each other every now and then, or even just once.

Used to be Friends

Examples: Petyr x Catelyn; Erik x Christine; Mina x Lucy

Used to be Lovers

Couples that were officially together (At least had sex) before everything went to hell. Ships that only flirted, such as Anna/David (The Guest) and Jackson/Lisa (Red Eye) are not included.

Examples: Athos x Milady; Tom x Elizabeth (The Blacklist); Dolores x William

Love Makes You Evil

A character who was originally good but did things for love that turn him to the dark side.

Examples: Anakin, Petyr Baelish and Claude Frollo

Love Makes You Crazy

A character driven to the brick of sanity because of love.

Example: Claude Frollo from Notre Dame de Paris and Ram from Princess Daisy

Not So Different After All

Opposites/rivals/enemies that actually have many hidden similarities. They are canonically each other’s shadow and are compared as two sides of the same coin.

Example: Anne x Vincent, Steerpike x Fuchsia, Kylo x Rey, Jackson x Lisa

Love Beyond Death

Meeting in the after-life, meeting reincarnation or person coming back from the dead.

Example: Catherine x Heathcliff, Petyr x Catelyn, Dracula x Mina, Naraku x Kikyo

Dragging You to the Gutter with Me

A villain turns a heroine into a brutal lonely broken thing only he can understand what it’s like to be, and still she won’t come to him. So what keeps them together is also what keeps them apart. Read more.

Example: Naraku and Kikyo; Alina and Darkling; Petyr and Catelyn; Dolores and William

In Love with the Mark

A man who works for some really big, bad guys. He may or not believe in their ideology; that is not the point. He is there for the money and he prides himself of his professionalism. For some reason, this organization working on the shadows have “business” to deal with this ordinary everyday woman. So he is hired to stalk, threaten, or even kill her. Turns out, Stalking is Love, and he develops feelings for his target. That doesn’t stop him from keeping up with the job, thought. He had to be undercover to get closer, so cases of Used to be Lovers/Friends are probably included. You will likely hear from a character In Love With the Mark the quote “It wasn’t personal.”

Example: Jack/Angela; Jackson/Lisa; Vincent/Anne; Tom/Lizzie (Jacob/Masha); Skye/Ward

The Queen and her Champion

Woman occupies traditionally feminine roles of power and the man is an example of masculinity for others. She uses clever words, social understanding and schemes. He is her sword and her armor, but nothing more. Because of their different stances, he is bound to be close to her he protects, but never with her.

Examples: Maly and Alina; Zelda and Link; Lancelot and Guinevere; Rhaenyra Targaryen and Criston Cole; Daenerys and Ser Jorah; Every Elizabeth Tudor romance, Queen Anne and Aramis; Lucrezia and Cesare; Cersei and Jaime.

Art Inspires Love

When character A realizes or falls (more) in love with character B after watching him dance, sing, or doing something artistic.

Examples: Frollo/Esmeralda, Christine/Erik, Hap/Prairie, Isaura/Leôncio, Anne/Vincent, Sandor/Sansa and Babydoll/Blue Jones.

Supernatural Connection

The characters have a psychic or physical connection. Maybe they can communicate through telepathy or can feel each other’s presence and emotions when they are nearby. There might be a spell connecting their hearts in a way one can only die when the other one does. Maybe they are twins. Whatever the reason, these characters are bonded in a way no one else could be.

Examples: Kylo x Rey, Nuada x Nuala, Darkling x Alina and Cersei x Jaime.

The Frollo Effect

A guy falls in love with a girl he is suppose to reject, repulse or dehumanize, and fights against it. By trying to suppress it, her converts love into hatred against her and himself, and probably punishes both hoping it will make the feeling go away. It does not work and the guy starts doing things he never thought he was capable of in order to deal with this unbearable need. He is usually proud, rational and very in control of himself until she comes along. Her initial dismissal as a suitor commonly starts out as social expectation - in which the characters are from divergent social segments and ideologically separated -, but it’s always a expectation the guy has over himself, regardless if anyone else imposes this on him.

Examples: Esmeralda x Frollo (Gypsy and priest), Amon x Helen (Jew and nazi), Isaura x Leôncio (Slave and master), Daisy x Ram (Sister and brother), William x Dolores (Host and guest) and Hap x Prairie (Subject and scientist)

Bonding undercover

When the bad guy pretends to be a normal person long enough to befriend the good girl and make her fall in love with him. This is usually how tragically two-sided vxh happens, because she gets to know his other side before the bad one gets in the way, but they can still have a happy ending because it also establishes they could have the base for a healthy relationship if only he could abandon his malicious quest. This only happens when the girl develops deeply romantic feelings for him; if it's only a crush or devilish attraction (Red Eye, The OA and Agents of SHIELD) than it doesn't count. She must be sobbing on the floor when this is done. May also involve an amnesia period in which the antagonist approaches the hero as an old friend or a lover.

Examples: Steerpike and Fuchsia, Christine and Erik, Kiara and Kovu, Elizabeth and Tom, Dracula and Vanessa

Generation Parallel

A love story doesn’t end up well. Years later another generation repeats the first one in a slightly different manner. Most of the time, the parallel between the two affairs means the characters from the first one have the chance to develop as we wished they would, and that their love might have grown roots under a different field. Sometimes it just means shit happens no matter the circumstances, and that people will make the same mistakes of their elderlies despite that they should have known better by now. If we are talking about the first generation’s offspring (Incest not necessarily included), it might mean their love is on their DNA and they would fall over and over again under different names and places. In any case, this trope is the romantic side of History Repeats Itself.

Very common theme in incest, because their birth requires a previous affair between their parents, but it only counts if it is a story on its own, full of ups and downs, and people talk about it. If it’s not mentioned or important to the plot, there is no point in calling it Generation Parallel.

Examples: Jaime and Cersei (Joana and Tywin), Arya and Gendry/Jon (Lyanna and Robert/Rhaegar), Catherine and Hareton (Cathy and Heathcliff), Abby and Henry (Wakefield and Sarah), Rey and Kylo (Padme and Anakin), Isaura and Leôncio (Almeida and Juliana), Leonardo e Marina (Pilar e Murilo).

Roaring Rampage of Romance

Love that starts a war and the main plot. Characters that destroy cities and galaxies because Love Made Them Evil, because they are trying to be with whom they love or to secure their safety and happiness. It might be on purpose, in which they have foreseen the consequences but choose to take them anyway as a means to an end, or it was accidental. There may be decades of conflict and the count of a hundred corpses, or maybe a famous massacre with a handful dead extras. Maybe a murderer is hunting down everyone on an Island so that he can be alone with his beloved. Anyway, innocent people that had nothing to do with them nor interfered with the couple’s happiness will suffer the collateral damage.

Common trope among royalty, since marrying or bearing the children of someone you were not supposed to could have disastrous consequences to the State, still people would do it for love.

If the character is causing the rampage in search for something else, like power, and to secure his beloved is an incidental bonus, it isn’t considered Roaring Rampage of Romance, unless he is doing it because Love Has Made Him Evil. Alina/Darkling and Nuada/Nuala, for instance, don’t fit this category.

Examples: Penny Dreadful, Inuyasha, ASoIaF (Rhaegar x Lyanna, Jaime x Cersei, Petyr x Catelyn), Harper’s Island, Westworld, Notre Dame de Paris, Wuthering Heights, The Phantom of the Opera, Bram Stroker’s Dracula, Apollo and Cassandra, Star Wars (Anakin and Padmé)

Taboo Tropes

Incest

Self-explanatory. Cousins will not be considered incest in here. I’m brazilian.

Subtrope: Decadent Aristocrats

Ho Yay

Homosexual couples

Age gap

Ships with age gap between then, 10 years at least. Supernatural/immortal beings won’t be taken into account unless the other part is a child or coming of age.

Wife Husbandry

A man adopts or temporarily takes care of a little girl. She may or not develop a precocious crush on him. Little girl grows up into a extraordinary and desirable woman. She had him on a pedestal all these years and has been saving herself for him. Man is distressed bc he can’t reconcile the image of the child he cherished as a father and the provoking woman she turned out to be. He mostly resists her advances, but they work that out by the end.

Example: Older!Mathilda/Leon AU, Nancy/Hartigan (Sin City), Veronica/William (Final Girl)

Development Tropes

End game ship

Is not everyday an OTP becomes end game

AU ship

A.k.a. “Canon? Who needs canon?” ships. OTPs that had a lot of potential but were ruined by canon. So either I ignore the end they were given, either some parts in the middle. Unlike Not Canon ships, these were meant to be romantically involved, but the way it was executed ruined it.

Secondary Interest ship

That One Scene ships are the ones with nothing shippable except for one or two scenes. Sometimes is not even canon and are more anti-recs than anything, but it’s still about villain x heroine, so it’s relevant to this blog.

Not canon

Word of God stayed silent and, according to my best judgment, the subtext was not enough. If something sexual or romantic happens between the characters but isn’t based on desire, such as the villain seducing the heroine for his advantage, it’s not canon.

Example: Scream (Billy/Sidney), Kim Possible (Kim/Shego), Mulan (Mulan x Shan Yu), World Without End (Carys x Edward), Sky High (Layla x Warren), Star Wars (Obi-Wan x Padmé), Richard III (Anne x Richard), Tesis (Angela x Bosco)

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Star Trek, James Bond, and the trip from science fiction to science fact

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Star Trek, James Bond, and the trip from science fiction to science fact

The following is an excerpt adapted from The Edumacation Book: Amazing Cocktail-Party Science to Impress Your Friends by Andy McElfresh.

Here’s my misspent youth: I spent many, many hours in a camping hammock behind my parents’ house devouring the Science Fiction Hall of Fame series, everything by Arthur C. Clarke, many things by Robert Heinlein, the complete works of Philip K. Dick, and especially issues of the short-lived Galileo magazine. I also read Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, which was a lot like Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspense Magazine, but with ray guns and the peculiar feature of having a different photo of Isaac Asimov in the upper left corner on each issue. One photo was of Asimov’s feet.

I got into sci-fi when I was a young teenager. That’s when I really started pouring on the steam as a competitive swimmer and a member of a barbershop quartet, which meant I had a lot of free time to read all the way through high school while other young men were spending all those tedious hours exchanging bodily fluids and viruses with young women (or each other). I was filling my head with possible futures, then thinking about them (or singing the baritone parts to one-hundred-year-old songs) for six hours a day in the pool. I never grew taller than 5-foot-6, which ruined my chances of becoming a world-class swimmer, and I never was able to grow a handlebar moustache, which ruined my chances of becoming a professional barbershop quartet singer. (So, thank God.)

I was super into gear, and dreamed of possessing impossible inventions, like I was Miniver Cheevy longing for the Medici gold. A chronosynclastic infundibulum that you could activate under your arm, which would serve as a holster for whatever you wanted to carry and was completely undetectable to anyone in the universe? I wanted. A portal projector that would allow you to walk through any wall, could teleport you anywhere, and somehow regulated the difference in temperature and air pressure? On my wish list. A watch that you could set to go back and undo all of the embarrassing moments in your life? I still want that. In fact, if the Devil is reading this, write my publisher for my email and we can make a deal.

Of course, the coolest stuff came in the dumbest stories. Bad science fiction is defined by constant stops and starts so they can explain the gear. “Tyrone Xandar pulled out his X251 Stratoblaster—a plasma energy pistol so powerful it could melt the metallic fur of a Denebian magmabeast”—stuff like that. Really takes you out of the story.

But there were so many things in fiction, movies, and TV shows that people just took for granted. Cool stuff that was part of their world of the future. Keep in mind that I was a little kid in the 1970s, when everyone thought that polyester clothing and digital watches were pretty awesome. I mean, if you didn’t have to know what the hell the big hand was doing while simultaneously generating projectile BO from the pits of your tight plastic football jersey, it meant the future was something we controlled.

Most of the 1970s, from the Carter administration to The Love Boat, did not work out. But don’t forget that there was a little thing called Star Wars that came along somewhere in there, and it carried on the tradition of using science fiction to tell stories that could have happened to anyone, in a future that had some pretty cool shit.

Star Trek

Food replicator. Universal translator. Tablet computers. Tractor beam. Star Trek was full of firsts when it debuted in the fall of 1966. There is so much wonderful optimism built into the premise of that show, from the Prime Directive (which was broken as many times as it was brought up) to the multicultural Team Benetton–in–space casting (ignore the accents, please) to even featuring the first interracial kiss on US television (though aliens used mind control on Kirk and Uhura to make it happen under protest). And Kirk got so much alien na-na that you know Bones had a special space-penicillin hypospray vial set aside for daily use.

And Star Trek was full of predictions, too, although I’m not sure how far they explored them as concepts. For example, they had a food replicator, from which crew and guests would request such exotic menu items as soup or Earl Grey tea. Give me a food replicator, it’s gonna be surf-and-turf from the Palm with frozen gold-leaf truffle from the Savoy. But in the future, I guess people want to appear humble when talking to a food replicator. Nowadays, there are several versions of food replicators, the most recent being a pizza printer that will work as a vending machine and that NASA is re-outfitting for the International Space Station.

The universal translator was first introduced on Star Trek. It could take any language—even telepathy—and turn it into mid-Atlantic droning with heavy reverb. And you know that disembodied brains are thinking things like “Fifty quatloos on the newcomer,” because even though they completely consist of brain tissue, they twitch around a little bit when they think. Nowadays, we have several translators, the most interesting of which are small handheld units developed by a number of Native American tribes to preserve their dying native tongues. However, Google Translate isn’t there yet. I took the phrase “Is this my favorite puppy I see before me?” and translated it first into Pashto, then Basque, then Sindhi, then Amharic, then back into English, and I got “I was the doll I liked before I saw it before.” It may not be as confusing and bizarre as the translation in Arrival, but Google definitely has some work to do.

Plenty of other cool ideas came out of the Star Trek canon, but we’ll finish up with the holodeck, which was first seen on the 1970s Star Trek animated series but didn’t really enter nerd consciousness until Star Trek: The Next Generation. I always thought the holodeck was both underutilized and not fully thought out, but they had other things to worry about, like constantly letting out Number One’s uniform and the strange sadness Denise Crosby seemed to bring to her role. Why didn’t they use the holodeck as a real-time, planet-to-planet communicator that would make you feel like you were talking to someone in person? No more space leave! What happens on the holodeck stays on the holodeck! Anyway, VR goggles are like the holodeck, according to VR goggle manufacturers, so let’s move on.

James Bond and Ian Fleming

We all know a guy who says that From Russia with Love is the best James Bond movie because it didn’t have a ton of unbelievable gadgets, just a briefcase with a choke wire and some gold sovereigns. That, of course, is a stupid opinion to hold. For one, it is one of the best James Bond movies because Quint from Jaws has blonde hair and kills James Bond–lookalikes for fun like he’s in The Most Dangerous Game. And for two, the gadgets from the Bond movies are super-awesome!

Author Ian Fleming was legit when it came to the spy business. He worked as an intelligence officer for British Naval Intelligence, most notably on Operation Goldeneye, which is where he got the book title and the name of his estate in Jamaica. He probably named the operation, since he was a bird lover and the Goldeneye is a bird. Want more evidence? The author’s name of his favorite bird guidebooks was James F%@$ing Bond [f%@$ing mine].

Fleming knew his stuff when it came to gadgets. Real stuff they had at his time in intelligence included tie-clip cameras (more astonishing is the fact that people wore tie clips), hollow teeth containing cyanide (actually, a Soviet invention), and the microdot, which anybody could make with an ordinary 35mm camera because it was just an incredibly tiny negative—a picture of a picture.

What imaginative bits of Bondiana have survived and flourished as real equipment? How about the exosuit, from the brewery scene in Goldfinger? Or the jetpack from Thunderball, which—while it was wired to a helicopter in the movie—was an actual prototype capable of 30 seconds of flight (working on The Awesome Show, I got to see a demo of the Zapata Flyboard Air that can stay aloft for 30 minutes). The fingerprint scanner in Diamonds Are Forever is now available on your iPhone, though it might be the most easily hacked security measure in history. And let’s not forget the homing beacon also from Goldfinger: Do you have a Tile connected to your keyring yet?

When it comes to fantastic gadgets, however, no Fleming story does it better than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That damned car—in addition to tolerating those obnoxious children—was also a boat, a flying car that could hover, was remote controlled and self-driving, and even seemed to have its own artificial intelligence—all characteristics we see in today’s most cutting-edge cars. However, for all that foresight, Fleming never put in any drink holders.

This excerpt was adapted from The Edumacation Book: Amazing Cocktail-Party Science to Impress Your Friends by Andy McElfresh, on sale March 20, 2018.

Written By By Andy McElfresh