#So considering I have fun with toxic relationships I don't actually know a lot

[celtrist]

Red String of Fate AU, but it links people with the worst matches for each other

And yet, the superstition of the red string linking to your soulmate, the perfect person for you to be with, remains and isn't something people like to challenge.

This would result, I imagine, in some pretty toxic relationships. Yay.

[oikasugayama]

Hi can I request a chart on bsd boys with a super shy s/o ☺️

of courseeeee <3 i was horribly shy as a child and still am to some extent, so some of these assumptions are based on my own experience!

Though he likes your shyness, he sometimes finds it annoying

Akutagawa (likes that you keep to yourself in public so enemies tend to overlook you, but he doesn't like having conversations on your behalf because you're too shy to make a phone call), Fyodor (likes that you're quiet and keep to yourself when other people are around, but doesn't like when you get shy toward him), Jouno (likes that you don't approach people or start conversations, but hates when he has to guess what you want because you won't just say it).

He likes that you're shy and finds it very cute when you need him to help you with social things.

Nikolai (you cling to him in public; sometimes he likes to disappear and watch from afar as you panic and search for him because the look of joy and relief when you finally spot him goes straight to his heart), Ango (feels like you're safe from harm because you keep to yourself and let him run a lot of errands for you; he loves feeling needed by you), Sigma (is surrounded by bold people, so you're a breath of fresh air being fairly quiet and calm; he'd do anything for you at the drop of a hat and doesn't even realize you need the help because you're shy), Junichiro (is also fairly timid, so he likes having a quiet, introverted relationship with you; you spend a lot of time at home playing games and cuddling; he can overrule his own anxiety to do things for you), Bram (is endeared that you're quiet and shy when others are around; he hates when people consider you his trophy wife or ask if he has you under a spell; he'll get in fights with people over this), Poe is the only person you've ever met who's as shy as you are; he hides in public, he trembles when he has to ask for something; only you and Ranpo know how fun and silly he actually is, and only they know the same about you), Mori (adores your timidness and enjoys controlling you as much as you'll let him; it's not necessarily toxic but it can certainly get there...), Oda (considers you as beautiful as the cherry blossoms in the spring after a dark, cold winter; he'd do anything for you, no questions asked), Chuuya (enjoys protecting you, helping you, cheering you up; he does wish you could have a bit more confidence because he wants everyone to know how radiant you are, but he's content keeping your shine to himself).

He generally finds it cute when you get shy, but wants to help you be more confident.

Fukuzawa (understands that it can be scary to talk to people, so he never pushes you and while he happily does things for you, he also gradually coaches you into being more confident), Dazai (selfishly loves that you cling to him in public and need him to do things like order at restaurants on your behalf; he just wishes you knew how much power you have and thinks it'd be hot if you acted really confidently sometimes), Tachihara (feels so important when he gets to help you, but sometimes he wishes he had a bold, dynamic partner who would go out with him and do all the crazy things he wants to do without shying away), Atsushi (finds you very cute and is happy to do things that you're too shy to do, but he recognizes his own lack of confidence in you and wants you to blossom the way he did), Tetcho (thinks that you're sweet if not a bit naive and wants to make you happy; he also thinks you'd be happier if you didn't need to rely on him so much).

He gets annoyed when you're "overly shy" and wants you to be more confident.

Ranpo (doesn't understand why you can't just say what you want to say and do what you want to do; has no concept of anxiety and is not helpful), Kunikida (gets frustrated when your shyness messes up his scheduled plans; he wants you to be more confident for your benefit but also his), Fukuchi (tells you he doesn't want a partner he has to take care of, and tells you to get used to doing things on your own), Mushitaro (is very independent and wants a partner who is equally so; he gets annoyed when you need help or cling to him in public and constantly tries to make you more independent). (Bonus discussion on the longevity of these four relationships.)

[onesidedradiostatic]

I can't work out if Alastor genuinely considered Vox a friend or thought of him more as like. A cute pet that dotes on its owner and does little tricks. And then he shows off his cute little pet to Rosie and Mimzy. I don't think he ever viewed Vox as a threat to him in any way, but it makes me wonder about Vox's whole smooth, smart, scary and competent side we initially see in episode 2. Was that something he picked up from Alastor, or was it something Vox already had that might have sparked Alastor's interest? Did he actually mentor Vox in any way or did he just think it was fun to watch him try to build a tiny version of Alastor's empire.

we don't have a whole lot to go off of right now, especially when it comes to alastor's side, but personally I find it more interesting if alastor did genuinely consider vox a friend. even if in his own alastor fashion, there were probably certain walls he never let down. I think it's interesting in that, we know alastor has more of a soft spot for women, so in this pre-husk era, vox could've easily been one of his first few male friends. which kinda makes it sadder it didn't work out. it's like it just proved to alastor "right this is why I don't trust men".

things we know rn are:

alastor calls vox "old pal" at the end of episode 2

alastor allowed vox to take a picture with him at some point

alastor, who is perfectly capable of killing overlords, has not killed vox

also seen this pointed out before, but in the initial commercial alastor filmed in episode 1, although shitty, he did do some actual editing

I wouldn't expect alastor to already have knowledge of how to do this beforehand on his own, question is: did he learn it himself? or did he learn it...

...from someone else in the past?

not to mention he seems to just instinctively already know how to set up shit for filming near the end of the episode. he must have gotten some experience from somewhere.

I think this post describes what they could've learnt from each other in the past best

I like to think alastor saw him as more than just some cute pet, at least back then. it adds more depth to their relationship. obviously there's stuff like the toxic homoerotic stalker-like obsession I feel is one-sided on vox's part (points to my url), but that doesn't mean I think alastor's side of their general relationship is completely non-existent. them having a genuine past friendship that affected both of them in different ways is what adds layers to their relationship I think. they were clearly both affected by their falling out in that they both developed irrational hatred of the other's medium as a result. and honestly? really need to see more of alastor's side of this, I think it'd be really interesting. even though, he hates vox now, and I don't believe he wants him back as a friend, is there any sort of sentiment left from their past friendship? is there a reason why he hasn't killed him? or was the time he almost beat vox an attempt at that? (though I like to believe it wasn't)

obviously, all we can do now is speculate based on the evidence we have in season 1, but for me personally, I like to think they were legitimately friends at some point.

[wisteria-lodge]

Hi! I would like to ask this Narcissa seems to love Lucius and Draco, cares for them and appears to be a family oriented person but how come it is stated in her wiki that she despises the Blacks, wouldn't this imply she considers herself more of a Malfoy and I mean why would she despise the Blacks when it comes to blood purity/superiority, I don't know the correct term but don't they practice/talk about it more/the Blacks prioritize it so shouldn't she be proud of being a Black?

So I just want to say real quick that the fanwiki is not always... accurate. It includes a lot of data from the games, interviews, interviews with the actors that I would never count as canon, and it's also written by y'know, fans. it's actually pretty funny to read through the entry on say, Lucius, and be told that he was a "high achieving model student" and "his talent in potion-making even earned him a place among Slughorn's elite Slug Club." (right. it was definitely just the potions.) I'm learning that he "favours a more elegant, refined technique when he engaged an adversary and generally demonstrates great form in his duelling style." [citation: Jason Isaacs is pretty]. And while we're on that topic "it is likely that his looks might have improved upon the fall of his former Master." Very important that we know Lucius gets hot again after the books.

My guess is that this is the bit you read:

[text id: Narcissa had a close relationship with her oldest sister Bellatrix despite their differing temperaments and personality traits. Narcissa always despised the Blacks, but had great respect for those who did. The ones who dared defy their family's beliefs, such as her older sister Andromeda and cousin Sirius Black, leading her to ignore and disown them.]

I don't know about this. Maybe Narcissa and Bellatrix were close at some point, they do use nicknames to refer to each other, but in the timeline of the books there's a LOT of friction.

Narcissa is actively trying to get Bellatrix to "leave [her] alone" during the Spinner's End chapter (which is what the snippet up there is citing.) Bellatrix is... unhelpful about the Draco situation, saying things like, “If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!" She's also blaming Lucius for the Department of Mysteries fiasco, which Narcissa is pissed about:

“Don’t you dare — don’t you dare blame my husband!” said Narcissa, in a low and deadly voice

We also see some sort of power struggle between them later on, in Malfoy Manor:

“This is my house, Bella, you don’t give orders in my —”

In the books, I don't think we get any details about how Narcissa specifically feels about Sirius, or Andromeda. There's this:

“I expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius.”

Which is just a very Narcissa way of saying "you're on thin ice." I guess the "dear" feels slightly mocking. But she's also actively threatening Harry, so not the most representative moment. We do get this from Bellatrix:

“We — Narcissa and I — have never set eyes on our sister [Andromeda] since she married the Mudblood.”

But... she is also speaking for Narcissa, and panicking in front of Voldemort. This might not even be true.

As for the wiki saying "Narcissa always despised the Blacks, but had great respect for those who did" - that's such an odd sentence I kinda feel like there must be a typo in there. I'm not sure there's any evidence in the books that Narcissa despises the Blacks.

(I mean I do think, in a fun headcanon way, that you can make a case that she went subtly low-contact with her family after she married Lucius. The Blacks seemed to have a pretty toxic family dynamic going on circa the first war, and one thing you can say about the Malfoys is that there's a lot of love there, and as a family unit they seem solid. Maybe Narcissa did start to think of herself as more of a Malfoy than a Black. (Maybe her Malfoy-blonde hair isn't natural...)

I also think there's something going on with the house elves. The Blacks clearly have a culture of house elves, and the Malfoys... don't? Like there don't seem to be any house-elves there once Voldemort takes over (and I mean, Dobby was such a *stunningly* bad security breach, I'd be shocked if there were.) But the house seems to run just fine, while hosting a bunch of Death Eaters, Snatchers, and prisoners. Makes me think Dobby was the *only* house elf, and that he was originally a Black family house elf who came over with Narcissa when she got married. In that case, I suppose the decision not to get more might mean something. But all that's just me having fun with the worldbuilding. )

[infinialtairs]

~ Rayman and Casper in each different scenarios ~ (and...art styles I suppose)

I honestly took it overboard with amount effort I put into this even though it was suppose to be small...the pattern I swear.

But I do like how these turned out pretty much so task successfully failed?

[ ☀️ More below If you're interested in my rambles and separate images 🦊]

So...onto my rambles 2.0:

Rayman (pre-Ramon) and Casper (Non Canon Compliant)

They're sort of THE ONES I focus on a lot...even if it would never HAPPEN in any sorts of way, not even possible for them to interact, left alone...dating. But ey! more fun huh? If they DO happen to interact, it is mostly one sided hatered (from Casper's at least), Rayman only really starts dislike Casper when Casper ""tries"" flirting with him as mock and joke, finding itself annoying and stupid. But eventually liking each other and understanding each perspective's...even if Casper doesn't get Rayman's much still.

2. Ramon and Casper ( Neutral )

This is probably follows the flow of Captain Laserhawk series the most? or at least, it does. I actually been hyperfixate on that concept of them - both in lowest points in their lives but Casper letting Ramon (along with Bullfrog and Dolph) to crash over in small shitty apartment because despite hating Ramon (Rayman before) for his whole life essentially. Casper does sees Ramon in.. new light because Ramon opened his eyes and saw the real true colors of Eden. Now, I don't think they would necessary date? not saying it's impossible but considering their both positions...Ramon NEEDS TIME and HELP and THERAPY badly. (same goes to Dolph, Bullfrog and even Casper even if he will deny.)

3. Rayman? (Fakeman) and Casper ( Toxic )

This also follows mostly the canon of Captain Laserhawk series but INSTEAD of meeting Ramon by mere accident...Fakeman and Casper both meeting up in bar, Fakeman might know something of Casper MORE than he leads onto.. (I won't go in depth of what just yet but it is working in progress...) SO Fakeman purposely tries to flirt with Casper, even when Casper pushes off Fakeman with some jokes, it did get the best of him... They ARE NOT in healthy "relationship" (it's toxic for a reason). Fakeman is only USING Casper for his gains...

4. Rayman and Casper ( Eden's Cutie Restaurant AU )

in other words, completely very fluff and soft core of them where Rayman as waitress having BIG BIG crush on Casper and Casper as more of poet and writer in general, KNOWS Rayman likes him...in some way. the "Will they get together or not?" question lurks over them... I actually don't have a lot to say about this. They just exist if they didn't had traumas.

Separate images without texts:

RAMBLED ONCE AGAIN ABOUT CASPER AND RAYMAN CUZ THEY'RE KEEP BEING IN MY HEAD ARRGHH!!!!

if you have read this far or just wanted see the pics, thank you for your time, solider /pos 🫡💜

[celaenaeiln]

is the dickbabs romantic relationship always as bad as in Tom Taylor’s run or is it actually enjoyable in other runs? i want to read more of dick’s og nightwing run but ik dickbabs is a recurring thing and i strongly dislike what i’ve seen of it in modern comics (absolutely no offense to anyone who ships it!!)

also sort of related, but have dick and babs really been BFFs since grade school or is that new canon? i remember the initial new 52 run referencing him and babs as on and off but nothing about being childhood besties.

finally- what would you consider to be key dick grayson runs?

Surprisingly Dickbabs is pretty nice to read in other runs. I know this sounds weird coming from someone who hates Dickbabs as a ship but really it's only bad like 85% of the time and the majority of that is because of the Batgirl comics. Batgirl comics treat Dick like shit and it's a losing tossup whether he's treated well in Oracle related comics.

But to get to your point, Dickbabs in Nightwing (1996) was originally pretty good. Tom Taylor's run of Nightwing is the weird one because in every other run you have Dick + relationships whereas in Taylor's you have relationships + Dick. That being said, I highly, highly recommend reading the og one. At one point it does get toxic but Barbara leaves almost immediately after that and aside from that the ship was pretty nice for the most part.

Dick and Barbara have NOT been BFFS since childhood or whatever and this gets on my nerves that Tom Taylor and Hope Larson did that. This is one of the problems I have with the Dickbabs ship. Writers who write them love changing the story to erase Dick's friendships with the Titans. They literally love to pretend Wally, Donna, Roy, and Garth don't exist. BARBARA IS NOT HIS CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND!! They literally keep deaging her and for what?? First she was like two decades older than him, then she's five years older than him, and now she's the same age?? Just let her be older! Barbara being the same age as Dick makes no sense because it takes away her maturity to turn her into this childish, selfish character she has no business being. She's not even enjoyable when she's deaged this far. I'm still on the she's 5 to 6 years older than Dick canon timeline and there is no way she was childhood besties with him.

The way I picture Dick and Barbara's relationship is this:

DC should've just let it at this, this was peak Dick and Barbara relationship.

Very narrow starting out list but some must read Dick Grayson runs are:

Nightwing (1996) - If you don't feel like reading anything else just read this

Nightwing (2016) - Really good up until Tom Taylor's run

Batman: Gotham Knights - pretty good and lots of cute Tim and Dick!

Titans (1999) - This is a must read if you're not interested in the original Teen Titans comics

Outsiders (2003) - Love him so much in this

JLA/Titans - Important for understanding his relationships with Titans and Batman

Nightwing (2011)

Justice League (2011) Issue #25 and Forever Evil - Same arc

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Nightwing vs. Hush

Robin era

Batman - One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze - If you want to skip the medal ages but still want to know what Dick was like as Robin, this comic is all you need to understand his character and personality and beliefs.

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet - Dick's gauntlet test!

Robin: Year One - For fun :)

Dick!Bats era

Batman: Battle for the Cowl - To get into Dick's batman

Batman (1940) Issues #682 to #713 - Batman Dick. Incredible. Dick was such a good batman and so fun to read.

Batman and Robin (2009) - Dick and Dami!

Batman: Streets of Gotham - Also Dick and Dami <3

Justice League of America (2006) Issues #41 to #60- Dick leading his own JLA team as Batman! SO FUN!!

Detective Comics (1937) Issue #864 to #881 - Honestly Batman Dick was so good I can't tell if I like Dick more as Nightwing or Batman. Obviously it's better for his mental health if he's nightwing but he just did such a great job as Batman.

Spy era

Grayson - YESSSS. Just everything about this.

Batman and Robin Eternal - It was really good up until near the end but then it got better again

Dark Crisis - Definitely, without a doubt, no question

Additional: The ones above are focused on him but if you finish reading this then Tim's Robin (1993) Comic is a fantastic one. He doesn't appear in every single issue but he appears a lot and it's a lot of Dick and Tim characterization. Also Teen Titans (2003) for more Dick and Titans relationships.

[agentoffangirling]

Ranking AoS ships (canon & non-canon) bc I can:

FitzSimmons. If you don't have this as your top, I DON'T TRUST YOU. They are the blueprint, the very epitome of romance. If someone doesn't dive through a space rock to reach me on another planet, I don't want them

Dousy. Ik some people much prefer Sousa and Peggy, and they have a great relationship, but I don't know, I just like Dousy more. Maybe bc I want Daisy to be in a healthy relationship for once? But for only appearing in around half the episodes of s7, they don't feel rushed, and Chloe and Enver have great chemistry. They're so sweet together, I can't say much else other than I love them

Skimmons. Okay okay ik what a lot of people are gonna say, but I just think they're wonderful together. I've drifted a bit from shipping this, I do see the sisters aspect of them (I don't see them as sisters and romantically at the same time, that is WEIRD), but I still have a small soft spot for it. I think it's mostly Chloe and Elizabeth's love for the ship that sells it

Philinda. Tbh this and Skimmons could be switched, they're very close in my brain. While I don't necessarily feel too bad about them splitting up in s7, I like both the platonic and romantic versions of them, I think they were really great. They so obviously love each other, and what more can I say to that?

Huntingbird. 100% compatible 50% of the time, as Hunter puts it. I don't believe this to be the healthiest of AoS relationships, but not everything has to be perfect all the time. One moment they could be making jabs at one another, the next they're making out. Who knows? Their moments are a fun time either way

MackElena. I think what this ship needs is more time. Compared to the other relationships, MackElena doesn't get to share the screen all that much. I do love how they learn from one another, and they've always given me a kind of comforting type of vibe. They're just cute together

Simmorse. This feels like a relatively newer ship in the fandom, and I am all for it. I don't ship it massively, but I 100% see the potential, I think it's very easy to see that Jemma was crushing on Bobbi a couple times

QuakeRider. Just like Simmorse, I do see it, but I've never really been a big fan of it. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it has great vibes, I love the rogue x rogue type ship, I just don't ship it that much. I personally see them closer to older brother, younger sister type of dynamic. But I do see the potential

Staticquake. HEAR ME OUT OKAY? I used to like Staticquake a lot, but on my rewatches I see myself getting farther and farther away from it. It's not that they don't have good chemistry or that I don't think they're really in love, oh no, they have all of it, it's just not the best relationship for Daisy. There are more than a few moments where they're arguing, majority of the time Lincoln being in the wrong, and later Daisy apologizing for it? It always struck me as odd. I also feel like resolved too many issues behind the scenes, relying on exposition to make the audience believe they had gone further in their relationship

DekeDaisy. Idk if they have an actual ship name, so I'm going with this one for now. It's just wayyy too one-sided and doesn't seem like it would work anyway. Daisy was not in the right frame of mind for a relationship, and she seemed relatively blind to Deke's advances. Also considering that Deke sold her to the Kree earlier... yeah, it was never gonna work

Skyeward. It might get up one spot for the Framework version of them, but as it stands, the real life version of them is AWFUL. Ward lied to Skye on almost everything, hurt her, hurt her loved ones, kidnapped her, became obsessed with her, and countless other things I can't remember rn. They're so toxic and if you ship them (not Framework or pre-betrayal), I have genuine concern in your love life

[miasmaghoul]

Omega. Tell.

Sigh. So large. So stoic. So Omega.

(this gets angsty my bad lmao)

How I feel about this character:

Another one that's grown on me over time. He was Primo's first summon upon being named Papa- the first ghoul summoned in decades, actually. Omega was relied on very heavily when the decision was made to revive the Ghost project, and for a long while was considered Sister Imperator's right hand. After the coup staged by Alpha, he voluntarily abdicated his position in the band to his protégé, Aether. He stayed on the road for the rest of Terzo's time as Papa, though, and let me tell you why.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

(Here's the long part lmao)

Terzo. Always and forever. They met when Terzo was a newly promoted Cardinal, still coming into his own. Learning to put his natural charm to use. One slow look up and down his body, one wink of an unnaturally pale eye, and Omega knew he was doomed. He still had professional relationships with Primo and Secondo, of course, but his connection with Terzo was something he neither planned for nor predicted. His ascension to Papa status put a strain on things, of course, but Omega never minded playing second fiddle to his leadership duties. At first it was fine; they worked well together, Terzo was loved by his ghouls and congregation alike, they won that award - their following grew, and with it grew Terzo's ego. How could it not? Power can be toxic even to those with the purest of intentions, and nothing about Terzo could be called pure. But Omega saw him changing - becoming colder, more callus to those around him, aloof in a way none of them deserved - and for the first time in his existence felt scared. He knew something had to give, before Terzo lost what had made him such a wonderful leader to begin with. It was easy to blame the coup on Alpha - he had always been volatile - despite the fire ghoul's protests, but he'd gone to his execution with his head held high and magma in his eyes. Omega had stared him down until his body crumbled to dust, and no one was ever the wiser. He convinced Imperator to let him stay on the tour though, as Terzo's personal medic. Needed the closeness, after so much had started to drive them apart. By the end of the tour Terzo was like a different person; whether the chaos had scared him straight, or whether he realized his time could be short, it was like having the old Terzo back.

The last time Omega saw him was when he was dragged off stage - until the morning a photo of one Cardinal Copia holding his lover's severed head appears on the unused side of Omega's bed. On top of it laid a simple gold ring, one that matched the one on Omega's own left hand, and no one sees Omega after that.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I really like thinking about his dynamic with Dew. I don't see them being romantically involved, but I think as a new summon Omega provided him with a lot of stability. He also introduced him to Aether, and we all know where that ended up.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I hate when people draw him skinny. That ghoul is LARGE 😤

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Part of me would have loved an in-universe explanation for the swapping of the ghouls during era 3, but at the same time it's way too much fun thinking up Scenarios lmao

[theamityelf]

What would you cast the different danaganronpa characters as in a Hadestown au? Because I can’t get the thought of makoto as either Persephone or Orpheus out of my head

Like Orpheus makes more sense thematically but Persephone gives such good Yandere opportunities with whoever ends up being cast as hades

I will say, first, that thinking along these lines on my own is how I went on the mental journey in this other post here, which I promptly confined to its own AU and then didn't elaborate on at all, lol.

BUT, taking the train of thought to an actual conclusion this time:

(I'm color-coding this blue for possible choices and orange for my actual choice.)

I have to start with Hades and Persephone, because I feel like most ships can do Orpheus and Eurydice, but not a lot of ships can REALLY do Hades and Persephone.

If I were looking at each of them individually and not with the specific intention of getting a powerful or coherent ship out of it, the character who I think best works for "capitalist who doesn't know how to show love in a way that their partner will appreciate and also can't bring themself to let go of power" would be Byakuya, and the character who I think best works for "free spirit who is more interested in human connections, who can be the life of the party while also being deeply demoralized and resigned to their fate" could be Sayaka, Hiro, Kokichi, Ibuki, or Akane. LAST MINUTE EDIT: Maki and Angie as Hades and Persephone would be really cute.

Honestly, I could REALLY see casting Byakuya as Hades, Kokichi as Persephone, and Nagito as Hermes. Like, imagining the scenes of Hermes exchanging knowing remarks with Persephone about her toxic relationship kind of works with this alignment, for me. Like, it's not what I'm going with, but just for a second let's imagine Kokichi bursting off a train like, "Well it's like he said: I'm an outdoor girl!" And Nagito sighing, "And you're late again." Imagine Kokichi complaining to Byakuya, "Why is it so hot down here?!"

The thing is, Hades and Persephone being gods in the context of everything else makes it feel unsatisfying if the ship placed in the role isn't also kind of a power team.

Obviously, Byakuya as Hades and Makoto as Persephone is fun for ship reasons and, like you said, yandere reasons. The issue is, as I see you've also guessed, that I have trouble putting Makoto into Persephone's role enough to have him essentially get Ultimate Hoped by someone else. And also him being a literal god is just kinda tough, character-wise? Though I do love to imagine Makoto's face, if Byakuya were to sing, "If you don't even want my love, I'll give it to someone who does."

I consider Yasuke and Junko as Hades and Persephone. Now, that could be FUN, whichever way you slice it. Maybe Makoto as Orpheus and Sayaka as Eurydice. I like Junko singing "Hey Little Songbird" to tempt Sayaka away from Makoto, and I like Junko saying to Makoto, "Young man, got to hand it to ya. Guess you don't scare easy, do ya?" and that whole spiel, while doing her typical personality hijinks. Which I suppose is me putting Yasuke in the Persephone role, which is a tough sell. The other way around makes more vibe-sense, but it also makes Yasuke the one singing "Hey Little Songbird" to Sayaka, and I simply feel nothing about that. ...Okay, not nothing. It's still kinda cool. It could also be cool to swap Makoto and Sayaka so Makoto is Eurydice and Sayaka is Orpheus, partially because I can see Sayaka losing herself in her dreams and her music so much that Makoto is like, "Hey, do you notice that we're starving to death?", and partially because I'd love for Junko or Yasuke to sing "Hey Little Songbird" to Makoto.

(Bringing this up now, because I don't think it's going to go anywhere, but Akane is, like, genuinely kinda perfect for the part of Eurydice. She's a hungry young girl. She's no stranger to the wind. If someone actually got her to let her guard down and trust that they would make things better for her, and then things weren't? I'm just saying, you see the vision.)

There's almost something to the idea of Hajizuru being Persephone, and when he's underground he's Izuru and when he's aboveground he's Hajime, and his Hades fell in love with Hajime, but the simple act of bringing him Underground turns him into Izuru. An issue there is that Hajime isn't much of a Persephone-level party guy, but that can be explained away as just, after this long in this no-win situation, he's unadulterated crash-out Hajime, and crash-out Hajime gets drunk and parties. Idk, it doesn't really work on a character level, but playing with the idea of the abduction/marriage of Persephone as the Kamukura Project just really feels like there's something there. Hades, in this case, could be Junko, Yasuke, or Nagito. Maybe Fuyuhiko.

I think I'm unwilling to let go of some of these branches, even though they're not my final answer.

What we end up with is:

Immortals AU. The one I already kind of had. This one is divorced from its Hadestown origins; it's just an AU where the Ultimates are gods and Byakuya and Kyoko fall in love with mortal Makoto and basically kidnap him.

Antags Hadestown AU. This one is partially Hadestown. Byakuya and Kokichi are our dysfunctional Hades and Persephone, Nagito is Hermes. There isn't really a straight-up Orpheus and Eurydice. Instead, Makoto is a mortal who Kokichi flirts with (and maybe more) when he's topside. Makoto is mostly just a regular guy trying to work and provide for his little sister. Byakuya tries to tempt Makoto into working in Hadestown (to spite Kokichi), but Makoto says no, so instead he tempts Komaru into it. Nagito, who is already close to Makoto, grudgingly helps Makoto sneak into Hadestown to save his sister. Maybe Makoto convinces Byakuya to free Komaru at the cost of keeping Makoto underground. (Beauty and the Beast style.) Byakuya falls in love with Makoto (if he wasn't already). Now it's a situation where both Kokichi and Byakuya are in love with Makoto and still fighting over all the stuff they were already fighting about, and while Makoto is trapped in the middle of their tumultuous marriage and lowkey revolutionizing the Underground, Nagito is just hanging out with him and serving as a means for him to sneak food and money to Komaru, aboveground.

Normal Hadestown AU. Okay, so the most accurate direct Danganronpa-Hadestown translation I can think of is as follows: Ibuki is Persephone. Ultimate Imposter is Hades. In Hadestown, he's in the role of Byakuya; he loses that guise when he gives in during Epic III. Nagito is still Hermes. Either Junko is all three Fates, or Junko, Mukuro, and Mikan are the Fates. Makoto is Orpheus. Eurydice is tough, because the narrative kind of demands that Eurydice be humbled, and the main person I want that for is Byakuya, lol. I'm going to say Eurydice is Sayaka again.

And it occurs to me that Persephone's verse in Chant Reprise no longer exists, but I'm somewhat imagining the NYTW version of Hadestown, where Persephone gets to interact with Eurydice in her "When I was a young girl, like you..." verse in Chant II. Mainly because I like the idea of Ibuki pulling Sayaka aside to talk about how much Hadestown sucks.

Hope that answers your question, lol.

[smytherines]

☠ agent curt mega pretty pleaseeee

Ooooohhh angry/violent headcanon for Curt. This is an interesting one. I wrote waaaay too much here and I'm probably gonna end up in fandom jail for this one, but...

I mean we've talked about this before, but I genuinely do not see the horrible toxic manipulative Owen/little innocent cinnamon roll Curt dynamic that a lot of people seem to get from A1P1. It just doesn't track for me with what actually happens in that scene. Interpretation is an art, and everyone's art style is different, I just personally can't see anything to support it.

For me, pre-fall curtwen is a relationship of equals. Equals who often irritated each other because they were very different people (but also because they were very similar people), equals who didn't have any real concept of how to have a healthy relationship (especially with another man), equals who individually had a lot of flaws and messed up coping mechanisms and (in my headcanon at least) neurodevelopmental disabilities that made them uniquely suited for espionage, but also gave them all sorts of weird problems that they had no way of understanding or fixing. For me, they each gave as good as they got. For better or worse.

So keeping that in mind, I think about that part of A1P1 where Cynthia is insulting Curt while trying to recruit Owen to A.S.S., because that interaction, and what comes after it, is very important for my understanding of who pre-fall Curt was as a person.

Even though Owen doesn't entertain the idea of working for A.S.S. for even a second, Curt gets jealous, and pissed off, and hangs up on Cynthia. I think Owen's line is "What are you, jealous? You know I'd never work for the Americans," and its incredulous, like its a silly thing for Curt to get upset about because Owen would never even consider it. Curt pulls his flask out as soon as the call is over, and he responds to Owen pretty sharply by saying "Oh I do know that you couldn't handle it." He responds as if Owen has threatened his status at A.S.S.

We see this dynamic again when Owen chastises him for drinking, and Curt mocks his accent while saying "not until the jobs done." We see it again when Owen gestures to the banana peel like "what are you doing," and Curt responds fairly harshly with (I think, I'm doing this off memory) "this whole place is about to be garbage anyways, who gives a shit."

Those moments, for me, imply that Curt gets embarrassed easily, he gets jealous easily, and that he reacts very defensively when he is criticized, which is just Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 101. It couldn't get more typical RSD than that. And each criticism, even though they're individually pretty mild, just seems to make him act more recklessly during A1P1, like he's trying to show that actually he's a badass and Owen just worries too much. Again, very RSD.

The thing about RSD is that- especially when you don't know you have it- sometimes your first impulse is to get furious. Not annoyed. Not irritated. But like blood pulsing in your ears, seeing red kind of furious. Your heart rate elevates. It's like your body goes into fight or flight, and more often than not your body is going to pick fight. And because ADHD is a lifelong thing, unless you're getting treatment or at least a diagnosis and information, you literally have no concept that this is not how other people react emotionally, so you justify your own behavior because you truly do not understand that this isn't normal (ask me how I know hahahaaa)

As much as we love them, and as much as I truly believe they loved each other, they probably got into a fair few fistfights over the years. These are two men who are accustomed to violence. Who are very good at violence. Who have a flirty torture scene and then tell the guy whose knees Owen just shot out that "you've just been used for sport" (Owen), and "I hope you had fun- I know we sure did" (Curt).

To me, pre-fall Curt seems like the type to put Owen down a lot with relatively minor digs "as a joke" (aka he is bad with feelings), and to some degree it doesn't bother Owen that much because that's just how they are. They banter. But sometimes, maybe when Owen is tired or feeling particularly sensitive that day, he'll go straight for the jugular- zero in on the thing Curt is most sensitive about. With Curt its death by a thousand cuts, with Owen its a laser guided missle.

I've talked about this before too, but I think that by the time we get to A1P1 Curt probably already has a bit of a drinking problem. After the fall, drinking is just how he manages to survive his grief. But I think before the fall he could get miserable and sour and petty while drunk, take out his insecurities on the people around him, and probably on occasion just start fights because he's bored and will take any stimulation he can get.

I don't think this is just a thing he does with Owen either, I think this has probably been a problem for him his whole life. He feels things very close to the surface. He is very emotional, which is a thing you're not allowed to be as a man, as a boy/teen/man in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and a thing that is very dangerous if you are a gay man during this time period.

He also has a big fucking ego. During the 54 Below concert spoken intros they describe what happens in A1P1 as "when these two spies are together they are gay and unstoppable- until Curt's ego gets in the way." And I think a big part of that ego is wrapped up in his performance of his gender. That if he's the very best at this extremely hypermasculine profession then nobody will notice any of the stereotypically feminine traits he has, no one will think he is actually sensitive and tender-hearted and more vulnerable than he appears. He thinks that performing stereotypical 1950s masculinity will insulate him from anyone ever finding out his secret- that he likes men, that he's in love with a man.

Also, ADHD can make you very impatient, easily bored, and Jesus let me tell you I know from experience that when an ADHDer gets too bored for too long, they get irritated. At everything, at nothing. So the combination of these factors makes me think that he probably was the kind of kid to get into scraps (especially at any suggestion that he was not masculine enough), the kind of adult who felt too much and got it out with aggression. He was a brawler. Spying helped focus his aggression. He got to still have it, but he got to feel like it was serving a noble purpose.

I do also think that, even if he gave Owen a lot of shit (particularly for the crime of not being American), if someone insulted Owen in front of him, or if one of their enemies hurt Owen, I fully believe Curt would go full-on berserker mode to defend Owen. So it isn't entirely a negative thing. He can utilize his anger and violence to protect people he loves too.

[utilitycaster]

What ACOC fanon are people getting so upset over?

Come traveler. Let me tell you a tale. For I, too, was unaware of it until they went absolutely bugfuck all over Twitter. But if you don't want the whole long-winded epic: people shipped Belizabeth Brassica and Saint Citrina and while there has been no evidence indicating this will or not be confirmed or even mentioned they FREAKED OUT about how Matt would OBVIOUSLY destroy the "widespread" fanon (it is not widespread), specifically implying he'd do so in a bigoted way. Then some D20 guests noticed because the people saying this are not like, unknown fanartists (in fact one implied they had been asked to create art for the season but forgot to check their DMs) and were like "this is entitled and stupid and needlessly cruel to Matt, who is like, a guy we personally know and generally like." The people then, rather than saying "my B" and taking this to the DMs like a normal person who wants to talk shit, repeatedly doubled down. As of a few hours ago they were accusing Jasmine Bhullar of subtweeting them when she was in fact merely promoting an entirely unrelated show, it's sparked both a heartfelt discussion about how Matt's discussion of body dysmorphia has helped people and a conversation about how there's toxicity in all fandoms but the D20 community refuses to even acknowledge it; and also I think they've burned their chances of ever doing fan art for an actual play of any size in LA, Chicago, New York, London, or the centroid that represents an equidistant point from all the McElroys which is, I believe, hilariously for Amnesty fans, in the Monongahela National Forest.

Anyway POV we're around a campfire, I'm drinking something lightly alcoholic, and you wish to hear of The Drama At Length:

Do you remember Belizabeth Brassica, aka Broccoli Pope loosely based in appearance on Queen Elizabeth I (technically renaissance rather than high medieval but like...people constantly mix those up in D&D so it's fine)?

Great. Now do you remember the Rocks Sisters? Not the twins played by Siobhan and Emily; Amethar's four older sisters who died in the Ravening War, before the story started: Rococoa, Lazuli, Citrina, and Sapphria. Rococoa was a general; Lazuli an archmage (and Caramelinda's wife before she died; Caramelinda then married Amethar because while Lazuli had been a love match, this was a beneficial marriage for political purposes); Citrina a devotee of The Bulb; and Sapphria a spy and diplomat. They get talked about a lot, for sure, but their presence in the story is to be absent and to haunt the narrative.

Anyway the fanon is that Citrina and Belizabeth were in a relationship. In canon, I believe all we know is that both were devotees of the bulb; that Citrina held positions that might be considered heretical by some (she was a passionate believer in love matches and supported Amethar's marriage to a commoner in the Dairy Isles) and that Belizabeth ordered that she be killed.

Here's where this gets fun. So ACOC aired pretty much exactly three years ago, and while I think it's considered by many to be a high point in D20's oeuvre, a lot of fans have, you know, kept up with D20 on the whole and not dwelt on it in depth. But a small group of people have been consistently focused on this ship between an NPC who is vitally important to the narrative but shows up in fewer than a third of the total episodes; and a character dead before the story ever started. Which, I need to stress, is fine; the joy of headcanons is playing in the empty spaces.

Flash forward to 2023: a creative director who was generally opposed to revisiting past campaign settings and preferred standalone has just amicably parted ways. Neverafter has gotten mixed reviews (I have to see the last 8 episodes; this is anecdotal but some of the editing choices, plus the both dense yet meandering plot, brought the momentum of a truly fantastic TPK and resolution early on to a shuddering halt), and really nothing but A Court of Fey and Flowers has truly stuck for some time. The fandom has been clamoring for Fantasy High Junior Year for quite some time to no avail. The switch to 10-episode sidequests from 6 episode sidequests has met lukewarm reception. In short: D20 could use something flashy to revitalize their next sidequest. Enter: Matt Mercer as DM.

Now, a lot of D20 fans who are not part of the (significant) overlap with CR fans hate Matt Mercer. This is in part because a lot of people who got Big Mad about ships in Campaign 2 went to D20 and proceeded to badmouth Critical Role, a show they happily watched and made art for until roughly episode 107-ish of Campaign 2, proclaiming it homophobic (wrong two women kissed); racist (one of the women who kissed is a dark-skinned woman played by a white woman, which would have still been true if she kissed the other woman but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯); and probably problematic in other ways. To be clear I am not saying Critical Role is above criticism, and it has made its missteps, but like, the fact that these complaints showed up conveniently only when a ship didn't happen and mostly from like, white teenagers who proceeded to simultaneously call the cast transphobic and deliberately get their names wrong means this is not the criticism that is valid and worth considering, as is the fact that technically Matt had nothing to do with the ship not happening, but they've realized being an asshole to Marisha about her character's romantic choices will rightfully get you flayed alive. Also some D20 fans just hate Critical Role in the way that if you live in Boston you're supposed to hate New York and vice versa but if you say "why? what if I just want the baseball boys to have a good time together?" no one can answer.

Anyway here's a diagram to illustrate the group I'm talking about; they're the green dot:

So: a couple of them decided a smart thing to do on Twitter in front of God and everybody was to say that they were worried Matt would contradict this "widely established" fanlore because he is not plugged into the ACOC fandom. They then proceeded to specifically (jokingly, but like, in a shitty way, still where everyone could see it) say that Matt would probably introduce Belizabeth as being married to her husband because she is 100% straight.

Now there's a bunch of problems here, and people pointed them out. Namely:

This is a weird thing to assume Matt would do, ie, automatically make an arbitrary NPC definitely straight, even if you're joking about it; like, he has a pretty decent track record for making NPCs of varying genders and sexualities, especially by C2 and C3.

This is not even widely established fanlore; this is a tiny group of fans of ACOC. See below for more on that.

Even if it were widely established fanlore, it's unlikely Brennan would know either.

Even if it were widely established fanlore and Matt or Brennan were aware of it, they are under no obligation to adhere to fanlore, because it's fanlore, not the established canon of A Crown of Candy. This does not make fanlore bad! It just means that creators are allowed to ignore it in the same way that fan creators are allowed to ignore canon; this is a two-way street.

Therefore, because this is fanlore, even if Matt did say "here is Belizabeth and her husband, and she has only ever been involved with men" this would not be homophobic because the character's sexuality has never been established and straight is one of the possible sexualities she could have. Obviously if he went super hard on her straightness that could get weird but that's a fucking bonkers stretch.

When people pointed it out, this group and a few other people who just fucking hate Matt kept dismissing them as CR fans. Then it caught the attention of various D20 guest cast members or people in the broader TTRPG scene, who have pointed out that like...the actual play and TTRPG industry is a place where basically everyone in a particular region knows everyone else and they are all good friends and this is shitty. The D20 fans mad that Matt is DM-ing The Ravening War kept doubling down and started making outright ad-hominem attacks on Matt (notably his appearance and dress which is like, shitty and irrelevant to this fanon thing anyway even before you consider the body dysmorphia) and whining that because they've made some charity fanzines, a thing people have been doing since the dawn of Star Trek TOS, they deserve...something. People rightfully called them out as 1. entitled brats and 2. needlessly cruel. They keep whining that CR fans are dogpiling them when in fact like, the entire TTRPG community including, as far as I can tell, the D20 community who overlaps with CR fandom and even the D20 community that does not but is neutral on CR, is like "you suck, you started it, this fandom is not exempted from typical fandom toxicity, and you will look back on this in 5 years and vomit from embarrassment."

Anyway this is all kind of tiresome, but also pretty funny because literally I'm expecting a bunch of fanartists who are immensely high on their own farts to be 100% blacklisted from ever receiving a commission from like, any Actual Play of note and also a lot of fans; there's an outpouring of support for Matt that far outstrips what there would have been without a handful of idiots starting shit; and also the season is fully filmed anyway so if this ship was confirmed noncanon, it happened a few months ago anyway and there's nothing anyone can do.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, pretty much all these losers are still 100% going to watch The Ravening War anyway so like, this has all amounted to a net positive for everyone but them.

[madfantasy]

Mani's Blog Guide

Hello this is Mani! And here I share what I don't want on my platonic- bromancing of a blog ( @madmanii ) like drawing favorite ships and naughties for fun trash. 18+

Main tags:

★Current obsessions #SeverusSnape, #Tintin, my ocs.

★Spicy posts tagged with #naughties, access to them going forward is now for my Kofi monthly subscribers, for extra safety Nd stuff. 🌝 (I no longer know where I can share them when made, set)

★ diary/rants/ anything personal in #drawingJourney

Ship tags:

I draw lots of Severus & admittedly he's the only character I'm personally invested in, and so as a toxic trait— or rather pure 'for the heck of it' attitude I like to throw ANY ships at him and show all kinds of aftermaths, good or bad. And in this house, we all know he faked his death and deserves some fixing, hehe

Favs being:

#Snarry

My go to is Harry ditches being aurora & pursue his passion, spots hermit Sev along the way and basically keep chasing him, they both need to cancel eachothers trauma, I say :'x (my au tagged with #Cauldrons&Brooms )

#Snucius

Probably the most intense and toxic relationship throughout the stages of Severus's life, I love it

#Sn— anything at this point if it moves my muse, honestly 😝 either fluff or nuclear there's no in between

While totally sticking by the cannon cuz being Ace, vigorously identifying with an underestimated, politely unhinged shorty who get things done and his job requires traveling the world, I also dream of living with my besties in a mansion one day and have said adventures lead together or solo and return to spin our yarns whole we cradle our tea cups. I also enjoy the concept of Tintin being magnetic to dilfs (as he constantly chases alot it them lo) Soo:

#hadditon I mean, it's considered 99.99% cannon 😌

#alcatin my actual favourite pair ':, yes, one sided unhealthy infatuation at that x'

#with anybody who moves a muse, per usual lo

And anything really that I'm hyper over, specifically obscure things cuz that what being undiagnosed is like😛

Support Mani on Kofi to stay online (it's off usually around 23th-26th) and to save up for necessities & art stuff. My monthly subscribers get 10% off of commissions &lt;;3

Hope you enjoy your visit, dears 🖤♥️ c':

[dukeoftears]

IVE NEVER CONSIDERED PAPYKAARD BEFORE THAT SOUNDS SO CUTE... actually now im curious what are some of your thoughts on rouxls ships/what his relationship experience is like

OhohoHOHO you have come to the right place!! I love rouxls ships here I will list every one I like and why I like it :3

Kingkaard: This can be two things, either King is a doofus dumbass who is annoyed at himself for falling in love with his servant while Rouxls is a self righteous dumbass and it's goofy shenanigans, or... you have the darker, more toxic variant that isn't cute or romantic (and SHOULD NOT BE ROMANTICISED PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK). I like both a lot, I usually go with the second because it gives my Rouxls a nice backstory (and also gives me an excuse to project my own past traumas) (I mainly do it to project) but with the sheer number of proshitters who romanticise it... :/ goddamn I hate when people romanticise ab*se. There is nothing cute about it. I remember I found a Kingkaard fic with that dynamic that represented what I went though so well that I had to take a break from my phone for a while. And the comments? Full of proshitters who found it "deliciously painful and want king to break him blah blah" :/ goddamn that made me take a second break

Getting off my high horse now, this post isn't where I rant abt proshippers or traumadump

Queenkaard: I LOVE THIS ONE SOO MUCH HEHE it's technically m/f in canon but I like hcing Queen as a genderfuck sapphillean and Rouxls as gay so it's achillean in my thoughts anyways X) Queen would take every opportunity to fluster Rouxls and would be genuinely touched with the gifts he gives her as a sign of his affection

oh yeah side note: Rouxls' love languages would definitely be gift giving and verbal affection :3

METTAKAARD: Two trans gay men who KNOW they're beautiful in love??????? I cannot explain how much I ADORE Mettakaard it is my FAVORITE SHIP OF ALL TIME... on one hand they are both so goddamn flirtatious with each other but then on the other you have them comforting each other as they show their flaws to nobody but each other.... oughfhfhf <3

Papykaard: TWO GOOFY PUZZLE BOYOS WHO COOK TOGETHER I feel like this is great in both the qpr and the romantic way, Papyrus would definitely decide to tutor Rouxls with puzzles and from there, Pap falls first but Rouxls falls harder <3 Papyrus would listen to Rouxls rant for ages and the same vice versa and they would cook together, and Rouxls feels so safe around Papyrus because Papyrus doesn't care about rank, or status, or how clumsy and dumb he is, Papyrus loves him for who he is and he doesn't have to pretend to be something he isn't anymore... Honorary mention to Swap Papykaard where you have swap papyrus and rouxls, I started this in a rp with my friend who writes swap papyrus and we actually found it has a really cute dynamic <3 Rouxls would definitely look after Paps when he doesn't feel the will to get out of bed, and swap pap would always listen to his infodumps and it's just CUTE

PAPYMETTAKAARD I love polycules and here you have PAPYKAARD AND METTAKAARD AND PAPYTON AT THE SAME TIME?!?!!! Sign me up!!

Swatchkaard: "I hate you" "I loveth thee too <3"

Those are the main rouxls ships I like, but a few honorary mentions: Seamkaard can be cute with the right dynamic, I like them as qprs especially :) Jevkaard / Nosuit can be silly and fun too, I don't actively ship it but I do enjoy the ship

[fushiglow]

if you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

When I'm hyperfixating on a special interest, I find it really hard to remember anything that previously held my attention lol — so I'm struggling to answer this question, anon! I'm not a huge shipper usually, and I'm incredibly unenthusiastic about ship wars so I generally don't get involved.

That said, there are tons of ships I like in Jujutsu Kaisen. SatoSugu and Megumi are pretty much all I post about on here, but I've gained a few followers recently so it's probably worth saying because I've seen a lot of ship discourse elsewhere in the fandom recently:

If you're reading this and you really hate any of the ships I mention in this post, feel free to unfollow if it's that big a deal to you.

I'm really not interested in arguing about ships — because it just isn't that deep, I have limited free time to give to fandom and I'd rather spend it on things I love — so please don't get into that with me. However, if it's not a big deal to you, great to have you around! ♥

So, Jujutsu Kaisen ships I like below the cut:

Obviously, SatoSugu* has really captured my imagination. I don't think I've ever shipped anything as hard as I ship those two, but I talk about them all the time so I won't go into any more detail.

Other than that, I like GojoHime which I know is blasphemy for a SatoSugu shipper (I'm kidding, there's a bunch of us who ship both) but I don't think one has to preclude the other (after all, Gojo has two hands 👀). I've written two canonverse fics for GojoHime, and I've gently implied a former romantic relationship between SatoSugu in both.

I think lots of people read too deeply into the "she hates him" thing. Is he a bit of a dick to her? Absolutely, but treating Utahime like she's just a victim of the terrible Gojo Satoru takes away from her character — because she gives as good as she gets! I adore the contradiction in how she presents herself as this prim and proper miko, but she's actually a little firecracker who loses her temper easily and throws things at people and drinks heavily. Don't take that away from her, it's what makes her fun!

To me, it's obvious that their dynamic is designed to provide comic relief, but they trust each other when it comes down to it. In fact, I'd argue their bickering is evidence of that — if you're a polite person, you don't bicker with people you're not comfortable with. More than that, I like how Utahime is set up as a bit of a foil to Gojo. It's been said before, but there's a poetry in her technique making the 'strongest' stronger, especially considering that he goes to this character he's historically called weak to ask for help in the biggest fight of his life. Delicious!

Beyond that, I casually enjoy a bunch of other JJK ships. I don't actively seek out or create content for them, but I enjoy some of the art and fic when I come across it. Namely:

SaShiSu, in any configuration. SatoShoko is appealing to me for reasons I touched on in response to a question about Gojo's relationship with Shoko. SuguShoko is hot, simply because I think both characters are hot and they look hot together lol. I can even get behind poly SaShiSu!

OkkoFushi, because of Megumi's ~one line~ about respecting his senpai. It's essentially a crack ship, but I have the silliest little headcanon that Gojo brought Megumi to meet the first years sometime during JJK 0 and Megumi developed his first crush — see this adorable art for reference.

ItaFushi, ItaJun, and YutaMaki because they're all harmless and adorable.

GojoKen, because I love the potential for toxic angst.

KenTen, because "goodbye, old friend" — I'm sorry, what??? 👀

ShokoHime and ChosoYuki because they're all sexy as hell.

NobaMai, because they have sizzling chemistry.

KiraKari and MechaMiwa, because they're both canon as far as I'm concerned.

ShiuToji, because they're "business partners" — sure, guys!!

NanaGo, purely for the cute single dads art.

SukuGo, but only in a non-canon setting. They should have been besties in canon though 😔

Finally, the controversial one. Sukuna can stay the hell away from Megumi in canon (🥲) but I quite like SukuFushi in a specific AU setting — especially if Yuji and Sukuna are brothers in it! I have a soft spot for the Itadori twins, and I'm into the idea of big bully Sukuna meeting his match in his brat of a brother's quiet best friend with the deceptively sharp tongue (and knuckles).

However, I personally find that a lot of people mischaracterise Megumi in his ships and take away the aspects of his character that I really love (come on, he beat people the hell up at school!) so I'm not super into Megumi ships in general, despite the fact that he's my best boy.

As you can see, I'm really not that fussy about ships. In the past, I've definitely read fic featuring a side pairing that I'm not super into, but it won't stop me reading a good fic if there's a pairing I don't like in it. Sometimes, if it's well-written, I might even end up a fan!

Outside of JJK, there really isn't much. I don't follow many other animanga, but I think AkiAngel is a gorgeous ship and EreMika is cute although a bit bland. I think that's it though... Sorry this wasn't really what you asked for, but thank you for the question! ♥

*I just use the popular ship name, but I don't have any strong preferences when it comes to sexual dynamics so the name order isn't important to me — that goes for all the ships I like!

[sanderssidesthehouse]

intruality ship bingo?

You are speaking my language.

Do you know how many Intruality WIPs I have? These two do not let me sleep.

Just want to address the mark I put in "Toxic (affectionate)" before we go any further. Morality kind of... did that to 'Dark' Creativity/Intrusive Thoughts (unless there's something else going on we don't know about yet???). Pretty messed up tbh. Not that I mind. It's just something to consider.

So other than that I think they would have a lot in common. They are both full of whimsy (yes, I'm calling what Remus has going on whimsy). They both kind of project a certain part of their personality to cover up other pieces (in my opinion/hc/whatever). They WOULD be good for each other. Patton needs to loosen up, and Remus needs love and attention. They would both be soooo clingy like physically and emotionally and why shouldn't they get someone who matches their freak? Plus Remus is going to think Patton's froggy traits are sick as hell (bc they are!!!) and I think he needs someone who appreciates ALL of him.

Now of course, Patton might have to chill tf out first. Or maybe hanging out with Remus would help him chill tf out. Even if he just got desensitized he might gain the ability to say "Wild, anyway-" in response to Remus being Remus. Remus also might have to chill tf out, like I'm not going to act like that's all on Patton. Remus does also very much need to chill. But that will come with being acknowledged and listened to, he's been locked in the basement for however many years, being weird about literally everything is kind of understandable.

I think at the very least they need to be friends. The potential of reactions from the others to them literally just hanging out could be absolutely hilarious. Or angsty. My two favorite things. But can you imagine the unhinged ideas the two of them would come up with?

PLUS!!! I just thought of this, but you know how Patton likes to make up games that are overly complicated and Remus loves to make Rube Goldberg machines? They are complicated chaos buddies. They would literally have so much fun. Put them in a room with a few thousand dominoes. I want to see what happens.

Usually when I write Remus in a relationship I write him as an absolute simp regardless, and I think that holds true here. He's just so unabashedly 100% about things, but I could also see him being a bit shy- and hear me out- bc it's something that actually matters to him, right up there with being listened to by Thomas, and he doesn't want to fuck it up. He's not the romantic side like Roman, and I think he probably can't help but compare himself, especially in this context, and he knows it. This isn't his strong suit (insert birthday suit joke here). You could make this or literally any Remus ship soooo angsty if you wanted. And I do bc I'm evil, actually.

And Patton at this point I think would also be worried about fucking up relationships bc... Um... Well, you know. We all saw that episode. But one of his needs, and in his case I do mean need rather than want, is to love. C!Thomas is a lover, Patton is that particular piece of him. It's actually his job to dish out affection, and idk how willing everyone else is going to be to receive it rn.

But anyway wouldn't that be fun if both of them are desperate for acknowledgement and affection but both so terrified of fucking up a relationship, of fucking up something that actually matters, of breaking something that can't be repaired. Or you could be normal about ig.

I'm trying not to make these too long, so I'll end it there. As always, feel free to add or ask questions or whatever else. I do not bite, I prommy. Love y'all, bye!

[olderthannetfic]

"Friendships are a lot more like romance than people admit" anon here. So I gave zero detail whatsoever, and it's been kind of interesting to see what people came up with in response. That said, I actually meant it a lot more in terms of specifics and mechanics?

Friendships have an "infatuation" phase where getting to know the person and spending time with them is effortless and fun and you feel like you'll never get bored of each other. Friendships often involve an expectation of emotional connection and telling each other things, making the other a part of your life to some extent. It's possible to have feelings of jealousy for a friend, especially if you suddenly become a lot less important to them in favor of a new person in their life (which in an exclusive romantic relationship might be considered a kind of "emotional cheating"). It's possible for a friendship to fail or peter out for the exact same reasons where, if it were a romantic couple getting couples therapy, their therapist would tell them "You need to reconnect by doing things together again, you need to make an effort and work at restoring your connection". Which sometimes romantic couples do, and then they stay together, but in friendships it seems to be kinda seen as normal and not imbued with the same sense of almost-tragedy? Even though it's a very comparable time and energy commitment essentially going down the drain. Finally, it's quite possible to be heartbroken that a friendship ended, and a toxic friendship can be every bit as damaging as a toxic romance. To put it in a phrase, you could take any number of posts asking for relationship advice where, if you removed monikers like "friend" or "SO/gf/bf", it would be very difficult to tell if the relationship is romantic or not.

"Romantic relationships are like friendships" is equally controversial in the sense that a lot of people don't really seem to know what to do when the infatuation wears off, partly because media and culture seem deeply uninterested in exploring this stage of romantic relationships? Or they interpret the inevitable fade of hormone-fueled excitement as falling out of love, break off the relationship, and rinse and repeat this a few times before they wisen up and learn to form long-lasting friendships with the people they fall in love with.

To wit, close friendships and romance both involve love and attachment and (some amount of) commitment. And yet we barely ever seem to talk about friendships using the language of love, even though love is unquestionably what's going on there. (Again, I'm talking about close, long-lasting friendships.)

..Or maybe my experiences are not universal and I'm just a weirdo who gets overly attached. Idk.

--

I refer to "friend breakups" and "friend dumping" all the time.

I think if you put it in those terms, most people agree: they've had some devastating end to a friendship that hurt them more than half their romantic breakups. It's just not how movies tend to describe it... at least not in words. Buddy movies are all about the idea that a friend breakup is the literal worst thing in the universe though.

I guess I roll my eyes a tad because I've witnessed decades of finger-wagging books about how we don't care enough about friendships and those are what really predict adult mental health in the long term, blah blah blah. Things like friend crushes (that honeymoon period) and devastating friend breakups are well known to psychologists and self help book writers.

Anyway, you aren't weird, and people who want to keep their long-term friends need to make time for some friend dates if they want to keep the magic going.