#Someone send help I'm in rarepair hell

[meili-sheep]

Help!!!

I've fallen into rarepair hell and I can't get out. 🥲🥲🥲🥲

I'm literally shipping Argenti and Diluc.

Please send help.

You want out?

Dude. I've been here like my whole life, there is no out.

You just gotta accept your fate. Sit down, find that one Asian artist on twitter who does fan art of your ship. Write our own fics do your own merch and just pray someone else notices how big your brain is for shipping this and joins you.

But Argenti and Diluc is aesthetics

[saivii]

i meant to post this earlier but this also reminds me of something I've been wondering abt for a while which is what if minoru died in one of the routes? god that would be brutal. like he's the one always trying to cheer everyone up and lighten the mood and now he's just. gone. minoru is one of my fav characters from survive so i'm biased but without a comic relief like him i feel like things would get so bleak and gloomy. kinda hard for me to picture things not spiralling and getting worse from there.

also i feel like he'd die sacrificing himself or smth because of how much he wants to be a hero. like someone else is about to be grabbed by the kemonogami and he pushes them out of the way so the kemonogami will take him instead ;_;

anyways obviously takuma would be rly shaken by minoru dying bc they're best friends. i feel like minoru dying might lead to a takuma corruption arc similar to the harmony/wrathful routes.

oh man since harmony/wrathful routes show how kaito/aoi's personality traits just get more extreme as the route progresses (kaito, who used to be protective, becomes increasingly aggressive while aoi, who cared about everyone gets so worked up that she manages to convince herself that killing everyone will help them in the long run), what if the same thing happened to takuma?? since he's seen as the leader of the group, what if he just starts leading everyone into dangerous situations? maybe he gets so overwhelmed by guilt, anger, and grief that he thinks him and the others shouldn't get to live bc they let minoru die? something like that maybe

also if it happened in truthful route, i feel like it would mess ryo up too. not as much as takuma, and yes i'm biased bc i love they but consider: ryo and minoru had their little dynamic where they banter and squabble but silently care about each other, and ryo never had any reason to believe that things would change or that he'd ever need to verbally tell minoru that he cares about him. but then suddenly minoru's gone and he wishes he would have appreciated minoru more and shown him that he cared instead of hiding it. and he realizes how much he took minoru's jokes and efforts to cheer him up for granted, and beats himself up over it. it also doesn't help that this is the second time someone important to him has died, and that probably makes him feel that nothing good will ever last.

oh god what if ryo was the one minoru pushed out of the way and sacrificed himself for...like the kemonogami mimics a digimon that needs to be saved (similar to harmony/wrathful routes) or someone else in the group and ryo runs off to find them and help them only to find out that it's a kemonogami. minoru runs after ryo and when he sees the kemonogami, he remembers the events of chapter 3 and how ryo almost died and decides he can't have ryo in danger again. so he pushes ryo out of the way, but he isn't quick enough to avoid the kemonogami. ryo freaks out and tries to grab minoru's hand, but their fingertips only brush against each other because minoru gets pulled into the fog too quickly. so ryo has major survivor's guilt and will not stop beating himself up over it, blaming himself and thinking about how if he hadn't fallen for the kemonogami's trap, minoru would still be here and everything would be okay. and it all overwhelms him and he starts shutting down to the point where he's dissociating most of the time

so yeah thinking about different endings has a lot of untapped potential and i think it's interesting. also i'm incapable of shutting up about minoru and ryo. i'm in rarepair hell send help

thinking about an au with minoru and ryo where after ryo’s death in chapter 3 he becomes a ghost and minoru (for whatever reason) is the only one who can see him….

[fandom-necromancer]

Sometimes broken is perfect

This was prompted by the wonderful @sparklingrainbowdragon! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Jerry/Ralph (Warnings: description of domestic abuse by partner (neither from Jerry nor from Ralph))

‘Why can’t you be normal?’ ‘Normal?’ The silence following was a stark contrast to the screaming before and Ralph was very self-conscious about having rung the bell. None of them seemed to have heard the ringing over their argument and Ralph contemplated whether he should press the button again or wait for a better time. But it was the right date and the right time, Jerry had told him he would be free now to help him settle in. So, he rang the bell again. ‘Babe I-‘ the ringing interrupted him. ‘I didn’t mean it like that, sorry! I… I love you, you know that? Just… You are so different and I…’ ‘They are waiting.’ ‘Right. Jerry, darling, let’s talk about it later, okay? Please, I didn’t mean it.’

With that the door opened and Ralph immediately ducked, embarrassed and feeling out of place. Android tears didn’t leave their eyes red and puffed, but he could still make out the hastily wiped away wet spots. ‘Hello, we’re Jerry’, the android greeted with a forced smile. ‘We are sorry you had to hear that. We… had an argument, it doesn’t happen often, we swear! You must be Ralph?’ He nodded, shouldering his small bag of belongings and lifting his box. ‘Come on in!’ Ralph followed the other and closed the door behind him.

‘This is Marc, my boyfriend.’ The android sitting on the backrest of a couch gave him a little wave, then Jerry led him on. ‘This here is my room, down the hall is the bathroom and kitchen. We will share them together with the living room. This is yours.’ Jerry showed him a chamber with a bed and a desk. It wasn’t much, but it was far more than Ralph was being used to. It was his own and only his. ‘Thank you’, he said as Jerry handed him the keys. ‘Ralph is sorry, did he come at a bad time?’ Jerry cocked his head, but otherwise just smiled. ‘No, no, I mean it’s our fault, we told you this was a good time. We’re sorry, this really doesn’t happen so often. Marc… he is a really nice man. We just argued about… well, it doesn’t matter, but we’re so sorry.’ ‘It’s alright. Ralph doesn’t mind. Ralph will go unpack then.’ ‘Yeah… Good idea. Err… call us if you need anything!’

Ralph did unpack all his belongings, but he also kept an ear out for more screaming. He did mind, but that wasn’t something to say in the open. He just hoped it was true and that it happened only rarely. He had managed to place all his little plants on the windowsill as the front door slammed shut. It wasn’t his business though, so he continued placing the larger ones until he was content with their arrangement. With that the box was empty and all that was left to place were the things from his bag. He left most of it inside for now and only took out a small lime-green watering can. Then he left for the kitchen with it. Apparently, the boyfriend had left, and Ralph couldn’t help but feel relieved at the fact.

When he entered the kitchen, there suddenly were two Jerrys. Ralph may have stared a little too long, because one of them pulled a face and started explaining: ‘We should have told you before, but we are a hivemind, we share multiple bodies. We hope that is okay, you will likely see a few of us in the flat at the same time.’ ‘Oh, okay’, Ralph shrugged. ‘Can Ralph keep his watering can by the sink or do you mind?’ Apparently, Jerry had expected more questions, but caught on quickly. ‘Yes, of course. We don’t mind!’ Ralph just nodded and put it somewhere it wouldn’t be a hindrance, before retreating to his room again.

-

It happened again a few days later. Ralph had come home from his gardening job and had stepped out of the shower to wash away the earth from his hands. He was currently watering his own plants, as the door opened, and two pairs of angry steps came bursting in. ‘I told you it creeps people out! I don’t want to go to a party and be a part of your freakshow! I don’t want to explain to people how living with multiple people feels like! Goddamn, I’m not some gangbang enthusiast, I just don’t want to be looked upon like that!’ ‘But We’re only one person!’ ‘No! You are several units that humans forced to mindshare. Aren’t you free now? Why don’t you act like other androids?’ ‘This is just how we are!’ ‘No! This is how you have been! I want you; I don’t want them!’ ‘But we are them! We can’t work as a single unit!’ ‘Bullshit, every android can live alone. Don’t you fucking come at me with that card! Don’t you hide behind that excuse!’ There was a dull thud as if someone had been pushed against a wall.

‘Oh, my god. Oh, my god, babe, I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry. I don’t know what overcame me. Please, let me help you up…’ ‘Leave.’ It was silent, nearly inaudible for Ralph. ‘Babe, I-‘ ‘Please, leave.’ ‘Darling.’ ‘We can talk about it tomorrow, okay? I’m tired.’ Jerry really sounded exhausted. ‘Of course.’

Ralph sat in his room, hugging his watering can tight. He needed more water ever since they had entered the flat but hadn’t dared to leave just yet. Now that the door had fallen shut again though, he slowly opened the one to his own room. Jerry were sitting in the hallway staring straight ahead at the other wall. They only looked up as Ralph carefully stepped outside. ‘Are you alright?’, Ralph asked as general as possible. ‘We will be’, Jerry muttered, trying to get up and stopping as Ralph held out a hand for them to take. To his surprise, Jerry took him up on the offer. ‘He didn’t mean it. Work left him frustrated and tired and we really shouldn’t have brought more than one unit to the party. It was… We didn’t think about the effects and… We’re sorry.’ Ralph thought about how he could help. It wasn’t his place to judge them. So, he held out his can. ‘Do you want to help me water the plants? It relaxes.’ Jerry looked at him with slight bewilderment, but otherwise shrugged and nodded. ‘We could try.’

-

It had helped, Ralph tried to convince himself. It had helped them momentarily get their mind off the matter. But it did little to ease his own when he had heard them fight again and again. It never got violent, at least not more than pushing the other around. But he knew that didn’t diminish the pain it all caused.

Not when he could hear his roommate cry at night and how in the little time, he knew them, it was evident he became less enthusiastic and cheery. Also, the amount of time he saw Jerry’s other units around the flat was plummeting. Ralph wished he could help them better, could do something more to get them out of their situation, but he was too afraid to get involved. What if he was the reason worse happened if he made a move? He couldn’t bring himself to be more than a witness. To listen to Jerry’s cries and try to make it better when their boyfriend wasn’t there.

He couldn’t help but hope that Jerry would stop seeing him. Tell him to leave the flat or leave him altogether the next time he dared to do something to them. But he couldn’t just say that, not when Jerry was so sure on the man to be someone he evidently wasn’t. Not when he had no experience at all in these matters. He couldn’t say something to Jerry or their boyfriend, no matter how much he wanted to. He would just make it worse.

But that didn’t make it better either.

One evening he came late home from work because he had agreed to help the elderly woman whose garden he cared for with the groceries. Her son was out of town and Ralph didn’t have anything else to do either. Not wanting to go back home where he would spend his evening in his own room until Jerry’s boyfriend left, surely was another reason on top of that. That meant he came home at the same time they were screaming in the hallway. Jerry’s boyfriend was crowding the android and was shouting his by now usual phrases: ‘I don’t understand you! I don’t fucking understand you! You are weird. I once thought you were just joking, but you seriously enjoy these things? Damn, man up. I can’t believe it.’ ‘And what should I do in your opinion?’ ‘I don’t know! Be normal!’ The man raised his hand. ‘Stop it with the “we” and “us” you are one person! Stop being so fucking weird and-‘

‘You are drunk.’ Ralph had closed the door behind him and had watched the scene unfold. He hadn’t planned on voicing his observation, but it was too late now. ‘What’s it to you?’, Marc tried to shut him down. ‘Leave us alone.’ ‘Ralph’s room is behind you’, the android reminded him. ‘Then fuck off somewhere else, go for a walk, I don’t know!’ ‘Ralph can’t do this’, the WR600 stated. ‘Maybe Ralph should really overthink that and go be a baby somewhere else’, the man retorted, a threat underlying in his mocking tone. ‘Ralph would advise you doing the same thing. Before doing something, you’ll regret when sober.’ The man seemed to have forgotten Jerry was still there, as he turned towards Ralph, who regretted saying something and at the same time was glad he finally had found the courage. He was scared, as he towered over him, but Ralph had been scared before. He had to keep his calm, just like the androids at New Jericho had taught him. He had to stay himself and not do what he did with the humans that had made him deviate. He had to remind himself that if anything happened, it would be just another scar on his already ruined hull.

‘It’s a good idea, Marc’, Jerry carefully stepped in. ‘I will call you a taxi. We will talk about it tomorrow, okay? Later.’ ‘Later’, the man grumbled then and shouldered past Ralph out of the door. The moment the lock connected, Jerry let themselves slide down the wall. Ralph, not quite sure what to do, sat down next to him with appropriate distance in between. ‘Thank you’, Jerry sighed after several moments of silence. ‘We… We don’t know what he would have done today.’ ‘Do you love him?’, Ralph dared to ask. Jerry looked up to the ceiling, resting the back of their head against the wall. ‘We do. We still do. Must be confusing, hm?’ ‘Yes. Ralph doesn’t really understand’, he admitted. ‘We love… we still love the man Marc once was. And sometimes he still surfaces. That’s when we think this could still work and stay another day. We know he isn’t good for us.’ ‘He doesn’t accept what you are. He shouts at you and you are crying more days than you aren’t because of him. That’s not love.’

Jerry laughed, but it wasn’t amused, it was desperate. ‘That’s not how it works in real life. You choose someone you think is perfect, but if you expect them to stay perfect forever, you will be disappointed.’ ‘But shouldn’t a partner make your life better than it was when you were alone? Or at least not make it worse?’, Ralph asked. ‘It’s still hard to decide when you never knew normal’, Jerry said. ‘My life before the revolution wasn’t the best. Some days with him were really nice. When I’m not doing things that offend him or get him frustrated with me.’ ‘But is it worth playing that role?’, Ralph murmured. ‘Ralph can’t stand hearing you cry at night.’ ‘You can hear… We will try to be quieter.’ ‘No! Ralph meant he can’t stand knowing you are sad.’

‘Oh’, Jerry said in surprise and blushed slightly. ‘You do?’ ‘Yes, Ralph hates it if people are sad. Or scared. Ralph scared people for a long time. Humans did this to Ralph’, he said and pointed at his face that he normally hid under a cap. ‘And he has been… Ralph is not broken, but also not really functioning right. Jericho helped. Androids helped Ralph stay himself.’ ‘We are sorry.’ ‘It’s okay. Ralph is okay now. But Ralph wants to help you. Ralph wants to see you happy.’ ‘You want to… Why?’ ‘Ralph wants everyone to be happy. But now that you said you don’t know how that feels like, I really want to make you happy.’ ‘Why? We’re just your roommate. We haven’t even lived long together.’ Ralph sighed. ‘Ralph doesn’t really know it himself. But you look nice smiling. Ralph likes how easy you are enthusiastic about something and you look cute when…’ Ralph trailed off, realising how highly inappropriate it was to voice his feelings right now. ‘You are kind’, he therefore concluded. ‘And a kind person should be treated likewise.’

‘That’s very sweet of you’, Jerry whispered, looking at his shoes. ‘Unfortunately, no one would treat us like that. Marc is right in at least one aspect: Us being a hivemind would push people away. We are too different to other androids.’ ‘Ralph’s still here’, the android commented, side-eyeing the other. ‘What?’ ‘Ralph doesn’t mind you being different. Ralph thinks it is something unique that should be treasured.’ ‘And you are not just saying that to make me feel better?’, Jerry asked sceptically. ‘It’s one reason’, Ralph admitted. ‘But it’s also the truth.’

‘Then I agree. I should dump the asshole.’

[ezrisdax-archive]

Starstruck Odyssey, Korrasami, and you DO get Wedge lmao

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: oh this is tricky... probably Skip, Zac just played him so well

Least Favorite character: uhhhh, Edwina, she's the one who was mean to Sidney when they met :(

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): this wasn't really a ship season? despite being on a ship (badum-tsh) so I've really got nothing here

Character I find most attractive: Riva, I love their design so much

Character I would marry: uh, well Margaret, she'd keep the finances running

Character I would be best friends with: Gunnie!

a random thought: I hope we come back to these characters but I'm not sure we'd see Riva return? which would be too bad but I'm sure Siobhan would play someone new I'd love

An unpopular opinion: as much as I enjoyed it there were times I think handy andi was a little op for the play

My Canon OTP: ????

My Non-canon OTP: we just don't know

Most Badass Character: Barry Syx, what can I say I'm a sucker for the old 80s archetypes like that

Most Epic Villain: the rolls vs checking for loose duke lmao

Pairing I am not a fan of: idk

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): none, d20 is perfect

Favourite Friendship: Sidney and Barry, those two were so much fun to play off each other.

Character I most identify with: hmmm, probably Riva

Character I wish I could be: Margaret, please teach me to get money...

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping them: way way back in season one, they had so little interactions but were pretty much the only pair I was interested in lol, back when they were a rarepair...

My thoughts: I'm so glad the writers got to make them canon, I still remember that I was working that day and saw some of it on tumblr and honestly wasn't sure if it was real or not until I saw it

What makes me happy about them: they're canon!!!! and that the two of them came to understand and rely on each other, I think season three really built a lot of groundwork for them coming together and I'm grateful for that

What makes me sad about them: we never got to see them kiss on tv, like I do absolutely understand that, hell it's even a struggle now for it but I wish we could have gotten it still

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: any time I see a fic where Korra is portrayed as an idiot or primitive I cringe. I once saw one where Asami was exploring the land and kidnapped and immediately knew that's where that was going and noped out

Things I look for in fanfic: hm, I haven't searched for korrasami fanfic in a while but I'm a huge sucker for aus where Korra was the one to run into her in season one or aus where they don't actually meet till later, completely different I know

My wishlist: I don't have much of one, I'd just like to see more of them in the comics which I think I will

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: nope, that's it for me for them

My happily ever after for them: I just want them to have more spirit world trips together and spend some time together, like let them have a happy ending where they're not always forced to save everything all the time and can relax

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character: look. look. you know. and several other mutuals on this website who have to put up with me know even if they aren't in star wars fandom that Wedge is my boy. that's my star wars guy. I can't help it if three year old me picked him as a fave and has not let go okay. I had a fucking notebook lexi!!! that was just filled with pictures me and my sibs drew of him!!! every time we watched! moral is I love him.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: I don't mind Luke/Wedge, because I'm the first person to have written it on ao3 apparently I also like Lando/Wedge (hey I'm a sucker for rare pairs), and of course Wedge/Iella

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Wedge and Tycho

My unpopular opinion about this character: look, I hate what Disney did with character, I can't stand Rebels version of him at all tbh, I can't stand they made him Imperial at first

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: disney leave him along but also put me in charge of the rogue squadron anything, please god

Favorite friendship for this character: Wedge and pretty much the whole rogue squadron, I miss them lexi....

My crossover ship: Wedge/B'Elanna from Star Trek: Voy, no I will not explain

[gallickingun]

I hope you don't mind me asking... How did you get followers? I want to start my own blog but I want to make sure I can reach audiences I want to reach. I don't have any friends who know I write, and honestly I'm not sure I'd want them to read my works anyway. I get embarrassed easily. It's much easier for me to talk to someone that I don't have a face for. Does that make sense? Probably not. But how did you start your adventure here?

I want to preface this with follower count can make sense, or it can’t. I’ve made friends with some of the most amazing, most talented writers who have less than a thousand followers. I’ve made friends with amazing, talented writers who have thousands of followers. I genuinely don’t know how to trick the algorithm into listening to you, haha, but just know that numbers don’t equal talent; popularity does not always equal skill. So please, even if you don’t have the high follower count of someone else, don’t let it discourage you from writing! Everyone starts somewhere, and everyone grows differently. 

But, I’ve found that it all depends on who you write for, what you write, and how often you write. 

Who you write for: Bakugou is one of the most popular characters. I truly didn’t know this when I entered the fandom, but it was really what got me started on the upward climb. I’m by no means a big blogger, lol, but I know that writing for Bakugou was what helped me out initially. He was originally the only character who I could write for because he was my favorite and I hadn’t really gotten too far into the show. I think the same goes for other fandoms - if you write for the more popular characters, who have more content in demand because they have more fans, you’re more likely to gain more followers. 

DISCLAIMER: Do not let this keep you from writing for other characters who are less popular, if you prefer to write for them. Content is needed for all characters! I am desperate for some Sugawara content, but he’s not one of the more popular characters that people write for (see: Kuroo, Ushiwaka, Bokuto, Oikawa, Iwa, and Akaashi). If we only focus on the popular characters, the ones that get us the most growth, but those aren’t the characters we love, the content can seem disingenuous, if that makes sense. I got lucky by Bakugou being my favorite. But like, when I try to push out Kaminari content, I find that it’s a real struggle for me because I don’t necessarily vibe with Kaminari as a character. The same goes in reverse. If the minor characters have your heart, but you try to force out content for the popular characters, it can be tough to write and come across like you don’t really want to write it. Write who you want to write! 

What you write: This is a really big deal right now, but I’m just gonna say it lol. NSFW gets more notes. I don’t say that to force you into writing NSFW content - I actually had never read/written NSFW content until this past March, and I’m 22, going on 23. Originally, when I decided to start writing, I wanted to be NSFW-free, but some stuff changed in life and in writing and I chose to make the change.

Also, I’ve found for each fandom, different things are more prevalent. For instance, the BNHA fandom seems to do a lot of AU’s and full length fics, but the Haikyuu!! fandom seems to do more traditional works that follow canon and then the content itself is mostly headcanons and short scenarios. I think you have to find what works for you and write it to the best of your ability. I suck at headcanons, I’ve never really been able to do them and they stress me out. So I stick to full length fics. I know this means I’ll do better in one fandom versus the other, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to start only doing headcanons just because it’s what’s popular. 

DISCLAIMER: This does NOT mean that just because someone wrote 10k words of smut, that it’s better or more involved than your 10k words of fluff/angst/domestic/etc. writing. Unfortunately, there are horn dogs out there who are especially touch starved during quarantine. It doesn’t make anyone better or worse because they choose to write about being naked versus being clothed. Please don’t let this discourage you from writing SFW-only writing, as there are tons of people out there who are just as desperate for some comfort fics about cuddling completely clothed. 

How often you write: When I first started, I had a lot more time on my hands and was able to pump out content much quicker. I grew pretty rapidly in a short period of time because I was able to consistently put out content. Since I’ve gotten more busy and my mental illness has reared it’s ugly head, I’ve not been able to write as much and I can tell my follower count growth had tapered off. But the pace in which you post content generally helps increase your follower count, because people know that you will continuously feed them with the goods! Sometimes it might be good to set a schedule so others know when you’ll be posting - say a new fic every Friday? Or sometimes it can be good to keep your followers engaged with thirst posts (SFW or NSFW), or specific nights where you do events that focus on a certain character or genre. 

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT FORCE YOURSELF TO PUSH OUT CONTENT. Please be aware within your own self what your limits are. Just because one writer can sit at home and push out tons of short scenarios and drabbles during the day, but you can’t, doesn’t mean either of you are doing anything wrong. It just means that one person has a different availability than you. I don’t really do thirst posts a ton in the same respect that others do them, because I know that I’ll want to write a whole fic out of the couple of sentences that my followers might send in. However, there are many others within the fandom that can respond with a few paragraphs that take a few minutes to type out. It doesn’t mean that they’re better than me and I’m a horrible writer, it just means that in this area, they’re more skilled or have more time. 

Also, don’t be afraid to tag people and send out DMs! I promise your writer idols are not nearly as scary as you think they are. And they’re probably just as excited to get a DM from you as you are to talk to them! I was really hesitant to reach out to anyone before, because I never really did much chatting in other fandoms, but the anime fandoms I’ve been apart of have been very kind and welcoming, and helpful! I made some of my closest friends because I tagged them in my works or I joined a server with them in it, or I read their stuff and reached out to them to fangirl over it. Don’t be afraid to reach out, even if you just keep the conversation focused on your writing, it’ll still be worth it in the end! The worst thing that could happen is they don’t reply or the conversation fizzles out. Either way, you will have made a connection, and blasted one another with some serotonin.

Remember to take breaks. Take a hiatus every once and a while! Take some time for yourself to recharge. If this begins to feel like a job, like an obligation, and you feel yourself dragging your feet just to put out content, please step back and reevaluate. This is a hobby, it’s supposed to be fun. Once it stops being fun, take a breather and reassess what you’re doing. Sometimes this means closing requests, sometimes this means opening requests, sometimes this means participating in collab fics, sometimes this means disconnecting entirely. This is just tumblr, in the end, and you should be able to take care of yourself first rather than pinning yourself into a corner to try and post content for the sake of your followers. In the end, everyone wants you to be happy and healthy, so you can put your best foot forward in life and in your hobbies. So please, for the love of everything, take a break every now and then. Disconnect, recharge, and regroup. 

I also had a blog before this one, my main, so I’ve been on tumblr for eight year prior to this. I’m not going to even claim that I begin to understand how this hellsite works, but I will say that I’ve been writing on here for a while now, since way back to my band blog days. Eventually you just write what you want to write, and chat with your followers and your friends, and you’ll grow organically. When you start to pressure yourself over it, it can become like a cloud looming over you, and then when you don’t perform up to your preset standards, it might be a little disappointing. Follower milestones are cool to want to achieve and celebrate, but don’t pour all your focus into them. For the most part, I use milestones for celebration events to give back to my followers, or to set goals for myself like opening commissions! But they don’t determine my worth as a writer, because sometimes the tumblr algorithm is more giving to some rather than others.

Whew, this was a doozy. But I hope it helped! Some of these answers might come off a little crass, but I’m just trying to be honest. Don’t let anything deter you from doing whatever the hell you wanna do.

You wanna write that rarepair? DO IT. You wanna write character x character? DO IT. You wanna write about your Original Characters? DO IT. 

Whatever it is you want to do, do it! And have a helluva time doing it 💕

[doyelikehaggis]

Rowing the Rarepair Rowboat: Kate Kane (Batwoman) x Elena Gilbert (The Vampire Diaries)

Requested by @softolivarry

Everything is sparkling. It's hard for Elena to pick out something in the giant room that isn't glittering and shimmering under the lights, including the many chandeliers hanging above them.

And there are so many people. It's a charity event in Gotham, of course a lot of turned up for it, but still. She's having flashbacks to the Mikaelson ball and it's making her give everyone a second glance just to be sure there are no familiar faces lurking in the crowd. She wouldn't put it past the universe to thrust her into that kind of situation.

Taking in a slow, deep breath, she turns to the bar as she lets it back out in a sigh. Before she can even think about ordering a drink, there's a light tap on her left shoulder.

The space beside her is empty when she turns halfway, only to feel an arm curl around her waist from behind.

Eyes wide in surprise, she spins around, and for a moment thinks she's jinxed herself and is going to find herself face-to-face with Klaus or Elijah.

She breathes out a laugh of relief as Kate simply laughs, amusement shining in her eyes that are particularly bright in this light. A pale green that's cool and elegant with her usual cat-like gaze.

"Don't sneak up on me!" Elena says, playfully pushing at her shoulder. Her hand settles there, over the fabric of Kate's suit jacket.

Kate arches an eyebrow and feigns shock as she says, "Sneak up on you? I would never."

Elena rolls her eyes, scoffing for the simple fact that she can recount a number of times that Kate has in fact snuck up on her, and usually on purpose. Sometimes it's just the military training in her that makes her quiet by accident.

"If you think being cute will distract me from the fact that you're late, and--" Elena cuts herself off with a noise of disbelief, eyes widening as she finally takes in the fresh cut above Kate's eyebrow with alarm, "--and bleeding. Then you are sorely mistaken."

Kate grimaces. "Was kinda hoping, yeah."

She gently cups her face, her thumb grazing the skin around the cut. It's not too deep from what she can see, but it doesn't go unnoticed by her that there's a patch of purple blossoming on her jaw. Probably not the only bruise.

"You said that you weren't going to do anything stupid," Elena reminds her, fingers beneath her chin to gently tilt her head.

Some ice should quickly heal up the bruise, but considering they're in the middle of a very big, very public event, she's guessing that makeup to hide it might be their only option. If Kate's dad starts asking any more questions, or hell, if anyone does, Elena thinks she might finally slip up.

"And I didn't," Kate says with another gentle laugh in her voice. She catches Elena's hand in her own, stopping her inspection. "This could have been a lot worse. Trust me. You should see the other guy."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better," Elena says.

But she smiles a little as Kate does, too. It could be a lot worse, she reasons. After all, the villains in Gotham have really been ramping up their tactics, getting more violent ever since the breakout at Arkham.

Plus the appearance of a literal vampire has made people even more unnerved than before. Including Elena.

"But," Elena sighs, lowering her free hand back to Kate's shoulder, "you're okay for the most part, and that's all that matters. But don't think I'm not going to do a double check over all of those injuries, and am going to get Mary to do the same, just to be safe."

Kate nods, the smile on her face stretching all the way up to her eyes. "Okay, that's fair, doctor."

"And for someone who was saving the city less than ten minutes ago, you don't look half bad," Elena teases, a little more relaxed. "At all, actually. You look great, and I'm happy you're here. Not just so that I don't have to awkwardly drink by myself at this bar the entire night."

Kate snorts, a soft chuckle. "Well, I must say, you are looking stunning as well."

She makes a show of looking her up and down, eyes flickering over her crimson dress with a touch of amusement and something else that darkens her eyes ever so slightly.

"Like, really good. Out of curiosity, how hard do you think it is to get that dress back off and how long would it take with someone's help? Specifically, someone like me."

Elena's eyes widen and her voice is exasperated even as she feels her skin flushing and a smile fight its way onto her face. "Kate."

"All right, all right." Kate laughs, hands in front of her. "I'll stop."

Elena pretends to consider it for a moment, but she's already shaking her head.

"Absolutely not," she says.

Kate's surprise is brief, a momentary shift in her expression, as if she was ready to pull away. Still not used to being so public despite her own brazen flirting. It's an adjustment, Elena knows, and she gets it.

When the surprise fades a second later, replaced with a sly, delighted little shine in her eyes and embedded into her smirk.

"Oh, well, in that case, how could I possibly refuse my beautiful girlfriend?" Kate says.

She leans forward, and Elena meets her without a beat of hesitation, kissing her happily. It already feels like it's been too long since she's been near her even though she saw her in the morning before she left for work. Living in Gotham, even only for a weekend here and there, it tends to make her savour things a little more. Just in case.

When they pull back, Kate doesn't go too far, staying close enough to still be able to talk in a low murmur and be heard by Elena only as she says, "Seriously, though, that dress..."

"Later," Elena promises, and bites her lip when Kate's eyes light up.

"I suppose I can--"

Something beeps, cutting Kate off. Their eyes are drawn down as Kate pulls her phone from her pocket. It's lit up and Elena catches sight of Luke's name as the phone buzzes.

Kate shoots her an apologetic look and answers. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Uh, well, depends on your definition of okay," Elena hears Luke reply. "Nocturna's back. With a friend."

Alarm surges through Elena again, with a good dose of worry thrown in. She and Kate share a look. Elena draws in a breath and nods.

Clearly understanding the message, Kate presses her lips together in a sigh. Then, "All right, we're on it. Send me the location."

"Good news: you're in the same building."

"How the hell is that good news?" Kate asks.

"Do you really want to argue with me right now when there are two vampires probably plotting some evil plan somewhere on the roof of a charity event full of the richest, most influential people in Gotham? Including you, Mary, and your dad?"

Kate rolls her eyes, and Elena notices a muscle in her jaw twitch, clenching slightly. She hangs up and when she looks at Elena again, they both understand.

Even so, Elena firmly says, "You are not leaving me down here while you go and find someone from my old life. Let me help, it worked last time on her. Maybe it will again."

Kate doesn't argue. She takes her hand, and says, "Okay then, let's go," and they set off into the sea of oblivious people, winding their way through them to get to the elevator before this event turns into a bloodbath.

[turduckenail]

help, i’ve fallen into rarepair hell for a fandom i haven’t touched in 5 years and is pretty much inactive and i can’t get up

[saranel]

What are some Bleach ships that you think need more attention? I was thinking of starting a sideblog dedicated to such ships. Mainly bc I think I'm the only human on the planet who ships ShunLisa.

Awww, anon, rarepair hell is always hard :( I think most of the fandom headcanons Lisa as gay (myself included), considering that scene of her reading the nudie mag, but she could easily be bi.  And I can definitely see why you’d like Shunsui and Lisa as a pair.  She was the only Visored who chose to go talk to her former superior when Shinji asked if there was anyone of them who wanted to speak to someone from their past.  Plus, it’s clear as day both she and Shunsui care about each other deeply. 

When it comes to other pairs in Bleach, I think that (as with most fandoms) the femslash ships could do with a lot more love.  I myself was dragged into Soifon x Harribel rarepair hell when I saw a lovely piece of fanart (LIKE… THX FOR ALL THE UNINTENDED FEELS, OP), and it just… worked for me at once, which is pretty rare.  Usually, I want to see a pair interact a bit first before I can say I well and truly ship it, but every now and then, I might become enamored with the potential of a ship, like I was with… er… SuiTier??? xD;; IDK. But I do know am I hella dedicated to providing fanfic for those two, just give me time, it’s already underway in TEF

TL;DR: I can understand why some pairs that would otherwise be perfectly plausible/popular don’t get nearly as much love as others, since I assume many people fall in love with a ship the same way I do.  That having been said, I love the idea of a rarepair blog! Not only would it be a handy meeting place for like-minded people, it could also promote fanworks that need more love.  If you ever get around to making it, please send me a link!

So, without further ado, a list of ships I think should/could be way more popular:

Urahara x Shinji: I may be way off base here, since I think this one’s actually pretty popular, but hell, I love them so much I’m surprised they’re not even more so. Great chemistry, wonderful basis on friendship, A+++ ship.

Aizen x Mirror/Gigai

Isshin x Rangiku: Nope, no personal bias here whatsoever, HOW DARE

Yoruichi x Kūkaku: My second fav Yoruichi ship

Urahara x Kūkaku: Kisuke obviously loves a woman who can kick his ass, and hello, both are inventors!  There’s also that old scene of Kūkaku only agreeing to help the nakama after she learns Kisuke is involved. 

Lisa x Kūkaku: AGAIN, NO PERSONAL BIAS HERE, NO SIREE 

Orihime x Tatsuki: Don’t get me wrong, I love me some RukiHime, but c’mon, Orihime activated her powers because of Tatsuki!!!  I get that this ship’s popularity is directly affected by Tatsuki’s reduced panel time, but still.

Uryū x Happiness

Nemu x Happiness, for that matter

Ryūken x Katagiri: Not hating on Isshin x Masaki here, they were hella cute, BUT HOW ARE THOSE TWO NOT THE MORE POPULAR PAIR???  I mean, there was Mutually Unrequited Pining going on, people, this is good stuff.

Rose x Shinji: The fabulous flaxen haircape ship

Kensei x Mashiro: I love them, I wish there was more content of them out there

SOIFON X HARRIBEL SOIFON X HARRIBEL SOIFON X HARRIBEL