#bc to me romantic love and platonic love are not very far apart. so i cant see the appeal in like strangers to lovers or enemies to lovers

[prentissluvr]

OKAY HERE ARE SOME SAM THOUGHTS BEFORE I CLEAN MY ROOM (some platonic but mostly romantic)

loves getting his hair played with (romantically and platonically)

main love language is quality time

could have this giant on his knees if you compliment constantly (his looks or his personality) (mainly his personality) (he knows and is aware of how conventionally attractive he is but isn’t cocky about it) (like another winchester LOL)

runs warmer than the average human being so he’s your personal heater in the winter

but in the summer you make sure he stays far away from you bc man sweats A LOT in his sleep 😭😭

I HAVE MORE BUT I GOTTA CLEAN MY ROOM

ILL BE BACK LATER WITH DEAN AND MORE SAM 🤭🤭

djhJHFSKDJ SAMMMMM AAA okay okay bear with me while i go absolutely insane LMAO. like this is long LOL so i am gonna add a cw for anyone who stumbles upon our time of feeding each others delusions <3 i got carried away ahahahaha hehehehehe i'm normal about him tho!

wc: 1.6K. cw: kissing, a bit of swearing, brief mention of things trying to kill you bc that's the life lol, unedited

⟢ playing with his hair : do NOT get me started on sam's hair <3 it's always so pretty, and you have to make that known! sure, you do it out loud, but we'll get to the complimenting in a bit hehe. your favorite way of making it known (and definitely his) is by playing with it. constantly. and he can never get enough. sure, he gets embarrassed or picky about it around dean, like he does with just about anything romantic or sweet (mostly because dean won't ever let that sort of thing go un-teased). but he just loves so much to lay his head in your lap and let you thread your fingers through that pretty brown hair <33 it makes him feel so relaxed, and cared for in a way that doesn't feel overbearing or overly obvious.

and he loves it especially it because he knows that you do. he can feel you physically relax from under him when you sweetly run your hands through his hair, gently pulling apart any small knots and taking your time to take care of that gorgeous head of hair. he will also certainly melt and try to hide the pink tint to his cheeks when you reach for his hair unexpectedly, like when you lean in to fix a fly-away strand or full on card your hands through his hair when he's in the middle of research and didn't notice you approach.

also!! put your hands in his hair when he's kissing you!!! please!!! he's begging on his knees!!! god, he loves that so so much and he gets a secret ego boost because, once again, he can physically feel how much you love it too. he'll always kiss you harder when your hands move to tangle themselves in his hair.

gets embarrassed if you put little braids in his hair, especially as he grows older and it grows longer, but he can't resist how much it makes you smile, so he lets you get away with it if dean isn't around. and just imagine putting pretty clips in his hair LOL he pouts and asks you to take them out immediately, but not before kissing the smug grin off of your lips. will die and try his hardest to delete them if you ever get pictures of him like that, but you keep your blackmail well protected hehe.

as for platonically, that is facts! he thinks its very sweet if you're his best friend or sibling! it's not as big a thing as it would be in a romantic relationship, but he'll love to have his hair played with by anyone willing <33

⟢ love language; quality time : this is like almost sad and especially sweet at the same time because the poor boy has no time to spend much quality time with you. but again, this kind of makes this whole thing sweeter because that means each moment is just that much more precious. obviously, he'd love to be spending quality time with you by going on dates in the park, taking you to a nice restaurant that's not too stuffy, or something even as simple as taking you to the movies. but those things are hard to do, so to him, any time spent with you without the presence of something trying to kill you can be turned into that precious quality time.

for him, it's about sitting on the couch with your legs strewn over him or his head on your lap or yours on his shoulder (really any sort of thing keeping him connected to you) as you pour over lore books. it's about the seamless exchange when the two of you figure out how to kill your monster or save the world together. it's about posing as fbi to get answers and slipping his hand into yours when no one's looking or grabbing a decent breakfast together before the start of a busy day. all he cares about, the things he treasures, are you falling asleep on him in the back of the impala because he gave up shotgun to sit next to you, taking months, maybe longer to get through one season of a tv show together, and always taking even just a small moment out of a busy day to be together.

⟢ complimenting him : it's true that he needs less assurance about his looks because he certainly is aware that he is fine as fuck. but let's definitely establish that he adores to hear praise about his looks specifically from you because duh! he's in love with you and you're the only one he cares about!!

but yeah, when you compliment his personality, his sweet, loving, courageous hot sometimes completely idiotic and frustrating self?? oh he's done for. he's honestly far less used to that. when you're half asleep, and you murmur into his chest that you think he's so smart, kind, funny, loving, and brave and that you couldn't be more proud to be his? he's complete mush in your arms, he can't believe it.

"that's all you, baby," he'll refute, and you'll certainly grow bashful under his compliment, but you want him to accept it, at least a little bit. "i mean it, sammy, i really do." your voice is all soft and sleepy, and oh so earnest that he can't help the aching of his heart. "i know you do," he'll whisper, suddenly emotional and not wanting you to hear it. "i'm just glad you think so. i'll always do my best to be those things for you," and that's the kind of thing he only admits when the sole light in the room comes from a dim, clouded over moon and your head is tucked under his chin so you can't see his face. he means it, of course, but he's not used to such vulnerability and blatant adoration.

he'll clench his jaw when you tell him you know that, but that it's true that he's all those things and more for so many people, the few close ones, and all the ones he passes by and does his best to save. he doesn't fully believe you, he's got a lot of guilt built up in that sweet mind of his. and it's true he's not perfect, but you never said that. all you're trying to tell him is that you love who he is, so much, and he can never thank you enough for that.

bonus, he really really loves when you tell him you think he's funny. it's definitely an ego booster, plus he loves loves loves to know that he can always make you smile and laugh.

⟢ your personal heater : this is literally sooo true. he's so big with so much body mass that he'd have so much body heat to give off. but i so agree that on top of that, he'd also totally be on the warmer side. if you're naturally warm as well, then you two are an unstoppable force in the winter time (the both of you are lulled to sleep by the other's body heat in a matter of minutes). either way, he'll always envelope you in hugs when it gets cold because he knows it'll warm you up right away. he doesn't have to ask to know when you're cold, because you'll always press yourself to him, maybe grabbing his arm and pulling it around yourself before even saying a thing to him.

"you cold?" he'll ask sweetly, and after feeling your nod and hearing your muffled "mhmm," he's quick to wrap his other arm around you too and pull you closer.

for the folks with cold hands like me, he's always trying to warm them up with his own. whether you've slipped your hand in to his just to be near and they're particularly chilly, or he can see you trying to warm your hands up yourself, he's quick to take up both of your hands in his to warm them up. when he grabs up both of your hands, he'll pull them to his chest and hold them there until he's satisfied they're warm. he'll look into your eyes and talk about something completely unrelated, all casual as if he's not making you flustered. other times, he'll warm up one hand at a time, encasing it in both of his own, rubbing it and blowing warm air on it before gently slipping it into his warm, warm pockets and moving on to the other.

also, if he finds out your face is cold, he'll cup your cheeks with his large, furnace hands or full on just pull your face into his head or neck to warm you up that way.

but yeah😭😭 summer can be a lot less pleasant. if you manage to have cold hands even in the summer (i could never i wish), he'll try to steal the coolness from your hands and you'll be like oh my god please stop i'll die LOL.

and you're like nooo babe of course i want to sleep with you, you just have to stay as far away as possible and never touch me because it might burn me to death. if he's tired and touch-starved younger sam will pout at you and tell you he just wants to cuddle. later seasons sam just won't take no for an answer and will just pull you to him until he gets too hot himself lmao. he'll make sure there's a fan on you first and a glass of ice water on your bedside. basically he loves that he's warm in the winter because it brings you closer to him, then gets pissed about it in the summer because you don't want him too close unless there's sufficient a/c or some other form of ventilation to make it cooler lol.

[nkplanet]

WHICH TROPE ARE YOU?

PAIRING: enhypen x gn!reader SUMMARY: what trope do you and the enhypen members share? WARNINGS: a smidge of angst in jungwon + heeseung’s, all set in high school apart from jay + heeseung’s, implied toxic parents in jungwon’s, written on my phone so the formatting might be weird

NOTE: thank u sm for all the love on my last post and 155 followers!! i rlly appreciate you guys 🫶🫶 also i’m definitely gonna rewrite some of these as actual fics bc i love them (looking at u jungwon and niki)

— HEESEUNG 희승 — second chance romance personally i’m not a big fan of this trope but it just fits heeseung so well like ??? hello yes i would give u a second chance. there’s no doubt in my mind that cheating would not be involved, instead it was something that happened when you two were young and immature, but when you meet again you’ve grown and can continue to do so together

it had ended awfully the first time. neither of you were particularly mature, and a heated argument had caused your entire relationship had come crashing down. sixteen year old you would always regret the way you gave heeseung the cold shoulder for a reason you couldn’t even remember, and the way you had both yelled and screamed at each other. you hadn’t spoken for years when, all of a sudden, you bumped into him in a cafe. then at work. in the park. after six years of no contact, he was everywhere. it was like the universe was telling you to give him another chance. eventually, your walls crumbled, and heeseung made his way back into your heart. the two of you had never been happier.

others under the cut!

— JAY 제이 — fake dating jay is perfect for this trope imo, especially when it comes to fake dating at a wedding. put me in a psych ward bc whenever i think abt him in a suit i go insane. also your whole family would love him because he’s such a gentleman. he’s so perfect

it was your aunts wedding, and all of your siblings were bringing their significant others as plus ones. your brother had joked about how you’d be the only single one in the wedding party and, rather than face the humiliation, you lied and told him you did in fact have a boyfriend. it was a lie you forgot about until two weeks before the wedding, when your aunt mentioned being excited to meet the mysterious man. you panicked, running to tell jay about your issue. while you were contemplating telling your family that the mysterious man had broken up with you, jay said “why don’t i pretend to be your boyfriend? just for the day?” except, his fake boyfriend touches didn’t feel very fake. your aunt remarked that the two of you reminded her of herself and your new uncle when they were young. by the end of the night, you and jay were sharing kisses outside the reception. yeah, fake boyfriend my ass.

— JAKE 제이크 — you fell first, he fell harder jake seems like such a loser (affectionately) that he’d be the one to fall first, but just imagine that he doesn’t realise his feelings are romantic. he just thinks everyone sees their best friends that way and when he finds out otherwise? oh he’s head over heels in love with you. such a loser. i love him

the way you and jake interact is far from platonic. you had developed a crush on him when you were just fifteen, and since then you'd been trying to drop hints. when he started reciprocating your admittedly flirtatious gestures, you thought you had a chance, but he never made a move. in fact, jake never realised that he shared those feelings until one of his friends pointed out that the two of you were incredibly flirty with each other. he thought everyone saw their best friends as gorgeous, as an angel sent from above, as someone who they'd willingly spend the rest of their life with. after that it was hard for him to see you in any light other than romantic. when you asked him out he practically screamed yes. he is absolutely head over heels in love

— SUNGHOON 성훈 — opposites attract i was gonna pick grumpy x sunshine for him but he’s not exactly grumpy so opposites attract it is!! he’s reserved and only really lets loose around those he considers close, whereas you’re loud and bubbly with lots of friends. one of my fav tropes for a reason

sunghoon’s attention was brought to you via your laughter. it was loud and bright, and he’d never heard anything like it. since then, he’d yearned for the sound. though he lacked the confidence to actually ask you out, he began seeking your company. he’d study with you in the library, would offer to walk you home. things that friends do. you, on the other hand, were absolutely smitten. sunghoon was quiet and a little mysterious. you could never read him, and yet you were absolutely entranced by him. you thought he was absolutely gorgeous, perhaps one of the most handsome men you’d ever seen. one day, while sunghoon was walking you home in the rain, you’d stopped and turned to face him. “what are we?” you’d asked. sunghoon remembers blanking immediately, not knowing how to reply. instead of words, he answered you with a kiss.

— SUNOO 선우 — best friend’s brother okay but imagine: you go over to ur best friends house and end up gossiping with their brother and all of a sudden,, he’s soooo attractive? and then he starts developing this crush but he can’t date you because you’re his siblings best friend. there’s probably be some secret dating involved (which i’m also a sucker for tbh)

you'd been harbouring a crush on sunoo for a while now, never acting on it because he was your best friend's brother. you looked forward to the weekly gossip sessions that the two of you shared when your friend left you together arguably more than you looked forward to seeing your friend (but don't tell her that). little did you know, sunoo felt the same. fleeting glances and not-so-platonic touches began growing between you two. eventually, sunoo asked you out. you wanted to say yes so badly but couldn't betray your friend like that. instead, you began dating in secret. it was only two months of sneaking around, 'jokingly' flirting, and kissing in places where she wouldn't see before she finally exploded, yelling that you two were gross but had her blessing. going public only increased the pda by tenfold, and people quickly grew sick of your sappy conversations. not that either of you cared, of course.

— JUNGWON 정원 — academic rivals turned lovers [full fic!] ACADEMIC RIVALS TURNED LOVERS!!!!! i love this trope sm and i think it fits won so well. i was gonna originally give this to niki but he wasn’t rlly in school. so. jungwon it is!! i can see you two as the top two in your year and always competing when one day it all comes crashing down for you. jungwon is suddenly? nice? and we go from there 🤭🤭

yang jungwon had never been the nicest person to you. sure, he was never really mean per-se, but the two of you were so competitive that nothing said was particularly nice. you and jungwon seemed to constantly be on par with each other academically, consistently being the top two students in your year. in english and sciences, you usually pulled ahead, while jungwon excelled in maths and other subjects. the rivalry between you was so tense that even the teachers tried to calm it down but to no avail. the reason behind your competitiveness was your parents. the pressure they put on you was immense, and one day you just broke. you’d had a fight with them, and the next day flunked a biology test. your grades began slipping from then on, and jungwon began to take notice. he stopped making quips, instead resorting to leaving some snacks or study tips on your desk when he thought you weren’t looking. he began giving you sympathetic looks until you eventually confronted him, telling him you didn’t want his pity. it wasn’t pity, though, it was worry. your relationship changed after that, no longer rivals but a little more than friends.

— NI-KI 니키 — childhood friends to lovers/first love OKAY HEAR ME OUT. u were childhood friends. niki realises his feelings and he’s all like oh no i can’t feel this way abt my bff :( and tried to pull away from u but ur like ??? yes tf and that’s how u become lovers

niki had been your closest friend for longer than you could remember. in both of your houses there sat baby pictures of the two of you together. you’d grown up together, going to all the same schools and most of the same clubs. in highschool, you were known as inseparable - if someone wanted one of you, they got both. but one day, niki started pulling away. it was fine, you told yourself, he was just growing up. you both were. but when he stopped answering your calls and texts and started actively avoiding you, you were hurt. you’d been by each others sides for so long that you didn’t really know how to live without him. the truth was, he’d discovered feelings that he’d never felt about anyone before. he knew he shouldn’t feel like this about his best friend, but he couldn’t help it. he was miserable without you, so much so that his friends were telling him to just ask you out. they told him that you definitely felt the same, so he took the leap. and thank god he did. you’re his first love, his everything.

[moonshynecybin]

ik it's naive and unrealistic and ignores the complexity of real life and people and time and stuff but I wish marc and vale could be fine. like they loved each other. I watch old races and old podiums and old press conferences and they liked each other so much

platonic or romantic i really don't give a shit but they were so similar. they're in a sport that's so scary and insane and they are so exceptional and they found someone so similar to themselves and they're soo far apart in age and somehow they got to race at the same time and they admired each other and they had fun and they were friends and they were too similar and it was inevitable but they loved each other

i just can't get over that Valentino was marcs greatest idol and Valentino told him to tell him if anybody was giving him trouble in the championship and they liked each other so much and they would never have even considered another course than what they did bc they're so similar and winning will always come first

anyway sorry for being sad in your asks I just watched a race and the parc ferme made me ehhhhhhh

ik this is all just fandom and were just speculating and doing this for fun and entertainment but regardless of the nature of their relationship they had one that was so beautiful to be able to witness however briefly and I'm just in my feels about how im so privileged to be alive at the time to be able to witness such titans exist s mi simultaneously in a sport I love so much

you're writing is very beautiful and sometimes i cry but I'm still grateful to be able to take part in it as a reader

💜

i think it’s very normal to look at those guys and be like. why are you as two grown ass men one of whom is no longer competing in the sport (and who is now on good terms with all his OTHER rivals?? and who was never very directly competitive against marc ANYWAYS??) still so publicly hung up on a beef from almost nine years ago that was deeply and foundationally delusional in many ways. like this is kinda the question that this blog has been attempting to investigate since uhhhh last october

[wheeler-fan]

Hi ok first of all im seeing alot of negative energy in your asks so i wanna make it clear that im not tryna be negative like genuinely curious about peoples opinions and yk wanting to talk about stuff i find interesting

So how do you feel about the framing in the last shot in season 4 like yk we have jopper and jancy (jopper is endgame im sure but idk abt jancy) and the will and mike in the middle like

The pairing and framing is very specific and odd like it is supposed to stick out to the viewer (cause yk normally people dont stand that far apart from each other in like pairs of two idk 😭) el in the centre alone makes sense though cause yk she’s in the eye of the storm (lol get it) (storm)

But they could’ve kept this framing but with different pairings too (like the wheelers together and the byers together) idk its just very obvious to me that they wanna make it stick out to the audience (not to mention that its the last shot of the season so obviously important)

And it doesn’t necessarily have to foreshadow byler but then what do you think it’s foreshadowing (cause there is something going on and yk the duffers love playing around like that)

ofc! i love getting questions from byler fans about my point of view!! let's just be nice to each other ❤️

well i see you're asking about this final scene

*jopper- well they're standing together bc they are endgame ofc!🙄🙄 we all know that, but also they were together in s4 in a team- they're an iconic duo fr

*jancy- first thing, they're canonically still together, we know that they have some issues but we're hoping they'll have a happy ending and will be an endgame duh🙄🙏🏻

* eleven - as you just said, she's in the eye of the storm, she's gonna be the main person who's gonna fight vecna, it's gonna be her final fight, her revenge to get a justice for Max and for Hawkins (also why mike is not next to her? not only bc they were kinda separated from each other at the end, but also bc mike can't be in her shadow, he's probably gonna have an important thing to do this season, the same goes with Will)

* byler - well as i said before i think eleven is separated from them so people will pay more attention to them and their role in final season, second thing and you have to agree with me at this point - they were such an iconic duo this season (+ we know that it's canon that Will likes Mike) so yeah, even if we won't focus at romantic stuff here i bet they're gonna be one of the most iconic duo this season!! (let's hope🙏🏻or else👹)

* you said that maybe wheelers and byers could stand together but idk about this one tbh😭 it's probably connected to the fact that- 1)We want jancy to be explained, bc nancy doesn't know why Jonathan was acting so weird and yk we also have a problem with steve and his 6 chicken nuggets....😭. 2) We want byler (some of us romantically, some of us platonically) but still we want things to be explained between them right? Well that's how i see it, hope it helps!❤️

[noxiatoxia]

Nox... please tell me you think that hitachiincest is canon after the events of the manga. That Hikaru and Kaoru do end up together/signs of it. Please ;;

UNFORTUNATELY i have not read the manga and have no intention of doing so. i think i discussed this in an ask eons ago but i am not very interested in the ouran manga as opposed to the anime since the manga is aiming for a slightly different audience (lets face it; the anime is a comedy while the manga is actually a shoujo/romance story) and i do not like romance stories one bit, so the ouran manga bored the hell out of me. plus i just enjoy the art and writing in the anime far more; it's by Bones who also did Death Note so they're pros at this whole anime adaptation game. (and there's no carriage in the manga. i have complicated feelings on the matter.)

that mini preamble aside while i don't know a whole lot about the manga i know the important bits + ending and all that. the only ship canon in the manga is haruhi/tamaki iirc but canon is my bitch. i always view most ships as "schrodinger's canon"; it being never addressed means it is as much canon as it is not canon. If there is no evidence for or against it then it can go either way. And 99% of the time in media when it comes to gay shipping (even straight shipping on occasion) they either A) didn't ever intend for the relationship to be read as gay so there is nothing that would confirm nor deny a relationship or B) they absolutely thought of it and decided to use plausible deniability so they could have their cake and eat it too (just enough hints that the shippers will go apeshit but not enough to make it be seen as "canon" by most viewers)

anyways. all of this is to say hikakao is pretty much as canon as it is not canon, it is literally just up to each individual reader because there is nothing pointing to or against them being together in the end. they very much fall into category two.

personally, you know me. i like to think they're together. in the manga hikaru's crush on haruhi is much more explicit than the anime (where i read it as not a crush but just friendship jealousy) but either way haruhi is taken by the end so hikaru has to get over it (rip hikaharu shippers. haruhi has two hands though i guess)

i can see hikaru/kaoru even if they didn't end up together traditionally or anything, they're clearly going to be each other's first priority for like, ever. i never read their bond as strictly romantic or platonic or familial bc tbh the way they were raised and the way they go about life together breaks many traditional boundaries that there's really no label attachable to it. like hikaru could get married but he's still sharing a bed with kaoru. it's just like that.

i've read several very good fics about post-manga hikakao, rediscovery and all that. (i also had one i was writing that i should finish...)

I think there's something very special about the idea of their bond post-manga. Hikakao in the beginning is very strained; they're always together because they have no other choice. they have no friends and nobody to rely on but each other. but by the end they have friends, they have found themselves as their own people, they are becoming independent and learning to separate little by little...and yet they find each other still the most important person to them. That now, they're together not because of necessity, but because they have and can be apart, and have been apart before, but have decided of their own free will that they still love each other. it's not longer a forced compulsion. they have grown and changed and decided, after experiencing so much new stuff in life, they still want to stick together because they love each other. I like that idea.

If you want manga evidence iirc they still live together by the end of it all and are doing their twincest shtick still unprompted out of highschool so !?? they are beyond saving.

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

Its the end of the year! Which means its time to post the

Tags That Made Me Smile 2022

The following are a collective list of tags, author notes, and fic names that i saw on ao3 and tumblr that made me either laugh or smile. Ive separated them by fandom but a good amount arent actually fandom specific. Ive added the character names or fandom at the end like {name} to clarify who the tag is talking about

[2021's list]

Author Specific / Non-Specific

i saw canon; acknowledged it; And promply burned it in a dirty trash can thanks; Have this instead

Give me pain I need to feel something

this is self projection thank you coming to my ted talk

Whats that?? Overused tropes that everyone has seen before????? Pfffffffft. This fic is literally just a big mess of "how can I cater to myself and myself only"

you ever just look at your life and wonder how you got here; bc that's what this fic is for me

Don't underestimate me I DO NOT know how long this fan-fic will be

can you tell my target audience is myself

this is content specifically catered to me and no one else

these characters are my landlords and i pay them rent

P O L Y A M O R Y   I S   M Y   P O L Y J A M O R Y

cheek kiss warning

kidnapping isn’t sexy don’t do it

i've never read the archie comics but that's not gonna stop me {archie sonic}

not me writing a whole fic for a ship only i care about; that like maybe two other people ship; rowing this boat is hard but someone has to do it {scourge x fleetway sonic}

ankles don't heal this fast but fuck it i do what i want

no beta we die like men; or rather we drown like the sad shipper with a pool noodle we are

I'm afraid of the Danimals mascot and you should be too

if you're getting flood warnings, don't worry. It's just MY TEARS!

me at every character: anxiety be upon ye

Me (Grabs canon and runs a marathon with it)

Quote: Do you think God stays in heaven because he too lives in fear of what he's created (Spy Kids) {tmnt crossover}

Alternate Universe - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

contains dangerous amount of bed based snuggling

(kind of its a very short very homosexual fight scene); and then they kiss.

Hostage situation takes a romantic turn???? Not clickbait????

enemies to frenemies

Improper Use of Pool Noodles

stone cold stoicism meeting determined stupidity

Star Wars

Kanan Jarrus: The Daddening

platonic love is what healed his lonely existence {din djarin}

when in doubt: road trip with the besties {din, boba, fennec}

Soul Eater

found family at its finest {kid, liz, patty}

The Witcher

wife (platonic) {yennskier}

at first I was like haha geralt and Istredd should kiss as a joke…. but bro I don’t think it’s a joke anymore….

Sonic the Hedgehog

Movie!Super Sonic is made out of LOVE no one touch me

Sonics gay awakening I guess

sonic movie 2 made me make an ao3 account lol

Sonic was made to love people

Two Bros Chillin’ in an ER Five Feet Apart ‘cause they’re not gay {sonic x shadow}

the most dangerous thing is to love {shadow}

Trapped in a small box with just enough room to face some feelings {sonic x shadow}

the R in rivalry stand for romance {sonic x shadow}

The L in Rivalry Stands For 'Love' {sonic x shadow}

A Largely Platonic Cave

i love boom!shadow so naturally i made him even more insufferable

Sad-ow

Wachowskis holdin it down in the bg; Absolute champs

I love how Shadow is just so mindbogglingly utterly done with reality

Knuckles is a guardian of all things great and small

“Would you kiss a worm?" “If he was cute as fuck? Yeah.” {wade x stone}

"What is this made of, bendable titanium?!" "INCORRECT. IT IS MADE OF THE FRUSTRATIONS OF MOTHERS EVERYWHERE." {team dark}

featuring a scourge that trips far too much because it's my fic and I said so {scourge x fleetway sonic}

no thoughts just soft hedgehog moments

listen if im going to die at the hands of injured lancelot shit i might as well take advantage of it

Everyone has a crush on Lancelot and I'll die on this hill

fairy Lancelot Fairy Lancelot FAIRY LANCELOT!!!

TMNT

Slow Burn; mostly on april's end of things; casey and donnie are basically on fire right off the bat {tmnt 2012}

Rise!Donnie and 2012!Casey be out there committing arson together for their first date >.>

Please enjoy Casey, the fool, realizing his feelings for Donnie, another fool {tmnt 2012}

Draxum and Splinter are the turtles' dads (it's a reluctant partnership)

just two absolute powerhouses holding each other gently {raph x mona}

“There’s nothing wrong with the way you love, Dee. Goodnight.” {rottmnt}

Wondering what to do when the apocalypse happens? Easy: fly across the country and get Vegas-married. That's definetley an appropriate reaction that won't involve your complicated feelings towards your roommate at all {hypno x warren}

Look rise are weapons of war 12 were accidents and I play with that HARD in this fic

"GET IN THE TURTLE TANK BITCHES WE GOING TO FAMILY THERAPY" {rottmnt}

Donatello is now Dad-Atello {rottmnt}

The other [Casey] is out on a beach in Tahiti; It's what he deserves after surviving the Krang {rottmnt}

Leo is now actively being hunted for sport; (the only sport Donnie is good at) {rottmnt}

These turtles can fit so much trauma

2018 Karai lives because fuck Nick; Casey x Donnie x April are a healthy ship and also fuck nick again

I cant be the only one pissed by Leo's and Karais 'love interest plot'; Leonardo's weird feelings were simply gender envy...Yes that is canon now {tmnt 2012}

What happens when two "dudes" call each other 'girlfriend'; Transgender activities, that's what! {tmnt 2012}

splinter is twice divorced and never married {rottmnt}

Papatello / Dadatello {rottmnt}

draxum's gone from dadxum to grand-dadxum good for him

HOLY FUCKING SHIT YES YES YES YES; GRANDPA BARRY COMING IN CLUTCH

draxum just be like gramps still got it; and by 'it' i mean a complete lack of forethought for care when creating random children

Puts the Bi in Bitchless {rottmnt leo}

its because ninja turtles

feral mamatello {rottmnt}

Marvel

it's the anguish, the self flagellation, the audacity to love the man who annihilate ur nation and killed ur mother; your m o t h e r {black panther}

[terrainofheartfelt]

in the lovely meta about Dan and Jenny you just posted, you said you thought Jenny would give herself a clean break from New York after moving to London

I was wondering how you saw that affecting her relationship with Eric (bc as much as he doesn't act like it, he is from the UES.) Do you picture him moving to London with her?

(btw I'm loving 💘💘 the fic so far. it's fun to catch the little references to my vdB genealogy research (I see you Great Aunt Elsie and Jonathan's distant relation))

oooohhohohohooooo what a question!

but first of all, thank you <333 and thank you so much for your service because I will keep on referencing that genealogy to finish this fic. I owe you my life.

the thought of Jenny & Eric being roommates is very Soft and I like the idea of it a lot, but in this fic and in the meta you reference in the ask, that was not the plan or intention of the au that I wrote. because, simply put, it's a jenate fic, and so it just didn't shake out that way, because the relationship the sereies revolves around is jenny's romantic/platonic/erotic relationship with nate, and not her platonic-soulmatism with eric. and, to bring about the how, when, where, why, why now? of where the sun falls down, Jenny needed to be in London alone.

before I dig in too deep on my Thoughts on this au-verse i so recklessly began constructing last summer, I gotta admit, writing the vdw sibs is hard for me. for a lot of reasons. one being that their upbringing and experience is so vastly different from my own that if I think about it too much I am kinda nervous to address it, and for serena she's is such a different person than I am that when I began writing fic, writing her pov never really occurred to me, and as for eric, his experiences and pain just maybe hit a little too close to home for me to want to dig into it. And on top of ALL of that, both eric and serena were done so dirty by the show, that I kind of feel that they need an extra amount of care given in fic, that I may not have the skill or spoons for.

so with all that being said, that's like, the meta reason Eric is where he is in this series, but my in-universe reasons to make the characterization make sense, is that Eric has to do his own thing for a while too. That's why we see him go to Sarah Lawerence, right? Other than to give Connor Paolo a graceful, soft exeunt from the show (interesting that he, the rich white boi was allowed to go with grace but Jenny and Vanessa's characters had to be destroyed right before they left it's whatevs)

So, in this au, I try to give Eric that, that space to heal and be as self-actualized as he deserves to be, and though I adore Jenny, and I adore their friendship, I think they need to be apart for a little while to give that for themselves.

and part of my opinion on that is my read that they are the closest friendship parallel to blair&serena (dan&vanessa come up second but this ask isn't about them). because, like, they love each other on a level that is deeper than a general friendship. if I may draw a parallel to another soap: they're meredith & cristina, they are each other's Person. and that is a profound relationship to have, but it can also be codependent and draining to put all of yourself into a friendship but that friend is struggling too, so they can't give you anything back, and so your both caught up in this maelstrom of betrayal and hurt feelings, and the only way to fix it is to gain some perspective.

and another parallel is that Jenny and Serena are both people that need to leave New York to find their happy, and Eric and Blair aren't, necessarily -- though they would thrive if they drummed up the courage to leave. so, Eric and Blair have to learn to let their person go, and learn that it's not about them.

I've talked so much I have no idea if this even answers your question, sorry lol. but I think that Jenny moving away would be ultimately beneficial to their relationship. and maybe, after a couple years, I could see Eric coming to England. Oh wait, I just remembered that I did write that once, where Eric does a semester abroad at Cambridge so he and Jenny hang all the time, and antagonize Dan bc he's at Oxford. (it's in this fic)

[laisai]

i just finished 800+ chapters of a chinese webnovel after about 5 days of reading on and off

and now i dont know what to do

(i mean yes i have many things to do its just -- im very book hungover. im out of fuel. i need to resurface and recalibrate etc etc)

oh and i read most of it via machine translation... but it was mostly surprisingly understandable, aided by the fact i speak chinese so i can kinda fill in some gaps when things are translated off or wrong (im illiterate in chinese tho so fancier stuff still eludes me, RIP)

it was so good tho. it was not a romance at all despite for some reason being labeled one (probably bc the labeling system is dumb and sexist in cnovels and they designate anything with a female lead as romance 🙄)

like 800+ chapters in and not even the side characters have much to do with romance.

also fairly certain the guy i ship with the protagonist is not going to be romantic with her, and he's just going to be like, a platonic sibling, while the guy who the authors notes? says is the male lead is uh. i dont see how this is gonna work lol. i don't want him.

oh right it's ongoing so 👀 it seems to update once a day? I'll have to keep checking back...

also it's actually good story about a female monarch. like she's set up to be a "lord" from a young age due to her personal philosophies during a chaotic age, and she naturally draws talented individuals to work under her to support her rule, and it focuses on her combat prowess, her clever political scheming, her love of farming (this one plays a big role lol), and her desire to put the needs of the people first in an age where warlords rule and don't care at all for the lives of the lower class.

it's soooo much about her competence, but doesn't feel too OP to the point she's a Mary Sue, and there's a lot less... focus? I guess on the sort of typical infighting and backstabbing that "female monarch" stories have, plus the lack of romance so far really sets it all apart

oh and it's also about her making the world less sexist and letting women also do magic and serve as officials and soldiers and be less helpless and dependent on men

ugh, i just really liked it a lot!!!

there's 30+ chapters translated by people online rn and there's 814 chapters total in chinese, which you can find just by searching the chinese title

it's called Step Down, Let Me Come! by Fried Shiitake Mushrooms, and the novel updates link is here:

and the chinese title and author are:

author: 油爆香菇

title: 退下，让朕来

i might have to figure out how to get an acct and comment on the official site for the novel (and also figure out which is the official site lol) and get my comment translated. i want to beg the author to make the male lead the guy she has actually met and has chemistry with! 😭😭 unless i misunderstood some translated authors' notes, I'm pretty sure it's not him and im just 😠 no. i dont want that lol.

[phantom-thieves-official]

I adore pegoryu as a ship or just as platonic soulmates and now you all will listen to me talk abt why.

First and foremost they have so much chemistry together no matter how you read their relationship. They have the closest relationship of any of the thieves. Even outside of his confidant hangouts, Ryuji calls Joker to talk when he's feeling unsure or worried or when he's got something on his mind. I don't remember anyone else relying on Joker in this way outside of their confidant. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but it surely doesn't happen as much as it does with Ryuji. I think the bond and trust between Ryuji and Joker is the most elaborated on and fleshed out bond in the game. He's also the only one who you can hang out with on their birthday, despite some of the other thieves' birthdays falling after you get their confidant. So romantic or platonic, they have the closest, most established bond among the group.

Also I'm OBSESSED w the way they meet and I have so so many thoughts on them stemming from this. All of the Thieves are outcasts who struggle to fit in with their peers for various reasons, but Joker and Ryuji's situations are such good parallels to each other. They both have gotten in trouble and are labeled bc of that, regardless of if their actions were justified. They're both labeled as delinquents, troublemakers, dangerous people despite never having done anything to legitimately earn that reputation. Joker awakened Arsene to save Ryuji - sure Joker himself is in danger too, but the catalyst is that if Joker does nothing, Ryuji will be killed. I do believe Joker would have awakened to save ANYONE in that situation, but it wasn't anyone. It was Ryuji. They could’ve written it in to be anyone but they made it Ryuji. And before that, Ryuji is willing to stay behind and put himself in danger so Joker can run. So there's this parallel between their stories and their general ride-or-die 'we're strangers but I will put myself in harm's way to help you' nature. Like how am I supposed to NOT adore the fact that they BOTH have early character moments where they are looking to protect each other, even though they're strangers? They're also the two shown most willing to blindly help others regardless of what it means for them: Joker helping the woman being harassed by Shido and Ryuji in so many ways esp in the early game (notably, telling Akira to run when they first visit Kamoshida's palace, going back for the cognitive volleyball members, and being spurred into action against Kamoshida by Shiho's suicide attempt).

Anyway moving on. I think far far too often about how it's Ryuji's voice and words that activate the nav. They meet that day as if by fate. Ryuji says the keywords to get them into the palace and that allows them to learn of the metaverse. It's the meeting with Ryuji that sets EVERYTHING else into motion. Like BRO the POETRY in that. I’m SOOOO into the idea that it was fate or whatever and they would’ve met and been friends and loved each other no matter what, like they would’ve ended up together in some capacity no matter what they did bc it was meant to be. They were meant to meet that day and discover the metaverse and change their lives and the world forever. Absolutely obsessed w it (also, it's such a sweet romantic sorta scene w Ann, and then. Ryuji's there, too. Standing under the awning in the rain surrounded by cherry blossoms.... it's so sweet and the meeting w Ryuji is juxtaposed right against the obv kinda dreamy romantic meeting w Ann. Like hello????)

Ryuji shows Joker kindness even when be knows of Joker's reputation. Ryuji is a warm person and he shows it most to Joker. And Joker learns about Ryuji's past and still sticks by him, as well. They show each other the kindness nobody else has bothered to offer. Hell, the ending of Ryuji's confidant all but explicitly states that Joker was the first person after the track incident to look beyond the reputation and rough facade to give him a chance. And ofc Ryuji fills the same role in return - he's the first person to see Joker and think maybe he's not the bad guy they say he is. They find kindness and support in each other when they couldn't find it anywhere else. Like.... they mutually support each other, they provide the other w kindness when the world has been cruel and turned it's back on them.

I just love their dynamic, I love the parallels in their characters, and it makes a satisfying narrative imo if they end up together based on their relationship and how close they are. Plus, most of the romance options feel forced imo w little to no evidence in their interactions to suggest they're even esp close as friends, let alone as romantic partners. Ryuji and Joker's care, love [even if interpreted as strictly platonic] and general devotion to each other though is made so clear. Like dude Ryuji outright tells Joker he feels free with him and that he believes their places in life are next to each other. Platonic, romantic, or something else, these two are fucking soulmates man.

(Side note, Ryuji's farewell gift is a sport's watch and the flavor text says it's the same as his own so. Matching watches??? Bro??)

[effervescentwolf]

effervescentwolf dnf masterpost

Here’s all my dnf fics in one post with my most recent ones first! You can check out my AO3 directly too :)

between zeros and ones

Rated T | 5k | oneshot

George doesn’t like him. Dream’s heart doesn’t seem to care.

Enemies/rivals to lovers, college au, Dream is whipped, much more lovers than enemies LOL

what it is to gain (and love along the way)

Rated T | 9.9k | oneshot

Dream is sick. George just really loves him.

Sick Dream, established relationship, fluff and very sappy with a teeny bit of angst. It’s the second part to my previous sickfic :)

you can’t hide a heartbeat

Rated T | 4.7k | oneshot

George wears a heart rate monitor on stream, and Dream joins vc to try and fluster him. Spoiler: it works.

Flirty Dream, flustered George, so much flirting and very fluffy with a bit of friends to lovers mixed in

look up at me (i’ll look down at you)

Rated E | 5.2k | oneshot

Dream likes being big. George likes being small. It’s a good combination.

Size kink (ofc), friends to lovers, dom/sub undertones, sexual tension, flirting

the weight of wanting

Rated M | 2k | oneshot

George’s relationship with the word want, starting with him in Florida and ending with Dream in George’s bed.

Emotional hurt/comfort, George is overwhelmed by how much love he has, confessions, friends to lovers, kissing

what it is (not) to lose

Rated T | 13.1k | oneshot

George is sick, and Dream is terribly in love with him.

Fluff and angst, sickfic, lots of yearning, mutual pining, some crying and then some kisses after to make it all better

to hold you gently

Rated E | 2.9k | oneshot

George has a bad day. Dream makes it better.

Little hurt/lots of comfort, friends to lovers bc confessions woo, mostly just very soft and them taking care of each other

the spaces between words

Rated M | 27k | oneshot

George ever so slowly allows himself to be completely and utterly in love with Dream.

Emotional constipation, flirty Dream, intimacy, fluff

tug me closer

Rated E | 16.3k | 2 chapters

Dream has a thing for getting his hair pulled. George just likes making him fall apart.

Hair pulling ofc, banter, kind of soft and they confess to each other bc how could they not, Dream’s nervous (and also bottoms LOL)

falling into you

Rated T | 13.7k | 2 chapters

Dream accidentally confesses he’s in love with George. Only problem is he’s not… right?

Dream falling in love (or more accurately realizing he’s in love), acting like boyfriends, kissing, so much fluff

silver striking gold

Rated M | 26.3k | 5 chapters

George gets to Florida, and Dream can’t figure out a way to stop himself from falling.

Angsty, lots of pining, sharing a bed, hoodie exchange, Dream being literally head over heels and desperately trying not to be, happy ending though :)

Comfort and Love

Rated T | 5.5k | oneshot

The Dream team navigating platonic and romantic relationships via kisses and hugs.

Dnf making out, Sapnap likes goodnight kisses, LOTS of banter, fluffy, dnf getting together but not letting Sapnap really third wheel

you’re on my mind (and leaning a little too close)

Rated T | 9.2k | oneshot

Dream thinks about kissing George for the first time, and then he can’t stop thinking about it.

Getting together, flustered Dream, fluff galore

Until the End of Time

Rated T | 3.5k | oneshot

Dream has been in denial of his feelings for so long, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. George holds him together.

Dialogue heavy, hurt/comfort, Dream’s in love and afraid, George’s in love and reassuring

Every Time I Look at You

Rated T | 9.2k | oneshot

George is in Florida for the first time and they’re both far too in love for it.

Fluff, Dream can’t keep his eyes off, they like each other so much, getting together in a way that’s very them

Just Give Me a Word

Rated T | 2.9k | oneshot

Dream confesses, George doesn’t respond, and Dream falls apart.

Confessions, George needs time, Dream worries, requited love

The Two Halves of My Heart

Rated T | 8.3k | oneshot

Soulmates AU where whatever you write on your skin also appears on your soulmate.

Flirting, Dream’s massive crush on George, figuring out who his soulmate is (I wonder…)

If I Could Just Stay In Your Arms

Rated T | 4.6k | oneshot

Dream acts more and more like George’s boyfriend until George can’t take it anymore.

Fluff, kissing, confessions, they’re so obvious

Boundaries (#1 fan goes to @sometimesitmakesmelaugh)

Rated T | 5.6k | oneshot

George struggles to navigate boundaries with Dream who seemingly has none.

A little bit of angst, George is trying his hardest, happy ending, confessions bc I cannot resist

And that’s it! Thanks for reading :D

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

hey you should Say Some Things about Never Again and Small Potatoes (and also that one that you keep yelling about to me but I suddenly am deeply unsure of the name of dhdkd) hehe

send me an X-Files episode and I'll tell you a Thought

Never Again: mostly costuming on the brain rn, Scully is drenched in the color red for most of the episode: deep red lipstick, red suit, red lighting throughout the episode. it's significant considering how the previous episode ended, how the color of blood is about to become so familiar, and she wraps herself in it while trying to control her own life. her hair seems darker, too, maybe just in contrast, and her makeup is thicker and far more intentional than what we see anytime before or after — even throughout the cancer arc, where her makeup is fairly distinctive. she is trying very hard to hold herself together and give herself some modicum of control over her life, because she knows it may not be hers for long. she cannot, when it comes down to it, hold onto control. it's her life, but it also isn't only hers (and the cross around her neck is a reminder). she is surrounded by red.

Small Potatoes: I know I've already talked about how, somewhat counterintuitively, this episode breaks a lot of the tension of the cancer arc. and, rapeyness aside, the fact that Scully wants so much for Mulder to just... pursue her in some way? like yeah that gets brought up again in an episode I'm not very much a fan of (Milagro) but it's actually REALLY IMPORTANT!! she wants him to want to be with her in a romantic sense (and he does, he just doesn't show it, at least not in any usual ways) and she wants that so much at this point that it kinda blinds her to the red flags? she doesn't want to be the one to "make a move" at this point, probably bc she thinks it cruel to do that, ask that of him when she's dying and about to leave him alone forever, but she would have let him kiss her.

also, back to costuming for a second, I always love Scully's casual at-home outfits, but that little grey sweater? she is SO TINY. there's a lot of really subtle costuming choices in s4 that make her look smaller and like she's lost some weight — the closer-fitting suits, t shirts that are short enough to rest just at her hips and don't hug her curves (unlike the ribbed ones she wore in the earlier seasons), etc — and that sweater really does accentuate how small she is

4-D: there is absolutely no platonic explanation for all that

I can't think of anything coherent to say rn because I'm just very askdjsksnsska over the entire episode basically. like... Doggett just turning up to help Monica set up her new apartment? bringing her lunch??? their banter?? THE WAY SHE JUST WALKS UP AND WIPES THE CORNER OF HIS MOUTH AND HE GOES UTTERLY STILL AND JUST STARES AT HER????????? I am,,,, unhinged

the sheer amount of emotions Monica runs through in the space of that 45 minute episode is absolutely insane tbh. the entire plot is like... a slightly less weighty and depressing version of The Last (the audiodrama), and it actually does SO MUCH for the characters and their relationship. and the ENDING?????? Monica snapping back to herself in tears after the "reset" (for lack of a better term)?? Doggett getting REALLY concerned when he sees her upset???? THAT HUG??? I'm--

TL;DR I cannot with this I'm sorry, it's the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty two and I'm actually about to become John Doggett/Monica Reyes shipping trash

[maschotch]

Okay okay okay, so I saw your opinion on Hotchreid (and I also saw your tags saying you wanted to have a discussion but also like only maybe cause the ship is a squicky one for you, so I totally understand if you don't respond to this).

So, at least for me, there's enough evidence in the show to say that Hotch is only 10 years older than Reid. In the episode where we meet Sean, Hotch says something along the lines of Sean being 25 years old, and Hotch is only 10 years older than Sean--this is in season one when Spencer just had his 24th birthday. So, to me, Hotch is 10 years (maybe 11) older than Reid. Does that make the age gap better? Probably not. But in the real world, once you're older, having a lover who is 5 or 10 years older than you isn't that big of a deal (I personally know older family friends who are 9 years apart and they've been married for 45 years and counting).

I totally see the father-son dynamic between them, too, and I freaking LOVE platonic Hotchreid. Hotch being there for Reid as a father figure is one of my favorite things, and I love the fics where Reid goes to Hotch for help or support.

Okay okay so, I honestly cannot tell you why Hotchreid is my favorite ship--because as much as I joke that it's my daddy issues, I legit can't stand Daddy Kinks (no hate to those who love it). For me, I think their relationship would happen by accident. It starts with them having intelligent and fun conversations (it's well known that Hotch is very intelligent as well, though maybe not with an IQ of 187, haha). I can see them eating dinner in Hotch's office while discussing law and science and psychology. It just *grows* from there, becomes something fun and teasing, until one day they both realize that they want more than just friendship. For me, Reid sees Hotch as his intellectual equal. He's always been younger than his peers, so he doesn't see the age gap as an issue (though Hotch would, for a while).

I dunno if I explain this well enough for you to understand, lol, but yeah, that's how I feel about it. That being said, I am in therapy c; LOL! And I still totally get why Hotchreid isn't everyone's cup of tea. I personally cannot understand Hotchniss or Demily because to me, they seem more like siblings than lovers (in both cases), but I get why people love them.

Anyways! I hope you have a wonderful day <3

i have given up on criminal minds ages tbh. the writing is far too inconsistent to even try to argue with it so im just gonna say that if thats the ages you think, then thats what they'll be for the rest of the discussion! bc who am i to say their ages when i have no fucking clue how old they are akjsdhlgs

i understand that there are some real life age gap relationships that can be perfectly healthy. and age gaps definitely dont matter as much when you're older! someone middle aged dating someone 5 years younger/older is no big deal. someone 20 dating someone 5 years younger/older can be pedophilia. my own personal bias against age gap relationship are probably not as inclusive as they should be and im aware of that.

reid and hotch are certainly on the same mental intelligence level. reids higher askjdg but that doesnt translate to emotional maturity. its very clear that, at least early on, reid is definitely not very emotionally developed. he definitely improves as he gets older

this is the dialogue that crosses a line for me and prevents me from seeing it as romantic. hotch plays an active role teaching reid how to be an emotionally capable individual. and even though reid was over 18 when they met, even though reid is very intelligent, he is still developing as a person. and hotch is helping him through that

i just think that when someone is helping another person grow and fully mature as their own individual for the first time, they have great influence over how they end up. so anything romantic coming from that.. thats just.. grooming

to be fair, im very very very VERY conscious of this as i engage with media and interact w fandoms. im a star wars fan, and a lot of popular ships follow a similar dynamic: falling in love with the person who helped you grow up. and thats just... thats so inappropriate to me. even if the older person would never intentionally abuse that, its still a wildly unhealthy power dynamic that makes me really uncomfortable. its just something im hyperaware of in fandom spaces because its such a common trope that people sexualize.

with the rest of the team, its not as relevant because they were already developed in that particular arena. they've all had relationships before, they've all lived their own lives and had their own experiences and their own ideas of whats right/wrong and who to love. hotch wasn't directly involved with their development as a well-rounded individual.

i appreciate you explaining to me your thought process behind it, so i just wanted to expand on what specifically i cant wrap my head around so that you can give your reasoning on why this isnt a concern for you. if you have a response, please send another ask because i really do want to know more.

and i totally get the sibling thing for emily/hotch and morgan/emily. i agree on morgan/emily being more a sibling thing. and im totally fine with hotch/emily being completely platonic like its no biggie for me. im not really a big "shipper" but its fun to think about sometimes, and they're just the ones thats easiest for me to think about probably because theyre my favs and i do nothing but think about them all day

AJSDLHF actually in therapy :* me too~ lets get better ~healing and love

thank you for the ask tho fr. its not something ive ever really tried to think about, so any reasons to enjoy it are lost on me simply.

[flodaya]

Headcanons about the first time kieu my realized she liked liked fatou? The first time she thought ‘omg she’s so beautiful’ and found her attractive, and understood that what she felt wasn’t platonic?

I have way too many thoughts about this, it’s basically my favorite thoughts to fall asleep to

I actually made this gifset a few months ago about the timeline of kieu my falling for fatou in season 5

I think the writers have confirmed that kieu my and fatou didn’t really know each other before season 5, their social circles didn’t overlap at all, so apart from fatou having a crush on that pretty girl in her grade they didn’t have any interaction

I am absolutely convinced the “for your souls” comment was the moment for kieu my, in that moment she saw fatou in the “ok this girl is dorky and funny and cute” way and it’s the first time she is attracted to fatou

isn’t it poetic that fatou loves seeing kieu my laugh and kieu my kinda fell for fatou because she made her laugh, beautiful full circle 

and after that she became somewhat subconsciously hyper-aware of fatou, like what she was doing, which classes they shared, where she spent lunch break

and kieu my would also talk about fatou without realizing it, making totally random comments about her in front of ismail and zoe

which in my mind is the reason zoe has long suspected kieu my has a crush on fatou

(ismail didn’t suspect it, they just knew lol)

I like to believe kieu my wasnt out to her friends though, I think she was kind of aware she likes girls but more in a hypothetical way that she knew she thought girls are just so attractive and she didn’t really think it was necessary to actively come out at the time

one of my very detailed headcanons that i came up at 3am when i couldn’t fall asleep: one day at the end of october she hangs out with ismail and again, for whatever arbitrary reason, she mentions fatou and ismail starts relentlessly teasing her like “ohhh you think she is soooo funny, and soooo interesting” and then they go “are you even following fatou on ig?” kieu my kind of laughs her “fascination” off as nothing but she does end up coming out to ismail admitting that in theory she can see herself dating a girl someday and that’s how ismail gets kieu my to follow random gay meme accounts and they also pushes her to follow fatou on ig

but I think it still hasn’t fully clicked for kieu my that she was starting to seriously crush on fatou, so far to her it was just meaninglessly/harmlessly thinking a girl in her grade is cute and funny

i believe zoe didn’t tell kieu my about fatou’s crush but i think she has become kind of invested and has been pushing the topic a little, not obnoxiously but just when kieu my mentions fatou she really encourages that now 

i guess for kieu my it clicked that she had a crush in between them bonding over the cold pizza, in that moment she though “oh wow we are vibing”, and the friendgiving evening, i am completely convinced by the time of friendsgiving she knew 

she didn’t have one “OH fuck she is beautiful” moment, i think she has always thought fatou is incredibly pretty 

i think the writers themselves said that during the zombie movie night kieu my was completely aware of just how real and deep and genuine her feelings actually were 

so tldr: i don’t think she ever thought her feelings were purely platonic but she also wasn’t aware she had real romantic feelings for fatou until around friendsgiving; that’s why to me the whole “if you had to date a friend” moment is hilarious bc really? you two have never been just platonic friends, you are friends by association at best but nothing has ever just been platonic between you two

[enn-tea]

When I was younger, I used to play otome games, which were and continue to be hilarious for their absurdity e.g. getting transported back to the Warring States period and romancing Oda Nobunaga et al. I’d play these with my friends because of the bad storylines, and frankly questionable love interests and we’d spend all our time literally breaking down how bad these stories were, like jfc please actually do something, protagonist. Also in no way feel obligated to read this because this is just...word vomit for my own personal reference haha. Honestly don’t read this. Maybe one day I’ll turn this into some kind of actual essay about the impact on these games on wider culture or something (after I write about why romance in AOT is fine and everyone’s just reading it wrong and actually Isayama is peak romance writer and should write a massive Mills & Boon franchise around uh...some characters). But anyway. 

However, amongst all of these was probably the game with the most generic concept was Wizardess Heart, which was this magic school which the protagonist attended. Over the course of two weeks, she would have to be partnered up with a “buddy” and they would help each other with their magic (they also fell in love over these two weeks LOL and quite honestly her best romantic choice was her roommate, which was never an option :( She was, for a while also the only other female character in the school who actually had a personality).

Anyway, the point is - the setting was clearly a riff on certain franchises, the whole system was super basic...but. These stories had no right to be as good as they were. Or perhaps they had every right. Because from the ones I played, they were...genuinely really interesting. Each storyline was a season, and there were three romanceable characters, who all had their own individual plotlines but...tied into one coherent plot, as either a protagonist or an antagonist, which I still find - kind of revolutionary for an otome game haha (I’m not counting Mystic Messenger bc I actually enjoyed getting to set up a bakery and cult investigation).

But honestly? These were within the universe, believable but also super crazy stories. I only ever played two “seasons” fully, because of the ticket mechanic, but the second one has literally stayed with me in terms of really interesting perspective, and the characters themselves because if the first season was mildly crazy, season two was insane and focused on these three characters: Klaus Goldstein (...no comment lmao, I do hate how he’s the figurehead of the game), Serge Durandal (the best character tbh) and Azusa Kuze (a piece of shit and not in a good way, what are the messages this game is telling us). Each season had a mystery as a premise, and the second one was about mysterious animal deaths occurring around the school.

I don’t think I’ll ever really be able to explain Wizardess Heart comprehensively, but the personal lives of these characters? Was crazy. I loved they all had cameos in each other’s storylines and were so tightly linked. Like you have Klaus who does actually have the least interesting plotline, but a shared tragic backstory with Serge (more on that later, because this is literally peak melodrama lmao). You have Azusa who comes from fantasy Japan in that universe, which has been overrun by nature spirits who are taking over because they think humans are overstepping their boundaries, and Azusa has signed a deal with one of them to bring back his dead brother, and in fact is being manipulated by visions of said brother (and even with that in context, he’s still actual trash for other reasons, and I can’t believe the happy end for his route is to get married and have kids with him EW). 

My favourite character in this however was Serge Durandal who is also a premium shit-stirrer but never super maliciously haha (apparently I have a favourite character archetype I’m a fan of). Even now he’s literally the best character because he’s such a passive aggressive individual to Klaus (who deserves it).  But their shared backstory cracks me up, is kind of sad and ridiculously absurd because they’re both so fixated on the past. I also personally find his storyline interesting from a character progression viewpoint, because he’s the main character’s idol when she starts at the school, but has mysteriously disappeared.

So basically in Klaus’ storyline, he always references this dead friend he’s hung up over (although the “friend” part is debatable maybe haha) and you help him investigate the dead pigeons. Ofc you then find out that polite, charming Azusa is the antagonist of the season and you have to play through the next routes in order to get a better picture of this. But throughout Klaus’ route, this character called Randy March (unfortunate name lmao)  keeps on popping up. He’s funny, doesn’t treat the main character as inconvenience (best friend goals right there) but what’s more interesting is how he’s never in the same room as Klaus; as soon as he hears that he’s approaching, he just...disappears. And this continues for the whole of the story until the end, when they finally meet each other face to face, and Klaus reacts badly. Not quite in an upset way, more shocked - but it’s clear that they have a History. 

So - cue “Randy’s” route. He is the same as he is in Klaus’ route, and still dodges bumping into Klaus, but then - then, they bump into each other far earlier in his route (one thing I do like about these stories is how the main character does actually have some impact on the plot. It all follows the same storyline, with the same conclusion, but they do diverge because the character happens to interact with different characters and some things can’t happen if she isn’t there for it). Leading up to this, Randy has been very cagey about being the main character’s “buddy” and insists he already has one, and he really, really gets awkward when the main character states that she really idolises Serge Durandal (who in this is like, IDK good at animal magic like the main character). 

And then, my god, the reveal. The fact that Randy March is not, in fact, Randy March, but Serge Durandal (which honestly is such a cool name comparatively lol, I named all my other otome protagonists Serge Durandal). And that Randy March, is in fact, the dead friend of Klaus who Serge has been impersonating for literal years. On top of this? Serge was also a best friend of Randy, who was his “buddy” and leading up to Randy’s death, he and Klaus were involved in a rivalry over his friendship (and I’m not joking I do actually think this was some kind of unvoiced love triangle, because both Serge and Klaus genuinely say that they’re attracted to the main character because she reminds them of Randy, they need to get over this before they can actually engage in a romantic relationship with anyone else kthx. Also at some point, Serge actually says he loved Randy in a way that really can’t be construed as entirely platonic, and the main character says it as well, and considering her personality and the way she interprets things, when she says love - she definitely means romantically). 

Klaus holds Serge responsible for Randy’s death, as the two were working on a project together which led directly to it. His first reaction on ever hearing Serge’s name is “the murderer” which continues all the way up until the end of the story when they resolve their character arcs (also incredibly satisfying). 

Apparently the reason behind Serge impersonating his dead friend is because he felt so guilty and so ashamed and willingly accepted the blame that Klaus placed on him, he felt that if he became Randy, it would basically be like letting his friend experience the life he didn’t get to have, and he’s spent years searching for a cure to revive him. This has taken him to Hinomoto, where he’s become friends with Azusa (drawing him into the storyline) and back to the main setting of Gedonelune. Side note, Azusa, I’m not going to even go into your character because you’re such a piece of shit and I only played through your storyline because I felt compelled to get the full picture. 

Ofc, this all links to the main plot - because at this time of year, there’s a whole thing related to a unicorn appearing in the nearby forest. This is a unicorn who has struck a deal with Serge years prior to the main storyline who is Serge’s last hope of reviving Randy, and Azusa finds out about this and wants to bring his brother back etc. and this all culminates in a massive showdown. 

Intense.

Anyway, at the end of this, peace returns etc. and there’s a sequel I haven’t actually played but you know what’s perfect about the ending? Serge ends up staying on as a prefect - the same role as Klaus and they have to share a room. I cannot describe how funny their interactions are for the rest of the story and the other storylines they have to live together.

I’m not entirely sure what the point of this was, apart from an exercise in pinning down precisely what I liked about this story but - it’s certainly one that’s stuck with me through a LOT of otome haha. 

[alisarb]

the nature of frenchie and kimiko’s relationship

in every frenchie-kimiko video about their relationship there’s always someone commenting how much they ship it and there’s always someone else pointing out that their relationship in the comics is like father and daughter

so, being the obsessive shipper that I am and weirdly overthinking everything about a tv show because i can’t enjoy things like normal people, i decided to write this post to defend why I think their relationship in the show (and even a bit in the comics) is anything BUT paternal, and why their relationship in tv vs. comics is so different

(please bear in mind this is my opinion and in no way i wanna force ships onto anyone, you’re free to interpret stories and ship characters however you want!!)

Okay, the first thing we learn about frenchie in the show is that he is a man of many skills: in his own words, a gunrunner by trade, but with a very particular niche. we also learn he used to be a hitman, probably, and then he talks about his victims like scars he has to carry forever. he’s the first character apart from hughie that expresses some kind of remorse in the show about killing someone up until that point in the show (and i know it’s only the second episode, but by then we’d already seen quite enough violence)

he’s a layered character from the beginning, going from what looks like a man who likes his pills way too much and who seems dangerous to someone who actually has more to offer. still, he has other personality traits that differentiate him from the rest: frenchie describes himself as a womanizer in a conversation with m.m, who he mocks for being in a loving relationship with his wife. he “goes to sleep every night next to someone different.” we’ve met cherie by then but we can assume they are not really in a relationship by this statement, more like a casual lovers situation

and then, like a joke from fate, he meets kimiko. and from the very beginning they form a connection like no other. one can argue that their earlier interactions are kinda sweet and tender and not romantic at all, but from what i see, they share the kind of intimacy that most tv couples wish they could convey without even touching. their chemistry is undeniable 

on top of that, as their relationship progresses, kimiko begins to return the affection. she goes from this killing machine that can’t stand to be touched to initiate contact with (and only) frenchie, because he’s her source of comfort and reassuring. at mesmer’s, kimiko looks at him because he’s the only person that she can trust and the first one to show her kindness in who knows how long

the rest of the group is understandably wary of kimiko, as she has proved to brutal and ruthless. frenchie is the only one who understands her, and that’s why he frees her that first time: to give her a choice 

in exchange, when they are at mesmer’s,he asks her to show them what he sees, and she complies. because she doesn’t trust the rest yet, but she trusts frenchie. and even with that first vision he doesn’t doubt for a second that she can’t be just a terrorist. so kimiko shares with them and relives her trauma: the murder of her parents, being removed from her home and sent to a camp with her brother, being forced to become a soldier, being injected with compound v and becoming a supe with a talent for mass murder just to be locked in a cage like an animal... 

the look they share after that revelation is anything but platonic and/or paternal:

LOOK AT MM AND BUTCHER. BUTCHER IS LIKE WTF AND M.M SHRUGGED LIKE “NOTHING TO BE DONE HE’S IN LOVE YOUR HONOR”

sorry about the excitement this scene makes me wanna squeal with delight

shortly after, kimiko is watching shark week again and frenchie comes up to her to talk about vought and how they’re hurting people like they hurt her, how she could help them stop it. at first kimiko keeps staring at the TV and looks defensive, but the moment he says: “it’s your choice, if you wanna go back and look for your brother i’ll take you to the airport” she looks at him, surprised. 

because he keeps giving her a choice, which is the core of their relatiionship

and, as another user pointed out in a post a while ago, if you watched the show with the captions on (as i did bc english is not my native language) as she holds his hand, you can hear and read that shark week talks about mating and how if a female shark returns the male’s feelings will make some sort of move. one could think that this was accidental but c’mon, this show doesn’t leave anything a coincidence 

it’s clear from the beginning that frenchie is completely smitten with her. in fact, we see small glimpses of him literally OBSESSING over her from the beginning: he meets with cherie to get the gas to sedate kimiko and we learn he hasn’t been with her in a while. i’m sure he was plenty busy with the whole vought + kimiko situation, but at that point they were all living separately and they returned to their places even if it was less frequently than usual (and cherie seemed to spend a lot of time in his place, if not even living there)

he cooks for her when she’s chained and then later on he teaches her HOW TO BAKE my heart 

I could keep listing every moment when Frenchie looks at Kimiko (because his eyes inevitably follow her at any scene) or how the rest of The Boys is so aware of what they are (”you’re dating a terrorist”/”your crazy ass girlfriend”), and (SPOILERS SEASON 2 STOP READING FOR A SECOND) in the s2 we see how Frenchie is dog tired, probably angry and frustrated, and his face automatically changes when Kimiko goes to show him the origami piece. He smiles sweetly because she makes him happy, and amidst all the chaos they are going through one of his main worries is still Kimiko and how to understand and communicate with her.

END OF SPOILRS SEASON 2 

One of the last moments is in the finale, when Kimiko is finally pulling herself back together after years of abuse and mistreatment by brushing her hair, wearing pretty clothes or painting her nails. Simple acts that make her feel like she’s a person. When she comes out of the bathroom, he looks at her with pure AWE. He even says “look at you, mon coeur”, because it’s like she’s the prettiest thing he’s seen. When the gas comes into the room he pushes her into the bathroom first thing. 

M.M’s face at the end when they’re surrounded and he sees Frenchie hitting his head against the wall because even though he’s been shot he only wants to go get Kimiko, I think it says everything. His face when he talks about Kimiko and how she made him a better person. The way he pulled the hair out of her face. 

I really love how everything is coming together this new season, so now I’d like to address the main issue of this post: the nature of their relationship and how it’s nothing like the comics. 

There’s a very basic reason to why I believe their relationship is romantic, and not only by the actors’ interactions in Instagram, or the way Amazon promotes their relationship, but because the comics are so different from the tv show. 

Every character’s background story is changed, and so are their motivations, personalities and, as far as we’ve seen, their storylines. In the show they’ve made it pretty clear that Kimiko and Frenchie share a connection that resembles that of a soulmate. 

And even in the comics, (spoiler) when they’re about to die, Frenchie turns around and tells her that he’s loved her since the beginning. I don’t think that’s very father-like. 

In conclusion, it’s likely that they’ll make us wait for a long time before we get more romantic interaction (especially since Kimiko is growing as a character and that might mean she might need to grow on her own, which I think is great), but it’s been clear since the beginning that they are meant to be. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL 

[puppy-phum]

For the "opinions on a character" game: Pangzi!

oh damn i never expected to get my aries pal pangzi for this but!! i am so happy i did ;; finally i get to think about him a bit more!! i always feel like there’s no space for that when pingxie are just so intense (also fyi this is my second time writing this damn answer bc tumblr threw me off the page just as i was finishing this the first time and i am so pissed gaaahh am sorry)

give me a character

(placing under a cut! bc apparently i have much to say about him after all)

How I feel about this character

Pangzi always gives me some conflicted feelings. There is so much good in him and I adore him for many of his qualities. He’s caring, confident, funny, strong, unapologetically emotional and affectionate with the people he loves. He’s also such a dad and I love that for him. I want to go outside and travel with him and drink something and eat his cooking and joke with him and sing karaoke very badly and then fall asleep on an old couch happy and safe. I want to see him at his shop, selling stuff and rambling about antiques. I want to hang out with him. Learn stuff from him. Maybe practice some pyromania. You know, the usual Pangzi stuff.

But then all the bad stuff comes in and… I think I’m going to talk about this later but let me just say that Pangzi has been the hardest one to grasp out the Iron Triangle. He just keeps changing so much between the different dramas. There is always that certain essence to him that is very Pangzi but he keeps getting different layers with different actors. There are these tiny details that make me look at him in a different way every time he gains a “new face” for himself. I enjoy it but it also puzzles me. He’s not as easy a character as I first thought when I got introduced to him through Reboot. He is complex. He is surprising. He is very interesting. And that just makes me very fascinated by him. He’s a great person, once he grows into it.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I haven’t really given much thought to Pangzi’s love life. I’ve mostly just grimaced when it comes to his random crushes while they travel in search of new tombs because most of those are very cringe (or worse). But I did adore him with PiaoPiao in Reboot. Those two were just simply lovely, and all their scenes together made me incredibly fond. I felt warm within their love. I felt like Pangzi belonged there, with this woman who he had known since he was a kid and who he came to protect so fiercely. It suited him. Being with PiaoPiao felt perfect for him. And for the first time, his feelings got returned! He got loved back (even if PiaoPiao had some other plans there). He got to actually be in love. Their date scene in season 2 lives in my head rent-free. I was crying out of happiness. I miss them, and Pangzi would’ve deserved to have that and not just the kid he can’t even adopt now but won’t abandon anyway.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Oh boy, there are a lot of relationships when it comes to Pangzi because he’s such a social butterfly. He knows everybody. He’s friendly (or enemies, there’s no in between) with everybody. And I adore how different drama adaptations have given different takes on all these relationships (or added completely new ones). Because through that, I’ve gotten to see the awesomeness that is Pangzi with people like Xiao Hua, Hei Xiazi, Xiuxiu, Kanjian, Liu Sang, Huo Daofu, Bai Haotian and the whole of Desperado Fam in Reboot. He is amazing when it comes to people.

But, above all else, is the Iron Triangle. Because how can I talk about Pangzi without mentioning his two best bros? They are just so good. I love that trio so much. And every time I think about them, I just have to say that am absolutely euphoric over the fact that they found each other in this world. And in what way? Bonkers. What are the chances even, to just suddenly bump into each other in a Mongolian desert and then come to realize that hey, you will be bumping into each other a lot for the rest of your lives? Less than zero, probably. But they did it! I am so happy for them. They deserve to have all their lazy retirement days.

Because, at the end of it, Iron Triangle just works. And especially Pangzi, as the heart of this triangle, makes me so emotional because emotions are his thing. That’s just what he does. He cares about all their emotions. He makes sure that they can relax and have food and comfort and warmth and a home and nice things to do when they have the time for it. He makes sure that Wu Xie doesn’t just lose it every other second and that Xiaoge knows that he’s allowed to be human under all his pain. He’s there to make them laugh (and to able Pingxie’s shenanigans like a pro). He’s there offering hugs and affection and smiles. He sings. He fills the silence. He’s – Pangzi is just an amazing friend (and I really think Pingxie need to give their thanks to him after all these years of Pangzi suffering through their idiot gay bullshit. He’s very tired, I can see that).

I’ve been so happy that the latest dramas have given us so many good moments related to both of these relationships Pangzi has with his best friends. Because, as much as I adore them together as a trio, I am overjoyed when I get to see Pangzi with either Wu Xie or Xiaoge. Reboot gave us him with Wu Xie; their old married couple life in their tiny apartment, just showing the best platonic love I can imagine. Zhu Yilong and Chen Minghao really aced that (Chen Minghao is my favorite actor for Pangzi in general, he just really captures that character so well, be it in Reboot or Sand Sea). And then in Ultimate Note, we get to see Pangzi with Xiaoge; joking together and being affectionate and showing how much they care about each other under all the “bickering” (quotation marks because well, Xiaoge doesn’t say much). That was so amazing to watch. I am so thankful. The Iron Triangle feels much more complete now and my love for them overflows. I could write novels about them but for now, am stopping here.  

My unpopular opinion about this character

I really don’t know if this is popular or unpopular but it’s an opinion! Related to the foreshadowing in the first part. So here goes:

Pangzi as a character manages to be a bit of a dick towards women.

At least sometimes. Because as I said, he gives me very conflicted emotions. All of this might be tied to the writing (and the inconsistency of it between the different dramas) and to the fact that NPSS treats the women of DMBJ like shit, but it is Pangzi who portrays such behavior the most. He has some of these very questionable lines or comments towards women, and like I said, even his love interests are quite… random. Controversial? Because I am not very into him trying to hit on some young girls all the time. That is creepy. Please don’t ruin him like this. He already suffers from the fact that all his love interests just die, and the whole of DMBJ’s women suffer from that too. We don’t want to see women dying for some male character’s development. I am sick of that, and Pangzi deserves to be his wonderful self.

Which brings me to the fact that he does redeem himself quite often. I think his comments mostly bothered me in The Lost Tomb where he said some things to A-Ning. After that, he’s been better? I remember loving him a lot in Explore With the Note because he had this whole new feeling to him. He was so carefree and cool. I love that one mirror scene in the Underwater Tomb where he is just “combing” his hair and playing with that tiny scarf and looking pretty. That is the Pangzi I adore! That silly man who doesn’t care about things like idk gender. Because he would be iconic like that. He’d rather burn for equality than make stupid misogynistic comments on women. I trust this, especially when you look at him in Reboot. Maybe he has grown. Maybe that is how he changes? I have no idea. But please let him be amazing without these stupid mishaps that don’t even seem to fit his character hhhh

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

I’ve already mentioned his relationship with PiaoPiao. I wish he could’ve kept that, it was so good for him ;; I will forever be bitter that they brought PiaoPiao into the drama just to treat her as a warning to Pangzi of what would happen if he dared to meddle with the “normal life” while still being in tomb raiding business. That was just stupid. Let them be happy together with their kid!!!! (Because I support Pangzi Dad Rights in this house)

Another thing would be: Let Pangzi be sad (tho this goes to many other characters too because DMBJ tends to rush over all the pain the characters feel in favor to get to the action). I know he gets a while in Ultimate Note to mourn Yun Cai but in Reboot, he basically never got to grieve PiaoPiao. I know their relationship didn’t get to develop very far but he was obviously in love with her! He cared about her! There were many things unsolved between them! He should’ve been allowed more time to be sad about it or just bringing it back up again. To be honest, I wish we saw Pangzi’s true emotions more often because he tends to just hide everything behind a joke. But well, the same goes, once again, for so many other characters too so I don’t know if I can really demand that from him. But I wish his emotions got their while too. That he got some more focus in the dramas. He deserves more than just stupid jokes or embarrassment (and I don’t even want to start about the stupid fat jokes). 

thank you for sending me this ask!! i had so much fun trying to figure out pangzi in my head ^^ i hope you got something out of it! have a very lovely day ♥