#but the ROMANCE of them

[francesderwent]

Okay I could be wrong on both of these but I HAVE to throw my hat in the ring, I have to: Anne and Captain Wentworth from Persuasion (possibly #3?)

And it's possible I am thinking of another mutual right now but I feel like Spike/Buffy miiiiight be on there, or Angel/Cordy for TV show second chance love?

ANNE AND WENTWORTH

I mean the letter!!! is SO much!! but that little scene where she says she's not a card player and he answers "you never were, were you?" or something to that effect (if I'm remembering a movie invention I will die of shame) is so special to me, because what's hurt her most of all is his coldness, the fact that he's treating her like a stranger! so this brief exchange where he lets all of their history come into the room for a moment! where he basically says "I was there I remember it all too well"! he still knows her!! AAAAAAHH

Wentworth is trying to be fucked up but he's not enjoying it and it goes against the grain. really they're wholesome.

"Back to December", Taylor Swift, of course! "your guard is up, and I know why / because the last time you saw me is still burned in the back of your mind / you gave me roses, and I left them there to die"

the MAGIC of them is that they are both a “I have loved none but you” ALL ALONG romance like Anne and Gilbert and Bathsheba and Gabriel but that they’re also kind of a Cinderella story! he did see her value from the beginning, and it’s not in one magical moment in the perfect dress on the stairs, but the story IS a gradual revelation of her beauty and her goodness for everyone to see!

I wouldn’t alter a single thing about their dynamic if you paid me to. however, I would make Wentworth a spaceship captain instead of a navy captain and relocate the Elliot family to a small planet with a new colony when they run out of money

they ARE on the list, coming in at number 5!!!

SPIKE AND BUFFY

I’m going to cheat a ton and name two: when Buffy is trying to figure out how much Glory knows about Dawn and so she goes to weasel it out of Spike and does so by dressing up as the robot he made of her and when she asks him he says, basically, “I could never let something happen that would hurt Buffy that much. I would have let Glory kill me first. I nearly bloody did.” and Buffy, hearing this, leans in and kisses him--and he accepts it for a moment and then he rears back, because he knows it’s her!!! and she knows he knows, and she looks at him steadily and doesn’t take it back. and when he asks about the robot (because he’s still Spike and still very soulless at this point) she says the robot was obscene, but “what you did for Dawn...that was real.” and then the second one is when she reinvites him into her home!! fully knowing who he is and all of his mixed up motivations and pathetic love for her. and he stands in the threshold and smiles and says “I know that I’m a monster. but you treat me like a man.”

the reason spuffy is so good is because it’s kind of a longform essay about how fucked up (affectionate) tends to collapse into fucked up (derogatory) but it is possible to regain your humanity and become wholesome (affectionate)!! they REALLY do it all!  except they’re never ever boring :)

I put this song on pretty much all my character playlists, but it’s them most of all: “Breathe Me” by Sia. “ouch, I have lost myself again / lost myself and I am nowhere to be found / yeah I think that I might break / lost myself again and I feel unsafe / be my friend, hold me / wrap me up, unfold me / I am small and needy / warm me up and breathe me”

drawing vampire parallels is my one great love so I’m gonna say Buffy and Spike are most like Klaus and Caroline. perky blonde who loves to win and fun-loving artistic type whose murdering tendencies come from a very fragile heart

I think it’d be fun to I Will Remember You Spike instead of Angel, i.e. see how a Spike without vampire powers would handle Buffy. I think he’d enjoy being babied and coddled tbh

they did not make the list!

ANGEL AND CORDELIA

there are more romantic moments of them, definitely, but the defining one for me was always after they’ve had a scare with the possibility of Angelus coming out again and they’re having a heart-to-heart about it and Angel starts to very cautiously broach the possibility that if things had worked out differently then would she..., and Cordelia interrupts him with perfect confidence “oh, I’d kill you dead.” and it’s not this massively heavy dramatic angst thing. Buffy killed him because she had to, and Cordelia is saying she’d do the same thing, but she can be light about it with him, she can be there for him and keep smiling, and that’s actually what he needs!

wholesome! there are very VERY few completely wholesome Whedon ships but I’m saying that as long as they’re themselves, they’re one!!

I’m awarding them “Lover” by Taylor Swift!! because theirs is a love that is very rooted in sharing a common home, building a life together, becoming a family. “can I go where you go? can we always be this close? / forever and ever, take me out, and take me home / you’re my my my my lover”

they’re a difficult one to find a parallel for because they have mega “mom and dad” vibes, but they...legitimately never even define the relationship?? I’m stuck and I would like to phone a friend

my perpetual AU is one where Whedon wasn’t a despicable excuse for a human being and didn’t get his revenge on one of his actors for the horrifying crime of getting pregnant by destroying her character out of sheer spite. so like. that woulda been nice.

they did not make the list!

[swan2swan]

Whoever conceived and animated this moment, I hope they're doing well and thriving. This is S-rank romance stuff here.

[ellierenae]

write unpublishable things. it's good for you.

[redysetdare]

Sometimes...characters being in a romantic relationship is worse.

[harritudur]

scars 👒🍊⚔️

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The squad of all time has arrived on scene.

[directyourfate]

these tweets are holding hands

[mikeyrrevenge]

they have a LINGUISTIC SPECIALIST. they straight up made a whole new alphabet for this.

[cordspaghetti]

mcr tonight

[sclappin]

Man whose definition of "monster" is extremely flexible.

[party-lemon]

no but hear me out

[benevolenterrancy]

poor Liu Qingge is really going through it in the succubus extra, he just had to go and get a crush on the most oblivious man alive

"Younger than me... we had a rocky start... completely devoted.... often together.... saved each other..... peerless beauty..... outstanding talent.... noble blood.... totally in love with me...... Wow what a weird love fortune! Definitely doesn't match anyone in my life!" says Shen Qingqiu while actively sitting next to one of the two men it perfectly describes

[vampiregerard]

the crowd singing disenchanted via talkingvegas

[theswampghost]

what do you mean “long live”. the quotes. the way the lore implies that the black parade is being used as propoganda for an oppressive regime. the way the swarm tour seemed to be in the rubble of this regime, with the secretary character (/dictator’s wife?) being bashed over the head and bleeding out onstage, and the smouldering remains of the city as the backdrop…. brother i am connecting dots that aren’t even THERE

[nellpose]

please prioritize sleep yall:')

[swordmaid]

back to the shadows 🌑

inspired by the storm by pierre auguste cot, shri’iia and astarion running away from the sun bc he’s a vampire and she has sunlight sensitivity.

please zoom in to see the details! 🥹🫶