#but theyre a mutually destructive couple

[vampire-bite]

:)

[sharpstake]

matthias/rowan truly on that heathcliff and catherine shit oh my god 

[mofsblog]

Uh oh, I got reminded TFGraves exist and I'm mentally ill and going to make it YOUR problem!! (Translation: I'm going to gosh about them)

They just mean so much to me? And they just feel soo?? Special?? And unique on a meta level as well? It's already one thing that they are a canonised mlm pairing because historically those ones tend to be more controversial because it tends to make cishet dudes (aka leagues main demographic) more uncomfortable because cant fetishise it (also yes they're not Technically "together" but idc its explicitly canon they have feelings for eachother). It's another that both are surprisingly developed and nuanced charaters (could go on for hours about how theyre both self destructive and have abandonment issues and repress their feelings in very different ways) that are morally ambiguous and have a complex and multifaceted relationship with eachother and yeah i know league lore is subject to retcons and having differet writers but idk. i think its impressive we got two nuanced developed queer male characters WITH A COMPLICATED AND DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIP WITH EACHOTHER in a game known for its bigotted player base. Another thing i fucking love about this ship is how the riot writers were like "what if we subverted some tropes and made the more flamboyant one implied pan and we made the traditionally masculine one, who highkey has toxic masculinity, gay". BUT ALSO HIS TOXIC MASCULINITY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS QUEERNESS. like yes he cant express his feelings directly to save his life but the fact he's a gay man is completely not relevant to that and he's canonically had a bunch of ex boyfriends and is canonically a monsterfucker/hj. I'm not over how they took a pretty cishet masculine thing and made queer. Like the rough outlaw who hates talking about his feelings and is out for violent revenge on those who've wronged him..... except the guy who's "wronged" him is actually his best friend who he has mutual feelings for and also he fucks men. IDK THAT MAKES ME HAPPY. im insane.

moving on to other thing i like about them is that the sheer range this ship has??? Like yes there's gut wrenching fucked up dynamic that drives you crazy as you pyschoanalyse and unpack the layers of all of THAT. "that" being the fact a man thought he got abandoned by his best friend and got tortured and isolated in prison for 10 years and during those 10 years the only thing that kept him from killing himself was the sheer rage and want for vengence (towards someone he probably had repressed romantic feelings for) AND THEN WHEN HE GOT THE CHANCE TO KILL HIM, HE COULDNT BRING HIMSELF TO DO IT 💀 (im literally never going to be normal about that) and during those 10 years the other man actually got all of their mutual friends killed in an attempt to save him and the survivors guilt fucked him up so bad its implied he failed trying to drown himself so he changed his entire name and personhood instead to isolate himself from the soul crushing guilt of it. BUT DESPITE THAT ANGST, there's a surprising amount of domesticity and comfort with this ship??? No like you'd think these two would be friends to enemies to lovers BUT NO, theyre actually friends to enemies to friends to friends who are fucking pinning for eachother like crazy. Despite the angsty dynamic these two also have the best friends who have known eachother for ages and who everyone think is dating but both are oblivious or dont believe the other feels the same BUT THEY ALSO HAVE opposites attract bickering marriage couple who constantly tease and banter with eachother. like the range is crazy

No but I feel like something that makes me emotional about this is that they tried to kill eachother and badly hurt eachother unintentionally but like, instead of being homophobic about it and making them just hate eachother forever and never reconcicle (which like those ships are amazing and valid and also thats literally another league ship/hj), the writers made them make up???? AND LIKE? HEAL? KINDA? Like no they havent worked through everything and no neither of them like talking about their feelings but they're "partners" again and they have this really domestic understanding of eachother and theyre managing and theyre bantering like they used to and theyre literally so comfortable around eachother and look, graves isnt tormented by his time in prison as much anymore and hes just a genuinely goofy criminal dumbass who robs people and cracks jokes that irriate his partner AND IDK ITS SO DOMESTIC AND FUNNY? BUT IT DOESNT FEEL OUT OF CHARACTER. THESE TWO JUST ARE IN A GOOD PLACE DESPITE EVERYTHING AND IDK THAT MAKES ME HAPPY???? why did league of legends make compelling queer ship

[unpopularshipbracket]

Round 3 Match 8

Char Aznable/Amuro Ray (Universal Century Gundam)

fic count: 178

"They're still a ship even if they have a whole movie about their metaphorical divorce that ends in mutual death just trust me bro. if anything the destruction of their relationship is the main appeal. Interpreting the followup conclusion movie in a gay way strengthens it really because its mostly driven by chars emotional state. And his metaphorical divorce certainly affects his emotional state. These two fought both on opposite sides and the same sides of wars, so they understand eachother better than anyone else could, but the only intimacy they know is violence because this is a setting plagued by conflict, and such conflict has shaped who they are, so of course their relationship starts and ends with them fighting on opposite sides. They do experience some happiness together, though. For a while, while theyre both on the same side, they end up mentoring this one kid together, it's almost like they're his gay dads."

Mina Murray Harker/Lucy Westenra (Dracula by Bram Stoker)

fic count: 258

"ultimate tragic couple. mina would do anything to save lucy but it wasn't enough. lucy trusted mina so much. dracula is homophobic"

[diamondnokouzai]

i like when a couple matches each other freak but they also match each others domestic abuse but theyre stuck with each other due to mutually assured destruction and/or a magic contract of some sort

[malach-te]

i dont wanna write a novel about arens love life but its SOOO FUUUNN to write abt so i may write more than i mean to

so arens relationship with alphinaud started out a bit more antagonistic bc he was such a smart ass and would boss her around while acting as if she was stupid and that irked her so bad. at first when they met at the ceremonies she was like oh my god someone my age? adventuring maybe?? and then he showed up to work with the scions and the mystique of him faded immediately LMAODFSJLDS the more he spoke the more sick of him she got and she wanted to be cordial but got so fed up shed just say something insulting back and they would just bicker. when it was time to fight garuda cid was flying them around while alphinaud and aren argued and he was like "ok kids…we're here……….<:)"

when it got to the banquet/heavensward their dynamic changed a lot bc all of a sudden pretty much every adult that had helped them/was working with them had disappeared and all they had was haurchefant, tataru, and each other. she rlly clung to tataru and haurchefant as her older sibling figures (esp haurchefant bc he reminds her of her actual big brother) but she also started to come around to alphinaud and they started getting a lot wayyyy better. shed also be there to pick him up when he kept beating himself down, maybe a bit more than she was there for herself. and then through hw and sb, its them getting closer and becoming actual friends. aren gets a crush in the middle of all that and does nothing with it. and then shadowbringers happens !!!!!!! and shes like oh fuck uh oh!!!!! realizes how fleeting things can be but once she gets to kholusia and sees him again she cant bring herself to say anything because the stakes are so high and theres no time to worry about personal things while trying to save 2 worlds at the same time. but its like pretty obvious shes spending a bit more time helping him with things and making sure hes safe from sin eaters (shes still very concerned with keeping everyone else safe he doesnt take her full attenton bc her top priority is being a hero)

ENDWALKER….basically once they get to the source again, shes very blatantly spending more time with alphinaud on her down time until the towers show up. and once the events of ew kick off she gets all her time and attention taken away again and its more and more stressful for her and shes like being crushed under the weight of the world because of all the death destruction and despair around her. all her friends and the scions were helping her but of coarthe it was really alphinaud and her family that really made her like 'i can do this. i can fix this i will fix this. the world and every shard will be safe.' (and also her azem shes a shard of i created lore there where apollo is in the present too but just like a shade of her i cant get into it this isnt the post for that) and when theyre in ultima thule and alphinaud and alisaie give themselves to create a path for aren to find meteion, like right there she almost gives in to her despair bc in her head if she cant do this right then all the scions then alisaie then alphinaud are all gone forever (and ik this is a mmorpg so they were gonna come back but SHE DIDNT KNOW !!!) and then everything happens with the duty and the trial and the fighting zenos but once she gets back on the ship and the first person she sees when she wakes up is alphinaud she disregards her own physical pain and sits up and just hugs him really tightly. when they get back to etheirys perhaps they had their first kiss so happy to see him again. and as of rn in the patch quests canon they still arent really a couple, shes been more forward with her feelings now that theres downtime but theres also not really downtime bc shes helping with the 13th and alphinauds in garlemald but its like "yes there are mutual feelings yes something will happen about that someday." but rn theyre both focused on bettering eorzea and the world and helping who they can with the (definitely not) scions.

i rlly didnt mean to draft a short story, its just too hard to summarize these thoughts

it has been a hard day so I leave you all with yet another wol question...

do they have a love interest? I ADORE hearing about people's wol and/or oc ships so pleaaaase hit me with all the details <33

[lant-sovs]

on rhaenyras children

Been seeing a couple of takes that try to say that jace, luke and joffreys paternity “doesnt matter” or that theyre not bastards because theyve been “claimed” by both rhaenyra and laenor/house velaryon. I dont know what the real life practices were in relation to bastard children, but that is absolutely not true by asoiaf standards. (and yes you do have to interpret the issue of parentage in the show based on the in-universe context.)

First, Rhaenyras children are bastards. Lets just get that out of the way first. someone tried to assert that since its Rhaenyra who has the claim the children are Targaryen through her and therefore not bastards, but if Alicent were to have bastard children they would be bastards because she herself has no claim which is.. incorrect. In asoiaf, a bastard is any child born out of wedlock. Lollys Stokeworth’s son is still a bastard, despite any possible inheritance of his coming from his mother (Jaime II, AFFC). Theres no question on whether or not Rhaenyra’s kids are bastards- they are. Its a settled definition. You cannot simply tweak the definition of bastards and tie their legitimacy to Rhaenyra’s claim. Thats not how it works. Any child born out of wedlock is a bastard. Next question.  Second. Laenor and Rhaenyra “claiming” the children as theirs does not erase their bastardry. Again, I have no idea how real life bastardry was addressed, but I do know there is no such thing as ‘claiming’ bastard children in asoiaf. There are two other concepts though - acknowledgement, and legitimization. A parent may acknowledge their bastard child, and acknowledged bastards get region-typical surnames (Storm, Stone, Flowers, Sand, Snow, etc). Best example? Jon Snow, who was acknowledged by his ‘apparent’ father. Remember, this doesn’t make Jon not a bastard - Jon is still very much a bastard throughout the GOT timeline, he’s just an acknowledged one. The same goes for all the sand snakes- their last name is Sand because Oberyn acknowledged them. Gendry, on the other hands, doesnt use the surname Waters because he was never acknowledged by Robert, whereas another one of Roberts bastards is Edric Storm, who has the bastard surname storm because Robert acknowledged him as his bastard son by Delena Florent (Davos I, ACOK). Edric is still a bastard, because Robert didnt legitimise him. (If he had, Edric would be Edric Baratheon instead). The acknowledgement does NOT change the bastardry. The only thing that could possibly change their bastardry is having them legitimised, but only a king or queen can legitimise a bastard. We see this with Ramsay Bolton, who was previously Ramsay Snow but was legitimised by Tommen (Jaime IX, ASOS). Similarly, Robb (when crowned King in the North) legitimises Jon (in ASOS I believe). That still holds weight, even if Robb isnt sitting the iron throne at the time, because he’s been crowned King in The North. F&B readers will know about two other bastards who are legitimised later, but I wont bring that up bc spoilers. Heres where things get spicy. Rhaenyra can never legitimise her children. Why? Because for them to be legitimised, she has to first admit they were bastards in need of legitimising in the first place. You’d only need to remove the status of bastardry from a child if you recognise that they werent trueborn to begin with. Any attempt to legitimise them would only prove to everyone around her that she lied about their parentage all this while. Its her very own catch-22, and IMO its one of the really well written details of F&B.  What Rhaenyra is doing is neither acknowledgement nor legitimisation nor ‘claiming’, because again, there is no such thing in-universe. What Rhaenyra is doing is, very simply, lying about her childrens parentage. And just to be clear, I’m not anti-black or anti-green (I love the dance because its a story of mutual destruction, I have zero interest in taking sides). But I am anti-misinformation and anti-misinterpretation of the text. If you can find one example of a bastard child in ASOIAF who wasnt considered a bastard because they were ‘claimed’ by their parent, then (and I mean this sincerely) I invite you to disagree with me, but until then. 

[screamting]

Wonder Woman 1984 spoilers.

I feel like WW1984 suffered from a lot of the same editing issues that WW 2017 did, but with only enough content for a 90 minute movie. It's only 10 mins longer than the first movie, but it feels like it goes on for much longer, and part of that is a lot of superfluous scenes that could've been cut or done differently to tighten it up, and made themes a lot more apparent and maybe have fewer confusing messages. (Again, not 'complex' messages, just confusing.)

For example: the opening scene is beautifully shot and whoever is doing the 'from below as Diana runs over rooftops/poles/etc' shots? Amazing, change nothing. But also the opening scene is pointless and doesn't really tie into anything. They try to shove in something about 'the truth' when they really should be like 'this is a competition, don't cheat.'

But also a competition is not what Max is trying to 'win.' He just wants it to be 'his turn' to 'win' at... Liiife? They make a couple attempts at "we people who have been beaten down deserve to have something for ourselves finally, and you've never had to want for anything diana so you don't get it." And like, they're right ish? Diana's left her homeland behind and lost a lot of people, but as far as we know she's only really ever been surrounded by kind people out to help her, and didn't really have to worry about money or survival as she either existed outside of society's rules or she kinda slid her way in over time.

That's not saying she hasn't struggled and that she doesn't care, but she doesn't have the same experience as Max or Barbara of being abused and physically powerless. They are right about that. They also are starting a nuclear war and I feel like Diana can say "correct but also literally you do need to stop" and still come out pretty spotless morally. "First of all yes you're right but also if you just replace the oppressor with yourself then you are the oppressor now; yes that man needed to go but also you beat him near death and left him in the road, that's not cool"

I think maybe her time without powers might’ve been more effective too if it was clearer that the tradeoff wasn't "my powers are what's most important to me" as much as "my powers are what give me the power to protect and being able to PROTECT people I love is what is most important to me." Like, she has Steve back, but he almost dies like 3 times immediately because she doesn't have powers.

(Also, Diana, goddess of truth and shit, please face the fact that if Steve stays alive you are committing a homicide on his body's previous inhabitant. At least MENTION that he's body snatching and that definitely is something they should try to fix somehow. Maybe have it weigh in during the conversation about renouncing her wish-- Steve is dead, and also his bodyhost is alive and they have no right to kill him like this. What if he had a family? They're lucky no one recognized him or called him in to ask why he wasn't at work. Unsolved mysteries: the disappearance of This Dude Who Doesn't Even Get A Name At The End To Remind Us Of His Personhood. Imbd lists him as "handsome man." Talk about a slab of meat my guys.)

So Diana, even though she still has a comfortable enough life, loses her powers for about a day and it woild be very funny for her to be like "ugh I hate not being able to DO THINGS SO EASILY and my shoulder hurts I was shot" and chris like "lol yeah sorry I also miss feeling that extra safety layer around you" and it's not exactly "humbling"(???) as mentioned in the opening scene, but it is a reminder of what it feels like to nit be the strongest person in the room. Maybe that's where a flashback to Themyscira would have worked well, where she's eager to prove herself and outclass everyone but she has to be reminded that even though she's special even among amazons there's still like.. I don't want to say great power comes great responsibility, but maybe ‘we would love you even if all you did all day was stare at the sand and even then you would be precious and protected,’ but also that is a gift the amazons are giving her, because when they were enslaved in the world of man, they saw no love or protection given to those who needed it most. Maybe just, sometimes you don’t lose because you ‘deserved’ to lose. Maybe you just slipped and lost it all.

Maybe the film ends with Diana being Othered again, like how in the first movie she is clearly a goddess and showing magical stuff for the first time but she has her posse. In this one she's alone at the end but a little more able to connect with the little things. It's already sort of there with that very saccharine ending, but again, more explicit might be better.

For scenes that would just tighten things up and get us moving along though:

cut Maxwell absorbing the crystal. Diana figures out what happens later and in the meantime is confused what's happening. We can join in on that mystery.

Cut every kissy thing by at least half

No unnecessary park scene. The homeless man is a nice hint into Barbara's like personal life I guess, but ultimately it doesn't really do anything, and the rapist dude just takes up space honestly. Like, she could kick the ass of any of the catcallers and just roundhouse kick them into a pole and go "huh." Creepy smile. End scene.

Mall scene useless. Vigilante diana confusing and useless. Open us up immediately with Barbara being bullied and Diana appears as a savior first thing in the movie. FBI raid still happened and they just have rocks and shit. Diana still hesitant about contact with people but Barbara is so obviously in need of a friend she kinda saviors herself in again. Gets a clingy friend but also someone who maybe is able to appreciate Diana's archeology feelings.

I don't remember anything that happened in the museums but agree Steve should see the air and space museum, but maybe it would've worked better if one scene he just shows up decked out head to tow in NASA merch

That is NOT how flying works but I'm gonna be honest I think they didn't need to go to Byalia/Egypt(??) much at all. At the very least the car could’ve swerved into the town as a crisis instead of having the kids in the road to be saved. Diana feeling bad after being hit by a humvee would indeed show more clearly than the bullet-- we don’t know if she is or isn’t bulletproof because she’s deflected all of them before. She doesn’t do any extra superstrength before. She doesn’t seem any less powerful than earlier in the movie. It ends up trying to ‘show’ but instead it ends up NEEDING to be told later on.

I can go either way on this I guess, but the plane section can be... At the very least shortened. Coffee cup joke was good tho.

Acceptable answers to "how do fly?"

"Flying is easy, it's landing you have to worry about."

"Aim for the ground and miss"

Ultimately WW 2017 was a war movie that happened to have a superhero in it, amd WW1984 was a superhero movie that had trouble finding where it's plot had to go I think. With World War One, like, there's stuff to say and talk about automatically, but in 1984 it feels a bit like they knew mutually assured destruction and how it was ultimately real bad as a strategy and if we all just agreed itd be... Fine? I guess? Again, unless you go to a specific incident there's not much to say about the cold war except 😬

Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns both got into their teenage years in the 80s so it's totally possible they were going off personal memories instead, but it definitely had some trouble translating onto the screen I think.

There is some good stuff as well, it's just getting to them while buried under all the other stuff mostly. Pedro Pascal did extremely good at making me hate Max Lord Immediately. Steve Fashion Show was fun. "Topaz is such a lame rock lol". Kristen Wiig is holding this movie together more than anyone else and it's great. I like how her becoming an Alpha Bitch doesn't mean she immediately hates Diana but still wants to be her friend and be seen by her. The entire "You seem like you'd be out all the time and like never go on ever" sounds a LOT like a closetedness conversation.

There is a lot of good stuff in it but it's just... Not what the first one was. I think probably the constant delays on release didn't help the hype at all. They went powerful sappy at the end (gooshy feelings? In my wonder woman movie?) which I understand theyre trying to make Diana a hero who doesn't murder the tiny earthlings over stuff... But I am also left just kind of wondering if everyone's memories were erased with the nukes or if the cold war ended VERY differently in the DCEU, and I am far too distracted by that to think about how people are good at their core and stuff. It just feels like it brings up lots of things, and decides that if they have enough emotions, it's fine to brush them aside.

[stars-control-au-archived]

here is. the current control au family tree. some things will probably be changed. i tried to erase as much incest as possible, and what does remain is incredibly distant . lmk if i forgotten anyone/anything, esp if theyre not listed below

cats not on the tree (yet?): longtail, darkstripe, rosepetal, molewhisker, sunstar, featherwhisker, all of yellowfang’s fam

changes

canon couple changes: cinderholly, honeyhazel, minnowmouse

any lioncinder kits will be cinderholly kits, the berrypoppy kids are honeyhazel’s now . yeah honeyfern probably lives bc i said so

birchfall + icecloud and foxleap have been aged up. they were found at the border before the clans left the forest territories. birchfall was apprentice age while his younger siblings were kits. their mother had been killed during the destruction. ice + fox were sort of raised by ferncloud but they don’t really see her as a mother, birchfall was the main one who cared for them

i’ve added fernsong but not the rest of the cinderlion (now hollycinder!) kits, and thats bc if he does exist, he’ll be the kit of a loner. he was found at the border when he was like four moons or somethin. he doesnt see cinderholly as his parents, but he does sorta see hollytuft and sorrelstripe as siblings. ivyfern is still canon... him being non-clan born is from goosewhisker and whale’s (mutuals) pot au

literally none of the og apprentices are clanborn LOL

ravenpaw and dustpelt joined old enough to retain some childhood memories. they both deal with that differently. yet another idea from goose n whale’s au. i hope its ok i um.... took them !

sandstorm doesnt remember her childhood before the clans, but she knows that she isnt clanborn. she deals with this in the same way dustpelt does. she was raised by runningwind only and thinks of him as a father

firestar’s mother is spottedleaf Yes i know i never shut up abt this but Its A Big Change

graystripe... is there. idk who his parents are. he could be like halfclan if u want.

cloudtail wasnt raised alongside ashfur or ferncloud, he probably joins later or something idk. i love the brother relationship in canon but it... doesnt work cuz of ashsquirrel. oh also ash + fern’s dad is a random rogue, their mom is still brindleface tho

apparently speckletail and one-eye were sisters??? theyre not anymore. also patchpelt is No One’s mate ive taken away all his rights. whitestorm is still sorreltail, rainwhisker and sootfur’s dad tho, he keeps some of his rights

frostlion is GONE im sorry. ive also split up the siblings. thornclaw + brightheart are sibs, brackenfur + cinderpelt are sibs. theyre all children of rogues just. different rogues. or maybe theyre clanborn! maybe halfclan! chose ur fighter

spiderleg/daisy simply does not exist. i do not see it

i think thats all??? lmk if u see any issues or i forgot someone

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

the biggest difference is internal vs external factors i think. because both ships are made of damaged people who have and will hurt each other, but slimeriana started out hurting each other. they didnt love each other; they loved to hate each other. every slight fed fuel to the fire. there is no understanding except in anger and grief and sex. they are Like That because of the people that rhey are- it’s all internal factors. putting them in a different environment wouldnt do anything but give them more things to be jealous over and fight about. They’re too similar, and -in slime’s case, at least- there’s of too much self-hatred for that to ever be a good thing.

vs 4halo, which only became painful during the election. before that, they were genuinely so sweet. Forever was one of the first people Bad saw as an equal Egg Protector, and Bad helped Forever locate Richarlyson after quackity took him. they were playful and sweet until external forces (the feds) started putting pressure on them, and even then they still fought to get along. Even after their last big fight before the Furniture Incident, bbh was still trying to play devil’s advocate because he KNEW forever is good and was trying his best. and forever has been reaching out to bad Non Stop after he came off the happy pills, even though he knows bad kidnapped a fed worker. and the way they came back from the happy pill arc itself!! before it, they were genuinely at one another’s throats- i think bbh was This Close to starting a genuine revolution. but then the happy pill arc happened and he remembered it wasnt forever he was upset with, it was the feds, and that’s allowed them to come back to some equilibrium now. theyre still at odds because of the “dont kidnap a worker” “i wanna kidnap so many workers” alternate sides they’re on, BUT, if you dropped them on another island somewhere with none of these responsibilities to ‘reset’ them, i genuinely think they’d find their way back to the initial genuine friendship (especially if they had something to mutually protect)

Our resident toxic yaoi couple is self destructive and requires no one but their own damn selves to Ruin Everything. and our dramatically tragic yaoi Situationship needed to be wrung through eight different wringers before they turned on each other

toxic yaoi (slimeriana) vs tragic yaoi (4halo)

[ufonaut]

Alright so you’ve said Jordan is more into Henry than Larry (Larry being a substitute in some ways), but who’s Henry more into between Jordan/Larry? And while Larry strikes me as the sort of guy who’s not especially choosy, does he have a preference? :D

OKAY SO. i think it’s less a matter of preference and more a question of HISTORY, henry & jordan have a lot of history and theyre ultimately each other’s best friends despite a staggering amount of times theyve mutually ruined their lives and i think them getting it together is honestly an extension of both their friendship and their destructive tendencies! like, on henry’s part, i think icewave started solely as some sorta revenge/hate thing before it mellowed out (somewhat) while jordan sees it as a sign that they might be as close as they were pre-merry again cause he’s had a big ol crush on henry for the past couple decades

to be perfectly honest i think henry has extremely straight vibes and if it wasnt for his weird loyalty and intimacy with jordan i wouldnt even be really considering all of this so i think. he doesn’t particularly prefer either of them but he LIKES having something to hold over jordan and its mostly jealously that drives him towards larry

AS FOR LARRY. OUR PAL CRUSHER. HE’S JUST HERE FOR A GOOD TIME, BABEY!!!!! he likes the challenge henry presents because it awakens the Hunt Instinct in him but he also likes how responsive jordan is (and doesnt mind him being sorta slightly kinda clingy)

[itachi-uchiha-deserved-better]

Itatenz

when I started shipping it if I did: a couple of weeks ago thanks to my wonderful RPs with @tenzoyamato​ and the fact that I feel like Itachi’s crushes always start out as a feeling of respect and admiration (like what he feels towards Gai.) and I can very easily see him feeling that way towards Tenzo after being on team Ro together. 

my thoughts: Shy boys. They’re both a little emotionally stunted, so things go very slowly. They both get caught up in their own heads and so they need some kind of outside push to get them bast that sort of hesitant mutual pining. But Tenzo is the love and support that Itachi desperately needed and Itachi loves so deeply and they just seem to balance each other perfectly. 

What makes me happy about them: Tenzo feeling free to open up. Itachi learning how to cope with his emotions and how to rely on someone other than himself. The pair of them who were both forced to abandon their childhood finally getting a chance to explore happiness together.

What makes me sad about them: We never saw any kind of major Itachi/Tenzo interactions in the anime. We see Itachi go on missions with Kakashi but there is a total of like two scenes with Itachi and Tenzo together and I’m mad about it. 

things done in fanfic that annoys me: The fact that I need to write it myself because it doesn’t seem to exist anywhere lol (with the exceptions of the drabbles/RPs/HCs with you and @tenzoyamato) Does that count? 

things I look for in fanfic: So maybe its just me, but I like seeing a slightly unstable Itachi. I’ve been in that place where you keep everything under such tight control because you can’t let anyone in and when that wall finally breaks....Its a mess. And of course the kid never learned any healthy coping mechanisms (its so easy to forget he tried to kill himself at the age of like 6?) so I feel like when he does break down it’s self destructive and I prefer seeing that to seeing the perfect Itachi. 

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Tenzo and Iruka, or Tenzo with Kakashi. Itachi with Sakura or Shisui in an AU (as adults only) or Itachi in a Queer Platonic Partnership with Kisame. 

My happily ever after for them: Itachi becomes Hokage, Tenzo takes over as the head of the Anbu. Together they dismantle Root. In public they are not overly familiar (even though everyone knows theyre dating, it’s just too much for either of them to do too much in the way of PDA). But at home, they stop being the Hokage and the head of Anbu and there is just tenderness. Tenzo makes sure that Itachi is eating and sleeping. Itachi cooks for them both and never lets Tenzo sleep alone, no matter how busy he becomes. they have Team 7 over and they dote on all the kids, especially Sadara. They have a standing date night when they go out for Dango.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: They alternate, but Itachi is little spoon slightly more often.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Playing with each other’s hair. Tenzo braids Itachi’s, often using the Mokuton to grow flowers to braid into Itachi’s long hair. Itachi will return the favor by letting Tenzo lay in his lap as he reads and running his fingers through his shorter hair, massaging his scalp until he falls asleep. 

[lgvalenzuela]

OC SHIPS TAG GAME

Tagged by @phyl-the-gryffinclaw !!!

Morgana x Barnaby

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+ (does it count if they’re both bi?) / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Lex x Ben

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Mercy x Penny

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Mercy x Talbott

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+ (Does it count if they’re both bi???)/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers (???) / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Mercy x Badeea

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Mercy x Diego

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+ (DOES IT COUNT IF THEYRE BOTH BI???)/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  / sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Jacob x Chester

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 Emily x Merula

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

 BONUS:

Oliver x André

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbt+/ family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were room mates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing world views / getting a pet / have kids (kinda) / want kids  / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / token dummies / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / sibling rivalry / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps  /sexual tension / can’t be together / age gap / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

[dahniwitchoflight]

Candy 24-28

Yeah interacting is one way of putting

I think the closer Meat and Candy come to eachother though the closer they’re both gonna self destruct

“It will stay here for millions more years, where it will remain indefinitely on a barren, desolate Earth C, waiting to host a single cherub child, chained to its bedroom. But for now, it hosts these three.”

Alright so Earth C doomed to failure confirmed, it needs to be a barren desolate wasteland if it’s gonna be the literal planet for Calliope and Caliborn’s birth

oh my god.

That’s why Gamzee raised the baby cherub

what seemed so out of character for someone like Gamzee to do so long ago now makes perfect sense

He thought it was his role to raise Caliborn in that stupid ass LE/Dirk philosophy

Aww, Terezi’s dying ):

Aradia and Sollux are acting as Alltie’s like, double attendants?

Is that like, a flipside of Gamzee’s whole mirthful messiahs thing where he is on LE’s Side?

I mean, Aradia is pretty 8D and Sollux is pretty D8 as characters

That was a really good conversation from Terezi and John

It really does like, firmly solidify to me that Terezi and John retconning the fact that Vriska died to Terezi’s sword way back then was absolutely the incorrect way of handling things

it’s the cornerstone for how things have been ripped apart all this time since then i think

when it first happened, it was tragic and necessary and developed the characters into a certain way of being

Terezi’s got depressed and into a bad state of being, so now, we’ve been given the flipside and shown what would happen if Vriska had been spared in that moment

and the answer is

the same goddamn thing, Vriska leaves her, Terezi can’t get closure from it and her life spirals downward from there

except here were sort of shown what might have been her saving grace, an actual system of support from someone she cares about, and someone she can support in return

what an actual relationship is actually supposed to be

the reason why constant relationships didn’t solve her problems everytime she made new ones is because they were relationships built solely on whims, feelings, maybe some physical passion

but none of them actually offered any actual support or companionship

wanting to love someone really really hard and wanting to be loved by someone really really hard doesn’t solve your problems no,

but having someone to help you through those problems and work on them with you does actually help solve problems

I think that’s the key difference here in asking “which relationship would “”fix”” Terezi” the answer being the only actual two-way relationship she might have ever had

Channel change time for Karkat

and an alive Meenah, I forget how that happened in Meat but eh

anyway next page

“But if he doesn’t care that much, and there’s nothing to it, then why does he do it? Why does he seem to put care into the nonsense he badgers her with? He supposes he could ask the same of many features of his life. Why does he care? Why does he put the time in? When you can’t shake the feeling that nothing here has much intrinsic meaning—or rings as “canon,” to drop a term he has to admit has worn out some welcome in his vocabulary—how does one justify even leaving the house? “

that phrase there, “Nothing Here has much intrinsic meaning -or Rings as Canon” feels like a double meaning

on the one hand, John is saying nothing in this world feels like it’s actually real

on the other hand, the phrase can be read as “There are no Rings of Canon in this world” as physical objects

and we just got done seeing a page about the Life Ring

I wonder if those rings are not also imbued with some idea of not just Life, but canon?

and if that’s the case

maybe the two rings really are each half of what would become the house juju cursor thing

going on with the symbolic metaphor of two opposite objects mutually self destructing and creating something new

maybe when you destroy both rings by bringing them together, in the wake of their destruction would form the original plot hole - the cursor juju, a literal canon shaping hole in the plot

it’s kind of like the idea of two similar dimensional things coming together to make a higher dimensional thing, themselves seemingly being removed from those lower dimensions in the process

like, what happens when you fundamentally merge two perfectly identical 2 dimensional circles?

you get a singular 3rd dimensional sphere and no more 2d circles

so what happens when you merge two 3rd dimensional circular rings? 

a literal 4th dimensional “hole” in canon where they once were

that’s my thinking anyway

anyway back to John having a breakdown over Terezi’s death

man Candy sure is something, I can’t really decide which one I found more interesting Candy or Meat

I felt like there was maybe more to react to in Meat, but there’s interesting bits in Candy as well

oh damn though ten year time skip on the next page O.o

oh fuck we skipped the war and gone straight to the dystopian nightmare havent we

their curfew is 13 minutes after midnight??? that’s so odd, also that makes it either 12:13 or 00:13 however you look at it

oh look, It’s JohnVris 2.0

huh, Karkat and Meenah got a love story out of it too

Now I wanna see a photoshop of like, Big Boss or whathisface from metal gear but just like trollified and with karkat’s horns

So Candy is definitely representing this idea of a character’s potential for the kinds of story arcs they might have, no matter what ends up happening

John stepping into his dad’s shoes and becoming a loving husband and father

Karkat becoming a revolutionary against a twisted tyrannical planet

these individual story beats all fall in line with their characters and what they might have been, had sburb never have been involved in their lives in the first place, is what I think

Roxy pops out a baby and become a mom after having a romance with a dashing young man is basically Rose’s Mom Lalonde’s storyline

Rose eventually becoming a key figure in a rebellion on a tyrannical version of earth is the same story here on Earth C as it was in the history of Roxy’s original planet as HER Mom Lalonde

but its the context of the story that makes it different or not

but these core tenants of the kinds of things and choices all these characters would do doesn’t really change all that much when you strip them down into their simplest forms

so in a way, even though nothing here is canon, it’s giving the audience and idea of what the story would be like if it was canon, how characters might react or grow up to be and the potential they have for doing certain things

but doing that also takes away all the nuance and symbolism of why it’s relevant and important for each story, and context matters intensely

John seems to reconcile with Jade and Dave if he’s the best man at their wedding

and if Dave is marrying Jade and John’s here and their all okay and it’s being held at Jake’s mansion....

no their making it clear theyre siding with Rose and Kanaya, but not as much as they could be I guess

Damn Roxy, I expected better of you, really? But she’s honestly just trying to gravitate towards the thing that makes her personally the happiest, with no regard to how she’s throwing everyone under the bus, p selfish of her

and for real, she’s with the people she always considered her closest friends

Jake’s actually the one going against their grain the most, but that might be because the closest person to him is already dead, and then his runner up is viewing Jade as his alt universe grandma. his channel with Jane is ruined and well, Jake wasn’t close with Roxy or Callie

people just value certain relationships over others sometimes

damn this one ends on a really somber note though

extremely filled with nostalgia of missed potential

Candy is where nothing went right for anyone technically

Oh shit it’s real Vriska, who fell into the black hole in Meat yeah?

Yeah with the way shes screaming about needing to see what happens when you beat the final boss it’s that Vriska hoo boy

hilariously channeling the desperation of the people who read this when it first dropped no wonder though

I am noticing in Candy that despite more and more history being generated, I have less and less to react to

that one line though about what the passage of time must feel like to immortals, that feelings of what used to feel like a day now only feels like a couple hours, what used to feel like a week now feels like a couple days

time gets faster the more you live it

pretty soon a day will be but a blink of an eye for people like John

[drboxleitner]

xWordgirl ships analysis

I love analyzing ships especially of my favorite heroic alien daughter, so i made a mini masterpost of my thoughts on each popular ship for becky, within reason of course. these are all speculation on them maturing into adulthood looking for love. this is all personal opinion!

long post because i don’t know how to write succinctly im sorry :’)

Tobecky

the ship that needs no introduction:

 both characters need to mature before any kind of healthy romance can develop. there is friction both externally (with their villain hero conflict) and internally (both of them suffer from being prideful, condescending, and emotionally constipated), of which them being together as they are now, they both bring out the worst of those parts in one another. whether tobey goes on the straight and narrow or becky decides to fall to the darkside, or perhaps an interesting mix of the two, they both need more common ground to build a foundation on before a healthy relationship can grow. however, this doesn;t mean a seed romance cant grow where it’s planted (to say nothing of the emotional health of the two) as both lust and yearning of young dumb lovers can temporarily close any gap. however, unless they work out their moral and emotional and identity differences and, it will be a hot flash in the pan with disastrous consequences, considering the amount of firepower both parties possess.

Pros: popular ship, cute heroXvillain plots, possible redemption/descent arcs available, kissmesis, cutesy competitiveness, juicy juicy drama, relatively balanced in terms of power (becky as wordgirl, tobey and his army of robots), can weild insane amounts of gusto as a powercouple if they actually worked together

cons: unstable relationship, breakup would be very rough and destructive if gone awry, toxic competitiveness, PR problems for either one

Vibecky

The sweetest sapphic couple:

you want handholding?? love poetry?? maximum fluff potential???? yo i got the ship for you. a lot about these two is conveniently already handed to us because theyre already best friends and we get to see how they function together under a variety of circumstances. for the most part, the two of them would be very openly loving. they have an opposites attract kind of relationship, the classic feeling/thinking, art/science vibes, which is cute for the most part, but can run into trouble when it comes to communication. as we’ve seen before a couple times, most notably in the series finale, the two struggle with confronting one another and reaching an understanding when things aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. both seem to be more likely to lie to keep the peace than bring up a problem, which means things can go very crooked down the line after the honeymoon phase. we have seen that violet has a great memory and while not openly, does hold grudges. we have seen becky struggle to shuffle her priorities and keep her word (hah) and have a hard time bringing up the hard truth. (theres not really a good place to bring it up but i find it very interesting that the hero is the more emotional one than the artist and the artist is colder than the hero) they need to work together to make a completely mode of communication to get through the hard times as well as the good, and if they can, they can together make the most unabashedly happiest couple on earth

pros: fluff, opposites attract, consent communication and cuddles, forgiving, with their powers combined can make the greatest art known to humankind, happy to see the other succeed, gift giving galore

cons: problems can build up fast under the surface, misunderstandings, grudges and lies, major power imbalance

Scoobecky

call me biased but this one is my personal favorite...:

...not because its good for them, per se, but because the dynamics are so darn interesting. while tobecky is full of classic tropes and vibecky is sweet and simple, scoobecky is a very particular kind of relationship we 1) rarely see explored as a formal, official relationship 2) have a tooon of canon interaction material to work off of, actually. this is one of those weird ones where you have to make assumptions about the current situation, eg. assume scoops and violet broke up, assume this is post-Invasion of the Bunny Lovers (IOTBL) episode, etc etc. we’ve seen them as close friends and how even like that they can kinda struggle to meet the mark and make understanding compromises (which unlike like vibecky, who does effortlessly). from what we’ve seen in post-IOTBL, they dont really have a groundwork of respect for one another they once had in wordgirl’s anonymity, but it seems to work out regardless because most of the time they get along best in times of trial and high stress (eg, zombie apocalypse, curiosity machine, rose invading on the order of things, etc). if they ended up as a couple, my best guess it was a couple out of emotional damage or desperation, a kind of functionality couple that would have a hard time handling fluff but could work together and find love during the apocalypse. they would be together for temporary comfort and security in a dangerous world, exchanging clever quips and several moments of emotional highs that will drag both of their butts through the mess they both got themselves into by agreeing to date. the highs are addictive, but functioning well as a team or friends doesn’t exactly translate to being a healthy relationship. theyre both quite petty people, and even the smallest disagreement will cast wrinkles in the cloth because both of them are on completely different life trajectories. however, i believe given good circumstances, they could in theory make it work but man is it going to take a hell of a lot of work and help. or maybe a second zombie apocalypse.

pros: exclusive interviews, mutual pining turning into a relationship trope, 

cons: major power imbalance, petty, hard to function in fair weather, not supportive

Polyamory

it works because all three of them are simultaneously the third wheel. they play off one another very well

pros: you can have your cake and eat it too, have all the juicy fluff and angst of all the relationships outlined above

cons: i dunno, agreeing on the same restaurant for dinner

Other

I don’t know! I know a lot of other people have thought a lot harder about the other ships available, i just thought it fun to lay out my thoughts on the most obvious ships. if you have a (non-creepy) ship you feel strongly about and thought a ton about feel free to lmk i love reading about really deeply thought out character interactions

these are just my very subjective thoughts on it and considering the only canonically dating relationship among the eligible kids we’ve seen is violet and tobey, and even then thats not too explored in depth, its all speculation and analysis. id love to hear ur thoughts if you saw something different in these characters. of course, im writing all this with the assumption they are maturing into adulthood and some time has passed, the dynamic may be totally different if they were little kids in puppy love in fifth grade, i dont know! its just fun to think about all the ways u can spin these characters

[orangememory]

Nirvana in Fire 2 : Episode 5 Recap

Episode 5, some plots untwist and some plots twist, we see ample sprinkling of bromance, and one more badass joins the plot. So on we go! (Note: This recap may be slightly longer in order to explain some plot points. Thanks!)

Last Episode:

Episode 4 neatly wrapped up our Datong baddies in a bow, and threw Pingjing for a loop when he learned that Daddy was playing everything behind the scenes, including Pingjing’s own presence in Datong. The investigative trio of smols sets off with an army retinue to Jinling, yet something isnt adding up for Dragon boy. What could it be?

Episode 5 Recap:

- Our look into the journey of Pingjing and company is thankfully interrupted with a few cute moments between Pingzhang and wife Qianxue, who is the mosg beautiful thing I have laid my eyes on in NIF2 till now. Pingzhang and wifey are a stunning, utterly beautiful couple and they are adorable together as they figure out Pingjing’s route - and where the enemy will lay a trap. Pingzhang figures it will be near the Qizhu stream.

- In the retinue, General Ji, who has come to escort the prisoner with his soldiers, suggests a rest stop at…*drumroll* Qizhu, which is well protected by two cliffs on the side and is a good spot for resting. However, its quite close to the capital, and Yuanqi has his doubts as to why theyre not quickly moving on. However Pingjing agrees to the arrangement haltingly. My spidey senses are already tingling!

- We again interrupt this transmission with a sweet moment between Lin Xi and Pingjing, who invites her to the capital, thinking she will work at Jifeng Hall and promises to show her all the sights which most people dont know of. Lin Xi declines in her own way.

- A note here about the relationship between Lin Xi and Pingjing, although I do love the trope where one part of the couple is Tsundere and the other person turns them around - I dont exactly get a pulse on the Lin Xi-Pingjing bond. Pingjing isn’t a smitten puppy, but a rather straightforward guy trying to thank Lin Xi for her help, while Lin Xi isnt’ tsundere, but more like a professional and an introvert? She deals with Pingjing like one would do with a colleague, albeit I do feel that she has added baggage from her mother’s promise not to marry Pingjing or from the military. If this was your typical tsundere type relationship I think I would be more drawn to it, but right now I just see them as partners more than anything else? IDK. I think Zhang Huiwen is doing a good job, as is Liu Haoran, but I don’t find the easy bknd between them yet.

- As they go back to camp, Pingjing is still on tenterhooks and wondering why Duan Tongzhou or the enemies are not here yet and why Magistrate Zhang is not speaking. But then, boom! Our Ancient Chinese Human Torch is here, flinging darts everywhere, his first line of attack being Poor Magistrate Zhang. Ouch! What a way for the poor man to go!

- Pingjing immediately starts retaliating, and a few air moves and dart vs sword fights later, Duan Tongzhou is surrounded by General Ji’s soldiers. However he is extremely calm in the face of this madness, and doesn’t make a move, instead asking Pingjing if he had never expected this. But in fact, Pingjing had.

- And then, the plot untwists itself and makes a Banruo level plan by the baddies. My explanation follows, however there may be some assumptions because I felt there were a few gaps in the explanation or the subs.

- Pingjing has deduced several things about the last attack in Datong, where policeman Qian was killed. The main question asked in the last episode was why was an insignificant man like Qian killed whereas Magistrate Zhang was spared? The plan was two-fold. Police dude Qian was a man with no living family or relatives, if arrested, it would be likely he would easily open his mouth and talk to Pingjing about Minister Song Fu’s treachery. On the other hand, Magistrate Zhang had a wife and kids whom he had sent away, as long as someone ‘took care’ of them - they could shut the man up and Pingjing would never know the truth.

- Who was ‘taking care’ of Zhang’s wife and kids? No one but General Ji! Pingjing’s suspicions had been roused by a few of General Ji’s questions regarding Zhang, and how he tried to distract Pingjing from meeting the witness. There, in flashback, it is shown General Ji had a jade ring that Zhang recognized and asked him to keep his mouth shut.

- But why was General Ji colluding with Duan and Song Fu? In a discussion between Tingsheng and Pingzhang, they suspect something that is later confirmed by Pingjing. Da Yu had used all their might to specifically attack Ganzhou fortress where Pingzhang was stated (whereas they usually battled at Meiling). And that too, right when there was a supply line cut off. Definitely Duan and General Ji had to be working together to somehow spread this news to Da Yu, who would attack and defeat Ganzhou easily - running across the flat plains southward into Da Liang, where there wpuld be no army good enough to stop them - until the Shanliu Army of General Ji in Qizhou, who were sufficient in strength and training to defeat the Da Yu army. General Ji would earn high merits and rewards for saving the Empire.

- I was like, wow, shit what a gameplay! Who will throw the dice next?

- But still, why was Zhang kept alive from the last skirmish? I suspect Duan Tongzhou did have the ability to kill Zhang but not the time, because of the presence of soldiers and Pingjing who is quite good at martial arts. He took the easier target Qian - who was more likely to confess, and in a way reminded General Ji that he too was involved in this mess. I feel it was sort of a mutually assured destruction-you scratch my back I scratch yours sort of arrangement. Duan Tongzhou (and his master) were clever enough to think along the same line as Tingsheng, which means they are terrifyingly intelligent - they knew that General Ji held a grudge, they knew Changlin manor would send for assistance to far off Qizhou, and therein lay their pawn and plan.

- General Ji, while escorting Zhang, could ensure his death at the hands of Duan - and the only blame that would fall on him was not guarding a witness carefully. The other witnesses, doctors and a boat captain could easily be discredited by higher powers at the Capital - and defeat the Changlin manor’s investigation. General Ji had already colluded with the baddies and passed info to Da Yu, and his crimes of treason would be revealed, which would be a sure death. So he undertook this journey as a pretext of securing merits.

- Also, one thing I forgot to mention - Magistrate Zhang is MIA! His prisoner carriage was skewered, but he wasnt there at all. Its now when Pingjing reveals of course they had seen through the whole plan, and Uncle Yuan had spirited away the witness somehow. Gee whiz IDK who is outsmarting whom anymore. *scratches head*

- General Ji is furious and burns in anger as to why the Changlin manor should score all merits, underlying a theme that we had discussed earlier, too much trust and imperial favour only leads to ruin, or at least, dire suspicions. This is one part of what had happened in the original NIF, where the Prince Qi- Lin family bond was hated by evil asses like Xia Jiang, and the power-hungry Xie Yu. Pingjing is furious when he hears those words, exclaiming that his dad’s years of service were not just for merits! But who is listening boy, def not all those jealous of your fam, nuh-uh!

- General Ji vows to kill them all because his army is loyal to him. Everyone draws their swords, including Yuanqi, however Duan is calm. (A point on Yuanqi - he has been super shocked at all these plots, showing complete naivete and anger at how these men wanted to hurt the common populace for their own ends. Although I am inclined to think he is more pure than I initially believed, I still sense he has this current of indignation that sparks through him. Anywhoooo…)

- Pingjing knows why Duan is calm as well, because something biiiig is gonna go down.(Does this boy know everything? WTF Hai Yan did you actually take out and write Lin Shu again? Because that is how I headcanon Lin Shu, loud, brash, too smart for his own good. Dont do this to me!)

- Duan Escapes and PJ follows for forest fight, but….someone comes to his aid! Who might this be, a beautiful woman whose martial arts skills are amazing? Why its DA SAO! Meng Qianxue, who is the Nihuang of this story is super competent, battling Duan with PJ and backing him into camp. She brings out the Changlin Army and the Military seal, arresting General Ji and his fuckers. Duan Tongzhou makes a last ditch attempt to escape again, but we only see the soldiers extinguishing fires in the aftermath.

- Back to our hurt puppy Pingjing, who is pissed off royally at Daddy for using him as a pawn in his game. Yuanqi, naive soul, asks Qianxue/DaSao (Imma call her DaSao from now because its cuter) how the Changlin manor was able to send soldiers right on time. And then Pingjing reveals the plot, wherein we see Daddy and Bro had discussed the ramifications of the Ganzhou attack, and deduced that General Ji would benefit the most - in order to not make any invalid accusations, they had sought his help. If he would escort them safely back to Jinling, he would earn rewards and otherwise - yeah you saw what happened otherwise. To test General Ji and train Pingjing, they had set up this entire plan.

- Pingjing calls his Dad a sly old fox (OMG), and he and Yuanqi discuss this plan with Da Sao and Uncle Yuan. Pingjing stomps off and vents cutely to Lin Xi who probably thinks where she can stick a needle to shut up the yapping puppy. However, Uncle Yuan reveals the real mastermind behind the plan is Pingzhang, which Pingjing never realises because older bro loves him soooo much and would never play him, right? Pingjing, darling, you definitely have some of your other granduncle in you too. The water-buffalo one.

- Changlin manor is being spruced up for Pingjing’s return, and Pingzhang and Da Sao float beautifully among the pavilions in obviously MCS and Nihuang aspired white and blue and fur, cutely cuddling everywhere. NIF2 you dont have to make remind us of the original, you’ve already knifed us bad in that one and want to hurt us again? Old Fox Tingsheng is scolding Pingjing and taking him to task for reckless endangerment when Sly young fox Da-ge intervenes and tells Pingjing dad has been praising him behind his back allll along. What is this a discourse on Asian parenting? because my family does the same thing. :/

- Meanwhile going back to our other smols, Yuanqi returns to his manor, where new character and Yuanqi’s mom, Grand Madame Laiyang scolds him for getting involved in these hijinks. Yuanqi is a sad puppy and wants to support as a member of the Royal family, but Yuanqi’s mom wants him far far away from any court politics. She seems like a very sad, very benevolent lady who just wants to protect her son, but as we will see in upcoming episodes, she’s gonna be a hidden snake.

Grand Madame Laiyang, Mother of Xiao Yuanqi, wife of the Emperor’s deceased brother

- Lin Xi enters the Jifeng Hall hospital at the capital, where her Master has instructed her to take over, and especially care for patient Pingzhang. Old Master Li, you still tryna matchmake?

- The next scene is that of Minister Song Fu getting taken in for questioning. In Minor Character moment of the day, Minister Song sits proud and regal in his office, his eyes sad and resigned, with a candle burning as the Ministry of Justice storms in. Once the decree is handed over, he silently undoes his ministerial hat, and blows out the candle. Again, I must give excellent credit to the directors and this supporting actor - in two minutes he made an impression on me with his acceptance of his fate, the extinguishing of his life. Minister Song didn’t seem like a very dastardly man to me, but definitely influenced by the wrong ideas and wrong people.

- The next few moments are what move me the most in NIF2: the cute-as-fuck Xiao Family. The extremely adorable Crown Prince (who has actually acted with Wang Kai before and now as his grandson!) runs to his father asking about Pingjing-gege, and the Emperor indulges him. Later, at Changlin manor, Da Sao and Pingzhang battle for Pingjing’s affections, one with food and one stealing the poor child’s food - and then uniting against Pingjing when he reveals Da Sao was adopted by their mother, and Pingzhang was so in love that he asked the Emperor to marry them off when Qianxue was only 14. (cue very much awkward child marriage moment).

- The next, and very sweet scene is between Jingyan’s two babies, Tingsheng and the Emperor. The current Emperor has definitely inherited Jingyan’s genes, beating himself up for his failure in spotting Song Fu’s treason and making his brother suffer. These events have made the Emperor depressed and his cough is back, which Tingsheng tries to chide his younger bro for not taking care of his health. They remember Jingyan at this moment, and Tingsheng and Emperor have this adorable exchange. Their voices are more serious but they are the PZ and PJ of their generation. (*CUE UGLY CRYING BECAUSE JINGYAN RAISED HIS BABIES SO WELL XIAO SHU ARE YOU WATCHING?)

- The Empress meets Rasputin/ High Priest Pu Yangying, and talks to him about prayers for the fallen at Ganzhou. Pu reminds her that of course, they have to take care of this well because the Emperor regards the Changlin Manor as much as the Eastern Palace. Cue the Empress breaking into hives. Pu Yangying also passes the information of the case Pingjing has brought, and that quite a few of Grand Secretary Xun’s students may be implicated. (Secretary Xun is the Empress’ older brother). At this the Empress trembles, because anything that happens to her brother, could lead to her deposition. Hmmm.

- At Court, the Minister of Justice presents his report on interrogating Song Fu. In a twist, Song has admitted to the military ship incident, but not to conniving with General Ji, whereas General Ji explicity states that Duan Tongzhou/PA Qin has contacted him on Song Fu’s behalf. This is the first whiff of a conspiracy which is deeper than we think. Song Fu has also submitted a list of conspirators, and as it is handed to the Emperor, Grand Secretary Xun ages 20 years in one moment, paling. Will he be in trouble? The End.

Thoughts:

Aaaah, I have so many thoughts on this episode, so many, but I will try to list them coherently.

But first, INCOHERENT SCREAMING ABOUT DA SAO BECAUSE SHE ROCKS MY WORLD. I like women in armour, women being knights and how cool is Da Sao with a sword? She saved your ass Pingjing.

DID I SAY HOW GAY I AM FOR DA SAO? Meng Qianxue is not only beautiful but smart and competent, and Tong Liya makes my heart flutter. If I ever want to write self-insert fic in NIF, sorry Wang Kai, Tong Liya may be my first choice now. :D She can murder me and I would be giving heart eyes from hell (aint nobody gonna send me to heaven, I’ve watched too much porn for that. :P).  

Next, NIF2 seems to handle plots a lot more directly and the exposition is simpler. For example, in NIF1 I was puzzling over how MCS actually managed to purchase Lan Yuan Mansion with the female skeletons, until 2-3 episodes later when we realise Tong Lu’s sister was there (in the book version Tong Lu’s cousins were raped by Minister Lou, and the info about the mansion was uncovered by research). Here, Pingjing and fam explain all the details very explicitly. I dont know whether I like it, but its definitely easier to follow.

Also I hope we never stop getting the sweet family moments. It’s like Hai Yan is the evil witch in Hansel and gretel, fattening us up with loveliness before we get stabbed in the heart.

Thanks for stopping by! These recaps are not going to be very funny (and I wonder if I can continue for 50 episodes), but I hope to keep trying.