#do they have like. a ship name? not romantic necessarily

[reneeub]

Neil "I'm fine" Josten and Jean "I was injured in a scrimmage" Moreau

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

k, m, n, t for pd and/or suck!!! >:33333

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

-> you know i gotta say wiwi. i have to. that character was Made For Me i swear to GOD . genuinely i cannot think about prime defenders season 2 episode 39 without feeling physically sick bc i love it so much. its the only one i havent relistened to since i heard it the first time. i KNOW its gonna make me cry again so i genuienly have not touched it even though theres things in there i need to hear again for character research. his arc is so like. narratively satisfying in a way that hits me so fucking deep to my core in an extremely personal way. and like. there were definitely some Decisions that i was REALLY ANNOYING about hating when they were brought up because im used to media with bad storytelling/creators that do not care about their characters but. looking back on it i would not change a single thing about it. i love you wiwi so much.

-> FOR SUCK.... its not over yet. so i cannot definitively say. campaign finale comes out tomorrow so my answer may change depending on that but for right now i think i gotta say arthur. i joke a lot about hating arthur for no real reason in particular but. man his story is just REALLY good. not going 2 give you suck spoilers (hehe) but i also really like how shilo has grown through the campaign. hes my little guy :]

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

-> TIDE. TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TIDE TIDE TIDE I LOVE TIDE SO MUCH. thats my dad thats my best friend i love tide so much dude. every time he is mentioned or on screen i am just like :D HI TIDE I LOVE YOU TIDE

-> grefgore :] light of my life this is how i feel anytime i think about grefgore

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

-> CHARACTER STUDIES. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. I LIKE A GOOD SHIPPING FIC AS MUCH AS THE NEXT GUY BUT PLEASE GOD WRITE THEM IN CHARACTER. EXPLORE THEIR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS AND WHY THEY MAKE CERTAIN DECISIONS THE WAY THEY DO. this doesnt even go for just pd and suck this is like. true for every single fandom ive ever fucking been in. do you know how hard it is to find character studies in the danny phantom tag on ao3. nobody has even fucking watched the show how are they going to write character studies they just want (<< i cannot legally finish this sentence without getting in so much trouble) I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MY FUCKING SELF AROUND HERE. ALL I EVER WRITE ARE CHARACTER STUDIES BC THATS THE WAY I THINK ABOUT CHARACTERS. I LOVE THEIR MOTIVATIONS I LOVE TO GET INSIDE THEIR BRAINS LIKE A LITTLE PARASITE AND IT IS ALWAYS SURPRISING TO ME WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DO NOT THINK LIKE THIS. (edit im just now reading through this and realized the question says three things. i did not process that. my three things are all more character studies please)

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

-> oh dude i have so many hmmmmmmm how to choose just one. i have a LOT of feelings about wiwis original death and i might write something about that when i can get over my shrimp emotions about him. dakota cole audhd truther but that ones pretty much canon anyway so i dont think it counts. vyncent and his relationship with growing up in fantasy world and then being thrown into prime and how he adjusted to that. I think he really lies shitty syfy channel type horror movies that are so stupidly bad. and also plays a lot of video games but again i think thats mostly canon already. i think tide listens to dad rock but also like. ocean man by ween. you already know about my william and ashe being each others emotional support at concerts. i think william and ashe should hang out and do emo kid things more. i also have a lot of feelings about ashe and coping with the crippling loneliness of basically growing up alone and how the pd becoming like INSTANT best friends was so much for him in sooo many ways. you already know how i feel about mark i am in the middle of dissecting him like im in a high school biology class as we speak. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i know im gonna think of something really good after i hit the post button so stay tuned

[antianakin]

how do you interpret codywan?

I suppose I should've seen this one coming.

So, the appeal for me with Codywan is the idea of these two people in impossible positions during what is a really dark time for them both overall learning to rely on each other and trust each other. They come from such radically different backgrounds, but somehow those backgrounds also allow them to understand each other in a way few others have (discounting the Jedi for Obi-Wan and the clones for Cody). There's a feeling of equality and respect between them as they fight beside each other and the other person starts to become more real because they can see the other person get tired and bleed, mourn and celebrate. And from that, they start picking up on the other little things about each other that turn them from General and Commander who respect each other professionally to friends who care about each other personally.

They AREN'T the most important person in each other's lives. They don't necessarily understand each other better than literally anybody else they've ever met. Cody will have relationships with other clones that are very meaningful to him, and lots of shared history with other clones that Obi-Wan simply cannot hope to replicate. Likewise, Obi-Wan has relationships with other Jedi that have lasted DECADES before he ever even meets Cody, and other Jedi will have a deeper understanding of that part of Obi-Wan that Cody just doesn't and never will. But Cody and Obi-Wan do go through an experience together that binds them, an experience that is uniquely their own. They mean a lot to each other and they are important to each other, but they aren't necessarily the center of each other's lives nor does their relationship eclipse everything else they care about.

Cody and Obi-Wan are one of the relationships that, to me, is most appealing when it's VERY Jedi in nature. From an outside perspective (a non-Jedi one), it might not even look like they're in a romantic relationship at all. Their relationship is their business and neither one feels the need to flaunt it publicly. They're happy the way they are and just because they don't follow the usual standards of what constitutes a romantic relationship doesn't mean they're doing it wrong or that it doesn't exist. I mentioned in the last ask about shipping that I'm aroace, and that tends to impact my view of Codywan, too. I tend to like interpreting them as something in the realm of a qpr (which is how I define ALL Jedi relationships because I don't think most Jedi relationships that work and/or last would look all that similar to what society tends to portray as a typical romantic relationship). In a happy fix-it AU scenario, Obi-Wan and Cody aren't necessarily spending all their time in each other's presence, they may not even live together, they're not constantly touching or making sexual innuendos with each other, they don't have pet names for each other or use endearments.

They both have such a strong sense of duty that meshes well together. Obi-Wan is a staunch Jedi and that means he feels compassion for everyone in the galaxy and is dedicated to helping everyone in the galaxy. Cody is someone who was forced into a life of service, but I like to interpret him as someone who, after meeting the Jedi and getting to know them better, decides that he still WANTS a life of service if he gets the opportunity to choose. He wants, more than anything, to be able to help people. He wants to bring peace and protect people when he can, he wants to represent something greater than himself. This allows them to be happy and fulfilled in their relationship without either of them needing to prioritize the relationship above everything else in their lives.

Obi-Wan enjoys Cody's wit, his steady presence and level head in a crisis, and that he's a sponge for any knowledge he can get his hands on. Cody enjoys Obi-Wan's compassion for life, his zest for learning and desire to pass on knowledge, and his thrill for adventure (whether Obi-Wan would call it that or admit to it or not). They both know they can rely on each other to get the job done without letting emotions get in the way, but they also know that at the end of the day, they can relax and be themselves with each other and find acceptance no matter what. I think Cody probably grows a lot through his relationship with Obi-Wan, that it allows him to understand himself in a way he hadn't been able to do before, and Cody provides an anchor point for Obi-Wan during a time when he's often separated from his regular support system.

I've seen people say that the appeal of Codywan for them is the yearning, but I don't think that that's it at all for me. The appeal in it for me is that it ISN'T something that causes them pain, but something that only really ever brings them joy. Even with Cody being pretty new to relationships in general, I think that he and Obi-Wan are both people who just end up enjoying the feeling of being in live, regardless of whether you think that person is in love with you back or not. They both glean pleasure from making the other person happy or even just SEEING the other person happy. Their relationship flows pretty easily from a professional respect to a friendly rapport to love without there being an obvious distinction between the different stages. They love each other, and it's not an issue that needs to be solved, but an experience to be savored.

None of this means that they never have disagreements or things like that, but Cody's steadiness combined with Obi-Wan's Jedi teachings means that they're pretty good at managing their disagreements without them becoming full-blown fights or major conflicts. Communication would not be one of their problems.

One of the things I like about Codywan is that what we know about them lends itself to an interpretation that they are the OPPOSITE of Anidala. Anidala is defined by its desperation, its secrecy and lies, its lack of healthy communication with each other, its melodrama and heightened emotion at all times, and the pain and fear at its core that leads to its own destruction. My personal interpretation of Codywan is the opposite of all of that. It's not defined by desperation and pain and fear and melodrama, but by smaller things that perhaps make for a less compelling story to people. So many fics turn Codywan into a variation of Anidala, with one or the both of them unable to admit to their own feelings and stuck in a cycle of their feelings for each other causing them little but pain. But if I wanted Anidala, I'd just read or watch Anidala. I want Codywan to feel DIFFERENT than Anidala in pretty much every way. I want their relationship to be based on honesty and trust and simple small moments feeling more romantic than grand gestures. There's no melodrama in my version of Codywan unless they're playing it up as a joke in front of somebody else.

[just-a-funny-little-brain]

A Tag Wrangler's Guide to Tagging on AO3

Tags on AO3 can be confusing and hard when you don't know what you're doing. There are also a lot of misconceptions about how the Archive works behind the scenes, so here's a guide with tips, tricks, and explanations from a writer and tag wrangler (me)!

DISCLAIMERS:

I'm a tag wrangler volunteer, but anything I say here is my own personal experience and opinion, not that of the archive.

I am not: a coder, ao3 support, a wrangler of your fandom (probably), or responsible for that one author who annoys you.

I'm using well-known examples, not things I necessarily write or ship. Don't come at me for your shipping wars.

Image descriptions for screenshots are in the alt text!

With that out of the way, let's get started!

1. Fandoms

TL;DR - Use full words, the Archive will take care of the rest.

This is perhaps the most straightforward field. Enter the name of the fandom that your work relates to. If you start typing, the field will auto-suggest fandoms for you!

You'll have the best results with full words. The Archive doesn't know abbreviations!

If you've tried full words and nothing shows up, it might be the first work for that fandom! Congrats!! You can type the name of the fandom and press Enter or Return on your keyboard, and it'll appear just as any other fandom.

~~

2. Relationships

TL;DR - Relationships will auto-suggest based on what you enter in the Fandoms field!

Once you've entered a fandom, the "Relationships" field will auto-suggest as you type with relationships that have previously been tagged* in that fandom.

An ampersand (&) indicates that a relationship is platonic. A slash (/) indicates that a relationship is romantic or sexual.

Similar to the Fandoms field, full names are going to work best here.

Some things to note:

Tags suggest based on how closely they match what you've typed, then by how much they're used

Characters are alphabetized by last name (usually)! The order of names has no other meaning, like who tops, the Archive's favorite character, whatever. It's just the alphabet.

You can leave it blank. If there are no significant relationships, you can leave it empty!

If you want to note that a relationship is background, endgame, anything like that, you can indicate that in the Relationships field, but that's better for the Additional Tags field.

If your relationship isn't showing up, congrats! It might be the first time it's been tagged (or a wrangler hasn't gotten to it yet). Hit Enter and the tag wranglers will do the rest!

~~

3. Characters

TL;DR - Characters auto-suggest based on fandom, and tags are usually their most common name.

This field is to tag the characters who appear in the fic. Character tags will use the most common name in canon or fandom (ex. Tony Stark, not Anthony Edward Stark).

But I don't know if they're a big enough character to tag!

A good rule of thumb is: Would you be disappointed if this was your blorbo and you were looking for fics with them in it? Note: This is a rule of thumb that I, the author, use, and not an Actual Rule anywhere.

If your blorbo is a canonical character and they don't have a tag, it's not personal! They just haven't been tagged yet (or a wrangler hasn't gotten to it yet). Hit Enter and the tag wranglers will do the rest!

If your blorbo is not a canonical character, then I can't guarantee anything. Most fandoms need a non-canonical character to be tagged by at least three separate people before wranglers will make it into a tag. So recruit a friend or two!

~~

4. Additional Tags

TL;DR - Anything and everything else!

This is the field people struggle the most with. So much so that there are three archive tags for it: How Do I Tag, I'm Bad at Tagging, and Tags Are Hard!

This field can tag for anything and everything else that wasn't covered in the Fandoms, Relationships, and Characters fields. Think of it as bright colors on an animal -- it warns some away, and it entices others.

Here are some ideas:

genre/tone (fluff, angst, murder mystery, slow burn, etc)

relationship modifiers (background X & Y, endgame X/Y, X and Y are exes, etc)

character modifiers (mentioned X, werewolf Y, trans Z, etc)

tropes (there was only one bed, fake dating, etc)

any other warnings not covered by the Archive Warnings section (panic attacks, sad ending, nightmares, etc)

alternate vs canon universe?

when in canon? (missing scene, fix-it fic, pre-canon, etc)

If there's smut, any kinks

meta tags about the work (POV, verb tense, drabble, one-shot, etc)

If something doesn't show up, try a synonym; it may be phrased a little differently. And if a tag doesn't exist, make it! Wranglers will link it to where it needs to do.

~~

Wrangling FAQ!

Why do some characters have parentheses after their name and some don't?

The parentheses are used to reduce ambiguity between characters. "Steve" is just some guy, but if I type "Steve (Blue's Clues)", now we both know which Steve I'm talking about.

Why doesn't my canonical blorbo have a filterable tag yet?

If your fandom is very busy, the wrangler probably hasn't gotten to it yet. Be patient! If it's a fairly small fandom, it may not have a wrangler. There's only so many of us, and there are a truly mindboggling number of fandoms on the Archive.

Why isn't my tag "Blorbo is gay and Blorbette is trans" a filterable tag yet? They're gay and trans in canon!

Tags that have multiple concepts are almost never going to become filterable tags. That's because wranglers can only link a tag to one other tag with the same meaning. This tag would have two meanings: "Blorbo is gay" AND "Blorbette is trans".

Just because something is the case in canon doesn't mean that it automatically gets a filterable tag. Ao3 is an archive, not a wiki!

I don't want anyone changing my tags!

Then you're in luck, because we don't! Wranglers don't and can't change the tags on a work. Tag wranglers work on the backend, linking related tags to each other.

Do wranglers really see every tag?

Yup! But no need to be embarrassed. I promise you that your tag is not the weirdest thing your wrangler has seen.

I think a tag has been wrangled wrong!

Feel free to let Support know! Please don't come into my inbox and ask me to do something bc I can't if it's not my fandom.

I'm still confused! Where can I find more information?

Check out the Wrangling Guidelines! They're available for anyone to look through, and they're what guide the filterable tags that you see. They also have a lot more information and caveats for strange circumstances that I didn't cover in this post.

[spamminginks]

Please remember that this is always only about the cubitos and never about the actual CC themselves. 🫰Also this is just me word vomiting because I have no one to talk to about this stuff lol.

Something that seems that a lot of people have forgotten is that before guapoduo ever even existed, early in the egg arc, we talking first two or three weeks, a lot of the other parents were super jealous of what Phil and Missa had and that they were THE couple.

Like not even at a distance. On the way to rescue the eggs when they got kidnapped the first time, FitMC of 2b2t straight up said, to their faces, that he was jealous of what they had as a couple and then proceeds to go off on Spreen for leaving for cigarettes. Missa adds to this saying that on twitter, everyone was saying that they were also jealous of them. Then there is also the instance of Slime and Mariana (literally within the first two hours of having the eggs) saying that they were too happy together and that they want to trade, to which Philza ("come to bed partner" in our deluxe double bed) Minecraft proceeds to huddle next to Missa saying that he's plenty happy with his partner (this was before he would add platonic in front while Missa was gone, to which he immediately stopped doing as soon as he got back as far as I'm aware).

After all of that, jump to current date, post guapoduo, who are the biggest Phil and Missa fans? First a foremost Chayanne (my god the kid has a backpack named Phissa and caged Forever when he was flirting with Phil in protest), Mumza (came up with Pissa/Phissa as their ship name) Tallulah, and then Richarlyson or guapoduo themselves (Roiers "no mamas" to Missa calling Phil handsome then asking when the wedding was and drunk Cellbit full chest shipping them, telling Missa that Phil is just shy with his feelings and also immediately clocked that the skull on Phils backpack was for Missa once he saw them together).

Also being in a QPR doesn't necessarily mean absence of romantic feelings (coming from a aro/ace person in a romantic QPR) but there is nothing wrong with seeing their relationship as strictly platonic on Philzas side of things and you are completely valid. 💛

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

Dating Neige LeBlanche Headcanons

I write Reader/Yuu as female

Masterlist

He’s the absolute epitome of a fairytale prince I swear. Like Snow White, he’s such a forest nymph - animals just flock to him (honestly same)

His favourite pet name for you is ‘dove’ but he does love calling you ‘snowdrop’ 

He’s so kind and gentle and he’s filled with so much tender adoration ♡

He is fair and beautiful both outside and in and it shows all the time okay

Think of the personification of innocent young romance. He’s that.

You both are constantly giving each other butterflies, it’s adorable. 

Since you live in NRC, he likes to send his bird friends to give you his love. Usually white doves would nestle and rub against your cheek, softly cooing, or blue birds would fly to your window with a scented love letter attached to their talons.

Your animal friends are very much acting as your wingmen and they love to playfully push you together

The seven dwarfs love you and have been shipping the two of you since the moment you met

Being a celebrity, he knows the importance of privacy and whether you want your relationship to be secret or public he’ll be 1000% supportive

If you’re comfortable with a public relationship, he’s definitely written at least one love song thinking about you

You’re the first person to get any of his new products - even the ones that aren’t even released yet

One the first things he does with you, before you even start dating, is show you his secret hideout in RSA and the wishing well he loves to sit and sing by

He has a white mare and he loves it when you ride with him

His favourite pieces of outerwear are his cherry red cape, cloak and jacket and he just loves to drape them over you (you love it more since they never fail to carry his scent)

Berry picking dates! Strolls along the forest dates! Baking dates! Just being in each others’ presence dates!

Definitely an acts of service kind of guy

Prince Rielle is the president of your ship (this doesn’t really have anything to do with the headcanons I just wanted to get that out there)

This sweetheart just lives for forehead and cheek kisses (both giving and receiving)

He’ll take any opportunity to sing - his motto is ‘with a smile and a song’ after all

He’s very much a classical romantic and absolutely adores poetry 

He likes to dance with you - he gets so excited waltzing with you in public but the intimacy of being alone with you is incomparable 

He never fails to give you a bouquet of flowers (if that’s your thing) whenever he meets you no matter how swift or mundane the meeting is

He’s so considerate and open about everything. He only tries to hide his feelings when he gets upset or overwhelmed or not as sunny as he usually is - not necessarily because he wants to keep things from you but because he knows that if you see him upset, you’ll get upset and he never wants to see you upset. This only lasts for a minute at most because he hates keeping things from you and you can see right through him (not that it’s an easy feat - this boy is an award-winning actor)

He’s a king at sympathy and comfort and always knows exactly what to do when you’re feeling down

The both of you like to read and act out fairy tales together.

If you enjoy singing, you bet that he’d duet with you

He never fails to text you good morning and goodnight

He’s only got one heart that’s constantly singing one song, only for you.

[perseephoneee]

okie dokie does a Dean Winchester x reader fic work? Had an idea way back in s1 when jess first dies, (older sister, who kinda takes sam under her wing) reader ended up meeting dean through sam. They had similar personalities but (reader) was more of a hopeless romantic than Dean. Sam on the other hand could totally see them together but Dean always denied it.

“Stop eyeing her like she's a piece of steak, you creep” “The hell? I do not do that, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

so they left ca and travelled and maybe in s2-3 (doesnt have to be accurate) they end up back in ca because of a case or cause reader called sam for help. (not expecting dean to show up as well) and after shes not in danger, turns out they get along really well.

"Im not an arm rest, dean." "Mhm, then why are you so short?" "I'M 5'3 THATS NORMAL"

and just fluff..? idk man let me know if its not what you want to write, i can totally change it💜

not a steak (dean winchester x f!reader)

↳ masterlist  ↳ ship exchange ↳ taglist ↳ 1k celebration

wow remember when i could actually write things in a timely manner? yeah, me neither. i miss those days (that never existed). whomp whomp.

You don't necessarily remember the exact moment that you met Sam. He's been a constant in your life since you were his TA as an undergraduate, watching this freakishly tall freshman so eager to succeed in your class. He made your heart soft, and he made you feel protective. Even though he was so much bigger than you, a naivety in his persona made you take extra time to ensure he succeeded. He ended up getting an A in the class.

You do remember when you met Dean, however. You had heard stories of Dean from Sam the few times you'd catch lunch outside of school. By this point, you were a grad student, filling the void of the older sibling that Sam unconsciously needed filled. You never pried for too many details, and that's how you got people to shut up really fast. But you did meet Dean right as he left town to look for his Dad. Dean was coarse and dismissive of you as if you were just another roadblock stopping him from taking his brother. When you finally got his attention, it was just to size you up before wordlessly climbing into his car. Sam seemed apologetic, but mostly, you were just worried. You had every right to be. Jessica died a week later.

The thing about you is that you can't let a dead dog lie. Where's the fun in that? You'd much rather figure out ways to raise them.

Sam was brilliant, but he let enough details slip to allow you to research him. And you were a law graduate student; you knew a thing or two about studying. Random newspaper clippings, shoutouts of various names, and blog posts allowed you to figure out the supernatural aspect of his life that he had kept from you. You should've been more surprised, but you were more excited than anything. There was more out there. What a strangely relieving thought.  

This knowledge proved helpful when you realized you had a poltergeist.

The new place you moved into was charming and Victorian, the dream of everyone with a Pinterest board. It was in fairly decent shape, and with your roommates, you guys thought you could polish it up to something livable during your suffering years of graduate school. Unfortunately, the price was too good to be true, which led to the unfortunate circumstance of hauntings culminating in one of your roommates in the hospital, barely alive. You called Sam that night.

"Hey Sam, it's me…" you trailed off at that, feet tucked under you as the machines' beeping cut through the silence. "I need your help."

The next day, he was at your door, enveloping you in a hug. He smelled exactly the same, and you didn't realize how much you missed him. Dean was with him.

"I'm Dean," he nodded, holding out a hand. You raised a brow.

"We've met."

"I would've remembered someone who looks like you," Dean scoffs, an easy smirk on his lips that probably made many women swoon. You just rolled your eyes, going back into your house and hoping Sam followed.

A week later, the boys were still here. This ghost was frustrating, and it was more the principle of it that was pissing you off more than anything. You let the brothers stay at the house since it was safer in numbers and cheaper. Plus, your roommates took a wide berth of the place before returning. A routine developed in the short time they were here. You cooked breakfast, Sam made coffee, and Dean woke up at some point. You and Sam would enjoy the paper before something happened (usually related to the crossword that Dean was totally not interested in), and you ended up bickering with the older Winchester until Sam got fed up with it and shut it down.

"Stop eyeing her like she's a piece of steak," Sam muttered to Dean when you weren't around, having stormed off to some other corner of the house. Dean almost spit out his coffee.

"The hell? I do not do that. I have no clue what you're talking about."

Sam just nodded, hiding a smirk behind his book as Dean grumbled about not checking you out.

For the first time that week, Sam was out that night. He was following "a lead." What that lead was, no one knew, but it meant you were alone. With Dean. In a house. Without supervision.

You grumbled something about making dinner. Dean followed you.

"Are you lost?" you asked, hands on your hips as Dean plopped himself at the counter.

"I'm following the food."

"Of course you are."

"Please, no more rabbit food," Dean groaned. "I can't take it anymore."

"Oh no, definitely not," you smirked, pulling out some steaks from the fridge you had been saving. Dean's eyes immediately lit up. "You're helping me cook these. I'm not letting your dumb ass sit around while I prepare a meal."

"You're bossy," Dean grumbles but doesn't complain further as he removes his flannel and sets it on the chair. You ignore that he looks really good in a t-shirt and return to grabbing ingredients. To his credit, Dean is good at letting you tell him what to do and following through. He is definitely a better chef than Sam, who has burned many things in your kitchen. Dean is an excellent sous chef. You tell him as such.

"The hell? I am not a sous," he says while furiously stirring butter.

"It's a compliment, you knobhead."

"Knobhead? What 1950s show are you living in?"

This conversation went back and forth for a while. But you finished cooking a meal, which is always considered a success in your book. Dean devoured him almost immediately before you could even finish cutting through it. Then, it was just you attempting to finish your meal in peace. This was difficult, as Dean continuously kept eyeing your food, hoping you might give it to him, and then would complain outwardly when you didn't.

"You're not going to finish it," he drank his beer, once again looking at your dinner. You glared.

"I can finish it."

"A girl like you doesn't finish an entire steak."

That comment pissed you off. You finished your steak in two bites, shocking Dean, and then proceeded to grab his glass of beer and down it in one gulp. You slammed the glass down, raising a brow. "You have no clue what type of girl I am."

You grabbed both your plates and made your way to the kitchen, putting them in the sink and starting to clean the dishes. You barely made it through a plate before Dean pushed you out of the way.

"Dean—"

"I'm not questioning your ability, but in my world, the one who doesn't cook cleans. So, sit your ass down," Dean said before you could chew him out. You bit the inside of your cheek and sat down, still glaring at him as he washed each dish meticulously and put them either in the dishwasher or on the drying rack. When he was done, he threw the dishtowel over his shoulder. The domesticity made you soften. "I'm sorry for earlier."

You blinked, not really expecting any sort of apology from Dean Winchester. You did expect that you would not get anything besides those words.

"I don't understand women."

You laughed at that, leaning on your hand with your elbow on the table. "Aren't you a self-proclaimed ladies' man?"

"I know how to sleep with women, but I don't get what goes through your heads," Dean leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "You want one thing and then a different thing, and I can't keep up."

"So, you're admitting you're slow." Dean threw the towel at you. "Women aren't that complicated; men are just bad listeners. You included."

"I can listen."

"Really? What was I frusterated about at dinner?" you challenged, getting off your seat and leaning over the counter. He blinked a few times.

"That I kept asking for your steak?"

"No, that you presumed that as a woman, I couldn't finish a steak."

"Well, that's not what I said," Dean replied, getting defensive. You just rolled your eyes, grabbing the wine bottle on the counter.

"Oh, also, insight into women; they lie about how good men actually are in the bedroom," you winked, leaving the room and taking the wine with you. You could almost hear Dean's jaw drop.

"It ain't a lie, princess," he intercepted you, his stupid legs moving much faster than yours. You frowned but didn't say anything. Dean took a breath, locking eyes with you. "Why do you insist on always pushing my buttons?"

"Because it's fun? Because you're both annoying and easy to annoy?" you shrugged, clutching your wine bottle to your chest. You didn't know why you picked on him, besides the fact he could be an absolute ASS sometimes that needed kicking. No, you suppose it goes back to early schoolyard days where instead of 'flirting,' you'd push the person and maybe claim to the entire class that they had cooties. To this day, you still had no idea what cooties exactly were, just that you never wanted to catch them.

"I think you like me," Dean smirked. He had crowded you against the wall leading to the living room. Your wine was an innocent bystander clutched to your chest. Maybe not as tall as Sam, but you still had to look up to see him. "I'm gonna prove it."

"Excuse me?" you breathed any sort of bite to your words caught in your throat as he reached up to your face and stroked your cheek. His hands found purchase holding your neck, tilting your face even higher and infinitely closer. Dean took the wine bottle out of your hands, your last line of defense, and stepped away for a second to put it back on the counter. His hands found your face again.

"Hey princess," he whispered, voice sultry. "Breathe." You couldn't do such a thing even if you wanted to because his lips were on yours, and he tasted like the draft beer in your fridge and apple pie. He was gentle, too gentle, and you wanted more. Your hands, first unsure of what to do, grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. One of his hands moved to your waist, thumb brushing the exposed skin where your shirt rode up. He was everywhere all at once, masculinity encapsulated, and you were drowning in it. He pulled away, letting you breathe, the command you forgot to follow. "I wanted to do that since I saw you."

"Bullshit."

"Honest to god— well, not god, but honest— but then you had to go and be increasingly difficult," Dean scoffed, still holding on to you.

"You don't even remember the first time we met."

"Of course I do; it was a week after my Dad disappeared," Dean responded. "You were wearing pajamas and had a raincoat wrapped around you as you asked Sam not to go so that you could figure it out together. I was curt, and you looked like you wanted to call me a thousand horrible names, but you let it go as we drove away."

You smiled a little at that. "You do remember."

"What can I say? I like pushing your buttons."

You smacked him on the chest, earning a laugh as you fought off your smile. You did finally get your wine and let Dean choose something to watch. About halfway through your movie (and three glasses of pinot noir in), you got distracted by a makeout session that would've made your teenage self swoon, but it didn't progress more than that. Neither of you wanted to go too fast. Most of the time, it was just light conversation, cuddling, and the realization that maybe you two were much more alike than you thought.

Both of you fell asleep like that on the couch, blissfully unaware of the morning light. Sam came home early in the morning, dropping his bags before seeing the both of you entwined on the couch. A smile crossed his face.

"Finally."

taglist: @lover-of-books-and-tea @qardasngan @evasmlp

[fortuna-et-cataclysmos]

S5 finale: wrapping up the "running out of time" theme

So I have been mentioning frequently that there is a theme of "running out of time" in season 5, but I wasn't able to make out the meaning of it, until now.

We can say that there are three situations where the theme explicitely manifests:

Gabriel: After receiving a cataclysm wound in Destruction, we often hear Gabriel repeat that he is running out of time. The entire Intuition episode is based on that premise.

Ladynoir: This is the most obvious manifestation of this theme. In Jubilation, Ladybug and Chat Noir live a dream just to be constantly reminded that their perfect life together will end when they wake up to reality. I call it Ladynoir, but actually it is Maribug's love and romantic relationship with Chat in general.

Adrinette: This is the most subtle one, but it is there. Notice how Marinette needs to ease into a relationship with Adrien, and Adrien is doing his best to cut her slack, so much so that he says in Derision, and I quote: "We've got time." Soon after, Adrien is sent to London.

If you think I have forgotten other strings of running out of time, feel free to let me know!

Now let's look at these three strings individually:

Gabriel running out of time

This one is the simplest one as it starts very early on in the season, with the episode Destruction where he gets the cataclym wound, and ends in Recreation with his "sacrifice." Also worthy noting the names of the episodes. What starts as Gabriel running out of time in Destruction is concluded in Recreation with him making his wish, accomplishing his wish, and dying. We can consider this thread concluded.

2. Ladynoir running out of time

Of course, the first episode that comes to mind is Jubilation. In Jubilation we (and the blorbos) learn that they actually desire to be together, romantically. And indeed they get to live a perfect little life in their dream, ignoring the increasingly bigger alarm clocks that are trying to wake them up. Except that at the end Ladybug realises that they must wake up (duty calls!), and she abandons Chat Noir in the dream universe, broken.

From here on, nearly every episode is a warning for Marinette against being romantically together with Chat Noir:

Determination: Marinette accepts that she has feelings for Chat Noir, her reaction to that is crying

Passion: Ladybug's crush on Chat Noir leads to her being distracted and making many critical mistakes in their fight

Reunion: is a cautionary tale about Ladybug and Cat Miraculous holders falling in love

Illusion: (I haven't watched this in a while but I think nothing relevant happens here)

Elation: Marinette is nearly akumatised because of her love to and rejection by Chat Noir

The overarching message from Jubilation to Elation is that: if Maribug ends up with Chat Noir, it'll be a disaster.

So Marinette decides to close up her heart to anyone, and after a brief depression, Adrien finally convinces her to be with him and they become an official couple. From this point onwards, the key ship becomes Adrinette.

Does that mean that Ladynoir has run out of time? Not necessarily. They just decided to love each other in a different way. I should remind here that even though we tend to polarise the sides of the square as fandom, the creators have repeatedly told that the love square is one, there is one love.

The Ladynoir relationship has a direct connection to the Adrinette dynamics because after all, they're the same two people.

3. Adrinette running out of time

Now that Adrinette is finally together, they should have all the time in the world, right? Right? It's what Adrien says, after all.

But I couldn't shake this sense of urgency throughout this season. Every time they said that they had time, it made me feel like they actually don't and they don't know it. And it was exactly what they wanted to make us feel: with Adrien's move to London, it turns out they didn't have time. Worse is that, Adrien actually knew that he'd need to move to London but he couldn't tell it to Marinette, he kept it a secret all the way till he was shipped off to London.

And there is a parallel between Jubilation and Revolution here: in both episodes, their dream is shattered, they share one last dramatic kiss, and they are torn apart from one and other (@asukiess had a big brain time and pointed this out back when Revolution aired).

But now, in Recreation, Gabriel is gone. Everything is fixed? Everyone will be happy, right?

Well... No.

As I pointed out in a previous post, the world that Gabriel creates is a bit too bright, too perfect. The show is notorious for associating the sun with fake happiness at this point, while the "real" moments are rainy and/or dark. And let's see the colour palette in the end:

Another detail that makes me put on my tinfoil hat:

They're not very visible on the static image, but there are white butterflies flying over the flower arch. Those could be symbolising the end, as a reference to how Ladybug releases the purified akuma at the end of each episode. But it might also have a second meaning, a reference to how this world was in fact created upon the ideals of Gabriel.

And that can't be good for anyone. I explain more the consequences and aftermath of this episode in the post I mention above, but basically this world is Gabriel's ideal, and it is far from being a good place for neither Marinette, nor Adrien.

One main reason why: Gabriel has left Marinette with the truth about the Monarch, and she agreed to keep it a secret from Adrien. But we know that it will eventually come out. Either she tells it to Chat Noir, or maybe Lila plots something, but it won't remain a secret forever. And when it does... it will have tremendous impact on not only Adrinette, but also Ladynoir.

This world is a fantasy world where Marinette and Adrien have ended up together, just like in: Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, Oblivio, Jubilation. And at one point the alarm clock will ring, the hammer will drop, and both Ladynoir and Adrinette will run out of time. Except that this time, we may not be able to revert back to the status quo.

Gabriel has left them with a tickling time bomb.

[goodluckclove]

Some Loose Thoughts on Queer Rep (Specifically Aspec Rep)

(Just in advance I'm going to dunk on Alastor from Hazbin Hotel like a lil' bit, as a treat. Mainly the team that made him and what he represents, but still. If that's rage bait for you, I suggest maybe dipping out now)

I have a theory that queer media needs both queer characters and queer genre characters. The difference is very important.

I think a queer character would be a character in a story about their queerness. For some reason the only two characters I could think of are the guy from Love, Simon (What was his name again?) and the protagonist from Rubyfruit Jungle, which should express the weird and complicated relationship I have with this particular archetype.

Queer stories centered around queerness are definitely needed, but at the same time I feel like we're just starting to come to terms with the desperate need for the alternative, which are queer characters in genre media that contain overarching plots larger than their sexuality. Not separate, necessarily (Their queerness certainly influences things), but just beyond. This is more accessible for a variety of artists, which is also the reason why it can be a flop or a massive success.

We get more of this than ever for gay and sapphic characters, as well as some trans folks and occasionally non-binary. It's definitely way less seen in aspec characters, and even less respected. I started thinking this way because the internet is flooded with references to fucking Alastor from Hazbin Hotel as an aroace character and - like - god, I don't get it.

Like you can have your serial killer comfort character, that's fine. But latching onto him as representation for the entire aspec community when he was only confirmed to be aroace through a reference in a livestream and the weakest joke onscreen is pretty disheartening. It definitely reads like this part of his identity was added pretty late in his character development, and by a team of people that didn't seem to consider what the response and reaction would be and how they'd handle it.

I also wish the newest aspec icon in media wasn't created by a team so adamant on encouraging shipping culture above actually respecting the identity they've decided to provide representation for. Like I see it means a lot to people to have an aroace character doing something cool in a fun TV show that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with their identity. Then there's like four other people right behind that person who really wants that person to be romantic and fuck.

And like, yeah, aroace people can do that sometimes. It's a spectrum, I know. But can't we start with a baseline representation before providing proof of fluidity?

I just think we deserve better. Like a character who in the media is established to be aspec, and people are like "great" and move on to fight robots or do magic or whatever. And the person can be morally grey, or even a total dick, but like I'd personally prefer something with a little more depth than Hot Topic genericism.

Like don't get me wrong, I'll take some sort of eldritch horror as my representation, but...make him at all horrifying? Like everyone talks about how he has Eldritch powers, which I know to mean unfathomable and maddening. But I've seen everything he does in the canon of the show and it is both incredibly fathomable and makes me feel normal and sane. Yog-Sothoth this man is not.

But yeah, I don't think there's a solution here besides more aspec artists creating aspec characters in their work. That way people can still like Alastor if they want, but he's not like the only viable option in terms of representation in the media. Let me see lovingly-crafted cool guys and dipshits and chaos goblins and little babies and True Horrors, all of whom have varying degrees of distaste or indifference towards sex and romance.

Do it. We need it. Please.

[thewertsearch]

GG: aaaaa please dont tell anyone i told you about him! […] CA: settle dowwn jade youre radically underestimatin the amount of shit i dont givve about this […] CA: i got bigger ships to sink and soon wwhen im good and ready me and my luminous fuckin science stick havve got a date wwith jack noir

Seems like Eridan's planning to join Vriska.

Correction - he's planning to rejoin Vriska.

If he's trying to restart their kismesissitude, he's going to be sorely disappointed. Vriska is out of his league, and not just as a romantic partner. She's a god, and he's an angry kid with a wand who represents no threat whatsoever to Noir.

CA: wwhys this matter so hush hush anywway GG: he didnt want me to tell my friends who he really was […] GG: he was so nice, and it really did feel like i was talking to family, so i really dont think he was making it up

I think your intuition is correct, but that doesn't mean he's specifically your grandson. After all, 'family' is a term which can encompass all sorts of relationships.

GG: i couldnt help but try to imagine his parents… GG: and more interestingly……. GG: his grandfather :O

Even if he is your grandson, that doesn't necessarily mean he has a grandfather. As far as I can tell, there's no reason why the Veil's DNA-mixing machine couldn't merge the genes of two women.

For all we know, Pen-Pal could have four biological grandmothers!

CA: that gun i just gavve you is somethin of a hatchright to the kid CA: happy i could play a role in your dirty stinkin lineage GG: like an heirloom? i guess it could be GG: do you even have those? if you dont have parents how could you? CA: no wwe dont knoww our direct forebears and im pretty sure any attempt to seek out or evven inquire about the supplier of your genes wwould be a fine wway to get yourself killed

I didn't think a troll's genes had an individual supplier.

Based on the fact that their genetic material is combined in the Mother Grub, I've been assuming that each troll is created from a large number of 'parents', whose DNA is mixed in the Mother's stomach.

Obviously, our Sgrub trolls are going to be an exception to this rule, since the game presumably cloned them from twelve Guardians - but Eridan seems to be implying that all trolls have an individual parent.

This doesn't align at all with what we know about troll reproduction. There also seems to be a certain amount of secrecy surrounding this process, since Eridan thinks you'd be killed for looking into it. Is there some sort of conspiracy at play?

CA: but wwevve got our lore and it says wwe all got indivvidual ancestors wwho contribute to most of our genes abovve and beyond wwhat the grubs slurry does

Alright, that makes a little more sense. So trolls are derived from a large mixture of DNA, but they have one true 'parent' who contributes the lion's share of genetic data.

Maybe an embryonic troll starts off as a clone of this parent, and other trolls' genes are slowly spliced into it as it develops.

Again, for the Sgrub trolls, things are a little different. We have reason to believe they were cloned in sets of three, implying that each of them has three genetic donors. Perhaps, then, they each inherited the majority of their DNA from one of these trolls - their 'ancestor' - and only share a small number of genes with the other two.

These ancestors have been mentioned before - quite a while ago, now - and I think they may be the key to solving a major mystery of the Hivebent arc.

Namely, Aradia mentioned her ancestors, and seemed to believe she was following their orders. When Scratch's plans started to reveal themselves, I assumed that he was the one directing Aradia, and was only pretending to be these unseen forebears.

With this new revelation, however, I'm forced to reconsider my stance. What if the Voices were those of the ancestors?

What if Aradia was being instructed by the troll Guardians all along?

[hotwaterandmilk]

So I decided to pick up physical copies of The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions from Yen Press on a whim the other day. I've been in such a nostalgia hole about Ragawa's works thanks to the Hanayume 50th celebrations and I remembered her manga adaptation of Konohara Narise's novels had restarted not that long ago. It made sense to get the books and begin a catchup re-read before the fifth volume comes out in English.

I'll be honest, I don't remember much about the Kyuketsuki to Yukai na Nakamatachi novels or manga from when I first encountered them. I had the first two manga volumes in Japanese at one point, but gave them away when the manga went on hiatus years ago. However, upon beginning my catchup re-read in English I was struck by how much the story resonated with me now.

If you've never read the series before now, long story short from Yen Press, "When a vampire from Nebraska named Al gets frozen in bat form, he winds up in Japan under the care of a dark and mysterious man covered in a bloody scent!"

I'd like to get into why I think this series is worth picking up now and for that it's probably easier to throw my ramblings under a cut.

I feel like the humorous elements of the series are what get talked about in the (admittedly scant) English language reviews for the series and, while the whole setup can be quite amusing, the more serious elements are what actually makes it stand out from other vampire tales with romantic elements. While everything is exaggerated, there are some very "real" aspects that help The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions stand out in an endless sea of vampire tales.

For example, Al being bitten by a vampire wasn't a ticket to easy street. There was nothing glamorous about what happened to him. That bite ruined his life and through no fault of is own, he rapidly became destitute. Vampirism in fiction is often shown leading characters to social isolation, but not necessarily to poverty. Given that Al has lost everything that connected him to his previous life, it makes sense that in our current capitalistic society he'd also lose access to even the most basic things our societal identities afford us -- including housing.

So yes, it's amusing that this bat-boy ended up flash frozen and shipped with some meat to Japan. However, the circumstances that led up to that outcome are given the weight they deserve. You truly do feel for Al in these moments because haven't we all been, at one time or another in our lives, perilously close to losing everything? These fleeting glimpses at the past sting in otherwise rollicking segments of the story as they should. Everything beautiful in Al's present is something that he didn't have during his lowest points and you truly feel for him as he works to prolong these moments.

Another serious moment that lifts the series even higher in my eyes is when it becomes aparent that Akira has access to human remains. Rather than handwaving away the access to blood as a convenient way to get Al the nutrition he needs, a significant amount of time is dedicated to the ethics surrounding the situation. The gravity with which all lives should be handled post-mortem and just a generally respectful examination of embalming as a process.

Unsurprisingly, I find the portrayal of Al's "incomplete" vampirism as a form of disability to be a compelling take on the mythos too. Al gets almost none of the "benefits" of being a vampire due to the whole process "not being done properly." What this leaves him with are a lot of things that make his everyday life different from not just humans, but "complete" vampires as well.

These differences mean he struggles to feed himself properly, feels significant levels of pain, and his body is often weak or doesn't behave the way he wants it to. The cause here is obviously fiction, but the way Al's acquired disability impacts his capacity to function to an acceptable level in a society of "normal" folks (both human and vampire) really struck me as ringing true, at least for myself and my own disabilities.

Yeah, I'm not going to turn into an adorable bat (and truly, bat Al is A D O R A B L E) but the struggle to make use of the few good hours in a day when my body works to a degree, that's so goddamn real. Al wants to contribute to the household, to pay back Akira and to be a functioning member of society... but it's not as straightforward for him as it is for others and that's something I appreciate being explored here.

Another thing that stands out to me is Akira's sexuality. While there are a lot of misunderstandings with Al and Akira that lead to people assuming they're lovers, when Akira is pushed into a corner about having a lover he shuts this down by describing himself as being frigid or having a low libido (in very blunt language).

I feel like the depth of this is conveyed well in the English translation by the subsequent line:

While at this point in the series Akira hasn't labeled his sexuality as being either demisexual or asexual, this is definitely something that it feels like the narrative is leaning towards. Particularly when Al clarifies the difference, in his limited language skills, between the physical and the romantic.

Akira is still figuring out what is comfortable for him in terms of dealing with people, so it makes sense that his progress regarding intimacy has only accelerated after meeting Al. The batty vampire is pushing him towards understanding more about himself and how he chooses to interact with those around him, but the ball is still very much in Akira's court regarding whether he'd like to explore either the physical or emotional aspects of their relationship further. I found that really refreshing?

That this story allows the dark-haired, brooding hero who is one part of our lead will-they-or-won't-they, to assert that he doesn't feel the same level of physical attraction that others do. That he isn't entirely confident in this either, that it's a part of himself he's never opened up about before, that it's something Al uncovers and isn't suddenly changed to fit what is acceptable. But that it doesn't lessen Al's interest in him, it's just part of who Akira is... gah! It really resonated with me idk. I love some smut, but I also appreciate it when a story focused on something as sexual as vampirism chooses to eschew this in favour of raw emotional edging instead.

I've pushed the more serious elements of the text in this ramble, but before I wrap up I should really note that there are some very funny moments too. For example, Al's bluntness here when he speaks Japanese.

The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions isn't the best work of vampire fiction I've ever read, but it uses its recurring themes of isolation vs. the need for connection to craft an enjoyable narrative. One that I feel lingers in my mind a bit more than others. While Al's unique form of vampirism leads to some absurd escapades, the story is elevated by having its emotional core remain grounded in the intrinsic beauty of everyday human interaction and how even fundamentally different people can connect in small but significant ways.

Blah blah blah, you should check it out, I can't wait for the next volume, etc.

[verycharismaticdragon]

Currently reading a Korean webnovel instead of Chinese ones and this is making me conceptualize something, let’s see if I can put it in words…

My musings started with realizing that I’ve become very used to this cnovels thing where the main pairing is literally stated in the summary. Not the case for the k-novel I’m reading, and therefore I’m experiencing Pain and Suffering, — torn between my every instinct screaming that the author is setting up the OT3 endgame, and trying to lower my expectations to avoid disappointment. (And the novel is ongoing so I can’t even get spoilers for the ending :) girl help.)

As you may’ve guessed, I found myself strongly preferring the Chinese variant; but as to why exactly it was so important for my enjoyment to know the main couple… it took me a bit to figure out.

I mean, it’s not like I’m reading exclusively for romance, okay? Fannish activity-wise, sure, I tend to get fixated on ships (though even then, not all the time), but when it comes to reading (or any media intake, really), it’s not necessarily what I’m most interested in. Among my beloved titles, there are many where there’s no canon or fanon couple I'm attached to — and more than a few where there’s a canon couple that I neither love nor hate, just accept. So why did I get so attached to the concept of being, essentially, spoiled the endgame couple beforehand?

The key word that made it click was: promise. After all, it’s not like knowing the names of the characters that get together tells me anything about if they will be interesting or boring together, if they will be good for each other or make me scream “break up!” a million times. But it is a solid promise that these two people ARE gonna be a couple. 

And thinking about the word promise reminded me of discussions on plot twists that I’ve seen on here, about what makes a good plot twist and what makes a bad one — specifically, the phrase “narrative promise” that someone came up with. Basically, narrative promise is in the set up and the build up. If the plot twist betrays the narrative promise, it will not work, and it will be hated by the audience, who’ll feel like their emotional investment into the story was mocked.

The thing about the narrative promise, and why this term stuck with me, is that it’s actually applicable more broadly than just for shock-factor plot twists. For example: what is queerbaiting, if not betraying the narrative promise that the two characters are gonna be together? The fans see the narrative promise — the set up and the build up that would be unequivocally romantic for a het couple — and expect it to be fulfilled; only to be called delusional by the very creators that gave them this expectation. 

And this brings me to the next point: the catch of the “narrative promise” is that it’s never a guarantee. You can be completely sure the author is setting up X, only for them to turn around and do something completely different. (Possibly while calling you a little bitch for having the stupidity to invest your feelings into their creation, too.) After a while, a fan learns to manage their expectations. To not bet too much on anything, even if it feels like there’s no other way it can go. To wait until the end of the season or the last chapter before allowing themselves to get attached; to hold back on deciding whether something is good or not, lest they hype up something they will want to bury and forget later.

And this is where we circle back to c-novels, and to spoiling the main couple in the summary. Except I hesitate to call it “spoiling” because, as discussed, it actually heightens my enjoyment. For a simple reason: this practice takes the narrative promise from its nebulous, uncertain status to something concrete and real. Only for this one aspect and with the minimal-est amount of information possible, but still. That’s one thing I don’t have to guess about or doubt myself on (am I seeing things? is there a heterosexual explanation another way to read this? will the author simply kill off one of the characters before the end so that they don’t have to decide whether to make them explicitly queer?), and one thing I can count on (whatever else happens in the plot, I’ll still have this). It’s easy to invest emotionally into those characters and their relationship, when you have an assurance of their happy ending.

Ofc, I’m not saying that I don’t invest emotionally into relationships or characters other than the main CP — just that it is easier. And I would even say having this one(1) hard promise makes it easier to invest into other elements of the work, too, as it makes for a sort of safety net even if something else is disappointing or painful. 

Like, say you are invested in one couple with great chemistry and one side character. In case of a pre-stated ship, even if the side character dies, at least you still have the canon couple. So it’s not like all of your emotional connection to the book is lost, and you can probably bear with the loss of that character by writing everybody lives AU or something. But if the side character dies AND the couple you were invested in gets broken up or killed off or straight-married with other ppl… then doesn’t that make the entire thing into one massive disappointment? to the point that you might even regret picking up the book that made you care only to slap you in the face?.. 

So yeah, having even just one ship guaranteed is very comforting. And then I thought, well, doesn’t this apply to another type of fiction that I’m very familiar with?

Fanfiction?

Which, since very early on, has adopted the practice of putting the endgame ship in the header of the fic. And which, probably not coincidentally, is often a response to a broken (or at the very least not brought to its logical conclusion) narrative promise. And which always felt uniquely easy to read for me… 

See, prior to getting on this little thought train, I always assumed the ease was due to pre-existing familiarity with canon. You know, not having to learn the entire new setting, already having attachment to the characters… But now that I’ve connected these dots, I thought about times I read fics for fandoms I wasn’t familiar with, and originals formatted as fics — and really, wasn’t it always about the narrative promise made solid? 

Esp with how fics make it even broader than cnovels, by having extensive tags and ratings and such. Getting into a fic, you have a pretty clear idea of what may or may not happen in the story, even if you don’t know what exactly will happen or how. And a fic can fail to live up to the premise set up by ship/rating/tags — but not completely turn its back on it. 

(Well, normally. But in those exceptional cases where tags are misleading, at least you have something to point to when saying, “this is not what I was promised”. The ficwriter can hardly claim they don't understand why you expected [ship] to happen when they personally tagged their work as containing that ship — unlike the traditional media creators, who can always play the "you were totally misunderstanding my intentions the entire time" card.)

And having a solid promise like this, it turns out, takes lotsa pressure off starting a New Unfamiliar thing. I do, in fact, trust like that! So it’s no wonder that there were periods in my life when I would only consume fanfiction, because it was so much easier than extending trust to new titles. And it’s no wonder that what brought me back to being an avid reader were Chinese webnovels that use a practice very similar to what we have in fandoms.

I guess I understand myself better now! Still wish I knew if that k-novel's author is /j or /srs about the ot3 though.

[agentoffangirling]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[aliciavance4228]

I don't like to act like an angry missy right now but why do so many people have to ship Athena with someone?

I can somehow understand shipping her with a female character because:

Many people interpret being a virgin as not having sex with a man and consider that penetration = losing your virginity;

Athena is already believed to have two romantic (though not sexual) relationships with two different women, namely Chariclo and Myrmex.

However, people sometimes really manage to come with the worst pairs ever. Athena + Medusa = LOVE; that's why she helped Perseus to decapitate her and then attached her head to her Aegis. Athena + Arachne = LOVE; that's why she bellitled her so bad to the point where she wanted to kill herself out of shame, or just turned her into a spider directly. Athena + Artemis- You know what, this one is not so bad, actually. I won't criticize this one.

Anyway, but the worst ships ever are those which include her + a male deity.

Athena + Hephaestus; Hephaestus tried to rape her once.

Athena + Poseidon; Besides the fact that they two are already known for deeply hating each other, it is said that Poseidon was the one who suggested Hephaestus to force himself on Athena while he was drunk.

Athena + Zeus; No. Just no. We already have Zeus raping Rhea and Persephone in Orphic Greek Mythology, and trying to rape Aphrodite (in the versions where she is his daughter) as well. We don't need a disturbing SA scene involving them two.

Athena + Ares; It's pretty clear that they two have a common brother/sister rivarly. That's it. That's all.

Athena + Hermes; She's acting like the big sis towards him.

Athena + Apollo; Same as for Athena + Hermes.

Athena + Dionysus; In some myth versions she literally took care of him when he was a baby.

Athena + Hades; Surprised that there are people who actually ship them two, honestly.

The more I see these pairs the more I'm starting to believe that these people cannot understand the fact that there are women who can be happy without a man as well, or that if two people of the opposite gender are getting along it's not necessarily because there's something inherently romantic/sexual in their relationship. They're really acting as if there's something wrong with being asexual or just not interested at all. Furthermore, we already have a lot of goddesses who are not married and sexually active (Aphrodite post-divorce and Demeter are the first examples that come to my mind).

The best theory that I have right now is the Forbidden Fruit Effect. To resume it shorter, the Forbidden Fruit Effect is when someone either craves for something that they clearly cannot have, or can have but with serious consequences. The best example in this case are nuns and how they are presented in an extremely sexual/provocative manner in movies, video games, fanarts etc. Which not only that is disrespectful to religious people, but it's also completely disgusting. You're specifically choosing to sexualize a category of women who made a vow of chastity and clearly expressed their choice of never sleeping with a man.

Athena is one the Three Virgin Goddesses along with Artemis and Hestia in 99,99% of Greek Mythology, so why can't people just respect that and move on?

[glacierruler]

Okay, so there's still a lot I have to set up for this in order for it to happen. But would anyone be interested in doing a collaborative Sanders Sides fic? Like I'd be coming up with the au, but all of you send prompts in. Nothing that necessarily has to involve romantic ships, NSFW, or unsympathetic sides(however the sides can have morally grey actions) would be allowed. I don't know what or if there will be ships, but I think I want that to happen naturally if it does happen at all. And the only related sides would be Remus and Roman, and Remy and Virgil(Remy and Virgil are not related to Remus and Roman, and Remy is not necessarily guaranteed to show up.)

I would be making a side blog for this, simply because of how involved it is. If you send a prompt, you will be credited for it(if you'd like to send one on anon, please give me something to signify it being different than any other anons that might send in prompts), and extra credit will be given to anyone whose prompts make it into the chapter.

All prompts will be put on an index card along with your username or anon signature. Longer prompts will have some words shortened or abbreviated(with to w/ as an example) to fit on the card.

Please don't send in prompts yet, as nothing is set up. I will tag anyone who has said they are interested in a post that has the side blog name, but that won't be until after this poll is done.

Please reblog this to reach as many people as possible. Feel free to send in questions, and please let me know if you'd like to be tagged in the post about the side blog.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Hey I thought I would you ask you something about the Digidestined that makes me really wonder about their relationships.

Minus any shipping,

Which Digidestined do you think brings out each Digidestined the best of themselves? It could be as a friend or a love interest.

The show seems to imply that DNA digivolving/jogress means they are matched together well, but is this really the case?

I think an analysis like this would be helpful.

I would agree that the idea of "brings out the best in the other/makes the other better" is not applicable to every single Jogress combination - and sometimes, it applies more to one side than the other, but it also really depends on the time and place the characters are currently at. While there is a certain theme of complementation going on between all existing Jogress pairs ("one is having something the other lacks"), they also don't make each other "perfect".

Personally, I would also always distinguish that Jogress compatibility doesn't equal romantic compatibility - it CAN be a factor, but is not the main theme in my opinion. But let me look at all individual cases... May be a looooong post!

Taichi: For him, it REALLY depends on what timeframe we want to look at, because it's incredibly context-reliant. To nobody's surprise, I gotta name the 3 characters that - aside from Hikari - have the greatest interpersonal impact on him: Sora, Koushirou and Yamato. Sora's influence makes Taichi softer and, as we know, makes him question his cowardice - she is indirectly responsible for activating his Crest for a reason after all and I still maintain that, despite the miscommunication that goes on between them throughout the series (OWG, Tri), him caring for her is pushing him to do his best. Yamato can be seen as complementary here, because, while Omegamon was never formed BECAUSE of their bond, Yamato still challenges his sense of courage, he makes him more contemplative and considerate in times of emergency (Dark Master's Arc, Tri, Kizuna). Yamato also pushes him to rethink his strategies, pushing him to be better - the problem is that they sometimes have to get physically violent for it to happen and that's not necessarily the healthiest approach. Koushirou is here for the simple fact that he enables Taichi to make the right decisions and even if Taichi still has a tendency to do things himself, he knows he can rely on Koushirou's strengths to do so (Adventure, OWG). Similarly to how he relies on Yamato, even though it has less of an emotionally visible impact. Long story short - he can be his most COURAGEOUS self when his heart, his gut and his head are in the right place. (Hikari can be mentioned here because she gets him to try to be responsible and protective thanks to their past experiences, but that should be self-explanatory.)

Yamato: Jyou and Taichi. Similarly to how Yamato has an emotional impact on Taichi, the same goes the other way round - I'm still ranking him after Jyou, just give me a moment to explain. First of all, both Jyou and Taichi used to have their rocky moments with Yamato, some involving punching, others shouting and accusations. You can argue that, as adults, a.) they have overcome most of their arguments and quarrels and b.) Taichi and Yamato seem to be much, much closer than Jyou and Yamato. I still maintain that, personality wise, Jyou is more emotionally compatible to deal with Yamato's temper. As said, most of Taichi's and Yamato's quarrels have been solved by now, Yamato doesn't perceive Taichi as a threat of his own sense of leadership and ability to be a brother anymore; he may still see him as a mirror displaying his own worst qualities whenever he's at his lowest point though. They have become good, close friends, that will always be capable of saving the world together, trusting in each other blindly; as mentioned here, I think that they are not necessarily able to save each other outside of that though. We may spin this into a direction that, Jyou is more compatible with Yamato romantically in my book; because he could look through Yamato's insecurities and, by being inspired by him, inspired Yamato in return as well - and activated Yamato's Crest after all. I know, I know, I may be biased and it's been a while since they've smiled at each other softly like they did in the Dark Master's Arc - but at least the stageplay validated me in how Yamato was eventually able to open up thanks to Jyou's encouragement. Long story short, both Jyou and Taichi tickled Yamato's sense of FRIENDSHIP in very particular ways - and this is remarkable, because Yamato is good at "finding people" (as in, doing investigations and knowing whom to contact), but not necessarily good at maintaining bonds. (Takeru may be mentioned, because he nurtured Yamato's protective attitude, but just like with the Yagami siblings, this can be seen as a given.)

Sora: Mimi and Taichi. I am a big fan of the idea that Sora and Mimi complement each other in the best possible ways - while Sora used to be the mom/big sister friend to take Mimi under her wing, protect and guide her, she encourages Mimi to bloom into a confident flower that got enabled to support Sora in all the ways she needed for once. Granted, Sora still struggles to accept Mimi's help, even as an adult, but the analogy of Mimi being the flower who softens the thorns in Sora's heart is just too beautiful to me. Speaking of hearts, if there is any other character that reaches hers in character-defining ways, it's Taichi. The same Taichi who, after saving her, vanished, caused her to look for him on her own while still protecting everyone in the back, just to end up reunited, with everyone having gotten stronger than before, helping her to realize that she indeed knows how to LOVE. As pointed out here, they are continuously on each other's minds, almost telepathically connected (as implied in the novels) - and similarly to Mimi, Taichi has a very strong impact on how Sora defines herself. Starting off as his football buddy and partner in crime, regardless of her gender, I still maintain that it particularly confused her when she got that hairclip from him, challenging her own identity problems and issues with femininity even more. And while I already said that there is an ongoing theme of miscommunication between them, up until Kizuna, the care and connection between them does not fully vanish. Mimi is the one who tells her to spread her wings freely (To Sora), Taichi is the one who tells her that her caring attitude is not a flaw (Tri) - she still has to embrace both of that first though and since she currently prefers to take a bit time for herself, we gotta wait and see if and when that might be the case...

Koushirou: Taichi and Mimi. I will try to keep this briefly, as you all may already be familiar with my stance on this anyway, but still: Without Taichi, Koushirou would not have gone to Summer Camp. Without Taichi relying on Koushirou's skills, enabling and encouraging him, the group would not have saved Sora, would not have been able to solve the card riddle and get back to the real world, would not have solved The Prophecy, would not have been able to find medicine for Hikari... You see where I am going with this. Koushirou, according to the novels, used to not think very highly of himself as a person who also didn't get along well with other people - and Taichi just naturally took him under his wing, invited him to camp, indirectly helped him to believe in his KNOWLEDGE and skills more and become more of a hands-on person, which naturally led to him become a guidance and eventually a mentor and teacher for his friends and especially the younger kids. Basically, he could open up and become more vocal due to his bond with Taichi (again, literal novel quote), being his best friend, right-hand-man and partner in crime, solving riddles and saving the world together. The other person who makes him get more vocal at times is Mimi - not only does she challenge him to question his own approaches by having a completely different priority system (positive!), but also makes him question his wardrobe (slightly less positive in my opinion and I still wish I could name Sora as honourable mention at this point, because fashion could have been a wonderful bonding and development theme for them, but they simply never got executed like that!). The fact that both Taichi and Mimi cause his polite attitude to fade at various points in the series is a clear indicator that they have an impact on him like nobody else - especially because he is very connected with a lot of people online and makes sure to keep everybody always up to date, but is not necessarily the most social butterfly outside of Chosen Children duty.

Mimi: Sora and Jyou. I'm not sure who deserves spot 1 and who gets spot 2 here, because both of them have such a vital influence on why Mimi is as confident in herself as she is. As already mentioned in Sora's part, Sora has been protecting and guiding Mimi ever since they have known one another and it's quite obvious that Mimi, despite not aspiring to be like Sora at all, still greatly admires her and all her qualities. When Mimi loses her way, she knows she can rely on Sora to pull her out of it - which is exactly why their bond, Sora's kindness and encouragement helped to make Mimi's Crest glow for the first time, making her admit her faults and wrong-doings. And Mimi, despite her outspoken, opinionated attitude, needs encouragement. Which is where Jyou comes into play - not only was he the one to accompany her on her pacifist path of self-discovery once, but he was also by her side when she needed to vent over her insecurities and self-esteem issues twice. Making her be her most SINCERE self. Which in both cases, was a mutual experience, as I will go into detail about down below. Long story short: Both Sora and Jyou are capable of making her open up in the most genuine way, she feels safe and loved by them in ways nobody else can. Because even if they (indirectly) scold her for things she does wrong - they still do so softly, signaling her that she is fine the way she is. (An honourable mention here goes out to Stageplay/Kizuna!Koushirou who inspires Mimi to try out "something with computers".)

Jyou: Mimi and Yamato. Due to the consistent trope between Jyou and Mimi, I am very inclined to put her before Yamato in this ranking, but in the end, the theme between them is very similar. As pointed out before, Jyou decides to join Mimi in the Dark Master's Arc, primarily to protect her - but through witnessing and admiring her for finding her way, he felt inspired by her AND Yamato to go search for his own path, approach and attitude towards basically everything. It's something that both of them trigger in him at various points; even when he ends up questioning his intentions and motivations again, Mimi's sincere way of opening up to him (Tri) is what brings him back on track himself as well, allowing him to be honest to her and to himself. Not only that, Yamato (stageplay) validates him in believing that it all comes down to choosing for yourself to stay on track. Yamato (Adventure) who had once left the group, leaving Jyou in particular with the wish to believe in himself and his qualities. It's just a wonderful theme that keeps coming up, that helps Jyou to develop such a strong aura of confidence, which in turn makes him the senpai others actually feel capable of opening up to freely and safely. Which is significant considering how busy (and/or absent) he is most of the time. He IS Mister RELIABLE for a reason, so his validation causing Yamato's Crest to glow and Mimi to be confident enough to reach Ultimate level does mean something...

Takeru: Hikari (and Iori as honourable mention). You may or may not personally be pleased by the fact that Takeru and Hikari took the longest to conduct here. This can technically be seen as a negative, since it may imply that Takeru's bond with other characters doesn't go deep enough. Don't get me wrong, he DOES have bonds with QUITE a few other characters, he's looking up to Taichi a LOT, he loves to quarrel with Daisuke, he seems to know what is going on in Sora's and Koushirou's lives, his path from despising to trusting Ken is incredibly interesting, we already know that he and Yamato would die for each other and so on and so on... But you get the sense that he's not letting anybody really in too closely - which, as I observed before, applies to his brother as well. On the other hand, it also means what I already said in previous analysis posts: That he and Hikari are too glued together by the hip to let anybody else really come in between. There may have been times when one could have called it codependency, but considering all their parallels, everything they have seen and have gone through together, it can at least be assumed that they overcame some of their communicative barriers by the time of The Beginning. As much of a fun little time-killing exercise it may have been, he still spent his time practicing his fanfiction world-building skills with her and while the viewer cannot tell how much they have been talking about and processing their trauma, their brother complexes, etc., you simply cannot deny that they have consistently been there for each other. So one can only hope that he has stopped projecting his own overprotective brother tendencies onto her (ever since Tailmon called him out on them in 02), taking off the masks he has been showing a lot of people. Allowing himself to be the HOPE to her Light so to speak. I still want to give Iori a small honourable mention, because while I maintain that Iori "profits" more off of their relationship, I do believe that there was a time in 02 when he was also capable of making Takeru softer, offering him a bit of a mirror to himself.

Hikari: Takeru and Miyako. While the same issues apply to Hikari that have been mentioned with Takeru, her case is still a little bit different. Of course she had been hyperfocusing and depending on her brother for big chunks of the series and while she doesn't seem good at letting others in too closely either, her kindness still attracts people around her - including Takeru, who, as described, is both parallel and sidekick to her. You may already refer to them as trolls and partners in crime - and Hikari intended to stop depending on Takeru for protection as well, wanting to be equals ever since 02. Which, by the looks of it, may actually be the case, considering how they have been fighting rampaging Digimon side by side in Kizuna almost in sync. Again, she is acting as the LIGHT to his Hope. On the other hand, there is also Miyako, who, in contrast to Hikari, is loud and brash and tells the world when she doesn't like something - which is a skill Hikari basically longed to develop herself. So her admiring Miyako to at least some degree - while also being admired and encouraged by her in return - may have been a trigger that allowed her to grow more and more confident, balanced and equal to Miyako. As well as to Takeru too. And they may only grow further from here...

Daisuke: Ken. Daiken are probably THE prime example on how a Jogress combination gets the best out of each other. Simply because them working on their bond, their friendship, drags them away from toxic or dangerous habits (playing roles, hiding behind masks to impress others, bragging, catastrophizing, self-sabotage, etc.) and instead helps them to focus on what's really important. Daisuke gets naturally more comfortable, confident, downright happier and more enthusiastic thanks to Ken; his wish to BEFRIEND Ken basically makes him discover his own sense of COURAGE... There simply isn't a better example than this, because nobody else makes him get as honest as Ken does, as he basically plays a role towards everyone else (Hikari, Takeru, Taichi - and especially with the latter, it's a shame, because he used to look up to him, but finds his own style along the way, which never got that much focus...).

Ken: Daisuke. It's the reverse situation as described above, Ken is being enabled to overcome or at least deal with a lot of his self-esteem issues thanks to Daisuke's encouragement. The best thing is that, as soon as he opens up thanks to Daisuke, literally letting all of his KINDNESS shine through, he is capable of forming (potentially beautiful) bonds with several other Chosen Children and may have the greatest growth with the members of his core group (Iori, Takeru, Hikari and Miyako) than any other 02 kid. And in contrast to what I've said at the beginning of the post, Ken and Daisuke may or may not also be romantically compatible after all...

Miyako: Mimi and Hikari. While there are other characters who have an impact on her behaviour, I would argue that these two may have the biggest influence on how Miyako defines herself. Her identity and self-image are basically challenged by how she perceives these two; Mimi is oozing freedom, self-expression and brazenness when Miyako meets her for the first time, which are not only things that make her look up to her, but also things she would like to possess herself. Hikari is on the other end of the spectrum, she appears to be more reserved, collected, lady-like - and still possesses a drive, confidence and courage that Miyako admires. Her bond with both of them makes her more confident and also more SINCERE and LOVING, more aware of herself, her flaws and limitations, while also making her softer. (I would LOVE to add names like Sora and Koushirou here too, but they did not have screentime nor long-lasting "revelation" appeal to her. Sure, they both basically made her see that it's okay not to jump if you don't feel up for the task, but overall, they didn't have too much effect on her in comparison.)

Iori: Jyou and Takeru. Koushirou gets an honourable mention here, because he doesn't get nearly as much opportunity to see Iori at his lower points or have meaningful emotional moments as the other two do. Jyou and Takeru get way more opportunities to get to know and bond with him - we all know he still gets the shortest end of the stick in terms of screentime and relationship development, but it's still interesting to see how he loosens up, softens thanks to what he experiences with and observes through them. Takeru and him both have a lot of pent-up anger, but Iori learns that lashing out for revenge may not be the right path. Likewise, Jyou used to be a lot more tense and stiff on rules when he was younger - and is now teaching Iori that it's okay to take things easier, to be kinder with oneself. Plus, neither of them treats him like "a child/the youngest" and so he gets the best of both worlds, making him become more resilient through the gained KNOWLEDGE and letting him take on tasks to show his own RELIABILITY.