#if you want all interactions to be about romance then have them be a polycule so i can buy them being a tight group. damn

[error404vnotfound]

i have reached the conclusion that i only enjoy romcoms when they are fanfiction

[thebibliosphere]

One of the really fun and interesting things about writing a polyamorous romance as someone who is ambiamorous/polyamorous is finding new ways to make sure the narrative hits the expected genre beats without just sort of... mushing it into a pre-existing monogamous romance mold, which is what I'm afraid happens a lot of the time.

Trust me, it was my job in the publishing house to make them fit that mold. I hated it.

Reading other poly-centric romances, I can always somewhat tell when someone is writing polyamory from a sexual fantasy aspect (zero shade; I'm here for all the group sex) without actually considering how it functions as a relationship dynamic, which can often come off as... well.

It's lacking for me as a romance.

Erotica-wise, it's fine. But it misses the romantic beats for me that I want as a polyamorous-leaning person.

There's so much emphasis on the polycule and never the individual dyads within the larger relationship.

For example, in a triad, there are actually four relationships to handle.

The dyad between A + B. The dyad between A + C. The dyad between B + C. And the overarching relationship between A + B + C.

With monogamous-leaning authors or authors that've been pressed into conforming to the pre-existing genre beats, there's a tendency to treat the relationship as a homogenous mass where everything is fair and equal, and you treat all your partners the exact same way.

And I get it. It's easier to write everything as peachy-keen and to have external conflict be resolved with either acceptance or a brave confrontation.

But it doesn't always land for me as someone who wants to see my style of love represented in the genre.

In healthy polyamory, either closed or open, each relationship is unique in its own way. Taking the example of a triad again, the way A acts with C likely differs from how A acts with B.

And that's a good thing!

Because C might not want the same things as B, so trying to treat them both the exact same is a surefire way to make sure someone isn't getting their needs met, and that will lead to conflict.

Polyamory isn't striving for equality between partners but rather equity.

What are your individual needs, and how do I meet them, as well as meet the needs of my other partner(s)? What do you want from the larger relationship as a whole? How do we accommodate everyone without making someone feel neglected or uncomfortable? How do we show this in the narrative? How do we make sure character A isn't just treating B the same as C in every interaction? Do they ever fall into that pitfall? How do they remedy it?

It seems like common sense when you write it out like that, but it's a major pitfall I see time and time again. The characters never alternate their approach between partners, if there's any focus on the individuals at all.

The other major telltale thing I've noticed is that taking time to be with one partner is seen as a step down from the "goal" of the greater polycule.

The narrative is framed in such a way that they might start out with individual dates, but the end goal of the romance is to eventually be together 100% of the time all the time, and wanting individual time alone with any one partner is somehow "lesser."

Which is the goal of romance in monogamy, but it's not the goal of romance in polyamory.

Granted, you do need to end on a Happy Ever After or Happy For Now for it to fit the genre requirement. And a nice way of tying that up is to have everyone together at the end as a happy polycule all together all at once. I'm not disputing that as a narrative tool. I'm just pointing out that there's a tendency to present those moments as the sum total of the relationship when in actuality, there are multiple relationships that need to end happily ever after.

The joy of polyamorous love is the joy of multitudes. It's the joy of experiencing new things, both as individuals and as a polycule. If you're not taking care of the individual dyads, however, your polycule is going to crash and burn. You cannot avoid that. So why, then, is there such avoidance of it in stories meant to appeal to us?

Is it simply inexperience on behalf of the author? Or is it that they're not actually being written for us? Is it continued pressure to meet certain genre beats in a largely monogamous-centric genre? All of the above?

Either way, I'm having fun playing around with it and doing all the things we were warned against in the publishing house.

I'm having fun with Nathan and Vlad enjoying their own private dynamic that is theirs and theirs alone. I'm having fun with Ursula and Nathan being so careful and vulnerable around each other. I'm absolutely 100% here for the chaos of Vlad and Ursula without a chaperone. And I'm here for the chaos of Vlad and Ursula together and Nathan's fond, loving eye roll as he trails after them, too enamored to tell either of them no because where would the fun in that be...

Anyway. Don't mind me. Just getting my thoughts out while everyone else is in bed.

[hammerhead-jpg]

Okay okay okay imma talk about something

Redacted ramble number 45 go!!!!!

The potential argument as to why shipping Asher and David is bad could be "yes, Asher and David have shown to be very close in a way regular friendships aren't, literally being "more than a promise " and "two sides of the same coin" and all the other other stuff we've been told, but why can't that be platonic? Why can't we assume that even in a world where they don't already have their own mates that kinda thing couldn't possibly be platonic ? As a society we always assume that if two people that aren't related become closer than your average friendship it automatically means that it has to be romantic, that they then have to start dating, move in together, get married and have children. But Asher and David very well could have all that closeness and still be just best friends."

And to that I would usually say that well, shipping is done for fun. There doesn't have to be rhyme or reason to it. Most people who ship them (at least I think) are able to comprehend the idea that Asher and David could be that close and still consider themselves best friends and not lovers because that is the reality of the series.

But then I thought no- I - uh -NO!!

Because hhejjsjesjsuj EVERY single interaction that implies closeness IS FUCKIN FULL of sextual tension like no joke with the scene in the wedding where David fixes Asher's tie I was actually wondering if they were gonna start making out or somth

I can't fuckin say that their relationship is inherently romantic cuz that would be a lie but LIKE hdkdndmdhjfjj their relationship is so much closer to romance than your average very VERY close friendship

To paint you a picture Milo is also a person that is very very close to David and Asher

Sure, maybe not as much to them as they are to each other, Milo met them later in life, he was never their roommate or David's main support while he was grieving his father's death but they're still very close

Yesterday I read a fic about all three of them as a polycule and it's just felt...wrong

I guess if there are any wolf boys polycule lovers rn I'm sorry but having Milo in there felt wrong in a way I cannot describe

And the imperium AU.....the IMPERIUM AU

The existence of the imperium au inherently implies that if Asher and David didn't meet their mates they would be together romantically. THERE IS A NON CANON YET OFFICIAL AU WHERE THEY WERE LOVERS FOR LIFE SO CLOSE THAT WHEN DAVID DIED NOT ONLY DID IT PERMANENTLY CHANGE ASHER BUT LITERALLY A PART OF HIS MAGIC DIED WITH DAVID.

There is nothing in the story that really needed Asher and David to be mates, so much so that in the original Imperium AU episode Erik had no plans for them to have been lovers until he made the cataclysm sequel it's literally just because Erik wanted to

SO IF the implication is that if they didn't meet their mates they would've have been lovers then you CANNOT judge people for imagining that scenario where it's not in an imperialistic world where one of them ends up dying

Also I can't even say that it's because they didn't meet their mates because although David obviously didn't meet Angel because they were engaged(?) to the king imperial Asher I'm pretty sure meets Baabe around the same time that he meets them in the prime universe so like?????

In conclusion If Erik ships them then you cannot blame me for doing the same thing!!

[butterflydm]

this is random but i just remembered that ages ago i saw an ask game for asking fic writers their 5 favorites/ones they're most proud of of their own fics, and i would love to know yours if you're up for it! it would be so interesting to hear a Butterfly Career Retrospective haha

feel free to be flexible on the number and discuss as many or as few fics as you feel like, and to count a whole series as a single entry (like voice, although if you have any particular favorite installments or interludes within that that you'd like to note i'd be curious to hear that too!)

This took a while but I finally got it done, @markantonys!

I have written a lot of fics, so this was a difficult challenge. I am somewhat helped out by the fact that old fics tend to fade out of my memory… but then if I reread a bit of them, I tend to remember why I wrote them and what I loved about them. I did not limit myself to five fics (I tried!) but these are roughly in reverse chronological order of when I posted them.

not in the stars, but in ourselves - trying to bob and weave and make something that feels narratively satisfying out of the mess that is Mat Cauthon's late series arc has become something of a hobby of mine! This is fic is one of several where I narratively examine parts of the canon that didn't work so well for me and try to rearrange them into something that feels like it rings true for the previous characterization and choices.

This fic in particular really made me see how the roadblocks that existed in each of the character's main plotlines was so much easier to solve if they had access to the other main characters (and I suspect that's part of why Jordan kept them so unnaturally separated during these arcs).

I also really enjoy the romance in this fic, and how the characters interact with prophecy in more unexpected ways, and how Rand and Mat help each other through their traumas, and how each of the members of the polycule bring their own perspective to the relationship.

the caffrey exception in White Collar fandom - this fic languished mostly unfinished on my harddrive for a long time before polyweek gave me an excuse to finish it up and post it! I wasn’t really in White Collar fandom, was the problem, and I always write and post more consistently when I have fellow fandom people to encourage me. I also was originally watching WC with my (now ex-)girlfriend and I stopped watching after we broke up, iirc, so I didn’t actually finish the show until years later. And by the time I was writing it, I didn’t feel like there was all that much visible fandom around. But it had a nice little response during polyshipweek, so I was really happy with how it all turned out. Makes me think that one day maybe I’ll finish up and post that RENT fanfic that’s been on my harddrive for eighteen million years.

negotiating with the truth in The Wheel of Time fandom - you can tell I got fancy with this fic because I gave the chapters titles, lol. This fic leans hard into Mat being an unreliable narrator and playing around with that, and it was a lot of fun to focus on and explore that part of him. I do love a lot of the fics I've written in WoT so trying to narrow it down more was tough (and I still only managed to narrow down to three!) but I really loved writing this one and exploring the differing ways that Mat and Rand were approaching this relationship of theirs and how they come to a compromise in the end. I think I really liked that they genuinely do have different wants and desires that need to be navigated.

voice interlude: feels like falling for the first time in The Wheel of Time fandom - this is, a little bit, subbing in for the Voice series as a whole, but I wanted to pick out a complete story and not something still in progress. I am pretty hopeful that Voice will get finished (there are three more main fics in the series, I think — one that mostly spoils through bk9: winter’s heart; one that mostly spoils through bk12: the gathering storm; and then one with whole-series spoilers) but I have some fairly long unfinished works in past fandoms, so eggs and hatching & etc.

What makes this fic in particular stand out to me is how I was able to really take this one moment in time in the series and expand on it so that I could deep-dive into Mat’s characterization and what he was thinking and feeling, and it’s such a revelatory moment for Mat. I enjoy showing characterization via writing about sex, and the interludes in the Voice series really allow me to do that.

my mouth (your lips) my hands (your hips) in The Magicians fandom - This fic where Margo and Eliot approach Quentin on this more equal ground (of them competing to see which of them can land him first) and it developing into a true polyam relationship… I really loved exploring how messy but ultimately loving it was. I also loved delving into Margo as an aromantic character in this fic, and how the great love of her life is her best friend.

A lot of my own fears and pains and worries made it into the three main characters in this one, though all in ways that make sense with their own base characterization, I think. There’s this one line that Eliot thinks - “he had always been better at self-preservation than bravery” and that is 100% canon Eliot but… yeah, it’s also me. One of the things I am working on in therapy is loosening the stranglehold of my self-preservation so that I can be a little braver when it comes to reaching out to other people.

If you like my poly fics in WoT fandom, you might also enjoy my marqueliot fics (but I wouldn’t recommend the show tbh. Or, well, I might rec it up until the episode “All That Hard Glossy Armor”. That’s a good one to end on. And it’s a Margo episode!).

searching for a sound (we hadn’t heard before) in The Magicians fandom - I wrote some serious fix-it fics in this fandom. But this fic was me taking the kind of ridiculous angle on a plotline that I think that the show might have actually pulled off, if it had been so inclined. This fic was also me balling up all my frustration at the poor writing choices and lobbing it at the show’s forehead. It was very cathartic to write. And I think it’s pretty funny too, so that’s a bonus.

(I’m Not Calling You A) Liar for Steven Universe fandom — I am cheating here and including a vid. This vid is… if I sliced up my heart (Hannibal style) and laid it out on a plate, it would look something like this vid. I actually started watching Steven Universe because I saw the “Stronger Together” clip with Garnet but soon after I started watching… holy shit, Pearl and her deep heartbreak over Rose just grabbed me by the throat and did not let me go. Watching her slowly process and begin to resolve her grief was a very healing experience when I was watching the show. There was something very much intensely yearning about Pearl at the start of SU, and how she was trying so hard to hide it (from Steven but from the other gems as well). But she can’t move on until she confronts and heals!

My favorite of the vids that I’ve made, I think, and the one I’m proudest of. There is maybe one single clip that I would change now if I went back to edit it again, but that’s it. I’m fully satisfied with the rest of it; and this is not the case with most of my vids. My Yuri! On Ice vid is probably the other one that comes closest to feeling like I wouldn’t change anything now.

Enyo’s Daughter in MCU fandom — so I am a bit of an odd one out in MCU fandom, because the ship that I liked the best, over any other… Tony and Natasha. Iron Man and Black Widow. It’s a complex and thorny ship, but I liked exploring it. Tony and Natasha both get to be messy and fucked up and exploring situations like that can be interesting. It was written pretty soon after the first Avengers movie came out, if I recall correctly. I never did finish the sequel to this fic, which I am kinda sad about.

Any fandom where canon is currently developing can be kinda tough for me to stay ahead of, in terms of writing any big fic series(es) — this is also why my big Star Wars WIP is destined never to be finished, tbh. I started writing it before a lot of the current canon even exists, and trying to go back and finish it would be difficult because the new shows & movies have changed so much and it can be hard to mentally reconcile what I knew back then vs what I know now when it comes to canon. Once the new MCU movies after Avengers came out, this fic was kinda doomed to never get the sequel finished, alas. And this is why WoT having a closed book canon has made writing fic for it easier, I think.

Melt into Time from American Idol RPF — time-travel fic! I’ve attempted it from time to time, but this one I actually finished. I don’t remember the actual process of writing this anymore, because my memory is for crap, as I mentioned at the start, but it is probably my favorite fic that I wrote in this fandom overall. It deals with second chances and a lot of yearning and people being emotionally messy (a theme for me, for sure).

Justice, Be Not Blind from Dexter — my one and only Dexter fic. What I remember most about writing this fic is that despite how short it is (less than 1k), I did so much research. Miguel Prado was hands-down my favorite character who ever appeared on Dexter and so I wanted to write a fic for him, but I wanted it to sound as true to his character voice as possible. I don’t even really remember the extent of the research that I did and it’s been so long that I couldn’t tell you anymore whether or not the character voice is accurate, but I remember how much I wanted to get this right and how much work I put into trying to get Miguel to feel genuine.

Travelers Without Map or Compass for Doctor Who fandom - cute romantic fluff, but I’m very fond of it. It captures a sort of vibe in the Doctor & Rose relationship that was very appealing to me, and I enjoyed exploring and expanding my thoughts on some of the rooms in the TARDIS.

Another Nameless Planet in the Star Wars (Prequel) fandom — I wrote longer fics in Star Wars fandom but honestly I think I captured Anakin best in this small fic that’s not really about anything in particular except Anakin wanting to be treated as an equal (by Obi-Wan specifically).

I have fics that I wrote before this point, but most of them I genuinely don’t remember writing to the point of going, “huh, oh, wow, I guess that was me, huh?” lol. But going back over my fics… man, it really is like having the deepest yearnings of your heart spread out in front of the world sometimes, isn’t it?

Thanks for sending me on this journey to the past! I hope you enjoyed it. <3

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Yuri posting time. These are ships I personally vibe with from what I post about on here.

Higuchi and Gin (BSD): Okay, I'm not sure I can really explain this properly because it's so entwined with the plot of a particular fic I've been wanting to write about them, and I don't really want to spoil where it goes too much? Basically, I love the potential of two characters who (it's implied) got involved with dangerous work for the sake of their siblings. Higuchi's idealized view of romance contrasts with Gin's survival mentality (which is similar to Akutagawa's). At the same time, Higuchi gives Gin opportunities to express different sides of herself. They both work for the sake of others. Okay, so canonically, there isn't a lot there, because there is little exploration of the themes of BSD through these two characters, unfortunately. But, with a combination of "what if I explored the themes through these characters", some influence from O-Gin and Higuchi-sensei's works, and a touch of my own personal brand of "fuck it, we ball, and see where it rolls", I think there's a lot of fun things you can pull at.

Higuchi and Tsujimura (BSD): Not a long-term relationship. They're best friends who had a brief fling and then decided to remain friends. To me.

Wells and Sasaki (BSD): Absolute crack ship that I have not stopped thinking about since you suggested it @lucythejudge. It's so funny.

Meryl and Milly (Trigun): !!! THEM!!! AUGH! They spent!!! Eight months navigating the apocalypse together!!! Milly's smile and presence is enough to help Meryl out of her dark thoughts! Milly is unable to sleep when Meryl is in danger! Milly challenges Vash and Wolfwood when they try to stop her from rescuing Meryl! Meryl has complete faith in Milly to intervene when she has a literal contract killer pointing a gun at her head!!! They're always at each other's sides! THEY!

Coco and Agott (WHA): They give me slight killugon vibes (also maybe lumity - but I've never actually watched owl house unfortunately). Cute and pure. I hope they continue to inspire each other. :)

Theta and Morena (HxH): Saw art for this once. They haven't even interacted. But still, my brain thinks about it and goes ohohohoho

Ann and Shiho (P5R): Ahhh... they want to be strong for each other... avenging Shiho was Ann's reason for awakening... ahhhhhh

Ann and Mika (P5R): I just think Ann's canonical admiration for women who are mean is incredibly funny and so real. Get her a mean girlfriend.

Makoto and Hifumi (P5R): Okay, they hit it off immediately and also I want to see how intense they get over a game of shogi. Everyone quietly backing away from them... lmao. Also I think it's nice because Makoto could understand Hifumi's struggles with expectation and wanting to help her family, and Hifumi offers a familiar setting (intellectual, strategic) with opportunities for Makoto to expand her understanding as well as form a solid connection. They should be best friends at least!

Bonus:

This idea I had for a fucked up polycule that never actually becomes a polycule and is literally just Yosano, Wells, and Mary all being needed for some kind of research, with a stressed Tsujimura as their supervisor. There is... some kind of tension happening amidst the often inadvisable scientific decisions being made. No sex or romance actually ever occurs but there are conversations that sound suspiciously like flirting that usually end in Yosano gleefully hacking at something or someone in her temporary office, Mary nearly downing the entire grid because she diverted all the power to her latest project that then promptly exploded, or Wells vanishing then abruptly and calmly reappearing minutes later with no explanation except "the world will survive another day". Tsujimura is about ready to tear her hair out. The cat thief drops in sporadically to cause extra chaos. This too, is yuri.

[retiredficwriter]

me? being tagged by @jetsteelyourheart ?? what an honor!

just like the top 5 favorite characters: Make a poll with 5 of your favorite rarepairs/crackships. See which one is everyone's favorite!

i became too invested in this. some of these ships i haven't thought in years, so it was nice to relive the times i was obsessed with them. i narrowed it to one ship per media/fandom and just like my tag-buddy, I'll provide my questionable reasons/propaganda.

REASONS/PROPAGANDA

Sydney Sage/Trey Juarez:

so when i was first reading bloodlines, i read online that sydney gets a human boyfriend in book 2. i had heard about brayden but never in the context of HIM being the boyfriend, so i thought he was the random dude in book 1 (wasn't he, unironically, called hayden??) who asked sydney out. i was theorizing who that boyfriend would be until my brain went: "omg.... IS IT TREY??" and got soo hyped. i loved their interaction in book 1 and thought exploring them in a romantic setting would be so interesting, especially with the implication of trey having a major role. they are so similar (growing up in a cult, daddy issues, both being smart) and yet, trey has some adrian-like traits?? charming, popular in the dating pool, laidback... and it would create some tension between sydrian??? imagine adrian watching trey and sydney date and feeling discouraged because she found a human "version" of him?? and with trey being a warrior, he would try to get sydney to have the alchemist side with them and push the "moroi are evil" narrative, creating more doubts for sydney to rebel! BUT THEN SYDNEY HELPS TREY REBEL AGAINST THE WARRIORS!!

i love their friendship as is, and know for a fact they wouldn't last that long but man... i would have eat up their failed romance.

bonus point for an adrian/sydney/trey polycule

Rachel Berry/Sam Evans:

ah yes. my first ever rarepair. since that one episode in season 2 where she and finn helped sam with his young siblings, i fell in love with them. if you were in the glee fandom, you know every single couple was problematic one way or the other (this is the writers' fault). yet somehow, every relationship sam was in, it was the healthiest the woman he was with ever had. and i wanted that for rachel! i ate all the crumbs this show gave me, which were... almost nonexistent. the big difference between this rarepair and the others on this poll is that, in the show's final season, THEY BECAME CANON. I WAS SO HAPPY. they were very unpopular because it came out of nowhere and the writers only put them together to give rachel a love interest for the final season (and give the storyline they planned for finn to someone else), which... fair. but he was so caring, encouraging her to follow her dreams and telling her the tough truth about things she didn't want to hear. it was so good to see rachel heal from finn and her failed broadway dreams while with sam. (also she was less insufferable with him).

but then, ha... they broke up on the third to last episode of the series. so she could be with jesse who showed up out of nowhere on that same episode, after he "left" 4-3 seasons ago. don't get me wrong - i love st. berry! jonathan groff and lea michelle have chemistry! love ambitious broadway wannabes being a power couple! but why not, i don't know, put the storyline she had with sam with jesse instead so it could be more organic and avoid crushing my dreams???

i'm fine. not bitter at all. I'M FINE. I'M F-

Clarisse La Rue/Silena Beauregard (PJO):

this isn't a rarepair compared to the previous two, but within the pjo fandom, it isn't as popular (surprisingly?? at least in ao3. i'm so out of the loop). first time reading pjo, little old only thought of clarisse and silena as best friends. but as i got older and read more fan analysis of the series, i realized the tragedy of these two. either 1) clarisse had an unrequited crush 2) they dated and didn't work out 3) it was a failed situationship. the daughter of ares, the girl people in camp-half blood are so scared of because she is mean to everyone and can (and will) beat the shit out of them, had a wholesome friendship with the daughter of aphrodite, and one of the nicest people in the camp?? and this friendship appeared because silena helped clarisse with her "boy problems"??? and then clarisse basically protected and comforted silena after what happened with charlie?? no spoilers for those who haven't read the books, but they parallel a famous greek mythology couple and their ending hurts. still love silena/charlie, but god... poor clarisse...

can't wait to keep rereading the books and suffer once i get to their part!

Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Roxy Morton (Kingsman)

everyone prefers hartwin and merlin/eggsy, but i can't help but love mortwin. i watched the first movie and loved their small moments. loved how they bonded over being the underdogs in the competition and, instead of becoming sworn enemies, they recognized each other as worthy opponents. their small fun, friendly-rivarly banter was cute. part of me was relieved they stayed as friends in the end... but i couldn't help but be soo disappointed. the chemistry? it was there!! even taron egerton said there was potential to explore a romance if given the chance! plus, i'm a sucker for well-developed friends-to-lovers.

never watched the sequel but after reading what the writers did to roxy, i'm glad i didn't and never will. i can now create my own sequel in my head and read fanfics of the story they deserve 😌

Bella Swan/Leah Clearwater (Twilight):

i want to thank this one brazilian fanfic i found years ago (and never wrote down the name and lost it 😔) for presenting me with this ship. everyone talks about bella/alice, bella/rosalie, bella/carlisle... but what about bella/leah??? think new moon, when bella has just been abandoned by edward, meeting the werewolves through jacob and therefore leah, who is still dealing with the whole paul/emily thing. they can still start out with leah hating bella but they can bond over being abandoned by their boyfriends and heal from it, and in the end realize they don't need them anymore - they can have each other!

i also love if edward still comes back and bella is conflicted, and it's a edward/bella/leah love triangle (apparently people ship edward/leah and how i never heard of it?! imagine the drama!!) i will take anything where jacob isn't involved

tagging @morocorra @forcebookish @artianaiolanthe @sydneysageivashkov + anyone who wants to do this!

[aroaceconfessions]

I'm more confident in saying I am aro than I am ace. maybe fluctuating ace? I'm not sure. Anyway, I used to be very obsessed with ships and multishipping, mainly my favourite characters with anyone that they have good relationship with (includes all types of shipping, with polycules). And almost always, I get annoyed and tired after seeing so much of the popular ones, that I stop shipping them and focus on less popular ones or crackships. This would happen so often in fandoms I join: I like a ship, I consume and share content, then it's too much and overwhelming for me, I stop following the ship and maybe even block it so I just enjoy gen stuff. It doesn't have to be because of how fandom treat them either. Sometimes I happily think about certain ships in my head and then not long after I get an overwhelming feeling that makes me annoyed at them. This also applies to real life where I tried fantasizing my future love life and end up feeling so sick of it. Maybe I actually have a small tolerance on romance and I don't realise it. But after finding out about QPRs and the fact that some people would actually be partners without the whole romance/sex thing, everything makes so much sense to me. Anyway I still like shipping but it's a very queerplatonic way, so I can enjoy it a lot more in my own space and I rarely interact with ships in fandom nowadays (due to how some people feel very strongly about it, in a way I don't understand). and then finding out about aplatonics, afamilials, the accurate explanation of my feeling is just YES. YES YESSSS. i appreciate the understanding of people being able to have good interactions and meaningful bonds (sometimes deep/close, sometimes not) with one other, without some sort of requirement that they must have a certain feeling (attraction?) towards a person in order for them to act that way (sorry does what I'm explaining make sense)

I think I forgot what the original point of my confession was, but I want to say thank you thank you thank you everyone in the community for existing. I still have a lot to learn and understand, and I really look forward to it

Submitted May 20, 2023

[cerealmonster15]

ok twst sims update from when i was playing last night, continuation of my blabbing here lol + some DOODLES about it

opens discord dms...

ok so i think i literally was planning on just going to my heartslabyul household and organizing their garden a little but i did not end up doing that at all, bc i immediately got distracted by i guess the new(? idk when they implemented it) 'event' system in sims 4 in real time where theres like, weekly goals for shit you can unlock? anyway this one was about the grim reaper and i wanted to unlock the reaper scythe earring for my diasomnia boys [i unlocked it and then forgot to give it to them lol]

but i had tasks to do! including asking some sims about ambrosia. this is what silver had to say about it

hes really excited about necromancy or whatever i guess

i did complete this week's tasks for the event thing but i immediately got distracted in the middle of it because i forgot that i'd ALSO toggled recently the story progression for relationships, as i mentioned in the other post i linked. so i see this stuff

and im like. when did sebek start dating jamil. when did silver start dating cater. why do they look like Hell [they had just come home from work and were Exhausted lol]

so i've been sleuthing around trying to find other relationships that have spawned [i cant always remember if it's something i did or if it happened on its own lol] and like i checked beloved son juice spade, where i could see i had been working on forming the first year's polycule with him last time i played- but also. chenya was there.

meanwhile ACE had formed no new romances but he DID form HATER BEEF with ORTHO FOR SOME REASON SKDJHKGSJD

[sorry ortho literally doesnt look like ortho LOL i dont use CC and i believe i didnt have the option to make kids hair blue]

one day ill learn how 2 draw chenya but NOT TODAY IM BUSY SOWWY KING

trey also had started a strong romance with floyd,,, and like i think i had him start something with jade a while ago but never maintained it / a while ago before i got a certain mod to help w/this, there used to be a lot of relationship decay bc i had trouble keeping up w/all the different households lol so i think jade and trey just hadnt gotten much attention but they look so funny in treys relationship slots

i think when the game does it by itself it just slots them as partners immediately so like im assuming it's treating floyd and trey as partners, idr exactly, but this just looks like trey and jade are best friends w/some budding romantic tension, and then floyd just walked up to trey and was like hey wanna go smash our faces together KLFHSLKDJGKL. godspeed trey good luck w/whatever that is

and then cater and trey have a romantic bond but i guess hadnt actually kissed yet so i decided to move them along so they could be an Official Couple but like.

right after they kissed, caters son walked up and was Not Having It kfsdhlkJFDSKLJKLG

anyway we got the item that let us summon the grim reaper

i tried so hard to get cater to hook up with him but sims 4 said NO FUN ALLOWED THIS TIME >:'(

thats ok tho he can just be an ace aro king and we can be besties instead :] it's also really funny seeing The Grim Reaper respond to social interactions like an average sim ksdlghkljf

ANYWAY,

chenya was scared of him. but also still dressed for the pool. and thinking about flirting with trey fdjksjfgklsd deuce was also scared of the grim reaper bc my poor boy is like constantly Haunted. i think he has three fears now and i dont know how to Help Him

i jumped around a bit more and found rook and jade have a romance and i truly dont remember if i did that or if the game did it kfdsjfkljsd but i DO like jade/rook so theres a good chance It Was Me, but i have no memory of it kfdsjklfs.

vil also has beef with jamil and azul

but thats been there for a lil while and i think i remember seeing it sometime after i was playing jamil or azul and they were on a date at a convenience store that vil was Also At, and vil was 🧍 standing like right in the midst of them so i think it did that thing where he inserted himself into a group convo with them and then got mad that they were flirting, bc i think sims usually get mad when 2 are flirting within a 3+ convo LOL

hes in his crumplebottom era. no pda in my lobby.

i had idia hit on cater by bragging about his gamer skills

then i found out idia also had a game-spawned romance with none other than

KALIM JSKFJSDLKJKFLKSD despite the fact that he was like actively currently annoyed by CHEERY PEOPLE [i think bc rook was there and i have him as cheerful lol]

idia voice wow all these bubbly extroverts suck wheres my boyfriend kalim al asim kJFLDSJFD

ok almost done now we're back at silver and cater again where kfdljsfkljs silver was still Yearning so i had him invite cater over to try and clear the wish to Smooch Boyfriend but like. i could NOT get the make out option to appear and thats specifically the one he'd rolled for so i was trying to spam romance w/them and it was like

i had them do their first kiss. then cater auto kissed silvers cheek and it was cute!

[i'd also given silver a small makeover lol]

then i saw shortly after the convo turned to very awkward and i was like huh why, theyre having positive reactions, theyre both flirty still, what- LILIA?!?!?!?!

dad walks up from behind them and is like ARE YA WINNIN SON??? so i got him the hell out of there klsdjflk he was embarrassing his son.... then as soon as he was out it swapped back to romantic interactions lol but i still couldnt get make out to appear. but u know what did if you saw the other post where i talked about this

silver nearly instantly had the option to propose to cater but he coudlnt bc their friendship is BARELY ANYTHING [you can see it peeking out on the right over there lol] so like. flash fire romance of them spawning something, me spamming romance interactions to try and fulfill the want, and no friendship progression fdksjgkldf

anyway then they all went to work can cater just kinda hung out in the kitchen w/their broken stove

OKAY THAT'S ALL FOR NOW BYE!!!

[vechter]

Dickvic? 👀

ooh. i guess i can understand the appeal but it's a no for me, personally. they have a very funny ship name tho

why don't you ship it? what would have made you like them?

once again, just a big fan of their friendship. as much as i laugh and enjoy titans-as-a-polycule crack posts, i can't agree with every relationship in the titans having romance added to it. they're already way too incestuous. the team would have imploded much, much sooner if everybody was rlly fucking each other.

nothing, really? like they're already down bad for each other as friends. i don't rlly have any issue with how they're portrayed.

plus, i just rlly like how smooth vic is with sarah. we need to save him from the doom of loving dick grayson, a person who manages to have autonomy issues that rival his own.

positive stuff about them despite not shipping them?

technis imperative my beloved! dick refusing to give up on vic + vic's loneliness and loss of humanity. that one moment where vic wants to get the titans back together and dick refuses but the warmth and love is there through it all! i don't think we were just a team either. thought you couldn't hear me, shortpants. i lied. "vic stone gets nostalgic." i really had to hear it again. dick's manipulation and vic's resulting surprise&anger over it when dick got him a new human body. and how swiftly they reconcile because vic knows that dick had his best interests at heart and dick realizes he went about it an underhanded way. that one NTT issue where dick says victor, i could almost kiss you. all their interactions in NTT, actually. just really sweet n warm.

[wildwoof]

SHIPPING INFO. answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

feli note: gonna include as many of my muses as I can, so will include side blogs as well.

what’s your OTP for your muse(s)?

Well.... Koga is ReiKoga, Jun is HiyoJun & Chiaki is MidoChia. My OCs do not have OTPs as they are fandomless with no connections. I try not to let my OTPs show too much on my RP blogs as I don't wanna make them seem like they influence my shipping choices on my blog or that I'm gonna force them onto others, but... this is what they are.

what are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

I am very open to a lot of stuff!! I do personally find it difficult to keep up the ex-lovers trope when it comes to ships as I am very much more a sucker for the cute & sweet. I am also open to polycules when it comes to my shipping! Though, all parties involved MUST be accepting of it. If you have an idea, just toss it my way. I'm very chill about a lot of stuff.

how large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

It depends. This more-so is angled toward muses that are immortal or supernatural. If your character is just a normal guy or gal, then once you hit 10 years+ age gap, it starts to get uncomfortable. This pertains mainly to my OCs. If your immortal/supernatural muse has an appearance 10 years older than mine, I also tend to steer clear for romance. Just weirds me out the larger the age gap, even if there's consent. NOW for my enstars muses, Koga, Jun, & Chiaki - it is limited. I already have this set in my rules to not make things uncomfortable for a lot of people as they are 18/19, just graduates, in the enstars universe. Yes, they are those ages. They are not aged up. Just wanted to clarify this is solely for romantic/friendships. If it's parental/teacher sort of ship then age gaps are fine regardless.

are you selective when shipping?

A bit, yes! I am big into shipping tbh, BUT from a lot of prior situations, I am also extremely hesitant for ships. Platonic ships??? Absolutely no hesitation. I am not selective in the slightest bit. They can be friends like immediately after 1 interaction. I will give you my arm. For romantic ships??? Yes. I am very unlikely to ask because I get very hesitant. I love love writing cute, shippy stuff like kisses & cuddled but I get very hesitant with it. Tho, more than not, I quietly reach out to ship.

how far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

Once there's legit touching of private parts, or if undressing comes first before that moment. Dry humping & grinding is in more of the suggestive territory, unless again, if there's undressing. Once the clothes are off, it's definitely NSFW. Any touching of privates even if the clothes are still on, that's NSFW. Just making out & bodies just against each other, that's suggestive.

does one have to ask to ship with you?

You can!!! If you require the asking as a shipper, then yes. If you feel like we have a ship starting to go without the asking, we can make it clear through asking. Sometimes I DO just end up shipping even without the clarified "do you wanna ship?" "yeah!" because things just CLICK which I am cool with.

how often do you like to ship?

I..... do love shipping. I'd love to ship more often. Of course platonic stuff just flows so easily. But I am a sucker for the cute romantic stuff that I do not actually hold myself back a lot of the time. If you want to just kiss my muses, I will not say no. It's a little bit harder with my enstars boys in comparison to my OCs but... ya know... ship with my boys.

are you multiship?

I am indeed multiship!! But my romantic ships are limited!! I will have 1 main ship partner for each character, whom I will reference when there are no specifications. I will also generally have a secondary main position available. I DO feel a bit bad to limit myself when everyone writes their characters a bit differently, so I generally do not take on exclusives. If I do take on an exclusive, I do try to make it clear!!! I just prefer main over exclusive except for really close friends of mine. There are no mains in ships on my OCs tho, everything is equally fair game for them. It's just shipping canon with canon that I mentally do this for myself.

are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

I'm in between. I love ships, BUT I do tend to ship more or less ultimately. Roleplay opens me up to more potential ships when interacting with someone gets my interests going. But I do... tend to... not talk about too many ships or show too many ships. I have a few set ships I'm interested in, but I put that all aside for rp to give everyone a chance to ship with my characters!!! I am ship obsessed with my OCs tho if I ever get back to writing them. Just love all of them. Give them all love. They're all plenty old enough.

what is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

Well..... I already discussed that at the beginning of this. My favorite ship is ReiKoga presently, when it comes to shippy stuff they have taken over my brain. HiyoJun is close behind. But I am also big on polyUNDEAD ( Rei/Kaoru/Adonis x Koga ) & polyEden ( NagiHiyoIbaJun ).

finally, how does one ship with you?

Uhhhhhhhhhh... send me memes. I'm not the best at chatting & keeping conversations going but uhhhhh... just send me stuff & like that's the easiest way. Or comment on my stuff I post & usually that can build my interest as well. While I am hesitant to propose a question due to past experiences, I am very willing if the offer presents itself.

[childotkw]

I like your Reg x James x Lily posts it’s so good, Sirius is definitely going through the the five stages of grief but he’ll have to accept it. they’re happy and they love each other. They’ll make sure Harry is also happy and loved, it wonderful. I actually think the funniest part is that probably nobody expected Regulus to be in a polycule never-mind it being with James and Lily of all people. I feel like people would have thought Sirius would have been more likely to join James and Lily but no it’s Regulus. God, I really want to hear the rumors about them. Like what the hell did Regulus do that have James and Lily acting like that?? Did they fuck?? No???? Literally nobody knows!! I feel like someone probably snitched to the Black Family at some point idk if it’s funnier if Walburga and Orion found out after it all went down or pre relationship. Either way now they have two rebellious boys and neither of them expected Regulus to take down the dark lord and have a husband and a wife.

Even though I suspect there isn’t going to be any romance between the the three of them in Ays(aml) I am interested in seeing them interact in that fic. Can you tell us something about them?

I know you said Regulus doesn’t like either of them but is fiercely protective of them because of Harry. I imagine Regulus actions are really confusing/alarming to James and Lily. Maybe they figured regulus is protective of them because of Sirius but then (since Harry is Regulus #1 priority) it’ll be funny if they ended up thinking Regulus has a crush on one or both of them.

Haha thank you! Happy you liked it! Sirius would always struggle with a Regulus x James x Lily scenario I think. He'd speedrun through his confusion though and settle pretty quickly into this is fine territory. And yes, lmao, Regulus being the one in the polycule would throw so many people off hahah - and the rumours of Regulus' sexual prowess explode because Lily and James are so smitten. Regulus is just living his best life wearing sweaters and making baby formula and getting forehead kisses. The fact that he takes down the Dark Lord is a footnote in his own autobiography but is the first thing most people remember about him in the future.

And you're right - no romance between those three in ays(aml). But god, the interactions are weird from Lily and James' perspective. Because they know of Regulus but they don't actually know him. He's been a spectre of their social lives thanks to Sirius. They've heard so much about him, heard Sirius' anger and bitterness and shame whenever he brings up his brother - and they've...made assumptions.

In truth, Regulus is a recluse. He's reserved and quiet and watchful. He's undeniably a pureblood, the same arrogance and sneering superiority - but unlike other elites, it's aimed at everyone rather than just muggleborns.

If anything, Lily muses, at least he treats everyone equally like they’re nuisances.

But even that's not right, because there are a select few that Regulus treats with some measure of respect and care.

Sirius, despite his own confusion, is not necessarily a surprise. James and Lily though? They have no idea what they've done to receive Regulus Black's unnerving brand of protection. James, in particular, thought Sirius' little brother hated him. So, to have Regulus consistently, subtly in their corner, defending them and even taking hits for them, raises some eyebrows.

I'm not sure if I'd ever have them actually question if Regulus liked one of them - maybe they'd throw it out as a mocking joke one time while theorising; but it wouldn't be taken seriously. Mainly because Regulus is largely...dismissive when he does interact with them? He doesn't act in any way like he's attracted to either Lily or James - often sounds annoyed with them, if they're honest. He's protective of them, but it's pretty obvious that he's more interested in them as a concept than as people.

And that's really disturbing for Lily and James, in a lot of ways.

[orkbutch]

For me at least I ship Karlach and Astarion the most because I think it creates an interesting dichotomy for both of them other ships dont get.

Astarion whose used to being sexual to get people to like him and doesnt know another way is forced to step back because he cant jump straight into seductive vampire persona with Karlach

Karlach whose touch starved as hell and is in the worst dry spell is with someone who shows a clear interest in her but she cant interact on that level with. Her already being a character who wants a physical bond but has to gain a purely emotional one first

Theyre a ship where their individual issues with intimacy (physical and emotional) have an interesting mesh I think you dont get as much in Lae'zel

Interesting! I personally don't get it but again, I think shipping Karlach and Astarion is totally fine; The Whole Camp Polycule is great fun to me and I think the dynamics between every character individually are interesting. All I was saying was 16% vs 3% between Astarion vs Lae'zel is Telling imo because Lae'zel and Karlach make a lot of sense to me.

That said, my thoughts on Karlach/Astarion:

Karlach being as touch starved and sexually potent as she is makes her one of the least suited characters for Astarion in my mind. Obviously that tension is Interesting, but I think it'd get in the way ultimately. Obviously Karlach isn't going to be weird about having sex, you can play her romance nonsexually and shes very sweet, but shes still very eager and a little (ok, a lot) desperate, which is understandable. Karlach is living on limited time and wants to indulge in things barred from her for all of her adult life to the fullest while she can. Either way they could just be poly so thats not really a problem! I guess what I'm actually saying is I personally don't find sexual restraint something interesting for Karlach's character. I think it'd be kind of tragic tbh.

Karlach pretty much has to build a purely emotional bond first with Anyone shes seeing because of the engine needing to be fixed. Its something she can remark on as a change in her usual dating if you romance her. Which suits what you said, but also isn't something I see as unique with Astarion.

There is one thing I do see as an interesting, unique dynamic between Karlach and Astarion. Karlach is romantically delayed; shes basically emotionally a teenager with dating and shes playing catch up as quick as she can with what time she has. That makes her kind of gullible and earnest and quick to fall, but also aware of that, and therefore prone to shame about this stuff. Shes pretty sensitive, especially about rejection and feeling like shes special to someone.

Meanwhile, Astarion is JADED jaded, and heavily traumatised. He has layers of self protective coping strats, hes guarded, hes cold, hes unlearning a lot of shit, hes learning how to have agency of his own body while its actively invaded by a parasite. Dudes going through it! And I Do think that stark difference could be interesting. Karlach has a lightness and excitement that Astarion wouldn't have experienced in like, 200 years. Their opposite deals would bring a lot of tension, possible healing, hot vs cold, ect ect.

But ultimately, in my mind, I think Astarion would find Karlach needy and too sweet, and he'd hate that, and I think Karlach wouldn't feel very reassured by Astarion because of his flippant, glib ways. I think they'd lose patience with each other, and they'd find a romantic relationship pretty emotionally tumultuous. They wouldn't meet a lot of each others specific needs very well. But hey, thats what poly is for

[dragongutsixofficial]

THOUGHTS ON EPISODES 7 AND 8:

Episode 7:

RICHELIEU MY POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW

A Richelieu-centric episode ??? Sign me THE FUCK IN (seriously though he may be my favorite character in the book i'll take any crumbs I can)

Also loved to see him and Milady interacting more !!! Super nice 🖤⚜️

GO APESHIT RICHELIEU

FUCK THE POPE RICHELIEU

In the book (SPOILER ALERT) Milady tells a story very similar to the false testimony she gives in court in order to make Buckingham's right-hand man believe he abducted and raped her and turn him against him- it's really nice to see that referenced in the show

Like to see Louis actually having a personnality

Liked Ninon ! But why would you fall for Athos when ARAMIS IS RIGHT HERE

Also I do think they didn't need her to romance anyone to make her interesting in that episode ? I understand it's the usual plot device but ah well

Love how the last shot of the episode is Constance pining d'Artagnan against a shelf. We all know who's the top in the relationship

To conclude: great episode, did I mention i loved to see more of Richelieu ?

RICHELIEU MY POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW

Episode 8:

MILADY MY POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW

Love how the skirt-chasing for money is exactly how it works in the book

Alice (Porthos' love interest) is a pretty good reference to his mistress in the book and a very nice lady but I think the hilarity of Porthos having to deal with her original version would've been amazing (an older woman married to a cupid man who won't spend a dime while they're both just desperately waiting for him to pass to inherit his fortune)

Love how (in the French version at least) d'Artagnan is barely portrayed as actually caring for his farmers' lives, only his cash xD

De Tréville is a good dad

Love d'Artagnan just walking into Richelieu's office like he owns the place

Richelieu is having a mental breakdown

GOOD FOR HIM MY POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW

But don't be mean to Milady >=(

Milady and Athos being like: love in the air ? Wrong ! Gas leak =D

Mr. Bonacieux is very nice with Constance though. Like I would not have reacted that well

Also nice to see him working for Richelieu. The people who made this show clearly dearly care for the book

d'Artagnan getting promoted !!! Yeah =D now he's got the cool shoulder pad

d'Artagnan in the book 5000000000% wants Milady and does still a dude's identity for the second time in order to essentially rape her though so it's nice to see d'artagnan having a moral backbone more solid than that of a chocolate éclair

So uh. I do think Aramis took his own sword back from his ex's grave

Btw in French at least right before they start the duel d'artagnan says something like "speaking from personal experience, never trust in love" and Athos gives him a dramatic side eye. This can be explained in two ways: 1- he relates 2- d'artagnan YOU'RE SAYING THAT IN FRONT OF YOUR POLYCULE

Also once Alice dumps Porthos in the French version him and Aramis have an exchange that's like "So you're not gonna marry her" "Who would take care of you if I did" and I love them

Before he gets dumped, Porthos also says something to the effect of "there's a life after being a musketeer" to shut Aramis' criticism down. Boy don't give him ideas. If this was book! Aramis he'd take it to heart have an existential crisis lock himself in a room for weeks and whip himself crying about how he's gonna become a cleric

Edit: fixed a typo from Milady and Porthos to Milady and Athos

[nomsfaultau]

Tumblr search bar won’t work so I can’t link to the post about the Dr. Blake polycule situation, but apparently I’m getting silly with the Fault villains atm, so to recap: Dr. Blake is potentially in a throuple who are all trying to keep their secret villainous identities secret. Dr. Blake as a Foundation worker, a CIA agent who specializes in “intel extraction”, and a dentist. Yes the dentist is the most evil out of all of them. Not it will never be confirmed to be canon bc Dr. Blake keeps her work and personal lives extremely separate, thank you very much. Anyway, I imagine they’re always playing like 7D chess in every interaction. And weirdly enough, despite them all having secret identities they have like wickedly good communication skills? Like Dr. Blake will ask one how they want their coffee today and from that deduce exactly how their day at work went wrong and elect to make it movie night. They never have a straight forward conversation but they don’t need to. And yet literally none of them suspect their partners are also secretly morally reprehensible. I dunno. It amuses me to imagine her leading a fairly unremarkable civilian life completely severed from her identity in the Foundation. Reserved, maybe, arrogant in her knowledge of anomalies and position protecting civilians. But she’s softened to an almost pleasant person, with regular hobbies like fps games or cheesy romance novels. She goes on walks in the neighborhood, attends city hall meetings. Calculating, sure, but outside the Foundation she doesn’t have to be on guard, ready to unravel some entity with her words alone in an instant. And it’s hard to imagine what a relaxed Dr. Blake looks like, because she never lets the mask slip. She’s terrified of ever being vulnerable, and so she’s built up this impenetrable wall between her work and home life, refusing to reveal anything lest it be used against, stopping herself from bonding with her coworkers because she’s waiting for them to die, unable to consider anomalies anything but a threat because she knows one mistake and its over.

I don’t think Dr. Blake can allow herself to be a person in the Foundation.

[entamewitchlulu]

did i just spend an afternoon making up fankids for the katacule? maybe. you can find out if you click on the read more

so ok. my personal canon for post-series is that the polycule all stays together though they do have some beard marriages between them for appearances - it's pretty much an open secret to the entire kingdom tho that they're all together. and who's going to say anything about it when they're the most powerful people in the kingdom (and particularly jeord will silence anyone who tries to get between them with prejudice).

So anyway, the ""official"" appearance marriages are:

Katarina/Jeord

Keith/Sophia

Maria/Nicol

Alan/Mary

and Sora and Raphael just kinda chill as eternal bachelors

But despite this they are all having their own interactions with each other and romances all across all the "pairings". Some of them are platonic with each other, some are romantic, and etc. Anyway this results in an awful lot of kiddos, and if they're completely honest they don't always know who the dad is so the plan they come up with is that whoever's the mom, their ""official"" husband will just claim them for inheritance purposes, but they're ALL the moms and dads for all these kids. for that reason i'm not gonna say straight up who the parents of these kids are but you can probably make some guesses based on their appearances/magic, etc.

Sylvia Ascart (left) is the oldest. She's 18 and she's hard-working, cheerful, and flexible. She wants to be the best she can be, but she doesn't mind chilling out once in a while. Her dream is to succeed Nicol as the prime minister, and her magic type is Light.

Amelia Ascart (right), is 17. She's quiet, thoughtful, and has a talent for memorizing books she's read. Her only real goal in life is to be surrounded by books. Her magic type is Wind.

Colette (left) and Felix Stuart (right) are twins, both 17 years old. They both have water magic. Colette is a little antisocial, preferring to spend time with horses rather than people, but due to her quiet nature, she tends to overhear a lot and knows dirt on almost everyone. Her brother is very ambitious, and wants to succeed the throne. He's irritatingly smug and smart and loves to talk circles around people.

Next is Ethan Stuart (left). He's 16 and his magic type is fire. He is a sweet, sort of shy young man who loves cats and is very genuine. He's scared of ghosts and bad at swordsmanship, and prefers to spend time with Mary in the garden.

Silas Claes (middle) is 15. His magic type is Earth, and as the only official son of Keith, he's intended to succeed as the Duke Claes. He has the appearance of an incredibly sweet young man who looks younger than he is, and he loves sweets and mischief. His favorite thing to do is to lull people into believing he's a perfect angel who could do no wrong while he's actually pranking or manipulating the shit out of you.

Adeline Ascart (right) is 15 and her magic type is Light. She is a sweet, optimistic to a fault girl who loves sewing and cute things, though she's afraid of horses and flustered in crowds. She has a talent for making plushies, and wants to join the Ministry of Magic.

Victoria (left) and Noelle Stuart (right) are also twins and are 15 years old. Both have Earth magic. Like Nicol, Victoria has the same alluring aura that flusters almost everyone around her. However, she finds it tiresome, and is most exhausted of getting marriage proposals from people, as she wishes not to get married. However, she is quietly rather ambitious, and wants to succeed the throne. She's very protective of Noelle.

Noelle is shy and very attached to Victoria, and hates crowds. She has a talent for music and likes to spend time playing piano with Alan when she's not with Victoria.

Charlotte Stuart is 14 and also musically inclined, liking to play the cello. She and Noelle sometimes play together. She's kind, but is no doormat, quick to stand up for herself and her siblings even against people stronger or more influential than her. Her magic type is Water.

Miku (left) and Aoi (right) Stuart are another set of twins, age 13. Miku has fire magic, and Aoi has earth.

Miku has Katarina's inability to stay still and a deep wanderlust. She loves climbing anything she can find, hates dresses, and wants to be an adventurer.

Aoi is nearly as adventurous as his sister, but he's more interested in trying new foods. He likes to cook but even more than that he likes to try exotic dishes and will eat just about anything. He struggles to keep his clothes clean, but he's so lovable that he can make friends wherever he goes.

Peony (left) and Poppy (right) Ascart are the last set of twins, age 12. Peony has Light magic and Poppy has fire. Peony is a bit on the lazy side; she likes to nap wherever she can. She's actually quite responsible and gets things done, but then she'd just like to doze off under a tree. Poppy is an budding artist who likes to spend time painting landscapes. She's laid-back, but will snap easily if interrupted while painting.

Then there's the two youngest! Darian Stuart is 10 and has water magic. He loves swordplay and wants to be a heroic swordsman. Despite his desire to be a hero, he's still quite young and cries easily.

Penelope Stuart is 9 and has earth magic. She's exuberant, adventurous, and loooooves bugs. She's pretty loud and hyper and loves to grab big beetles and show them to everyone.

Generally speaking, the "official" families are as follows:

Katarina/Jeord: Ethan, Victoria, Noelle, Miku, Aoi, Darian, Penelope

Ethan is considered the Fifth Prince, as he's the second eldest of Jeord and Alan's kids, and Jeord and Alan's brothers have three sons between them (idk about them yet). Atm I think Ian is king so his son(s) are first in line, but I haven't really decided that. Victoria is the Third Princess, after Colette.

Keith/Sophia: Silas. He's their only "official" kid, so he's the heir to the Dukedom.

Maria/Nicol: Sylvia, Amelia, Adeline, Peony, Poppy

Alan/Mary: Colette, Felix, Charlotte. Felix is considered the Fourth Prince.

Andddd that's it lol. I have no other thoughts at the moment.

[ashleybenlove]

Okay so I’ve been struck with an idea I really want to share and you seemed like the type of person who might like it? It’s kind of a ramble so I’m sorry if this is bothersome

You personally really opened my mind to HTTYD polyships (love your OT6 works) and in the idealized universe in my head (everyone has one of those right? 😂) I’ve been constructing a polycule and just a few days ago while thinking really hard about this fic based on all those with Hiccup raised by dragons but with Dagur instead; rolling it around and exploring the idea of how that Dagur might interact with the other characters when I was hit by a sudden brainwave. What if he became smitten with Toothless? Like if he was raised by dragons it would make sense that he would be attracted to dragons first and foremost however his relationship with Hiccup might develop. And then it was only a small jump to apply this to a more canon-adjacent universe; where after some time in a relationship with Hiccup (who is separately dating Toothless amongst others) Dagur would sometimes hang out with Toothless separately maybe if Hiccup was doing something neither felt the need to tag along for(he is the only person other than Hiccup to call him by a nickname, T, after his redemption but that might just be a Dagur thing he calls a lot of people by nicknames but something about him calling Toothless T just struck me as awfully friendly of him). And as they spend time just hanging out maybe they both become fonder of eachother than they were expecting. And then they date too.

And this also like connects Toothless in the polycule more if that makes sense? Like if he was only dating Hiccup and was just committed to his Soulmate for the rest of his life that’s one thing but after THW (which of course has to have it’s bones picked for good parts that are few and far between) he also has the Lightfury who I guess he could just be seeing for family-rearing purposes if that’s a direction he wanted to take his life in but couldn’t before. But it does show him committing to a romantic relationship outside of Hiccup so the fact that he wasn’t dating anyone else almost seemed weird like he never had romantic feelings for anyone but his rider? No one was interested in him? IDK I guess it just seemed interesting to me to explore Toothless in a relationship with someone who wasn’t his soulmate or the drakina he had kids with

And I’m imagining after Toothless realizes he has feelings esp requited he decides to court in a human manner bc I headcanon Toothcup just kind of falling together easily. Like they have a conversation about love and romance, probably after GOTNF, actually now I’m trying to outline a separate fic at you I’m sorry but just know that I’m my head they skip straight from besties to almost literally married (as in, literally but in the dragons culture) in like, one conversation. So Toothless has never courted before so he does things like grabbing a mouthful of flowers ect. ect. And Dagur I’d like ‘Oh gods why is this happening again. I was terrible to him, I hunted him, WHY DO I NOW HAVE A CRUSH WHY DO I KEEP MAKING TERRIBLE IMPRESSIONS ON PEOPLE I WANT TO LIKE ME’ and is genuinely baffled but delighted that Toothless reciprocates. I’ve only been turning this over for a day or two so I’m not sure how he acts in the relationship but I’m so invested in the two of them slowly building up a relationship outside of their shared feeling for Hiccup. Like I’ve always liked them being genuine friends but this just hit me out of nowhere and I really wanted to share it.

And I guess I chose you because when I thought of the intersection of Dagcup, Toothcup, and general HTTYD polycule madness I thought of you. I love your work in this fandom and I love the way you build encompassing relationships between so many disparate people. I’d love to hear what you think about this little ship idea

Please accept this picture of my HTTYD studies cuddling as payment for reading my excessive ramble

Aww, thank you!!! That's very nice of you to say!!! 🥰

(Very cute picture!!!)

I like your idea! Dagur being raised by dragons (technically, a feral child) definitely works considering how feral he generally is.

As for Dagur and Toothless, I always point repeatedly at the fact that the number one thing that gave Hiccup pause, that made Hiccup want to trust Dagur is that Toothless let Dagur (who had previously been pretty hostile to him) ride him to save Hiccup. Toothless is a good judge of character. (He let Hiccup live, after all.)

And yeah, Hiccup and Toothless being practically married by the end of GOTNF is good. I mean, one could easily be like "oh the forehead touch in HTTYD2 is when they got married." Sure, but also: Hiccup and Toothless have been married for like, years by that point. That's like, them renewing their vows.

Also love this: "IDK I guess it just seemed interesting to me to explore Toothless in a relationship with someone who wasn’t his soulmate or the drakina he had kids with". Because like, yeah, that's the whole point of fanworks. Let's play in the sandbox a different way!!! Let Toothless have a separate relationship with Dagur (whether it's casual or serious!).

Anyways! Great stuff!!! I hope you have lots of fun with it!!!