#now this one is OTP tier

[acacia-may]

Hi again Acacia! Could I please get a request in for Ed x Winry before you close your shipping game asks? 💜

Hi there, friend! Thank you so much for the ask and for asking about one of my all time favorite pairings. 💕 Ed x Winry definitely makes sense and is beyond compelling to me, but I'm going to put my ramblings under the cut because I specifically mention some spoilers for the ending.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was actually the 3rd anime I ever saw, and it will always be particularly special to me because it got me into the anime genre and to this day, is still probably my favorite anime of all time (though I love so many at this point). Winry was my favorite character, and I adored her relationship with Ed. That bantering, slow-burn friends-to-lovers dynamic is probably my favorite kind of relationship trope, so I was really invested in them and in their relationship throughout the series.

I adored their platonic friendship as well. There was just something so endearing to me about how they'd bicker but really had so much respect and admiration for each other underneath it all, and I think they way that they encouraged, inspired, and supported each other was really beautiful. There was something so natural about the progression of their relationship over the course of the series too, and it really so wonderful getting to see them deepen their relationship, fall in love and realize their feelings for each other. I remember literally screaming (in a good way) when Winry had her "feelings realization" moment, and their final love confession scene on that train platform at the end of the series is just everything to me.

As soon as I started writing these ramblings I had to get my out my manga volumes and just read through the scene again because it's one of my favorites in the whole series. There is something so refreshingly different about it, and it perfectly summarizes their characters and their relationship to me. I love how they so clearly expressed their love without saying the words "I love you" and instead used that equivalent exchange metaphor. Confessing in that way is just perfectly, perfectly Ed, and I found it really endearing, but what really gets me, is how he only asks for "half of her life" at first and suggests that 50/50 split which leads to this just amazing reaction from Winry.

That bantering is just so wonderful, especially when followed up by this sincere confession that she wants to give him her whole life and her whole heart. Her unwavering devotion to him is just beautiful, and I love that she finds the words to express that (when Ed, who loves her just as deeply and just as devotedly, struggles to find his words). I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. They are so in love!

When my friend brought over her dvd box set for us to watch the final 5 episodes together, I literally got up from my seat on the sofa, squealed, and danced around when there was this absolutely glorious flash forward photo of them with their kids at the end of the final credits. (Needless to say, it really shocked my friend because I do not get into shipping. She teases me about it to this day, but there is just something about these two, okay? They're too perfect together, and look they're married with babies!!! How else am I supposed to react to that?)

At this point in my life, I have seen this anime too many times to count and have read through the manga series several times as well, and every time I reach this photo (or the similar one in the manga) and see Ed and Winry together with their family, I still, without fail, get so giddy and excited. I love them so much! And I still can't get over how canon they are. If only all my ships ended up married with kids...they do in my mind, but to see it actually happen for real is everything and it's everything that an amazing pairing like Ed x Winry deserves.

Thank you for asking about them! They probably rank on my ultimate OTP list from anything ever! Just perfect and meant to be 💖💖

[mindibindi]

Amazon:

Me:

Seriously thought for a sec that they were asking for my otp and was like: ...which one?

[boyfrillish]

In case anyone cares to know, my progress status in Sword is I just got my 4th badge last night and am about to head off to Ballonlea next time I play. Those who are around my twitter may have seen me crying about Hop a lot these past couple of days 😹 among other yellings. I mean it when I say the game’s on my mind 24/7. The itch to write is strong. So is the wish to look for fanart (and rt it all but I’m nervous about rting ppl’s old(er) art lol) but I’m trying to at least finish the story first 😅

Also Hop and Victor have received THE highest honour: they’re assigned Speed of Love. aka THE song. I think that pretty much says it all...

[ladyloveroll]

(These are my ACTUAL notes from my friends birthday party full of people who absolutely did not know who the fuck Itachi and Kisame were or how pairing names work or what a ship is.)

Writing kisaita (on and off) for 15 years

Never get tired of the ship

Excellent, friendly people in the fandom to keep making content (Cynni)

Presentation is less about the specific ship and more about the general qualities that make their ship S-tier. You may find this echoed in your own OTP, IDK.

Powerful, badass characters who can kick anyones asses no problem, as depicted where they are casually taking a stroll after Kisame (who still has his little fo-hawk) casually takes down the four-tails

Kisame is noted as the ‘tail-less jinchuuriki’

Itachi is clearly a fucking powerhouse, we don’t need to debate that

Working with strong characters means you are more easily able to portray their weakness and explore that side of them since that rarely gets screentime

Auxiliary, not main characters

Main characters are harder to write because they spend a lot of screen time accomplishing their goal and doing Plot

Auxiliary characters are more malleable, and morally gray ones especially so

Depicted here are Itachi and Kisame, separately, being ordered by their villages to kill their own people. They carry this order out, but do not particularly like it. Nor are they particularly loyal to their own villages, despite carrying this order out. It’s hard to say where their loyalities lie.

The answer is WITH EACH OTHER OBVIOUSLY

Any ship that has a timeskip has LOADS of canon-verse material you can work with, especially if it feels like the characters have changed or their dynamic has changed.

For Naruto especially, WTF are Kisame and Itachi doing for three years? Clearly neither of them are out capturing jinchuriki. They aren’t seen lounging around Amegakure or Akatsuki headquarters. They are just traveling the world. Probably doing hits. Probably hitting on EACH OTHER WOOOOOO

Long time skips mean a few thing: 1) Canon divergence, 2) Canon compliant, 3) pre-time skip, 4) during time skip, 5) post time-skip; and that’s not even the AU’s

They clearly haven’t made any other friends during this time either so lots of relationship to explore

The Naruto franchise is notorious for retconning. Probably because Kishimoto (the writer) was pushed to create at a pace that was impossible for any sane or healthy man to keep up with.

Fanficition writers can take advantage of this poor writing by interpreting the character in a lot more ways than if the character was solidly written.

There are a lot of different ways Kisame is written, and accepted as so

Itachi less so but we don’t have time for that

Retconning allows you to take a writers mistake and turn it into utter brainrot that ten other people (me) will reblog every 3 years

This one is kind of specific, but if you like angst then OH BOY this ship has a lot of potential for it

Any OTP that involves an angsty edgelord and a sadistic tagalong can indulge in either EXTRA ANGST and be able to balance out the angst with humor

The KisaIta ship has 4 great themes about it:

Redemption

Acceptance

Forgiveness

And Existentialism of course

Dynamic:

Sharkboy / lava girl

Edgelord / goof

Leader / follower

Maybe old? / a touch too young

Respect for each other

S-tier OTP because of strong themes and repeatable dynamics

Kinkfest here we come

S-tier OTPs must be able to withstand an intense variety of smut writing

Powerful level = able to handle pain and dish out pain

Body things? = more positions

The Shape of Water was one of the single best thing to happen to the KisaIta 18+ fics because (even though it existed before the movie came out) a lot more readers were into it now

Also, Kisame makes this ship work more than Itachi. He is fucking DEVOTED

at this point I was running out of my 10-minutes (THEY HAD THE AUDACITY TO PUT ME ON A TIMER) so i just backfilled the rest of the presentation with fanart and memes i like

Why do I like KisaIta?

I mostly write smut

They’re great at smut

I also like angst

They’re always great for angst, either character

Also look at them they are hot AF

Beefcake service-top vs. ‘shaped like a katana’ masochist

Healthy dose of hurt-comfort

They’re extremely flexible to write and so there’s a lot of stories you can create

thank you for not reporting me to the powerpoint police

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

My Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss Shipping Tier List

Hazbin Hotel Ships

Huskerdust - Angel Dust and Husk. My Hellaverse OTP! I've talked about them at length in my Huskerdust analysis post. Long story short: they're not perfect people, but they could be perfect for each other. They've both been through bad times and done bad things, but there's a chance they could change for the better now that they have each other. And that's why I love thinking about them together.

Chaggie - Charlie Morningstar and Vaggie. They're a sweet established couple, and it's cute to see how they'll take any opportunity to hold hands or hug or brush hair off each other's faces. Plus, I'm a sucker for pairings where one person is a grump and the other is a ray of sunshine.

Emilute - Lute and Emily. They're both angels, but very different in looks and personality. One is dark-skinned with pastel clothes and compassion for Sinners; the other is pale-skinned with black clothes and a dedication to eradicating Sinners. Emily would want to help Lute see the light, whereas Lute would try to make Emily cross over to the dark side... @carpp had made some great fanart of the two of them, which made me love the pairing!

Emilette - Emily and Velvette. I started shipping this thanks to @dallina17 and their posts on the pairing. I think it's interesting that Emily and Velvette both have musical moments where they stand up to authority figures (Sera in "You Didn't Know" and Carmilla in "Respectless", respectively), but go about it in different ways (appeals to morality vs. brash rudeness) and with different motives (concern for others vs. self-interest). That's got me thinking about what would happen if the two women ever met. Also, Black sapphic solidarity for the win!

MollyBomb - Molly and Cherri Bomb. I just think it would be funny if Angel's sister and Angel's best friend ended up dating. It's as simple as that!

CherriSnake - Cherri Bomb and Sir Pentious. Their shift from rivals to crushing on each other felt a bit rushed, but I'm intrigued to see where this relationship goes and what impact they might have on each other.

StaticNeedle - Niffty and Vox. I've talked a lot about my headcanon that Niffty and Vox were married in life. It stemmed from realising that they both died in the Fifties, and kind-of spiralled from there. It's probably the rarest rarepair I ship.

StaticMoth - Vox and Valentino. To be honest, I struggle to wholeheartedly ship Valentino with anyone, given his ... everything, but he and Vox would make a fascinating villain couple. One is camp and sexy and does whatever he wants, and the other is a sleek businessman who's obsessed with projecting the perfect image. Opposites attract, I guess?

Seramilla - Sera and Carmilla. Shoutout to @seramilla for getting me interested in this! I can definitely see the appeal of two mother figures on opposite sides of the afterlife finding common ground in their protective nature.

Zestmilla - Carmilla and Zestial. This ship is kind-of "meh" for me, but it is intriguing that Carmilla and Zestial seem so close with each other. I wonder how that happened?

Alzy (platonic) - Mimzy and Alastor. The way Alastor talks to and about Mimzy, and even the way he smiles around her, is different to how he acts around everyone else. The fact that they were friends in life and this friendship has carried over into death is really fascinating to me.

RadioRose (platonic) - Alastor and Rosie. I like how Rosie highlights a different side to Alastor compared to Mimzy, given that Rosie also seems to have a scheming nature. She's like a work buddy to Alastor, except they have a shared interest in eating people.

Lucilith - Lucifer Morningstar and Lilith. I'd like to find out more about their marriage and what caused it to fall apart.

Baximi - Crymini and Baxter. Neither have appeared in the show (yet), but a furry character and a fishy character falling in love has a cool star-crossed-lovers vibe to me.

Helluva Boss Ships

Owling at the Moon (platonic) - Loona and Octavia. Sarcastic Chorus made a really interesting video about how they differ and what they have in common. They're from opposite sides of the track, but both have daddy issues (to put it mildly), so they both could use a friend who understands.

Fizzmodeus - Fizzarolli and Asmodeus. I think the fact that I already love Roger and Jessica Rabbit made me more willing to accept another pairing with a clown and a sex symbol!

M&M - Moxxie Knolastname and Millie. I'm a sucker for married couples who don't completely hate each other.

Sallie Mayday - Verosika Mayday and Sallie May. One is a celebrity, the other is a country girl. It's another opposites-attract concept that I enjoy.

Marberry - Mrs Mayberry and Martha. This feels like "enemies to lovers" taken to the extreme, but hey, I'm here for it!

Stolitz - Blitzø and Stolas. I'm not sure how I feel about them as a couple, but I do enjoy reading and watching other people's analyses of the ship and of each person's shortcomings.

Colleenie - Collin and Keenie. They're both angelic sheep who seem like they're meant to be parallels to Moxxie and Millie, which intrigues me. If only Keenie treated Collin better...

Characters I Don't Really Ship with Anyone

Hazbin Hotel: Adam, St Peter, Odette Carmine, Clara Carmine, Arackniss, Travis, Katie Killjoy, Tom Trench, the Egg Boiz, Fat Nuggets, KeeKee, Razzle, Dazzle

Helluva Boss: Cletus, Deerie, Stella, Andrealphus, Paimon, Joe, Lin, Cash Buckzo, Barbie Wire, Mrs Knolastname, Crimson Knolastname, Striker, Chazwick Thurman, Beelzebub, Vortex, Mammon, Robo-Fizz, Glitz, Glam, Arick "Burnie" Burnz, Wally Wackford, Loopty Goopty, Lyle Lipton, Agent Two, Agent One, Ralphie, Counselor Jimmy

[sadnessxanxietyblog]

My updated, personal ship-rating.

Here's the link: Inside Out 1 & 2 Ships Tier List Maker

The S catagory is about my OTP ships.

The A catagory is about the ships that I love.

The B catagory is about the ships that I like.

The C catagory is about the ships that I'm neutral towards.

The D catagory is about the ships which I prefer to ship platonically for my reputation's (especially my future one's) sake. I'm sorry for triggering some of you, but I prefer to be safer than to be sorry in the future. You see, I come from a community (it is the Vyond one) where people love to jump into conclusions, love to bring up people's past, secretly love to cyberbully people who make mistakes (especially stupid ones) and also don't want to give other people chances to redeem themselves. That's when my Anxiety comes into action. Now would prefer to not vent more about it in this post, because it could contain guilt-trips and I'd prefer to avoid that… Now the D++ section is my OTP platonic-ship, the D+ section is about the platonic ships which I love and the D section is about the platonic ships that I am pretty much good with.

There may be some ships, which I might feel guilty for even shipping and for being neutral towards that certain ship, but no-one should have to feel guilty for shipping something different. I do feel bad for one certain rare-shipper, I hope to god that she wouldn't feel guilty just for having different ship-feelings from mine! I hope to god that there will be more people who would also ship the ship, but I'm also confident in it getting more attention sometime in the future. All we all got to do is to be patient. :)

Anyway, now it's time to tag all the ships (except the ones with Envy and Nostalgia) so far. I'd want to calculate 8 over 2, which makes 28, meaning I'd want to tag the 28 ships (both underrated/overrated ones and even the ship/s that I may be personally uncomfortable with), lol.

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

medic for the ask game? Alternatively, the eyelanded

I CANNOT answer all these damn questions about a talking sword you're getting Medic

favorite thing about them He's also just HILARIOUS like he's really really really funny and fun to watch and think about. His voice performance is so good he has so many top-tier funny moments. Also titties

least favorite thing about them Absolute fucking nightmare to play, which makes every single Medic main, yes, even you, an absolutely insufferable person

favorite line Where do I even fucking start with this guy. Who's ready to be a mother?

brOTP Now I don't think they would "hang out" but I think Medic would be like the Joker for the Administrator. Like Wheatley and Glados if Wheatley were smarter and also German instead of British. He would love pissing her off so much and that's funny. I also think he's great at hanging out with the whole team as a group, it balances out his energy a bit more and he's not as. yknow. Medic. as he can be one-on-one

OTP Sniper fucked that old man

nOTP Mediscout is boringgggg I'm so sorry it's BORING. There are ways to do it that I think can be fun but mostly it's just boring. I'm also finding engiemedic more and more boring the more time I spend here but you know. It's whatever

random headcanon Medic cannot read. More specifically, he's probably dyslexic, and has trouble with reading in any language. Also I generally write him as vaguely trilingual (German, Yiddish, and English) so that was probably a struggle for him, and I think he confuses the vocabulary and grammar of all three languages together a lot. But he's good at math

unpopular opinion Medic actually likes people. He's actually friends with the people on his team and they like him back. He's "weird" for sure, and he's definitely a sadist, but it's tf2 so that doesn't really matter and he's mostly just an Eccentric Scientist everyone finds weirdly charming in his own little way. The implications are astounding

song i associate with them Bubblegum Bitch dadada dadada

favorite picture of them

This one is just really top tier. I don't love this comic's art style and it's not my favorite way he's ever been drawn but it's just so fucking funny. He's even kinda doing the nerd finger point in this one

[ID: A Cold Day in Hell comic screenshot of Medic running through a door, a stack of papers in his arms, saying "Wait! Are we leaving? What about the baboon uteruses?" End ID]

[zabiume]

zabiume save me with your kurobas thoughts. Rewatching knb & at the point where Kagami enters the zone for the first time to beat Aomine and going crazy at how many times Kuroko comes up when he's thinking about not wanting to lose/see his friends cry anymore

Also the insanity of how similar Aomine & Kagami's meeting of Kuroko is... rotating these 3 in my mind constantly

oh my god. i LOVE that for you! aomine vs kagami is one of those matches that you think, "it was decent but people might have overhyped it a little" and then you rewatch it and it's like. nope. that's cinema. it really is the ichigo vs grimmjow of kurobas in that it employs the classic formulas of what makes battle shonen good...perfectly. like yes, to a certain extent, most other sports shonens do have the whole power-of-love/power-of-friendship thing going on, i'm sure, but what elevates kurobas is that it's allowed to get a little whimsical with it, it's allowed to take the term 'power-up' to a very literal level, sparks coming out of the eyes and all. in my controversial opinion, these goofy power-ups and ridiculous hair colors are what sets kurobas apart from its more serious, grounded counterparts. it never intended to be grounded! everything was always meant to feel 1000x more dramatic and exaggerated than it is, which perfectly embodies what it's like to be a teenager, and dare i say, what it's like to be a young sportsperson whose worst life experience would be losing a game. and given how many times we're told that the generation of miracles are a class apart, power-ups are the perfect way to show that. they're freakishly, unnaturally good. so when kagami enters the zone, it's almost like he's entering what the GOMs thought was unreachable. aomine, especially, has always wanted a rival who could meet him there and it's all!!! so!!!! exciting!!!!

anyway, let's talk about what MATTERS, which is aokuro, kagakuro and aokaga, the god-tier of kurobas ships. now, me personally, as you all know.....kagakuro is simply THAT ship for me, that's my #1 ride-or-die kurobas otp, but we simply cannot deny that aomine, kagami and kuroko all....complete each other. on a narrative level, you cannot have two without the other, which is, in my honest opinion, excellent writing. aomine and kuroko needed kagami to save them. kagami and kuroko needed someone to work against, they needed motivation to work together against something, which was aomine. aomine and kagami needed kuroko to keep them from falling into Sports Despair and bring them into the light again. kuroko literally BROUGHT kagami to aomine on a platter as if to say, "here. i have everything you ever wanted. i brought it to you, i know what you need better than anyone else" and like. tell me that's not a crazy dynamic. and aomine and kagami's first interaction is so loaded too? aomine basically said "you're not good enough for him, i know you're not good enough for him, because i used to be that guy for him, and you are nowhere near as good as i am"....like HELLO??? the fact that kagami immediately went to kuroko after and said: hey. was that guy your ex light? CRAZY.

also, i know there are so many obvious parallels between aomine and kagami that their first meeting with kuroko is meant to elicit deja vu (stream SOUR by olivia rodrigo btw), but i also think about the slight differences? and how fascinating they are? aomine basically wholly embraces kuroko from the very beginning, motivates him, admires him, adores him, even if he is relatively talentless compared to the other teikos. he has so much faith in kuroko, so much instant loyalty to kuroko, he never lets kuroko quit or doubt himself. he was willing to be thrown off the team with kuroko, which. you NEVER see aomine act like that, but kuroko enters the picture and aomine is like, "hey, i want that guy around. i'm keeping him."

meanwhile, kagami actually didn't like kuroko at first? he was derisive, they were constantly at odds with each other, he looked down on kuroko and didn't actually have faith in him at all....which is, like, the exact opposite of how it went down with aomine. it's so weirdly bittersweet and angsty how aomine's teiko journey is about slowly losing faith in kuroko, while kagami's seirin journey is all about gaining faith in kuroko. aomine went from 100 to 0, and kagami went from 0 to 100. that was the zone. that was kagami looking at kuroko's tears and being urged into action, while aomine had reached a point where kuroko's tears did nothing for him at all (see: their infamous riverside break-up scene). to top it all, kuroko is a metaphor for/embodiment of BASKETBALL itself, and kagami and aomine's relationship with it. aomine and kagami are similar, yes, but i think kagami is lucky that he never had to lose faith in basketball to know what it's like to have it again. kagami is lucky he never had to lose kuroko to know what it's like to want him again. aomine, unfortunately, had to lose him, but only because teiko would have never let them have what kuroko has with kagami in seirin. they were doomed from the start. i am standing by a cliffside and screaming.

[pokenoire]

My tier list shipping idk Dawn don't suits with a men, (if Ash beging Ashley/non binary maybe I ship) not sorry. I hate all ships with Paul being honest.

I don't know Satosere and SatoGou are ships that make me feel different from any other ship, all their content is very S2 for me OTP multi - OTP BL

I should post more Jellowshipping stuff

NGL Pokeshipping may not have been a ship that turned me off at the beginning but it was definitely a ship that got me after three rewachings and now it's one of my favorites

I didn't get along with KohaHika, I think it's the only ship I didn't get from her, much more because of Dawn's writing than Chloe's (hell Sppaming Daijobu was that one)

ALSO WHERE IS KOTOHIKA????? stockingsshipping I WOULD LIKE TO MARK THEM AS OTP

[infoglitch]

I'm utterly baffled by the fact people actually like my fanfics and I can't tell if it's because y'all are starved for content.. or I'm mildly decent... Or in the ridiculous case, I'm a god tier writer.

Neptune: many say love is complex. I disagree. Love is simple and I can tell you why. Gentlemen, ladies, everyone in-between, I have the answers. All on my Game show! I welcome everyone to the place where love is understood! Welcome to-

LOVE HYDRATION

Neptune: that's right everyone, I'm your beloved host Neptune Vasilias and this is my game show where one bachelor/bachelorette and five bachelors and/or bachelorettes try to whisk them away to a happily ever after. Now of course I'm the host so I cant participate but ladies-

Neptune winked at the camera as he clicked his tongue.

Neptune: I'm always available outside the studio. Now let's see what lucky somebody the waves dragged up today!

Neptune pointed to blue curtains with a wave of water crudely painted on them. The curtains part to reveal-

Jaune: uh.. hi?

Neptune: ah jaune my man! Good to see the waves brought you right where you should be!

Neptune walked up to the blonde as he rested an arm on jaune. Leaning against him a little with jaune whispering to him.

Jaune: remember. I'm only here because you said if I let you play a bard when I dm for GnG you'd pay me back for it.

Neptune would whisper back

Neptune: trust me jaune I am paying you back. Just have faith in Dr. Love.

Jaune would roll his eyes as Neptune walked away.

Neptune: now I'm sure you all know jaune arc, the up and coming huntsman on the rise and if you don't? Well now you do. Now let's see the bachelor and bachelorettes! Contestant one, come on up!

(this one is an actual functional imagine your otp post.. instead of boring reblog bait.. i promise this is the last one everybody.)

[aingeal98]

Cass or Tim for the ask game

Gonna do Cass because she gets favourite blorbo privileges

three facts about them from my personal headcanons

-The dip in the Lazarus Pit removed a few of her latest scars. She's still covered in scars, it's not enough that anyone would notice, most of them look at Cass and are horrified by the bullet exit wounds covering her skin. But Cass knows what each scar is from, and the loss of even a few of them hurts her afterwards for reasons she doesn't quite understand. She got stabbed through the chest by her brother and yet there is no evidence of it. Some nights she gets tempted to scratch at where the scar should be, digging into her skin until she catches herself and snaps herself out of it.

-Her favourite music genre is metal and rock. She doesn't care about the differences between the genres despite Stephanie as a fellow Metallica fan eagerly trying to explain it. Cass just likes "Mosh pit music."

-Due to being homeless as a kid she got used to sleeping anywhere and everywhere. Her favourite place to curl up and hide was inside a washing machine, normally ones that were old and abandoned. She stopped as she got older but the washing machines in the manor are huge so she started doing it again when she felt low. This has given Alfred several near heart attacks when he goes to put clothes in and finds his grandchild curled up fast asleep.

a reason they suck

Batgirl issue 37 is one of my favourite issues and highlights some of the reasons I find Cass a compelling character but it also does objectively show one of the ways she sucks. Projection can be helpful or it can make you too self absorbed so you end up making bad choices. In this case it was the latter.

a reason they are great

Literally everything that makes Batman cool and compelling but with none of the downsides. Her downsides are different from his due to not having the narrative protection of being the white male lead. Her downsides are also deliberately and competently written. For further information see my entire blog.

a reason I relate to them

Autistic, mentally ill, used to be suicidal, awkward socially but enjoys violence not for malicious reasons but purely for the fun of it (I like boxing and martial arts.) Just everything about how she expresses herself and thinks and interacts with other people it's like wow. For a character with such a ridiculously comic book fantasy backstory she sure is incredibly relatable in down to earth ways!

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Stephcass. Steph is the Lois to Cass's Clark, the MJ to Cass's Spiderman. But Steph is also a vigilante in her own right and that adds extra flavour. If DC would give me one of those six issue mini runs they're so fond of I could do so much with it.

five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

-Her Batgirl run should have had a proper conclusion not pushing her towards character assassination evil turns

-She should have become Batman.

-She should have been a part of the family from the beginning of the New 52 era. An essential part, closer to everyone than Jason and with more years in the family than Damian.

-She should have gotten to kiss Steph by now but I'll accept it if DC makes it happen this year.

-She should have gotten one final confrontation with David Cain where he comes back to life for 24 hours to remind DC of why her original run hit so hard and center her more on those themes than on being random Batgirl number 2.

five people that character never fell in love with and why

-Kon El. He's a good friend but she's a lesbian.

-Tai'darshan. He was a valuable part of helping her understand what she liked and didn't like romance wise but unfortunately he fell on the "didn't like" side in the end. Also she's a lesbian.

-Zero. He was her first fun civilian romance and while it wasn't serious it was nice while it lasted. It never would have been able to get serious though for multiple reasons. One of which being that she's a lesbian.

-Tim Drake. Shockingly being a lesbian is not the only main reason for once. Here it's also due to them being adopted siblings. While he loves Cass and was canonically mildly attracted to her at times during the early days, by the time they became adopted siblings they'd been through enough that any potential had fizzled out into pure platonic sibling menace energy.

-Harper Row. Being a lesbian is not an issue here at all actually. The issue is that in Harper's universe Cass killed her mom and in Cass's main universe she killed someone else and never met Harper until the world rebooted. Cass is not emotionally mature enough to wade through all that for a relationship. Especially when she can choose to wallow in guilt and stare awkwardly and painfully at Harper when Harper doesn't notice instead.

[silviakundera]

Dramas I watched in 2023

[Chinese Dramas]

My Journey to You - Wuxia. Spy games, badass ladies, subtextually homoerotic cousins. Gentle & sweet ML who melts the cold & calculated heart of FL assassin. Gorgeous setting and cinematography. Left me with a burning desire to see Zhang Ling He play more gentle babygirl MLs and Esther Yu to play more anti-heroes. Absolutely perfect to me.., if we just pretend the director didn't add a pointless cliffhanger in the last 5 min. Which is how I choose to live my life.

Story of Kunning Palace - 'rebirth' costume drama that I waited to air for like 2 years or something and then it... actually didn't disappoint? And was almost everything I wanted? 😳😲 This is THE couple for that post about the pair that need to be stuck in a neverending monogamous relationship with each other as a quarantine measure to protect everyone else.

A Journey to Love - wuxia perfection. The stand-out drama that I wasn't expecting. Murder mommy & murder daddy became an otp for the ages and all of the supporting characters were interesting and dynamic. I cared about so many more characters than I expected and never fast fowarded. Just immensely satisfying.

The Ingenious One - wuxia with a weak, scheming scholar protagonist on a revenge quest (yes, we've all heard that before!) who puts together a group to execute his cons, Leverage style. I love me a martial artist x weak scholar couple 👌. Some exciting twists & turns in this one. Both A Journey to Love and The Ingenious One are best enjoyed coming in with little to no information. Hell, skip the trailers and simply dive in!

Hidden Love - Modern drama. Top tier romance-novel-on-screen writing and acting. It felt honest and real. The coming of age arc for the FL was well done. Great brother & sister relationship that feels authentic. The ML's backstory was so heart breaking because it was never overplayed for melodramatics. Just a quiet pain, a distance and a burden he carried with him.

Road Home - Modern. "Do you remember who I am?" / "Yes. If I were to turn to ashes, I would still remember you." I am very weak for the "reunited exes", "second time around" trope when the actors are capable and the breakup wasn't a narratively convenient 'misunderstanding'. As a career woman who works very long hours, I also tend to appreciate modern drama relationships where the couple manages to stay functional & supportive while not having a lot of free time for each other. That's my version of wish fulfillment 😂. I felt like this narrative made me fully understand why they couldn't make a long distance relationship work as young adults but now they're ready and have experienced enough of the world to know that they are happier with their lives joined together than apart.

Love You Seven Times - xanxia. I wrote a whole review post (love letter) on this one, since it seems rather underrated. I feel like this one may actually end up one of my fav examples of the genre. I just sincerely bought into the couple and their mutual devotion.

The Last Immortal - xanxia. Terrible trailer but turns out to be a decent show. I'm a fan of the genre, so I'm enjoying it. (I think you do need to be, to enjoy it - it doesn't transcend or really subvert..just a solid representation of xanxia) I like both lead actors and they do a good job with the material. It's working better for me than Ancient Love Poetry and Ashes of Love. After being eager for Song of the Moon in 2022 but then being let down (I dropped that one quick), I'm very happy 2023 brought me 2 xanxia I liked.

Three Body - modern sci-fi. Book 1 of my fav sci-fi trilogy of recent years. As a novel fan first, I was pleased to see it on screen with talented actors. Eager for book 2.

Love Me, Love My Voice - modern drama with an unusual couple (2 introverts) and dubbing fandom hyper fixation. A laid back relaxation drama, to de-stress with. Minimal plot, no conflict. Just sweet slow burn relationship building, singing & audio performances. Supportive friendships.

Here We Meet Again - modern drama that suffered from sloppy editing. I mean almost incoherent editing in a couple places, like when they are counting down the days until getting married and then.. It's not mentioned again? 🙃 But I very much enjoyed the couple's chemistry. I can't say it was objectively good but it sure was compulsively watchable for some reason.

Royal Rumors - Costume drama that was so aggressively mediocre that I don't have any real explanation for not dropping it. Except I find the lead actress unspeakably alluring. Blame my hormones.

Dropped

Back to the Brink - xanxia. Great concepts but the execution didn't work for me. I'm not a fan of slapstick and wacky humor within serious subject matter. (It's the reason kdramas can be very hit or miss with me.) The amount of humor layered into AJourney to Love is basically my limit for tragicomedies. (Note: I did go read the book and it was very entertaining - the tone was much more to my taste.)

My Lethal Man - modern. Embarassing english name, but they had me in the first half, not gonna lie. Then after her identity was exposed, I wasn't feeling it idk. Sometimes it's just not that complicated.

Destined/Chang Feng Du - costume drama. idk really why I dropped. I watched about a 3rd of it and then was distracted by other shiny objects. I plan to come back to this one in 2024 and finish.

Romance of the Twin Flower - costume drama; unholy abomination of a great novel. I hope somehow, someday, the culprits pay for their crime. Need I say more?

[Korean Dramas]

Perfect Revenge Marriage - a modern rebirth tale. For the 90% of it, I was high on the love of a drama that is just what you didn't know you wanted. The camp, the dedication, the scenery chewing, the glorious evil step mother. It was magical. And then the last 2 episodes I found underwhelming. I can't really explain it, the climax just didn't hit for me. But that's very much a personal taste issue and I'd definitely recommend to all drama lovers who enjoy the genre. Seriously, the performance of evil step mommy was a master class.

King the Land - modern workplace romance. I've heard complaints that there wasn't much of plot. But tbh that was fine with me, because some dramas are simply character pieces. This was all about the personal growth of the FL and ML. I ended up invested and rooting for the ML to become a decent guy who isn't a gross classist like his dad.

Destined with You - modern reincarnation drama. I blame my lingering kdrama good feelings about King the Land for convincing me to keep powering thru this one. Such a strong start but then half-way in I began to realize it simply wasn't going to go into the direction I wanted it to. I still have no idea what they intended to communicate with that love potion subplot.

Vincenzo - modern crime drama. I was late to the party on this one. But after I got around to watching the delightful Kinnporsche, this was rec'd to me as another drama that embraced the bigger than life unreality of Fantasy Mafia™ and provides a rollicking good time. Absolutely ridiculous and compulsively watchable. 10/10.

[American]

House of the Dragon - Awful people doing awful things to each other, as a 1st act before everything goes straight to hell. Plus freaky dragon-riding fantasy incest. What's there not to like?

Fall of the House of Usher (YES i DO watch every horror drama by Mike Flanagan thx) - Was it as good as the first 3..? No. Did I still breathlessly binge it in 2 days? Yes. Awful things happening to awful people, poetically. 👌 👌

[applestorms]

HEY JUST SAW YOUR TAGS ON WRT MIZISUA AND YES OMG EXACTLY!!! that’s how i felt about mizisua for a long time until finally the fucked up potential got to me good and now it’s a secondary tier otp as well. everyone please focus more on that stuff!!!!

YES!!! fuck.

it’s the idolization to a fault, natural consequences of making One (1) person the center of your God, World, and Universe. hey guys stop making AUs where they’re both happy and alive. let’s talk about how sua dying only makes mizi blow her up into something even bigger and brighter and more beautiful in her mind, less human and less real. let’s talk about how naïve mizi is to think that they could ever survive this or tie in the first place. let’s talk about the fact that their scores are one single fucking point apart.

i get the parallels but like— guys. c’mon. why are we talking about sua like she’s just a blander, flatter girl-ivan, that score clearly does Not speak to the same kind of intentional sacrifice on her end. she was giving her all for most of that fucking duet. it’s frankly still kind of unclear to me whether or not mizi was actually Aware of the fact that this is a Death Game (or, really, how the fuck she could NOT know considering she’s watched the show before?? i know all her friends like lying to her about the three different flavors of abuse they’re living through but like. c’mon) but regardless, sua clearly knew. how the hell would she manipulate their scores to be that close?? did she see it as a lose/lose and accept the consequences either way, all for the chance to sing on stage with her bestie??? like— if she dies, she doesn’t have to care anymore, but if she lives, then hey mercy kill at least mizi doesn’t have to suffer? what is she like when she’s not stuck as the singular object of mizi’s affections? did mizisua seriously manage to drag both till and ivan into this show, and therefore their deaths through their dumb unrequited crush geometry? how are the scores even formulated? how can mizi be so goddamn oblivious? what happens to the anakt kids that don’t get on the show?

hey. sua. how does it feel to be relegated to the tragic backstory.

[cherrychapstickdramaqueen]

My top 10 otps of 2024

1. Evangeline Fox and Jacks the prince of hearts. There was no completion. The Ouab trilogy was my favorite reads all year.

2. Iris E. Winnow and Roman C. Kitt from letters of enchantment. The chokehold these two have on me is insane.

3. Daella and Rivilin from forged by magic. These two made me fall in love with fantasy again.

4. Odysseus and Penelope from Epic the Musical. Do I need a reason? Come on now. Captain, we made it home.

5. Adam and Olive from the love hypothesis. The ultimate adult rom com pairing. Love a fake dating trope.

6. Wes Bennett and Liz Buxam from Better than the Movies. The top tier YA rom com pairing. See above.

7. Scarlett and Julian from Caraval. The superior paring of the trilogy.

8. Makato and Adena from Powerful. Funny, that book only had 16 chapters. That's definitely where it ended.

9. Achilles and Patroclus from The Song of Achilles. Why does Greek mythology hurt me so.

10. Simon Snow and Baz from Carry On. These boys' relationships was one of the highlights of the year.

I loved many couples this year, these are just my favorites 😍

[joanofexys]

hiiiiii my fave, gotta ask about Jeremy for the character ask thing

- @ninyard <3

NINNNNN

How I feel about this character

Baby boy what IS your deal??? Would like to tell us anything??? Ever??? No? Okay fine. Guys why does he avoid his personal/home life like the plague, I need answers. That being said I LOVE him. And I love that while he very clearly has his own shit going on he's not fake nice. The wonderful, friendly Trojans captain isn't an act, he's just genuinely such a kind person and that is such a relief to me

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Jean. Kevin. Kevin and Jean at the same time. Aaron. Neil (largely in a one-sided "hate" fuck way). Andrew. Andrew & Neil. Kevin and Allison in a let them hook up, it's fun way. Kevjerejeandreil is top tier ofc. There's one I want to say but it's in a very specific way and with a very specific vibe but I fear people would not take it the right way so I'm staying silent

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Cat and Laila ofc

My unpopular opinion about this character

I think the fandom is underestimating how much work he's had to put in to be where he is now. TSC very much implied that he did not used to be like this and that it took a hell of a lot of therapy for him to be the kind of person he is now. And I love that. It kind of ties into what I mentioned early about my relief that he's just a kind person. There's no ulterior motive there, but he had to work for it. He's holding onto kindness by the skin of his teeth and he will be good because if he's not going to be then who will? Having to make an active effort to be a good and kind person until it becomes natural doesn't make someone less kind and good. And obviously he's not perfect by any means I just cannot let go of the implications of his past in TSC and really really want to talk about it more. I don't know if that counts as an unpopular opinion or moreso my interpretation of his character thus far but whatever

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

I need to see him actually have a full conversation with Neil. And I need it to be the most difficult thing he's ever done in his life. I want him to be unsettled and disturbed and mildly pissed off about it

[helluvapurf]

*cracks knuckles* -Weeeell, I think the dust has settled enough by now to finally get around to me filling out that one ship/relationship tier list for the Hellaverse... and here it is!~ 👀🍵I didn't necessarily include every combo shown in the template (cause omllll is there so much to sift through- lmao), but ye... kinda ironic after how long I've been in this fandom, that I... don't really have a whole lot of 'set' OTPs, personally? .w.; Save for the ones mentioned above, I'm basically just a casual multi-shipper for the Hellaverse imo (so long as it appeals well to me writing/potential-wise, ofc lol). Don't really feel like going into too much detail per-ship/category here; but if anyone's curious about my "specific" ship opinions, my asks are always open too! ^^👍This list also miiiight be subject to change later if I feel like adjusting some things around (depending on my mood & such), but ye- hope that about covers it!

(Tier template came from here btw, for anyone who wants to fill out your own version too!):