#otp: end this yearning

[jacobseed]

-- Music Monday/WIP whenever day

was tagged by my beloved @imogenkol to do this and i haven't done any wip posting in a while so maybe have a couple things i've been ignoring for months lol

tagging some people that might be interested hehe: @strangefable, @firstaidspray @dollthorne @roberthouse69 @anoramactir @skyhavens @florbelles @thedeadthree @carlosoliveiraa @shellibisshe @viktorgf @auricfog @statichvm @risingsh0t @tommyarashikage @g0dspeeed @leviiackrman @confidentandgood @courtana @cryptcombat @samuelroukin @pheedraws and anyone else who is interested, i'm officially tagging you (doesn't have to be wips, can just be music monday even tho its so late)

original 2022 maxi/ghost that i still love. (obviously will be reworked and updated but i thought it was cute.)

Simon’s been holed up in the little building for a few weeks now, his wound practically healed and closed, however, Nurse Maxine insisted that he was still not fully recovered and needed a little more time. He believed her; there was a reason she was the nurse and he was the soldier. It was his restlessness that was eating away at him, telling him he needed to get back out there and help his team. 

Gaz was still healing, much slower than it had taken Simon, but at least he was walking again and in a better mood. Maxine had to chase him around whenever he was pushing himself too hard, yelling at him that he needed bed rest - that he was going to rip his wound open again. Small threats of letting him bleed out didn’t stop the man from continuing to stay as far from his cot as possible. After a few hours, she’d give up and attend to another soldier in need. 

She was an interesting woman, occupying Simon’s thoughts for longer than necessary most days, but he’s grown a new hobby of watching her as she worked throughout the dragging days. Nurse Maxine had taken to avoiding eye contact and refusing to call him anything but Mr. Riley. Her hands were gentle - which he assured himself was how she handled all her patients - even if her smiles were brief, they were warm and brought comfort to the suffering.

----

another maxi/ghost bc they are all i ever think about.

"Maxi." His voice is muffled, drowned out by the ringing in her ears that wont seem to cease. "Maxi, I'm here. I've got you." Closer now, more breathless and filled with relief as if he was choking down his fear.

His figure is familiar and his warm hand flush against her cheek sends a shiver down her spine. Maxine leans into his touch for support against the spinning and noise in her head. Ghost is pulling her up onto her feet, holding her close against him as he begins moving away from the flipped vehicle he pulled her out of.

"Tell me, how serious is it?" She takes a deep, shuddering breath before asking. Her vision is blurring and the muscles in her body are losing whatever strength was left.

He shifts as he readjusts to keep her from falling. "You'll be fine. Just stay with me."

[naneki-maid]

so i just started watching Pieces of Her, and I’m loving the crime thriller vibes so far, however, i was not prepared for the ‘enemies to lovers’ thing between Andy and Michael. i mean they had me by the throat during the motel assassin scene. when Andy was running for her life, struggling to make it over that fence, and that brief moment when she feels someone tug at her leg and she thinks she about to die? i was terrified! but after she realizes it’s Michael and she makes her way down, she grabs onto him, like he’s her Person? she wraps her arms around his shoulders as if there’s no safer place in the world. and then he embraces her back?! the brief confusion that appears across his face? hesitation after the fact—he’s already made his choice. he chooses to abandon logical instinct altogether—he sacrifices his job, the mission. instead he chooses her. he consoles her, he speaks softly. it’s the first time we witness a genuine reaction from him because he’s been putting on a performance since he met her. his voice finally matches the kindness in his eyes. he doesn’t let her go.

idk i just thought we were focusing on her mom’s skeletons returning to haunt her, not my newly precious OTP and the scene they share that is now engraved into my heart until the end of time…

[novasjaneway]

I'll never be over them, theyre just so, OMG, a love destined to be.

They are and always will be my OTP l Love them both so much JanewaySeven J/7.

#Janeway x Seven #J/7 #My OTP

[rednite-dork]

I'm back from the dead!

I had a rough end of the year - I finally graduated, we adopted a new cat and we moved back to my home town, so I held a small hiatus to gather up my strength lmao. But I saw this OTP meme floating around a few months ago and I wanted to do my own version of Sebastian and my MC!

More yapping about them below vvv

I had this laying on my files for a long while actually, but I was struggling with a song that I would put as a "theme song" - I usually don't practice those w my ships lol - but I heard Hozier's version of Do I Wanna Know a while ago and idk it really gave the vibe I was looking for them 🥰

I basically have two endings for them, one that's "fanon" where I can play sandbox with them and they'll have a happily ever after, and the "canon" ending that'll follow the upcoming games' lore (assuming the next games are direct sequels) - honestly I'm a sucker for the idea of them yearning for each other but unable to be together, and I can just imagine Seb possibly yearning for MC after the HL events and going to the HL sequel, he misses her and their little adventures and he kind of starts to romanticize things in his head and starts to have feelings for her - but him being too late to pursue her 🥲 and I feel like the theme song really captures the vibe of that idea!! can't wait to explore this more lmao

I also did some "graphology" specifically for this OTP meme, cause I like the idea of their personalities and quirks showing up from their handwriting, and here's what I have about them! I dunno if it's accurate or not, but hey, it's something, hope you like it anyways!

[killerlookz]

50/ 46/ 62 <3

thank you for the ask <33 | if you'd like to participate in the heartbeat! au OTP ask game, the full prompt is here

46. what is their favorite intimately sexual thing to do to their partner? 50. what is their favorite position with their partner? 62. who likes to walk around the house naked and who tells the other to put some clothes on?

pairing: heartbeat! reader x heartbeat! joost content: 18+ MDNI, smut, oral (f! receiving), penetrative sex, angst mentions, not proofread

explicit RPF below! please do not interact if that makes you uncomfortable !!! 18+ MDNI

46. what is their favorite intimately sexual thing to do to their partner?

Joost's favorite thing to do is eat you out, hands down. You're stressed? He'll eat you out so you can relax. You're mad at him? Let him eat you out to show how sorry he is. You can't sleep? He'll eat you out to put you in that perfect blissful state so you can just fall right to sleep. He's just got back from tour? He's eating you out because he missed how you taste.

Truthfully, you hadn't expected him to be so into giving you head, and you much more expected for him to prefer it the other way around. When you first met- with his fluffy hair, ill fitted skinny jeans, and Supreme shirt you thought you had figured out his type, hype beast, fuck boy, who idolized american soundcloud rappers, thinking he was hot shit in his fake designer belts and unnecessarily expensive sneakers. The type of guy who fucked for his pleasure, and his pleasure alone.

How completely and utterly wrong you were. Joost had charmed you enough to let him take you out on a first date, so charming in fact, you'd end up "giving it up" on that first date. You hadn't expected to, but you couldn't resist him. You'd gone back to his place for some after dinner drinks, one thing led to another and you found yourself in his lap, lips pressed together, hungry. Until that point you had never had a make out session so intense, hands roaming each other wildly, unable to get enough of one another. Without a doubt, Joost had noticed the way you pressed your hips into his, with your skirt bunched up around your thighs, all that separated you from Joost were your panties, which had been, embarrassingly soaked for having only been making out. You were barely cognizant of the way you begged for friction against the seam of Joost's jeans, the fabric growing stiff under Joost's own rising arousal. Both of you were desperate for more, and Joost was ready to make the first move.

Joost pulled back from the kiss, lips shiny and swollen, lightly ghosting over yours as he speaks,

"Will you let me eat your pussy, schatje?" So forward. His voice is just barely above a whisper, but it's enough to hear the pure yearning he speaks with.

"Huh?" You hadn't dated around too much before Joost, but never had a man asked to eat you out on the first date, needless to say you were a little taken back.

"You can say no but-"

"Please." You cut him off ready to fully give into him.

Very soon after that Joost had been on his knees on the hardwood in front of you, head between your thighs, with your legs wrapped around his shoulders as you sit half off the couch. One hand is at your waist and with the other he uses his fingers to spread apart your folds as he laps at your cunt.

Joost was beside himself, musing with gentle mumbles about how good you tasted, about how he'd never be able to get enough of this-enough of you, his low voice sending vibrations right through your sensitive nerves.

And Joost was right, he would never get enough of you.

Post breakup, Joost doesn't eat you out as much as he'd like to, he worries its to intimate and it is.

But there are always those nights between you where it hits you just how profound your emotions towards each other are, how deeply and utterly in love you still are- and those nights Joost will find himself with his head between your thighs again.

50. what is their favorite position with their partner?

Without a DOUBT it's missionary. Call it boring, call it vanilla whatever. You two love fucking in missionary.

At first it's loving, neither of you wanting to take your eyes off each other. Joost will carry you to the bedroom, carefully placing you on the bed, hovering over you as the two of you make every soft and love felt move towards getting it on. The position allows for you to be so close to each other, Joost usually opting to fold over as much as he can, so his chest is nearly pressed against yours, his breath hot on your face and neck. Occasionally he'll pull back, watching you under him, the way your face writhes with pleasure, and you desperately grip the sheets below you. And - well, he loves watching the way your tits bounce while he fucks into you.

As your relationship progresses and tensions rise, and eventually you two break up- missionary becomes a way for you to get in one another's face while you inevitably end up "hate fucking" during an argument. Angry sex includes a lot of mocking and taunting, looking each other in the eyes, face to face as jaws clench between harsh words spat at one another. Neither of you relenting or willing to admit you're wrong. You try to remember whatever it is you're arguing about while Joost slams into you at a near brutal pace, your fingers ripping into his shoulders, sure to leave some marks for the next few days.

One of you will end up shutting the other one up with a fierce kiss, unable to stand the sound of their voice nagging and bickering any longer, wanting nothing more than to just reach your orgasm. And you will. Joost collapsing on top of you, a thick tension still lingering in the air. Aftercare is non-existent on some of those nights, the persistent anger having been unresolved by sex, leading to you wanting nothing to do with each other.

Other times, Joost will gently pull out of you, wordlessly making his way to the bathroom to get a warm washcloth before coming back to clean you up. You'll only share a few words for the rest of the night, maybe a quiet "I'm sorry" if you're lucky- but nobody needs to say it, you can feel it, the regret that fills the room, its almost suffocating. After he cleans you up Joost will join you back on the bed, pulling you to his chest, your naked bodies intertwine. He'll press a few kisses to your forehead, and you'll mumble your "I love you's" before falling asleep, hoping for a better day tomorrow.

62. who likes to walk around the house naked and who tells the other to put some clothes on?

Reader. But truthfully neither of you wear much clothes while you're together. It's not uncommon for the two of you to spend the entire day together at home only in your underwear, being skin to skin just feels better anyways.

But in terms of actual nudity, yes, reader. Joost prefers to not be completely naked, sometimes even during sex, occasionally opting to just pull his underwear down to his thighs instead of taking them off entirely.

If you've fallen asleep after having sex, and find yourself still naked in the morning, you won't bother to find something to put on before getting up to go run and grab a cup of water in the kitchen.

Or after a shower when you don't feel like getting ready right away you'll lounge around on your phone in bed, sometimes only in your towel, sometimes in nothing at all.

Joost will jokingly chastise you for constantly being naked or minimally clothed while the two of you are together, but he never actually means it. Obviously. He's obsessed with the way you look, clothed, or unclothed, and I mean- completely enamored. And he won't ever try to hide in, shamelessly staring at you, wherever and whenever he pleases, unable to fathom you're his.

Or post break up... deeply deeply regretting you're no longer his. Sometimes he'll remember that Michael has seen you like this too, filling his body with a hot pang of jealousy. He wishes he could be the only one to witness you in such a state, but he know's he's fucked that chance up.

[dangermousie]

Top Dozen cdramas - 2024

This can obviously change but nothing truly exciting looks to air for the rest of the year so that's unlikely. My Top Dozen for the year are likely be set in stone.

It's a very idiosyncratic list which has two mini dramas, three moderns (!!! for me that's insane) and a lot of vibes dramas.

12 Hard to Find - all vibes all the times. A tragic romance that feels like a Gothic fairytale, this is what minidramas could be.

11 Love In the Desert - out of all the dramas on this list, this is the one that screams most "a good time." It's a romance and visual feast and webnovel madness and sexy good time and it made me cry.

10 Fortune Writer - a mini that is so smart and meta and fun about narratives and fate and villainy and fighting the story itself. So clever.

9 Derailment - a puzzle and a love story, telling most anything about it would be a spoiler but this story about a rich girl from 2025 who seemingly wakes up in a parallel universe in 2023 in body of a poor doppelganger, and the young man who was in love with the original has everything including addressing what it must feel to people to have a transmigrator possess a loved one.

8 Tender Light - the ending was just - it's the reason it's not n1. But the rest of this drama about an abused wife and an idealistic young man refusing to bow to societal pressure was just exquisite. It addresses morality and loneliness and complicity and sacrifice. Just incredible. Poetry in motion.

7 Will Love In Spring - a modern romance cdrama? In my list? Is the world ending? But seriously, this is such a gorgeous, realistic yet intense exploration of love and loss and trauma. It made me utterly reevaluate Li Xian to boot.

6 Snowfall - this is such a fever dream of a mood piece of a vampire romance, with seriously BDSM and gay vibes, as well as utterly incredible canon age gap ride or die OTP with Ouyang Nana bothering to act for the first time in her life and Vengo Gao embodying a gentleman vampire to perfection. Li Muge remains one of my favorite directors for a reason.

5 Heroes - the story of three very different men all consigned to the dustheap of history by changing times (the best swordsman in the era of guns, a former imperial guard of a regime about to be overthrown, a constable obedient to obsolete code who studied for imperial exams which got abolished) as the Qing dynasty is about to fall, this has fights, humor, three (!) separate love stories, philosophy and utter and complete heartbreak. The performances, the ideas, the filming and the writing all combine to make a bleak masterpiece with a 99% death rate (I am not kidding, only tertiaries make it out.) If I were in charge, it would get all the awards.

4 The Legend of Shen Li - the one truly mainstream idol costume hit on the list. It's an adult, passionate xianxia that reunites Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin as deities and battle powerhouses in a love story that is so full of yearning and passion and intensity I feel like peeking through my fingers. This is everything xianxia romance tries to be and almost never is. This just might be my favorite xianxia of all time, tbh.

3 Eternal Brotherhood - a dark horse whose existence I didn't even know about before it aired. Visually stunning despite its tiny budget, this narrative about three sworn brothers in a kingdom and world in crisis, is pitch perfect in its humor, its intensity, its tragedy and its themes (also THREE!!!! amazing love stories despite not being a romance-centric show.) The battles, the friendships, the traumas, the darkness at the heart of it all!

2 Fangs of Fortune - the sole drama that can rival JoL2 for me (only caveat is it's still airing), this is visually the most jaw dropping drama I've ever seen, but it's also high fantasy the way it should be - making me feel so immersed that stopping feels like coming up from a deep dive or waking up from a hypervivid dream. It has impeccable performances (many from actors who I don't normally even like), and its plot and relationships and themes - fate and sacrifice and choice and found family bonds and trauma and so many other things - make it feel as if it was made just for me.

1 Joy of Life 2 - THE drama of 2024 for me. It's somehow better than the incredible first installment. It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it has insane performances, a narrative that hits all my personally favorite themes (a person trying to remain human in an inhuman world, righteousness not being weak), a large cast of fascinating characters who feel like they live in front of me (there are no throwaway roles in this), my favorite ship of the year (though it's not even a ship-centric show) and above all, Zhang Ruoyun's live wire of a performance as Fan Xian, arguably my favorite cdrama character of all time. It should not work yet it does. Brilliantly.

[trippingontheescalator]

Which Classic Novel Should You Read Based on Your Fave Snape Pairing

Snily - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847). Let's see, a low class and abused, brooding Byronic leading man? Check. Madly in love with a woman who ends up marrying a snobbish rich man who looks down on our hero? Check. Obsessed with her even decades after her death? Check, check, and check. Oh, and let's not forget that the child the woman has with her husband shares her eyes. Hm, suspicious.

Snames - Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson (1740). So, as a fellow snames fan, let's be honest with ourselves: all of our fics can be boiled down to "I can change him." We want James to be despicable, inhuman, and cruel to Severus, and then we want James to realize how disgusting he is and grovel at Severus's feet, because we are all basic bitches. So basic that one of the earliest novels in the English language is basically this. Pamela originated this trope.

Snirius - Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith (1957). Snirius fans are unafraid of dark, toxic relationships and unhappy endings, and, well, here's a book for you! Deep Water is about as toxic as you can get. It's about a man who murders his wife's lovers.

Snucius - Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (1913). Alright, alright, so this isn't a novel, this is a play, but fans of this pairing definitely seem to be into the whole sugar daddy/"I can turn this feral street child into an elegant gentleman" kind of vibe, and this is what this play is all about. Audrey Hepburn is fantastic in the film adaptation My Fair Lady (1964).

Snupin - Bear by Marian Engle (1976). You Canadians are probably like, "What the fuck? Is my OTP a joke to you?" The answer is yes, but that's beside the point. Hear me out. The main character is an archivist who is very bad at relationships and kind of shuns society in general. Like our Snape. She ends up in the Canadian wilderness on an assignment going through a dead person's belongings. Also, this dead person kept a pet bear that our heroine now has to take care of. Our heroine begins to yearn for something wild, our pet bear is a literal bear, but also incredibly pathetic and docile just like Lupin. Anyway, the two fuck. Literally, she fucks a bear. THIS BOOK WON THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD. THAT'S LIKE CANADA'S PULITZER I THINK. None of you werewolf-fuckers should act shocked and dismayed by this. We all know how you really think Sirius's prank should have gone (in which instead of James rescuing Snape, Moony makes sweet sweet love to him).

Sorry, guys, no Snarry or Snamione. I don't really read those pairings so I can't give an accurate recommendation. But if you've got thoughts, add to this!

[the-invisibility-bloke]

001 Sirius/Harry

Have a nice day😃

Oh you're gonna regret this. XD (But I hope you have a nice day too!)

When I started shipping it if I did: 2004? I think they were my first HP ship.

My thoughts: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

What makes me happy about them: THEY SAVE EACH OTHER'S LIVES ON THEIR FIRST AND LAST NIGHTS TOGETHER, RESPECTIVELY. TELL ME ANYTHING MORE ROMANTIC THAN THAT. Also, found family in a sense, but better yet, they were given to each other by James and Lily, and their chemistry from the very beginning is everything, they are so utterly devoted to each other, so thrilled to be in each other's lives, so love-starved and touch-starved, they are each other's links to their past as well as each other's hope for the future. All they want is to care for each other, it's so fucking beautiful it hurts, and the reason it's so fucking hot and just the right amount of sweetly toxic is because they have no fucking boundaries, Harry was raised in abject neglect (so was Sirius, in his own way) and Sirius spent those years in prison so they suffered on parallel timelines and now here they are, a collision of orbits, perfect complements, where Harry was forced to grow up too fast and Sirius' life stopped at 21 so the power imbalance is skewed and fucky and all the lines get blurred because they simply need so desperately, the hunger and yearning, but also the fact they just get each other. They tick each other's boxes, fill all the voids, the need to protect, to be protected, and it's no secret this man was Harry's sexual awakening, a not-father figure but the first man to step up and fill those role model shoes, with his tattoos and his recklessness and his general sexiness/coolness making him unlike any adult who's ever shown Harry affection, not to mention the yummy angst of Past Prongsfoot™, so extra guilt for Sirius there, but more significantly, he very quickly comes to see Harry as his own person. I think he's the first one to see that the similarities to James are less than the differences, and more beautiful for that, and I think it would be a bit terrifying for him to realize he's fallen for Harry as himself and not as a replacement, because now he has no excuse, he can't write it off as an inevitability of loving James. ...Anyway.

What makes me sad about them: HE FUCKING DIES.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: I'd share in DMs, but as someone with the world's lowest self esteem, I never want to discourage anyone from writing what they love.

Things I look for in fanfic: I love canon-compliant or canon-adjacent, desperation and codependency, Harry being first ashamed and afraid of rejection, then when he knows he's got him, shameless about what he wants. I love Sirius being tortured by his own guilt until the explosive breaking point where he loses all self control. OOTP era is my favorite because they're in close physical proximity and there are Opportunities, okay, OPPORTUNITIES. Late-night fireside chats (snogs), Harry slipping into Sirius' room under pretense of nightmares, come on, it fucking writes itself. I'll read the occasional Sirius Lives (just wrote one, in fact), but part of me kinda loves that he dies, because it enables all my OTPs to exist in tandem, case in point...

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Sirius? No one. He's gone for that boy and he dies loving him. But 20 years later, Harry falls for Teddy and is wracked with the most delicious guilt. Is he projecting the godfather-godson dynamic he so brutally lost with Sirius? (No, but the guilt is fun!) I also like the premise of Harry and Draco falling into each other post-divorce, better late than never, but after a lifetime of competing for Teddy's attention, godfather vs cousin, turns out the boy's kind of in love with them both, so H/D/T OT3 is my jam.

My happily ever after for them: Sirius lives, obviously. But I want to write a fic where, after the war, Harry obsessively dedicates himself to working out the mysteries of the veil and getting Sirius back. He succeeds some 20 years later, right after he finally decides to leave the past behind and embrace the present, where his own lovely godson has been madly in love with him for years. So basically he gets Sirius back right after he and Teddy begin a relationship, thus it ends up Sirry+Teddy OT3, but this is where multishipping hits a brick wall because what about Draco. OT4?

who is the big spoon/little spoon: I'm dully traditional and default to whoever's bigger (Sirius), but I think they wake up fairly often with Harry clinging to his back, all nestled in like a cute little parasite.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Motorbike rides, pickup Quidditch, Muggle video games, and I think they like to travel. Harry never did, growing up, and after all those years in Azkaban... yeah. Gay cross-gen wizards take on the world.

[xserpx]

morse for the ask game?

How I feel about this character?

(Caveating this with the fact I haven't yet watched Inspector Morse, so this is only about Endeavour.)

Normally I'm not at all a fan of whump and I don't like feeling sad for well-meaning characters who are hurt repeatedly through (mostly) no fault of their own, but I really love Morse's brand of melancholia. The way he struggles to deal with change is too damn real, I'm a sucker for characters who struggle to voice their feelings and whose anxiety causes them to say nothing, because bitch me too. I also like that he's shy but it's kind of a selective shyness? Like if you catch him at the right moment or say a certain thing, he can be very snappish and outspoken and even funny, but then in those (incredibly important!) moments where he feels truly vulnerable, he just clams up, and it's heartbreaking and delicious to watch.

It's also undeniable that he is a massive prick sometimes. His treatment of women, his pretentiousness, there are moments when I want to slap him upside the head and I'm like you deserve this shit buddy! Monica my beloved, she deserved so much better from him. As much as he craves deeper connections with people and as much as I really want him to find a place to belong and settle down, it's so clear why he can't, why he shouldn't, and it's so deep rooted that in a way if he actually made a more concerted to change and do better he'd pretty much be a different person. And I like that the show never compromises on providing answers or catharsis for his struggles. Change happens, that's life, and there's often no way to deal with it that doesn't hurt.

I also love his dark academia style and the way it's grounded in finding meaning/belonging. It's not that it doesn't give him a sense of superiority at times, but like... that was his rebellion in the face of anti-intellectualism and abuse at home, and in a way I feel like he's earned the right to that pretentiousness. I think it dilutes some of the intimidating effect that opera and classics and poetry can have - some people listen to the Beatles, he listens to Wagner, one thing isn't "better" than another - but without binning it off entirely so that we still get to enjoy the commentary on classism. Plus watching him school the Oxford dons is always fun :P.

All the people I ship romantically with this character?

Romantically, hmm... The trouble is I end up feeling sorry for either Morse himself or whatever woman he's got his eye on at the time!

I love Joan and Morse, and I'd love for them to work things out, but the more time passes the less and less suited they seem to be. It's one of those relationships that's more about yearning than it is about getting together. They struggle to communicate and they're constantly miserable. He puts her on a pedestal because of her family, and Joan likes him because he's an enigma, and they can't move past that. But at the same time, fanfic exists for a reason, and I still love the yearning despite it all.

I'm not sure if I ship it romantically per se, but Max is another one where I feel like they could be more than friends, they're very Sherlock and Watson (and this fic by gaytobymeres is so good I love it). That scene with Morse and Max having tea in Max's garden is one of my favourites in the series, and I want that life for Morse so badly! Literalllyyy at the end of Exeunt I was like dude just move in with Max!! He'll never leave Oxford! He'll come along to your choral recitals! You have way more interests in common than any of your girlfriends have thus far! And he's lonely too, bless him ;w;.

My non-romantic OTP for this character?

I don't think there's a single character I don't ship Morse with platonically?? All I want in the world is a pub quiz fic featuring all of Cowley CID (and Trewlove) but I'm not clever or patient enough to write it. I wish we had more teamwork episodes tbh, and I think that's the best thing about seasons 5 & 6 (as dissipated as CID is at the start, that just makes them coming back together all the more heartwarming).

Morse & Thursday are of course the freaking bedrock of the show, they're just insanely good and I genuinely want them to be together forever. As much as he misses Joan at the end, I really want a happy ending where Thursday and Morse can stay together. At the same time, what with the whole men in the 60s reinforcing one another's emotional repression, I kind of wonder what would've happened if Thursday had been able to steer Morse in a different direction, and if it would have had a knock-on effect with helping Morse express his feelings for Joan and maybe end up somewhere better. But their characters are so intertwined it's hard to separate out the what-ifs. I do think Thursday had more of an impact on Morse than Morse did on Thursday, but you could maybe chalk that up to age. Leopards don't change their spots, etc. Still... lamenting lost potential is what grief is.

I'm also a huge fan of Morse & Trewlove tbh, he's so relaxed around her?? He tells her stuff he never tells anyone else?? They fake marry?? Ridiculously sweet. They share the trait of being incredibly dedicated and detailed in their work, and it bleeds over into a genuine appreciation for one another that they don't really have with any of their other colleagues (save for maybe Trewlove & Bright, another fantastic platonic OTP in my book). I also can see them being friends w bennies but I def don't ship them romantically.

My unpopular opinion about this character?

Not sure if I have one tbh. I haven't been here long but I generally think the wider fandom has it right about most things. Maybe not including Jakes as some brand of OTP? I feel bad because I love Peter, I just don't see him and Morse being particular friends any more than Morse and Jim are tbh.

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

Um, happiness. Just, all the happiness. I wish he could communicate better. I wish he'd had a better childhood. I wish his house hadn't been burgled and that he could still listen to Rosalind Calloway without taking emotional damage. I wish he hadn't been beaten down and that he could feel secure and safe, and have a fulfilled life outside of work. Great tragedies always keep the happy ending in sight, and Endeavour does that incredibly, painfully, well.

If I had to choose something specific to have happened in the show, I guess I would have liked to see more of Joyce. I'm fascinated by their relationship and I really loved every cameo from Morse's past that we saw, plus episodes like Cartouche with cousin Carol. Tbf I have heard that Joyce shows up more in Inspector Morse, so... 👀

[everestgale]

Spectre from STP

With pleasure :]

[Send Me a Character and I'll List Ask Game]

favorite thing about them

Her contrast, the different facets of her personality that make her, well, her. She is kind, cheery, and understanding, but she is also firm, can be threatening, and takes absolutely 0 of our bullshit. And the best part is that all of these make perfect sense - she is kind because she is hopeful you'll repent and help her leave (and perhaps because your perception skews more positive of her, after learning of what the Narrator puts you through as a "reward"), but she also never lets you forget that you still killed her in cold blood.

least favorite thing about them

This will probably be true for most StP characters, I can't think of any specific that I dislike about pretty much all of them. So most of the time, if it's going to be anything, it'll be something very minor and silly - in this case, it's Spectre's tattered skirt on her dress (it's hard to draw, that's literally it)

favorite line

"All I know is there's a hole in my chest, and not the big obvious one that you put there. There's something older and deeper. A nagging reminder that I'm not where I'm supposed to be."

...honorable mention goes to: "But if you're just leaving me then... then I'm really just going to be stuck here forever. Th-there's nothing I can do, it's just going to go on and on and on and on, lonely and sad and hurting and empty."

brOTP

I like to imagine a close friendship between Nightmare and Spectre! No particular reason (besides them being a shared pair routes), but there is something fun about them hanging out and chatting while drinking some nice tea :]

OTP

Definitely SpectreCold! There is just something really beautiful about how much they contrast each other and yet, ultimately, both yearn for similar things, it's just all feelings, connection, longing. I started really, really liking them after this post by @/wintergrofyuri. Go read it! They explain my own feelings on this ship way better than I ever could (T v T)

nOTP

Don't think I really have those for her <3 Or honestly, in general, I have very few nOTPs :]

random headcanon

I kind of mentioned it in the first question, but I think that part of the reason why she's so kind and understanding is because your / TLQ's perception of her changes as a result of the Narrator trying to shove you into the Good Ending™. Up until that point, you follow the Narrator without question and so when he essentially betrays you... you begin to see him as the "villain" of this story. And since you didn't have much of a chance to really get to know the princess before you killed her... I'd like to think that this shift in perspective also contributes to Spectre's cheery and hopeful attitude :]

unpopular opinion

I don't think it's all that unpopular, but we need more sassy and threatening Spectre <3 This is a self-callout more than anything because I'm very guilty of drawing and writing her as too kind and sweet ^^;;;

song i associate with them

"earth child's lullaby" by TOFIE fits quite nicely :]

"Close your eyes Breathe the night Come home, return Be held by the earth, now"

favorite picture of them

Look at her! She is so pretty :]

[jacobseed]

MAXINE SINCLAIR

after all this time, you can't say nothing has changed. everything has changed. we can never go back to how things were.

taglist: @imogenkol @statichvm @marivenah @risingsh0t @strangefable

@ravensgard @firstaidspray @pitchmoss @hartsvale @florbelles

@carrionsflower @josephzeppeli @thedeadthree

[its-luna-noel]

honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips | satosugu

Suguru finds a body in the bog.

warnings: horror elements, body horror, based on "like real people do" by hozier, sharing a bed, sleepy kisses

word count: 0.9k

masterlist | link to ao3

notes: hello! here's the second part of the year of the otp event for 2025; hope you enjoy!

Satoru Gojo has been rotting for centuries.

He doesn’t remember when he died; he can’t recall what day or month or year it was when his horse got stuck in the bog and drowned with him on its back. All he knows is that his jaw is permanently agape with his last aching breath, taken right before he drowned in the thick mud and standing water.

His snowy white hair was stained with thick muck; reeds got stuck between his teeth while he tried to claw for one more breath. He was selfish, so greedy, just one more…

And it never came.

So he began to rot, the taste of wetlands on his tongue as his flesh grew papery around brittle bones. His face grew sunken around his skull, lips peeling back from teeth until he was unrecognizable as the handsome adventurer that once traversed these lands.

Decades passed as his body sank lower and lower in the bog, every new rainy season piling a new layer of sediment over his remains. His eyes, decayed in their sockets, now stare ahead blindly into the eternal darkness, fingers yearning to claw their way up to the surface for one last look at the wide open hillside. But they lie stone-still at his sides, forever wondering what would’ve come from his life if he’d just survived to take one more breath.

Rapid footsteps storm along the quagmire.

The sound of heavy footfalls wakes Satoru’s consciousness once more, just like it has time and time again over the last several hundred years. His thoughts, still stuck like feet in the mud, scream for the next adventurer to grab his hand and drag him onto dry land, to save him from this watery death. But they were decades too late, and they themselves would either run on by or get stuck in this mud, cursed to the same agonizing end that he once met.

Suguru Geto is treading water, digging with desperation at the thick, sticky mud.

Every handful he digs away is replaced by more water, until he’s up to his elbows in muck. But he just keeps digging, desperate, dark bangs stuck to his forehead with sweat. Bugs and beetles crawled up over his clawing hands, and Suguru shakes them away with a yelp, but redoubles his efforts, until he’s finally deep enough to bury away something to never be found again, and he drops the locket of memories in that pocket of mud, before pushing dirt and moss back over that spot.

Memories disappear into the wetlands, buried deep.

As his hands push through mud and he starts to drag himself out of the muck, clothes stained with the ichor of this bog, his foot catches on something, and he stumbles, catching himself on his hands. His chest grows heavy with panic, terrified that he’s going to join those memories in this place of death and rot. But when he reaches down to free himself from whatever branch or vine is wrapped around his ankle, he lets out a shaky gasp, because it’s not a plant that’s grabbing him.

It’s a skeletal hand, mummified from years buried, forsaken as memory.

Suguru reaches down to pry the hand from his ankle, finger by finger until he’s free, but the hand just reaches out and grabs his own, begging to be pulled from the bog, begging to be gifted just one more gasp of air before the body sinks back into the filth.

So Suguru swallows his disgust and wraps his hands around the mummified arm, gently tugging, holding back a shudder of horror as more of the body is revealed. Atrophied muscles wrapped in petrified skin, bony fingers frozen in grotesque claws, reaching for the sunlight they’d never see again.

That is, until Suguru came around.

He pulls and pulls, until Satoru is unburied, matted strands of blackened hair plastered to the cap of his cranium. Suguru stares down at the body, taking in the sunken cheeks and sharp jawbone, deciding that this bogman must have been handsome, once.

And because Satoru has been begging for one more breath of fresh air, Suguru leans down and brushes his lips against the mud-stained teeth of Satoru’s body, breathing life once more into his drowned lungs.

~

Satoru’s lovely blue eyes flutter open to the deep darkness of midnight.

It’s quiet, peaceful, in the bedroom; the only sound is soft breathing beside him. He turns his head to see Suguru curled up on his side, his bare shoulders revealed by the blanket, only pulled up under his arms.

Satoru’s heart aches at the sight.

He rolls onto his side, pressing his chest against Suguru’s bare back, and gently pulls the blanket up over his arms, tucking him in lovingly. He gazes at his form in the darkness, watching him breathe in and out slowly.

He’s not sure what he buried that day out in the bog; he never asked. Just like Suguru never asked what caused Satoru to drown in the mud, all those years ago. The pain of the past wasn’t what they wanted to share, and so instead Satoru just leaned over and brushed his lips against Suguru’s cheek, showing his affection in the softest way he knows how.

And when Suguru turns his head, sleepily searching, Satoru smiles and puts his sweet lips on his, offering back the breath of life he’d once given so freely.

thanks for reading! -luna xx link to ao3 | next: march

[einsatzzz]

Ein 🥺 is it possible for you to talk about Tsunayoshi x Kurumi ship. I wanna know loreee about them, what is their relationship like? how did it all go down, if it does!!!! 😭 i need the tea

OCtober Day 9: Relationships - TsunaRumi 🐟🎀

Hi Jojo! Thank you for sending this ask and sorry it took a while, I thought of using it for today's prompt "Relationships" 😆💖✨Here's a ship chart of the cutest pairing among the three otps that we have! 🫡

Here's a song that really fits them too (mostly Kurumi POV XD)!

Ship Chart Notes

How It Happens - A bit unsure for Kurumi on this one. Because for her it's crush at first sight but the deeper feelings only set in a bit later.

Handling Conflict - Lowkey the same and are quick to forgive & apologize to each other when they realize their mistake.

First to Confess/Propose - Kurumi's #1 problem is that she has difficulties expressing her feelings, especially more to people outside her Family and especially more if it involves deep feelings. Her dressing up as she pleases and trying to be friendly with people is just her steps to fixing that problem but she still has a long way to go. So in this case, Tsuna will have to be the one who steps up.

Cooking & Penmanship - Kurumi is extremely shit at cooking and her penmanship isn't that readable. Tsuna wins by default.

Housework - Tsuna would never let her do too much housework, unless he wants the house to blow up. He'd rather do it all himself. If she insists, he'd give her the safest ones like folding clothes. Ah yes, Tsuna...Vongola boss? No! Kurumi's housewife.

Most of the Speaking - "Excuse me, miss! Tsuna-kun asked for no pickles for his order! 😄"

They are my beloved Idiots to Lovers ✨💕

Daily Life Stuff

When they first met, she kinda challenged him to a fight with similar rules to Tsuna's fight with Mochida (if you hit me one time then you win!). She beat him up real good initially but Tsuna won the battle in the end (thank you Dying Will bullet). But why did Kurumi even challenge him in the first place? Ask Kana.

Despite the fight, Kurumi thought of Tsuna as someone very cute right from the start, she just held herself back (it was so hard for her to do this). Then, Kurumi thinks Kyoko is super cute too! So she thought Tsuna and Kyoko would make a very cute couple together. Because of this, she offered to help Tsuna in setting them up, except they keep failing since (it turns out) Kurumi's romance knowledge is limited to shoujo manga. Her first love also ended in failure.

They both bonded over the fact that they'll be mafia/yakuza bosses in the future despite wanting to live a normal life. Only thing is that, they're both raised differently. Tsuna was raised as a normal kid, but was recently overwhelmed by the revelation that he's gonna become a mafia boss. On the other hand, Kurumi was raised/trained to become a yakuza boss from childhood, but she still secretly yearned for a normal life.

Other things they bonded over: Bad grades, history of getting bullied/ignored, being idiots in romance, cherishing their friends/family

Romance stuff aside, they're really just good friends that can rely on each other. Though it was the Oniyanagi side's mission to assist in Tsuna's training, Kurumi may or may not have forgotten about that at some point. She just helps him out as much as she can as his friend (even though sometimes she accidentally makes it worse dsjbfvfdsvf a non-issue, considering the problems Tsuna runs into daily with&because of his family/friends).

[gureshiin]

wait i just realized.....all my otps......gureshin, shiguang and now jingren......i always end up falling into the black and white haired doomed yaoi pipeline......this is so sick omfg.

-guren, who ended the entire world for shinya but can't speak about it

-lu guang, who keeps going back in time to save cheng xiaoshi but can't speak about it

-jing yuan, who still yearns for his friend-turned-enemy but can't speak about it

doomed by the narrative.....guren is running out of time and shinya is catching onto the lies that he had to tell him, lu guang has already spent god knows how many timelines trying to find one where cxs doesn't die, all the hints at jing yuan being mara-struck in the future and the fact that blade and him still have some history that we are not aware of but their paths will cross again......maybe i am insane fr

THE GRUMPY X SUNSHINE DUOS........oh my god i really do have a type i love all 3 so bad

[perverse-idyll]

@hprecfest 2024 - Day 5: a romantic fic

Yeah, it's Dec. 23rd 26th, but I haven't given up hope of posting a few more of these. Therefore, onward! More Snarry!

Miles to Go Before I Sleep by pluperfectsunrise - This is so far into sweet romance territory it risks setting off the skeptical Scrooge in me. See, it's rare that I swoon over emotionally mature versions of Snape. But this fic is so elegantly written and so perfectly constructed I was seduced by its humor and the writer's light and loving touch, so it didn't take me long to fall for its charms. (Much less time than it takes Harry to fall for Snape's, I'll tell you.) The premise: once a year, Harry and Severus dance together at the Ministry's Solstice Ball. Over the course of 14 years, undercurrents of yearning rise to the surface as they waltz closer to confessions of the heart. It all comes together (yes, I did that on purpose) in a consummate final scene, with several lightning strikes of dialogue the Gollum writer in me covets and the Snarry fan adores. This story knows exactly what it's about and takes you there with tenderness and grace and a kind of snowlit intimacy, beautifully crafted. Pluperfectsunrise has a gift for writing restrained romance that blossoms in a rush of resolved UST.

Contempt/Devotion by danpuff - Two stories, two sides of the same coin, and part of an ongoing series, Love, Your Enemy. Okay, this is definitely my drug, my poison, the flavor I crave above all else when imbibing my OTP, and it's the kind of conflicted, even unhealthy romanticism that contains the seeds of self-destruction but also healing. With Snape/Harry, it feels right to me that strains of love/hate pollute the flood of desire, but in the end I want their relationship to survive, whatever it takes, and this series does not disappoint.

In these paired fics, Danni gives each of the men their own voice and viewpoint on the same events, each mirroring the other's out-of-control emotions and internal struggles to resist. Contempt is Harry's story, and it's soaked in the wildly contradictory heat of his passion for Snape and his anger at the fact that he can't wean himself off this secret addiction. He's cruel to Snape in his mind, hammering on all the reasons why he's contemptible, the reasons their liaison is unthinkable, and why he should stay away. (Spoiler: he doesn't stay away.) It's an untenable and guilty cycle of near-madness. Harry's engaged to Ginny and playing the role of faithful, upstanding lover, all the while telling himself that he'll end things with Snape … just not yet. That he'll do what's right, even if he's beginning to doubt what that is. The emotional impact of this fic is intense, erotic, compulsive, and at times makes you wonder if a happy ending is even possible. Snape's version in Devotion is even more self-lacerating because of course Snape knows exactly why Harry should hate him and why he only compounds his past mistakes by not driving Harry away. He anticipates rejection, despises his own longing, and yet is horribly aware his soul belongs to Harry, even though he considers himself unworthy and certainly the worst thing that could happen to Harry's reputation. But he chooses to suffer jealousy and self-loathing rather than give Harry up, and is willing to risk being destroyed by the inevitability of Harry leaving him.

And through Danni's gorgeous, intimate descriptions and red-hot sensual detail, the reader is inside their skin with them, experiencing every breath and rapture and torment, all the rationalizations and temporary ecstasy. Danni is amazing at mapping the emotional hardships and rewards of coming to grips with an inappropriate love, something so consuming that it feels dangerous. And the series isn't complete yet, so the outcome and consequences of their illicit relationship remains open and uncharted. Even as a WIP, this is one of my desert-island stories and a personal touchstone for everything I love about my ship.

[dangermousie]

I can't with them!!! And the perfect tragedy of him having to die just when he discovered he wants to live is JUST AAAAAA AAAAAAAA

He's kissing her hair, isn't he?

You know all the adorable, sweet and romantic times she called his name? IT WOULDN'T BE THIS DRAMA IF THEY DIDN'T TAKE IT AND USED IT IN THE WAY DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM PAIN!!!!

And we end on:

It finally rained. The camellia he gave her finally bloomed.

OOOOOOOF!

Snowfall was a rare drama (or frankly a show from anywhere) that remained perfect from beginning to end and didn't flag or derail by the end. It knew exactly what type of story it wanted to tell and told it utterly unapologetically and I love it for that. Would I recommend it to everyone? No, not at all. You need to have certain narrative and visual preferences. It is very very much a niche drama for a niche audience. But as someone in that niche, I cannot think of a drama that catered harder to my narrative, shippy and visual preferences this year except possibly Eternal Brotherhood (a very different drama but also a passion project with a modest budget.)

Oh, and for those who yearn for a happier ending, the screenwriter posted a coda on weibo. The translation is floating around but the crucial point is that our OTP reunite in the modern day - after she's experienced a lot of life and all the things he wanted for her but still yearned for him. I am very happy with that, but honestly the tragic ending would have worked just as well for me.

10/10 for me.