#otp: end this yearning

[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!

[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.

[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.

[mistyheartrbs]

your thoughts on fuffy? i've always thought that it's the only relationship that actually makes sense for buffy (despite the fact that they almost tried to kill each other, but lbr that's basically foreplay for her). they're foils, they're entirely different but also just alike where it matters, they're the only one that can truly understand the other, plus faith was clearly hopelessly in love with buffy and we love a desperate gay yearning thing. i just think they're neat.

i do like fuffy a lot! i'm a complete sucker for "i see all of you, even the ugly parts, and i love you not just in spite of it but because of it" ships (see: faberry and kumirei aka my two otps to end all otps) and fuffy very much falls in that category. i think it's funny that faith basically falls right between buffy's two main love interests with angel's dark side and also Entire Plot and spike's devil-may-care attitude and the writers seem to know this too, dancing around it in a very quintessential queerbait sort of way. she pulls something dark out of buffy that buffy herself is afraid of looking at too closely - the inherent violence of the slayer role as well as the inherent exploitation that slayers face at the hands of the watchers etc. the blood on both of their hands. it's fascinating and i'm glad that spike was able to sort of carry that torch through s5 after faith left.

in short: yeah i like fuffy

[elystelleven]

Okay I hate to compare two completely separate games like this but I couldn't shake off this feeling after watching Greenbell's story on YouTube, just please, HEAR ME OUT!!

I am 100% convinced Greenbell and Whiteberry's story is just a rehash of somebody's PureLily fanfic, maybe from a devsis employee or their child idk. Am I reaching with this? Yep. Am I unapologetically using this as an excuse to bring my OTP into this? Absolutely. But STILL: if you've read everything to its entirety and thoroughly analyzed the lyrics of the song, it only takes a dedicated level of pattern analysis to realize they have too much in common with Pure Vanilla and White Lily's mutual yearning and memory tracing. Seriously.

Dont' get me wrong, I know damn well this is a pretty common trope in media, but come on now! Them being inseparable childhood friends, only to be separated by fate, and the ensuing events following one of them as they constantly seek them out (to the point where it fundamentally changed them as a person) while the other has since lost that familiar shine, wandering aimlessly as their memories drift past by them? Sure, their story DID end up on a happier note than those two ancients, but the vibes are still there. The aura, the energy, THE FLAVOR?!

God, I wish I could shut up, but I CAN'T. This is like if the Oven Games people chimed in with Studio Kingdom and found out how well Pure Vanilla and White Lily's story fared with the community and wanted to try writing something like it themselves, with a teeny tiny bit of CottonSherbet as the bonus toppings. I will never get tired of dynamics like these, ever.

[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.

[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."

[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!

[madbard]

You know I gotta send Loop for the character ask meme 👀

Here is the link to the ask meme.

(Deep breath.)

How I feel about this character:

I love them, I love them, I love them. Then again, that much is clear from my blog and pfp. I think Loop is one of the best and most tragic characters I’ve encountered. They loved their family so much, that love trapped them in a living hell where their family was gradually lost to the haziness of their own memory and the unreality of the loops. They tried again, and again, and again to save the world and save their family, pushed past every imaginable limit until, battered and broken, they asked the Universe for help - and were torn from themself to help another Siffrin succeed where they had failed. In an impossible situation, they then chose to offer that Siffrin the guidance and companionship they had so desperately needed in their own loops. In the depths of hell, Loop chose kindness (albeit laced with theatrical annoyance and harshness) and love towards this Siffrin, themself. I relate to Loop and Siffrin on a visceral level. Stories about weird, intense, difficult journeys towards self-love and acceptance will always sink their teeth into my ribcage, and thinking about Loop breaks my heart. There is so much more to be said, but for now I’ll leave it at this - I love this character.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

1) Siffrin. Stars above, Siffrin. Even aside from their spectacular dynamic in canon, perfectly blending humor and genuine heartbreak, I adore Sifloop as a metaphor for self love. I like to think there is healing for them in learning to hold each other. I like to think there is healing for them in knowing every vile, dark thing about the other that no one else could ever see, and loving each other just the same. I like to think there is healing for them in looking at the other and feeling, on a deep and basic level, that they were always worthy of love. 2) Isabeau. I’m a sucker for tragedy, and stars above these two hurt me. In my mind this goes one of three ways - ISAT Sloopis where both of them date Siffrin and slowly come together (this deserves a post in and of itself, but Sloopis provides the perfect combination of regret, yearning, resentment, confusion, guilt, awkwardness, theatrics, and of course the continuing tension of identity and the reveal… ah it’s beautiful), SASASAAP Isaloops where Loop gets sent back to their timeline after the loops are over (extremely context dependent but this has the potential to be so heartbreaking and complicated but ultimately sweet, gives me real “will you fall in love with me again?” vibes), and ISAT Isaloops where the two fall apart onto and into each other after something goes terribly wrong and Siffrin dies (again, extremely context dependent, but something about Loop desperately missing Siffrin and trying to find pieces of him within themself, and Isabeau desperately missing Siffrin and recognizing, or trying to recognize, pieces of them within Loop, and their affair effectively becoming a ghost story where the ghost cannot live while still bound to the haunted living? Yeah. Also, I need Isabeau to accidentally call Loop “Siffrin” at some point and effectively end both of their worlds). 3) Odile. Honestly, this one is more for the fun of it than anything. I really love Siffrin and Odile’s dynamic, and I’ve seen some great Loopdile art. I think it’s intriguing, and warrants a longer description than I currently have the energy to write.

My non romantic OTP for this character:

The idea of Mirabelle and Loop’s dynamic haunts me. The false chosen one whose character arc revolves around realizing that she doesn’t have to Change her identity to Change the world around her, and the failed chosen one whose identity was forcefully torn from them after they failed to break free of a horrific cycle of sameness? Both of whom were ‘blessed’ so that they could defeat the King, and struggled under the weight of that blessing? Both with such uniquely complicated relationships with their faith? They can relate to each other better than any duo besides Loop and Siffrin (and I think that’s technically cheating). Their relationship appeals to me on so many levels; I love them. I also think that Mirabelle’s perceptive enough to figure out what’s going on with Loop fairly quickly, while simultaneously being the party member most capable of accepting someone’s new identity after a Change and helping them through. And Loop just loves her so much. So while I don’t ship them romantically for obvious reasons, I would consider this my nonromantic OTP for Loop.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Hm… this is a tricky one since I’m not entirely sure which of my Loop opinions are popular or not outside of my specific circle. Honestly? I think they’re dead. I think the end of Two Hats was their death scene, and they disintegrated back into the Universe, and I don’t think they’re coming back. I think that the moment they stopped being Siffrin, they stopped being able to exist outside of the time loops. (I regularly ignore this opinion in favor of reading and writing fanfic where they survive because I want them to be alive - even in my own brain, this opinion is unpopular. But canonically I do think that’s what happened.)

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

Like I said in the last question, I wish they’d lived. I wish they’d gotten the chance to heal and speak with the party again and learn what it meant to be Loop instead of Siffrin. I wish they’d been able to feel the rain on their skin and eat food they’d never tasted before. I wish they could have woken up from a nightmare to remember it was just a nightmare, that they escaped the loops a long time ago, that they might not ever be fully OK but things are starting to get better. I wish they could have had a crisis over what it meant to fall in love with yourself, and what it meant to be worth loving. I wish they could have met Bonnie’s sister, and traveled with Mirabelle, and worn clothes Isabeau made, and visited Ka Bue with Odile. And I understand that this would have been too much content to include in the game itself, which is why this wish really boils down to a single thing - I wish Two Hats could have ended with Siffrin holding their hand and leading them over to where their family stood, waiting to say “thank you, Loop. Thank you.”

[vellichorvibes]

literally 1-20 for dallyboy for the game 😭

Oh wow you asked for it! 1-20 under the cut!!!

…about my absolute favorite of their scenes and why I love it so much.

…"I was in the bedroom." He suddenly stared at me. "Glory, but your ears can get red, Ponyboy." I was remembering what usually went on in the bedrooms at Buck's parties. Then Dally grinned in amused realization. "It wasn't anything like that, kid.”...

This scene is so cute to me because Dallas notices Pony blushing, realizes why, and then assures him it’s not what he thinks. Liiike why does he need to clear things up for this sopping wet 14 year old interrupting his sleep? He’s sparing Pony from nothing but his own internal embarrassment and that’s a type of cute consideration that I sustain on

2…why I do or don’t ship them.

I definitely have a thing for sunshine/sunshine protector ships and I think these 2 match that pretty dang well!

3…if there’s a scene involving them that makes me uncomfortable.

Mmmmm no, all their interactions seem like they’ve got to happen to establish their characterizations and relationship. Even Dallas being gross with Cherry and Ponyboy being too afraid to say anything is a big part of their dynamic early on

4…how many other characters in my opinion see the chemistry of this couple before the couple itself does.

Everyone but Steve because he’s blind and Darry because he’s in denial

5…the three most perfect OTP tags that I can come up with for them.

Terrible awful flirting, idiots in love, dally’s love language is weeds

6…what kind of AU fics I’m obsessed with reading about them (or would be if I could find one).

I love a soulmate AU!! I haven’t seen ANY for them, but I’m actually working on one (and a million other things)

7…the scene that I like to point to as proof that they’re perfect for each other.

See #1

8…if I’m most interested in fics about them that focus on fluff, angst, humor, smut or actual plot?

I would just like more fics of them in general! It feels like such a small fandom to begin with and especially for this pairing. I’ll take anything!!!

9…what my ideal endgame for them is.

I mean the game ended back in the 60s…BUT IN A PERFECT WORLD I think Dal would go anywhere pony wanted. Follow that boy to college, be the most supportive hood boyfriend anyone's ever seen!

10…rate the level of stupid they reach in their pining.

I think Dallas would actually get his life together pretty quick, he can’t be out here yearning with no reciprocation. He’d ask Pony out almost before he gave it any real thought: 3/10. Meanwhile Pony would just be pining in poorly kept secret for months before someone stepped in: 567/10 .

11…how quickly I started shipping them when I got into the fandom.

As soon as I put the book down my phone was in my hand opening AO3. Instant

12…about three of the scenes that make me have feelings and (if available) find the gifs that underline my points.

Dallas visiting in the church - he's SO amused by Pony's hair and it's like "Sir, PLEASE, there's been a murder! Stop teasing your boyfriend!

Dallas talking to Pony after the rumble - he's having a full on meltdown at this point and rambling to ponyboy who is barely conscious because he's just so devastated with how things have gone

Pony watching Dallas die - Pony is begging to not lose Dallas, the kid he said deserved everything he got and worse just a few days ago. now he literally faints when he sees the boy who'd gone above and beyond to help him get gunned down "because Dally Winston wanted to be dead" 😭

13…if I can watch them in relationships with other characters without feeling gutted.

I’m currently reading a story where they both started out with other people (Curly/Pony, Dallas/Sylvia) and then over time found their way to each other and it actually wasn’t bad! It felt earned! What I have a hard time reading is either of them being with Johnny and then he dies and they bring that grief into their relationship. It’s too sad! 

14…which tropes I think describe them the best.

Friends to lovers, opposites attract, first love (for pony), grump and sunshine, bad at feelings (for dallas)

15…how I wish their story would go/would have gone.

See #9

16…three of my fic recs for this ship. And (in the event that I’ve written something for them) one of my fics involving them that I’m most proud of.

Holy SHIT any and everything by @richieshepard (sixties) but especially "fire in the sky" and a land flowing with blood and honey. And then “Hello Darlin’” by vangogh_hoe, just a cute little one-shot with some conway twitty

I have so many fics that i’m working on for dalpony, but of the 3 i’ve posted i like daytona sand best because i loved writing dallas’ POV 

17…three of my favorite fanvids for this ship. And (in the event that I’ve created something for them) one of my videos involving them that I’m most proud of.

You know i’ve actually never seen any? Would love to, but I’m still pretty new to the fandom

18…three of my favorite fanart or edits for this ship. And (in the event that I’ve created something for them) one of my art or edits involving them that I’m most proud of.

All the edits I’ve seen for these 2 have been by @sodomhipped and they’re great. Would love to see more!

19…if this is a ship that’s likely to take up room in my heart for years and decades to come or if they’re the summer romance that will probably fade into the past with a fond memory.

Hard to say! I read the outsiders on a sort of coming for age kick. It was the body, the outsiders, the warriors, that was then this is now, and rumble fish all within like a week back in march. but the outsiders and dalpony is the only one of those that i’m currently working on 13 different stories for so…i think they’re here for a while!

20…how and when they should get/should have gotten together.

After the church but before losing johnny. They’d already gone through enough together to know they were solid and didn’t need grief driving them into it. The care and consideration was there and i think if ponyboy had gotten the chance to tell dallas theres still lots of good in the world, dally would have let pony be part of it for him 😭😭😭!

Thank you SO MUCH for the ask!!!

[goshen-applecrumbledore]

20 fanfic author questions

tagged by @runawaydr3amerao3 to do this, excited as always to talk about myself, let's gooooooo

1. How many works on AO3?

52 and I can only ballpark how many have been orphaned. probably about 12.

2. Total AO3 word count?

953,146. Jesus christ

3. Top 5 fics by kudos?

all of these are old as hell which is why they're top. they are not all good.

transposition ciphers (9,010) fma, roy/ed

the hang of being alive again (3,600) the raven cycle, adam/ronan

not funny (3,573) check please (eugh), holster/ransom

awful wonderful (3,564) naruto, kakagai

hard reset (3,162) fma, roy/ed

4. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, technically, just spn, the bear, true detective and house md. but fma is never far from my mind. my otp no matter how much time passes...

5. Do you respond to comments?

Up until very recently I never did because it never occurred to me. I wasn't trying to be a dick, I just didn't know I was supposed to. then I went through a period during spn after learning that where I felt bad and replied to everything. Now I reply to comments that ask me a question or are thought-provoking. I want to answer and to applaud. people leave comments that are more beautiful than the actual fic, you people are very smart and insightful.

6. Angstiest ending?

I'm not good at writing sad endings!! I believe in love! but, for this audience, worthless cartography. sam and dean hook up for the first time right before ahbl pt 2 and then sam dies, so dean thinks it's his fault in a divine retribution kind of way, so when sam is alive again, dean rebuffs him. I always meant to write a second part, but without it, it's pretty sad.

7. Fic with the happiest ending?

I was going to say pine sweat but I remembered it takes place in S5 so sam is dead within a fortnight lmao. it's definitely hard reset, an fma roy/ed fic. it's 15 years post-canon and after a lot of yearning and trying to make it work, they make it work. very blue skies everybody wins.

8. Do you get hate?

Not much these days, but I used to. mostly for writing roy/ed, with a big age/power gap, and for my novel with the same. for writing hockey rpf ships people didn't like, someone threatened to call my office and tell my bosses I was a pedophile. also when I was 13 I wrote a very OOC house/wilson fic and someone said it sucked and I got so mad I started writing original works out of spite (because nobody could tell me they were ooc)

9. Do you write smut?

Very much so, as a treat/reward/resolution to a story, much like sex is irl, lol. I rarely write smut on its own (blood sacrifice sex magic type of thing would be the closest, or middle name) not because I have anything against it but because in my own work I wanna feel very much like it's THE characters, whoever they are, and plot is the easiest way to do that. if I wanna just crank my hog I can do that on my own time.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nosiree, I'm boring. no crossovers or AUs. barry tells me I will want to write an spn/x files crossover though, and because he's the one that got me into spn I've learned not to tell him he's wrong.

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Yes actually, someone put huge swaths of one of my yakuza fics into a majima/reader fic. I opened a ticket with AO3 but they said it wasn't clear cut enough. I didn't pursue because I don't care.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, this is my favourite thing!!! such a compliment and a beautiful reminder, in english speaking internet and under the shadow of the US, that there are other folks online. several of my spn fics have been translated into mandarin and 2 of my expanse fics have been translated into russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Once, in hockey fandom, with someone I didn't like very much. she wasn't a good writer and it was a disaster. I don't remember what happened to it. I wouldn't do it again lol.

14. All time favourite ship?

If I'm honest it's gotta be roy/ed from fma. what if this very annoying kid sauntered into your life but then he grows up and he's brilliant and noble and beautiful and haunted and also the specialist boy in the world, but you're a decorated military official in a corrupt dictatorship and the kid hates your guts and you will never be able to forgive yourself for your past war crimes so why should this beautiful genius like you anyway?? anyway. im over that now

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A wincest john finds out kind of full-house-of-wincest type situation. somebody with a fundraiser fic should email me and tell me to swap their fic to that one. who said that

16. Writing strengths?

Dialogue and canon-complianticity

17. Writing weaknesses?

Nobody tells me what I suck at so I don't FULLY know, but. Speed. Grammar. Flexibility. everything I write sounds like everything else I write and I reuse the same words and idioms, like same song syndrome but for writing. a greatest hits album.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

Only thing I've done in my fics is kind of a crossed-out written words in an epistolary fic. I've maybe had a few french lines in a fic but I don't think so because it was referencing subtitles. haven't read much either, so, no opinions. but I will say it's shit to do a weird patois in your English language dialogue

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto baybeeeee. when I was 11 my sister found my scanned fan art of naruto and sasuke kissing on deviantart. I didn't even think she was on deviantart. 

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Hangdog, easily, but I think that's only because true detective s1 is remarkably rich and good so I'm really just drafting off marty and rust's coattails. but also probably Matryoshka dolls for spn, because it feels very well considered and tied together and intentional and satisfying, to me. but it deserves merit because as any spn fan knows, you gotta have a rich inner universe in order to truly play in their space. cw gets no credit.

EDIT: or, actually, my venture bros fic, lol. there was something very lovely about writing fic for a show that in no way makes me horny. Just a show I love very much.

No tags because I don't know anyone anymore but tag me if you do it because of me and I'll read it!

[acupofmochaa]

hi kavi @blackwaves i had to go through multiple gymnastics to bypass tumblr shoving this post into the mature content label. for some reason 😭 LOL anyways. here's the answer to ur asks

ayatsuji yukito—bsd !

favorite thing about them: i would say his fashion sense but i am personally irked (/lh) by the fact that his checkered pants have a singular pocket. not even another to pair, it's just that singular one. oyoyo-sensei made him redeem himself by putting him in that black turtleneck and jeans thank god 🙏 also Love that harukawa-sensei gave him down turned eyes, incorporated that into my own drawings of him hehehd

least favorite thing about them: that he's locked behind gaiden with kyogoku. atleast tsujimura is animated and voiced </3

favorite line: "how lucky i am as a detective." (<- yes this is the fan translated line. yes i prefer it more than the official one. </3)

brOTP: ayatsuji and ranpo best friendism agenda where they're the only one who can catch up to one another but also are on the verge of bickering every other minute. you all will listen. i am also very adverse to ayatsuji and ango partnership

OTP: soutsuji. is anyone surprised really

nOTP: ayatsuji/kyogoku... </33 im sorry. it's so hard for me to picture them in a romantic context

random headcanon: somewhere, in a countryside of japan, lays the ruins of ayatsuji's childhood town. ayatsuji remembers most of his childhood peering through the glass windows of his mother's doll store, waiting for his father to arrive home. he remembers clinging a little tighter to the dolls in the store whenever a passerby gives him another nasty glare. it was always like that, ever since those accidents started. his last memory of that town is the pungent waft of iron, from the blood coating his head, dripping down his face, down his clothes and clutching onto his pale skin—and although his memory is crystal, even he cannot recall exactly what the townspeople were cursing onto him that night, he'd assume it to be vulgar nonsense. yet all his eyes could focus on is the moon, shining down onto his heaving body.

unpopular opinion: he doesn't look like dazai idk why some fans call him blonde dazai 😭 their hair is similar sure but it's not? exactly down to a t?? ayatsuji would hate his ass (/affectionate)

song i associate with them: toxic, britney spears / crooked teeth, death cab for cutie / picture you, chappell roan / so beautiful, dpr ian / caring is creepy, the shins

favorite picture of them: how could i not include the woof scene. also forgot to include this in tsujimura's answer but i am vol 2 cover's biggest fan, real not fake. i am also very fond of each scene where ayatsuji is seen smiling fondly, i will in fact be wailing and screaming and crying once the manga gets to That part at the end of act 5

kyogoku natsuhiko—bsd !

favorite thing about them: his philosophy! admittedly i didn't see his appeal until After i read the light novel, where at the time, the interlude chapter hadn't been adapted in the manga just yet. the interlude chapter is my favorite chapter in gaiden, because it gave me insight to kyogoku's philosophy and morals and why he decided to become "evil," and even debating if he truly is what society deems as "evil." none of you would understand the joy i experienced when i saw that the interlude chapter was adapted, jumped in the air and clicked my heels like a cartoon character fr. i LOVE kyogoku, the bsd antagonist of all time actually

least favorite thing about them: that he's locked behind gaiden with ayatsuji. asagiri let them out please. pretty please. pretty please with a cherry on top

favorite line: "let's raise the curtain of the next game, shall we—?"

brOTP: does kyogoku/ayatsuji fall under here? i yearn for the lore behind ayatsuji and kyogoku and how they fell out bc wdym he was your previous student. wdym ayatsuji jokingly called kyogoku "sensei" in the hbd mayoi event what. What

OTP: uhh. none really. does the crackship me and a friend made of kyogoku/fukuchi count yes or no (i don't ship it i just find it funny)

nOTP: again, kyoaya </33

random headcanon: kyogoku may not be seen by everyone else that isn't ayatsuji but there can be indicators. if the temperature suddenly drops, and/or if ayatsuji looks more pissed than before. another headcanon of mine is that he's multilingual, and can communicate with ayatsuji with not only tons of other languages, but also through codes and ciphers. it stresses tsujimura out whenever ayatsuji starts angrily tapping his desk glaring at empty air. also if he isn't at least 60 years old im going to crash out (/hj).

unpopular opinion: not an opinion but moreso a plea @ non gaiden fans when talking about gaiden. please include kyogoku. i love ayatsuji and tsujimura to bits too but please include kyogoku. don't erase the old man pls </3 he is so vital to their partnership guys please. please (begging for more kyogoku content

song i associate with them: monitoring, deco*27 / shanti, wotaku / jet ammo, dasu / thrills, cake / animal impulses, iamx

favorite picture of them: looked through his gallery and he's always grinning of some sorts. what is bro grinning for. why is bro so mischievous

[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.

[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... 👀