#otp: i liked you first

[untapdtreasure]

First Lines of 10 Fics Game

Rules: share the first lines of 10 of your most recent fanfics and then tag 10 people. If you have written fewer than 10 fics, don’t be shy and share anyways :)

A Merry Little Christmas - Olivia felt overwhelmed as she sat in her spot in the middle of her living room floor. There were presents and wrapping paper strewn all around her. Plus, she was trying to keep quiet, so she didn't wake up a sleeping Noah. She had put off wrapping his presents from Santa until the last minute, and now she was miserable from a cold, or maybe the flu, that she almost couldn't see straight as she tried to get it all down. Her eyes were red and puffy as she wiped at her nose for what felt like the millionth time that evening. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson)

Kissin' by the Mistletoe - Carol had been busying herself with the last of the preparations. She had invited over a few of her close friends (more like family than friends), and she had been driving herself crazy with last-minute anxiety that things wouldn’t go as planned. She felt his hand on her arm as she hurried past him. She stopped in her tracks, looking up at him and giving him a soft smile. “I’ve got to go and check that last batch of cookies.” (The Walking Dead, Carol Peletier & Daryl Dixon)

Never Meant to Last - Daryl knew that his time was coming to end. He could feel his body as it lay dying. The gunshot wound had been a gutshot. A painful and nasty way to die if he did say so himself. And Lydia had witnessed the whole thing. If he could have spared her the pain, he would have, but as it was, she was holding his hand. WARNING: character death. (The Walking Dead, Carol Peletier & Daryl Dixon)

Crashing Into Who I Belong To - Rafael padded barefoot to his front door. He had just been about to settle down on the couch and get lost whatever he could find on Netflix when there was a knock at his door. He glanced at the clock, curious because it was pushing half-past eleven, but he approached the door all the same. That had happened a time or two when someone was making a late-night Chinese or Pizza delivery. It wasn't a bother, but tonight, he really hadn't been in the mood to deal with anyone. So he hoped to get this over with quick. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson)

In Case You Didn't Know - Olivia didn't look up as Rafael entered her office. She held up a finger to signal for him to give her a moment before he started in with whatever he'd come to tell her. She had to finish her thought process in order to complete her paperwork. She dotted her i's and crossed her t's before she set her pen down and met his eyes. "Are you here because you desperately want my company for an after-work drink or is it business?" (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson)

Like a Moth to a Flame - I watch as she stands against the guardrail. I know she can't give up hope that her daughter is alive out there... somewhere. That she's wandering and stumbling around blindly looking for her way back. I can see how much it kills her inside knowing that she can do nothing to protect her. That once again, she's let her down. (The Walking Dead, Carol Peletier & Daryl Dixon, Sophia Peletier)

Not For Very Much Longer - Noah comes running from his bedroom in what Rafael knows to be an almost exact replica of an NYPD officer's uniform. He smirks over at Olivia. "Pretty sure you had a hand in this," he says with a chuckle as he ruffles the boy's hair as Noah moves by him to stand in front of his mother. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson, Noah Porter Benson)

You Already Know (That You're My Weakness) - “Olivia, will you marry me?” Olivia’s eyes shown with tears as she looked down at him. Her hands were shaking even though Rafael held one of them in his. He held a box with a diamond ring in the other. Her lips trembled as she tried to form the words. She dropped down onto her knees before him and kissed him softly on the mouth. All she could manage to do was nod her head as the tears slipped down her cheeks. She felt him slipping the ring onto her finger. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson)

How We Ever Came To Be - The brand new camping equipment sat in the back of the rented midnight blue Jeep Grand Cherokee. Olivia glanced over at him as he concentrated on the road ahead of them. "Are you sure Amanda and Nick were the right choice?" Not that she didn't trust Nick with her life, but Noah was becoming more and more of a handful as he got older and had slipped quite easily into his terrible two's right on schedule. Nick was a seasoned vet where child rearing was concerned, but as far as she knew, Amanda knew next to nothing about child rearing. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson)

Under the Sea - Rafael loved the look of sheer amazement on Noah's face as they moved from one aquatic exhibit to the next. The only downside was that this was supposed to be the three of them, but Olivia had been called away unexpectedly before they'd even left the apartment. They'd have to make plans to do it again when all three of them could go. He smiled down at Noah as the little boy settled on the floor to watch as the fish swam by. (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson, Noah Porter Benson)

tagged by stolen from: the dashboard tagging: anyone that wants to do this!

[riddlerosehearts]

i really need everyone but especially anyone who romanced gale with a bard tav to know about this interaction from early access that larian took from us

[lotus-pear]

god i love skk sm i wish gay ppl were real :(

[lover-of-mine]

#which could mean nothing

inspired by @stagefoureddiediaz 💙

[wisteriasymphony]

every time a tumblr post mlb rewrite mentions the fact that they're taking out marinette's 'obsessive stalker' characteristics an angel gets run over by a steamroller and fucking dies

[notmoreflippingelves]

Actually going insane over the implications of Jason asking Dick to be the Robin to his Batman in Battle for the Cowl.

Like I initially took it at the purely surface-level of Jason wanting a partner in the general sense. Which made sense, it's a huge responsibility and a lonely one so an assistant/sidekick/partner seems a no-brainer if you can get one.

But then I really thought about it, because Jason is not asking Dick to be his partner in the general sense; he's not even asking Dick to be his Nightwing. He's asking Dick to be his Robin.

And they both know exactly what Jason means: "Be the light to my darkness. Be the smile to my scowl. Be the hope to my fear. "

He's saying "Be 'Robin'; be the embodiment of Love and Justice and Goodness. Be the exceptional person that you have always been. Be the slightly-less exceptional person that I was when I wore your colors. Be the person that I was in the process of becoming and might have been (or might still be), if only Joker hadn't clipped my wings."

He's saying "I am prepared to become vengeance, become the Night. And I will go further than Bruce ever dared to, because it is what is needed. I will be the necessary evil. But you don't have to be. If Batman is Gotham's curse, Robin has always been its blessing. I will be the brutal punishment to our world, and I am asking you to be its incandescent gift."

He's saying, "Be for me, what we were for Him. Be my anchor, my comfort, my hope. Remind me what it's all for, why it's all worth it. And remind yourself as well."

He's saying "Be 'Robin' again--for both of our sakes."

[eerna]

imma be so real with you I did NOT care for all the cutesy ways they presented Vi and Cait's disbalanced social status in arc 3

[wistfulwatcher]

#just a knight looking to her queen for approval

[almea]

The start of the Bees' literal battle couple era

[untapdtreasure]

tag game: (the walking dead)

1.ride or die ship (your otp): Carol Peletier/Daryl Dixon.

2. most annoying ship: Merle Dixon/Rick Grimes.

3. second favourite ship: Carol Peletier/Rick Grimes.

4. favourite platonic relationship: Eugene Porter/Rosita Espinosa.

5. underrated ship: (don't have one).

6. overrated ship: (don't have one).

7. one thing i would change in canon: Carl wouldn't have ever died. Which meant that Andrew would have never left. Which means that Rick would have finished out the main series.

8. something canon did right: Making Carol and Daryl friends from early on and having them face things together and feel differently about them, but still love one another anyway.

9. a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: Threadbare.

10. a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): Glenn Rhee.

11. the character i relate to the most and why: Carol Peletier. We're both domestic abuse survivors.

12. character(-s) i hate the most and why: Alpha. She was completely unhinged and didn't have to kill anyone. She could have moved her horde anywhere but willfully chose to make conflict with the communities because she couldn't let go of a daughter she didn't fully love in the first place.

13. something i've learned from the fandom: That ship wars are nasty, and that they are totally not worth it.

14. three tags i seek out on ao3: I don't really look at tags other than character or pairing. So I'm gonna pass on this one.

15. a song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: Wait for Me by Kings of Leon.

tagged by stolen from: @dragonflylady77 tagging: anyone that wants to do this one for whatever fandom you want to do it for!

[saessenach]

the Russells christening hanging out in their Newport mansion conservatory bc let's be real this scene deserved more than .2 seconds

[lunarharp]

more phoenix wright situations

[lover-of-mine]

"Buck is attached to this symbolism of couches being related to relationships, and that's not something that's actually going away anytime soon."

[thirdeyeblue]

“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”

I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.

Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨

When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.

While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.

In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):

He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.

Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.

He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.

And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.

Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.

(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)

Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…

His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.

It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:

He is still in love with Rose.

(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)

Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.

But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.

Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.

I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.

So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.

But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.

“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”

-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!

Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!

Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.

The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.

But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.

[camelliagwerm]

[LET'S TALK THIS THROUGH]

[seeinganewlight]

NANCY and ACE in 4x03 THE DANGER OF THE HOPEFUL SIGIL