#otp: my touchstone

[dgct2]

The truth will save you Scully. I think it will save both of us.

4.15 Memento Mori

[teenie-xf]

Oof! Right in the feels.

|insp|

[recurring-polynya]

"Just do as you're told," Mogget said firmly. "Think of yourself as Abhorsen's sworn sword-hand, if it makes you feel better, though in this present era, you'll find common sense is more important than honor. "Very well", Touchstone muttered, humbly. He stood up and put on the underclothes and shirt, but couldn't get the trousers past his heavily muscled thighs. "There's a kilt and leggings in one of the chests back there," Mogget said after watching Touchstone hopping around on one leg, the other trapped in too-tight leather."

if you, as an author, aren't introducing your male love interests like this, what are you even doing with your life?

(from Sabriel, by Garth Nix)

[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.

[birdmitosis]

Have you watched manlybadasshero's play of stp? He's on youtube, gone through all the vessels and probably like 99% of the dialogue so if you need references I'm sure you can find it somewhere in his playlist

Also I found your fics on ao3 and I'm already in love with them! You do such a good job with writing all the voices, I look forward to seeing how they all end up developing

(Bonus, thoughts on hero/paranoid? Ik you have hero/contrarian (so good) and paranoid/cold (hadn't thought of it but intrigued) but the nightmare route where they're both just scrambling to keep the body alive just makes me want to ship them for some reason lol)

I have!! That's part of why I was so surprised to find that there was a combo of voices I'd never seen before at all; he's covered so much of the game, but I guess it's a pretty rare variation and the helpful chart I've been using to figure out how to get different voice combinations doesn't actually break down The Razor's chapters beyond "The Cheated -> Gain every Voice"... A combination of him and BAI GAMING and CrankyTemplar are how I'm getting mmmmost of my easy-to-revisit canon reference stuff, though. (And he was my first LP of the game I watched, so I have a real soft spot for him XD) And thank you so so much! That is really nice to hear; I'm looking forward to getting the next chapter out and showing a bit of... mitosis. How they interact with each other internally and externally. :D (I am also making a little list of synonyms for each voice's description due to one of the AMA answers, to give myself little touchstones for how each Voice's Main Trait could actually imply various little traits, because that answer just really intrigued me.) (And I really like Hero/Paranoid, honestly! Paranoid/Cold and Hero/Contrarian became OTPs mostly because they grabbed my brain and wouldn't let go, but I have a ton of other ships for the game for real, including Hero/Paranoid due to The Nightmare chapter, Broken/Hero/Paranoid due to The Apotheosis chapter, and Hero/Paranoid/Opportunist due to a particular variation on The Wraith chapter. Hero and Paranoid have a seriously good dynamic, really!)

[lifeforms]

i talk about cla/na a lot (especially now that i am actively rewatching with someone i adore who also happens to WRITE clark) because i think they are completely vital to each other. i do. i fully believe that they will be a big part of one another's worlds forever. but. you also have to understand that even if you systematically murdered every person i ship with either one of them until there was NO ONE left. i would still not start talking about getting them back together. at most i might be like, well, you two are gonna move in together to make sure you both keep breathing. and if you are very sad and you need to fuck about it, that's your business. i will not stop you. i'm sure i will probably even feel something about it. but you can't let your guard down. you have to remember that historically, every time you've tried to share a life you have only made each other crazy. and that neither one of you was ever doing that great to begin with. and that neither one of you is ever going to change. for anybody.

it's just not good. they are not compatible like that. i think it makes plenty of sense that it's Harder Than Usual for them to move on from the idea of each other, but it's... not because of their epic love story™. it's because they are the two loneliest kids in the world and they are so used to assuming that nobody else could ever Get That (and, you know, to their point, it's rare that someone does). they both have each other on these weird little pedestals that they don't really know how to budge. and that's okay sometimes! i think that in any context they are both glad to keep like, being a touchstone. a sounding board. a facilitator of excellent hugs. proud, even.

but when you start trying to keep them in the same box, there's, like... nobody and nothing else in there to remind them how simple it is for them to fall into playing roles for comfort. they're too in their own little daydream. and they're both good actors, but like, that shit doesn't last. and it shouldn't. it doesn't bother me that people ship them [i.e. this is not That Kind Of Post], not least because, i mean. what leg am i going to try to stand on in this house? i got nothing. i got absolutely nothing. i cannot claim moral or logical high ground here. but it does disturb me that anyone could watch them Do That for 8 seasons and not even be like "i love my toxic otp ♡"

[wexarethewalkingxdead]

[5] tv shows [5] female characters [5] male characters [5] otps [3] romances [3] seasons [3] episodes that make you cry [3] episodes that make you happy [2] quotes [2] holiday themed episodes [1] pilot

TV SHOW MEME

[5] tv shows

The X-Files, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The 100, The Walking Dead, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

[5] female characters 

Carol Peletier (The Walking Dead), Det./Lt. Alexandra Eames (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Abby Griffin (The 100), Capt. Olivia Benson (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), and Devon Adair (Earth 2).

[5] male characters 

Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead), A.D.A. Rafael Barba (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Marcus Kane (The 100), Robin Hood (Once Upon a Time), and Special Agent Fox Mulder (The X-FIles).

[5] otps 

Devon Adair & John Danziger (Earth 2), Marcus Kane & Abby Griffin (The 100), Carol Peletier & Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead), Regina Mills & Robin Hood (Once Upon a Time), and Rafael Barba & Olivia Benson (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).

[3] romances

Carl & Rachel Hutchins (Another World), Marcus Kane & Abby Griffin (The 100), and Regina Mills & Robin Hood (Once Upon a Time).

[3] seasons

Season 14 (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Season 3 (The Walking Dead), and Season 5 (The X-Files).

[3] episodes that make you cry

The Body (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Wild at Heart (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (The Walking Dead).

[3] episodes that make you happy

I really cannot pinpoint any whole episodes that make me happy. There are a lot of scenes in a lot of episodes that make me happy. So too many to list might be the right answer here.

[2] quotes

There was one thing that remained the same. You... were my friend, and you told me the truth. Even when the world was falling apart, you were my constant... my touchstone. - Mulder (The X-Files)

Somehow we allowed justice to become vengeance and vengeance to become sport, and I allowed that, that darkness to rise… but my complicity ends today. - Marcus Kane (The 100)

[2] holiday themed episodes

How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (The X-Files) and Fear Itself (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

[1] pilot

Days Gone Bye (The Walking Dead)

[teenie-xf]

xoxo

x

[dgct2]

(MULDER looks at the kissing couples, then at SCULLY who is watching the TV. He looks at her lips. MULDER leans down toward her. She turns to him. They kiss. For about 7 seconds. Very sweet. They pull apart and look at each other and smile. Perfect.)

MULDER: The world didn't end.

SCULLY: No, it didn't.

(SCULLY gets a wistful, far-away expression.)

MULDER: Happy New Year, Scully.

SCULLY: Happy New Year, Mulder.

7.04 Millennium

[mendokayalways]

i honestly can’t get over the fact that like 90% of my ships are a tol-smol dynamic

[heatherwentwest]

Canon may tease that Scully will never die, but I firmly believe it’s the Mulder/Scully relationship—with its unwavering trust, unbreakable bond, and unconditional love—that is actually immortal.

(Re-sharing this older post in honor of my ongoing TXF feels attack.)

[ellynneversweet]

Like, this is not an OTP thing, even though Sabriel/Touchstone are one of my forever OTPs. It’s that it’s so juicy to think that Vlare immediately, instinctually, very bravely sacrifices herself out of duty, because she sees her queen and her country and the Charter itself being attacked, and she’s trying to shield some part of it, any part of it, and because she would presumably have been right in the innermost part of the royal household, loved and trusted and loving in return.

(Everyone knows I have this huge thing about ladies-in-waiting. It’s like if a sorority was in government.)

“The other two guards were Rogir’s men,” Touchstone continued, his voice wet with tears, muffled with sorrow. “They attacked me, but Vlare—one of the ladies-in-waiting—threw herself across them. I went mad, battle-mad, berserk. I killed both guards.

When I was an angst-riddled teenager my headcanon for this was that Touchstone and Vlare had a tentative thing, and then I went ‘no, that’s a rational reaction from someone trying to prevent a coup,’ but my fave interpretation now is that she was about his mother’s age (being a lady-in-waiting) and his former babysitter.

[vifetoile]

The Big Damn Kiss to which all other Big Damn Kisses must aspire 💋😘

From Sabriel by Garth Nix

[lawrussorights]

When you’re reminded you’re moronsexual.  [Originally on Twitter]

Inconrrect lawrusso quotes: 15/???

[andjustforthismoment]

MSR | M o m e n t s 

[ezhilmozhi]

I wasn't on the internet back to then. But I imploded and I guess the fandom did on the 1990s chatrooms

I was hoping for something a little more helpful.