#otp: the heart has its reasons

[fishandships]

“Don’t get up - I’ll do it.” for Alhaitham? -Setchan

Fluff Starters (thank you i needed this ;w;)

      Work was dragging on even more slowly than usual. Alhaitham could hardly even focus on his book, glancing constantly at the clock. It was normal for him to want to leave early, but this time was for a different reason. This time he had a date.

      As he checked the clock for the umpteenth time, there was a knock at his office door. “Come in,” he sighed irritably.

      The door cracked open. One of his secretaries peered nervously through. “Sir, a message for you. It’s from Kaveri.”

      Now Alhaitham was paying attention. “What did they say?”

      The secretary opened the door a little further. “They  offered their sincerest apologies, but said they won’t be able to meet with you this afternoon. They’re laid up with a migraine.”

      Alhaitham frowned. Kaveri had mentioned offhandedly that they experienced frequent migraines, but he hadn’t realized it was so bad that they would miss a date. At once a sense of purpose came over him. He stood. “Well then. If anyone is looking for me, tell them I had to attend to an emergency.”

      With that, he brushed past the secretary and headed out.

      This was a time when having an Akasha Terminal again would have been useful. Instead Alhaitham paused briefly at his own home to grab a few books on cures for common ailments, as well as some other things. He read up on migraine treatments all the way to Kaveri’s temporary residence in the outermost suburbs of Sumeru City. When he arrived, the windows were covered, which was unusual - normally Kaveri kept the windows wide open in any weather. Alhaitham rapped lightly at the door. “Kaveri? It’s me.”

      “Just a moment!” came the reply, the voice weary but pleasantly surprised.

      After a short while the door opened. Kaveri shielded their eyes with their hand. They were in loose-fitted, simple clothing that Alhaitham assumed were pajamas, and their hair looked as though they’d hastily groomed out their bedbead just before coming to the door. Their bearing was haggard, pain evident in the slight squint of their eyes. “I’m so sorry to flake on you,” they said sadly. “I was really looking forward to this afternoon, but-“

      “Don’t apologize,” he interrupted in an authoritative tone. “The museum will still be there next week. I’m more concerned about you. May I come in?”

      Kaveri stepped aside to let him in. “I’m really in no shape to be a good host, but I could make you some tea if-“

      They stopped abruptly when Alhaitham lifted his hand to their face, his thumb gently brushing over their cheekbone as he examined them. “Shh. Don’t worry about any of that. I’m here to take care of you.”

      At this Kaveri’s demeanor took an unusual turn. A furrow slowly appeared in their brow, and their eyelids fluttered in response to the prickle of incoming tears. They leaned into his touch and swallowed before speaking. “Thank you.”

       He kissed their forehead. “Go back to bed. I’ll make the tea - I brought something that’s supposed to help with migraines.”

       Kaveri stood frozen for a moment, biting their lower lip as if to keep it from trembling. “Okay,” they said quietly, and retreated into their bedroom.

      Alhaitham busied himself making tea, tidying the kitchen a bit as he went. When the tea was ready, he found Kaveri in their room, curled on their side amid a veritable nest of pillows. They sat up quickly when he entered and immediately winced. “Relax,” he said, setting their tea within reach. 

       Kaveri accepted the tea, sipping in silence as they watched him prepare a blend of essential oils. “Where do you keep your diffuser?” he asked.

       “In the closet,” they replied, swinging their legs over the side of the bed.

       He held up a hand to stop them before they stood. “Don’t get up - I’ll get it. Drink your tea.”

       Once the diffuser was set up and the gentle aroma of mixed herbs filled the air, Alhaitham sat at the foot of Kaveri’s bed to drink his own tea. They were still watching him over the top of their cup, peering up through their long eyelashes. “Thank you,” they murmured. “I’m not used to being taken care of.”

        “It’s nothing,” he replied. “Selfishly, I still wanted to spend time with you. The location of the ‘date’ is irrelevant.”

       “We should still go to the museum another time, though,” they said.

        He nodded in agreement, offering them a little smile. “Absolutely.”

       Seeing that they were nearly finished with their tea, he asked, “Is the window closed because it’s too loud outside?”

        They sighed. “Yeah. The fresh air helps a lot, but here in the city, the noise sort of outweighs the benefit.”

       “Then let’s remedy that,” Alhaitham said.

       He removed his noise-canceling headphones and carefully placed them on Kaveri’s ears. They lifted their hands to touch the headphones almost reverently. “Are you sure?”

       “I wouldn’t be willing to loan them to you if I wasn’t sure,” he replied, his tone kinder than his succinct words might otherwise have implied.

       Standing, he went to the window and opened it wide. A gentle breeze swept in along with the general clamor of the busy street outside. Kaveri looked relieved. “These work beautifully.”

       “If I put on some music, you’ll hardly be able to hear anything else at all,” Alhaitham offered.

       “Oh…no, that’s alright,” they said softly. “I want to be able to hear your voice.”

       Another little smile graced his lips. He trailed the back of his forefinger along their cheek. Then he said, “I have one more thing that might help.”

        Reaching into one of his many pockets, he produced a flat, round object. He squeezed it in his hand to activate it before offering it to Kaveri, who inclined their head curiously as they accepted. Their expression lit up in such delight that Alhaitham had to smile again. “It’s a little Cryo Slime! And it’s cold!” they exclaimed.

        “It contains some essence of Cryo Slime,” he explained. “It's meant to be used as a compress.”

       “It even has a little face…how cute.” Kaveri lay down on their back with a sigh of relief, their slime cold pack on their brow. “Oh, that feels so good.”

       They turned their body in a way that reminded him of a cat to gaze up at him with soft eyes. “Thank you again. Really. It might not seem like a lot to you, but to me…”

        Their eyes started to water. Alhaitham stroked their hair. “Shh. Just rest. I’ll be here if you need anything else.”

       Kaveri nodded. They closed their eyes and sighed again. Satisfied that his work was done, Alhaitham again sat at the foot of the bed. He took out a book and started to read. After a moment he glanced at Kaveri. There was still some tension from pain in their face, especially around their eyes, but less so than when he’d first arrived. Now, laying among their collection of pillows in their soft pajamas, they looked much more relaxed and comfortable.

      And cuddleable.

      Alhaitham set his book aside. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he lay down beside Kaveri. He put his arms around them and pulled their back to his chest. They put their hands over his own, hugging his forearms. “Are you gonna nap with me?”

      Though he couldn’t see their face, he could hear the smile in their voice. “Mm-hmm,” he hummed, his face against their shoulder. 

     Kaveri kissed the backs of his fingers before wiggling a bit to attain maximum comfiness. This time, their sigh was one of contentment. “I feel better already.”

      “Good,” he said, the relief he felt only barely entering his voice. 

      Even without his headphones, he soon found himself growing drowsy in the warmth and comfort of the shared bed, blanketed in the fresh air and the aroma from the diffuser. Kaveri’s breathing grew shallow and even as they dozed off. With them in his arms, he soon joined them for a brief afternoon snooze. It wasn’t the date he had been looking forward to, but, having been able to share some comfort with his lover in their time of need, Alhaitham was content.

[menelaiad]

hello here to push my patroclus/menelaus agenda.

they are so similar. in both. character, story (to an extent) and how the bard/author of the iliad treats them.

they are literally both deemed as 'kindly' - the only two.

if y'all make me talk about the defence of patroclus again i'll riot (mother cow. slain for my honour. the DEFENDER not the attacker)

they exist in the shadows of greater heroes (despite being pretty awesome themselves) patroclus in achilles' and menelaus in agamemnon's and yet they don't begrudge that. they're fine... happy with the spotlight being on these other figures because they love them and care for them.

they are catalysts to a greater story. aRUGABLY achilles wouldn't have rejoined the war without patroclus' death and the trojan war would not have started had menelaus not sought help from his brother/partially initiated it himself.

they both have weight on their backs. patroclus is a murderer and an exile. menelaus is cursed and an exile.

they were both suitors to helen. they have met before.

in the agamemnon/achilles fight ... bro. they both can see both sides. they can see achilles' slighted honour and agamemnon's fragile mental state but they can also see achilles' stubborness and agamemnon's willingness to try. they both can't wholeheartedly take a side.

they would have spoke after so much time at troy. they would have got on so well.

there's a line in the paris musical where patroclus sings 'menelaus i indulge your grief, your dignity and your pain' and for a campy insane iconic musical??? it made some points. its got hanDS.

incredible lads.

[singingcicadas]

Megatron's Opposite Day

"I free slaves"

This is Soundwave binding Ratbat but seeing as Megatron did the same thing to Pentius by putting his spark into Trypticon and reformatted Rumble and Frenzy into cassettes against their will I think he approves a lot of this practice

Megatron on Optimus and humans, after his defeat in All Hail Megatron ⬇️

he really salty

"I implant ideology" aka brainwashing

Decepticon cause = Megatron. nuff said.

"I liberate cities" says the person who let Nyon burn to make a point

Cities are too small, think bigger

Holding New York hostage.

"Like Autobots, they believe in the sanctity of life" which he doesn't. Kudos for being honest.

Allowing troops to do free-rein massacre is a reward for conquest. Nothing like some easy murder for de-stressing.

The Simanzi massacre which halved the Cybertronian population is off-screen so it doesn't deserve its own pic

"The revolution"

"We only feel good when we stand with a blade in one hand and a throat in another" "Let's make the entire face of the planet into our new gladiator arena"

What nice, confidence-inspiring revolutionaries. I'm sure they'll rule the population with benevolence after they've killed all the Necessary People with Necessary Violence. Final interpretation of what constitutes as Necessary is reserved for the sole discretion of Megatron, ofc.

Good goals.

Sentinel might be an absolute asshole but at least he's got one thing right: they're literally a gang of thugs who gets high off murder.

"The people are my utmost concern"

'The people': ................

"Battling for freedom"

Freedom of what? Function? Autonomy?

Religion?

the ability to choose whether to fight? on which side to fight?

Idk why they used the word "pogrom" for this, it's way too specific

Anyways it doesn't matter, they won't be missed.

Good for Bumblebee for calling him out. Screenshotted this just to appreciate Megatron's bitchy face ⬇️

Other urban legends:

"Megatron loves Cybertron" let's just burrrrn it

He did fight to save Cybertron in Chaos Theory but also made it pretty clear why he did it. It's not out of the goodness of his heart or any sentimental reasons like that. It's an ego/dominance thing.

Plus his wording when he's trying to convince Optimus to let him go with the Lost Light: "I broke the planet. And that, Optimus, is why I owe it to you - to everyone - to find a replacement."

Replacement.

In other words: I made a mess and can't be bothered to clean it up, so I want to get away from it and find somewhere new to start clean.

I don't think Optimus appreciates the favour.

"Megatron tore down a corrupt government" which is true, just too bad that he's worse

He's also, um, a closeted Zeta admirer?

"Megatron advocates equality" ???

Megatron x dictatorship is literally his OTP. They were inseparable for four million years. A lot of people died trying.

"Megatron cares about the Decepticons" no he doesn't. Not his troops nor its cause.

Like for one thing he treats them with complete scorn

Admits that the most useful thing about keeping Starscream around is that he can bully underlings into line

Wants to use the humans' nuke to get rid of his troops and reformat them into peaceful drones after they outlive their use because they were "too ruthless" for his perfect peaceful society

Has zero scruples about fighting Deceptigod, just affronted that his own soldiers are being used against him

And basically just drops the Decepticons like a bag of vermin after he surrenders. He never once mentions them of his own accord, other than to insist he has nothing to do with them. Even his surrender speech is something Optimus makes him do as exchange b/c he wants to go on parole. He wasn't planning on making a public address otherwise, he was just going to leave them hanging.

Looking at the publication timeline, Megatron started out as an established Evil McEvilson-type villain similar to how he is in G1 and it's not until Chaos Theory in 2011 that JRo really gave him a sympathetic backstory that drew his characterization away from the bloodthirsty pugno ergo sum warlord into someone who once held ideals about societal reform and remains convinced of his own moral supremacy throughout the 4 mill years of death and war, adding worldbuilding such as Functionism/oppression/government corruption as justification for the beginning of the Decepticon movement. But because the start of the Decepticons was already written in Megatron Origins and every evil thing he'd done up till Chaos Theory can't be retracted and they had to keep Megatron as a villain until his story was no longer central to the Autobot-Decepticon war line, and JRo didn't try to downplay the atrocities he'd committed (some of the most sadistically disturbing things Megatron did were exclusively in MTMTE flashbacks), but rather tried to distance him from them and placed the focus on the juxtapositions to emphasize change, this as a whole just resulted in Evil McEvilson getting turned into Hyper McHypocrite.

[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.

[conundrumoftime]

Fandom grandma tales: how I survived canon ruining two of the ships I liked.

(Written after a discussion with some of my TROP fan pals about how canon can break your heart re: shipping, and how fandom manages. There are spoilers here for the entire run of Babylon 5, and for one story JMS wrote after it. yes, that story. sorry.)

Babylon 5 was a sci-fi space opera show that ran from 1993 to 1998. It is sci-fi of the era of 22-episode seasons, of huge ensemble casts with characters who get their own B- and C-plots, with an effects and casting budget that doesn’t always match its ambition, and - something it was quite pioneering in, at the time - grand pre-planned story arcs. 

It’s the first fandom that I was involved with in internet spaces as it was running, or at least when its final season was (there’s Discourse and drama from earlier years that I missed). Its showrunner, J. Michael Straczynski - ‘JMS’ - was very active in (non-fanfic) fan community spaces, and you always knew exactly what he was thinking about things because he was part of the discussion around them. There was also fanfic, which he didn’t stop but didn’t go near on the grounds of legal liability for story ideas. 

Most of the fanfic in the early days as the show was airing was focused around two big ships, of which one was canon endgame (Delenn/Sheridan) and one was canon all-ends-in-despair (Marcus/Ivanova). I, as a teenager discovering a developing online fandom for the first time with all the overwhelm and excitement that causes (ask me anything about what reading fic was like before the days of tags/ratings/warnings!) got into Marcus/Ivanova and also into one of the minor ships, Delenn/Lennier.

Delenn/Lennier was never, ever going to happen in canon. This is obvious; it clashes with Delenn/Sheridan which was JMS’s baby darling OTP, the show’s big love story. Delenn is married for the later part of the show. Lennier is her diplomatic aide, is absolutely devoted to her, and they have a very intense mentor/student relationship, which it seems is kind of standard in their culture (when Delenn’s own mentor died she went briefly insane with grief and started a genocidal war over it) but is still Very Intense. He is canonically in love with her, but that’s as far as the explicit canon statements go.

However. HowEVER. Canon also gives us, for that relationship, some wonderful ship fuel. Lennier knows about every bad thing Delenn has done, including all the stuff she doesn’t/can’t tell her husband. He’s her link to her previous world and culture and stands by her even when they kick her out. She says at one point, “without him, I would stumble and fall and never get up again.” 

And then… we had Season 5, the final season.

Season 5, for various complicated production reasons, was operating a little outside of pre-planned story arcs and in this season the Delenn/Lennier stuff ramped up about three gears in one go. It was still very obviously never, ever going to be canon, and was almost certainly not intended by the creator (who wrote most of the episodes himself) to look like there was even anything there. At this point Delenn is married; any relationship with her aide would not only be going against the show’s OTP, but going against it in the sense where she’s cheating on her husband, and there is Just No Way JMS would have gone there. And yet! Season 5 gave us:

A scene where Lennier says he can’t stay, it’s too painful to be around her now she’s married, and she’s devastated and has the following conversation with her husband about it:

S: I got your message about Lennier. Is there anything I can do?

D [snapping]: Almost certainly not.

S: Is it because of me?

D: In part, I think so.

S: Yeah, I was afraid of that. Well, as we say back on Earth, three’s a crowd.

D: On Minbar, three is sacred.

S [slightly uncomfortable laugh]: Well, I don’t think I’m ready to handle that one, Delenn.

Delenn then calling Lennier back to the station to do some secret mission thing for her, which involves her sneaking out of her bed while her husband sleeps to meet Lennier in a darkened alley behind a bar, where she tenderly strokes his face and they have a whole conversation about whether her husband understands her or not.

A scene where Lennier comes back from his secret mission to meet both Delenn and Sheridan, Delenn goes to greet him with a hug, and Lennier does this very pointed step back and nod in the direction of her husband, and she pulls back and just sort of pats him on the arms instead. 

I MEAN.

But, the issue here is not what fans did about it but what canon did about it. Canon did the canon equivalent of dragging that ship outside and shooting it in the head. 

In the final few episodes of the entire series, Lennier tries to kill Sheridan, runs away in shame, and then someone finds his diary in which he’d been writing for ages about what a bad decision he thought Delenn had made and how her whole marriage was an awful idea. Even to this day, it’s fun/awful watching people go through a first-time watch when they get to season 5 and hit that. ‘Character assassination in the form of a diary’ was a whole thing for a while. It’s been 20+ years and the actor who played Lennier is stilll mad about it (not because of shippy stuff, but because he - correctly! - thinks Lennier absolutely would not have done that). 

What *fandom* did, on the other hand, was Fixed The Problem.

Delenn/Lennier was not at all a big ship when the series was airing, and for a few years after. Then the fandom dynamics started to change. With less pressure on what canon was going to do, it felt like fandom had more space to play around with things it didn’t do. Fanfic got less interested in trying to fit within the overall story being told and started spinning off in all its own directions. And *this* ship started getting bigger and bigger. People did really interesting things with it, canon divergence went in all directions, everyone wrote a fix-it story of some variety, some authors did a great series of connected stories based on an idea that Minbari have three genders, the quality of the writing has been brilliant. And I think without that absolute whiplash feeling of what happened in canon, there would never have been this feeling of “well I’m not having THAT” which led to all this.

We did not need canon! Canon had done its thing. And canon had broken our hearts enough ways with many of the other stories it told (entirely on purpose) and we weren’t just going to sit back and let it ruin us forever.

By comparison, the other ship I was into was Marcus/Ivanova. This is entirely doomed. Susan Ivanova’s love life is just perpetually doomed. The first partner of hers we meet is an ex who’s interested in getting back together, but then it turns out he’s just using her to infiltrate the station for the fascist terrorist group he’s secretly joined. Then she falls for an archrival of hers, Talia, who works for Psi Corps, the organisation she loathes most of all things - but it’s okay because it turns out Talia is starting to question them too! Maybe these crazy kids can make it work! They have one night together and then OOPS turns out Talia was being secretly controlled by a sleeper personality implanted in her by Psi Corps the whole time. Ivanova’s love life is doomed. 

So for two seasons, she has this sort-of-flirty, sort-of-bickery, sort-of-friendship going with Marcus, who is on the surface of it very much “why not fall in love at first sight like a true romantic, YOLO!” but it turns out is actually deeply messed up himself and full of survivor’s guilt and pain and, you get the clear impression, would have died of shock if she’d actually called his bluff on the OTT flirting and said “yeah, let’s go for it”. And then he sacrifices himself to save her life. It is a very tragic ending, it is absolutely the way he would have wanted to go, she wakes up both furious and absolutely distraught, says that the last thing she heard was him saying “I love you”, says she wishes she’d at least slept with him once, and says that in a way all love is unrequited. PAIN. 

So, lots of fix-it fanfic, lots of ‘Marcus comes back to life’, lots of canon divergence AUs where he doesn’t die and they live happily ever after and both get over their huge levels of unresolved pain. Pretty standard for that kind of pairing. And as a pairing it doesn’t get in the way of any big canon pairings, it doesn’t imply anything icky like mentor/student power imbalances or adultery. And JMS clearly quite liked it. So that’s better, right?

NO. It was WORSE.

JMS wrote an Marcus/Ivanova story himself, published in one of the sci-fi magazines, to try to give them a happy ending. This happy ending involves Marcus, many many years in the future, waking up from the cryogenic suspension he’s in (it’s sci-fi, keep up, keep up). Ivanova is long dead, but he isn’t about to let this get in the way, so what he does is to *create a new Ivanova* by getting some kind of DNA + computerised memory/personality bank thing, finding a doctor who will clone her, putting himself back into animated sleep until the clone reaches the age Ivanova was when she died, then - THEN, I’M STILL GOING - takes her to a distant planet where, with her memories wiped and their spaceship having deliberately been crashed BY HIM so there’s no way back, they live out their lives in peace.

WHAT.

That pairing still does okay in fandom but it’s not really taken on a post-show world of headcanons and riffing on other people’s ideas and tropes in the way that Delenn/Lennier has (and we all just pretend that story never existed). 

So! This has been my experiences in the field of What We Do When The Show Has Thoughts On That Non-Endgame Ship We’re Into. Fandom manages. Fandom will see you through. And in the words of Susan Ivanova:

Babylon Five was the last of the Babylon stations; there would never be another. It changed the future, and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future, or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another, for if we don’t, who will? And that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Mostly though, I think it gave us hope that there can always be new beginnings - even for people like us.

[yukidragon]

Sunny Day Jack - Playful and Crazy

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I've decided to just write something in the spirit of love. What better way to show myself love than with some sugary sweet self-indulgence with my OTP? I just let things flow wherever it took me with Alice and Jack loving on each other, without really fretting about any bigger purpose, polishing, or any real beginning or end.

No real warnings apply, just some sweet making out and silliness from a clown who has an appreciation for television and a ray of sunshine who drives him crazy. Who doesn't love to reference a good sitcom that they grew up with when the mood is right?

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all have a wonderful one and that you enjoy my story. Love you all and, as always, thanks for reading and sending me sweet comments!

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

...

Alice ran her fingers through his blue hair. It felt soft and silky, not at all stiff like a wig or as if it was dyed. Jack let out a low, pleased rumble at the back of his throat as he leaned into her touch. His expression was one of pure contentment as his eyes drifted closed. His adorable dreamy smile seized her heart in a gentle squeeze.

“Alice,” Jack sighed. He shifted as Alice brought her fingers back to his forehead, nuzzling into her arm before pressing his lips to her wrist. “My sunshine…”

Alice shivered at the way his voice and warm breath caressed her skin. “Jack…,” she said softly as he planted another kiss there, then another. Slowly he worked his way down his arm, planting countless playful pecks that tickled and warmed her all at once.

“Cara mia,” Jack said with a playful note to his voice, his eyes dancing as he met her gaze.

Alice tried not to laugh, but it escaped her anyway in a snort. Of course this television clown would make a TV show reference. “You’re so cheesy,” she teased before breaking off into giggles as he peppered her with intentionally ticklish kisses.

“Querida mia,” Jack cooed in a poor Italian accent. His movements became a bit more exaggerated with every kiss, making the reference even more intentional, but each kiss carried his sincere love for her.

Alice giggled as she watched her silly clown perform, using her arm as a prop. “Do you even know what that means?”

“No,” Jack admitted playfully between kisses. “But I do know that it means you’re the only one for me, sunshine.”

Alice felt a flush of warmth that brought a rosy hue to her cheeks. “You’re the only one for me too, mi amor.”

Jack’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and he flashed a wide smile. “Sunshine, that’s French!” He practically attacked her arm with kisses. “You know it drives me crazy when you speak French.”

Alice fought not to laugh at his silly antics, giving him a smile that barely managed to hold onto its wry hook. “A-actually that’s Spanish.”

Jack paused for a moment, as if caught off guard or contemplating, before he went back to kissing her arm. “Alice, that’s Spanish! You know it drives me crazy when you speak Spanish.”

Alice couldn’t hold back her laughter that time, and every kiss only made her cackle even more.

It was only when Jack worked his way up to her shoulder and his lips found her neck that Alice started to go breathless for a different reason. Silly pecks slowly started to linger, his mouth gently sucking on her skin with every kiss that blazed a trail upward along the hollow of her throat. Gently, he raked his teeth along her skin before nibbling on a particularly sensitive part, eliciting a gasp that turned into an adorable almost mewling sound.

“God…,” Jack murmured against her neck, and Alice could feel his smile against her skin. “It drives me crazy when you make those noises for me, sunshine.” He leaned back just enough to see her flushed face, those plump pink lips that beckoned for his. “You drive me crazy… so, so crazy…”

Alice didn’t get a chance to respond before Jack claimed her lips with his. She moaned what would have been his name if his tongue didn’t slide into her mouth to twine with hers, making words impossible. She gave up on any sort of witty retort and savored the kiss instead, wrapping her arms around her lover’s neck to draw him closer.

It was only when both of them were left breathless and gasping desperately for air that they parted, mouths wet and connected for a moment more after that. Jack admired the haze of love and desire that clouded her bright blue eyes, taking pride in knowing that he was the cause of it. He was the reason she was so worked up. He was the only one she looked at that way, the only one who she would ever look at this way.

A part of Jack wanted to show off, to brag to the world that only he was worthy of Alice. He was the only one who could drive her wild and make her weak with need. Another part of him was greedy like a dragon with its hoard, wanting to lock her away in their own little world where no one could take her from him. Nothing would take his sunshine away from him. He’d never allow it.

It scared him sometimes how badly he needed her.

“I can’t help it,” Jack said softly, more to himself than her. “I can’t help but be crazy for you, Alice. I love you so much… I need you.”

His answer was a kiss, as Alice pulled him back to her. Jack melted into her lips, moaning as she took the initiative to deepen the kiss, sliding her tongue along his intimately. She twined her fingers through his hair, tracing hearts along his scalp and making him shiver as the kiss ended.

“I love you too, Jack,” Alice said breathlessly. She placed a kiss on his painted nose before giving him a crooked smile. “You’ve made my life crazy, you silly clown, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Jack chuckled as Alice teasingly poked her tongue out at him before he captured it with his lips, leading them into another deep, wet kiss. He pulled her close, savoring the warmth of her body against his, how her delicate fingers toyed with his hair and scalp.

“Good,” Jack said once they caught their breath again. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Alice said as she playfully, but gently, tugged on his hair for emphasis.

Jack shivered at the feeling and his smile took on a hungry edge to it, like a predator salivating over his prey. “You can hold onto me as tight as you want,” he practically purred before his voice turned teasing. “You can pull on my hair as hard as you like too. I don’t mind, you know~!”

Alice blushed harder at his suggestion and sputtered for a moment before she recovered. “You really are a crazy clown,” she said with a soft chuckle, before giving his  hair a slightly firmer tug. “Just… let me know if it’s too hard.” Her smile faded just a little. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Jack said. His voice was soft but full of conviction so strong that Alice couldn’t help but believe it too. “Don’t worry… I’m tougher than I look, you know. Besides, I’d enjoy it if you played a little rough with me sometimes.” He added a playful wink to lighten the mood. “I love how gentle you are with me, Alice, but I’d love to drive you just as crazy as you make me. I want you to lose control with me, go wild for me, want me, need me, until you can’t think about anything else but me… how much you love me and I love you.”

Alice let out a quiet chuckle at that. “Trust me, there’s no one else who makes me wild like you, starlight.” She punctuated her words by nipping at his lower lip before drawing back. “I’m crazy for you, Jack. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Alice,” Jack sighed happily before he closed the distance between them in another kiss. He smiled against her lips as he felt her give his hair another, much more firm tug. He moaned her name in approval before drinking deeply of that sweet mouth that always knew the right words to say to fill his heart with love.

[equixen]

Looking back at ‘Before You Go’

Welcome to part 2 of my Narnia fanvid retrospectives which consist of me talking about a specific fanvid I’ve made and how I’ve interpreted the lyrics. This time, I’ll be talking about my second Caspeter fanvid, ‘Before You Go’, which I uploaded almost one and a half years ago now [original post].

Before I get into it, I just wanted to say that this one is especially for @an-angels-fury because she enjoyed my retrospective post for ‘Run To You’ and said that ‘Before You Go’ is her other favourite of my Caspeter fanvids. 😊

Okay, so this one actually has an interesting origin story and that’s because this fanvid was very close to being my first Caspeter fanvid and also very close to never happening at all.

Let me explain… 😊

When I first became obsessed with Caspeter, it wasn’t long till I decided to try making a fanvid about them. I started by going through my music and eventually narrowed it down to two songs. This one and ‘What Hurts the Most’. I liked both songs very much so it was quite possible that ‘Before You Go’ would have been the first one to be edited although I ultimately decided on ‘What Hurts the Most’.

As for why this fanvid was almost never made at all… well that’s because, at the time, I thought Narnia and Caspeter would go the way of many of my other recent fandoms up till that point. That I would do one fanvid, maybe two if I was lucky, but eventually either my interest in that fandom would wane or something new would come along to take its place as my latest obsession. So, I knew that by picking one song over the other, it was quite possible the second one might never have been made.

Well, we all know how that turned out. 🤣 Several more fanvids (and even fanfics) later, Caspeter and Narnia ended up becoming so important to me for various reasons (I’ve written more about this in another post if that’s of interest) which led to Caspeter becoming my OTP of OTPs. 🥰

Alright, now onto the lyrics. This fanvid is all from Caspian’s POV.

‘I fell by the wayside like everyone else’

I feel like there are a couple of ways this line can be looked at for Caspian. Firstly, it’s Caspian personally feeling like he doesn’t measure up to the High King from Narnia’s golden age. And secondly, that Caspian thinks that Peter sees him as less-than because of his Telmarine heritage. Also, I still really like the visuals I chose for this sequence… of Caspian deferring to the higher status of the Pevensies and hanging back as they enter the How for the first time.

‘I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, but I was just kidding myself’

Yep, Peter drives Caspian absolutely crazy in the beginning. Two young men with their own axes to grind and who are out to prove themselves. Caspian both hates how stubborn Peter is during the strategising at the How, but also can’t help seeing beyond that tough exterior that Peter puts up. Someone who is both more and less than what Caspian grew up hearing about in all those stories. Because Peter might not be all that he imagined in terms of the magnificent battle-hardened warrior (at least not at first glance) but he’s also more human and more beautiful and has more heart than Caspian ever could have imagined.

‘Our every moment, I start to replace, 'cause now that they're gone, all I hear are the words that I needed to say’

Despite the connection they share, their time together is over too soon. And once Peter is gone, Caspian can’t help regretting all the things he never told Peter while he had the chance. While I’ve had multiple versions of what Caspian might regret after Peter leaves Narnia in my head for different projects over the last year and a half, when I was editing this fanvid, I was very much imagining this to be that Caspian never told Peter that he loved him.

‘When you hurt under the surface, like troubled water running cold. Well, time can heal but this won't’

I think this was the line that first made me take notice of this song as a potential Caspeter fanvid. The way it reflects their regret over the loss of so many lives after the failed castle raid. It is something that will probably haunt both of them for the rest of their lives. And even though we had no closeup of Caspian’s face when they escape the courtyard, I was rather pleased that I was able to fake one by using a shot of Caspian from the start of the film which I still think works rather well. 😊

‘So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make your heart beat better? If only I'd have known you had a storm to weather’

Apart from his siblings—who Peter could never hope to hide anything from—I feel like Peter is the kind of person who’d keep his troubles close to his chest. So, for most of the time that Caspian and Peter would have known each other, there’s so much about Peter that would’ve been a mystery to Caspian. And at the top of that list would be the hardships Peter had faced as a result of being forced back into his old life after living in Narnia for so long. Constantly being underestimated by the adults in his life as well as being bullied and belittled by his peers.

‘So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make it all stop hurting? It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless’

There are definitely times when Peter feels worthless. But for the first instance of this line, I chose a moment where Peter feels like he’s worth less than others. And what better representation is there than the, “what about your own future?” deleted scene between Caspian and Peter. Caspian learns for the first time just how much Peter is willing to sacrifice for those he loves and for the greater good. Even his own life. That thought alone scares Caspian more than anything so he prompts Peter to think about his own future in the hopes that it will give him something else to fight for.

‘So, before you go, would we be better off by now, if I'd have let my walls come down? Maybe I guess we'll never know, you know, you know’

The moment when it all comes to an end. Caspian has just been crowned King and is looking forward to getting to know Peter away from the hardships of war. Just seeing where these feeling take them. But then Peter drops the bombshell that they’re leaving and Caspian can’t do a thing to stop it. All he has left now is regret. Regret over all those missed opportunities where he could have said how he felt but didn’t as well as wondering what could have been if he had. 😢 And I still rather love that sequence for, “I guess we'll never know, you know, you know,” where it looks like Peter is kicking himself for not being brave enough to say something to Caspian when they’d had a moment upon first entering Cornelius’ office. 😊

‘Before you go, was there something I could've said to make your heart beat better? If only I'd have known you had a storm to weather’

When Caspian finds Peter during his and Susan’s talk with Aslan, he can see that something isn’t right with Peter. He wants to help but how can he when he never knew the depths of what Peter, a king to a nation that had been home to him and his siblings for 15 years, had dealt with by being flung back into their own world against his wishes. A loss of self, of purpose and of feeling like he truly belonged.

‘So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make it all stop hurting? It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless’

And now we come to the second instance of this line where I focus on a moment when Peter feels worthless. Of course, no one is harder on Peter then Peter himself. As the High King, he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and he when he messes up, he feels the shame of it in every fibre of his being. After the failed castle raid, and the subsequent run-in with Jadis, Caspian starts to see a side of Peter that he never had before. The side that makes mistakes and, in his darkest moments, doubts his value. And that only makes him feel for Peter all the more and wish he knew the right things to say that would make Peter feel otherwise.

‘So, before you go’

And lastly the ending. What can I saw about the ending that hasn’t already been said. I mean, between Peter’s, “we’re not really needed here anymore,” and Caspian’s, “I will look after it until you return,” has there ever been a scene where two people who love each other have said so much and yet so little at the same time?? They were so close to having it all and now they’re being torn apart as Peter walks out of Caspian’s life, never to return. 😢

--------

And on that note, I think I’ll leave it there. I’ve had so many feelings about these two over the last year and a half and, with yet more fic/vid ideas percolating in my mind, I don’t think that will be ending anytime soon. 😊

[fangirling-heart]

Hi Heart! Good morning ^w^

For the fandom Ask Game, how about The Owl House?

Hello! And good day/evening (it's evening for me)! Thank you for the chance to ramble about my favorite show! :)

my favorite female character

Luz Noceda my beloved! I have mentioned the numerous reasons why I like her so many times, I've probably become annoying, so I'll keep it brief: She's sweet, she's enthusiastic, she's unapologetically herself, she's smart, she's headstrong, she's extremely relatable to me, she's a weirdo, she's a legend and she is the moment!

my favorite male character

Hunter! Hunter is a really great character, who I absolutely love for his story and arc, his awesome design, his relationships with other characters, his personality...

He basically has everything it takes for me to love a character, including the antagonistic starting point (I do have a soft spot for redemption arcs), but he didn't really have a redemption arc, because he didn't really need it. Hunter was always a good person, trapped in the bad situation, but that doesn't make his arc any less impactful and wonderful.

my favorite book/season/etc

Definitely season 2. Literally every element in it bounces off each other perfectly. The character arcs get moving, we see many relationships grow and develop, we meet a lot new characters whose entrance to the show feels completely natural and very impactful and everything develops more and more! The story, the relationships, the characters! And then everything is comes together for a marvelous final act (Hollow Mind-King's Tide)!

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

Thanks To Them. Yes, it's not a season 2 episode, but it's my absolute favorite one!

I will forever be pissed at disney for cutting this show short, but I will also forever be in awe for the way the crew handled the last season and especially this episode. It does an excellent job balancing out all the characters, a bunch of dynamics and I never thought that one scene was taking time from another one. Also, it focuses on a lot of the stuff I love the most about the show, like the dynamics of Luz and Hunter and Hunter and Flapjack, the lore of the Wittebanes, the shenanigans of the Hexsquad, Camila and her relationship with Luz, Belos being a creepy bitch (the fact that we didn't see him get hit by a car is a crime, but I gotta admit the idea of having him quietly getting stronger by possessing critters in the background to set the atmosphere and build up the ending part was great) and an awesome confrontation with a bunch of emotions for the end! 10/10 episode! (I still cry with Flapjack's sacrifice...)

my favorite cast member

The man, the myth, the legend, Alex Hirsch!

my favorite ship

I honestly have so many ships I love in this show, it's hard to choose just one. So I'm gonna say my top 3 (in no specific order):

Lumity

Huntlow

Raeda

a character I’d die defending

Camila Noceda! None of that "Camila is a bad mom!" crap is allowed here! In this house, we love and appreciate mama Noceda!

a character I just can’t sympathize with

Odalia Blight. That's an actual bad mom and horrible person! Screw her!

a character I grew to love

Probably King. I did like him from the beginning, just not so much when compared to other characters. But during season 2, when we got to explore his character more, outside of cute comic relief, I grew to love him.

my anti otp

Well, aside from obvious choices (incest, pedophilic ships), I personally don't like ships with the Hexsquad and Boscha, especially Boschlow. Aside from just, not really liking Boscha as a character, I just can’t see in general the appeal of the bully x victim of their bullying ship type.

[winged-cries]

i would love to hear your thoughts on pll!

not entirely sure if this was for the meme thing, but i'm supposing it was!

my favorite female character: alison 🖤 but i love all of the girls so much that it's a difficult choice. spencer and mona are definitely up there.

my favorite male character: hmmm. ezra is probably my favorite but i still get angry that he wasn't A. well, in my heart he was, and during that whole arc he was my favorite male character by far. i maintain he should've been the ultimate villain! everything was so precisely developed for that, he had all the reasons and resources to be A, and thematically it was the only thing that really made sense. so the answer is ezra, but specifically ezra as A.

my favorite book/season/etc: too difficult because i love this show so much, every season has its strenghts. i think the first couple of seasons give me a lot of nostalgia, but i love s4 for the ezra is A arc. so who knows!

my favorite episode (if its a tv show): aaah impossible to choose just one, i couldn't even pick a favorite season. i love all the halloween episodes, they're all iconic.

my favorite cast member: i really like all the girls a lot. i think i developed a certain special fondness for sasha pieterse because she was the youngest, and she was often the target of fan harassment.

my favorite ship: spencer/alison foreveeeeeeeeeeeer. they were my heartstopper or whatever.

a character I’d die defending: alison 🖤 i'd defend her from haters within the fandom and within the fictional story itself.

a character I just can’t sympathize with: i mean, ezra... but he's still my favorite male character, i don't need to sympathize with that bitch.

a character I grew to love: aria. she was my least favorite when i first started watching the show, though i always appreciated the creepy shit with ezra. but i really grew to love her and her story.

my anti otp: this is such a tricky question because to me shipping isn't necessarily about supporting a relationship, so while one might expect me to answer something like aria/ezra i actually think they're one of the most interesting couples in the show. the real answer would be spencer/caleb. they committed the horrible sin of being boring.

[asklesbianonceler]

for the character ask meme—Rykard! I’m always very curious to hear people’s takes on him.

I do love Rykard! Maybe one of my favorite war criminals in Elden Ring and also one of my favorite characters to be unserious about.

Favorite thing: I love that, despite being one of the easiest characters to confidently call evil, and becoming that willingly, he still has a heart for his family. Expecting Tannith to leave him and seemingly being understanding if that were to happen, offering her what he felt was a kindness to ease her suffering when he became the serpent, that she refused. And still being close to Ranni and trusted enough to be privvy to the night of black knives. I genuinely think he's fascinating all around even tho he is an evil freak. I'm always fascinated by a character who takes research to an absolutely vile route as well, and knowing he was in the Realm of Shadow for those reasons makes him even cooler to me.

Also his little legs.

Least favorite:

That I needed to respec to use the sword meant to make his fight easy. I thought for some reason I was the only person who couldn't do the easy mechanic.

Wish he didn't torture albinaurics, they've been through enough shit, but his character really is "guy who does torture" so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Brotp:

Rykard and Ghiza. Me and my wife do a bit where they're two fucked up dudes trying to pull at the club.

OTP:

I love that Tannith is a monsterfucker. I love them. But I think most Rykard ships are good. We know he can pull. He was a horn dog.

NOTP:

Guys I'm trying to have a notp. I have them for other Elden Ring characters I promise. Are there Rykard rarepairs I haven't seen? Show me.

Headcanon:

I like to think he has a nice relationship with Rya even though it is not textually supported. I'm in love with EmmaWard's art of them.

Unpopular opinion:

is it unpopular to say Rykard lays eggs? He does. It's the truth.

Quote:

So he only has the two... But his last words being "No one will hold me captive" is genuinely a good summary of what being a blasphemer means to him as well as the lore, where it is just being free of the ruling belief system and unrestrained by its laws. Giving himself to the serpent was the most powerful form of freedom he could find from the erdtree. Similar to Ranni shedding her flesh to unbind herself from the golden order and greater will.

Song:

Please 😭 I can't come up with this shit on the fly. Pre-Snake/ Young Rykard I feel like we need some sleezy shit. Can I say there's probably something by Electric Six or Viagra Boys that works?

Favorite pic:

more like the reveal of it but when he first turns and you see his slightly less defined face waking up for the first time in the cutscene. That shit is good.

[velvet-apricots]

Ansbach for character ask

favorite thing about them

His entire character is very interesting. When you think "murder cult" you think axe murderer levels of crazy. But he is alarmingly sane, well spoken, and reasonable. He is polite to everyone, even his enemies. You really get the vibe that he represents something very different from what we are shown. Like once the Dynasty was MORE than what it is now. One that could have been a real dynasty, but has degraded into a cult.

least favorite thing about them

WHY THE FUCK DID HE DIE? HE WAS STILL STANDING WHEN I BEAT THE FINAL BOSS ITS NOT FARE!!

Also not a fan of how fandom pits him against Gideon Ofnir.

favorite line

Miquella the Kind...is a monster. Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying.

(also litterally whenever he calls me Righteous Tarnished)

brOTP

Thiollier and Ansbach. They have such a nice little vibe. They both are afraid but are willing to fight for who they have devoted themselves to.

OTP

Adamah x Ansbach and Ansbach x Tarnished. Obviously I have a preference to m/f content, and thats what I seek first and foremost. There is almost nothing of that (or anything actually) though. But I have Adamah so I am not entirely without content, but it doesn't hit as nicely when you make it.

Kind of surprised there is so little Tarnished x Ansbach honestly. Nor is there any Ansbach x Reader? so many people are talking about how hot he is, and yet I don't SEE anyone doing anything with him. Super disappointing. U_U

nOTP

Don't have one with him. Not yet anyway. The ships I have seen I am utterly neutral about. I am very picky and feel very strongly so its only a matter of time XD

random headcanon

He has arthritis in both hands. Makes using his scythe hard in his old age, so thus he has taken up the rapier.

unpopular opinion

I have one but I won't say it cause its not about him specifically and I would be flayed alive for even saying it.

song i associate with them

I have a rather limited library of music i listen too but lets see.... Yeah okay this one kept popping up into my head. U_U

favorite picture of them

old men hunch meeting.

[pjsk-headcanons]

im starting to hyperfixate on enstars so here’s some hcs (im also going to admit something here i haven’t read mmj and l/n stories since the first few events ever so they’re being excluded. i know nothing about them)

NIIGO

Kanade

she doesn’t even play that often

she will read the stories sometimes

she doesn’t have a favorite unit

nagisaP because he reminds her of herself kinda

eichi reminds her of her dad (im sorry)

Mafuyu

kanade introduced her because mafumom would never be able go handle a silly game

kanataP because puka puka

and nagisa reminds her of kanade so she also pulls for him

she only reads ryuseitai and sometimes fine

Mizuki

arashiP. change my mind.

they read as many stories as they can (mainly w/ ena)

shuP as well

nothing in particular shu is just silly

Ena

started late but also at the same time as akito so they’re speed running the stories and trying to be further than the other

junP

VBS

Kohane

ra*bitsP

she ships everyone. her otp is basically just polyensemble at this point.

also likes hinata and rei for some reason but doesn’t necessarily pull for them

broke the censor in the messages somehow but refuses to drop an f bomb

Toya

95% of the lives he completes are with akito

he’s very good at the rhythm part

he gets overwhelmed with all the lore

the story has made him cry a few times

he has a heart attack everytime an idol calls him

himeruP

An

She an akito can’t type because they always get censored

She is actively trying to get kohane to swear to see if her’s is actually broken

hiyoriP and subaruP (he looks like akito)

Akito

he prefers bandori and d4dj

rinnieP

his favorite song/chart is “Have you been naughty or nice?”

hes on that rinniki grind

WXS

Tsukasa

saki and him played a lot in the hospital

he’s mastered the text censorship because of it 4n<| t7p3s l1k3 t|-|1s outside of the game sometimes because he forgets he doesn’t need to be careful

wataruP but also pulls for any card that looks cool

Nene

she HATES the game and only plays bandori (she didn’t get the card she wanted and quit)

Rui

valkyrieP and mamaP

he sends friend requests to everyone and they give him gifts (he barely runs out of material)

FCs 84% of the time

has every shu card but is missing a single mika card (its limited) (he’s sad)

MAMADAYO

Emu

Pulls for every card and has very good luck

not necessarily producing any idol

”plays casually” but has most idol roads cleared

-language anon

Im not that smart at enstars lore so fellow enstarries sorry if i got something wrong :’)

.

[writing-in-sin]

Pattern in my OTPs: Sadistic! Top x Fearless! Bottom

Dont mind me, just self-indulging about my OTPs

Anyways!

Recently, I've noticed that I have a certain type when in comes to my OTPs which is a sadistic top paired with a fearless bottom. Granted, not all of my OTPs are of this type but I dont think its an exaggeration when I say that at least 90% of them are like this

GinHiji

Out of all of my OTPs, I'd say GinHiji pretty much embodies my favourite type of OTPs. Gintoki is canonically a Sadist and in fact, is known to be a Do-S alongside Sougo. Contrasting him is the fearless yet tsundere Hijikata. Another reason why I like them is the manzai combi they have. Hijikata is forever exasperated by Gintoki and cant help but be the tsukkomi to Gintoki's boke 🤣

BakuDeku

These 2 have a very complicated relationship but thankfully have improved a lot especially in recent years. Bakugou can be quite sadistic but considering what's happened between them and him canonically wants to do better, I think it'll take awhile for Bakugou to let out that sadistic side of him around Deku

With Deku though, he doesnt mind and I think we all can agree that Deku is a disastrous combination of fearless and reckless 😅

6927

One of my 1st OTPs since high school. Now, I dont think i need to tell anyone who's ever read or watched KHR that Mukuro is hands down quite terrifying and considering his introduction, has a sadistic streak a mile wide

For Tsuna, yeah....while its true that he tend to be more afraid than not but as time went on, it became more apparent that he's grown to be couragous and fearless when it comes to his Famiglia

KamuShin

granted, this is more of a crackship since Kamui and Shinpachi barely interacted but I like how their personalities mesh together. Kamui is another canonically sadistic chara in Gintama, anyone who's ever seen him fight in the Yoshiwara or Silver Soul arc can attest to that. Not to mentioned all of the shenanigans and mayhem he likes to cause with a deranged grin

Shinpachi is noted to be fearless in his own right, capable of accomplishing feats that other normal humans would feel impossible to even try. cant forget that he's also the one who made Utsuro pause before the timeskip

plus, they're also a manzai combi! a Do-S Yato boke with a glasses tsukkomi XD

ParaEmu

initially, i like them as a switch couple but recent years make me lean more of them as a fixed pair with Parad as a top. starting out as a villain, Parad was noted to be quite sadistic especially when he possessed Emu. He's since mellowed out but since we dont see much of how the charas are post-canon, its hard to say if he retained his more sadistic nature. i tend to hc that he does but only lets it out when needed

if anyone knows Emu's not so pleasant childhood and how he's risen to overcome many obstacles in life, then i think we can agree that he's become one of the most fearless charas in Ex-Aid

DeathPuss

okay, this one is pretty much on the nose. sadistic grim reaper hunting down everyone's favourite fearless hero anyone?

WangXian

Wei Wuxian is one of the most fearless charas I've ever had the pleasure to know about. the way he holds onto his morals and convictions even as the whole world turned against him is nothing short of inspiring. born with a smile and a noble heart that's matched by his beloved husband Lan Wangji

while he's not sadistic in the usual sense, Lan Wangji in the novel is known to mercilessly tease his husband especially in :ehem: bed. not to mentioned that when he deems it necessary, this man never hesitates to swiftly cut people down with just a few words right at jugular too

DazuShi

a suicidal former Port Mafia who's known to torture people paired with his steadily fearless were-tiger. i love their dynamic

MiSawa

Miyuki Kazuya is canonically known as twisted by both allies and opponents alike even feared to the point of petrifying the target of his ire with just a glare.

Sawamura Eijun? the fearless sunshine boy who overcome odds that would and have retired many players from the game. the Yips arc was remarkable in showing Eijun's strength and determination

KaiShin

the trickster who can easily manipulate law enforcements and enemies alike. its more noted in the early chapters of the manga, but Kaito was more callous. while thats no longer the case, Kaito is still quite unhinged

Shinichi? well, with all the reckless stunts he's pulled over the past 20+ years, i think fearless is an understatement for this detective

LawLu

the recent addition to my OTP list. LawLu is the one that made me realise that I tend to favour sadistic tops when I was trying to articulate Law's preference in my HC

thats when I realised that Law has a sadistic streak in canon. while its not explored all that much since he's an ally of the Straw Hats, we see hints of it. combined with the fact that he's a nerd, big on plans and control, he's a terrifying force. this is the same guy who cut opened 100 pirate hearts and sent them to the Marines

Luffy? he's fearless as they come. overcoming many hardships and coming out stronger. who fights for freedom and nakama even if it means facing death. hell, its canon that he's not afraid to face death for what he believes in

_____

With that said, I love my OTPs 🤩😍

.....Also, should I be worried that I'm a little too fond of sadistic tops for my OTPs? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[epickiya722]

Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it)...So I just have an interesting discussions with my JJK moots (also fics writers) last night. There are 5 of us and we all have different ships (A = nanami/gojo, B = gojo/yuji, C = gojo/utahime, D = sukuna/yuuji & itadori/fushiguro also an anti gojo, and E (me) = gojo/ geto).

One of the thing that interest me is, when I asked the first three people why they include Getou in their fics. You know what they said? "We can't imagine Gojo without Getou's influence. So we made Getou as the 'memorable and unforgetable ex- lover'. Getou also fit as Gojo's 'one and only best friend'." And when I asked the fourth one, who do you ship Gojo with. They said, " I really dislike Gojo as a character so I can only see Gojo with Getou as the most reasonable ship."

Until now I was still surprised that even among non- SatoSugu shipper and anti Gojo fan, they can't deny the special bond between Gojo and Getou. And that's why they are my otp.... Sorry for this long ask, hope you don't mind....

Happy Holidays to you, Anon! I don't mind the long ask, it's all good! 😁

That does sound like you had an interesting discussion.

Now, personally for me, I do like Gojo as a character and yep, I have my ships for him. First one happen to be Gojo/Nanami, like that was my first Gojo and Nanami ship. Still like it. It's the only other Gojo ship I like. And of course, right now, I'm a fan of Gojo/Geto.

The movie did it for me because ain't no way you recognize someone from his scent of his energy and you haven't seen him in 10+ years or you're going around renaming people with a name that sounds like your "friend's" name while also wearing a clothing piece that has his last name in its name!

For me, I happen to like the characters. I like how they are on their own and if I like the dynamic they have with another character then, yeah, I'd probably ship it romantically and still vibe with it platonically.

(There are some instances I won't though. Not all dynamics strike me as "they would potentially have a romance".)

It's always funny to me when there will be people who are anti-*insert character or ship*, yet can't even deny that ship's special bond between those characters.

I see it a lot for another fandom I'm in for a really popular ship and it will just tickle me to see some anti go "this character isn't gay" but then turn around and go "but their relationship with this character is kinda not normal... but they're not gay". They act like a character has to be strictly gay to actually have romance with another character. Honey, the word "bisexual" exist. "Pansexual" exists. There are so many options for sexualities.

Or even funnier when those characters don't even show interest in the opposite sex like that and/or treat characters of that opposite the same way.

And honestly, I need some people to understand the difference between characters hating each other or just one character truly hates the other (AND IT BE EXPLICIT SOMETIMES) and having just a complicated relationship and not hate each other. Just because two characters are at odds sometimes, it doesn't always mean they hate each other. Especially, if they do things they won't do with anybody else.

Like, let's be real, whatever Gojo and Geto have cannot be compared with other relationships they have with other characters because what the hell?! Platonic or romantic, those two are soulmates!

When they separated from each other, I just... oh my gosh! It started going downhill for Geto when Gojo was assigned to more solo missions and when Geto deflected? Gojo really lost his damn mind! He really out here acting like that! He was so distraught, man made himself bleed!

"My one and only", "My soul knows otherwise..."

And in the dub, Gojo says "My heart and soul"!

Geto literally choking out his own body from beyond the grave because Gojo called out to him.

DECEMBER 24TH!!

It's like with those two... if another character told Gojo "if you can shoot that basketball into the goal, I'll give you a kiss" and then he'll purposely miss. Let Geto say it, he'll show out, shoot the basketball and get it in the basket ten times in a row.

Someone ask Geto "Well, what kind of people are you into", he'll probably go "definitely not you". Gojo ask? Heart eyes and "why are you asking? Are you into me?"

[mswyrr]

in defense of "multishipping"

Texts are inherently multiple; the evidence within them can be read more than one way. All stories are multiverses of possibilities - directions things might have gone and still been plausibly in keeping with the rules of the worldbuilding and characterization.

And that is why I multiship. If there's good canon evidence for A/B and A/C and I find both dynamics enjoyable, I can explore and enjoy them without there being an issue. I see no reason to deny myself enjoyment in fictional dynamics that move me and/or make my brain and heart happy.

A/B and A/C canon divergence fic from key canon moments when they might have gone off and had a life together or gotten together in ways that changed the story are just as valid. As long as I maintain that connection to the textual evidence (characterization, worldbuilding, etc) then it's fine. I don't have to choose. Both can coexist simultaneously - that's part of the fun of fiction.

(And AUs can be even more distant from canon, but I prefer mine pretty close - I like to make a divergence at a certain point, but keep to the "rules" of the world and characters otherwise).

I consider it multishipping when I have a two person and three person poly ship for the same character, btw, even if A & B characters are in both ships - because a poly relationship (as with poly relationships irl!) is its own, distinct dynamic, not merely two dynamics (A/B and A/C) squished together. IRL poly relationships require a lot of communication and work for a *reason*.

Sometimes I have an OTP and no interest in any other dynamics (my only ship for The X Files is Mulder and Scully - this has been true my entire life since childhood!). But for many characters, I'll have multiple dynamics I like - A/B, A/C, and/or A/B/C. It's literature so I can enjoy "mutually contradictory" dynamics because… texts are inherently multiple and there's good textual evidence that I like which supports all three of these. I can analyze the text in different ways, spin off canon divergence and au scenarios etc.

If there's canon support for it and it makes your brain happy, it's valid to ship. There is no requirement for "monogamous shipping." None of the characters are real - they only exist inside a text with multiple valid readings.

This is especially true of storyverses where a "multiverse" or multiple timelines are literally canon! A can be with B in one universe/timeline and C in another and A/B/C in another etc.

And "noncanon" ships are just as valid as canon ones btw - in fact, sometimes I will invest the most effort in drawing out and developing the textual evidence for a ship I suspect won't be canon (or, if canon, not "end game") precisely because the show/movie cannot possibly do every viable, textually grounded option. And I want to articulate the one that we aren't likely to see explored.

[thousand-winters]

I hope YOU'RE doing well pal! 💖💖💖 I'd love to hear your Laios and Hooty thoughts

Actually now I'm thinking about them interacting and how cursed it'd be haha

I am today!!! It has been a good day for once haha. I hope you're having a good day today, and that your cats are doing good!!!

Oh, my gods, I can't decide if they would get along like a house on fire or if somebody would end up dead ahahaha. Or if Laios would consider Hooty looks stupid considering his reaction to Marcille's sky fish lmao 😭 I'm sorry, Hooty, you technically ARE a worm.

Okay, getting into it now, starting with Laios:

How I feel about this character

I love him!!! He ended up not being my favorite because I adore Marcille with my whole heart but he's such a good main character, honestly. I wasn't thinking too much about it when I started watching, I was just having fun and I think it showed already that he wasn't just a silly character or anything, but man... the moments he got the most serious, he had me in shambles haha.

I enjoy him very much, it's really cool to see the ripples in his relationship with both monsters and humans. There's so much to him that I'm yet to see too and I'm looking forward to it, he's definitely not the kind of main character you're kinda sick of and want to leave already haha.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I have been swayed to the Labru side, finally, haha. I think they have a fascinating dynamic and while I certainly haven't seen everything they have to offer, the push and pull there makes it very compelling. Plus I'm not immune to cool fanart and funny posts, not gonna lie, but the main reason is that they seem to have a very compelling dynamic, not exactly direct or straightforward in its development and that really has me dying to see more.

I have been seeing Lashuro recently too and ngl, I've been going 👀 at that too. I remember I had talked with my friend Isis about how it was sort of funny that the Toudens do have very similar traits when it comes to how they view the world sometimes and yet Toshiro finds one annoying and the other charming. Probably in part a mix of attitude and gender, I'm not sure. Although in all fairness they seemed to be pretty at peace at the end so... I think it can be fun.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Marcille!!! Oh, they have so many good scenes with one another, they have such a fun dynamic, I love how much Laios trusts Marcille despite also knowing she can do shit like pour boiling water on an Undyne lmao.

In general they're very fun, the mix of them bickering but very obviously valuing each other's opinions and caring about one another is really good. Also I think it was you who said once they had siblings in lae energy and I can't unsee it ever since, they really do haha.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I haven't seen this much around tumblr or such, and I know the Dunmeshi Spanish fandom has the worst takes known to mankind but man, he's not dumb, come on now.

I doubt this is really unpopular and I especially need to actually read the full manga to understand his character more, probably, so I don't have too many complex opinions about him but... I feel like it's somewhat common to see him depicted as stupid but he's such a smart character, actually? He doesn't have to be the tropey nerd character to be smart, he has been shown to be very perceptive, even if he might be lacking on that department when it comes to social matters.

I just think writing him off as just being clueless and dumb is doing a big disservice to his character. He does have his struggles when it comes to general awareness and specific types of it but he's far from dumb.

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

I truly cannot speak on this one since I'm not done with the manga, haha. I have been spoiled a bit by some really cool fanart and animatics, I'm not gonna lie, so I have the gist of some big things that are coming but since I have the idea and not the actual development of it, I don't feel like I can speak on any of it, nor do I have any concrete ideas there anyway.

So far I'm pretty content with everything I have seen, both anime and manga wise.

And now onto Hooty:

How I feel about this character

I love him. I get why he annoys a lot of people in and out of universe, he's one of those silly cartoon characters that's not supposed to be super deep (although what's up with Papa Titan having a Hooty in his eye? I still need answers about that), but I like that he's always sweet and loves his people even if they're mean to him. I'm so happy Lilith came along and started appreciating him, it's what he deserves!

I think he's fun in general. I definitely would love to think more about the deeper implications about his existence, how did he even meet Eda and all about that, but I have to admit I don't think enough about him most of the time to even have ideas in that department. He's just silly and I appreciate that.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

None, this is how you get the cursed image of Hootlets. Does anybody wants Hootlets? This is how we get them.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

LILITH!!! Their friendship makes me SO happy, they're adorable. I definitely didn't see that one coming but I like how they ended lowkey balancing each other with Hooty reminding Lilith to care for herself and that she should depend on others and Lilith remarking upon Hooty's own worth to the point he's not seeking attention desperately anymore after they become friends because he's far more content with his friendship. It might have been more about how the writing around him changed too, but I liked to think the fact they became friends also helped the rest of the Owl Fam to soften around him and appreciate him more.

I love that in the end Hooty is living his best life just going around with Lilith.

My unpopular opinion about this character

He's not THAT annoying except in the Spanish dub. And I'm saying this as a chronic "obnoxious cartoon mascot hater" haha. Hooty is obviously supposed to be a little much but I don't think it ever goes to the point in which you actually want to strangle him or wish he wasn't even in the show in the first place.

At least that's what the experience was for me, I'm aware opinions differ but I think Hooty is pretty fine as he is, honestly.

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

Going back to that thing with Papa Titan and the Hooty eye... hey, what was that? Can we go back to that real quick? I really wish we had found out what was the connection between titans and... whatever Hooty is. I know Dana said at some point a specific youtuber had made the right theory but I could never figure out who was it and what did they say haha.

Anyway, yeah, I wish they had gotten into that. It would be Hooty AND titan lore all in one.

Thank you for the ask!!! From this ask game