#sharing knife is interesting bc it's like...too domestic for a lot of people to enjoy the pace

[starfieldcanvas]

i could not possibly relate less to this sentiment (i was put on this earth to enjoy mutual pining) but if you don't mind fantasy age gaps, you might really enjoy the Sharing Knife series, a four-book story where the couple gets together near the beginning of the first book and then has to deal with the fallout of getting married in defiance of the fact that one of them is a farmer (i.e. non-magical, used to settled life) and the other is a Lakewalker (i.e. magic users, endlessly patrols the world for the shards of an ancient evil.) The story of how they try to bridge the gap between their two worlds in order to build a future together sounds like the kind of thing you might be into, and even for those of us addicted to get-together romances, the worldbuilding and character growth were more than compelling enough to keep me engaged.

i am SO TIRED of romantic narratives where the climax is the couple finally getting together. i want a story where the couple gets together towards the beginning and then stays together through the end. what’s the point of making me want a certain romance if i can’t watch that romance actually happen after it starts?? people falling in love can be great and all but you know what? sometimes i also want them to STAY IN LOVE, like… i don’t want mutual pining, i don’t want wistful gazes, i don’t want ‘will they or won’t they,’ i want two people who are in love, they’re together, and they handle shit together

[crookednatvre]

i’m lacking serious plots with my little bambinos and I’d love to get the ball rolling on some so below the cut I’ll list some potential plots / wanted connections for my demonic five!! 

CLARA MUNRO

I still really want some escort connections for Clara because she grew up around them, this is open to savages and cobra alike because she would have grew up around the escorts that worked for her father and now obviously she works for the cobras so she’d be familiar with them too

exes!! clara was born and raised in Valdez and has never moved away so she’s bound to have a few exes around the city! again this can be open to savages, cobras, escorts and cops etc

I’d actually love a cop buddy for clara? although she was never a savage, with her father and sister-cousins involvement she would have been around often. I have a few plot ideas for this somebody who has caught her pick-pocketing a few times maybe, someone who has had to give her a warning for holding some escorts dickwad client at knife point or for angst the cop who investigated her mother’s death 

childhood friends/enemies! again little miss sticky fingers grew up in valdez so she’s bound to have known a few faces for most of her life

while she knows some basic hand to hand combat, she’s a thief whose hella street smart and grew up around gangs like she’s def picked up a thing or two I’d love for someone to train her a little more ( this could be but not limited to a soldier or assassin maybe? )

JACK BARTON

drinking buddy!!! jack’s a self medicator and his main vice is day-drinking, he struggles to leave his heart at home when he works a job most of the time which leaves him with a crippling guilt and remorse but he deep down, whether he’s willing to admit it or not, he enjoys what he does bc he’s good at it

before he went full blown savage and started working as an assassin, jack was part of valdez pd so i’d love to have some more old cop buddies for him! or enemies because y’know he’s a killer now so that could take the dynamics either two ways... one being good and the other completely going down shit’s creek

i’d love jack to have some enemies that he made during his time as a cop or due to the fact that he’s always getting into fights, whether it be at a local bar, the cobra’s fighting ring or somewhere else 

i want some fbi plots/connections for him? like this is a guy who worked as a cop for years, murdered his partner before he could expose him ( under caito’s orders ) and now is a member of the savages!! i’m here for him being investigated for the disappearance of his partner or something

i’m also here for the general hook ups, exes, friends and regular escorts or something. escorts would have only happened after he became an assassin tbh, when he can’t drink away his sorrows he’d definitely seek comfort wrapped up in someone else’s bed sheets

LEAH THOMPSON

my binch seriously needs some friends!! right now the person she has conversations with the most is her son, and there’s only so much you speak to about a five year old y’know?

someone for her to confide in that she can let her guard down around. leah’s not close to many people, since she had nick and maks left she’s become a lot more heavily guarded because she has to?? it’s not just her own safety she has to think about, it’s her sons.

unrequited love/flirting? like leah has no time for love between raising nick on her own and working as special ops, so i’d love to have someone constantly trying to flirt with her and take her for drinks or something. just somebody to show her/tell her that it’s okay to live her life still

i’d love to have the person who knew her dad that recruited her into the savages around? though ideally this would be someone in their mid 40′s to late 50′s probably when you factor timelines etc

someone for leah to spar/shoot with, she’s a naturally aggressive person and has a lot of pent up anger/frustration that causes her to lash out sometimes so she tries to deal with that most of the time through fitness e.g running, sparring or hitting the shooting range so she can literally empty a clip into the paper target

another parent for her to share the burden of raising a child around valdez with? could be someone she met through the savages or someone at nick’s school when dropping him off / picking him up one afternoon and she looked a little run ragged.

ROMAN KOWALSKI

first of all i’ll go with the obvious.. buyers/clients because he’s an arms dealer who supplies weapons for the savages ( though lowkey his business isn’t limited to them, he’ll deal to the cobras for the right price. my man’s is v money orientated )

friends/acquaintances. i mean, he grew up in valdez so he’s bound to have known people for a handful of years, how close they would be can be up for discussion because he’s a very closed off person, likes to keep his cards close to his chest etc so he definitely wouldn’t strike up a conversation with just anybody at a bar

enemies, enemies and more enemies!! roman’s screwed over more people than you can count, most of the enemies he’s made were definitely in his early years when he was living on the streets so i’d be down for exploring those dynamics

one night stands / hooks ups. listen he’s not a relationship kind of guy, he tried it with buzz. he was domestic as hell for a while, but he bailed for reasons you won’t hear him spilling over a pint so if i was to give him any actual exes they’d be very limited. but this gun slingling hoe is always dtf lmao 

he’s def been arrested a handful of times so some police / fbi connections would be grea too! i don’t have any real ideas for this right now but we could plot that out if you’re interested in this wc

as well as being an arms dealer for the savages he also owns his own fighting/boxing gym, so people that train and/or spend a lot of time there are always welcome. 

AIDAN MILLS

gimme plots/connections for people he’s fought in the cobra’s fighting ring tbh. i’m down for this being friendly, competitive or antagonistic i’m easy peasy with this connection. as i’ve said in a few of these wanted connections i’m down for this being open to savages, cobras and even some dirty cops maybe?

i know the cobras have a handful of medics on tap but someone that aidan could go to at the drop of a hat would be cool? someone who he doesn’t have to call or text before stumbling through their door, black and blue in desperate need of an ice pack and some stitches

a room mate tbh bc a fighter for the cobra’s probably isn’t the highest paying rank amongst the crew, so he needs someone to share the bills with and cook for him when he’s too bruised and aching from a fight to turn the cooker on

i’m always down for your standard friends, hook ups and enemies as well.

tbh i’ve left aidan’s wc’s pretty bare bc i’m thinking about retconning some of his back story so i didn’t want to put anything too plot specific in here if i’m going to cut it from his backstory tbh.

[literaphobe]

where did ginaxrosa shipping start? and why? (not that i am against it but i just... never considered!?! it)

gina x rosa shipping started because Gina is the driving force behind 80% of Rosa's laughs and 98% of Rosa's smiles.

And when Rosa smiles because of Gina-related reasons, there's a softer touch to those smiles, and they're I-can't-help-but-smile smiles.

Gina can get Rosa to laugh her head off. Big, genuine laughs that make Rosa's head tilt up. Like when Gina tossed a stapler at Charles (2x22 cold open)

Gina and Rosa are different people but have things in common that draw them to each other. Like how they're both people you don't want to cross. Gina and Rosa are scary and you don't want to mess with them. Gina uses her words and spirit, Rosa gives you one look and you know she could beat you up and you'll thank her.

This scariness that Rosa and Gina have are what makes them so evenly matched. They won't back down from a fight, ever, but weirdly you see them letting each other get away with stuff that they'd castrate someone else for.

For example, remember when Rosa almost murdered Hitchcock and Scully because they stole her moose tracks ice cream????

Guess what happened in thanksgiving episode 1x10. It's not blatantly obvious, but Gina's holding (and assumably, drinking) coffee from a cup clearly labeled 'ROSA'. And Rosa does nothing.

Gina and Rosa are also shown to have a special, deeper kind of bond that we see through several (albeit occasionally subtle) instances.

Whenever Gina's being Gina- see 1x16 and 2x07, Rosa's being made to babysit and stop her from freaking people out/stealing/talking to people at parties. This could mean one or even both of two things:

1) Only Rosa can handle Gina because everyone else is too weak to go against her- ergo they are evenly matched

2) People know that Rosa's the person Gina will most likely listen to- alluding to their deeper connection and understanding of each other

Another show of Gina and Rosa's deeper connection is how they're often on the same side. They like to judge, make fun of, and bully people together. They also seem to enjoy standing/sitting next to each other, (sometimes way too close more than they need to be eg. charges and specs 1x22) both of them crossing their arms (mirroring each other, which is like a couple thing/i'm-attracted-to-you thing)

They've also teamed up to solve Holt's island riddle together and protested against turkey murder together. They also locked amy in the boot of a car- and walked off together laughing

They also really care about each other, for example when Rosa was being all guilty knowing she was prob going to have to shoot Charles down in 1x13 and hiding Gina NOTICED that Rosa was hiding away and even asked her why with a pretty confused/concerned looking face. Also, when Rosa got sick Gina prepared a pretty elaborate care package for her so she would get well (and please Gina who you tryna play here acting like Terry paid u/if he really did pay u pls putting the care package together prob took more money than the $20 you claimed Terry gave you)

AND THEN Rosa proceeded to smile so widely all touched by what Gina did for her!!!

And Gina put Rosa in her WILL if that doesn't say "you're important to me" idk what is. And the fact that those two jaguars making love is prob a representation of them is something else altogether

Rosa cares about Gina too, duh. But Rosa's care comes more in the form of protectiveness, like when she placed her arm behind Gina ensuring she got out of the room safely before Rosa when the turkey got loose and tried to attack them. Rosa also put in a lot of security measures in place when Gina got robbed (although amy was involved too and Holt told them Gina was scared, but lbr Rosa's protect-gina instincts got turned on full blast when she found out Gina was scared did you hear the conviction in her voice when she said "we are (going to keep you safe)"????)

Speaking of the turkey, Gina and Rosa get each other. When they protested against the turkey murder and Rosa saw Gina about to flip everyone off she joined right in. They know each other pretty well too. Gina knows Rosa's likes (old movies, someone called 'the vulture', etc.) and dislikes, and she can very accurately interpret what a Rosa action means. (Like when Rosa said 'bye' to Marcus)

Also, Gina and Rosa seem to show interest in each other.

Like when Gina accidentally texted "sup Rosa" to Amy and that was in 2009 when she first joined the nine nine as civilian administrator so obviously Gina was trying to hit on Rosa and has prob been flirting with Rosa for eight years.

Part of their interest in each other includes attraction of course. In the episode where they let Gina interrogate a perp, Rosa looks overly interested in watching Gina forcefully question the perp and even when captain Holt wants to stop Gina Rosa doesn't want it to stop. Also when Rosa unveils her sword in 3x23 as torture equipment Gina looks very turned on no offense

Also Gina is very obviously jealous of Adrian. She only started acting hostile towards him after Rosa started dating him, and please be reminded that this is the same Gina that didn't even put her phone down when Adrian held a knife to Jake, her childhood bestie and oldest friend's throat.

But Adrian dates Rosa and suddenly it's "screw you adrian you're not allowed to stay at Charles's house" and "oh yeah ur right Adrian listen to the universe you should totally not marry Rosa!!" And the day before/on the day he was supposed to marry Rosa Gina doesn't even let Adrian have candy wow Rude

After Rosa's bachelorette party, Gina elopes with some cashier (prob a lady) and it's likely that she was trying to escape from reality bc running away with someone you just met (although Gina was drunk) is not something you do if you're super happy your friend is engaged, no matter how drunk you are, and no matter how Gina you are

Finally: Babylon

Dude if "has secret bathroom they don't tell anyone about that they work super hard on to make nice" doesn't scream "domESTIC" to you then idk what to say mate

(Also Rosa bringing Gina to Babylon for the first time bc Gina got sick is another example of how Rosa cares about Gina!!!)

Besides the implications of sharing a secret private place, Gina has a very violent reaction when Rosa wants to tell Boyle about Babylon (and Rosa asking Gina about it beforehand is like- wife asking wife for permission to bring friend over to house), and wants to keep it a private thing between the both of them

"Babylon's our secret place! It's the best thing in my life." -if this doesn't touch u even a little idk what will

I get why some people might not ship gina x rosa just by watching the show. Some of this stuff is put across in pretty subtle ways, and the things they say/know about each other aren't always treated as a big deal by the show/are throwaway lines. Some things you see between Gina and Rosa like the coffee thing and the putting hand on back thing is something you can only catch by pausing the episode at the right time. Also many Rosa laughs/smiles in response to something Gina does or says is usually in the background, and you may not catch it if you aren't paying attention to the squad's reactions to each other

Are we grasping for straws when we ship gina x rosa? No we r not they r perfect but also the show needs to give us more gina x rosa because this is a ship that has so much potential

Chelsea Peretti and Stephanie Beatriz seem to be putting in effort to make gina x rosa work with their acting so not shipping it = ur not appreciating Stephanie taking the effort to smile so tenderly at stuff Chelsea says as Gina

AND Jake/Amy are a pretty stable couple now, so it's definitely in your interest to start devoting your heart to gina x rosa too!! Why let one ship slay you when you can let two ships slay you

TL;DR- Gina and Rosa would make the perfect power couple that rules over the Nine-Nine which can nicely balance out cinnamon roll couple Jake and Amy! Sign up to be a gina x rosa shipper today!! All we want in exchange is your soul!!