#some of the characters being shipped going on to have more fun outside of the relationship?

[eggydragon]

Etho and Impulse deserve to have their hot girl summer in Limited Life after ditching Joel and Bdubs, but seeing how this is a Life series, i feel like something horrible and angsty will happen to them 

[grandline-fics]

Terms of Endearment

DESCRIPTION:  You call them by a term of endearment without realising 

WARNINGS: just fluff, mentions of alcohol in Luffy's

CHARACTERS: Ace, Sabo, Luffy | Law, Kid, Shanks, Marco, Zoro

WORDS: 1,933

A/N: The next part in this in honour of reaching 500 followers. Hope you all enjoy

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN*

MASTERLIST | PROMPT LIST

———————

ACE

You knew nothing would ever happen between you and the Division Commander. You knew he was just a likeable guy who was friendly and warm with everyone. Countless times you told yourself that he was just nice with everyone and yet still you couldn’t help but feel your heart beat just a little faster when he smiled at you and you couldn’t stop yourself from liking him a little more each time he spoke with you and spent time with you outside of chores and tasks being done onboard the ship. It didn’t matter though, even with the knowledge nothing romantic would happen you were happy to be considered a close friend of Ace’s.

One morning you were perched on the edge of the ship’s railing and keeping a critical eye on the thick wall of cloud draped over the entirety of the sky above the next island you were approaching. It made a stark difference to the clear blue you and the rest of the crew were currently under. You were no stranger to the absurdity of the ever changing weather and separate climates certain islands had but seeing what you were going to be greeted with was starting to sour your mood. It wasn’t as fun stopping at an island if there was a storm to endure.

“Glaring at the clouds won’t make them change you know.” You looked over your shoulder to see Ace hop up onto the railing and sit down beside you. Glancing out of the corner of your eye you were jealous of how relaxed he was and let out a long sigh as you returned your stare to the clouds you could now see were darker than you had originally thought. 

“Who knows, stranger things have happened on these seas.” You mused, scowling harder now that the idea was in your head. “Maybe I have the ability to control weather and neither of us knew it? Don’t know unless I try.”

From beside you Ace laughed, reclining back to support his body on his elbows and grinned up at you. 

“If that were possible, that’d be a pretty dumb gift. Glaring at clouds to make them obey you? You’d get a headache all day.” You rolled your eyes and laughed, getting more comfortable too, lying down and tucking your arms behind your head. 

“Look we can’t all be super amazing and control fire like some people, Ace.” You teased, a small yawn breaking from your lips as your eyes closed. You were still a ways away from the stormy island so you may as well make the most of the sunshine and warmth until then. “Some of us are just boring.”

“I definitely wouldn’t call you boring.” Ace told you. Safely in the knowledge that you couldn’t see him, he could observe you carefully with softened gaze. “You’re one of my favourite people to hang out with.” 

“Aw thank you love, you always know just what to say.” Your relaxed smile brightened considerably but you were too drowsy to open your eyes again to look at the man beside you. It was also why you hadn’t realised your slip of the tongue. Ace however tensed and sat up a little straighter from his once relaxed position. His eyes were widened and a soft pink was dusting his freckled skin. All this time he’d thought his feelings were one-sided and now he was hit with the reality that it might not be the case. Overcome with a burst of excitement and hope he quickly lay back down and used his hat to hide his giddy expression and began to think about how to subtly broach the subject when you were awake.

SABO

“You’re not going to improve if you don’t keep your focus.” Hack lectured, swiftly knocking Sabo back with ease. Sabo managed to recover from the attack and retaliated with one of his own that was completely dodged to the point it made the attack look so pitiful. Hack paused in the sparring match to frown at the younger Revolutionary. “Seriously, what’s with you today? Do you need to take a break?” Quickly Sabo shook his head and forced himself to keep his attention on Hack but even then he couldn’t help but feel your presence silently calling to him. 

You were oblivious to the power you had over the Chief of Staff, even from the very first day you joined the Revolutionary Army you’d somehow managed to make Sabo immediately endeared to you. Given Sabo’s personality he was able to pass off his momentary slips and lack of concentration when you were around and for the most part others hadn’t made the connection. Most being the word. People like Hack, Koala, and Dragon however knew. Normally Hack wouldn’t mind and ignore it but this was the third time in the short amount of time of the sparring match that he’d seen Sabo zone out and look your way as you were speaking with Dragon about a recent mission you’d been on. Enough was enough. After knocking Sabo onto his back, Hack turned and called you over. You finished your conversation with Dragon and approached the sparring pair with a soft, expectant smile while Sabo got to his feet. “I want you to spar Sabo with me. Perhaps having two opponents will help sharpen his dulled senses.” 

You became concerned to hear Hack’s less than complimentary tone at the blond and you looked to Sabo with a light frown, scrutinising his features carefully. Could it be he was sick? Was something else be bothering him? It wasn't like the Chief of Staff to be so distracted especially when it came to his training. At the suggestion of you fighting along with Hack, Sabo’s expression became a mix of uncertainty and irritation. He didn’t want to spar against you but he couldn’t outright deny Hack requesting you join them given he had no real reason to oppose it. Sabo could only take a breath and adjust his stance while praying he didn’t make an embarrassment of himself.

At first having you as part of the fight helped Sabo when it came to focusing on the fight, by having two skilled fighters attacking he didn’t have the ability to pay attention to his personal feelings. However when he kept his sight on Hack as the priority he’d slipped up and forgotten you. You took the window of opportunity and ducked under Sabo’s arm, your face less than inch from his. Quickly you hooked her arm around his and tucked your foot around his ankle, twisting and knocking him to the ground. You kept a firm hold on Sabo’s wrist and pressed your knee into his back. “Give up sweetie?” you asked innocently, unable to see Sabo’s eyes widen. Before he could respond you were abruptly called for by another Revolutionary to go out on a mission. Pouting you released Sabo and left him and Hack. 

“Please tell me I didn’t imagine that…” Sabo uttered, almost begging Hack. He looked up to see the Fishman grin at him and help him to his feet. 

“No I heard it too. Funny thing is I don’t think they noticed they did it.” Sabo watched your retreating form and brightly smiled. 

“Interesting.”

LUFFY

For the most part Luffy can be considered fairly clueless about a lot of things if they don’t involve his ambition to be King of the Pirates and obtaining the One Piece, doing whatever he wanted and eating all he wished. That included his own deeper feelings at times. However no matter how complex Luffy’s emotions were about certain things he found it easier to break them down into more simplistic views and gain a better understanding about them. He found he had to do that with you and the longer you were part of his crew the more he had to take an inward look at his feelings. So far he was able to discern that he liked you, he liked being around you and it was mutual because you’d been all too eager to join his crew. For the longest time it was simple as that. 

Things however became complicated one night after he and the rest of the crew helped free another town from a corrupt ruler. As always the celebration was a large affair with plenty of food, music and drink. While Luffy wasn’t a drinker and happily indulged in all the food he could get his hands on, you were pulled into a drinking contest with some of the locals along with Nami, Zoro, Franky, and Usopp. You’d managed to hold your own for a respectable amount but when you felt the world being to tilt and your mind grow hazy you knew you wouldn’t be able to handle anymore. 

Staggering from the table you somehow managed to wander to the only spot you knew you’d feel completely safe and content with. You didn’t know how you managed it, call it instinct or sheer will but you stopped beside your Captain and slid down to sit on the soft grass beside him, leaning against his back for support. Luffy looked over his shoulder to grin at you before continuing to eat. “You lost huh?” he laughed before taking a large bite of a meat skewer.

“It’s cheating when Zoro plays.” You grumbled, shifting to get more comfortable against your Captain. “He’s so smug too. Didn’t even wanna win anyway.” You fell into soft laughter with Luffy and then drifted into content silence. Subconsciously Luffy moved while he ate, seamlessly turning so you were leaning against his side and neither of you seemed to even notice the new position.

When morning came and you woke with a hangover and lack of memory you let out a worried groan, hoping that whatever you’d done wasn’t too embarrassing or at the very least you hoped that everyone else was also too drunk to remember too. Wincing you pushed yourself up to see that you were in your own bed. Hazily you tried to force your brain to work and managed to pull out the image of Luffy which made sense, he was your go-to for anything. Knowing he didn’t drink, you knew you could also rely on him for the truth on what you failed to remember. You found Luffy sitting on Sunny’s head just as you knew he’d be but you became worried to see him frowning, deep in thought. “Everything okay Luffy?” you asked, flinching when Luffy’s head swiftly snapped around to look at you intently. 

“No! You’re not allowed to call me that.” Immediately worry and guilt took hold. What had you done? Would he ever forgive you? Oh no, what if it was so bad he’d kick you off of the ship for good. 

“Wh-what do you mean?“ You asked panicked and feeling sick which was not from the hangover. “Whatever I’ve done I’m sorry but I don’t remember. Please tell me what I did wrong. I can fix it.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Luffy’s expression became confused. “I’ve just decided that you can’t call me Luffy anymore I like what you called me last night after I helped you to bed better.”��

“Oh…” you couldn’t tell what you were feeling in that moment exactly. Desperately you tried to think what you called him, silently thankful that whatever it was hadn’t offended him. “Well if you want me to call you that instead you have to remind me.”

“You called me dear.” Luffy grinned while your face reddened.

[bugsbenefit]

who's getting books and who isn't?

tells you a lot actually

in lieu of us getting a Dustin companion book soon i'm doubling down on my point about how insanely telling these books are about where the story is going. especially if you look as who is getting books. and i'm saying this both about El and Will (where it's already kind of obvious why s5 is important for them) as well as Mike (where it's also kind of obvious why s5 is important for his character but it hasn't reached mainstream awareness yet apparently lmao)

as of now Lucas, Max, and Dustin (about to come out), as well as Robin and Eddie, and even Hopper and Terry have one. and they all explore things outside of the main canon by doubling down on what filmed canon already established and adding a bit more layers since they have the time to focus on a single character (like exploring racism and how Lucas deals with it in his book, something the show doesn't dwell on, or exploring Robin's queerness, taking place before the events of s3)

and the focus these books have makes sense since they're mostly written by commissioned writers. so obviously they want to skirt any topics that delve too much into plot heavy areas where the writers a) wouldn't know where the story is going or b) even if they got notes, you don't want important lore drops that impact the later story dropped in companion books

in short we're getting extra story's about no spoilery topics the main story doesn't have time to/want to explore

which makes it all the more interesting we're already getting books about someone like Robin when you know if you asked fans what povs they'd like to see someone like El would rank significantly higher if you trust favourite character rankings. but for some reason El, Mike, and Will have never gotten one

and some of these reasons are just really obvious, especially when it comes to El and Will

1) they obviously can't just drop a book on El yet. on one hand, because her backstory with the lab is a major plot point of the show and they can't spoil it in a book (even if they tried excluding it, writing 200ish pages for a character who can't remember what happened before they turned like 8 is one of those things that would be kind of hard to avoid coming up). even post s4 there's still so many questions about her past and time at the lab, they just shouldn't give unlimited access to her inner monologue about it yet. and on the other hand, El finding her place in the world is quite literally one of her characters main recurring motives, even a companion book as innocuous as "El tries out hobbies" would be exploring something we'd kind of want to see on screen since it'd be a resolution to her character growth and not a fun side quest

2) they also just can't drop a book on Will. the fact that we never found out what actually happened to Will in the UD is already reason enough, the show clearly wants to explore it on screen later on. (now even more obvious since there's already confirmed s1 UD Will in the s5 official teasers). you really can't write a book from someone's pov who's main trauma and life changing moment is something you don't want to get into yet. just doesn't work

there's plot points the show obviously saved for later so both Will and El are pretty unfit as book topics

but with Mike that doesn't actually apply in the same obvious way. Mike not getting a book despite being the leader of the party, having the most on screen defined dynamics with the other kids, and being part of the shows "main" ship would be really odd. like. Really odd. on paper he'd probably be one of the first choices for an easy book protagonist for a fun party side quest. of course unless one of the two book deal breaker reasons applies also:

they can't give his pov because giving his unfiltered inner monologue would spoil s5

they want to explore something relevant to his character themselves on screen and it's not fit for a companion book

but again, in comparison to Will and El where the why is really obvious Mike sticks out because we don't officially know what he's got going on yet. he has no mysterious absence where we don't know what happened to him like with Will and no open ended origin story like with El

it just makes it a bit funnier to me how many people are still fundamentally unconvinced Mike has something going on that's important for the outcome of s5. post s2 the show tries to get some distance from Mike's head and he's joined the club of main characters who don't get books alongside major canon event magnets El and Will. and yeah, obviously you wouldn't want a book from the characters pov who's feelings and sexuality you're actively hiding. it's also a bit of a no brainer you don't want a companion work going into how he's not been doing so great over the past few years because the reasons for that are kind of relevant to the main story. Mike feeling guilty for El dying all the way in s1 is something that might be more fit to bring up in show when their relationship is being addressed instead of in side material

but all in all? the fact that out of all the kids El, Mike, and Will are the only ones who don't get secondary material yet is probably the biggest give away that the three of them are who s5 is planning to give the most insight on even all the in show build up aside. they're being skipped as book povs despite existing public interest and seeming like conventionally easy picks for book side stories

in the current economy around shows franchises, going against what'd be a good marketing decision is always a dead giveaway something is going on

[snowstained]

one piece characters after a fight (it was their fault)

includes: fighting, shitty apologies (that get corrected), sanji groveling, gn reader, me being too lazy to proof read

characters: zoro, sanji, crocodile, buggy

zoro

won’t actually apologize at first. he knows when he fucks up, but he refuses to admit it because of his ego. you’ll walk into your room to find your favorite snack, a new clothing item, shoes, etc. on your bed as his “apology”. unfortunately, a gift is not an “i’m sorry” and you don’t care about shattering his ego temporarily.

you walked into your room and sat on the bed was a soft, high quality sweater with a cute design that was basically made for you. it so happened that you and zoro got into a pretty big fight last night. you were training together and zoro took your weight from you, took off a couple rings, and handed it back, “you’re way too weak for that much, taking more than you can handle is just gonna result in failure”. ohhhh he had done it. you immediately got offended and blew up at him, going at it for a solid half hour until you just gave up. you marched over to zoro, shoved the sweater into his hands, and demanded an apology. “say sorry, i won’t forgive you, much less accept the gift, until you say you’re sorry” you said, crossing your arms. “i didn’t do nothin’ wrong” he mumbled in response. you shook your head and walked away, deciding he had earned himself the silent treatment. “wait! wait, wait, okay hold on,” he said, and you paused. “okay, well, that was shitty of me and…” he huffed a little, “i’m sorry for calling you weak, i just wanted to look out for you, that was really rude of me. i’m sorry.” turning back around, you smiled, knowing you had finally won and beat the ego barrier. “apology accepted” you took the sweater back and gave him a kiss, and he looked so, so much less cocky now.

sanji

you and sanji don’t fight often, and when you do he is groveling at your feet BEGGING for forgiveness. he’ll cry and moan, offering gifts and services as a peace offering. it’s always a little fun to mess with when he really fucks up though. it also really does not take long for him to apologize, he hates making you upset.

while out shopping for groceries with sanji to restock, you decided to go to the fruit stand right outside the deli sanji stopped at. there were some new fruits you had never tried in the mix, and you were sampling some of them. dragonfruit, rose apples, rambutans, they were so good! while sampling a lychee and thinking of a dessert you could make with it, you overheard your boyfriend talking to someone. you turned around to see him hitting on someone entering the deli on his way out, heart eyes and all. “i’m sorry, could you hold my order for a few minutes?” you asked, glaring in sanji’s direction, “i need to take care of something, i’ll be back in an hour or less” you stomped over to sanji, the fruit stand owner having a ‘yeah he’s fucked’ look on their face. you grabbed your boyfriend by the shoulders and spun him around, “sanji, my dearest. what the actual fuck is wrong with you?! flirting with someone else, especially when i’m only 20 feet away from you? have you no shame? no class? the audacity is amazing me.” sanji managed to stutter out a few “uh, i uh, uhm”s but failed. you dragged him back to the ship, threw him in the kitchen, and went back to grab your fruit and everything else on your shopping list alone. sanji was not getting let off easy today. when you came back, sanji was sitting in a corner of the kitchen crying. seeing you, he immediately ran to you, kneeling at your feet. “i’m sorry! that was mean, and stupid, and cruel, and gross, and dumb, and pervy, i’m sorry! i don’t deserve to be your boyfriend, i’m a no good dirty cook! please forgive me” he begged. you could tell he was truly sorry, but this was a little funny, and you were still mad. “no, not forgiven. your actions speak louder than your words, sanji. why should i forgive you?” you asked. sanji just sobbed more, “i’m so sorry! i love you so much, nobody is better than you! you’re the most stunning, most beautiful, most sexy, more gorgeous, most cute person in the world! i’ll do and get you anything you want, anything!” nah, you liked this too much. “hmm… keep begging, this is fun.” you said. that went on for a longgg time before you forgave him… and gave zoro some bullying material.

crocodile

he’s aware of when he does something wrong and makes it a quick apology with a LAVISH gift. on the few times he really made you angry/upset, he took you on a vacation or made an insane purchase for you.

crocodile had been gone for months, eleven to be exact. normally you’d still have regular communication via transponder snail, but he hadn’t called you or picked up your calls in almost two months. you grew so sad and lonely, having only house staff to talk to. you hadn’t gone out at all either, just staying at home passing time by reading or doing art. it had been officially eleven months and sixteen days since he had been gone when you were having tea with one of the guards and discussing your latest read. you both had started reading books at the same time like a mini book club to keep you occupied. then, your husband barged into the room. “sweetheart, i’m so happy to see you. missed you, c’mere and give me a hug” he said. you just froze up and the tears came without warning. all you could do was break down in your seat, teacup dropping from your hand onto the saucer, spilling onto the table. the guard immediately began to clean up the spill while crocodile just stared at you, shocked and just confused. “hey, hey, i’m sorry. i thought i’d be home sooner, or have time to visit. baby, please, i-“ he stopped, placing a hand on your shoulder and rubbing circles as you sobbed. you were sad, angry, and happy all at the same time. you were upset, but grateful to see him. “i thought- i thought you died! you didn’t call or- or write to me and…” you continued to break down. crocodile picked you up, making sure to pause to know if you’d be upset or not if he did, and carried you to your shared bedroom. the whole time he gave apologies and comfort to you. after sitting you down and letting you cry into his chest for a bit, he had you stay seated and re dressed you into your favorite comfy clothes. he laid down beside you, and you laid on his chest sniffling while he pet your hair. after a bit of silence, he spoke again “i’m sorry, my sweet angel. i didn’t mean to scare you so bad, i got really busy, i should’ve made better time for you. i should’ve made you more of a priority like i normally do. do you forgive me?” he asked. you nodded your head as a yes, and he kissed it. the rest of the day you spent with him, cuddling and reading together. the next day, you woke up to one of the most thoughtful gifts he’s ever given. “i know you have the bananawani, but they’re not really great for cuddling or playing as adults. i thought you could use a companion for the times i can’t take you with, and for the times i can. here, they’re yours, name them” he said to you as you woke up to two sweet little kittens purring in your lap. “and i packed a bag for you and the kittens, we’re going on a vacation. i think we needed a second vacation home.”

buggy

he’s so weird with apologies. he’ll refuse to say sorry and pout like a child, but the second you take away boyfriend privileges he’s crying.

you and buggy fought semi often, but it was never bad. mostly you scolding him or saying i told you so. this was one of those rare moments where buggy actually made you angry instead of mildly irritated. buggy is a clown, a silly guy! a silly guy who likes pranks, and takes them too far sometimes. buggy thought it would be hilarious to use his chop chop fruit powers to trick you into thinking he actually got seriously injured in a fight. he came on deck limping, two crewman acting as crutches. one of his legs past the knee was missing, and it was dripping with blood. “holy shit! buggy! what happened?!” you screamed, rushing over to help. he acted like he was out of it and in pain, only mumbling replies that didn’t even make sense. you got him laid down, made a tourniquet out of his bandana, and began to wipe up the blood with a cloth you snagged. and slowly, you realized he was fucking with you. you dropped the rag and stood up, “okay, no, what the fuck is wrong with you?” you asked before storming away. “it was just a joke! it was funny!” he yelled. you avoided him for the rest of the day, and he knew he had really done it this time, but like hell he was admitting it. when it was time for bed, you were cozied up and watching a storm through your window. buggy entered the room, sitting down beside you and getting ready to cuddle up next to you, until you stopped him. “absolutely not, get out. you can figure out somewhere else to sleep tonight.” you said. buggy gave you a ‘huh?’ look. “haha, you’re funny. do you want me to put on some music? i got a new-“ you cut him off, “i’m serious, buggy. out, now.” his cheery expression dropped into an agitated one. “it was just a prank, calm down! it’s not my fault that you can’t take a joke!” he exclaimed. “i said out” you said, pointing to the door. he stopped, looking defeated. he began to walk over to the door, until he turned around all teary eyed and sad. “i’m sorry! please forgive me, really, i’m really sorry! i’ll never do it again, i swear!” he begged. after a little more, you gave in and fell asleep listening to the storm in his arms. and his snoring.

[ot3]

Just curious, what’s your opinions on Kristoph and Phoenix? I see you reblog ship posts about them sometimes and I’m really curious about your opinions on their dynamic both inside and outside of ship stuff, because I didn’t really know how to interpret Kristoph in particular. I think he’s one of the worse villains in AA tbh, it’s been a while so I may be misremembering, but I just didn’t… get that much substance from him?

kristoph is certainly a really hard character for me to fully develop an opinion on in isolation. i think the only area where i'm capable of saying anything about him i can back up with significant references to the text is in regard to his relationship with phoenix, because that's where the meat of his character interactions are. and more broadly because as a #phoenixhead my primary means of looking at the entire franchise is how things relate to phoenix. if you'd like to read about my interpretation of phoenix and kristoph's relationship more specifically i've got a post on that subject here. i think it's a character dynamic that has a TON going for it relative to the screentime if you're able to disregard fanon and look directly at what's in the text.

but more on kristoph individually

kristoph suffers from the same thing that all of aa4's major characters and plotlines do: not getting another game. there was clearly more to the gavin brothers' story we didn't get and will never get, and knowing that there's Something there we have absolutely no means of predicting or unraveling makes it hard to theorize. he kind of exists in a quantum state for me where i can see a ton of alternate perspectives on his character's complexities and just buy whichever one i'm feeling at a given moment. i personally wouldn't say he lacks substance because every interaction he has with any other character is, imo, very compelling and gives me a lot to chew on. but he's a character that's all questions and no real conclusions for sure.

i don't think he's a cackling machiavellian serial abuser. i think hes easily the kind of person who has the capacity to be emotionally abusive and manipulative to the people closest to him without being Pure Evil. because we have so little on him it's very easy to portray kristoph as the kind of sinister that provides whatever OP's favorite flavor of angst is. and i'm certainly no exception to that; i just happen to be a person who is into maybe some subtler flavors.

he's both one of ace attorney's most calculated villains, with poisoning vera's nailpolish being an incredibly cold maneuver that suggests a lot of foresight, and one of ace attorney's most brutal murderers, capable of getting aggressive enough in a moment to bludgeon a man to death with a bottle. i think kristoph can be understood as a character whose primary motivation is control, both over himself and others. there's that critical line in turnabout succession where he tells klavier he's out of control, and klavier says "whos control? mine, or yours?" his reputation is built on his ability to stay calm under pressure, and his ability to stay calm under pressure is built on his tendencies to preemptively engineer situations in his favor. the stuff with phoenix and the gramarye case represents what we can presume to be the biggest failure of his career.

i think this puts him very much in line with AA1's main villains. people like to compare him to dahlia a lot for obvious reasons and there's some fun to be had there but i think it lets people overlook how well he ties into AA1. redd white controlled the press and controlled the judges to get away with his blackmail ring. von karma controlled the witnesses to engineer his perfect cases. damon gant controlled the police and the evidence, and then controlled lana to control the prosecution. although those were all one-case villains i think kristoph justifies his larger scope in aa4 by the significant and longstanding personal connections he has to the rest of the main cast. kristoph represents the mirror image of those AA1 villains; aa1 shows the way the deck is stacked against the defense. kristoph shows what it looks like when someone tries to stack it in the other direction

i think kristoph plays an important part in the larger franchise by showing what corruption looks like from the defense's bench, and how this corruption takes a different cadence when it lacks the systemic power that the villains like gant had. i think his cold, calculated approach to defense works well as a foil to the type of defending we saw from phoenix who is all heart and charges in head first. i think apollo works well representing a sort of compromise between the two, being a little bit shrewder than phoenix but no less earnest. i think klavier, then, as a prosecutor who is much less aggressive than the previous 3 both personally and professional serves to further invert the expectations set by the trilogy in a way that's really satisfying.

is kristoph missing some pretty critical backstory that i would love to see? yeah. absolutely. but i think when you look at him as a story device rather than an underdeveloped character he adds a tonnnnn to the series. that said, i will die wondering.

[bookwyrminspiration]

It's fun to bemoan the odd lines and such, and I was gonna make a joke, but I do think it is genuinely sad how much of Unraveled's promo is leaning so heavily into shipping.

Not because I hate sokeefe or Keefe, but because this is such a massively popular story that has so much to offer outside of a single ship, and it's such a disservice to the years of work Shannon has put in to crafting these characters' stories and world. And to the countless fans who adore the story and characters outside of this single ship.

Both Sophie and Keefe are more than sokeefe, and the way this story about injustice, and rebellion, and loss of self, and grief is being overshadowed by a relationship? See the kiss scene! sokeefe art! foster-related quote! These things themselves aren't bad, but there's no balance; they should be part of more, not the whole thing. KOTLC deserves to retain its complexity in marketing! The readers, including young, deserve to have the story not watered down for them when it's being pushed!

There's also something about how publishers told Shannon KOTLC wouldn't sell because Sophie's a girl, and she pushed through that, only for Sophie to become almost an accessory to Keefe's story here? Making appearances that focus on what Keefe thinks of her instead of Sophie herself. I don't have this fully articulated, but hopefully you see what I'm getting at

Shannon's said for years she hates love triangles, didn't mean to write one, and tries to stay firmly Team Sophie. And I believe her, which makes it worse seeing how despite Shannon's efforts, her story about a brave, stubborn, reckless, passionate girl trying to find herself and do what she can to right the wrongs she sees in the world is getting pared down to a love story.

Now we do have six more weeks to go, so we could get some variety in the future. it's just frustrating so far, and as fun as it is to make silly little jokes about it, I do think there is a genuine critique here of publishing and marketing and treatment of female led stories (yes, unraveled is about keefe, but Keeper is about Sophie), and I wanted to say something

[soleminisanction]

Okay this misconception keeps coming across my dash and it drives me nuts because it means people are lumping two very different versions of the DC universe under one disparaging banner. So let me just say this to get it off my chest because I'm this close to shaking somebody:

The New 52 ended seven years ago in 2016.

That started a section of DC's history called "Rebirth" in which they started bringing elements of the pre-Flashpoint continuity back into the timeline. The first changes came in a big burst called Convergence -- which is how Jon Kent effectively manifested fully formed at 10 years old -- while other reintroductions like Kon-El, Bart Allen, Cass Cain, etc. were more gradual.

The original plan, being forced through by King of Bad Decisions Dan Didio, was that after ~4-5 Rebirth would give way to another full reboot known as 5G. I could go into detail about the plans but they're honestly not important to this post because Didio was (thankfully, finally) ousted from his role as publisher early in 2020, along with something like 80% of the higher-level editorial staff. DC had a complete creative turn-over at the start of the pandemic and completely changed directions as a result. The material being developed for 5G was retooled into the hypothetical future event "Future State" to buy the new staff time to pull together their new direction.

That new direction is called INFINITE FRONTIER. It started in 2021 and THAT is the era of DC comics we're in now. Infinite Frontier is an active push to bring back the pre-Flashpoint characters, as well as some pre-Crisis ideas and characters, while also keeping the few elements of the New 52 that people actually liked (like Jason Todd's more heroic characterization) and actively pursuing diversity initiatives both in creative staff and in creations. And outside of the big events, they're making a real effort to keep these comics short and self contained in the hopes that that'll make them more accessible. So it's actually really easy, if you read comics pre-Flashpoint and dropped off, to just pick up a series and go with the flow. Anything confusing is just a Google away.

Please, please don't make the mistake of thinking modern comics are as bad as the New 52 just because some people are butthurt their ship isn't getting canonized. There have been some really good comics made in the last few years that you should totally try! Spirit World, Monkey Prince and the entire We Are Legends line has been genuinely fantastic. The new Birds of Prey is shaping up to be a ton of fun. Dark Knights of Steel is an entertaining Elseworld. Urban Legends and Brave & the Bold have done some really fun things with shorter anthology books. One Minute War was a really fun Flash family event and everything Stargirl's done recently is liable to make you cry.

I'm begging people to give these comics a chance. It's just really sad to see them being dismissed out of hand.

[i-thirsty-boi]

Platonic Yandere Jake and Neytiri X Fem Human Child Reader

~A/N: A bit late for the trio of things I planned to post, but here it is! The only bit of plot I will put up here is that the reader is Tommy's daughter, so Jake's niece. And not many physical traits described besides you being small.

Masterlist

CW: yandere behavior (platonic), mild description of character death, mild description of violence, obsessive behavior, possessive behavior

~

-You had been only 4 years old when your dad died. And because of that, you had been put into the care of your uncle Jake. 

-You loved your uncle, but he was sad about your dad passing too, so he hadn’t been fun in a while. But you understood, you were sad about your Daddy being gone too. Your new activity with your uncle was sitting on his lap in his chair. 

-Pretty soon, it was time to go to the other planet, and uncle Jake was going too. You had already been approved to go with your Dad, and it was planned for you to get an ‘implant’ in your nose and mouth to be able to breathe right because they didn’t want to make an oxygen mask small enough for you. 

-You went onto the ship, running around and talking to all the people you would be living with. Grace was your favorite of the scientists, she was so nice and patient with you. 

-But at the end of the day, you were back with your uncle, in his lap. You cuddled into him as you sunk into a nap. 

-And Jake had been having a realization. The realization that you were the last thing he had of his family. You had already been precious to him, but now he couldn’t afford to lose you, he’s sure it would kill him. 

-He hugged you to himself tightly as he rested his chin on top of your head. He also had a quiet conversation with Grace about you. He didn’t want to disturb you. 

-Around the time dinner was ready, you began to stir, and Jake kissed the top of your head before wheeling over to the dining area. This would be the last actual meal before everyone went into cryosleep. 

-You peacefully ate your food while still in your uncle’s lap. Then went into the cryopod right next to his, ready to wake up in a new place. 

… 

-You woke up to your uncle looking down at you. It seemed like you were the last one to wake up. And your face was sore. 

-You complained to him about it, groaning while burying your face in his chest. 

-Jake just rubbed your back while cooing at you. He said he could get you some painkillers for the soreness. But that it was from the implants being put in, and that it was why you were the last one to wake up. 

-You just nodded while clinging onto him, smooshing your face to his chest. Not paying attention to the movement of his wheelchair under you. 

-Jake had wheeled you into the dining area and made you a simple sandwich, along with getting some painkillers for you to take with the meal. He locked himself into place at a table and turned you to face the food more. He was happy that he could get you to eat and take the medicine, hopefully you’ll feel better soon. 

-As he was hanging out with the scientists, you had started to perk up. He still held you close, eventually asking if you felt better, getting a positive answer too. He just smiled and kissed your head. 

… 

-It had been a few weeks of settling in and setting all of the equipment up before they were ready to get everyone in their avatar. In that time, Jake had successfully talked someone into making a baby sling to put you in while he was outside. 

He had successfully gotten into his avatar, tested it out, and gotten to change into regular clothes before going back to you so they could go outside. He saw you in an adorable, and tiny, version of the outfit he was wearing, just with shorts. He picked you up and cradled you close, finally able to walk around with you. This felt like a blessing. 

He went to join the rest of the group, grabbing the sling on his way. He went up to Grace to help him strap you to himself. She tied the sling around him before slipping you into it on his back, facing forward. You squirmed for a bit before settling down, still pouting. Jake just chuckled before telling you that this planet was dangerous and you would be safer like this. You still pouted, but said ‘okay’. He patted your head before moving on. 

He was walking through the forest with everyone when he got distracted by something. You turned your head in the same direction as your uncle, squinting into the forest around you. He looked over to the rest of the group, who didn’t look like they would be moving for a while, before walking towards the sound you both heard. He had been walking for a little bit before coming into a small clearing. He turned in a circle before huffing and turning back towards where he came from, patting your head in the meantime. 

Though he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard growling coming from behind him. It was a massive creature with six legs and terrifying teeth. As soon as it made the slightest move towards him, he took off running. Luckily you weren’t bouncing too much since the sling was surprisingly secure. He continued sprinting until he came across a cliff with what looked like water at the bottom. He had to make a choice, and it was very easy to make as he heard the thing getting closer to you guys, fast. 

He jumped off of the cliff. 

-As he was falling he pulled you out of the wrap, pulling you to his chest before you two hit the water. He plugged your nose for you right before you both went under. 

-He swam, what he thought, was up as soon as he stopped descending in the water. He took a deep breath as soon as you two resurfaced, flopping onto his back while still holding you. 

-As soon as he regained his bearings, he asked you if you were okay. You just said ‘yeah’ before dropping your head back onto him. He laid his hand on your back while he continued taking deep breaths. 

-Pretty soon he had recovered enough to stand up, taking you with him. This time, he just held you in his arms as he moved through the forest, putting his jacket around you to hopefully keep you from getting too cold. 

-He found another clearing to sit down in for a while. Leaning back against a log to let you rest upright, and hopefully sleep for a little bit. 

-Sadly, he was mistaken as another animal came into the clearing and started growling at you guys.  He just sighed, because of course this happens to you two. 

-He didn’t get the chance to think much of it before a native jumped out from the forest with a bow and killed the animal. Saying what looked like a prayer over the body. 

-He jumped up to follow her as she walked back into the forest. He kept trying to talk to her, but she kept ignoring him. He eventually got her to turn around, but she just started lecturing him. He covered your ears as she started insulting him. 

-That drew her attention to you, and she hissed at you. He bared his teeth at her and held you closer. He said that she shouldn’t do that to a child. 

-Her ears went back before she looked up and stopped talking. 

He looked at where she was looking and saw many floating white things coming towards you two. He took a step back before one landed on his shoulder, then yours. You didn’t react, he saw you had fallen asleep while he was following the woman. They continued to land on the two of you until all of his torso was covered, along with your whole body. As soon as they were all situated, they flew away. He looked back at them as they all disappeared into the forest. 

He looked back at the woman in front of him, who was looking at the two of you in awe. He just raised a brow at her before she grabbed his free arm and dragged him with her. He just asked where they were going as he started voluntarily following her again. He didn’t get to get an answer before something went around his ankles and he fell off of the log they were moving along. 

-He wrapped himself around you as he fell, taking the impact for you. He looked up as multiple male navi came towards him on Pandoran horses. 

-He didn’t get a chance to speak before the woman dropped down in front of him and started speaking in navi to the apparent leader of the group. She gestured to them multiple times, he could only assume she was defending them. 

-He felt you grip his shirt, so he used his free hand to rub your back. 

-They had apparently come to some sort of agreement because she came back over to them and said they would all go to the clan together. 

-He followed the group for a while before coming to an absolutely massive tree, going through an archway among the roots of the tree. 

-He went until he stopped in the middle of all the people, at the front of the clan apparently. Then a man with more intricate accessories than the rest came in front of him. He briefly looked down at you to check if you were still asleep. You were. 

-He kissed the top of your head before the man started speaking at him. Then to the woman who saved you two. 

-He asked what he was saying, and she said that her father was deciding whether to kill them or not. He just furrowed his brows and held you closer to him. The man noticed and huffed at him before another navi showed up. 

-She had come down from the tree in front of him, making the whole crowd go silent. She walked around him, poking and prodding here and there, before pricking him and tasting the blood. She said that eywa had given her a sign that he and his niece were to be given a chance to learn. 

-He thanked her and hugged you close before resting his chin on the top of your head. 

The woman came back over to him and told him he would have to change into the clothes of the people. He was taken to a tent and given just a loincloth and some bracelets. He handed you over to her, telling her to take care of you, before going into the tent and changing as quickly as he possibly could. It had taken him a minute to figure out how to put on the loincloth, but he was out of the tent very quickly, taking you back into his arms as soon as he was close enough. The woman huffed and crossed her arms before leading him over to a log to sit down. She got up briefly to get some food for the two of you, which he took from her while gently shaking you awake. You blinked before looking up at him then around you. You just huffed before shifting yourself to sit sideways on his legs. 

Jake just chuckled before opening the leaf and unveiling the food he was given by the woman. You leaned over it, sniffing, then reached for some of it. You hesitantly ate the bit you pinched off, and looked pained while chewing it. But you quickly went back for more of it, so Jake assumed it tasted good. He ate a bit of it, having the same series of reactions as you, but ultimately deciding it tasted really good, just different. The two of you quickly finish off the food given to you, Jake using the leaf to wipe off your face then licking his own fingers clean, you doing the same after seeing him do it. 

The whole time Neytiri had been watching them with narrowed eyes. She kind of understood why eywa had recognised these sky people. They were very weird to her, but also sweet. They had been focused on each other the whole time, and she was very happy when she had gotten to hold you. She was on the log right next to them, but not involved somehow. 

-She scooted closer to you two, then asked what your names were. She was formally introduced to you two, and gave you two her name in return. You smiled up at her and told her she had a pretty name. 

-You got a beaming smile in return. 

-Neytiri started a conversation with you two while she was finishing her food. She was having a surprisingly good time talking to them. And she was excited for the training she would give them too. 

-Pretty soon it was time to go to sleep, though you were already a step ahead of everyone else, having conked out before Neytiri even finished eating. 

-Neytiri guided you guys up to some of the empty hammocks, and watched Jake carefully lower himself into one with you laying on his chest. She huffed before laying in the one right beside his, ready for the next day’s lessons. 

… 

-Jake woke up in the link pod, already missing you but excited to share your experience with the others. 

-He enthusiastically shared what happened with Grace and the others, getting positive feedback from it. Though he was sad that he would truly have to wait until the morning to see you again. 

-He ate dinner, did his video log, then went to sleep. He will have an eventful day tomorrow, he’s sure. 

… 

-He woke up in his avatar to you poking his cheek. He playfully bit your fingers to hear you squeal. He grabbed a hold of you and carefully got back out of the hammock. Seeing Neytiri doing the same. 

-He got guided back to the logs to eat breakfast with Neytiri and another man from the night before. He got introduced to him, his name was Tsu’tey. 

-He got an extra big leaf again, and shared the meal with you. You were still groggy as well, even if you technically woke up before him. He still had a conversation with the two over your head as the two of you ate. 

-Neytiri said that she should take you to change into more appropriate clothes as well before the training starts. Jake was very reluctant to let go of you, but ended up handing you over to Neytiri and watching her walk off with you in her arms. 

Tsu’tey had given him a weird look and asked him why he was so protective of you. Jake sighed and told him that you were his twin brother’s daughter, and that you were put in his care after Tommy died. Tsu’tey gave a surprisingly understanding look before saying that you seemed very happy with Jake. And Jake just smiled before looking back in the direction you were taken in to see if you were coming back yet. 

-When he saw you in the navi clothing, he was a little bit unsure of you having that much skin exposed in case you fell. But knew it would’ve happened as soon as your other clothes had gotten dirty at the latest. 

-Neytiri looked pretty pleased with herself. She had chosen a good combo for you, completed with accessories as well. 

-She huffed again as you squirmed to get down when you were close to your uncle. But she set you down anyway. 

Once you were free, you ran to your uncle as fast as your little legs could take you. You didn’t even get to collide with him before he was picking you up and kissing all over your cheeks. You giggled at him before he set you back in his lap. He told you that you looked very cute in your new clothes, which earned him a very pleased smile from you. The two others that were watching just had small smiles at the sweet moment between you two. 

Jake eventually asked where his stuff was taken. They told him the tsahik had it with her, and he requested to go get it before the training. They took him to the tsahik’s hut, and he went to his stuff just to get the baby wrap before going back over to the two navi. 

-They looked at him weird as he was tying it around himself, but quickly understood its purpose as he slid you into it on his back. 

-You were facing the same way as him, and were resting your chin on his shoulder. He turned to look at you, before blowing a raspberry on your cheek which had you giggling up a storm. 

-Neytiri was silently cooing at you, while Tsu’tey huffed at the display. 

-It didn’t take long for him to rejoin the small group and set off for his first lessons. Which were apparently with the pandora horses, then some navi language lessons. 

-Upon being faced with the direhorse, he realized it may be a bad idea to keep you strapped to him for this activity. 

-So, he pulled you out of the wrap and untied it. He was considering telling you to sit against a tree before Neytiri came up and took you into her arms, taking the wrap as well. 

-She looked at the wrap before tying it to herself how she had seen Jake do it. When she was done she put you into it, on her front facing her. She looked down at you before going off to the side of the direhorse and giving him some instruction. 

-She and you then moved to the side to watch Jake make attempts to get onto the direhorse, which took him multiple minutes. Once he eventually got on it, he then attempted to connect his braid with it, which also took longer than expected. Neytiri gave him some more instructions once more, which made the direhorse race off and eventually throw him off of it. 

-You squirmed towards where he fell, but Neytiri just used a hand to rub your back and told you he would be fine, and that this was typical for people that are learning. You just sighed before resting your head on her chest. 

-She kept her hand on your back as Jake kept at it until he got the hang of it, which only took about 2 hours. 

You were getting restless from being trapped in the wrap all morning. You ran from your uncle trying to hug you because, according to you, he was ‘stinky and yucky’. He eventually caught you and hugged you, making you squeal and slap at him. Neytiri eventually suggested taking you to a small lake to bathe before having some lunch before the language lessons. So, Jake carried you while following Neytiri to the lake to bathe you and himself. 

It didn’t take long to make it there, and you were immediately wiggling to be put down. As soon as your feet touched the ground, you took off running and jumped into the water. And you were immediately giggling and swimming around once you came back to the surface. The two adults were smiling at you before taking off their extra accessories before jumping into the water themselves. They both chased after you in the water, Neytiri getting to you first and lightly tossing you into the air before putting you back into the water. You were all smiles as the two of them took turns playing with you while getting clean. They took longer than usual bathing, but couldn’t be bothered to care because of the fun you were having. 

-After you were all clean, you all went back to the heart of the clan to have a light lunch before the language lessons. 

-You all got some fruits and leftover meat from breakfast before sitting on a log to eat. You ate and talked, getting attention from both of the adults with you. You faintly wondered if this was what it felt like to have a mom and a dad. It felt nice. You leaned on Neytiri as Jake handed you another small piece of fruit. 

-You happily ate all of the food they gave you, but eventually hopped off of the log and whined at them to get going for the lessons. 

-Both of them just chuckled before getting up and walking to a clearing while each held one of your hands. You also took the opportunity to swing between them because of how tall and strong they were. 

-You had been having so much fun on this planet, even if there were some scary parts so far. 

-You were, surprisingly, not bored during the lesson and picked up the language pretty quickly. Jake put more effort into it because of how into it you were. 

-Though maybe he also wanted to impress Neytiri. He thought she was beautiful. A wonderful woman. 

-He wanted to impress her, but even that came behind taking care of you. 

… 

-It had been two months of more lessons, and Jake doing more video logs to document the findings he was making on the navi. But he was more concerned with the changes he was seeing while he was navi. 

-He had been getting a lot more affection than normal from you, and saw Neytiri letting her walls down around him. He was making breakthroughs with both of you and he couldn’t be happier. 

-You had been actively dividing your attention between your uncle and Neytiri, because you were honestly starting to see them as your mom and dad, because they had been taking these roles for the entire time you had been with the clan. 

-And you felt like they thought the same with how much they’ve been doting on you. And you’ve been soaking it up the whole time. 

-Also during the times where you had been napping throughout the day, Jake and Neytiri had gotten a lot closer too. They had even bonded just by caring for you together. They looked at each other in a different light. 

And it was one night of them bringing you back to the hammocks to sleep that changed everything for them. Neytiri had been the one carrying you back after they had been working on the language lessons then playing around with you until it was time to go to sleep. As you made it to the point where she had to hand you off to Jake so he could hold you in his hammock, and as she was moving you, you said “Night night Mama.” Neytiri was so shocked and overjoyed that she started crying while holding you closer to her. Jake had heard what you said and smiled before getting closer and rubbing your back. You were still very sleepy, but reached for him while calling him ‘Papa’. He also started crying and couldn’t stop himself from hugging both of you at once. 

You were smiling in your sleep while soaking up the attention from them once again. 

… 

-Jake woke up in the link pod already smiling and on the verge of tears. He was just so happy. 

-Grace came up to him, very concerned for him. She frantically asked what was wrong. 

-Jake just continued to shed tears before saying, “She did it. She called me her dad!” He started sobbing while hugging Grace tightly. 

-She laughed before hugging him back, putting him back in his wheelchair right after. She brought him over to the other scientists and said they needed to celebrate the new father amongst them. Everyone cheered before having a big dinner together to celebrate. 

… 

-Jake had been completely forgetting about the RDA while with the navi, because they made him happier than their acceptance ever did. He acknowledged that they had given him a mission, but chose to not necessarily comply with it. 

-He then realized that since he had the trust of the people, he could warn them of the impending attack from the RDA. He felt it was the right thing to do. 

-He brought it up with Neytiri first, while you were napping in her lap after lunch. He told her that, in his human body, he had heard of the planned attack the night before. She looked at him with wide eyes before hugging you closer to her. 

-She asked what they should do. And Jake sighed before saying that her father needed to know so that the warriors could stop them before they destroyed the hometree. 

-Neytiri just firmly nodded before saying that they should go tell him now, so that they had enough time to plan their own attack. 

-Jake said he also needed to let his closest friends at the labs know what’s happening, so that they could make sure he could stay in that body during the attack. Neytiri teared up while nodding again. 

-They both quickly made their way back to the village to talk to Eytukan. Neytiri told Jake that they should leave you with Mo’at while discussing these matters, and he very reluctantly agreed. 

Once you were dropped off with the assurances that you would be well taken care of, they made their way to the olo’eyktan. On the way, they came across Tsu’tey and began dragging him with them. He protested but Neytiri just hissed at him while continuing to drag him by the arm. Once they made it to him, Neytiri demanded that everyone besides the four of them leave. Her father was confused, but didn’t protest when seeing the serious look on his daughter’s face. 

It didn’t take long for the hut to empty out. And Neytiri just immediately said what was wrong. Tsu’tey and Eytukan were floored by the news, but immediately started asking questions. Jake stepped in and told them everything he knew from his time as a human recently. They all listened intently, before coming up with a plan to be ready to fight before the humans were. They knew they would show up in a week, and they would be ready. 

… 

-The omatikaya had been preparing all week. Along with the closest people to Jake in the labs. 

-Jake had been going back and forth with Neytiri, and even Tsu’tey, to make a temporary shack for the avatars and link pods with the clan. They had even moved as many things there as they could without the RDA soldiers noticing. 

-They had even gotten Grace to reunite with the clan because of it, making her and all of the children happy. 

-The night before the attack was supposed to happen, they had moved everything else over to the shack that they hadn’t already. 

-And in the cover of the night, the clan set off on all of their available creatures and launched a great attack on the human buildings. Trudy dropped bombs on the buildings to open them up for the people’s arrows. 

-Many of the soldiers woke up and started to fight back, but didn’t last long enough against the forces against them. 

-They fought hard for the entire night before they stopped seeing movement in all of the buildings. But it wasn’t the end of it. There was an explosive flying back at them, making the warriors take a retreat for the progress made. They whooped as they went back to the clan, confident they could beat any of the remaining humans to the ground should they become a problem for them. 

… 

-Jake and Neytiri had gotten even closer as they kept taking care of you together in the roles of your mom and dad. And you were enjoying it just as much as them. 

-They had left you with Grace for the night while Neytiri took Jake to the spirit tree. She asked him some pointed questions before admitting their feelings for one another. 

-Things happened and they had officially bonded and mated before eywa. Committing to each other, and acknowledging their commitment to you. They were your parents, and now they were officially together. 

-Though in the morning, there was a small fight between Jake and Tsu’tey, which Neytiri intervened in before the matter was settled. And Neytiri accepted that she was giving up her chance to be tsahik to be with Jake. 

And you yourself didn’t know what was happening, but still went to hug your parents after the fighting stopped. Which they both reciprocated with enthusiasm, before explaining the reason the fight started. That Neytiri was supposed to be with Tsu’tey for responsibilities, but chose to be with Jake instead. You accepted that easily before excitedly asking them if they were really together now. You got enthusiastic cheek kisses while they confirmed. You giggled while hugging them tighter, excited to officially have parents. 

And the both of them pulled you closer and soaked in the moment. Happy to continue as an official family. 

… 

-It had been another month and the clan hadn’t heard anything from the remaining humans yet, but knew they should expect something at some point. 

-Jake was out hunting with the other men of the clan and Neytiri was taking you for a walk in the forest to spend time with you while gathering fruit for the communal dinner that would happen. 

-She had a large basket that was half full at that point and you were bouncing along beside her while looking at the fruits in the trees around you two. 

-She had lifted you up to grab one of the fruits when she heard rustling from beside the two of you. She immediately froze and silently moved to set you down while pulling out the knife she had on her. You had noticed what she was doing and shrunk in on yourself while backing toward one of the trees beside you. 

-Neytiri had been scanning the forest around you two before spotting one of the smaller predators creeping up behind you. She waited with baited breath as it got closer before lunging and striking it with her knife just before it could touch you. 

-You shrieked as it went down right behind you. Tears came to your eyes as Neytiri said a prayer over its body before coming back over to check on you. 

-She was kneeled in front of you, turning you back and forth to check you over when she noticed a small cut, made by a claw no doubt, on the back of your arm. She immediately gasped before clutching you close to her, grabbing the half full basket of fruit, and running back to the village to bring you to her mother. 

-Almost everyone’s heads turned when she frantically ran through the village and to the tsahik’s hut. As soon as her mother was in sight she called out to her while setting down the basket before sitting down in front of her mother with you in her lap. 

-Mo’at was already at attention before her daughter sat down. She didn’t see any obvious problem with you other than some teary eyes, but knelt down in front of you two anyway. Neytiri looked panicked while showing her mother the cut on your arm while telling her what had happened. 

-Mo’at just sighed and shook her head at her daughter before saying you were probably more scared than anything and it would heal quickly. 

-Neytiri sighed while hugging you close as her mother cleaned your arm before putting a healing paste on it before wrapping a leaf around it. Then told her she could take it off of your arm the next day, as the cut should be scabbed by then. 

-Neytiri thanked her mother before taking you and the basket back to the rest of the people, the men that went on the hunt coming back just in time. 

-She had sat down in a circle of other women that had gathered to cut up the fruit they gathered. She spotted Jake amongst the men, and as soon as he saw the leaf on your arm he started running over. 

-He knelt down next to you and looked you over while asking what happened. And you told him the whole story, happy to tell him that your mommy saved you. He sighed before pulling you into his arms and kissing your head. 

-You looked between the both of them confused, but settled into their arms anyway. 

-And throughout the rest of the night, both of them hovered over you and coddled you. 

… 

-It had been another month of the same coddling and smothering, and you loved your parents but wished you could go play with the other kids in the village. You didn’t understand why they wouldn’t let you join in on the games they played. 

-They were both really protective of you. And even more so when one of the warriors flew over the human buildings and noticed some serious movement in them, which got reported to the olo’eyktan right away. 

-They knew they would have to fight again, and they were ready. They just worried about how it would affect you. They couldn’t let anything happen to them or you. 

… 

-They won the battle, but losses happened anyway. Unfortunately, Trudy didn’t make it. Everyone attended the funeral. 

-You understood what that meant, having dealt with this with your father too. 

-After the battle though, everyone in the labs had to do some major thinking on what would happen to their avatars since they didn’t have any backup batteries for the linkpods anymore. 

-They decided they would go to the tsahik for advice. 

-They made the journey to the spirit tree, and received their answer. They would have to walk through the eye of eywa, and return their soul to the avatar body. It seemed like a tough task. 

-They notified the clan, and received nothing but support. So, they picked a night to do the transfers. 

-They laid everyone on the ground at the roots of the tree, and the ritual started. The entire clan connected to the tree as well, and Mo’at began the chants needed. It was very nerve wracking, but it surprisingly worked for everyone. Jake, Grace, Norm, and Max could now live on Pandora amongst the people without worrying about oxygen masks. 

-You ran up and hugged all of them once they stood up, getting squished into the hug by your mom and dad. 

-And afterwards the entire clan had a big celebration for its new members. Everyone was happy to be together, and with their enemy seemingly gone. 

-Though you had drifted off to sleep in your new grandmother’s arms before the night was even over. Mo’at figured she would be babysitting for the night so her daughter and Jake could spend the night together as a celebration of his new body. 

-Though she guessed wrong as her daughter and Jake came up to her to grab you and make their way over to the new hammock they got with you. Mo’at just shook her head before going back over to her husband. 

-Meanwhile, Jake and Neytiri had acquired their own bigger hammock like the smaller families in the clan have. And they brought you into it with them to sleep together as a family for the first night with Jake in his avatar body full time. 

…

To be continued…  

Taglist: @eywas-heir , @doggyteam2028 , @zeeader , @onlyreadz , @ratchetprime211

[lord-squiggletits]

An ask for hopefully fun distraction purposes: What are your favorite Megop dynamics to read about or play with when you write?

Since I'm an IDW MegOP enjoyer first and foremost, I really like fics that reverse the usual IDW MOP dynamic (Megatron goads, Optimus chases and reacts) and have Megatron be the one that has incredibly strong horny/obsessive feelings towards Optimus, while Optimus is the one that's more reserved and won't let Megatron get a taste of him until he feels the time is right aslkdlfjksd. I think, especially for IDW, it's easy to get caught up in how devoted Optimus is, in the way that Megatron is the center of Optimus' life both in terms of the war and in terms of making him the person he became, and that relentless belief in the best person Megatron can be. But I really, really like it when that dynamic is reversed: where Megatron is the one that's devoted to Optimus, seeks his attention, feels like he's an inseparable part of his life, etc. Compounded by the fact that the fandom as a whole tends to treat Optimus as a flat character and treats Megatron/whoever OP is being shipped with as more of an individual with depth, with OP just being a trophy husband basically

In general, it's really important for me to maintain their relationship with a push and pull dynamic and to be centered on mutual respect, whether that's through characterization, dialogue, or the usual PWP/kink dynamics. Especially when I get to play with it in the last case, fucking around with underappreciated things like dom bottom/submissive top, switching in general. I'm also a big fan (semi related to the first point) of emotionally constipated Optimus with Megatron being the emotional one trying to reach out. So like.... basically the opposite of what the most popular MOP dynamics are aksldfjlksdlkf

I haven't really written this outside of AEFMB (the BATB AU), but I think interactions between miner!Megatron and Prime!Optimus are suuuuper underrated. I know IDW MOP got canon Autobot Megatron + prewar Orion thanks to the Functionist Universe, but how come no one writes the other way around? It's so cool to imagine, especially since IDW is one of the rare continuities where Megatron began as the shy/unimposing/humble one and Orion/Optimus is a confident jock superhero who already has his own squad of outlaws (and, in the case of prewar M + wartime OP, a literal fucking army). Enough casting Megatron as the hardened/jaded veteran fighter with OP as the sheltered nerd. Give me some shit with OP being the more experienced one and M being the one who needs to come into his own to match him. (And yeah, TF One helped satisfy this urge lol)

Megatron being the Optimus apologist/going "I can fix him," whether it's good guy Megatron (a la MTMTE, Earthspark) supporting Optimus/not wanting him to go down a dark path, or whether it's evil Megatron going "I can corrupt him." Actually, MOP has WAY too little corruption arc action going on. I mean, I understand why, but what the hell is a hero/villain ETL ship without at least one moment where the villain goes "Join me, we would be unstoppable together, please we could basically be married and rule the universe." IDW MOP in particular doesn't have that pre-war friendship dynamic that would tempt M into giving such an offer to OP, but I like the idea of some scenario where M wants to offer anyways. Like I said in the first point, literally just give me a MOP story where Megatron is the one who's horny/desperate/longing for Optimus and Optimus is the skeptical, tsundere one that needs to be persuaded into it.

[burningcheese-merchant]

When Burning Spice was introduced a lot of people made comparison with Capsaicin, and even thought they were related. You have any thoughts on that?

I do, and you're all probably going to be very disappointed lol

Not only do I NOT vibe with the idea that they're related, I'm actually really annoyed that it's as popular as it is lol. It doesn't even make sense. Burning Spice was in prison for thousands of years; when, where and how did he have a kid? At what point in time did this occur? Capsaicin is a young man. A regular mortal, outside of his "Spice Overlord" thing. I ask you all again: when? Where? How? WHY? Has anyone ever actually thought this through?

"ThEy LoOk SiMiLaR" okay, and? So fucking what? Neither of them own the concept of "long hair" or "muscles" or "sharp teeth". Pitaya has those too, and he has an arguably more substantial connection to Capsaicin because they're actually from the same fucking area. Happenstance. Lots of characters in this game have similar attributes, that doesn't necessarily mean anything

"ThEy'Re BoTh SpIcY" Refer to point A. Do you all think all the nut-based cookies are related, too? That's the logic you might as well be operating on. Correlation is not causation

"Blah blah both jail" you know how many characters in this whack-ass phone game count as felons, bro? How many of them SHOULD count as felons lol? The Cookie Run universe might as well be one giant Alcatraz with all the shit these little affronts to God get up to every day, I ain't making them all each other's relatives because of it

They're the wrong ages for them to be family. Burning Spice was serving a life sentence since long before Capsaicin was even thought of, he literally got out after the guy was already a grown ass man. They're not even from the same fucking CONTINENT! Capsaicin has probably never even HEARD of Beast-Yeast! Even that little comic the CRK Twitter account posted makes fun of all this shit!!! The Wild Spices mistake Cap for Spice from behind, and then get confused when he turns around because THEY VERY CLEARLY DO NOT KNOW WHO HE IS AND HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE! Wouldn't an army know if their general had a son, even if it was only mentioned in passing? Wouldn't THIS army have a vested interest in having their general's son around if he existed, and stop at nothing to bring him home should he vanish, to gain favor with Spice and because of how powerful Capsaicin is and how useful he could be to them?

I wouldn't be so bent out of shape about all this if it wasn't LITERALLY FUCKING EVERYWHERE!!! I cannot enjoy any content of Burning Spice OR Capsaicin without having to endure a fucking barrage of "hurr durr father and son" posts!!! I just want to ogle my hot, sexy, deliciously evil spice man BY HIM-FUCKING-SELF in peace, I never asked to have to hear the exact fucking same "hi son I came back with the milk" joke over and over and over again

I know I sound like a massive dick right now and I'm truly sorry. You are more than welcome to think of these two as related in some way if you wish. I am not your mother, nor your leader, nor your god, I'm just some cringe loser on the internet. Enjoy this game and its characters in whatever way you choose. I even actually like a good bit of the father/son art, a lot of it is cute and funny. I'm able and willing to say that with complete sincerity.

I just wish I didn't have to feel like it's being forced on me. That is one of the biggest issues I have with this fandom: how oppressive it often feels. You MUST ship this particular pairing, you MUST headcanon these characters as family, you MUST take this one-off joke that was clearly just a goddamn joke and preach it 24/7/365 like it's the gospel truth that Devsis themselves wrote on stone tablets and delivered from the top of Mount Sinai. And then when someone doesn't want to do that, everyone else descends upon them like a plague of fucking locusts. I actually saw a Dad Spice + Son Cap post on here with the person who made it saying something like "ok since everyone agrees that these two are family [...]" and I just got so fucking irritated. No, actually, not everyone agrees. Not everyone agrees on a lot of the fanon that's shoved down the entire community's throats on a regular basis. PLEASE stop acting like they do. I still remember when people would get flat-out harassed for not acting like Herb is Sea Fairy's son (old ass drama lol).

Say what you will about me, I'm just one person and you can block me or whatever dumb tags I use for my dumb shit. There is NOWHERE I can go to avoid this. Twitter? Plagued. Tumblr? Plagued. Even fucking reddit is on this nonsense (only in my personal opinion). But that's what I get for acknowledging Reddit in any capacity lol

I shall once again sincerely apologize for my harsh tone here, I am not attacking you personally or anyone who headcanons these two as relatives. I am just generally, profoundly frustrated and I need to get it out. I appreciate you taking the time to ask me an honest question, I hope you can forgive me for my painfully honest answer

[survivalove]

debunking lies zutara shippers say about the atla creators & writers

disclaimer: this is in no way an endorsement or defense of bryke or anyone mentioned. literally just debunking false statements i see spread throughout and outside the fandom as it pertains to kataang

1. that bryke made kataang endgame because the nice guy should get the girl

this is something I see often usually linked with this video of a man ⬇️ who they claim to be bryan/mike echoing this sentiment.

this man is in fact john o’bryan, one of the three known zk shippers in the writers’ room (we’ll expand on this in point 5) talking about how he saw aang. not the creators. so of course it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he doesn’t even like kataang in the first place.

2. that bryke made kataang endgame last minute and zutara was the original pairing

bryan and mike (notice how i’m using both of their names separately. this too will be important in the next point) have talked about how kataang was planned since they originally wrote the show.

they have also talked ad nauseam in a video (which I will not share here cuz it made a lot of ppl angry) about why they do not like zutara and its shippers, so this entire point is bogus.

++ the reason why they say zk was the original pairing is because of one of the zk writers (joshua hamilton) wrote this in the atla fun facts that used to run on tv. (we’ll get into him later) those atla fun facts contain a lot of inaccurate/non canon “facts” which you can check and verify on avatar wiki if you know what i’m talking about.

3. that aang is bryke’s self insert (specifically mike)

yeah, here’s where the separation becomes important. bryan (L) and mike (R) are two different men. mike has never said that aang was his self-insert, nor has he directly talked about relating to aang. bryan, however, constantly talks about how much he relates to zuko. even, going as far to say he tries to think like zuko when he writes characters and shows.

the only time mike has come close to saying he relates to aang is when dante said he thinks mike is more like aang while bryan is more like zuko, and they, mostly bryan, agreed. (mike has actually said he relates to korra more than aang but hey) bryan also is the one who drew mike’s beard on adult aang because he considered it a nice reference to his friend. this is the main reason why shippers ran with that self-insert narrative because half the time, they think bryke is actually one person ☠️

++ in fact, aang’s original character design is based off the mixed black-chinese son of sifu kisu

4. that atla was supposed to have a season 4 where katara and zuko got together

this is mostly something that has come out of a fabricated interview by the head writer, aaron ehasz. he was allegedly asked what he would have liked to do if given the chance to write a fourth season of the show and talked about an azula redemption arc among other things. zutaras then made up a whole fake interview including that he wanted to make the two characters endgame.

ehasz then came out to say that most of these “interviews” were faked and that he has never talked about having a preference for any ship. if you go on his twitter, you will see him talking about an azula redemption arc tho.

as for atla having a 4th season at all, it was never intended. the creators, the music composers have all said at various points in time, the show was written and pitched as three seasons, three elements.

5. that most of the other writers shipped zutara and bryke’s authoritarianism shut it down

as I said above, only three writers on the original show have come out to say they preferred zk at some point. atla has had a total of 21 staff writers. 3 out of 21 is not most if you ask me.

as for bryke (yes now i’m using the shorthand cuz i proved my point earlier) being authoritarians, no writer or staff that has worked with them on the show has said this so…? idk where that came from but i’m not here to back them up just mention facts.

6. that all the women who worked on the franchise shipped zutara while only men shipped kataang

atla has very few female staff as it is:

5 writers (elizabeth welch: zk; others: unknown)

1 director (unknown)

5 storyboard/character artists (lauren montgomery: ka; elsa garagarza: ka; angela song mueller: zk; others: unknown)

1 comic writer (faith erin hicks: ka)

2 comic artists (gurihiru: ka)

++ mae whitman (katara’s voice actress) has expressed her like for both ships throughout the years.

so i’m not sure what defines all and only for some ppl but those definitions are not in my dictionary. disclaimer: i’m not declaring anyone here as a shipper in any official sense. this is just based off statements they have made that you can google!

7. that katara is written poorly in post-atla content because of kataang/bryke

I mean the first part isn’t really a lie, more of an opinion which I can agree with to an extent.

why I mention this here is because zks will not only go on a tangent and link the misogyny in the writing to a m/f ship and say the other m/f ship would have been more feminist…

but they also refuse to hold all the men involved accountable. like I said, 3 known atla writers shipped zk and 2 of them (joshua & john) were men (who would’ve thought men could like a ship and it could still be considered feminist 😃). they were also 2 out of only 4 atla writers that came back for legend of korra, outside of the creators. (19 to 4 ☠️ no comment). these shippers very well know this and instead of holding these men accountable for the misogynistic writing, they instead brag about them shipping it and ask them about zk whenever they have the chance.

another example is gene luen yang, a comic writer who again shipped zk (another man GASPPPPP) responsible for the first 5 comic books. everyone knows his comics suck in terms of characterization, particularly katara’s. in fact zutaras have made multiple threads on how poor the writing is. funnily enough, they always fail to mention that gly was the script writer or acknowledge his part in this mischaracterization, while bragging about him shipping zk in other posts. ironic.

meanwhile, bryke have never offered writers’ commentary on any of gly’s comics besides the search - mike (because they were mostly writing legend of korra during his run.)

basically these shippers don’t care about misogyny or holding male writers accountable if they ship zk which is funny because I thought it was… for the female gaze? why are you hyping men shipping it anyway? confusion.

[nqueso-emergency]

hi queso! ive sent in previous anons before (one being pretty mad about biphobia from the bestie boos, another about loving what i saw of bucktommy as an outsider to the fandom) and i started watching the show!!! also what do the hardcore shippers see that i'm not seeing btw. i've never seen a ship edit for buck and eddie (all i knew going in were two episodes and a handful of henren clips), so maybe i'm missing however people are choosing to frame them lol but the entire time i've seen eddie i'm like. that is the straightest man. fanon is fun and all but i do not know what show they have been watching since i started from the very beginning and i just... don't get it?

isn't that one of their arguments too? that bucktommy fans only started watching at season 7 or something? idk. i came here for henren and now i'm loving bathena and madney and i look forward to eventually fully loving bucktommy too <3 (i literally adore tommy's kinda more subtle progression as a character from complacent to actively getting gerrard out to being one of the few people that chim (and hen? unsure if hen does) keeps in any contact with). and idk i'll be here shipping eddie with getting therapy <3 god knows that man needs it and i haven't even experienced everything yet

🤣🤣 I love you. Let's be friends!

I'm so glad you're watching the show and enjoying it!! If you mostly look for Henren stuff on here I'm not surprised you haven't run into Buddie edits (Lucky you).

You see, Bestie boos only like Henren when they can use that ship as a weapon against anyone who doesn't ship Buddie.

I'm not suggesting it, but you can always go to youtube or even here and simply search buddie... you'll see the edits and the crazy first hand.

One of their arguments is the "You didn't start watching until 7.04" and it's actually hilarious when you find out that some of their biggest buddie accounts didn't start watching until 7.04 🤭

It's similar to if you're in a relationship and you cheat on your partner... you're going to feel guilty, and start accusing your partner of cheating. It's simple psychology but they can't really grasp it.

[cozage]

The Daughter's Return Part 3

Chapter 24: Where to Go From Here

Start From Beginning | Next Chapter | Table of Contents | Read on AO3

Characters: female reader x Portgas D. Ace Word Count: 1k

He didn’t wake up the next morning. Or the next. Or the next. 

But you kept your faith in him. You sat with him all day, only leaving to get checkups done by Law. 

You told him about the changes and updates, about life with a crew that didn’t belong to you. Law knew the gender of your baby, but you refused to find out until Ace was awake, and you reminded Ace of that every chance you got. You talked about the food you ate, and the journey you went on by yourself to rescue him at Marineford. 

You also went to visit Luffy for a bit each day, talking to him and theorizing out loud about where his crew was and what they were doing. You told him about the baby, and how he was going to be an uncle, and how he definitely could not use his rubber powers to make your baby fly into the air. Though you doubted he would listen to you. If he ever woke up. 

Every day Shachi, Ikkaku, or Penguin brought you meals so you could eat with Ace. Law moved your room closer to the brothers so you could sleep in your own bed, but it was pointless. You slept in the chair by Ace’s side every night, even though Law scolded you every morning. 

Jinbe sat outside of the room, guarding you and the brothers fiercely. You weren’t actually sure where his loyalty was between the three of you, but you were grateful for his presence regardless. 

On the third evening, Law moved a cot into Ace’s room, demanding you actually sleep on a bed. 

“It’s bad for the baby for you to sleep slumped like that,” he said, and you finally took his advice, though you pulled the bed next to Ace’s so you could be close to him. 

On the fourth day, Law came and told you he had found the Whitebeard Pirates. They had been searching for you, Marco specifically. He handed you a transponder snail to make the call, but you pushed it away. You didn’t want to call unless you had good news. You weren’t ready to face the reality that waited for you outside of this steel ship. The reality of your father being gone. The unknown future of your family. 

Who had lived? Who had died? You had no idea of the casualties. You weren’t exactly eager to find out, though. Law forbid you from reading the News Coo, afraid that any upsetting emotions would cause negative impacts on the baby. It was imperative that you didn’t go through any more distressing occasions. Your pregnancy was already a high enough risk right now. 

You didn’t fight him on that. You didn’t fight him on anything. You only spoke to Ace, trying to will him back to life. 

You didn’t talk about what would happen if the brothers didn’t wake up. In your mind, that wasn’t even an option. They survived Marineford, so they would make it through this. 

You laid down in the cot next to Ace’s bed that night, reaching up and intertwining your fingers with his. 

“If you don’t wake up tomorrow, I’m finding out the gender of our baby without you,” you threatened. Maybe all Ace needed was some motivation to wake up. Hopefully a gender reveal was enough of a motivator. Even if it was an empty threat. You wouldn’t move forward without him. You couldn’t. 

“We could disappear, you know,” you whispered, closing your eyes. “Live on a small island where nobody knows our past. Start over. Be those boring island people we always made fun of.” You squeezed your eyes tighter, trying to ignore the tears pooling behind your eyes. 

“All you have to do is wake up, Ace. And we can be whoever we want to be. Go wherever we want to go. Just wake up.”

The dreams were the same as always. That stupid island that had grown strangely comforting. Ace and your child playing in the field. 

Nothing bad happened here. Not anymore. The nightmares you once had became hopeful dreams of the future. 

The next morning, you woke to dark, warm eyes staring back at you; your favorite freckled smile gracing your sight. 

You let out a sob, and your hand flew to your mouth to stifle it. 

“S’okay,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and groggy. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Am I dreaming?” you cried, not even bothering to hide your tears. “Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”

“You’re not,” he whispered. “I’d pinch you if I could move any.”

You cried harder, overwhelmed with the fact that Ace was awake. He was here. He had chosen to live. He had chosen you.

“Are you hurt?” he whispered, his eyes moving up and down your body. 

You shook your head. You couldn’t speak, sobs overtaking your body. You hadn’t given up hope but…this was a miracle. He was here. He was okay. 

“Hey-” Ace reached out for you and then let out a low groan that was full of pain. 

The door opened, Law entering. “Y/N-ya, time for your-” he stopped, processing the situation unfolding before him. 

“You’re awake.” He was trying hard to keep the surprise out of his voice. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I took a bath in a lava pool,” Ace moaned, wincing as he shifted in his bed. 

“You’re not far from the truth,” Law responded. He looked at you. “I suppose you can contact your crew whenever you’d like. I’m sure you’re eager to get back to them.”

You gave a nod, your eyes still fixated on Ace, drinking in the fact that he was in front of you. Awake. 

“Wait-” Ace gave a quick cough, trying to clear his throat. You could feel his grip tighten around your fingers. “What’s the gender?”

You almost laughed at his question. He had heard your threat, even in a coma. 

“Oh.” Law scratched his head, suddenly looking very awkward. “Congratulations. It’s a boy.”

--

Tag list! @taeyoge @teiza @tojislawyer @trafalgardnami @bloopbopsblog @dancingnewcat @dxestyi @flooofity @nyxthedragon01 @deadsnothere @h-rhodes1598  @morgyyyyyyy @trafalgardvivi  @fiestynatureweeb @frogpogjoghurt @beepboopcowboy @ms-portgas @luvyallbabes @appalost @zuchkaa @saybeyonce @stray-npc @kitsunechan707 @theyluvmesblog @heartysworld @aira-needs-sleep  @mothmomjay @ophelias-flowerss @aqualein @sehyojae @fanficwriter5 @forgotten-blues @amberash05 @firefistnoct @depressed-but-make-it-cute @stuckinthewrongworld@lizpoir

[massiveladycat]

blue: pjo mention red: legendborn cycle mention black: jst in general i honestly don't care much about the shipping portion of books. like, pjo; there are a lot of other interesting plot points than ships and pjo's never been just about romance yk? it's about so many other things. sometimes, shipping ruins shit for a fandom, especially when people are out here harassing people for harmless ships. when i say harmless ships, i mean ships that don't have pedophilia, zoophilia, incest, and more. scarily enough, there are plenty of ships like that I'm gonna choose not to tag or comment because lowkey interacting with people who scream at you for not liking their ship is something way too common in the fandom. also, legendborn. this book series has a lot going for it (if it can get better after bloodmarked..) but i see a lot of people only focusing on the shipping portion which is very strange to me. this book is about representation and ancestry and finding your roots, not about which boy bree should kiss. i mean, is the romance cute? sure. but let's stop shoving aside the actual plot for it also, mind you, the amount of people i've seen getting attacked for not being a big fan of canon ships is insane. some people think canon is some kind of holy grail, and that changing it is akin to sacrilege and I just do not get it. why does canon matter if some guy says “I’d prefer it to be like this”, and it's still an innocent ship? it’s just an excuse for people who clearly need to go outside to say “uhm actually you’re having fun wrong 🤓, leave this fandom now, you don't deserve to be here”. but also, mind you, if someone makes an anti post of your favorite ship or character /or/ a pro post of your least favorite, stop going after them. damn. scroll past. even block them if you want. it's not difficult. people are entitled to their own opinions and they can choose for themselves what characters they like and dont like. would you like to be attacked for liking/disliking a character? of course not. literally no one wants to wake up to that. TL;DR: sometimes, shipping can ruin a fandom, especially when people harass people over it, and canon doesn't have to be followed, and sometimes anti/pro really isn't that deep when it comes to book characters

[wickjump]

I heard thoe like Hypersomnia? Could that be true?

*quietly slides a yapping card across the table

takes your yapping card and adds it to my probably not all that legal collection of yapping cards. pleasure doing business

that it IS!!!!!!!!! (for those who don’t know, hypersomnia is ink x error x dream poly). anyway I LOVE HYPERSOMNIA. so much so that i was the one to coin the ship name hypersomnia and then became incredibly obnoxious about it ever since.

i think theyre perfect in every way. to me the initial appeal came from loving drink and errorink equally and being a fan of insomnia so why not smash em together? and then i looked deeper into it and Yes i love them.

my biggest propaganda for them is the fact that with hypersomnia, palette, pj, and gradient can exist as siblings without ink being divorced or a shitty dad, both of which im not a fan of. but then we go outside of ship kid territory and think about them and they work SO WELL THERE TOO.

the dynamic feels equal. dream and ink provide physical touch for each other so error doesn’t feel pressured, dream and error provide the romantic feelings for each other while ink is aro, and ink and error both can’t be read feelings-wise because ink has no soul and while not canon I like to think error’s soul is to corrupted for Dream to get a read on, so he feels that they’re not dating him for his aura and rather for him as a person.

and they’re FUN. and lowkey domestic in a sense too like. dream and error bond over spanish tv while ink draws them both so he keeps quiet during the show and doesn’t ramble on. dream listening to both his partners rant on about things they like while he just sits and listens with a genuine smile. movie nights? all the time. they share a big bed, but error’s part is sectioned off with pillows so he feels comfortable, though on days it feels too suffocating he sleeps in a hammock in the room. dream is injured in battle? don’t worry his husbands are the protector of universes and destroyer of worlds. ink is canonically a pretty lonely character—and while he doesn’t mind it per se, nobody ever sees his art. but now he’s got not one but TWO partners to look at his drawings!!!

AND INKS DADS!!!!!!! ASTER AND TOP HAVE TWO SONS IN LAWS!!!!!!!!! and they are SO supportive and they love dream and error and are very happy ink found people that love him for his weirdness and not ‘in spite of it’.

truce or modern au? nightmare does Not Like Them, on the contrary. and it’s funny. hijinks ensue. passive/uncorrupted or otherwise, he does not like them for one reason or another. thinks they have bad intentions, just doesn’t think they’re right, bad influences, or maybe he’s just scared he’ll lose dream and be alone. NIGHTMARE ANGST. YOU GUYS LIKE THAT RIGHT???????

need more appeal? just take whatever you like about drink, errorink, and insomnia and mash it together CAUSE THATS WHAT THEY ARE!!!!!! they are SOULMATES. TRUST ME they said so themselves.

literally any au version or interpretation only furthers the appeal. dream has wings? error uses his feathers in his dolls to make doll-dream’s wings ‘accurate’, and ink uses them in art (plus group preening, and error likes touching Dream’s fallen feathers bc he sorta knows how Dream feels now even if they’ve never/hardly touched).

fgod error/fgoc ink? dream is supportive of both of them and sympathizes with their roles (iirc dreamtale operates in a world where error’s job is necessary and not out of insanity so this is accurate too).

shattered dream and emotionless ink? great they can be 3 evil fucked up boyfriends because error is flexible like that and i like a bit of evil every so often.

it’s all great. they’re perfect. and they’re SO sweet to each other and they absolutely garden together. and every day past 6pm they sit down in the living area and error crochets/sews while ink draws and dream. aw fuck i forgot what dream does but he does some creative thing. whatever. and they take care of their kids together and they’re the BEST dads to EVER EXIST!!!!!!!! and they’re perfect and they love each other and they have rings with gems that they picked out cause they’re married. ok i know you wanted me to yap but this is too long SORRY!!!!!!!!HOPE U ENJOYED IG??

[mcondance]

southern fantasy

— this is indulgently a self-ship. | reader is explicitly and beautifully Black southern (specifically from louisiana). this is literally the definition of “i wrote this for myself, but you can read it too.” | no smut 😱 | hotch got me writing fluff yall do you know how out of character this is for me? | inspired by @murdrdocs’s persisting southern enthusiasm with her characters | story is non-linear mostly, just snapshots if you wanna call it that

1.2k words of fluff and southern fantasy, ft hotch. a love letter to my state, and to hotch.

in the car, hotch’s finger taps in time against the steering wheel, sliding gracefully into the rhythm of the song rumbling out of the stereo. the sun is setting, casting a glow over his face, outlining his prominent nose and cheeks, lighting up the smile on his face.

southern skies are beautiful when you’ve got hotch to see them with.

the south is your home, your territory, your space. hotch, on the other hand, is new. he was fresh, but he’s fit in so well. the difference in birthplaces was stark, at the start, hotch’s eyes gaining a youthful glow every time you showed him a green bayou or took him to a gas station in the middle of nowhere with chicken and meat pies so hot he laughed through the burn.

he still sees everything like it’s new, eyes surveying the small towns you take him through, telling him you have family from here or there, about how your dad knows someone from here and your mom’s childhood friend lives here now. but he’s experienced, has a thing for the nights when it’s quiet out, when even in your bed he can hear the crickets chirping just outside the window.

he likes the drives, the rolling roads and graveled streets and towns that pop up here and there. the breaks in trees that reveal a church, the yellow, faded Dollar General signs and the pastures with cows and horses grazing away.

the towns are his favorite, though. small and cozy, one store for everyone, a mom & pop shop, a church.

lousiana summers are hot, bright and burning and, with the proper precautions, he can enjoy you in the sunshine. under the shade of pecan trees, a distance away from the playground, you sit across him on a checkered blanket, and it looks the image of a picnic date, your dress loose and flowing.

the nights are his favorite, too. you’d both picked a house on the edge of town, half an hour away from the nearest big store, where it’s more practical to hit a market or a gas station than drive to Walmart.

so at night, when it gets dark, it gets dark. he’s never seen the stars so clear until he met you. you and your southern wit entranced him and are still entrancing him now. he likes the subtle differences, the different ways you go about things.

and if he’s being honest, your drawl makes his head spin. he hangs on your words, on the elongated syllables and sour twang and how your accent grows deeper when you’re angry about something, or when you’re so excited your words twist and curl around themselves.

he can’t help but poke fun at you for it sometimes, when you’re speaking normally and a word comes out a little more flavored than the others.

he repeats it to you in his own voice, laughing as you scold him, saying he knew you were country when he met you.

“i did,” he concedes, and it’s like a gut-punch every time he speaks with such fondness about anything related to the relationship you two have shared.

you showed him a different kind of southern, one that isn’t horses and cowboy boots, but parties with familiar songs and a city where everyone knows everyone, nights with fireflies, and foxes you just barely catch glimpses of, rap groups proclaiming their pride in their southern heritage and experiences you only know if you’ve been here.

he’s learned some party songs, and you’ve taught him the dances. he’s so comfortable with them now that he can do them with his arms draped over your shoulders, leaning into the groove as the family you welcomed him into enjoys themselves around him.

he’s a dream at the backyard parties. he lets the kids bounce him on the trampoline, and hang off his shoulders, and pretends like he doesn't see your little cousins sneaking up on him with water guns that look more like water bazookas.

“you know, if that thing isn’t registered, i could confiscate it,” he jokes, dripping with water and too entertained to even fein professionalism.

your cousins shriek with delight, running off to no doubt refill their guns and attack him again.

he’s got rhythm, for a white guy, still awkward but endearing and he’s got enough to make the line dances fun. he claims his favorite is a toss up between “cupid shuffle” and “candy,” but it’s obvious what he leans toward more. he hears the bassline of “candy” and he’s rising out of his chair with a beer in his hand and turning to pull you up too, dancing you backwards into the mass of your family.

your love for him grows with every party you attend, with every dramatic slap he delivers to the ground.

he watches you run and play with your siblings, grown but morphing into the children in the pictures hanging on the walls of the house, your dress soft and purple and flowing and he falls further in love when he hears you scream “stop, i’m not playin’ with you,” all country and playful and beautiful.

inside, squeezed up beside you on a chair, the darkness of night falling over the party and moving everyone inside, his heart is light. he goes back for more plates than he’s proud of, pretending like he doesn’t hear a cousin or aunt giggling at you as he walks away with the promise of bringing you more lemonade.

he’s grown accustomed to the hour long goodbyes, where he’s still talking to your dad or brother about something or the other with his keys dangling in his hand and you talking to your aunt as she plates and wraps up another bowl of her banana pudding.

and the drives. god, the drives. he traded his big truck in for a lowrider at your request, an old car from the 70s that’ll fall apart before it needs to hit the shop. he’s navigated this road more times than he can count, knows what gas station is where and when to look out for the nasty bends and twists that are so prevalent back here.

there’s a CD labeled with yours and hotch’s name in the player, fashioned with hearts all around and a plus between the two names. the sunset flows in through the window, eclipsing hotch’s face and molding him so perfectly with the sky you swear he belongs there.

high and happy, the gas station stop is silly, you fill the small space up with your laughs and chopped up words and hotch laughs with you, finding humor in the smallest things with you.

there’s soft conversation and snacking and feeding him food, him trying and holding his own on a particularly difficult song. he slows the car down, at times, cruises way under the limit cause he just wants to look at you, wants to indulge in the sight of you while he listens to you speak in that tone he can’t get enough of.

he really can’t get over your accent. he gets wrapped up in the push and pull of it, the lows and the highs and the way you sometimes sound like a southern belle, sweet-talking him into staying in bed another hour or hitting the store nearest your house for a drink.

his ears perk up when he hears the subtle (and sometimes, not so subtle) inflection, the way you say “baby,” how his name sounds different from your mouth. he’s wrapped up in a southern girl, in the life he’s grateful to have been given.

southern nights with hotch, through the window of a car or in a closed-in porch on a house in the middle of nowhere, are a dream. a fantasy.