#there's just something special about mature otps

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The rōnin and the yūrei 🌸

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Your blog is my guilty pleasure lol, it's so validating to read your very matter of fact rebuttals after years of being talked over & down to in the fandom. Being in the fan space & hearing the way people talked about how much more "female gaze coded" Z/tara was made me feel like I was betraying other women by not liking Zuko or Zutara the way "real mature" women did.

Funniest thing is, when i watched the show as a kid as an older sister, someone with talent/skills that nobody else understood, a girl who felt she had to be mature all the time, Kataang instantly became my otp. Katara was living my dream of a fun, cute boy sweeping me off my feet, telling me I was special and going on a magical journey with me-- I had the HUGEST crush on Aang as a little girl. It was so lame growing older and hearing near constantly from the fandom how stupid and unbelievable the idea that Katara actually had feelings for Aang was, and how it's a "male" (aka: bad) fantasy, when honestly Zuko's angsty ass was far from dream boyfriend material in my opinion it made me feel gaslit fjhdidjskj.

Genuine Z/tara fans are fine, I totally get the appeal of the red/blue enemies to lovers sparks fly ship, but the meanest and loudest of your crewmates and the way they act like their tastes are the Correct ones has been just. ridiculous for many years. And why do those types always feel the need to start the conversation by bashing Kataang every single time?? I started with a positive opinion of their ship when I entered the fandom as a teen, even liked a few arts and whatnot as a "what-if," but all the nonsense has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

So yeah, thanks for this space to complain about the experiences we've had lol. I've had one too many conversations about ATLA & how good it is interrupted with the other person going "well except for the Main Romance, that was shit and Z/tara should have been endgame" not to be Worn Out. Like if in their opinion the show is *perfect* except that One thing.... maybe the problem lies elsewhere?

Yup, that's definitely a pattern I noticed: zutarians are SO many and SO loud, that even though a pretty large part of the fandom disagrees with their takes (regardless of enjoying the canon ships or not) most of them just... didn't talk about it because they didn't want to be harrassed or talked down to or be hit with the "well, we are the majority therefore we're right" argument.

It's part of why I was innitially shocked at how much support this blog got. I thought I just gonna be in my own little bubble of the fandom, but nope, I got sooooo many messages of "FINALLY! Somebody said it!"

And looking back, I should've noticed something was off. There's a reason ATLA's ending was not one of these disasters that basically nukes and kills 90% of the fandom and live in infamy as one of the worst falls from grace ever, How I Met Your Mother style, even though both shows had the fan favorite ship not end together.

It wasn't just that one was well-written and the other wasn't (though that clearly affected the audience and critical reception of these endings, both at the time and through the decades).

HIMYM was a case of "The actual endgame ship was loathed by nearly everyone while the rival pairings were almost universally beloved."

ATLA was a case of "70% of the fandom likes this ship - of these fans, 25% are multishipers that also like the canon ships, 25% only like the ship in fanfic but don't actually want it to be a thing, 25% loves it but can accept it not being canon at point because they acknowledge it'd be rushed, and the 25% are the ones that would burn down Bryke's house if they could, so in reality only a fraction of the fandom didn't accept the Kataang/Maiko endgame, while the overwhelming majority was either happy about it or indifferent to it"

And that's without taking into account that Avatar got new popularity boosts through the years that lead to plenty of people that had Zutara being hyped up for years being disappointed when they realized "Oh, it was popular because of fanon shit, not because it actually would have made sense story-wise" or people who reached that same conclusion after rewatching the show.

I think that's why Zutarians have such a victim complex and want to pretend Bryke and Kataang/Maiko fans are "oppressing" them - they've been dominating the conversation for years, and not only got no results out of it, they're now losing that "leverage" too. They're no longer in an echo-chamber, they need to use actual arguments that make sense if they want their opinion to be almost universal and they just can't do it because their ship was never that good to begin with.

[yukidragon]

So... what do you think of a concept of Jack's Sunshine who is a Magical Girl?

This ask instantly gave me the image of Alice as a magical girl and OMG the potential of that is delicious. Thank you for sharing this plot bunny with me so I can totally run away with it!

The timing is also fitting since I recently watched the Miraculous Ladybug’s latest season ending and special and, uh… I’ve had… thoughts. (Yes, Miraculous Ladybug counts as a magical girl show.)

Before I begin, I want to plug the SnaccPop Studios patreon since it’s almost certain that I’m going to wind up using the magical girl Jack picture Sauce drew at some point in this ramble, and possibly other SDJ art. Please support the team if you can, and remember don't share anything privately posted on the patreon!

I also want to toss out potential content warnings just in case. This post will contain mention of PTSD, child soldiers, body image issues, cheating, toxic relationships, and the general erotic/horror elements that are part of the Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack package. I’m not sure where I’m going to take this, but chances are there’s going to be some spice involving my OTP and some mention of Jack’s yandere obsession and the extremes he’ll go to keep his sunshine.

Remember, this is an 18+ Adults Only fandom! Minors do not interact!

 The “Magic” of Childhood

The magical girl genre is iconic, and it’s also been deconstructed in different ways with certain anime like Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Given Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack is, in a way, deconstructing lost media and clown mascots into an eroge horror game, it feels fitting to go with that sort of spirit with this sort of crossover as well.

In this case, sunshine would have probably been someone who was a magical “girl” in their childhood/teen years, as that is usually the age range of magical girls doing their magical shenanigans while they learn life lessons and mature. Whether or not MC was actually a girl during this time period is, of course, up to the individual to decide for their backstory. After all, who cares if the magical girls in the story are actually girls? There are an increasing number of stories about magical boys in this genre, for example, and we all know non-binary folks can go anywhere they darn well please.

Given the tone of the game and MC’s state, I think it would be perfectly fitting if they are still a disillusioned adult who wants to abandon all things nostalgic. In this case, their past magical shenanigans would be included in the childish things that they want to forget. Heck, it’s more reason to want to forget if they felt like their childhood was taken from them because they had to fight monsters in secret all the time in flashy clothes and transformation sequences, even having to go as far as to save the world from utter destruction.

Then of course add in the complication that Ian and his cheating presents on MC’s mental state. Magical girl shows very often have romance as one of the key aspects of the story, the star-crossed lovers of the lead magical girl hopelessly pining over the prince charming of her dreams~ Only, in this case, “Prince Charming” betrayed their “destined romance” by getting horny and sleeping with someone else. Bonus points if these two were reincarnated destined lovers or the like, ala Usagi and Mamoru from Sailor Moon. I mean, wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth!

In this sort of AU, the romance with Ian and the magical “girl” adventures MC experienced would be heavily tied to their childhood and teenage years. In a sense, they both represent the MC’s youth, for good and for ill. In the present day, MC is dealing with the aftermath of the love of their life cheating on them, being isolated and alone, and carrying the baggage of their fight to save the world, which robbed them of their childhood. They’re probably extra exhausted if they still have to occasionally transform and fight monsters even in the present day. They have to juggle adult responsibilities on top of the fate of a world, working a thankless job that doesn’t pay enough with a duty that pays nothing at all. They’d probably be even more of a penny pincher in this AU.

Jack entering into the picture would be a very interesting wrinkle to their life. Given MC has faced a lot of supernatural and magical shenanigans, I imagine they’d be more inclined to believe that, yes, this clown that suddenly appeared one day and insists on being their best friend is real. Now they have another magical mascot in their life, only this one isn’t some cute little talking animal. I mean, heck, they might even be more inclined to just roll with it after having to live with a magical mascot bossing them around for years.

Not that I imagine MC would necessarily let Jack in on their secret identity, especially if they’re trying to leave the magical girl business in the past.

I can imagine Jack would be stunned to learn of MC’s secret double life, especially if he saw them during their flashy magical transformation sequence. Magical girl anime wasn’t really a thing in the US in the early 80’s, so Jack isn’t going to be familiar with the tropes, even if there were some in-universe TV shows about it. (I mean, in Sailor Moon, the Sailor V show was a thing, so even in the magical girl universe there were magical girl shows, so…)

Of course, I have a feeling that most MCs wouldn’t be interested in watching any TV shows based on the fictional or real life exploits of magical girls after growing up living that life. It’d probably be a bit too real for them.

Man, wouldn’t it be awkward if during MC’s teen years, when in the thick of living the life as secret protector of the world, they had a best friend who was absolutely obsessed with the magical girl genre? They have to deal with all the drama of being a magical “girl” and listen to people ramble about it even when off the clock. I can see Ian totally being all over magical girl anime, especially when there are real life examples  around.

This gives me the image of MC, sitting in their childhood bedroom with Ian, having to play dumb and smile innocently while Ian gushes about being saved from a monster by a magical “girl” without ever knowing that the person he’s talking about is sitting right next to him. Talk about awkward!

Though it would also be a potential moment for romance. Ian talks up his savior and gushes over how cool they were, and MC gets to feel butterflies at hearing themselves praised so much… even if Ian thinks he’s talking about a different person.

A pity Ian had to taint those sweet memories by cheating, huh?

Back to the present with Jack. Once he finds out his sunshine is going out there battling monsters, saving the world… well, there’s definitely going to be mixed feelings. On the one hand, that’s amazing! It does go to show just how special his sunshine really is. On the other hand, MC is risking their life and possibly getting injured on a regular basis because of this duty of theirs. That’s not even adding in the more unsettling magical girl deconstructions and how that power might come at a cost…

Jack, in general, wants to try and make things easier for MC, and make sure that he is needed by them. Any sort of occupation or secret life they have makes no difference on this fact. However, I think he would want to make sure to reveal that he knows their secret only when the time is right, when he’s sure it’s not going to chase them away from him

So chances are Jack would nudge MC in the direction of wanting to tell him. He’ll show them that they can trust him with any secret, help them with any problem, especially if it’s important to them. He’ll take care of them, no matter what they want to do. He’s there for them… forever.

Until MC lets Jack in on their secret, he could secretly help them. Maybe he can hunt down evil doers and scare those nasty monsters away, maybe even convince the villains to stop creating monsters that put his sunshine at risk. It’s not exactly in character for Sunny Day Jack to want to hurt anyone, but he’s stopping the bad guys! For his sunshine! So they don’t get hurt! The bad guys too dangerous to be allowed to run around hurting people and trying to take away his sunshine by killing or capturing them…

Any sort of magical mascot MC has might wind up interfering with Jack and his plans, or maybe they too will be suckered in by his silver tongue and sweet words. It all depends, really. I imagine with their power, they would be able to see and hear him like MC has, which adds a whole extra dynamic to the relationship.

Hell, Jack could potentially convince the mascot to give him magical powers too, ala this gorgeous piece of art drawn by Sauce.

Look at Jack, all sparkly and magical, with such beautiful colors and design. He’s going to fight for love and his sunshine and triumph over anyone who would dare try to take his sunshine away.

If Jack becomes a magical “girl” too, well, then his sunshine can for sure share their secret with him without worry! It’ll be just the two of them protecting each other and the world. He’ll keep MC safe for sure with his new powers.

And make sure no one takes his sunshine away, even if that means making his magical clothes a little less colorful and a lot more bloody.

Gotta love how Sauce can create such delicious tonal whiplash with their lovely art. Jack makes for a chilling yandere magical girl, don't you think?

Like any good protagonist with magical girl powers, Jack would make sure to protect his sunshine, and even without powers he would want to keep them safe. It doesn’t matter if they have a secret double life. They can share all their burdens with him. No one has to know about their secret identity except for him. It just means their bond is even more special than it already was.

Of course… if MC is keeping Jack at a distance, or interested in someone else, that would create extra conflict. MC would likely be more aware that Jack is an unknown entity and be more wary of him even as they accept his existence and presence in their life as something real. If they choose someone else to pursue romantically, well… that’s a problem for Jack regardless of the universe.

If Jack does manage to get himself some magical girl powers, he might have a whole new arsenal of tools to get rid of his rivals in a magical and flashy way. Heck, if he learns how the bad guys transform people into monsters, he might have a way to get rid of them in a way that is seen as virtuous. There’s all sorts of twisted paths that could be taken with this sort of AU, especially when giving a yandere even more power.

Really, a lot of this depends on the details about the MC’s powers, the mascot they have, what they’re fighting, and if they’re still fighting even as an adult. With that thought in mind, let’s get a little more specific in the way I would personally tackle the idea of Alice being a magical girl.

Magical Girl Alice

The idea of Alice as a magical girl tickles me greatly, especially given the fact that magical girls are always super skinny. I mean, there’s a running joke about the Sailor Moon art style and how long and skinny their legs are. Magical girls don’t tend to appear in plus size unless it’s as the punchline of a joke. It adds a lot of possibilities, and the potential to tackle public perception to the cute stereotypical magical girl archetype.

Needless to say, someone like Alice would have a difficult time as a magical girl for many reasons. She already had a hard enough time being responsible as the oldest child of the King family and taking care of Ian without adding in her duties as a magical warrior for justice.

I can imagine it happening suddenly one day in the typical way these stories usually start, when an entity appeared in the form of a cute rabbit - Honey Bunny.

Yes, I had to use Honey Bunny for the role of magical girl mascot. I mean, who else would fit that role as Alice’s adorable non-human sidekick? In this case, it was a magical entity that took over her puppet and has a similar personality to her SunnyTime Town counterpart. In a way, Alice's issues with speaking were a blessing, as no one looked twice at Alice conversing with her “puppet.” In fact, people were amazed that she had developed some really impressive ventriloquist skills!

Alice has always gone out of her way to help people, just this took that desire to an extreme. As a kid, she was excited to become a hero for justice, and with magical powers to boot. It was so cool to transform into an identity that no one recognized, beating down the wicked monsters and saving innocent people.

Well… in theory. Naturally, the first time Alice actually had to face down a monster born from someone’s negative emotions, it was a lot harder than she thought. The whole magical girl gig was harder than advertised, but Honey Bunny helped her get through it. Besides, she needed to do it. No one else could, and if no one stepped up, the world would be lost.

Alice would have shared her secret with her family, but Honey Bunny always stressed the importance of keeping things a secret. No one must know - not her family and not her best friend Ian, even if he’s crushing on the mysterious magical girl who saved him from the wicked monster his mother had been transformed into one day. If they knew, then the bad guys could find out the truth from exploiting their loved ones’ negative emotions. If that happened then she and everyone she knew was in danger, and the world could be doomed.

Quite a lot of pressure on a kid, don’t you think?

Alice had to learn how to be independent, a lone warrior of justice, taking down bad guys. Sometimes she managed to get help, but it didn’t last forever. Perhaps she did eventually get a superhero team in her teens, which would’ve been a breath of fresh air. She had someone to lean on who understood this destiny that they were burdened with.

It did create this sort of divide between Alice and anyone not part of this magical girl group. This secret and weight on all of them was so big, too heavy. Others couldn’t understand… for the sake of the world.

I was going to say this caused a divide between Alice and Ian, but then I thought of Ian in his bunny costume and, well… Ian would make a cute magical girl, don’t you think?

If Ian was in on this secret double life, it would add more reason for them to cling to each other, especially if it was only the two of them without anyone else to depend on. It’d be like Ladybug and Chat Noir against the world, a whirlwind romance for the ages…

Well… until Ian let it go to his head so that he could get some head.

In typical magical girl story fashion, it took a while before Alice and Ian managed to get in a relationship. There were plenty of near-misses and misunderstandings due to the double life Alice led until Ian joined it. So many outings together had to be canceled at the last minute or interrupted because Alice had to sneak away to save people.

It was the end of high school when Ian got his powers too in a dramatic incident where the world and Alice’s life were hanging in the balance. This is one of those season finale climax moments where everything is on the line and they came a hair’s breadth from everything going horribly, horribly wrong.

Naturally, this made Ian and Alice’s bond, which had been waning due to her double-life, suddenly a whole lot stronger. Trauma bonding is pretty high for young people who need to cling to each other to survive after all…

Alice used her experience to help Ian get used to his role, though he had a much harder time juggling his double life. His mom was a big problem, constantly wanting to know where he was and what he was doing. In the end, he had to give back the powers Honey Bunny gave him because he didn’t see himself as worthy of them anymore. He also just couldn’t handle the pressure, not like Alice could.

Still, the two of them were close because Ian knew Alice’s secret and could help her make excuses to sneak off to save people.

The college era changed everything. The big bad Alice had been fighting for years was finally defeated at long last. She had thematically graduated from being a magical girl. She could finally live a normal life and figure out a dream of her own beyond saving the world.

But… Alice didn’t know what to do. Sure she thought about her future beyond being a magical girl off and on, but fighting to save the world and juggling her personal life with these secrets and lies took up so much of her mental energy. She was exhausted and wound up bouncing around in college.

In typical magical girl story fashion, the protagonist got together with her love interest in the end. Alice and Ian were a couple, so close and in love. With Alice not knowing what to do with this future that was open to infinite possibilities, she let Ian take the lead in guiding their futures, trying to get into acting alongside him.

Of course, much like in the normal universe, Alice got pushback. Though she’s a magical warrior for justice, she’s still chubby. Her physical abilities are better than the average person even in civilian mode, but bodies have a tendency to want to be a particular shape, and for her, that’s bigger than society wants her to be.

Much like in Miraculous Ladybug, Alice has some influence on how she appears when transformed. Will and subconscious desire strongly affect it, as well as creating that special aura that makes people unable to identify the magical girl with the pigtails as the same person as the girl with the same pigtails and hair color who was standing there only a couple minutes before. When Alice first started out, she was more or less herself, but fluffier, more colorful, covered in frills and glitter. She had the young magical girl flare and charm, just plus sized.

Unfortunately, as Alice’s body image issues manifested, getting mocked both by her peers and even enemies, she started subconsciously wanting to be smaller. She saw her ideal self as those skinny magical girls on TV, and it reflected in her transformed mode. It wasn’t an instant change, more like a gradual transition as though the creators behind the series got worried about having a plus sized magical girl and made her gradually slimmer until she looked more “on model” for the genre.

By the time Alice was a teenager, her transformed mode was the typical skimpy, but curvy, magical girl archetype. She didn’t look anything like herself, and there was no chance of mistaking the two of them for the same person. She wanted to look this way in reality, so when she had free time she worked out more and ate less. It was very unhealthy, and Honey Bunny had to work hard to keep her from developing an eating disorder. If Alice wouldn’t take care of herself for her own sake, then she had to do it to have the power to save the world.

The relationship between Honey Bunny and Alice is a deep friendship, but it’s a bit complicated. After all, it was Honey Bunny who guided a child to take on the responsibility of protecting the world. Regardless if there was no other option, it’s still not a burden that should be placed on any one person, let alone a child.

Needless to say, Alice has a lot of baggage from her time as a magical girl and some trauma bonding with Honey Bunny as well. When she finally had a normal life, she had come to accept that she could be loved as she was, not as [insert magical girl superhero name here]. I’m not sure what name I’m going to go with for Alice, but it might be a parody of Sailor Moon’s naming convention or some other magical girl anime’s naming style. I mean, I could call her Sailor Sunshine, but that’s a bit too on the nose. ;3 I’ll have to give it some thought…

What didn’t help Alice’s self-confidence and body image issues was Ian having a crush on her transformed self and gushing about her all the time. Although Ian did have a crush on Alice as well, he couldn’t help but geek out over a real life magical girl, and more than once Alice was made to feel jealous of the persona she crafted that always seemed so much better than herself.

When Ian eventually found out her identity, he was stunned, especially due to how different they looked, but at the same time it made sense to him. He insisted that she was the same person, with or without the flashy costume, and she was just as beautiful either way.

So in the “final season” of this magical girl show, Alice’s transformed self looked a bit chubbier than before - not as full figured as her normal self, but no longer a skinny twig. She better accepted herself a bit more, and she felt loved by Ian both in her transformed state and out. By that point she had grown and become happier with herself.

Which made Ian cheating on her later on with a sexy woman with big boobs and a small waist feel like a huge kick in the crotch.

Alice entered college with Ian full of hope, even if she felt lost for a future outside of being a magical girl. She had a partner who loved her and understood her, and she had the rest of her life to choose whatever she wanted in the world she saved.

It’s just unfortunate that all of the constant battles and running off to fight tanked her grades during high school, which made it harder for her to get into college in the first place. At least Alice could get into community college, even if that meant there was no hope of a scholarship. At least she had Ian by her side.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Though Alice had become a strong warrior for justice, she now suffered from PTSD and had traumatic flashbacks of moments that scarred her deeply, especially when it came to people she couldn’t save. She couldn’t exactly talk about it with anyone, and Ian couldn’t handle the burden. After all, he gave up being a magical girl because it was too much for him, and hearing how hard it was on Alice made him feel guilty, which in turn didn’t help her. Fortunately Alice had years worth of experience in holding it in. When you have to keep secrets in order to prevent the end of the world, you learn how to bottle up a lot of things.

Alice is a much better actor in this universe because of this, and it did help her get further in acting classes despite pushback and at least one teacher warning her about how she would be type casted in unflattering roles due to her body size. Still, at some point she wondered if it really was what she wanted to do. She spent years having all these eyes on her, having to be a commanding presence and play a part…

Despite Ian’s encouragement to keep acting with him, Alice dropped out. Though disappointed, he encouraged her to try and find her own dream. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but in so many ways she was very, very tired.

Alice’s relationship with Ian wasn’t the happily ever after she thought it would be. Much like in the regular universe, things deteriorated between them, with his cheating being the final straw. Those issues were sharper in this world, unfortunately. Ian felt even more insecure having a partner who was this famous  magical girl superhero who saved the world many times over. He felt insignificant compared to Alice at times, like he wasn’t worthy of her, and she could do so much better than someone like him who constantly needed saving… At the same time though… he couldn’t let her go.

The person Ian cheated on Alice with was someone more “on his level,” just a normal person living a normal life who made him feel happy and attractive during a time when he was alone. Long distance relationships are so hard, especially when you’re convincing yourself that you’re always letting your partner down.

Alice didn’t take the confession that Ian cheated well, but she didn’t nearly drink herself to death in this universe. The issue in this world is that the enemy can use your crushing negative emotions against you, so Alice had to learn how to combat those feelings. Often it was by transforming and destroying a few dozen trees in a forest miles away from civilization. When she got all of her energy out, she fled the scene of her destruction and collapsed to the floor of their apartment in tears.

Shaun came by in the midst of her grief, as Ian had called him in a panic to check up on Alice when she wouldn’t pick up the phone for a long time. He was a good shoulder to cry on, and kept her company the entire night until she finally cried herself to sleep.

Of course… the breakup isn’t going to be easy when it comes to superhero identities. Ian proved he can’t be trusted after all by betraying Alice, and she can’t be with someone she can’t trust… but at the same time he knows her secret. It created a lot of tangled up feelings and drama. Ian keeps trying to regain her trust and get back together with her, but she can’t, not with how hurt she is and how much responsibility is on her shoulders.

A new threat could appear at any time. Sometimes unrelated big threats appear, small one-off things. Alice technically can never retire from being a magical girl. It’s part of what made figuring out her future at college difficult.

Honey Bunny, being a magical mascot in charge of keeping up secrecy, used magical means to make Ian forget about Alice’s secret identity and the part he played in the magical girl life. After all, if magical girls have a magical field that makes it so no one can identify them and their civilian persona, even when there’s photographs, then it makes sense there could be different magics to ensure people don’t uncover the secret. I mean, we are talking about the fate of the world after all. That’s pretty serious stuff.

Disillusioned by love, exhausted by her duties, and now only with Honey Bunny to confide in again, Alice feels more alone than ever. She struggles to figure out what she wants in life, knowing that she can’t ever truly stop being a magical girl, not when supernatural forces sometimes crop up to cause trouble… to say nothing of the threat of a potential new villain appearing like the one that forced her to become a magical girl in the first place.

It makes it hard for Alice to feel motivated. Her dreams are murky. She coasts through college, graduating with a general engineering degree just to have something to show for the cost of the classes. She gets a job at Yogurtopia because it at least has flexible hours and Barry at least accepted her excuse that sometimes she’ll have emergencies unexpectedly. He has her work extra hours to make up for those times when she has to cancel at the last minute. Even with a job like this, it feels like she’s hanging by a thread, barely holding on because her boss has decided to offer her leniency. Chances are she won’t get that elsewhere.

Supernatural Ghost(?) Jack

Of course, it’s during this period where Alice is feeling more lost and alone than ever that Jack appears. She sensed something strange about the video tape, but not dangerous. It was compelling, touched by magic, and left her feeling like she had to play it. Honey Bunny had a weird feeling about it and cautioned her when messing with it.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that the connection between Jack and Alice was willingly made, at least for the Sunshine in Hell continuity. It’s no different in this AU. Alice, ever the hero, heard the pitiful cry of a soul trapped in hell, and saved him. Thanks to her years of being a magical girl, having her soul put to the test against many magical effects, Alice didn’t pass out after the pact was made, and she fully remembers the terms of their agreement.

In a way, this starts Jack and Alice off on the right foot. Alice feels a sense of purpose in trying to figure out what happened to Jack and how to help him, and she finds he’s actually a really nice friend. It’s also nice to be around someone who makes her feel understood. Honey Bunny is good company, but their complicated relationship isn’t the same as what develops between her and Jack.

Alice doesn’t let Jack know that she’s a magical girl, though he does know about Honey Bunny, if only because Honey Bunny asserted herself to make sure the terms of the magical pact between the two were fair and that there were no loopholes an unsavory character could take advantage of. Honey Bunny, being the guide for magical girls, has experience in setting up contracts, you see, and she does care deeply for Alice even though she also used the poor girl as a child soldier. Even if she didn’t have a lot of options at the time, it was still not a good thing to do to a kid.

Honey Bunny has a lot of guilt for everything she put Alice through, and is extra protective of Alice as a result. The two are very close, and Jack often feels jealous of their bond. He wants to be closer to Alice, his sunshine, his savior… closer than anyone. Their bond is special. He never felt this way about anyone before…

And Jack certainly doesn’t want anything to risk breaking the bond he has with his sunshine and being damned back to hell.

While Jack can sense Alice’s emotions and vice-versa through their connection, the wording of their pact is a bit tighter in this AU, and they can’t read each other’s minds. Still, that connection of empathy goes a long way in the two of them growing closer.

Jack helps Alice get some direction in life, feel more motivated in herself again in a way that Honey Bunny can’t quite manage to help her with due to their complicated history. He becomes an important part of her life, making it shine brighter and she feels happy in a way that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Alice struggles with burdening Jack with anything, especially since she’s supposed to be the one trying to help him, being the superhero and all, but Jack wants to help her, and it feels so nice to be taken care of for a change.

Alice has carried the weight of the world on her own for so long.

Things get easier with Jack around. Though Alice still works towards helping Jack be human again so he can interact with others, the idea of him one day going off to live his own life is just so sad. But can she really believe him when he says that he wants to be her best friend forever?

Jack understands what Alice is trying to do for him, and he does appreciate it, but he’s not leaving her even if she thinks that’s what’s best for him. He doesn’t want to leave her. Besides, he can see that wouldn’t be best for her. She needs him, and the more time they spend together, the more he’ll do to show her that. It feels so good to have her need him, to feel useful and wanted. She’s such a remarkable person, so strong and brave, but he wants to take care of her. She deserves to be loved and cared for, especially after all she’s done.

Jack, with his supernatural abilities, finds out early on that Alice is a magical girl when she has to run off because of a sudden monster attack. He doesn’t reveal that he knows right away, but subtly encourages Alice to tell him herself. It hurts a little whenever she avoids the opportunities he gives her to open up to him and lies to hide her secret, but he understands that a big secret as this can’t be easy to share, especially after he’s seen what some of these monsters can do to people.

One of the ways Jack tries to encourage Alice to tell him involves talking up the magical girl that appears on the news sometimes, how amazing and courageous she is. Unfortunately, that backfires a bit. Alice is reminded of the way Ian gushed over her alter-ego in the past, and the memory hurts like hell. Jack notices right away that this line of conversation upsets her, even though she tries to hide it. She covers it up by pretending that she can’t see what’s so great about the magical girl except her looks, and Jack, very gently, redirects the conversation in a more positive direction.

After that Jack focuses on not idolizing the magical girl persona, but humanizing her. He says there’s more to “her” and everyone beyond their looks. Everyone is beautiful in their own ways, but Alice doesn’t need the ribbons and sparkles to shine. She doesn’t need to fight monsters to prove how brave she is. She’s the most beautiful, most courageous person he’s ever known.

Alice, flustered by his praise, protests that Jack is just saying that. After all, so many other people are so much more beautiful than she is, including the magical girl who totally isn’t her!

Jack focuses on Alice and her actions, all the things he’s noticed her do day by day that make her shine, the acts of kindness, her bravery and determination. At times his words cross over into things that he does as a magical girl, deliberately so, but vague enough that she wouldn’t immediately realize that he knows. It’s just enough to force her to look at that magical persona in a new light and see that it’s just a sparkling dress on top of the amazing person who invested so much of herself into doing the right thing and sacrificed so much of herself to make the world a better place.

Alice can’t help but feel moved. Jack has a way with words, and she can feel he cares about her. Falling in love with him is a slow burn, but comes as naturally as falling into his arms, and eventually the line is crossed. Although she believed that she would never find true love after everything that happened with Ian, Jack gives her the courage to finally try again.

Naturally this is a love story with a happy ending because I’m a sucker for my OTP. When Alice is forced to reveal her identity through a suitably dramatic moment to save people, Jack gently tells her in the aftermath that he already knew, and he was waiting for her to be ready to tell him. He also tells her it doesn’t change anything - she’s always been the most amazing person in the world in his eyes, with or without the magical wand and frills.

Jack and Alice get together before the reveal, which is a source of anxiety for Alice until everything is out in the open. Fortunately, Jack is so patient with her and helps her deal with her anxious feelings and worries. When the truth is revealed, he helps her avoid people in order to transform safely, gives her ideas for excuses to tell people in order to hide her magical girl persona.

Really, Jack would make for a good magical girl guide. He’s certainly clever and manipulative enough to handle the job. Plus if no one can see him, he can figure out the best hiding spots.

Alice helps Jack become human again, or as close as he can be. When he’s able to be seen by others, a part of her fears that he’ll find someone else, someone he wants more than her. Still, unlike with Ian, she finds herself able to be more open with Jack than she can with anyone else. She eventually learns to unburden herself with him, to show parts of herself that she feels are ugly and would let everyone else down if they saw them. She learns to release worries she held back from even Honey Bunny because of the weight of obligation she had to not let anyone down.

Jack accepts it all. He’s patient and listens to everything. It troubles him when Alice finally tells him all the horrors she faced as a magical girl, all the trauma and awful things that she had to experience for the sake of the world. It feels so unfair to him that such a kind soul has to suffer alone like this. He’s even more determined to be her shelter and give her a place she can feel at home.

Alice feels freer with Jack than she ever felt in her life. Even though Ian knew her secret, he couldn’t handle all the horrors. He couldn’t stand by her side, placing her above him on a pedestal. Even though Honey Bunny was there the whole time, Alice didn’t want to let her down and was looking to her for guidance. Jack, however, isn’t someone with expectations that she has to live up to or a victim to shield from the ugliness of the world. He feels like someone who is there for her, standing right next to her on her level. The weight on her heart feels just a little lighter after she finally accepts that sharing her burdens with Jack didn’t crush him under that weight.

Of course Ian has tried to get back together with Alice in this AU, but he’s had far less luck. His phone got blocked right after the breakup, as did all his social media pages. Their breakup wasn’t “for now” but “for good,” in this AU, much to his dismay. With all the responsibilities Alice has to carry, she has to think of the world before herself. She can’t be with someone who she can’t trust, and he proved that she can’t trust him. It’s lucky that he didn’t blab her secret identity in a moment of weakness before Honey Bunny made him forget!

Ian still reaches out in any way he can though, mostly to Alice’s family and any mutual friends. He stalks her socials through secret alt accounts and tries desperately in his regular life to become the man worthy of her. He constantly tries to figure out ways to make up what he did to her even while constantly putting himself down.

Because Ian forgot about Alice’s secret identity, he forgot that she’s also the mysterious magical girl that sometimes appears in the news for saving people. He can’t help but crush so hard on this mystery girl, and it fills him with so much guilt. He already cheated on Alice once without this silly crush making his heart flutter! He can’t let his heart be shaken up again! He needs to be loyal this time.

At the same time though, it’s over… Ian should move on. Yet, he can’t move on. He needs Alice. He knows he does. He can’t handle life without her. They’ve meant so much to each other for so long. His life feels empty without her.

Also a part of Ian subconsciously remembers the things they experienced when he knew her secret, and it deepens his longing to make things right. He betrayed Alice so deeply when she had such a burden to carry. The guilt is eating him alive and won’t abade until they’re together again.

Alice avoids Ian and is distant when talking with him. She’s able to mask her hurt with a frosty mask, but it’s so very, very painful. She can’t handle being near him or thinking about him for long.

Fortunately, the closer Alice gets with Jack, the less painful it gets to think about Ian. Her heart starts to heal thanks to Jack.

Unfortunately, Jack does not take too kindly to Ian’s attempts at getting back together with Alice Fortunately, he’s not the only one with this sentiment, as Honey Bunny doesn’t want Alice to get back together with Ian either.

Really, Honey Bunny was leery about the idea of Jack being with Alice the second she picked up on something developing between them. She was worried about Alice getting her heart broken again, but Jack is constantly proving her fears wrong. He makes Alice so happy. Maybe this strange and suspicious clown was what Alice needed all along…

Jack takes advantage of Honey Bunny not wanting Ian around to team up and thwart any attempts Ian might make to get back together with Alice. Honey Bunny is a bit of a mischief maker when left to her own devices, and Jack is very good at talking her into playing a few harmless magical pranks on Ian. Naturally, they do this without letting Alice know. No need to upset her by forcing her to think about Ian after all.

So, yes, Honey Bunny, in a way, is assisting Jack’s relationship with Alice in this world too, even if she’s more than a little  hesitant about trusting him with Alice’s heart. She would be even more hesitant if she knew just how thirsty Jack is for Alice. His constant attempts to seduce Alice once the two are in a relationship is a point of annoyance for Honey Bunny, and she serves as a cock block more than once.

Still, it’s not going to stop Jack from showing his sunshine lots and lots of love, or experimenting with magical girl powers in a kinky way. Just the skimpy outfit alone is begging to be used for sexy times, maybe in a bit of roleplay as well. Sometimes pretending to be in a position of vulnerability can help someone take back power they lost, and Alice can discover that being tied up isn’t so bad when the person doing it loves her dearly and will undo the bindings the moment that she feels overwhelmed.

Jack might be playing the role of wholesome kids show host, but he’s still an actor at heart. He can have a lot of fun pretending to be a villainous evildoer who has captured the virtuous magical girl and has her at his mercy. He’s also open for it to be reversed, to be the dastardly villain finally captured by the champion of justice. After all, Alice has a lot of experience teaching the bad guys how to place nice, and maybe she can have a lot more fun with it when Jack is the one she’s teaching a “lesson” with the power of love~

I can imagine Jack would also try to encourage Honey Bunny to give him magical girl powers like she did temporarily to Ian. It’d lessen Alice’s burden and help them both out. He already has supernatural abilities of his own and is bonded to Alice. He can handle the burden fighting evil for the sake of his sunshine and the world. He won’t crumble under the weight of this heavy responsibility like Ian did.

Naturally, it would take a lot of convincing after how far south things went with Ian, but Jack is patient and clever. He’s patient enough to encourage Alice to come to him despite her many fears and scars. He’s patient to encourage them both to trust him, and we all know he has a way with words. Eventually, magical girl Jack will enter the stage and fight for the sake of his sunshine. He’ll use the power of his love to help her shine even brighter than the sun.

Besides the bonus of magical girl powers, Jack would naturally take advantage of the magic that prevents people from connecting a magical girl’s identity with their civilian form. I mean, if no one knows who you are, you can have anonymous sex in public with no one the wiser. Of course, the biggest obstacle is convincing Alice to give it a try, but they’ll no doubt come up with a compromise that satisfies them both.

I think I’m going to wrap up things up there for now. This ramble has gone on way longer than I intended it to - close to 8000 words! And that’s without going into detail with the smut or inserting a snippet of writing this time. I hope you all enjoyed this blend of magical girl shenanigans and Sunny Day Jack. Maybe I’ll get more ideas and touch on this AU again sometime in the future.

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

[a-mel-tomelts]

FINALLYYYYY

3, 4, 5, 13, 20, 30 for your favourite blue lock ship. We both know what it is.

Dishzh

I knew I forgot something. I felt like you wanted revenge pfffft

Ask game!!!

3. Most common argument?

I think it's still arguing who's the best and #1

But if during teens it's more of a boyish desire to show-off. After maturing a bit more it's like a silly banter

"I am sure I am better at flipping pancakes"

"No you're not, Yoichi."

"...wanna prove me wrong?"

Very helpful to do chores or to spice up their boring days (hehe)

4. Favorite non-sexual activity?

Oh man. It's hard. I think maybe anything... Non verbal? Like, where they can do stuff together without needing to speak much? They already live in each others' heads so no need to speak. So, nothing specific. Just them flexing their knowledge of the other be it games, movies, chores or anything.

5. Who is most likely to carry the other?

Rin doesn't like carrying Isagi. Honestly he wants him to move more by his own two feet.

Isagi also doesn't like to be carried BUT. He would really like to carry Rin as a revenge for the previous times. I imagine him training his arms a lot to handle Rin's weight and height :>

13. Who reaches for the other's hand first?

I first thought Isagi. But in a sense that he is usually the first to reach for Rin in general.

But then I re-read and thought. Ah, wait. Wrong thing. It's not about supporting it's just hand holding PFFFFT

And I think Isagi never actively seeks physical touch? Rin also seems like the type to avoid it SOOOOOOO

I think Isagi won't touch Rin unless Rin initiates it first (because the idiot refuses to communicate) and after that Isagi just has no shame touching him whenever he wants (respectfully, of course)

20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

I think both parents would think "the signs were here"

(they are both unhealthily obsessed with football. Come on)

Isagi could be bi but I think he won't care about gender much and his parents have kinda the same idea "love is love" even if they don't understand all that stuff much.

Rin's parents, as we were shown, already think there's something wrong with their son. Honestly, I think they will be surprised their son got SOMEONE at all. Like, yeah, their sons are pretty but they both have hard to handle personalities.

But also I think Rin wouldn't even share the fact and his parents will find out through the news or something.

Their friends. Uh. I don't think Rin had any before BLLK and I don't think Isagi will try to talk to his classmates again.

That leaves BLLK gang. Hehehe. Everyone knows they are freaks. They joked about it. They suspected it. Some even thought they are already dating (Hiori and Bachira were placing active bets) [don't place bets on your friend's life btw]

So. It was fun. Only some of them were really new ro the idea of men dating men.

30. One headcanon about this OTP that mends <heart>?

Rin and Isagi healing their dissatisfactions/trauma thanks to each other (it's more of an implied canonically but not stated factually. Bc Isagi helped a lot and they helped him)

But with RinSagi in particular I like that they see each other equally and at the same time they are not stale. Their rivalry is something that heals them. With Rin, it helps to close the gap made by his brother (honestly, I can understand why Sae did it but he did it too rough) and for Isagi it allows him to fight against someone who is also obsessed with football the way he is.

And. It heals Isagi's ego. He was always for the striker mentality but his school club was.... Not that. It was about fighting as one making Isagi the support (Rin had the same arc as well)

Rin's goal wasn't the best of the best but to beat Sae. It's kinda close but not really. And then it's to beat Isagi. And like, Isagi is the same but he wants to be the best.

They both want to devour eachother.

This kind of relationship is what makes them both so special.

They are healthily obsessed with the other under the thin veil of rivalry that also pushes them to be better.

That includes being a better boyfriend😌☕

(they are still shit at saying what they actually want to say)

[pottedplant53]

A Bunch Of Silly Twisted Wonderland Headcannons

AHHHHHHH I'm definitely gonna make some of these into fics since I have no self control whatsoever. Contains slight character spoillers!

Ruggie's full legal name is Ruginald Francis Bucchi. Ruggie Bucchi appears on most of his tests and stuff so he thought he was safe, but Leona somehow found out about it and has been calling him Ruginald ever since.

There are some personality traits attached to each dorm that generally go overlooked - such as Octavinelle's penchant for gossiping. Most Octavinelle students can sit there and shit talk literally anyone for hours at a time, it doesn't even matter if there's nothing to be said, they'll just start rumours. Not even the trio are immune to this.

After the MC shattered Deuce's entire worldview (told him that there weren't always chicks inside eggs), Ace took it as an opportunity to develop a new hobby. For no reason other than to be a bitch, every so often Ace will gaslight Deuce into believing something dumb. Deuce starts off so sure that Ace is trying to trick him, but by the end of it he'll waddle up to Trey with his head down and ask him if chocolate milk really does come from brown cows.

Sometimes when in public, Vil will carry around a purse filled with bricks. No one knows why and no one is brave enough to ask. The actual reason is something to do with specialized weight training, but Epel has come to the conclusion that he has it so he can swing it around like a mace and beat people up with it.

Sebek once carved an elaborate ice sculpture of Malleus for his birthday. He figured that since it was December at the time it would be cold enough to keep the statue in the courtyard until January (so that everyone had to look at it), but he was wrong. When he realised it had melted he was so distraught that he fainted.

Trey and Chenya both despise Riddle's mother. Chenya in particular exacts revenge on her by sneaking into her study and hiding glasses of milk around, so that once they go bad she'll have no idea where the awful smell is coming from. Trey likes to think that he's more mature than that, but when Chenya told him about it he resolutely decided that it was 'none of his business'. Chenya always makes sure to remove the milk before Riddle goes home for the holidays though.

The staff are massive shippers, Sam and Crewel especially. They have a list of OTP's a mile long and will actively fight anyone who disagrees with them. Crowley tried to tell them that shipping their students together was 'unprofessional', so they reminded him that not hiring a counsellor after the 6th overblot in a row was even more unprofessional. He was quiet after that.

When Neige first saw Epel he thought he was a dwarf, and got really excited because it meant that Vil also had dwarf friends and they could bond over it. He asked his friends if they knew what kind of dwarf Epel was, and seeing how excited it made him no one had the heart to tell him. To this day, Neige believes that Epel is an apple dwarf, a species entirely made up by Dominic.

Lilia is 99% sure that Silver is probably the missing prince of a neighbouring kingdom. When he first found him he intended to take him back immediately, but then it started raining so he couldn't without risking small Silver's health. Every day there was something preventing him from taking him back, be it the weather or an event or just Lilia not really feeling it. This has been going on for 17 years.

After a particularly tiring basketball club meeting, Jamil came back to the dorm only to realise he'd forgotten to prepare anything for Kalim's dinner. In a moment of desperation he threw some dinosaur chicken nuggets in the oven and prepared a whole speech on why he hadn't cooked a proper meal like usual. He served them and Kalim declared that they were the greatest thing he'd ever tasted. Jamil was furious.

A bunch of Ignihyde students banded together to confront Idia about some minor issues that were going on in the dorm (the heater is broken, my roommate is being too loud, etc). They stood outside his door waiting for a response for so long they were worried that he'd died. It turns out that he'd heard them coming and bungie jumped out of the window using a string of his Hatsune Miku underwear to get away from them.

Thanks for reading pookies

[severussnapeconfessions]

Snanger is my OTP even with the huge age gap and I feel morally torn bc in real life it would have been disgusting

finally a confession. Feel my love and appreciation please.

Well. Let's get personal. I am not the best person to evaluate that because I am myself a huge SSHG fan. It makes sense in my mind, and I am totally disregarding the age gap as a problematic factor. And to me , the age gap used to be a problem and I usually only pictured Severus with OCs.

But then, one of this blog's co-owner back in the day recommended a fanfiction of SSHG that I reluctantly read and ... my heart was stolen forever.

It was well written, slow burn, natural intelectual attraction... Stupendous plot...

I don't usually appreciate the fanfictions or scenarios in which there is exclusively sexual tension between the two right from the beginning - specially as student and teacher - precisely because the age gap would make them both not attracted to each other instantly. I mean, Hermione did have a crush on Lockhart but it was just a girl crush thing when she was actually a child. In my head, SSHG relationship would begin intellectually and slowly progress into something deeper. Severus would deny and resist until it would be unbearable and Hermione would corner him and force him to admit that there is something there. And Severus would be the one clawing his mind at the age gap. Hermione wouldn't care.

Why do you say that you are morally torn and feel that it is disgusting in real life? There are couples in real life with huge age gaps and they have been happily together for a long time.

To me, it is all about maturity, and we all know that Granger was mature beyond her years. They would meet each other halfway.

If the age gap while Hermione is 17 is something that is troubling you (I imagine that is why you said it was disgusting) search for post-war scenarios where she is of age.

If you want some recommendations let me know, I will dig around and send you the links.

Thank you for the owl 🦉

[yhuckloop]

Why so much hate towards Wendy?

I need to vent somewhere other than twitter I REALLY wanted to be the kind of person who had the courage to express my opinion like this by answering and facing it but I care too much about my image lol stan kinnie (and also because I think it's a silly reason to fight over a fictional character idk)

Unfortunately I had the displeasure of seeing a twitter account hating on Wendy (I won't divulge it here, but it's basically an account calling her a whore and other stuff) and unfortunately, one of the owners of the account was someone I liked and followed her drawings, fanfictions, etc.

I followed this person even though I knew how much she hated Stendy (which is my otp) and anyway, anything involving Wendy

Wendy is a very special character to me. I liked her from the first episode. I like how South Park portrays all the characters as flawed, they are human, they make mistakes and they learn from mistakes. Same with Wendy. She's made mistakes many times, but she's always learned from them. She is an inspiration to me, like the breast cancer episode, where she fought to defend a cause that was important to her. And then these people come to me and call her manipulative, selfish and mean? For God's sake! No one is forced to like her, of course, but it's good to know that the reason they hate her is just one reason that would be enough to hate all the other characters.

"Wendy is a manipulator! She blackmailed Stan in Season 1 Episode 7"

- She is a child. Her blackmail about combining fantasy with stan (or whatever the fuck she did, I can't remember) is no big deal. Also, Wendy apologized to Stan, acknowledging that she hadn't taken his feelings into account.

"Wendy never takes Stan's feelings into consideration. He's already treated her very badly but nothing compared to what she did to him"

- I really can't see all this harm that Wendy did to Stan in the relationship. She "cheated" on him with Tolkien because she clearly felt lonely. In the scene, Stan himself said he hadn't spoken to her in weeks! BOTH ARE CHILDREN they don't have maturity for a relationship, it's obvious that this would end up happening. It wasn't right for Wendy to do that, of course, but it's kind of understandable considering how old she is. Same with Stan. Wendy was a great girlfriend. She worried about Stan when he was depressed, inviting Kyle to visit him together (which Kyle himself refused to do 😱) and even hired specialists to deal with Stan's hoarding problem. She was worried about him and in the recent episode, we could see how much she loves and cares for him. The problem is that they both have different love languages, something they won't identify with being a problem with their age.

"Wendy is stupid, the only good thing she did was in the list episode" and "she didn't even help with the list episode, stan did everything himself" (I swear it was stuff like that on this account) The owners of this account swear to have watched the series and say that those who defend Wendy are those who have not seen the series. Like... really?

- 1: Absolutely in all episodes starring her, she is the heroine of the day.

Wendy showed the importance of fighting against childhood erotization, the importance of breast cancer, criticized the standard imposed on young girls and women by the media, in addition to which she has an irreparable critical sense. She is the real girlboss! Of course, Wendy has done things VERY wrong, like sending Miss Ellen into space, but come on? this is part of the humor of the series. Characters will always act stupid at some point because that's where the fun is. Like, when Kyle does stupid things and acts on impulse, in anger, to champion a cause, he's considered a boss. But when it's Wendy, they call her an "insufferable feminist". When Kyle does stupid things and acts on impulse, in anger, to champion a cause, he's considered a boss. But when it's Wendy, they call her an "insufferable feminist". When Kyle blew up Canada causing death to thousands of people because of his belief that Canada was a bad influence, he is considered a human with flaws, but when Wendy went on a TV show to talk about the importance of stopping the pattern of feminine beauty in young women, she is called a "dumb bitch"

- 2: Wendy who discovered the hoax on the list; she analyzed all the data and discovered that something was wrong, she faced her friends even though she knew that this could cause her harm. Stan did absolutely nothing but stand and watch, he didn't even know what to say when he got in front of the girls to argue. Wendy is the one who saved Kyle from burning down the school. SHE SAVED THE FUCKING SCHOOL

Anyway, other horrible things were said that at the moment I can't remember to rebut them and idk I don't want to waste my time on that. Sorry for the very very long text, I really needed to dump this somewhere

[seamsterspell]

Hey, Ann!! Happy Valentines!!! 💚💚💚

I was wondering here: which ships are in your Top OTPs? And why you love them so much (if you want to share!)

OMG HI MONDO!!!! Happy (belated) valentine to you as well 💘💘💘 How are you?? I hope you are well!!!

Of course I want to share, I love oversharing about my ships HAHA. So here you go, a (short) list of my SNK OTPs:

LeviHan

(pretends to be shocked). No, but I'm not even kidding when I said that they live in my head 24/7 🤣 Everytime I do or see something, I would automatically connect it to Levihan. I just can't help it lol, I love them so much (both as a character and as a ship). Their relationship is mature and pure but fun at the same time. I mean, they embody all of my favourite tropes, so no suprise here. But idk, there are no other ships (that came before them or after them) that could alter my brain in the same way as them. They changed me fr, like something shifted inside me the moment I became a Levihan shipper. Hell, I even chose my uni major because of a Levihan fanfiction 💀 Not only that, my writings and English has improved a lot, and all of that merely because I want to write their fanfic LOL.

I've been a Levihan shipper since 2013 and I will continue to be one until I die. So yeah, expect to see more Levihan fanfiction for more decades to come 😚✌️

AruAni

They don't really live in my head 24/7 but I still think of them often. Also, they hold an important place in my heart since they are my first ship in SNK. Not only that, they are also special to me because they are THE ship that went from being considered as a crack ship to a canon one. LIKE IT WAS INSANE. I mean I've been an Aruani shipper since 2013 and so I knew how small the fandom were back then. Not only that, most of the SNK fandom saw AruAni as a crack shipper, but we were like, "No! They are not! (proceed to analyse the hell out of their interaction in the female titan arc)." 😀👍

So imagine how SHOCKED and ECSTATIC I WAS when all of these analysis and headcanons CAME TRUE. It took us almost a decade, but we finally got to say, "See guys? WE ARE NOT DELUSIONAL." I never been proud as a shipper HAHA. One of my biggest flex is to say that I've been an Aruani truther since 2013 😎

Okay now that I think about it, the only ships that I deeply care about are only the two above. I do like other ships, but only in a casual way (but I still gonna defend them though LOL), and those are:

YumiHisu

I used to be neutral with them but when that episode of Historia holding the passed out Ymir on her lap and said, "My real name is Historia", then they stared at each other eyes with such love???? BEAUTIFUL I SAY. Their dynamic and the way their characters arc intertwined with each other? Love it! I wished Isayama gave them a proper closure though :(

JeanKasa

Oh man, I actually have a lot of things to say about them but I'm gonna keep it brief🤐 I didn't ship them at the beginning, but as I grew up and as I tried to understand their characters, I found myself falling for JeanKasa and their potential. I feel they will have a healthy, mature, and loving relationship. I also like the way Jean showed his love to Mikasa (he's not selfish and he's not blinded by his love).

Well, that's all! But, before I end this ask, here are some honourable mentions: PokkoPiku, EreHisu, EreMin, and MikeNana.

Bonus: I actually like to play with the idea of Erwin and Marie, I even tried to explore them in my fic HAHA.

OK THAT'S ALL. SORRY IF THIS WAS TOO LONG MONDO 😝 Thank you for the ask!! You made my day!!!!! I love you 💖💖💖

[izzyspussy]

Hiya Jack! For the OTP ask, Roy/Jamie/Keeley and 22, 56 and 58. If three is too greedy, pick and choose as you see fit. Please and thank you. <3

What reminds each of their partner?

Roy and Jamie will never tell each other but they are both genuinely reminded of each other by actual muppets. The reason they won't tell each other is not because they don't want to be insulting (they do want to be insulting) but because they feel sentimental about it lmfaooo. Jamie will see Sam Eagle or Oscar the Grouch somewhere and get misty eyed alsfjksk. For Roy is pretty much any fucking muppet 'cause he's the one who said it, but most particularly Rowlf and Janis. These two are also reminded of each other by certain shades of blue. Keeley is reminded of her boys by Richmond colors, by the brand Jamie's always wearing, by anything all-black that isn't usually black, and by basically any football stuff. She also has "their song" for each one of them and them as a throuple. (I don't listen to the kind of music she listens to, so I don't have specific songs to tell you.) She also really loves both of their accents and she thinks of them whenever she hears someone speak like them. Roy is reminded of both Keeley and Jamie (and Phoebe) by the color pink. He's reminded of Jamie by his own various Three Lions stuff, now lol. He's reminded of Keeley when he cooks or reads (the latter reminds him of Phoebe too). He's reminded of Keeley any time he takes a moment to fucking chill out and appreciate his surroundings. He's reminded of her (and now Phoebe too lmao) by the music Keeley listens to. He's not really that much of a music guy himself, so whatever music he does know will remind him of one of them tbh, since they're both passionate about what they like. He's reminded of Keeley by his own shitty handwriting lmfao. Listen. He's always thinking about them. Jamie is reminded of Keeley whenever he's doing something or behaving in a way he feels is responsible/kind/mature. He doesn't exactly credit her for him doing that, he knows he's the one who's accountable for his actions both bad and good, but she was the first person (other than his mom) who ever had any expectation of him to be "good" or belief that he could be, and that was a really important thing for him! He also thinks of her any time he's enjoying something he thinks is fancy or, like, sophisticated or "cultured" or whatever (like plays, etc). He also has a "their song" for her (not for Roy, their "song" is football wlkjrlkskf), and they had a sort of battle of the bands once where they blew out the speakers of Jamie's surround sound stereo and also Roy's patience, so the songs the two of them used for that remind him of her too.

What do they do turn the other on/put them in the mood?

Well, Jamie is RoyKeeley's little sexbot puppy, so they can pretty much turn him on just by telling him to be alsfjkkw. In particular though, he gets really weak kneed and easy by being petted/caressed, praised with that certain tone, or made to feel special in some way - nice individualized attention from Roy, being compared favorably to someone (other than Roy), an elaborate date or gesture, etc. These things give him a sort of "time to make love" kind of arousal. He wants more of the intimate/special feeling and he wants to make them feel as good as he does, and some very sweet sex is a great way to do that. For a more "time to fuck" type of arousal, Jamie can always be reliably worked up by a little roughhousing or pets/caresses that are particularly possessive (grabbing his throat or patting his ass or circling his wrists, etc, regardless of if it's rough or gentle). Being sexually teased/denied/having to watch (even just Roy and Keeley kissing if he can't join them for whatever reason) will also get him this type of aroused. And also of course winning a match, but that's not really something either of them do (although Roy will claim credit for it sometimes lol). The two most sure-fire ways for Jamie to turn one of them on are opposites qljisk. He can be an absolute brat and make them want to put him in his place, or he can be incredibly sweet and submissive and make them want to make use of that. When he's preemptively submissive, Roy always wants to test him, see how much he can make Jamie do for him, and he likes to assign him tasks that aren't necessarily explicitly sexual as a sort of tease for both of them. Keeley doesn't really see the appeal of that, her sex is generally much less convoluted than theirs lmfao. When Jamie's sweet she wants to reward him. Jamie also really good at putting very specific inflections into his patterns of speech, so he can turn a completely mundane phrase into something fucking filthy through tone alone and then say it normally later to be an unconscionable tease in public lmao. He can also rev Roy up by making him jealous. This one doesn't work on Keeley, for obvious reasons.

Who’s more likely to hold a grudge after an argument?

I actually don't think any of them really hold grudges, at least not against each other or about real arguments. Like, Roy has a grudge against Carragher, and he held his grudge against Trent for forever, but those are from an apparent mutual dislike and a distant devastating insult respectively. Having an argument or even full on fight with someone you have a personal relationship with is something totally different from those. I also think all three of them have tempers, but they are also all three fully cognizant of those tempers and take deliberate steps to control them or at least mitigate their effects. This is especially true for Jamie and Roy, who are both very scared of hurting people they love. Keeley holds the same type of grudge that Roy does, against strangers or near strangers or acquaintances or whatever that she'll hold onto for foreeeeeever, but she's extremely quick to forgive someone she cares about no matter how dramatic her anger was when her temper snapped with them. All it really takes for any of them is an open discussion of what upset them and a genuine, self-aware apology to get them past things. The only time they'll hold "grudges" with each other is over stuff that doesn't actually matter. Like if one of them eats someone else's special snack, or jokingly insults a musician they like, etc.

OTP Asks

[joking-suggestions]

The End of the F***ing World inspired thread

imagines/prompts for your f/o and -or- your otp.

I've recently did a good rewatch of this show because I absolutely adore it. since , in the end, it's about a weird love story between two troubled teenagers, with its good wholesome moments, I thought it'd be cute to write down some of my favourite scenes and sharing them as a megapost there.

cw: this post is going to include a few mature contents such as alcohol, violence and sexual activities. HOWEVER, said imagines will be flagged with a red caption (like this.)

☆ imagine running away from home together.

you're both sick of your relatives and your hometown, so -maybe- starting over only with each other it's a fresh, needed start.

☆ imagine crying in the bathroom because life is a shit (or other reasons) for not directly show any tears in front of them.

although they casually hear you crying in the bathroom and can't help but feeling sorry for you -because- they haven't noticed you were trying to play strong all along.

☆ imagine having to share the same bed with them in a hotel room (or whatever).

you ask them to hug you in your sleep. the next morning you wake up in each others arms.

-suggestive-

☆ imagine breaking the car (bonus point if its a car you've stealth for your runaway) while trying to have sex when the car engine was still running.

☆ imagine starting a forced relationship with them but you end up falling genuinely in love with each other due to your necessary compliance.

☆ imagine dancing together in the living room of a stranger while blasting loud old music (cw for alcohol: even better if it's when drinking). one of you closes their eyes for not making uncomfortable the other, but alas, they break the promise and admire their beauty in such a lovely moment of freedom.

...and you end up kissing.

☆ imagine that after an argument one sleep on the bed and the other on the floor, but still holding the other's hand.

-dead body, implied violence-

☆ imagine burying a body together-

☆ imagine driving and not having a destination. playing loud music and just having fun, enjoying each other's company.

☆ imagine taking different paths and not seeing each other for a few days, worry growing from each side. but in the end you'll meet in the same spot you parted ways at the start. them still waiting for you.

you sit next to each other, holding hands, as you acknowledge that you're all you've left. they've waited for you all this time, and you come back just for them. whatever you share is special, and you can't ruin that. as long as you're together, everything is fine. even at the end of the world.

-small crimes-

☆ imagine stealing something or committing a small felony (it doesn't have to necessarily be illegal, these can also be normal accomplishments) and kissing each other passionately as a celebration of your well done.

- a second part is coming soon!

[civilight-eterna]

fic request guidelines masterpost and tag library

fic requests are currently [OPEN/CLOSED]

fulfilled requests quick link [here].

ko-fi page [here].

see below the read-more for guidelines!

things I prefer to do:

f/f ships

arknights

vocaloid

nsft(w) depending on prompt

my otp chenmiya (typically I age up amiya for these)

sweet and wholesome, sane and consensual

toxic and messy, insane and dubious

ticklekink trash

other ships I love; ch'en/blaze/amiya, ch'en/blaze, horn/mandragora, texland, abyssal hunters/each other/irene in any combination, ursus girls in any combination, scavenger/closure, leizi/blaze. I'll update this as I remember more but those are the top ones

characters I love, all the above plus; dorothy, scavenger, warfarin, closure, earthspirit, cantabile

things I'll do:

almost any f/f ship

star ocean 2 femslash <- and if you're a star ocean 2 fan i wanna be fwiends (つ≧▽≦)つ

ex astris girls

fandoms you know i know

polycules (abyssal hunters, ursus girls, nearl and the girls and most any others you can think of)

het on a case by case basis-there's a few I'm down with like whisperain/phantom (based purely on the op rec interaction being really cute) and...I can't remember any others rn. i'm not inherently opposed to a decent het.

I can and will write fucked-up shit. Don't be shy. You will not surprise me and I will not judge you.

examples: sexy cannibalism, sister incest, dub-con in the right circumstances.

gen-fic is okay too though i promise

au's are fine too

things I won't do:

self-insert or cis male!doctor/anyone. if I'm writing the doctor they are either female, nb or genderqueer in some way and they will be their own unique character

anything that goes so far against a character's personality that it's too difficult to write. if you want something specific you can get detailed in your prompt request though and I'll do my best to rise to the challenge!

lesbian-coded characters in het ships. I know this can be a little subjective so it doesn't hurt to ask if you're not sure.

blaze/greythroat. sorry. it's just an ick for me.

characters that are fairly obviously not even pre-teens yet. suzuran is too young.

some considerations:

amiya is kind of a special case. there's a lot the game suggests about her mental maturity vs. her age and i think in any setting aside from arknights i usually call bs because it's usually a lay-up to some kind of 'ship yourself with this underage character, look it's okay' kind of vibe, but arknights puts pretty exclusive emphasis on the familial relationships with amiya and the 'self-insert' character. i feel that as a pharmaceutical CEO with a lot of stress and centuries of grief and empathy stored in her body...girl can do what she's gotta do with the other characters. I do like to age her up a little bit to avoid the gymnastics of trying to explain everything every time though. I ship her with pretty much any woman in the game in the right contexts. update: please please PLEASE consider this carefully before you offer to let me come be in a server/come discuss story ideas anywhere. i write what i write because it matters to me and even if it didn't matter to me as much i really strongly feel that art is the safest medium in which we explore things that might be harder for people to understand otherwise. i am very clear and front-facing with chenmiya being very important to me and it's a pretty solitary existence at times because of it, so please don't invite me somewhere and then ask or expect me to amputate that part of myself because i will be very very hurt.

I do reserve the right to refuse a request for any reason. I do this for fun in my free time, for free, to work on my writing a little, and while I don't refuse things outright most times, please understand if I just lose a little steam.

length of the work will depend entirely upon my inspiration-I'll try to make sure you at least get a drabble size of a few sentences, but I'll do my best to make the most out of the prompts you take the time to send me.

i know most triggers to tag for but if you need something else tagged drop me a line. I gotchu.

okay, that's about it! I'll update when I'm taking requests at the top of the post, so check for availability before you send in a prompt.

thank you for reading! can't wait to write for you.

[oblivious-aro]

For the character ask, Robot from Dicey Dungeons? Also mayhaps Maya from Ace Attorney if you'd like a bonus!

Robot:

How I feel about this character

I can’t help but feel bad for Robot. It’s very genuine, and obviously trying its best, but has very clearly missed some important memos. It wants to compete a second time?! Robot, even if you don't know just how sinister Lady Luck's setup is, you've gotta at least figure there's no way you'll be able to earn two prizes at such a high value.

Robot's got decent intentions, but it's also kind of out of touch with reality, and I feel like someone could easily take advantage of it.

Considering its desire was to eliminate the need for sleep, I'm also a little worried it's not prioritizing itself properly. Robot, I ask this with concern, why exactly do you feel the need to be so efficient all the time?

Robot makes me a bit sad and worried. I hope it has nice friends, and maybe takes a bit more time for itself.

I could be projecting a teeny bit here maybe…

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Ew, cooties.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Robot & a therapist.

(For a more real answer, I feel like Robot and Inventor could do some powerful things together. Nerd power!)

My unpopular opinion about this character

Hmm…kind of hard to have an unpopular opinion about Robot.

I don't think I really found them that hard to play as? Just stop rolling when you get close to jackpot, use all or most of your dice, then keep rolling. It’s been a minute, but I remember that usually works pretty good if you want to play it safe.

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

I want the contestants to have that brunch, and I want to see Robot unapologetically enjoy it’s meal. Like, it's ordered a stupidly tall stack of pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles or something.

Maya Fey:

How I feel about this character

I quite like her. Her upbeat attitude is a good balance to Phoenix's “I'm so tired and want this to be done” energy, and also really charming.

She's very interested in the world around her and wants to push all of the shiny buttons. As someone who's tasted the water in a sensory deprivation tank (don't do this), I very much respect and relate to that attitude.

Also love how unapologetic she is about her personality and interests. That's probably a big contributor to why she's so emotionally stable despite…everything that's happened in her life.

On the one hand I'm not sure the writers took this side of her character seriously enough, but I do like that she's handling her shit. It would've been nice if Phoenix had showed her a bit more support/sympathy, but I like how the two of them are shown to be on a relatively equal level of importance and competence. Given her situation, I feel like “Phoenix being saddled with the burden of taking care of Maya on top of everything else, but she's useful every once in a while to reward him taking care of her” could've been an easy trope for them to lean into, but they avoid that and I'm glad.

That being said, I love how they dig into Maya's insecurities in the first game. Yes she's competent, but she's also 18 and trying to help a lawyer despite having had no legal training. Even the one special skill she was supposed to bring to the table, she's been struggling with, so it makes sense that she starts feeling insecure about her place at the agency. I gotta say, seeing a character who's typically outgoing and confident express insecurity hits a lot harder than a shy character who's always insecure express insecurity. I genuinely felt bad when she asked Phoenix if she was actually useful.

It is kind of disappointing that she gets relegated to damsel in distress for the climax of the 2nd and 3rd game, though.

She does appear in the sixth game, and she doesn't really have an arc, but I love that she's obviously matured in her time away. She seems much more capable of leading her village and had mastered the channelling technique she struggled with in the first games. And she still unapologetically loves nerdy stuff. It's great <3

I like her spunk, I like her strength, and I like her unapologetic nature. Kind of sad the original trilogy never gave her an arc as good as the one in the first game.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Honestly I'm kind of getting some aro vibes. I might be biased tho… (don't super remember where I picked up these vibes :/)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Boring answer, but Maya and Phoenix are pretty classic for a reason. They're two very different people bonded by sharing very specific experiences and have really grown to care for and appreciate each other deeply.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Fanziska/Maya is very much just she was a girl, and she was a girl. If you want a sapphic counterbalance to Wrightworth, Lana and Mia are right there. Please I need some Franziska animatics that aren’t ship focused. Please please please they’re scarce enough as it is.

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

I feel like we could've had more serious moments with Maya. Maybe we could've seen her leaning on Phoenix for support a little? Maybe have a small breakdown or two? It wouldn't have to be anything huge, Maya's actually a very strong and mature person, but she is still an 18 year old living on her own, she just lost her sister, she's the next in line to lead her village, she's trying to juggle her spiritual training with an incredibly involved office job, and is kind of sort of suddenly responsible for raising her small cousin. I wish the writers acknowledged the weight of her resonsibilties a little more. It really would’ve strengthened her characterization and her relationship with Phoenix if she came to him for support more, even if it was just emotional (cuz sometimes just that's all you need).

Ooh! What if one time they're in the middle of a big case, and Phoenix notices Maya seems off, and when he asks her about is she's like “we're doing more important things right now”, and he’s like “what? No Maya, you're just as much a priority as this case!”, and then sge vents and he reassures her, and then either she's way more energetic and helpful after, or she takes a break and Phoenix does the next part of the case alone (or with someone else), until Maya returns in time for the trial with a noticeably clearer head. (I just kind of thought of this scenario now, but I love it).

It also would been great if she'd found out Edgeworth watches Steel Samurai. To be clear, they would absolutely not be fan buddies, Edgeworth would go into hard denial and/or pretentious mode, while Maya would be exploding with overwhelming fangirl energy. The other characters are too scared to intervene. Unstoppable force meets an unmovable object type deal.

[somekindofadeviant]

Sprusilla Fic Recs

My absolute captivating beloveds, my OTP before I expanded out to an OT4. I gotchu some recs for the married Victorian babies of the Whirlwind. Travels with Spike and Dru by Rebcake - A wonderful series with several classics. 24 Hour Midnight, Tipperary, Let The Good Times Roll, Voodoo Chile...Just go read the whole series. Rebcake is a master of drabbles and short works. Rating: Varying from G to Explicit, Length: 33,362 words Placeholder by Glassdarkly - If you go down to the woods today... Actually, wait. Why would you do anything that stupid? A spooky horror vignette. Rating: Teen+, Length: 1292 words Night Off by Glassdarkly - Breaking into a cemetery on Halloween? Maybe not the brightest idea in the world, even if it is supposed to be a vampire's night off. Rating: Teen+, Length: 2697 words Unwrapping by brutti ma buoni - Another spooky lil vignette. Short and nasty and perfect. Rating: Mature, Length: 850 words O, Little Breath of Oblivion by Dead Soul - 1920s Harlem, Jazz Age sex and vampire hijinks. Deliciously gruesome. Rating: Explicit, Length: 2057 words The Third Defenestration of Prague by Kairos - Spike, Dru, and an angry mob. Disorientating in a perfectly apt way. Rating: Teen+, Length: 1253 words Crazy Madcap Redemption by Hello Spikey - Set during A:tS s5. Drusilla returns, not to be evil, but to reconnect. Can Spike draw her to the light before she draws him to the dark? Rating: Mature, Length: 32,526 words Theatre of War by meridian rose - Harvesting the battlefields of the first world war. Rating: Teen+, Length: 553 words Prague Series by FayJay - Spike and Dru hit Prague. Thoroughly wonderful and vicious. Consists of Painted Eggs, Bone Chapel, and The Painted Rose. Rating: Explicit, Length: 28,811 words Hotel Lavear by Indri - South America, 1998, the chaos demon's POV. A Tragicomedy. Rating: G, Length: 7532 words Twist by Darling Effect - A quiet night home with Spike and Dru in the whirlwind days. Oh yeah, and there's pegging. Rating: Explicit, Length: 1275 words The Dangers of Desert Driving by Meltha - Spike and Dru pick up a rather familiar hitchhiker. Brilliance ensues. Rating: Teen+, Length: 2895 words The Body Electric by sevendeadlyfun - Spike finds a way to give Drusilla what Angelus never can - the beating of her heart. Rating: Explicit, Length: 1500 words The Gold Wrapped Box by duh i write - A bit of a seasonal gift mix-up. Rating: Mature, Length: 606 words Radio Play by Cornerofmadness - Spike and Dru have fun with a radio personality just after the end of World War II and are foiled by an unexpected foe. Rating: Teen+, Length: 5080 words Wishes on Her Eyes by Cornerofmadness - Spike and Dru have turned a sugar mama but her grasping sister and her irate fiancé suspect them of her murder. Rating: Explicit, Length: 12437 words Twists and Turns by beer good - Delightful fun with myths about how to fight vampires. Rating: Teen+, Length: 750 words The Way We Live Now by labingi - Spike is living with an ensouled Drusilla, AU A:tS s5. A thoughtful and softly poignant piece. Rating: Teen+, Length: 1787 words Vamp Dolce by violethamster - A 1950s Italy caper. Because that flashback was divine and we need more. This one is perfect. Rating: Teen+, Length: 2120 words Special mention to: Magpies in the Morning by Tasseomancy - Season 4, Drusilla senses Spike's predicament and makes a deal with the Scoobies. Tasseomancy has an absolutely gorgeous Dru voice. This one starts out Spike/Drusilla but transitions to Spike/Dusilla/Buffy. Rating: Mature, Length: 16,709 words In Imbolic by duh i write - After Angelus leaves, Darla's feeling sentimental. Darla pov. There's Sprusilla and shades of Darla/Dru/Spike. Beautifully bittersweet. Rating: Teen+, Length: 1616 words Set Off Like Geese by Hannah - All Human AU. Not something you see very often for Sprusilla. I very rarely read AH fic but Hannah does it wonderfully with great sensitivity and a gorgeous command of language. Rating: G, Length: 107,172 words

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Hi! Possibly fun ask for you if you feel like answering: which Buffyverse ships have you most changed your mind about over the years? For instance, I always liked Cangel, but for a variety of reasons they've now skyrocketed to OTP status for me. On the other side, I used to like Fresley more than I do now. Also, as one of like five people who loves Cangel too, I was wondering when in the series you started shipping them? A lot of fans say S2 or even S3, but I actually shipped them from about halfway through S1 :)

Hey! Oooh, a very fun ask for me. Thank you for asking! 😊

In general, I think I've changed my mind slightly on most of the Buffyverse ships over the years which just naturally tends to happen after many rewatches and also changes in perspective/maturity. 

I agree about Cangel and Fresley. Cangel are one of my most unexpected ships, I went into AtS expecting to strongly dislike them as a romantic pairing so was very surprised that I ended up loving them so much. As for Fresley, I hated them as a romantic pairing from the second Fred was introduced on the show and that has never changed for me 😂

Anyways, the ships I’ve changed my perspective on most are Bangel and Dangel, more details below the cut (warning for slightly anti-Bangel sentiments). 

Bangel - A lot of my mutuals/followers will never forgive me for this but I have to address the elephant in the room and admit that whilst I still ship Bangel my feelings towards them have changed a lot over the years and I no longer consider them an OTP. This has happened for a lot of different reasons but basically boils down to the fact that my personal tastes in ships have changed and watching AtS shifted my perspective.  I don’t enjoy the all-consuming, intense and angsty vibe of Bangel’s relationship as much as I once did. I also have issues with the early development of their relationship, which I always did, but it’s become more problematic to me with time. What I’m referring to here is that Angel falls for Buffy when she’s a minor then proceeds to stalk her and the fact that they fall for each other when they meet after about 4-5 very brief interactions. They can get away with it because their chemistry and story is so damn good but it doesn’t change the fact that there is a lack of development in the early days for the pair. 

Watching AtS is probably the biggest factor in shifting my perspective on the ship, and not only because of Cangel. Angel just feels like a very different person to me in AtS and as the seasons progress he moves on from Buffy and although she’s always in his heart as his great love, he outgrows her and she no longer makes sense for him as a romantic pairing. I’ve also connected more deeply with Angel as a consequence of watching AtS and feel like I understand him in a different way. 

I think I’ve said something similar to this before in another post, but when I watched BtVS I saw Bangel’s relationship through Buffy’s perspective but watching AtS enabled me to see the relationship through Angel’s perspective and that completely changed how I saw the relationship as a whole. 

Looking at the whole picture and taking both shows into account I see Buffy and Angel’s love for each other as being fundamentally different. Buffy never outgrows Angel but Angel does outgrow Buffy. Angel pines for Buffy throughout Season 1 of AtS and after that it fades. He still loves her because it’s Buffy and she’s special to him but he’s not in that place anymore; he loves her but he’s not in love with her. Whereas Buffy, no matter what, always reads as being in love with Angel to me. Maybe this has a lot to do with the fact that Angel is a vampire so he’s used to people coming and going, of compartmentalising relationships and losses whereas Buffy is much more raw. 

I also feel like the inconsistencies between BtVS and AtS diminished the Bangel relationship for me. It’s something I didn’t notice prior to watching AtS, but it’s glaringly obvious now that I have watched both shows that there are huge inconsistencies with . Due to network issues, AtS deliberately pulled away from the Bangel ship and changed Angel’s character to make him a believable protagonist on his own show. The result is that Bangel is diminished slightly, particularly post AtS Season 1 and Angel feels like a different person between shows, making the version of Angel in BtVS feel like a stunted version of his character. That in turn makes the Bangel relationship feel less than it did previously because I don’t see Angel fully reflected in that relationship. 

These inconsistencies are even worse in specific areas such as AtS Season 4/BtVS Season 7 where Angel is portrayed as being in love with Cordelia but within days/weeks of her death turns up in Sunnydale, kisses Buffy and tells her he’ll be waiting for her... It makes no sense within the canon and whilst Bangel’s interactions in Chosen used to be some of my favourites I now can’t look at them in the same way when I consider the timeline and events of AtS Season 4. 

Whilst these things are down to off-screen issues, complications and inconsistencies, and most likely not how the Angel’s character or the Bangel relationship was intended to be portrayed, it has impacted my perception of the ship nonetheless. 

Dangel - I didn’t care for Dangel at all after watching BtVS because there’s so little of them but AtS absolutely converted me into a Dangel shipper. I love Angel and Darla’s dynamic so much, it’s one of my favourites in the entire Buffyverse. It’s such a complex and interesting relationship. I like that it’s not easily defined and that nothing with them is black and white. They love each other but their love was born from darkness, lust, greed and let’s face it plain evil. Consequently, they’re destructive and selfish together. Yet they have these moments of genuine heartfelt selfless love, sacrifice and gentleness. Their chemistry is great and I enjoy watching them on-screen together. 

As for when I started shipping Cangel, I remember consciously realising I was definitely shipping them after the scene in Dead End in Season 2 when Angel brought her the food and she said she loved him. I did enjoy their dynamic up until that point and definitely had moments where I saw the potential for me to ship them in a serious way, but I was still more invested in them platonically up until that point. 

Thanks again for asking, this was fun 😊

[phoenixtakaramono]

So I'm here to say that I really love your Bingyuan fic! The research you do for it and share with us is just amazing! I also have a q regarding LBG. From SV we know that he felt admiration for his Shizun so do you think that if SJ wasn't cruel to him LBG's admiration would've grown into love and attraction like it did in LBH's case for SY? Which then also raises a question: would LBH/LBG fall in love with any Shizun who was kind to him? Or was he just drawn to SJ's type of personality. WDYT?

Hi there, Anon! I’m glad you’re liking the Untold Tale! Thanks for reading! I think it lowkey helps when the story I’m writing (in general) is from a culture I’m familiar with and that I know some of its language nuances (just general Mainland dialect; I’m unfamiliar with Shanghainese, the Beijing dialect, etc etc). So fortunately for me, as someone who is Chinese but was born in the Western side of the world speaking Mandarin to family and friends, emulating the Chinese aesthetic and atmosphere in TUT comes a little bit easier to me than someone who did not grow up with this culture. I bet if I had been raised in China, I would be able to write something even more multilayered and deep but, alas, the youthful rebellious me of the past hadn’t taken my pinyin and Chinese character writing lessons seriously so I can only communicate verbally and understand audibly 😫. It’s very special for us writers in fandoms to be able to write a story of a culture that we actually know and can identify with. But high key it’s been immensely fun injecting some references of things I’ve come to notice from watching period C-dramas and the C-novels I’ve read, and I’ve come to learn interesting things about Chinese history and mythology even I didn’t know! So the story really writes itself.

Shen Jiu (OG!Shen Qingqiu)

To answer your question 🤔, to be honest this is why the SVSSS fandom is great—because there’s so many interpretations of the original source material. That’s why we have our headcanons and fanfictions to explore these many different possibilities. So for me personally, I can see it happening both ways: *1) LBG does develop a crush/falls in love with SJ, or 2) no matter how SJ treats him LBG regards him respectfully or coldly. I think Possibility 1 is more likely, since SY transmigrated into SQQ and we saw what happened with “Bunhe.”

Now, mind, for Possibility 1 to be more likely to happen, the SJ in PIDW will have to undergo a massive personality change/ a change of heart/ develop a good conscience and will need to clean up his image aka clear up the massive misunderstandings from PIDW canon (like him being mistaken as a pervert for Ning Yingying, visiting whorehouses, killing LQG, etc). It’ll be difficult though considering who Airplane has changed SJ into for his stallion harem novel (reading through SVSSS, my impression of PIDW besides it being the harem stallion novel is that it sounds similar to a “dog blood plot,” where audiences tune in to see how the villains are brought to justice). I literally have a line from TUT in a future chapter where SY says this about SJ since I will resurrect SJ and bring him into the story for closure:

People like Shen Qingqiu naturally had a set of deeply-rooted values. If one wanted to change them, it’d be easier to just have them reincarnate. (—TUT, ch???)

At his core, he’s a flawed man (which makes sense with the underlying cycle of abuse theory, considering his upbringing and backstory). He’s jealous and petty and prickly. His image is that of a proud and cold immortal. In Chinese terms, he’s the type of character archtype who I can see being àojiāo (definitely not canon characterization; this is just a stray thought that amuses me) in a romantic relationship.

LBH will have to recognize that^, or be in a position where he finds SJ’s caustic side endearing instead. He will also have to be extremely patient with him (although, since the joke in SVSSS is that LBH is an incurable M, it shouldn’t be that hard).

A fun thing about OG!SQQ is that he’s the cannon fodder scumbag villain of PIDW. He’s the reason LBG blackened from a white lotus. And, as you know, villains aka antagonists aka bad boys resonate strongly with people for a reason. That’s why we see a lot of Enemies to Lovers tropes, etc. It squicks me to use this phrase but “the allure of dating a ‘bad boy’ is strong.” SJ is that type of bad boy we could identify as a “fixer-upper project” (ugh, that phrase)—even with the red flags and warning signs—especially for those said to have a troubled past with rejecting neglectful parental figures/ family members/ friends and have have not outgrown their wish to convert that sort of person into a loving, accepting person. When we want something we can’t or shouldn’t have, our desire for it grows exponentially. In fanfiction this is a concept writers and readers can explore safely in a world of the imaginary.

From a Meta Perspective

Although, if we look at it meta-ly, the cold and proud and/or knowledgeable Shizun (teacher/ master) character who comes to know love and “is redeemed” by whomever is the love interest (typically a cute and quirky girl who may or may not have started off as naive to the innerworkings of the Cultivation World and therefore needs an established and mature mentor to guide them) is a very well-known archetype for a reason in Chinese fan culture.

Seeing a terrible person change their ways and try to become a better person because of the influence of the one they love is also a popular depiction for a reason.

It’s almost like gap moe. The crueler and aloof one starts out as (arrogance is a staple), the more impactful the shift is when we see such characters soften their edges.

The draw of the sacred master/disciple relationship is that it’s taboo, so I think it’s fair to say that such a relationship in fiction is a popular trope precisely because of this aspect. From a writer’s perspective, the main appeal is to show that there is someone out there who can cause this respectful figure to lose control (undergo emotional change) and go to great lengths to protect his/her precious person. That precious person also has to fall into the “not like other girls” trope (so they can show the ML a different world he would not have seen the beauty of before). On the other side, we look forward to the point of the story where the love interest has their “Oh” moment and realizes their admiration has somehow shifted into love and attraction over the course of events.

Other Romantic Possibilities

It’s very likely. I personally like the fanon headcanon where anyone with Heavenly Demon blood running through their veins feels a compulsion to “obsessively fixate on one person” (TLJ —> SXY, LBH —> SQQ). Personally I don’t recall if this was canon or fanon, but someone had written something about LBH imprinting on one person in his lifetime on the account of his demon nature. And I like that theory (I think it’s likely more fanon than anything but it’s an intriguing idea full of possibilities!).

For him to fixate romantically on one person, I personally don’t think the prerequisite is just by being kind to LBH (but it probably adds to the person’s appeal). There’s probably other factors that go into this to capture the male protagonist’s eye, such as him finding someone attractive (or passes his own personal standards) and/or having good chemistry with that person. So I could see him being into other Shizuns and whomever else. Personally I also think there is appeal in the unobtainable. It’s one thing to have someone’s affection (see LBG and his harem of 600 wives who definitely aren’t shy about giving him affection), but it’s another to know you’ve earned the affections of someone you really like and respect (especially if it’s someone thought to be unobtainable).

As long as the writer can provide a plausible justification for me to suspend disbelief and they set up events to justify it, I can swallow just about any ship possibility. It doesn’t necessarily have to be SJ’s type of personality. (For example, I read a very good fanfiction before where the writer paired Luo Binghe with Ming Fan. Ming Fan, people!!! And they actually pulled it off! What a madlad! Mind, it’s Shen Yuan who had transmigrated into MF in that premise, but the writer set up events that showed how these two characters came to bond and develop a deep friendship which inevitably had LBH developing a crush on his shixiong. I use this as an example because this is the type of unexpected (crack)ship, but because the writer did their work trying to make it seem plausible, we can only admire their hard work and effort at pulling it off.)

As the saying goes, there are plenty of fishes in the sea! As the protagonist, LBH/LBG can have many OTP possibilities with just about anyone as long as the writer can make it plausible. It’s all about the character development and the story/ central themes they wish to tell with the ship!

(Note, these really aren’t hot takes, lol. I’m just having fun answering to this casually from the perspective of a writer. Thank you for your Ask, anon!)

[sscrambledmeggss]

blaine for the ask game >:^)

jkjk do sebastian and mercedes

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED 🤚

Blaine Anderson:

Favorite thing about them: some of his songs are absolute bangers

Least favorite thing about them: his lack of accountability

Favorite line: “If he and I got married, the Gap would give me a 50% discount.” I love that he’s rich, and still looking for a discount, like okay go off <3

brOTP: the warblers <3

OTP: Blainofsky, I genuinely think they had some cute moments 😭😭

nOTP: Seblaine, I also dislike Klaine, but have/would read Klaine fanfiction, seblaine just upsets me, and that’s a me problem 😭

Random headcanon: he definitely has a Katy Perry stan account

Unpopular opinion: I don’t like him 😭

Song I associate with them: literally teenage dream by Katy Perry. Basic I know 🦧

Favorite picture of them:

I like how happy he looks :)

Sebastian Smythe:

Favorite thing about them: literal rat bastard, crime gremlin, but also I like how he chose to grow and change at the end of his time on the show. He genuinely tried becoming a better person and I really appreciate that (ignoring the warblers scandal in s4 LOL)

Least favorite thing about them: effeminophobia 🦧 but also his racist lines to Santana :/

Favorite line: “Fun, I don’t like you either”

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.

brOTP: I absolutely adore it when he a Nick are besties 🥰 but also hear me out...I can see him and Rachel as a very fun friends dynamic 😭 I also like it when he and Sam or puck are friends in fics :D

OTP: Kurtbastian, are we surprised

nOTP: Seblaine, again it’s just not something I enjoy but it’s completely valid of other people who do! :)

Random headcanon: there’s so many...but I feel like one time Jeff saw him in the hallway and he was just casually eating a pepper like an apple. He also wears crocs unironically

Unpopular opinion: I think his scandals outfit is fun. Not GOOD, but fun. It’s a mess and it perfectly sums up Sebastians character

Song I associate with them: The Archer and Peace by Taylor Swift also Beautiful, Dirty, Rich thanks to acitw

Favorite picture of them:

You can tell he knows he’s about to be a little shit, like he’s going there to ruin Kurt (and I think Rachel’s? If I remember the scene correctly) day 🦧 absolute chaos gremlin (affectionate)

Mercedes Jones:

Favorite thing about them: she’s nice, but she’s not a pushover. She values herself just as much as the values others, and I think that’s an amazing quality to have :)

Least favorite thing about them: idk if I have one 😭

Favorite line: “Okay, I'm gonna ask you to stop, because I'm starting to get embarrassed for you.” It basically just sums up all of glee

brOTP: Tincedes, Rachcedes, Quinncedes and Kurtcedes <3 though Puckcedes is also cute at times :)

OTP: Samcedes, Rachcedes, Quinncedes and Tincedes

nOTP: romantic!kurtcedes </3

Random headcanon: her and her older brother would put on concerts for their family when they were younger <3 she would sing and he’d do special effects in the background (lights, making sure the music is playing etc)

Unpopular opinion: I liked her and Sam’s breakup. Do I wish they got back together? Yes. But do I also think that it was super mature and well executed for a glee breakup? Yes. <3

Song I associate with them: Wildest Dreams. I honestly don’t really know why?? It just makes me think “this is a Mercedes song”

Favorite picture of them:

LOOK AT HERRRR 🥺🥺 Mercedes Jones deserves everything good in the world 🤚🤚