#up till that i actually shipped them like shipped them but yeah i started realizing that wait i like the way their relationship is NOW

[tepli-mravenci]

I'm gonna be honest, while I did ship Azi and Crowley in a fanon way I didn't actually want them to become a romantic couple, I was clinging onto that aroace platonic relationship with my nails and teeth for the entirety of season 2, but the drama loving bitch in me watched the entire finale with my mouth hanging wide open even after the credits rolled.

Me and my friend were both screaming "No no no no no!!!" when Ineffable bureaucracy was becoming canon, cause neither of us liked that ship (and we thought it was kinda too fast and out of nowhere), and then everything that happened after - we were just holding onto everything we could, barely breathing, praying that it won't actually happen and then THAT happened and we went CRAZY, cause neither of us actually EXPECTED that and then that followed and we were just flabbergasted completely but also we LOVED that it went BAD because we're EVIL

And now I feel like someone Caesar'd me in my own house

[astriddestelle]

In light of discovering I’ve been a friends to lover girlie this whole time. Here’s are my top ten friends to lovers of all time canon and non canon.

1. The ship that started it all admittedly I liked Raven more so I shipped her with Robin, but my god Robin and Starfire were cute a whole ass ship I didn’t even realize I was shipping until they kissed in the movie and I was squealing like well I was a kid lol. My favorite episode aside from the Raven ones were always the ones focused on their relationship. Stranded was chefs kiss. I’m not a girl I’m not your friend. Date with Destiny had me gagged. Sisters the arm reach as she’s kidnapped beautiful. No other couple will compare.

2. God when this was airing what a time to be fucking alive. I was so obsessed with this ship. My first fanfic ideas were about this ship. I used to roleplay this show at school. They were so fucking messy with their just friends bullshit. Just friends my ass. I used to watch episode 22 routine on repeat and yes I have it memorized they almost kissed then spent the rest of series pretending they weren’t down bad for each other. They never actually made it official either which will forever haunt me to this day.

3. This one crept on me. I didn’t realize I shipped it until I shipped it and there was no going back. I mean come on. The look of love is literally their theme song. What do you mean Langa only likes skateboarding when Reki is there to watch and cheer him on. What do you mean Reki is afraid of Langa getting hurt not himself but Langa. Cindereki need I say more. The most casual friends to lovers cause they don’t even realize till the end. I went to skate infinitely with you who says stuff like that to someone they’re just friends with. How they adopt each others love languages through your the show. Ugh.

4. Alright imma be honest. This one started as me just wanting to read more Itadori fics but my god. If gege wasn’t a coward they would’ve been official (jk mostly) but Megumi only wanting to live a domestic life with Yuji, regaining the will to live after Yuji says he misses him, not having a reason for saving him not wanting him to die, start by saving me itadori…yeah. And itadori never giving up saving fushiguro, first words out of his mouth are always fushiguro, tells Sukuna to give fushiguro back. I mean how could I not.

5. Might be too early for me to be adding them to this list but so far Momo and Okarun have all the makings of being just as great as Robin and Starfire if not better. Two idiots sharing one brain cell the way they actually communicate with each other, Okarun getting salty when people insult his wifey, Momo getting jealous when people flirt with her husband. Okarun straight up telling Momo he can’t read her mind but he cares about her and values her friendship. Momo straight up saying she wants to talk to Okarun and loves hanging out with him. I’m into deep and it’s only been nine episodes. First time I’ve been this invested in a straight ship in years.

6. Back to the classics with this one. And I’m lowkey starting to sense a pattern. Cause why do they all involve redheads in some way and do I have a type? (yes) Kim and Ron are the original boss wife/fail husband. They’re so cute cause if you rewatch the series there’s all these little hints that they always liked each other (it took you 12 stinking years to kiss me) (I mean me and Kim sure everyone expects it but) but like didn’t wanna ruin their friendship fucking cute as hell idk if it was intentional on the writers part but yeah

7. Gwen and Geoff from Total Drama Island. They had one episode together and I was a goner. Idk I just love my sun and moon motifs as yall can clearly see. Something about the black cat golden retriever dynamic just tickles me I guess. I know yall see the potential. I rewrote total drama island just to get them to together it was bad

8. Harry and Luna from HP. Idc he shoulda been with her and not Ginny. No shade to Ginny but I just feel like they would’ve been such a great couple. Harry with someone who understands him and will never make him feel like he needs to live up to the savior role and Luna with someone who will never judge her for being different or odd. Sigh. So much wasted potential. So stinking cute oddly doesn’t exist as much anymore sigh.

9. Birdflash. I will not deny a huge part of this stems from really liking Wally West and that’s pretty much it. And I wanted more fics about him. I did not like Artemis at all, no one else shipped him with Zatanna or Rocket or Batgirl or Megan so Robin it was lol. But I mean I’ve been eating since so I can’t complain.

10. Ok while I don’t like this ship anymore I can’t deny I was obsessed with it for a hot minute. Danny/Sam from Danny phantom so much freaking potential and actually really cute from 10 year old me’s pov too bad they don’t hold up as an adult. I was very much obsessed with goths as a kid huh.

Honorary mentions

Adrien/Marinette: I haven’t seen enough of this show to put em in my top ten but my god is it cute af sometimes I just need to cute sunshine’s falling in love that is all. I’ve seen enough to know I’m rooting for both of em. A

Jade/Andre: I was obsessed with the episode he had a crush on her. Also in canon he’s the only one she calls a friend, they have lunch dates, she isn’t ever mean to him not as mean as she is to everyone else. I think it’s be cute af alright. Plus Andre wouldn’t flirt with other girls and make her jealous

Tododeku idk yall I just think they’d be cute af together not much else say. Same goes for Mina and Bakugo. Idk I just like em.

Sheen/Libby very refreshing to see a black girl get a love interest and not be discarded later. Sigh too bad that hasn’t happened since like 2006

can also throw on numbuh one and numbuh five from kids next door for similar reasons above. As well as numbuh two and numbuh five

[alwayssassydreamer]

bad decisions lead to pleasant outcome

Before you continue: english is not my first language so please bare with me. Also this is the first fic I’ve ever posted and I’m still trying to improve so sorry if this is a little chaotic and so darn long. I actually got a little carried away. Sorry about the rushed end I’m horrible at writing smut. And i only write fem!reader at least for now sorry about that. And the picture does not belong to me. Oh and the story is not proofread cause I'm lazy af.

For the story: in this story you will have a devilfruit which has no name bc i suck at names but nonetheless it allows you to „die“ without dying – yeah i know makes zero sense. No seriously what i mean is that it’s kinda like in a video game where you have 3 lives before it’s game over and that’s exactly your power. You can die up to 2 times within 24hours before you need to „reload“ otherwise it’s game over for you. Yep now that I’ve written it down it sounds super weird but it’s too late to change it….so have fun.

Warnings: i have no idea – swearing, maybe a little violence/threat of death, smut-ish at the end (consent), MDNI

Shanks x Reader

You’ve been pirating around with your crew for quite some time now earning you a pretty nice bounty on your head, though not as spectacular as some strawhat you’ve heard of. If someone outside your crew would’ve to describe you they’d probably say you’re cocky, overconfident and a little ruthless. But that’s what you had to be to survive in this world. Your crew, on the other hand, would describe you as a caring, loyal and fearless captain, capable to fight off enemies stronger than you just to defend them. Your devilfruit being rather useful in that case. After a long time out on sea everyone was glad to finally catch sight of an island. You and the crew decided to celebrate this with your remaining alcohol. When you set your first steps on this island you already started to regret drinking so much. You weren’t completely wasted like some of your crew but walking a straight line was kinda difficult. Therefore you decided it would be best if everyone remaind either on the ship or the beach till you all would sober up. After a few hours passed by you decided that it was time to check the island and refill your stocks. The island seemed pretty calm with no sign of someone bothering you when you’d take what you needed. You got to a small town and decided that after still feeling alittle giddy from drinking, it would be better not to cause any drama – steal what you need and then get back on the ship and sail off. In your head everything would work out perfectly, the crew would split up, some distracting the towns people while the others take what you needed. As soon as the people realize that they’ve been robbed you’d be long gone. But of course things did not work out as you planned. A few of the towns people recognized you from your wanted poster, followed by catching 2 of your crew mates stealing some alcohol. Just your luck. You had to fight the unexpectedly good armed and trained enemies off leading to a destroyed bakery, some knocked out men and a boost of your ego. You called for your crew to pack up the stolen stuff and get back to the ship. With a shit eating grin you looked around the town, then made sure that none of your crew gets left behind. „Thanks for the goods and the entertainment“ you shouted dripping of arrogance. As you hurried back you smiled to yourself, thinking about how easily you defeated these people and why you didn’t fight them off in the first place. You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t see the other ship that had arrived at the island, nor the men that have been watching the whole scene that just happened.

As you got closer to the beach a strange feeling started to spread through you. Out of instinct you reached for your sword but you didn’t have the time to pull it out when you heard a deep voice behind you. „Better keep your sword where it is. Wouldn’t want your crew to get hurt“ the voice grumbled. You immediately looked over to your crew and saw that they were held at gunpoint by some men you couldn’t quite recognize from the distance. You took a deep breath, you didn’t mind that someone was threatening you, you still had your devilfruit but what got you really nervous was the safety of your crew. If they get shot they’re going to die and that was a thought that made you a little scared and at the same time kinda angry. How dare some asshole threatening you and them. You let out a small angry huff and slowly turned around ready to attack that fucker behind you. But as soon as you turned around you felt the tip of a sword at your throat. You gasped. Not because of the sword but because you saw who was holding it. Red hair, scar over his eye, only one arm and an expression that made it clear that he was in a really bad mood. „Shanks“ you mumbled to yourself. You had never met the yonko before but you’ve heard a lot of stories about him and his men. For a moment you lost all your confidence, you were intimidated by his appearance. Fear struck you as you looked into his eyes. You bit your lower lip and looked over your shoulder to your crew before taking a deep breath. You knew you couldn’t let him see that you were in fact scared of him. Not now. Not with your crew in danger. So you did the only thing you could think of – be a pain in the ass. The most arrogant smile spread across your face as you looked back at him.

„Think that’s funny little lady?“ He hissed low and threatening. „Kinda,“ you said still with that smile on your face while deep inside you were shaking. „So it’s funny for you to have a sword at your throat and my men holding your crew at gunpoint“ he said pushing the sword a little into your skin drawing some droplets of blood. You gasped still trying to remain as cocky as you could. „Well, the thing is i could easily kill you right now. Sure you would probably slit my throat in that process but unlike you i won’t die“ you replied as you looked him deep in the eye. He raised a brow and looked over to his men then back at you. „I know“ he calmly hummed catching you by surprise. „I’ve heard of you and your devilfruit and i know that you have to be killed more than once but i think that doesn’t apply to your crew“ he said nodding over to them. „It’s up to you how this is going to end“ he added. You nibbled on your lips, looking down at the sand then over to your crew before looking down again. Well you knew you were screwed. There was no way to win this fight without losing either your lives or worse losing your entire mates. „What do you want?“ You asked defeated, avoiding his gaze. „You and your crew caused a lot of trouble in my territory“ His territory?!? How could you not see that this was HIS territory. You cursed yourself for being such an idiot and not realizing this. You vowed to never drink again when you reach an island. „See the people on this island depend on my protection therefore i cannot let you leave after destroying the bakery and fighting the towns people“ he growled as he leaned closer. You swallowed hard, his stare was so intense you were sure he could see inside your soul. At the same time you felt something else, something you haven’t felt in years. You had to look away, heart beating so fast you thought you’d lose one of your lives due to a heart attack. „What happened to that cocky attitude. Don’t tell me you’re scared“ he taunted and that’s when you snapped. You launched forward pushing the sword away from your throat with one hand, leaving a cut on it, while grabbing for your own with the other. Needless to say that was a really bad idea because just a few seconds later you heard a rumble from where your crew and then found yourself laying on your back in the sand, sting on your neck. „Don’t kill them, everything’s fine here. Seems the little lady got a bit offended“ shanks shouted over to his men. „Maybe you should stop playing around before someone gets hurt“ a tall muscular man with greyish hair and a scar on his face yelled over to shanks. „Calm down beck, I’ve got everything under control“.

You let out a small squeak when you felt shanks‘ sword move over your stomach up to your heart at the same time feeling blood run down your neck. Luckily for you the cut wasn’t too deep – no life wasted. „You almost got your crew killed“ shanks continued to taunt you. But he was right that was a close call and you finally had to admit it – there’s no way out of this. „Next wrong move and they die“ he scolded. „Just tell me what you want and stop being an asshole“ the words just blurted out of your mouth but shanks just looked at you amused. „Well if you’re that eager, i want your crew to rebuilt the bakery, give everything you’ve stolen back and i want them to stay here and help out for as long as it takes to humble you.“ He said kneeling down, his knee right next to your head. „If you think we’re“ you started but he interrupted you „I’m sorry, guess i didn’t make myself clear. I want your crew to stay here. You, little lady, will come with us“. You stared at him with wide eyes, mouth open to yell at him. But you couldn’t no words came out.

God no one ever told you what an attractive man the yonko was. No. You shook your head, now was not the time to swoon over him, he attacked you, threatened to kill your crew, he’s an asshole, a good looking one though. „Be a good girl and stop being a pain in my ass“. Shanks said with a cheeky smile, ripping you out of your thoughts. Does he know what you’re thinking, can he read your mind? His scary and intimidating expression seemed to fade as he put the sword away. „Now we will walk over to your crew and you will tell them that they’re going to stay here until we come back“ he commanded offering you his hand to help you up. For a moment you wanted to take it but then decided against it, shoving it away and getting up yourself. „Still being a brat huh“. You glared at him as he took a step closer. „Maybe I’ll have to teach you a lesson once we get on the ship“ he whispered in your ear, making you gasp and shudder. After explaining to your crew what’s going to happen and watching them walk back to the town accompanied by two of Shanks‘ men you felt the strong urge to run away. You didn’t want Shanks to teach you a lesson, nor to stay on his ship. Well you didn’t get far when suddenly two strong arms wrapped around you and threw you over his shoulder „Not so fast little lady.“ The man you recognized as benn beckmann scolded. Shanks and his men just chuckled as you tried to wriggle out of beckmanns grasp to no use. Once on the ship, beckmann followed shanks into a cabin. „She’s a spirited one, better be careful“ beckmann said to shanks as he put you down. „Don’t worry I’m gonna tame her“ Shanks said devilish grin on his face, while you started to feel a knot in your stomach. Tame you? What is that supposed to mean? Is he going to torture you? Now you started to panic but tried your best not to show it. Beckmann stepped closer one hand reaching for your sword the other grabbed your chin with one finger to make you look up at him. You swallowed trying not to break the eye contact between you two. After what felt like an eternity of him burning holes into your soul he let go of you and left the room without another word as you looked after him. „I can ask him to join us later on if you want.“ Shanks said with a small laugh looking you up and down. „But by the way you’re looking after him it seems you wouldn’t mind“

You just looked at him dumbstruck only now realizing that you’ve been biting your lower lip while your hands had a tight grip on your shirt. „But first I’ll have to teach you a lesson for what you did today“ he grabbed your waist and pulled you closer to him. Out of instinct you put your hands up and on his chest. You were so close you could feel the warmness coming from his body. You knew you couldn’t resist him forever, especially not if he was this close. You looked down at his shirt, hands carefully moving to it’s buttons opening them one by one. Shanks watched you unbutton his shirt while his hand moved under yours caressing your stomach, making you twitch and gasp at the ticklish feeling. Once you were done he let you remove the shirt from him. „Now take your clothes off“ he commanded as he let go of you. „Make me“ you teased not sure if that was a good idea (given your streak of bad ideas it probably wasn’t). „I thought you wanted to teach me a lesson“you continued feeling as cocky as you did when you fought the towns people. But when you looked into his eyes you immediately started to regret saying that. They were full of mischief and his smile was devilish. You didn’t have time to react when he launched forward grabbing your hair and pushing you onto the bed behind him. „I wanted to go easy on you but i feel like you need someone to put you in place right now“ he hissed, as you tried to wriggle away. „Where do you think you’re going.“ He teased as he grabbed your ankle pulling you closer to the edge of the bed. He unbuckled his belt and got on top of you. „Keep in mind that everything happening now is your own fault“ he growled as he ripped your clothes from you. In an instant you were completely naked underneath the yonko. The sudden air on your exposed skin made you gasp. He leaned closer kissing around your breast while his hand moved on your inner thigh drawing circles getting closer and closer to your private part. You let out a moan as he bit down on one of your nipples, feeling a smile spread on his face. „You will be sorry after I’m done with you. Now let me hear you scream my name little lady“ he said as he kissed a way up to your face until his lips brushed yours as his hand finally made contact with your center. He got you so riled up but then denied you and that went on for some time till you were a begging and pleading mess. After Shanks thought that you’ve learned your lesson he made you cum over and over again. Needless to say that his name was heard all over the ship. As you went from one high to another you thought that maybe the decisions you made today weren’t that bad after all.

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello.

Listen, I'm still not over ep 11 yet. AND THEN THEY GIVE ME THIS I- *muffled screaming*

Anyways, welcome to my crack posts. =D

Warning: long post 😊😅 (I somehow took even more screenshots than last time 😭)

I knew something like this would happen hehe

Also-

Don't lie, Peem, he'd already won your heart the moment he said "Na, krab" with those puppy eyes

I love how despite thinking they're enemies up till this point, Tan immediately jumps on the ship the moment he learns it exists.

Fang: cute. <3

Q: cutee. <33

Shy babygirl Peem has my whole heart 🥺🫶🏼

Yeah? Anyone specific you want to draw a portrait of, Peem? Someone from Engineering, maybe? Someone who confessed to you in front of all your combined friends just last night? No? 👀

This smile. This goddamn smile. I get you, Peem, I totally get you.

Q peeking in small into the bag is so accurate 😭

As I'd said in my previous post: "Right in front of my salad?!" and "Something very LGBT just happened to me o.o"

NOSE BOOP

I love nose boops hehe

[Phum: I have to go to class.]

You actually go to class?! *pikachu meme face*

Q's face perfectly expresses my feeling, and I'm definitely saving these as meme pics

Peem's plan to be hit on backfired so fast so hard 😭

Poor boy went into shock 😭

Peem is never hearing the end of this from Q. Never.

I love their friendship though. Besties forever. <3

Toey looks so excited here 😭🫶🏼

He's definitely over the moon that his two beloved hias finally realized they like each other (and of course he manifested this wdyem)

Throwing stones from inside a glass house, huh Q?

You're just as bad as, if not worse than Peem.

*shaking my head fondly* these boys are so whipped for their baes

This ep gave me a lot of meme pic ehehe

Why so surprised, Peem? You were the one telling Phum to flirt on you, why so shy now huh?

Oh, Aunt Pui knows. She's just trying to help her nephew get a nice boyfriend hehe

Also- learning the family business early on? Nice move, Phum.

I'm pretty sure Aunt Pui will accept Phum as family the very instant they start dating.

Actually- she probably already has.

What will you be tying next? The knot?? (I am so so happy I can make that joke and actually mean it now.)

Oh, and I love love love their dynamics. I'm always looking for verse because I don't like active power dynamics, but this show really delivered on it. There's always a push and pull, but throughout, they're equals. Yes, even through that slave era (remember how exactly Peem came to be his slave?). It did start off with a slight imbalance, but it evened out pretty fast (because Phum is incapable of not being the cutest clingy little puppy for more than ten minutes and Peem is weak for it).

PhumPeem/PeemPhum is giving me so much that I'd thought I'd almost never get from BLs (there are a few other examples, I think, but this is probably my topmost).

I don't know if y'all have noticed, but Phum is deliberately soft and is often using polite pronouns for the last two episodes.

It's just... they're so pretty 😭

This scene is just >>>

He-

HE LEARNED LATTE ART JUST TO USE THIS LINE WITH PEEM I'M DYING OH GODS

Phum is 200% committed. Other upcoming BL romantic interests, please take notes.

Jokes aside, what started out as a potential red flag (even two years ago, this relationship would have been very very different) turned into the greenest flag (with a side of childhood trauma).

Did he just-

He almost confessed!!! So close!!

Also- please give me them as boyfriends already, I'm on my hands and knees. But can you imagine what they'll be like when they actually start dating...?

...

I CAN'T WAIT. GIMME NOW. *grabby hands*

This scene made me speechless. Ep 12 was full of beautiful, absolutely stunning scenes, but this was what took my breath - his cute smile that lights up his whole face, his "Pai, krab" and the sheer relief when Peem asks him if he wants to go.

For a moment there, he thought Peem would leave, just like all the people in his life. He knows it wouldn't be permanent, but it's hard to get rid of such an old, deep-rooted fear.

But Peem, unknowingly, immediately waves it away by asking him if he wanted to come with. The only thing is... I don't think it was that unknowing.

I'll end part 1 on this note. Part 2 will be posted soon!

If you've reached this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊

Here, have a doughnut 🍩

And here are my previous We Are posts.

[oscconfessions]

Since Inanimate Insanity has recently ended, I've decided to tell my II journey to the void. We go back 7 years, aka half my life ago. (This will mainly focus on the main grand slams)

First of all, like many, I watched Battle for Dream Island first. I thought BFDIA got cancelled (didn't know there was a season 3 and beyond till WAY later) and found Inanimate Insanity. Only problem is I saw the big ol 1 in the corner of the SEASON 2 thumbnail, and figured that was the starting point. And. I. LOVED IT. I proceeded to watch the rest of season 2 the same day (well, what was available at the time, ep 1-11) and I was convinced that EP 11 was peak fiction.

Though that was also because I instantly related to Balloon. I didn't have the context of season 1 yet but as a kid that was bullied by "friends" seeing Balloon being shoved aside felt familiar. But as much as he was relatable I LOVED Suitcase because to me she represented someone that was kind and wanted to be friends with Balloon. It gave me hope that I could have a friend too... But as much as I just wanted a friend, I was 7 so naturally if anything got along they had to kiss- Stayed obsessed with Inanimate Insanity a little longer but my attention span was short and after finishing season 1 (I HATED it so I tried to ignore it's existence, I like it much more now, but at this time, yeah) I found other fandoms.

Flash forward 3 years later. I'm 10 now and my attention span is a biiiiit better (though I'm not obsessed again, it's just one of my background fandoms) and I find out 2 new episodes where out! Watched them, but ultimately was slightly sad because I realized that wasn't really going to be any Suitloon content from this point. But they were still enjoyable because Suitcase was still in it! Stayed in the fandom, EP 14 came out, then season 3. I remember when season 3 came out, I HATED Nickel and Balloon's friendship WITH A BURNING PASSION and it definitely didn't help that they're ship was absurdly popular. Balloon was my second favorite next to Suitcase so the fact that (I thought) they were writing him so BADLY (again, I THOUGHT) upset me. Eventually I warmed up to them and still didn't ship it but could respect it. By the time the finale happened I could it admit it was cute, just not my favorite.

...then I went to the meetup for S2 ep15 this june... and I'm HYPERFIXATED AGAIN. And stay hyperfixated until the finale (and honestly beyond). I'm having the time of my life, I get a Tumblr, I have both irl friends that actually stayed for another year and moots that i can hyperfixate with, and Im happier then ever! And...now it's over.

As much as it might sound dumb, I feel like I finally have the Suitcases to my Balloon and this show was able to keep me company until then. I remember how many times I would sob about never getting friends and watching Inanimate Insanity to give me hope. So thank you II. For helping that girl feel less lonely.

.

[aaasdgnklm]

hey hye wanna hear my epic rant too bad ur gonna anyways

spoiler warning for epic: the musical, the thunder saga

Ok so the thunder saga. genuinely I’ve been shaking so much every time I’ve heard it. I’m gonna go song by song and this is a rant so theres gonna be a shitton of tangents sorry

1. suffering

this title scared me SO MUCH when I heard it cause like oh fuck my poor little guy(hes a king and has fought multiple wars and killed thousands of people) doesnt need more shit happening to him like leave him alone and then the melody was so upbeat and I was like huh?? and then ‘penelope’ starts talking and I’m like. pardon. what. sorry?? I was confused as shit, mostly at how nonchalant ODYSSEUS was. my first assumption was its gotta be one of the gods fucking w/ him but then why is he so casual? so I thought it was a dream. but then there were little things, penelope’s asking him to get in the water(which. reminds me of. someone HAHSBHADBH), and then he says hes scared of the water and I’m like. my guy I hope youre not afraid of the water youre a captain on a ship. but then I realized theres no way odys afraid of the water unless its bcuz of posideon, and penelope WOULDNT KNOW ABOUT THAT so he wouldnt say “you know I’m afraid of the water”. and then ofc shes like “daughter” and I’m like nope. this aint penelope and its not a dream cause then it would be odysseus’ mind making her up and hed never think daughter. And then odysseus asks how to get home and at this point I’m like hm. ok. so this is some kind of water based monster trying to pretend to be penelope to lure him in, right? (ALSO the fact that the only time in the song odysseus drops the act is when he says “but scylla has a cost” is so mmmmmm)and then. and then.

2. different beast

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT THIS IS WHERE THINGS GOT GOOD. like I love suffering but different beast scratches my brain SO GOOD and the rest of the saga was uphill from there I ahhhhhhhh. initial reaction: odysseus’ explanation that he knew what had been happening the whole time was SO GOOD and had my mouth hanging open the whole time. and then when he says “cut their tails off, we’re ending this now. throw their bodies back in the water. let them drown.” ohhhhhhhhhh my god holy fuck this was when it kinda hit for me- odysseus was not fucking around in monster hes actually BRUTAL in the thunder saga and I honestly hope it continues cause fuck yeah character development. also there were SO MANY lines in this that are just SO GOOD. “youve been tryna take my life this whole time” “I know exactly what you are, youre a siren.” “my real wife knows I’m not scared of the water, and my real wife knows I dont have a daughter.” “we found a ship with no crew” “sirens know about every route and horizon now I know how to get back to my island!” “so you can kill the next group of sailors in this part of the sea? nah, you wouldnt have spared me. I made a mistake like this once it almost cost my life, I cant take more risks of not seeing my wife. cut off their tails!” “kill them all!” and then the “odysseus” at the end I’m like why does that sound familiar? MFER ITS CAUSE ITS IN THE “You dont think I know my own palace? I built it.” SOUND CLIP IM

3. scylla

silly little sounds. silly little men. silly little deaths. ok so I watched the livestream so I saw the anamatic and holy SHIT the moment that eurylochus realized why odysseus had him light six torches was BRUTAL. also eurylochus’ confession that he opened the wind bag? ohhhhhhh ok MOTHER FUCKING SON OF A BITCH also when odysseus said “not much to say” god he sounds so tortured I cant with this. and scyllas voice in general is so ahhhhhh ESPECIALLY the “Hello.” and DROWN IN YOUR SORROW AND FEARS. CHOKE ON YOUR BLOOD AND YOUR TEARS. BLEED TILL YOU RUN OUT OF YEARS. WE MUST DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE. GIVE UP YOUR HONOR AND FAITH. LIVE UP YOUR LIFE AS A WRAITH. DIE IN THE BLOOD WHERE YOU BATHE. WE MUST DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE. with the fucking crunching and screaming in the background lik e ok. I needed this in my life.

4. mutiny

THIS IS MY FAVORITE. eurolychus’ confrontation with begging odysseus to tell him hes misinterpreted the situation, comparing odysseus’ past actions and fights to how he dealt with scylla, finally ending with him yelling at odysseus to “SAY SOMETHING!”, odysseus’ “I CANT.” and the looong pause before the boss battle starts. odysseus and eurolychus’ fight, both of them clearly not wanting to but knowing they have to. the chanting their name in the background. and then when odysseus says “I am not letting you get in my way!” and the sound of a stab- I was so scared hed actually killed eurolychus(yes I knew he dies I watched the overly sarcastic productions video on the odyssey too) and then ODYSSEYUS’ labored breathing and asking “why?” like I’m sorry jorge DID THEY STAB YOU TO GET THIS LYRIC WHY DOES HIS PHYSICAL PAIN SOUND SO GENUINE and then the. the fucking. the fucking luck runs out reprise. the MOMENT I realized it was the melody from luck runs out this is when I started crying.(dw past me it gets worse) the way that the crew is basically like “yeah remember when we asked what would happen if you fucked up? well you fucked up. and now youre finding out.” plus the fact that they are so clearly driving home we dont trust you. you failed to keep us safe. basically telling him ‘youre a bad leader’. that must have HURT. and then the fact that eurolychus bandaged him up and was waiting for him to wake up ough my heart. but also the fact that hes tied to helios’ statue? like. um. buddy. looking an awful lot like a sacrafice there. hahahahahah I’m loosing it. anyways, the luck runs out reprise hitting hard once again. like HARD. holy shit, odysseus’ “please don’t tell me you’re about to do what i think you’ll do” when that was what eurylochus said to him and then EURYLOCHUS CALLED HIM “ODY” I CANT and the eurylochus clearly being fed up(but not fed) while odysseus is actually begging him to please please think about this you can HEAR the desperation the need to get home and knowing if eurylochus kills the cow they probably wont? and then odysseus’ scream of “euRYLOCHUS NO!” cut short by the sound of eurylochus killing the cattle. and then the instant ‘oh no.’ like just INSTANTLY knowing they’re fucked and eurylochus STILL LOOKING TOWARD ODYSSEUS FOR GUIDENCE EVEN THO HE LITERALLY MUTINIED AGAINST HIM LIKE A DAY AGO AND HAS ODYSSEUS TIED UP AND AT HIS MIRCY AND HE STILL DEFAULTS TOWARDS ODYSSEUS FOR LEADERSHIP CAUSE HE STILL TRUSTS HIM and odysseus IMMEDIATELY taking charge and trying to get them out. the rushed full speed ahead melody, the boom of thunder and odysseus’ dread-filled “we’re too late.”

5. thunder bringer

IT LIVED UP TO THE HYPE GUYS!! sure enough the teasers we’ve seen are FUCKING AMAZING in the context of the song, zeus having an inflated as shit ego and taking up SO MUCH space, just like constantly talking about himself even tho IT AINT ABT HIM its so in character for what a massive dick he usually is in the greek mythos. and zeus deadass saying “if i were to make you choose, the lives of your men and crew or your own why do I think theyd loose?” right before MAKING ODYSSEUS CHOOSE. I’m. also odysseus sounds so.. small in this song. I dont know if its the fact hes literally having a mental breakdown or that zeus needs to be the biggest cock in any room he walks into but odysseus’ little “choose?” and him asking “please dont make me do this” JUST LIKE WHEN HIM AND ZEUS FIRST MET, the when does a man become a monster melody playing as odysseus tries to decide with penelopes voice asking him to come home pushing him over the edge wow. just wow. and the the conversation between odysseus and eurylochus? “captain?” “I have to see her.” “…but we’ll die.” “i know” I’m SORRY I CANT FUCKING DO THIS WHY DOES HE SOUND SO BROKEN AND REGRETFUL AND SAD AND OH MY GOD. AND THEN THE FUCKING ANIMATIC SHOWN IN THE TRAILER THE WAY HE JUST POINTS TOWARDS HIS CREW AND THEY ALL LOOK SO BETRAYED AND LOST BEFORE THEY START ATTACKING HIM AND THE LAST SHOT OF HIM CLOSING HIS EYES AS THEY PIN HIM TO THE MAST BY THE NECK WITH THEIR SWORDS AND THEN LIGHTNING STRIKES THE SHIP HOLY. also if you think about it this choice was kind of the final stress test for odysseus, because this is the ultimate decision: should he be a good king, captain, and friend or should he take the small chance to see his wife again? cause its not just about who lives and dies, its about who gets to keep going, who gets to see home, who gets a chance and who looses right now. and how could he choose the people who just stabbed him in the back and have doomed them multiple times over seeing his wife whom he loves and would do anything for? honestly, with what I know about how odysseus is, I wouldnt be very surprised if he was weighing the choice both from the emotional (seeing his wife or saving his crew) and factual (hes probably the strongest and most fit leader among them, they might not do too well on their own, ithaca needs a king and he doesnt know if telemachus can be that, one person has a higher chance of surviving than a large group in a journey(ingreekmythologyanyway), and they did just make a really dumb mistake that odysseus wouldnt have made himself and yeah ok maybe hes a little salty but still.)

genuinly the whole saga is so amazing and I’m so looking forward to the wisdom, vengence, and ESPECIALLY ithaca saga. by the way I could actually do this for every song in the musical/every saga tbh

thanks for coming to my tedtalk, I fucking love epic: the musical

[soupsysoup]

Kwazii Head canons!! Not the best drawing, but the one I was gonna use originally looked like a fucking cheeto and did not look like Kwazii, sooo-, yeah.

Headcanons!!

-Trans Aro/Ace

-He/him

-Has ADHD and Dyslexia. I mean, look at him, I doubt I need to say more

-The hole in his ear is a ripped piercing

-Him and Inkling like to place random bets during their ping pong matches. Like trading out chores or taking over the other's chore as well as their own.

-Gup B is his comfort gup and misses it quite a bit when he's out and about with his Grand-dad

-Like Cali, his eye has a light sensitivity. It's genetic. It's not bc of the eye patch. Other than that, his eye works fine, however, his vision is getting worse in that eye, so-

-Sings sea shanties with Captain Barnacles. Him and Barnacles listen to Fish in a Birdcage. One album in particular that I haven't rlly bothered to find the name of, lol

-Has tried to learn an instrument, but fails every time, and gives up too easily

-Him and Barnacles actually bumped heads a few times when he was training to be an Octonaut (Yes, there's training to be one, and he just barely passed, it's a fucking miracle)

-In his Pirate days, the only he was widely known for was that he was Calico's grandson, so that put a huge target on his back.

-His parents died, but he was raised by Calico Jack when he was just a kitten, but after Cali left, the crew raised him.

-the crew that raised him told him so many stories abt Calico's daring feats and what not. As well as "monster" stories

-Very active imagination. Gives him anxiety

-Amazing artist. Him and Shellington draw together and Barnacles joins sometimes. It's just a quiet thing that they all do together. Tweak also joins in on occasion. They're just sitting in silence, drawing, maybe listening to music. It's one of the only times you'll ever see Kwazii focus so hard for so long

-If he's ever focused on something and you disrupt him, he isn't rlly happy abt it bc him focusing on something is abt as rare as a blue moon

-Bounces his leg and swishes his tail when fidgeting

-Is never truly still, even when he's asleep, he's always moving around.

-Boops the crew on occasion for no real reason (Especially Peso, Barnacles, and Shellington. Emphasis on Peso and Barnacles. Extra emphasis on Peso)

-Protective over Peso

-Yeow is 100% a vocal stim that he's been using since he was just a kitten. He got it from his grand dad

-Prior to adventuring to the Amazon, he was 99% sure his granddad was dead, but he somehow felt, deep in his bones, that Cali was still alive somewhere.

-Cried while holding a picture of Calico Jack after the Amazon episode. He actually started writing to him as much as he could.

-Got his sword skills (and possibly drawing skills) from his grand dad

-Used to follow Cali around, mimicking everything he did/said. Annoyed him at first, but grew to actually love him for it bc he realized that he was this kid's role model and I think that's sweet as hell

-After he decided to get his own ship, he realized how lonely he was. He discovered that Cali's old crew disbanded after he left, and would love to find them, but there's no traces of them left...maybe they're dead...or alive...we may never know...

-Gold tooth, like his grand dad. He probably got into a fight with someone and got the tooth punched right out of his mouth.

-Didn't get a proper gold tooth, till Peso gave him one, when he first joined.

-Last one to join the Octonauts

-Like his grand dad, he likes to curl up into a ball when sleeping

-Cuddle bug for life

-Has an older brother bond to Peso and uses the stories to scare him

-Him and Peso occasionally fight like actual siblings, but get along most of the time

-Was not the most cooperative person when he first joined. In fact, he was a little on edge and hostile to the group, but now, they're literally his family

-He cusses like crazy, but stopped bc Peso doesn't like cussing and Barnacles says it's kind of important to stay at least somewhat professional at all times

-Cannot handle any type of cold, what so ever. His room is a fucking Sauna, it's crazy

-Calico Jack was his ultimate transition goal when he was first transitioning.

-He's actually quite strong and it is totally bc of all the swimming he does on the job

-Part Carribean and Part Asian, but he grew up all over the place

[princess-of-the-corner]

Tried to think of some Miraculous Gaang names! You may want to Google a few of these, fair warning.

Ladybug!Sokka - Captain Harmonia/Harlequin/Beetle

Black Cat!Katara - Painted Jaguar

Turtle!Aang - Lion Turtle, Tortiseshell

Snake!Suki - Pythonic, Tealtime, Naga, Aspen, Tock Viper, Medusa/Stheno/Euryale, Teal Gorgan

Tiger!Toph - The Blind Tiger

Dragon!Zuko - Seiryu 

Fox!Azula - Inari, Kistune, Silver Reynard, Kuma Lisa, Blue Ren (“the tale of Miss Ren”)

Pig!Jin - Babirusa

Bee!Ty Lee - Bumblebee (there is literally a “Dance of the Bumblebee” music score), Honeycomb

Mouse!Mai - Rat Queen (based on the “Rat King” from the Nutcracker Ballet. Kind of as a slide parallel to her canon thing, here, Mai’s parents signed her up for ballet, where she met Ty Lee and Azula.)

Ox!Haru - Oxenfree (all I got right now)

Horse!Teo - got nothing but “Pegasus” which is taken

Rabbit!Yué - Luna Lapine, Luna Angora, Satin Moon, Velvet Moon

Monkey!Kuzon - a bit more explanation here. Mostly, I was trying to fill out the miraculous roster, cause AtLa only has a few “main” characters, I was trying to find some named characters the Gaang is shown being friends with who are roughly their age. I didn’t list Jet or his friends, cause, honestly, what exactly would their story be?? How do they integrate? Like, I’m sure you could do something, I just couldn’t really think of anything at the time. But also, I realized all the friends of the Gaang belong to Katara, Sokka, or Suki, later Zuko - Aang and Toph don’t really have any that are unconnected from them. In Toph’s case, she was raised super sheltered, and never got a chance to meet anyone, while Aang HAD friends, but they’re all mostly dead, except Bumi, because of the 100 years in ice thing. And we already have Bumi here being an old man. The only other friend Aang really mentions is Kuzon, the Fire Nation kid who … I think there’s a short story about the pair of them fighting off poachers? Anyway, I was basically imagining Kuzon as “Le Chien Kim, but Animal Lover and Environmentalist Advocate”. He would have grown up next door to Aang and Gyatso, and that’s how the pair are friends. As for names … I want to say Tarzan or Mowgli, but I feel like, even in universe, those would get him visits from lawyers.

Now, briefly into ships - this is just me spitballing my random headcanons, PLEASE TO ALL READING THIS, WE ARE HAVING FUN, LET’S NOT BRING THE ATLA SHIPWARS HERE! THIS IS JUST ME SPITBALLING! THEY CAN ALL BE CHANGED!

so, Katara/Aang. Aang I see as non-binary - they don’t mind which pronouns you use, but mostly uses he/they when referring to himself. Katara believes she is straight, but is actually bi with a bigger attraction to males.

Sokka is poly-pansexual. His relationships start with Sokka/Yue, until Yué realizes she’s actually AroAce, and they break up. Then later Sokka/Suki, which morphs into Zuko/Sokka & Sokka/Suki, which changes to Zuko/Sokka/Suki. Suki’s bi, while Zuko is … Zuko (demi-pan, but never has the words for it till WAY later).

Toph is Aro, or at least grayromantic, as is Teo. Teo I also see as trans, but that might just be me.

Mai/Ty Lee eventually becomes Mai/Ty Lee/Azula. (Sexuality uncertain, but my cousin does call them the “Deadly Lesbians”.) There’s a brief Mai/Zuko, but only to get Mai’s parents to back off and leave her alone.

Haru is our only totally straight guy, congrats man, you are our cishet+!

Thoughts, Feelings, Opinions, New/Different Ideas?

(Also, side note. We still have Cabbage man, right?)

-

OH SO

Loving the names! I think I’m gonna make a masterpost of the names here once I finalize them.

Totally get the thing on Kuzon. Like yeah I’m trying to think of other characters to fill out the Hero team and other than Jet’s group there aren’t a lot. There’s a reason I dragged Jin into this(other than the fact that I love her)

And yeah I’ve been turning Jet and co over in my head trying to think of what they’d be and I can’t think of anything for them because there’s so many changes to the base setup.

AS FOR SHIPS

I have my ships I like and while I do take suggestions it’s my au and I get the nonsense!

Obvs the Aang/Katara stays.

I see the Zuko/Sokka/Suki and raise you adding Jin in there.

Swinging to Yue: I always have mixed feelings in some AUs because I love her and Sokka in Canon but most AUs they never really work out. And in this one idk why they wouldn’t exactly? Like nothing gets in the way. Maybe if I write Sokka starting the Suki relationship first and then while they’re poly they’re not at a ‘hey how do you think about another person?’ discussion stage when they meet Yue? And then by the time they are at that stage either they’ve moved on or Yue has her own partner?

That said. Yue/Azula. Any time I have the chance for them I take it. Like the equal opposite you see my vision.

I also have this weird soft spot for Toph/Ty Lee. Probably has something to do with that post of ‘Ty Lee teaches Toph to walk on her hands’ thing because as funny as that post is these two are menaces it’s great, the amount of trust involved in it!

Haru is def our token straight though.

My one original thought:

So like. The Gaang has a range of ages. And in atla that’s fine due to the circumstances. But here it’s kind of a question of ‘how do they all meet/become friends/etc if they never really meet’? so I’m gonna make shit up to squish them into the same grade in school. 

Aang and Toph skipped a grade. Homeschooling put them a bit ahead of their peers in public school so they just got placed ahead.

On the flipside, Zuko got held back a grade due to the whole ‘being kicked out and horrifically scarred’ thing. Like between the mental and physical care he’d need he missed a lot of class that year so just. Repeat the year.

[dckweed]

Helloooo ☺️ since I adore your writing so much, I also wanted to request something. Maybe a Rooster imagine where you fly with Rooster during the Dagger Mission and also help him saving Mave as he crashes but you also got pretty hurt but not tell anyone. So when you're all finally back at the ship, you black out just in front of Rooster and he freaks out. He stays by your side the whole time you're being taken care of and also stays by your side till you wake up. First he lectures you why you didn't tell him, but then he also admits his feelings and it's all cute and fluffy then? Hope this is okay for you and sorry it's so long 🤭

Hi love! of course i can do this for you! i love a good rooster fluff makes me all ooey gooey on the inside!

feel free to send in requests guys, or even just random questions! also this took me so long and im so sorry! also i feel like this really sucks and i could have done so much better and im so sorry..

let me know if we should turn the two birds into a series???

warnings: shooting, near death experiences, plane crash, traumatic injuries, rooster being a mother goose because he cares too much, mav being mav reader is referred to as callsign duckie (or duck for short), incorrect military references and portrayal because what the fuck do i know about the navy? although i did actually google the catapult thing because i was curious.

"TWO BIRDS AND A MAV" bradley 'rooster' bradshaw x fem!pilot reader

You stood with the rest of your fellow pilots inside the hangar of the aircraft carrier, back straight and gaze forward as you stood at attention, waiting for the mission team to be chosen. Captain Mitchell stood at the front of the room, calling out names.

"Phoenix and BOB," He starts first, his voice ringing out. "Fanboy and Payback" He looks over towards Rooster, who is stood right next to you. "Rooster, Duckie." They had modified the flight plan to include a fifth single plane bringing up the rear carrying a third explosive in case of failure. You and Rooster share a look, the pair of you more nervous than you realized, not expecting to hear the others name called.

Your fellow pilots congratulate you as you and your other squad members gather your things to go finish getting your flight gear ready. Everyone files out before you and Rooster, and just as you're about go, he grabs your wrist. "Duckie," His voice is gruff, full of emotions that you more than recognized. He was worried about you, he always was, you supposed that was the price of the lengthy fling the pair of you had had during your time at the academy. You both cared about each other too much. "Be careful up there, yeah?"

His voice is tender, and you can't help the small smile that spreads over your lips as you squeeze his hand, moving in to give him a brief hug. You had missed his embrace, it had been years since you had stopped seeing each other, but it hadn't ever changed the way you felt towards him, or how you reacted when you were in his presence. "You too, Roo.." You say, kissing his cheek before walking off.

Rooster kicks himself as he watches you walk off, he wanted to stop you, beg you too step down and let Jake fill in your spot, he didn't want you to be careful up there, he didn't want you to be up there at all, but he couldn't change the decisions, not when he didn't have a say in them to begin with. He has to remind himself that you are an extremely capable pilot, and quite underestimated by the unsure looks of the fellow squad members and the admiral.

It wasn't long before you and your team were on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, loading onto your aircrafts. You did your usual pre-flight check right along with Nat and Bob, and just before you got ready to climb up the ladder to your cockpit, you gave Bob a fist bump and told him and Natasha that you had their backs up there. You were bringing up the rear, you were support for the whole mission, you knew what your role was and deep down, you knew what you would have to do if it came down to it.

Climbing up into your cockpit, you slide into your seat with ease buckling into your safety belts and going about your onboard flight list. When you're sure that you're set and secured and your plane is safe to fly, you give signal to the ground crew that you're prepped and ready for take off and start to lower the dome of your plane, listening to it lock in place. You know you'll be last to take off and say a silent prayer for yourself and your crew as you slide your orange and black helmet on over your head, your callsign written in cursive on the front and back of it. And as you wait for your go to start taxying onto the runway you let you the mission control team know that you're ready. "Dagger Five, up and ready." You say, locking your visor down into place to help protect you from the glare of the sun.

Not much longer after that they start to taxi your crew onto the runway, as Rooster's F/A-18 scoots along past you, next to go off the deck and into the air, you send him a salute, noticing he was looking at your from his cockpit. He nods back in recognition, holding his fist up to his glass, his way of telling you to be careful.

Soon, it's your turn and before you know it you're being released from the catapult and lifting your nose off the deck and up into the air, catching a beautiful headwind. "Dagger Five, in the air." You report to the control tower, hearing an affirmative response from them as you catch up to the rest of your crew. There was an apprehension in the air, even if you weren't all in the same plane, you knew you were all nervous, all scared. This was the most high stakes, life risking mission any of you had ever faced before, but you knew were the right ones for the job and so did the U.S. Navy, otherwise you wouldn't have been called back to TOP GUN. You were all the best of the fucking best, and you were going to do your damn jobs and do them well.

The mission was going smoothly (even with Rooster falling behind), almost too smoothly you thought, and even with Fanboy and Payback's radar malfunctioning Rooster somehow, by the graces of whatever higher power that might be, managed to land his bomb perfectly bullseye. You were hot on their tail, pulling up sharply as you came out of the inverted dive down the mountain wall, just catching glimpse of the collapsing ground beneath you as you flipped back into position, pulling hard on your controls.

Somewhere in the distance, your vision and hearing going spotty as you pulled in more gforce than was probably healthy for your body as you climbed altitude rapidly, you hear your team yelling over the shared radio connection, and mission control chatter in the background. By the time you're able to gather your own wits about you, your deep into an air strike of surface to air missiles, noticing your radar going off just in time to deploy counter protective measures. "Holy fuck!" You shout, looking around through your cockpit, trying to gather where exactly you were and where your teammates were and how the fuck to get out of the mess.

You pay attention to your radar again, pulling up the nose of your plane just in time to deploy your counter flares once more, punching the button on your side wall like its your savior. "Dagger 5, deployed counter measures twice!" You report, on the mission controll channel, keeping an eye on your radar and in the air in general and you see the flares lighting up the sky. "Daggers report!" You shout into your shared channel needed to know that all of them are okay. You know it will only last a few minutes, but it was going to be a long and brutal few minutes, a true test to how sharp your skills were in the cockpit.

"Dagger One, safe!" Mav's voice comes over the coms, you knew he was team leader and was probably the one that should have been calling for the report but you needed to know. You deploy a third counter measure as you listen to Phoenix call over her com for her and Bob.

"Dagger Two, safe!" Rooster calls, you can hear the edge in his voice, and a grunt. You see a light of flares and missiles colliding just above you in some clouds and you realize that must be him. Fanboy and Payback call in their safe report, and you're about to add in yours at Mav's urging when it happens.

"Dagger Five, sa-" The plane shakes with the force of it, the bomb clips your wing, just barely making contact, but enough to take a chunk out of the right wingtip and cause your engine to missfire. "I'm hit! I'm Hit!" You repeat into your com, urgently deploying your engine safety measures. You knew this plane like the back of your goddamn hand, you knew what to do when one of the engines missfire.

"Duckie!" Mav yelled over the line at the same time as Rooster dropped down next to you, wing to wing on your good side. You ignore Mav, shutting down your right engine before refiring it. It doesn't start. You panic, turning your head to glance at Rooster. He shakes his head at you from his cockpit, wondering what was going on. "Duck! Report!" You flip the engine switch a second time, just as a set of flares comes up on your radar.

"Bradley!" You shout, trying to keep your plane level with only one engine working. He grunts over the line, and you hear him punch his flare button. And then punch it again. "Bradshaw!?"

"I'm out of flares!" He yells, getting ready to deploy bullets, even though he knew they wouldn't do much good judging by how loud your radars were yelling, when all of a sudden Mav dropped down from your damaged side, dropping his flares. They work, but he clips your wing on the way down and it sends both of your planes spiraling. Your instinct is to scream, but you know it will do no good so you try your best to steady your aircraft, though it's not easy to do with only one engine working properly. "Y/N! Mav!" Bradley yells, and before you know it you can see the ground coming up fast through the cockpit.

"Oh shit!" You yell, pulling the ejection handle between your legs as hard as you fucking can, your lid flies off and your seat topples out, and so do you.

The cold air meets your face, the wind hitting it as you race to the ground, waiting for your parachute to deploy. You scream the whole way down, your plane not too far from you, and if you squint you can see Mav off in the distance to your right side. Your planes hit the ground before you do, fiery messes as they collide with the earth. It takes a few minutes, and your parachute hadn't slowed you down nearly fast enough so your body collapses as soon as your feet touch the snow covered ground of where the fuck forest you were in, merely fifteen feet from your fireball of a fucking plane.

"Oh my god.." You groan, looking at the mess of it as you unclip your parachute as quickly as you can, not wanting to be weighed down by it incase the enemy came searching for your downed plane. You looked around, trying to see if you could spot Mav somewhere, but through the smoke and trees you couldn't see him. "Captain Mitchell!" You scream, before flinching, realizing that probably wasn't the smartest idea to do in enemy territory. You wanted them to assume you were dead, it was safer for you that way until you could figure out how to get the fuck out of here, hopefully with your Captain.

A loud burst of flames comes from whats left of your plane and you duck just in time, shrapnel flying over your head and landing merely a foot away from you. "I am so being discharged!" You yell to yourself as you start running toward the tree line, hopefully in the direction of your teammate.

You trudge through the snow for what seems like forever, thanking god for the heavy duty boots on your feet and the fact that you wore long sleeves under your flight suit, the air was a tad brisk in the middle of the dense forest, though you know it was only a few minutes and you start to see the flames of another plane in the trees on the other side of a clearing, and a quarter of the way into the clearing, Maverick is slowly clambering to his knees. He must not have had an easy landing, you deduce.

"Mav!" You call, running over to him, though just as you do the sound of helicopter blades chopping the air reach your ears. You both look up, you merely twenty feet away from him when you see it in the tree line near where his craft had gone down. "..fuck.." You mutter, noticing someone in all black point towards you guys out of the open side door. The chopper turns towards you guys slowly and Mav struggles to gete his chute pack detached before telling you to run, grabbing your arm and pulling you with him as he passes you.

Just in time too because whoever mans the guns starts shooting at the pair of you as you run, the bullets chasing you as you run as fast as you can through the thick layer of snow. Mav is pulling you over a thick log when you feel it, the searing, burning pain going through your leg and your side. You've been shot. You grit your teeth as Mav pulls your body under his, shielding you from the hail of bullets sure to come as the Helicopter positions in front of you guys, pointed directly at your forms. He was prepared to die for you, if it meant that at least one of you got to get out of here.

You close your eyes, preparing for the spray of bullets and your captains blood to riddle your body, but it never comes. You hear a large explosion and peak an eye open, your breath leaving your body as the helicopter and its occupants go up in flames, the unmistakable sound of a fighter jet filling the valley as it flies away. You don't have to be smart to know that it's Bradley, though you do have to have some ounce of brains to realize that there was probably more SAMs hidden in the area and he was probably about to catch the attention of them.

And sure enough, as Mav pulls you up to your feet the both of you in disbelief, you watch as his plane erupts into a ball of smoke. "Oh god.." Mav says, and starts running in the direction that Bradley's plane went down in. You followed right behind him, the fact that you were shot in two different places the least of your worries, your adrenaline pushing you forward and keeping you from feeling the burning pain of the bullets in your body.

You're right behind Mav when you finally make it to the clearing, Bradley had thankfully landed far away from his plane and you hear him yell "You okay?" and Bradley's affirmative response before Mav picks up speed and pushes the stupid ass to the ground.

"The fuck was that for?!" Rooster yells, taking his helmet off and standing up, catching sight of you coming up just behind Mav.

"What are you doing here?!" Mav yells, worry lacing his voice. "You could've been back on the aircraft carrier by now, what the fuck were you thinking?!"

Bradley looks at him, eyes wild. "You told me not to think!" If you weren't in the situation you were in, this whole scene would've been comical.

Mav is silent for a moment, not being able to argue farther because he was right, he had told the boy not to think. Just do. And, at the end of the day, if he hadn't, they would've be alive right now. "Yeah, well..its good to see you.." The older man concedes.

Bradley chuckles. "It's good to see you too.." He says, bowing his head before looking back up at you. "Duckie? You okay?"

You rear back and punch his stupid as shoulder as hard as you can, gritting your teeth as a burning sensation goes through your side. You'd been shot on your dominant side, that wasn't a good thing. "Just fucking peachy." You grunt, hoping that neither men realized that something was wrong with you. You wanted to get the fuck out of here.

Rooster nods, rubbing his shoulder. "So, what's the plan?"

And that, that small question was how you wound up in the back of an F-14, sat on Rooster's lap, the only thing securing you in place were his arms wrapped around your waist holding you tightly against his chest and lap as Mav took off from the enemy base.

"This is so not safe!" You yell, gritting your teeth as you try not to cry from the pain of Rooster squeezing your bullet entry wound. "Bradley' don't you fucking let go of me!" You cry, trying desperately to get the radio back up and working so you could reach the carrier, let your crew know that you guys were still fucking alive. He squeezes you even tighter in a way that clearly says 'I've got you' , and despite the pain you feel a comfort go through you that allows you to focus that much more. "How the fuck do i work this shit?"

"I'm really not sure, that was always Bradley's dad's expertise!" Maverick calls back over the intercom, maneuvering the ancient ass plane through the valley. You could cry, or slam your head against the radar. Either way you didn't care. "Um..there should be a switch.."

"Pete theres like ten thousand switches back here!" You yell back, your voice high pitched and panicky. You try to recall anything you read about an F-14, about working an RIO cockpit (which wasn't much because it really wasn't your specialty) and start mentally cross referencing it to what you know about working your own cockpit to get your systems up and running. Eventually, you start flipping a few switches and to your utmost surprise, one of them works.

"Got it!" You call, your Radar flipping on. Just as it does you spot a bogey not too far off your tail. "Mav, tally two right wing, tail." You say. "Rooster, let go of me and try flipping on your locator!" He lets go of you for a brief second just as the Bogey starts to pull up even with Mav in the cockpit.

"Uh, what do we do?" Rooster asks, looking out the lid and then to the back of Captain Mitchell's head. "Mav?"

He doesn't answer for a minute. "Just, be cool." He says and you want to yell at him that this is a do or die situation, not a 'stay cool' situation. What the fuck did that even mean, be cool? You guys just obliterated their entire base, you were most certainly not cool and pilot in the next plane over was most certainly not stupid. Scary, but not stupid.

The pilot throws up a hand signal, his hands decked out in all black. "Jesus are they wearing leather flight gear?" You ask, barely heard over Rooster's "Mav, mav what does that mean? I don't know what that means.."

You see the captain shake his head in the reflection of the dome, and swallow back fear, closing your eyes. "I don't know either.." He says, trying to do something with hand signals that he did know. The plane falls back after a moment, only to get into attacking position.

You're pressing down into Rooster for dear life now as Mav does (as rooster had called it), some of that pilot shit, your hands bracing on the dome above you, trying not to fucking die in your secured predicament. Your former boyfriend does his best to keep you secured to his body, but there isn't much he can do when you're both being thrown around in the air, the craft rolling and diving every few seconds as Maverick tries to get you guys back to safety with your fucking lives.

Just when you think you've made it, the radar goes off again and none of you see where the danger is until it's much too late, and your defense mechanisms are far too gone. With a shaking breath and tears in your eyes you listen to Mav and Rooster get over whatever bullshit had been between them, an emotional apology that really means nothing if the two of them aren't going to survive this. You're scared, all the things you've never done and said running through your mind, all the things you'd missed out on and were going to continue to miss out on because you wanted to be just like your own father. Your sister would laugh at you, would tell you to stop being so dramatic and use your last few seconds (or minutes if you're lucky enough), to do something besides think about all the things you could have done.

You feel him try to pull the ejection handles as Mav pulls up hard, only for you two to not eject. He gives an emotional cry before he tells Mav that they aren't working.

"Rooster," You blurt, eyes squeezed closed. If you were going to die, you didn't want to see it coming, it was better this way. You would much rather go with visions of Bradley dancing behind your eyelids anyway. "Bradley," You sob loudly and he squeezes you tightly against his chest, you don't even feel the pain of the two bullet wounds anymore. "I love you..i'm so sorry i never said it back but i do, i fucking love you."

And then it must happen, you must fucking die because you hear the explosion. You see the light of the burst of flames behind your eyelids, cutting through the vision of you and Bradley. You brace for it, the pain or..the coldness, but it never comes. Instead, you think you hear what must be Satan's voice.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen," What the hell have you ever done bad enough that you're sent to a hell with Hangman as the voice guiding you? "This is your savior speaking, please return your trays to their locked and upright positions."

You cry in relief.

Every person on the carrier must be on the flight deck that you guys have surely marred and damaged with your lack of landing gear in the ancient ass plane you'd been forced to fly in. Their loud cheering greets your ears, a sea of thunderous applause as the dome of the cockpit slides open. You still don't think that you've made it. That you're even alive, and maybe that checks out because as soon as you step out onto the wing, you collapse.

three days.

You're out for three days in the medbay of the carrier, Rooster by your side. He doesn't leave, but he fusses over your unconscious form, fusses over the doctors and nurses to the point that they threaten to kick him out if he doesn't sit the fuck down.

His words rattle in his mind, those three little words that the both of you had been much too scared to say to each other when you were in the academy, when you were in TG the first time around. He never realized how much he truly longed to hear them come from your lips until they finally had, and he wanted to grab you up and tell you how much he loved you back, wanted to kiss you until you saw stars but you had collapsed as soon as he let you off of his lap.

He had been so scared, moreso than he was before Hangman had saved them because at least then he was going to die with you in his arms, it was a pretty decent death considering the way death could have been. You dropped like a rag doll, hitting the wing of the plane first before sliding off of it onto the crowd below as he unhooked his safety belts as fast as he could. He remembered shouting your name, dropping to the ground next to your where he looked at your flgihtsuit for the first time and found the two bullet holes. You had taken on fire. You were bleeding. And you hadn't said anything to him. How could you not say anything?

He supposed he shouldn't dwell on it because you were still alive. You were still here with him. He just needed you to open your damn eyes so he could say it back to you. He had his head tilted back, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to rest, he was exhausted and still in his dirty suit from three days ago. He was sure his mustache was being joined by a beard, and he was sure that he smelled, but he wasn't going to leave you.

"Bradley?" A hushed whisper. Had he really heard it? No..no he couldn't have. "Bradley!" He snaps his head up, eyes on you instantly. You're staring up at him, your beautiful eyes glossed over with unshed tears, your pale skin looking even paler under the harsh florescent lighting of the medial bay.

"You fucking scared me." He says, voice wavering with unshown emotions. He moves so he's hovering over you, a gentle hand on top of your head. Your lips quivered. "Duckie, you fucking scared the shit out of me, do you know?" He says again, putting his lips to your forehead. He feels you sigh against him and he pulls away, looking down at you. "I love you too.." He whispers. "Scared the absolute shit out of me, but i fucking love you, you brat." You chuckle at his last words, only to wince at the pain that goes straight through you.

"That hurts, don't make me laugh." You groan, taking his hand in yours. "How long have I been down?" You didn't remember exactly what happened once you'd landed, hell, you barely remembered that. "Are we home yet? Roo, I want to go home.."

"Three days..and we should be stateside by tomorrow.." He says, brushing hair away from your face, squeezing the hand that you had in his. "They had to take your gall bladder, bullet lodged in it real good.." He grazed a hand gently over the wound. "They fished the other out of your leg..said you might need rehab.."

You hum, closing your eyes. "Just get me home first," You say, not letting him go. "We'll handle everything else later.."

[blushblushbear]

I ship Iris with a number of the dudes (I think how she is would play off well with a few of them actually) but low key I ship her with Haru the most.

I just think they'd work well together. She knows how to have fun and can be pretty sarcastic when she knows the company she's in is game for it, but she also has a very sweet side to her???

Like she'll rag on you and call you out and stuff but she always does it out of love.

She can be really caring and understanding the majority of the time.

She can also be hard core and knows how to party. She's actually quite the little party girl when she has time for it.

But she also knows how to handle her shit (mostly).

So yeah idk I just think she'd be a good fit for Haru.

She'd very much be rolling her eyes at all his flirting. Telling him to keep it to himself or in his pants. But she is very down to hang though.

Like the night will very much not end in a hook up of any kind but she'll stay out all night with him drinking and dancing and chatting till the morning.

She'd be a friend to him first and I think it's after he's mostly human again and CAN go out partying again that he really starts to click with how much he likes having her around.

She also really starts to like having him around as well though low key she likes having most people around--- she's a people person. She likes meeting people, finding out what makes them tick.

I think she also pieces together that Haru's actually a pretty lonely. Like he keeps shifting through people but without any connections it just leaves him feeling even lonelier that he was before.

And I think it's that openness while still keeping up that solid boundary that actually gives Haru room to actually fall in love.

I think he's actually pretty scared when he realizes how much he loves her

AND THAT'S MY BREAK GOTTA CLOCK BACK IN AHHH

[joviepog]

Y'know how Wilbur sometimes goes off on his little geography rants??

Wilbur going on a geography rant, not knowing that reader loves geography, so them both going on a geography rant

None of that makes sense but eh

I'll help you as much as I can getting you out of this writer's block 😁

Hehe thank you for the help once again @ax-y10! This is a short blurb just for you! :D

—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—

Geography Rants

Who: Wilbur x reader

Pronouns: None mentioned

Warnings: None! :D

Wilbur and his little rants, Jesus.

—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—ఌ—

I imagine him rambling to people about geography even after streams. Like he’ll just be hanging out with Tommy or something and he has to tell him to stop because he’s starting to get a headache.

“Wilbur, mate, in the nicest way possible, i really dont care if Rome is located in the central-something part of the Italian Peninsula.” Said Tommy, starting to get a headache. “Oh. Sorry Tom.”

I FEEL LIKE HE WOULD ACT LIKE A SAD LITTLE KID THAT GETS REJECTED TO GETTING ICE CREAM WHEN PEOPLE TELL HIM TO STOP.

But then one day he streams with you and he goes on geoguesser right before stream ends. He’s tired, your tired, chat’s tired. You don’t realize he’s on geoguesser till later though. Your in the restroom when he starts to ramble. He finds somewhere he recognizes and starts to talk,

“Oh i think i know where I’m at! DID YOU GUYS KNOW…”

Then he start rambling on and on. All this happens while your in the restroom and when you come back, your eyes light up when you see where he is. You quickly put in your headphones and start rambling as well, not knowing that he was already talking.

“WIL DID YOU KNOW THAT-“

THERE WOULD BE THIS AWKWARD PAUSE OF REALIZATION AND THEN YOU WOULD BOTH GASP IN EXCITEMENT.

Yeah the stream would end up being another hour longer and then you guys would just forget to end stream. Chat has to stop you guys and they are just yelling at you bc that the stream is still going and you guys need sleep.

Then you guys are just like,

“Oh sorry chat! Alright bye!”

Like your both just so excited and just immediately end stream.

AND THEN THE WHOLE TIME WILBUR IS JUST ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE. LIKE HE IS GIVING YOU LOVE EYES AND HE’S JUST TALKING TO YOU SO CALMLY.

NLIGBAWIEFBLAWBAWRV

Idk i feel like everyone would just ship you two the second you two actually ended stream.

[victimized-martyr]

Did you ever mention how you got into kyman? Personally speaking, I got into it (again) around 2020 when I rewatched sp, and I basically fell down the rabbit hole. I’ve been into it on and off since then.

I probably did somewhere, but I'll say it again!

I wanted to see what SP was all about so I decided to just watch the most recent episode/special at the time-- post covid. But I realized, it was a story that wasn't forgiving for newcomers, and I had NO idea who was who. I have vivid memories of being weirded out by the redhead guy being upset about the rabbi dude's wife and kids. Then when he said "did you know that he once snuck into my room and gave me fucking aids?!" I GASPED bc one, it was super out of nowhere, super crude, and two, I falsely assumed like, OHHHHH they're gay exes... that explains this weird behavior. I'm sorry what else was my dumb ass supposed to assume! And I watched the rest of the special viewing them in that context hgkd But when I started to properly watch the show from the beginning/ hop between episodes, I felt embarrassed for myself, I was like HOW on earth could I have made that false assumption. I was actually grossed out by the thought of kyman at the start! I knew that Cartman was obsessed with Kyle, and that they did care for each other as friends, but I couldn't fathom Cartman's obsession being anything genuine or Kyle reciprocating. I even made a post abt it on my main as I was watching the show, it might still be in there somewhere lol. I was happy just watching the show as is and I was like, dang! This might be the first thing I get into without shipping anyone! Then, my buddy @shpadoinkle-day texted me what was practically the kyman manifesto and urged me to "wait till seasons 20/21, it'll change everything"

at the same time, an irl buddy watched THAT moment in Manbearpig w/ me for the first time and went "that's... kinda fruity" and I was also like?? yeah?? damn... Then I saw seasons 20/21 and it opened up my eyes. I think it was the only seasons I was so enthralled with to completely binge in one night ghfksd and I. was. floored. Kyle crying over cartman? during a montage of couples breaking up? Kyle being speechless when he saw cartman get a gf? Kyle questioning if he liked heidi, Kyle's stupid ass "we're all going out with Cartman right now", how he inserted himself in the relationship so hard, yet when taking heidi from cartman, talks as if he wasn't doing it for Heidi. His frustration at Heiman was at the very top in list of justification at bombing a country (yes, Kyle says he's upset a girl he liked turned into cartman... but there's layers in that statement, esp. compared to kyle's actions). Kyle memorizing the day they got together, confronting Heidi and asking how Cartman is doing as a boyfriend, what specifically she finds about him that's redeemable (and we all know how Kyle is about finding the good in people), batshit insane things a normal person (like stan) wouldn't ask his friend's girlfriend. And then of course, Kyle dropping all that effort when they break up. Insanity. I realized the obsession was mutual, and rewatching the show in that context completely rerouted my watching experience with the show. It kinda made it funnier for me too lolol. I started picking up on all the evidence I saw shippers point at, and I got what they meant fr. Kyle and Cartman are assholes and poke at each other's insecurities, have hurt each other, yet will not let the other die, Kyle is usually the first one to call for cartman if something happens to him, he saves him when he doesn't deserve it, and Cartman, as stated by Stan, cannot live without him. And it's subtly shown he wouldn't keep kyle just to rag on, bc if that were the case, he would not hesitate to hold it over Kyle's head. Their feelings for each other are very complex, and--if you really pay attention to the show--mutual.

[utilitycaster]

I’m I the only one who finds it alarming that most of this fandom who ship Imogen and Laudna (especially on twitter) don’t realize the unhealthyness thats going on in their relationship? They literally see two women to are affectionate with each other and say “ENDGAME!” “GIRLFRIENDS!” “MARRIED!” “KISS KISS KISS!” Then they focus on quotes that are kinda alarming, and Imogen’s Jealousy is pretty fucking Alarming! Saying that they are in love and just haven’t realized it yet. (Don’t get me started on that one blog on here counting down the days “till imodna realizes their in love.” I find it so fucking annoying.) Loving someone and being IN love with someone is two different things. Also another thing! I HATE THAT PEOPLE CALL THEM LESBIANS! THE BOTH HAVE EXPRESSED FEELINGS FOR MALE PERSENTING PEOPLE! I dread the day when the campaign ends and they don’t end up together or during the campaign fall IN love with someone that’s not each other. Especially if it’s a male persenting person, because the Laura and Marisha will be harassed and the shippers will yell Queerbait, also the men hating/haters will be in full force. 

Hi anon,

I agree with most of this; I'm answering under a cut in the hopes that people who will be upset by an answer will be able to avoid it, without me having to explicitly discourse tag it and in doing so throw it to people who troll that tag to get mad at things. Also this is SUPER long and covers a lot of the thoughts I've had percolating on the CR fandom/shipping culture in general.

I think I and a lot of people who primarily deal in meta/analysis in this fandom have been inching ever closer to a lot of the points you've made here, and I am generally very willing to be the one who snaps and says "yeah has anyone noticed the emperor has literally no clothes on like what the fuck".

Let's start with the end and work backwards: It's happened before, it will happen again if Laura and Marisha's characters do not get together, and it's irritating, but like, I will take a good story and the consequences of a shitty segment of the fandom rather than the path of least resistance every time. I almost said something to this effect on the positive vibes ask last night, but like...there will always be people who are hateful and stupid on the internet, so you may as well stand in your own truth rather than fear their consequences. (Not that I don't respect the choice to quietly avoid harassment; I am the way I am because I know at this point I can take a pretty hard hit and shut it down, but that has not always been the case.) Anyway, people called an actual canon ship between lesbian characters queerbaiting last campaign, so it's not like those accusations hold any weight or need to be taken seriously; outside of their tiny circle, everyone thinks those people are idiots.

I do, as a bi woman, hate the tendency among hardcore shippers to erase bisexuality. They do it because a bi character's competing ships cannot be as easily dismissed as 'obviously can't happen, they're gay or lesbian', and they don't care how biphobic they look doing it. You are absolutely correct: Imogen and Laudna have both indicated interest in men or masc nb people. (Others have also pointed out that people tend to exclusively use he/him pronouns about Ashton when they are being critical of them, so they don't care how transphobic they look doing it either, apparently; also I don't think Ashton identifies as a he/they lesbian but there are in fact people who do identify as such so like...if your goal is to eliminate Ashton/Laudna as an option by saying Laudna is a lesbian, against all evidence to the contrary, you also need to make a number of presumptions about Ashton's sexuality and gender identity as well.)

This brings me to a tricky section about fandom in general but I think it's worth saying. In the real world, homophobia and transphobia are very real. They negatively impact our lives in heartbreaking and deadly ways. It is still the norm in most US media for the bulk of relationships shown to be between a cis man and a cis woman, and for protagonists to be cis and straight (note: also often able-bodied, male, white, etc but the focus of this discussion is queerness so I'm not covering all axes of oppression). However, in many fandom spaces, queer characters and ships are the fan favorites. Tumblr's userbase does skew heavily queer, and additionally, tends to skew towards women. In other words, a lot of things that are very true in real life do not hold in fandom spaces.

Which is to say: we're in a situation where an F/F ship is the massive juggernaut for the fandom right now. It does not mean that lesbians (or bi women who enter into relationships with other women) are not oppressed in the real world; it does mean that within the highly specific space of the Critical Role fandom, people are more likely to be in favor of this ship than not. It also means that a lot of the people who aren't into it are not homophobes, but are queer people - often even wlw - who are saying "I would like F/F ships! I would like them to actually be good." Like, to me, the only difference between Imogen and Laudna and every M/F canon relationship on network TV that's made me go "you're telling me they should be together, but I don't see it" is that they're both women (and I would bet a large sum that for a lot of people, this isn't about the dynamic, but purely about the gender of the people involved, ie, if Imogen were a man played by one of the men in the cast people wouldn't ship it, where as I personally can comfortably say I'd ship any of the canon ships from past campaigns regardless of character gender. This also admits that biological essentialism is fake and that Exandria is pretty gender equalthough, which some people don't want to do.)

Part of why I've been so frustrated is that, at least from my perspective, the overwhelming majority of hate and harassment I've seen within the fandom in Campaign 3 - and in Campaign 2 - has been from people who have shipped Marisha and Laura's characters. There has, in fact, been pretty considerable hate as well as measured criticism levied towards M/F ships (we're seeing some with Ashton/Laudna here, but both Fjord/Jester and Caleb/Jester, the latter of which I actively dislike and have openly criticized, received pretty vehement hate last campaign and most of it came from people who shipped Jester with Beau) and M/M ships (less harassment per se but people who shipped Caleb with Jester said some truly awful things about Caleb/Essek; also while I have not, you know, harassed people, I have said essentially the same things about how Taliesin and Liam's characters are shipped every campaign despite often having little connection as I have about Marisha and Laura's. I just don't talk about it as much because while I think and have said that Ashton/Orym is basically nothing - and that Widomauk, which most people vaguely classify as M/M, and for that matter, Percy/Vax, all are basically nothing - no one who ships those has called me a cunt or reblogged my posts in an abusive manner or called me out for the grave sin of preferring canon to fanon, so I respect the ship and let ship of it all.) For that matter, the bulk of hate towards Beauyasha came from people who shipped Beau and Jester. Like...I am confident there are people who dislike this ship specifically because it's between two women, and they are homophobic, but that is not the quarter where I think most of the criticism on Tumblr or Twitter is coming from.

So let's get to the last point. Why do people ship two women simply because they're standing next to each other? Why do they ignore countless red flags - and I am specifically talking about treating Imogen and Laudna's relationship as healthy and loving; not about shipping it in general. I cannot stress enough that if you treat Imogen/Laudna as some kind of toxic Briarwoods situation and are into that, I support that entirely.

There are a few reasons. First and foremost, I think a lot of people project onto characters rather than letting the characters provide them with differing perspectives. I find this deeply sad. It's not that you can't draw parallels between your own life and that of fictional characters or see yourself in them - you're supposed to! But it says something depressing about your empathy if your qualifications for which characters speak to you are only those who match your demographics. Like, I've said before, but my favorite characters from past campaigns are Vex and Fjord, and they have a lot in common! If you relate to one based on their themes of Who You Are In The Dark and the mask you present to the world over a face you don't particularly like, you will probably relate to the other! But also...I am a cis bi woman, I am not a person of color as both those characters are often considered coded to be (though am an ethnic minority), nor did I personally experience extensive emotional abuse and poverty as a child. I think there's value in wanting to see people like you! But also...representation is not just "I want to see people like me"; it's also "I want to humanize people who are not like me". If you cannot relate to someone simply because they don't match your gender or sexuality, then that's a really shallow and cold way to interact with the world. And, specifically in relation to queerness within Critical Role: this is a world that has consistently been depicted as not having homophobia or transphobia. I understand wanting to explore these themes and seeing characters who have experienced them, but like...this is not the media that will reasonably have a one-to-one portrayal of homophobia or transphobia, and you often will need to bend over backwards and project a lot of stuff that simply isn't in the canon to read that into them because the worldbuilding simply doesn't support it. And, to be clear, you can do that; but at that point you're applying a lens that only you can obtain, so you shouldn't be surprised if few people come along with you. (I also think it's kind of dumb to watch a show with 5 cis men on it, four of whom are married to women, and be mad that the story has men in it and that those men sometimes are attracted to women; unpacking this would easily double the length of this already incredibly long post though.)

So: this sets a stage for people coming into the show saying "who looks like me, or can I make to look like me" rather than engaging with what's actually going on. Part of why I've been hesitant on Imogen and Laudna the whole time, though started out much more open to it, is in fact that it was heavily shipped from quite literally the moment that Laura and Marisha were indicated to be playing two women who knew each other from before. We knew nothing about their dynamic other than "existing friendship". So I think a lot of people put the cart before the horse and started shipping, and I do think - and I could be entirely wrong - a lot of them, deep down in their hearts, know that they are twisting their interpretations to match an idea of these two characters that has increasingly been proven not to be true onscreen. Like, I think a lot of people kind of realize that Imogen is putting Laudna in a horrible position here; I think a lot of people realize that their so-called 'unconditional' love that transcends words means there's no room to resolve or even express conflict. Perhaps they don't, but like, I'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt. It's just...I think that because this ship is so all-consuming within the fandom, and because so many people have staked their identities within the fandom on it, they don't know how to leave it and are scared of retaliation if they do.

This is backed up by the slow shift I've described - Imodna started out with "they're already girlfriends" or "they're already in love but just haven't said it" or "what could ever happen other than they become ever closer and eventually kiss" (as witnessed by these questions) to "they realized they were in love during the campaign" to "Imogen is in love with Laudna but Laudna isn't aware" to "god remember how they used to talk, I'd give anything for it" to "I guess a QPR is okay" (which is itself bizarre, like, the issues I see in their relationship are still just as much issues in a nonsexual partnership as a sexual one; honestly, it's not a healthy friendship though it is an interesting one and the problem's I have are not going to be fixed by kissing.) Like, it's not the normal evolution of feelings one might have about a ship as the show goes on and more information is revealed, or rather, it's a ship that's becoming less and less confident as time goes on which is the opposite of how canon ships tend to go. (Which, I need to stress, does not discount that it could not be canon; it's just that I think it would require a pretty profound shakeup and conflict to do so). The signs and signals are becoming more and more tenuous and the shippers keep lowering and lowering the bar.

Since I've already brought up past campaigns and ships, let's do it again for the sake of illustration; this feels like how people who shipped Caleb and Jester went from ENDGAME to "Caleb is pushing away Jester to protect her" to "I think Laura is biting her lip when she's looking at Liam! This is a SIGN" even in episodes where Jester was like, actively making out with Fjord, to, and I am not making this up, posting pictures of the CR shop showing Laura in Caleb merch as evidence. Or how the bulk of Vex/Keyleth shipping in TLOVM rested on a scene in the trailer where Keyleth was staring dreamily and drunkenly into space while Vex was across the table only for the show to reveal Keyleth was staring at Vax. Like, all shipping does require a certain degree of cherrypicking, but there is a point where you are focused only on subtext and never text, and while that was how one had to interact with queer stories in the past, it's ridiculous to be doing it on a show where Marisha has openly RP-ed Beau eating Yasha out. Like, if they wanted to show two women being romantically involved, they will. (There's been a lot of Xena comparisons thrown around, and like...not that Xena isn't an important part of the history of depicting F/F relationships in media, but it is also a syndicated show from the 90s and couldn't show an explicitly lesbian relationship, and Critical Role very much can and has.)

I do think there are a subset of people who don't realize how unhealthy this is. Like...this is a whole psychological thing that I am unequipped to unpack, but I do think there are people for whatever reasons genuinely do believe that love means never having to say you're sorry. I am hoping this is because of youth and inexperience, because being able to communicate and advocate for yourself is a crucial part of relationships, as is the ability to express and resolve conflict. As you've noticed, the people who ship this have all said "well, obviously, Imogen won't betray Laudna" - but we don't know that. Honestly I think it could go either way. But they have to make that assumption to keep shipping it, because if Imogen might betray Laudna, then that does mean that there would have been more meaning and value in Laudna speaking up and that conversation was deeply flawed.

I also think some of this comes from unconditional love being an unreasonable expectation foisted upon us all at large. There are always conditions, or rather, you might always in some way love someone, but there are conditions under which you'd leave or boundaries you will draw. You can love someone who (for example) is dealing with an addiction but still refuse to let them drive while intoxicated or steal your stuff to pay for drugs. You can love someone who cheats on you but still want to end that relationship. I mean, while fear, self-doubt, and resources/logistics are all factors in people leaving abusive relationships, it's also true that a lot of people have some affection for the good times and that is a factor as well. Love is not a simple on/off switch. You can feel multiple things at once - honestly, that's what Ashton basically says this past episode, that they both love and hate the party! I think Imogen and Laudna do genuinely love each other, though I don't interpret it as romantic; I just also think that there's a lot of stuff they don't like about each other but are unable to express, and which will only become more and more of a threat to a potential romantic (or queerplatonic) relationship if left to fester unresolve. And, to be honest, I suspect real-world homophobia and fandom purity issues are part of why people are so unwilling to discuss why Imogen and Laudna's relationship is unhealthy; because it means admitting that queer relationships can have most of the same problems as straight ones, and possibly admitting that you still find an unhealthy relationship interesting and want to see it played out.

[saryasy]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

hi jo!!! thank you so much and to @writerkenna and @livingincolorsagain for the asks! okay let's see in no particular order:

1. 500 Days of Winter, M, 16.7K

In a small, dark room in the middle of nowhere, just outside Bucharest, two bodies intertwine. The chorus of sounds and three little words plays over and over and over again. They don't let go for one second.

Tomorrow the world will come knocking at their door, their lives will be turned upside down, but for now, they have each other, and for now, that's more than enough.

Or, the story of Sam and Bucky, and the five hundred days that bound them together.

okay I lied I'm starting with quite possibly my favorite fic I've ever written. I've put a lot of work and care into this one and I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. helps that I was possessed at the time and wrote it quicker than I ever would

2. my struggling form, my willing soul, T, 2K

It was hard, being back into the cold, gray world that was his New York apartment.

Sometimes, his eyes would look around frantically, searching for a sound that rang through the stillness. Only for him to realize that the sound came from within; an old memory, laughter and music, dancing, kids running around. A tender touch to his neck. A satisfied smile of finally being home. Eyes as beautiful as the sunset they were watching, just as striking, just as deep.

He could look at nothing else till the day he died, and would die happy and sure that he’d seen the most beautiful sight this world had to offer.

the first fic in my inspired by Hozier series! it was born into existence through sheer stubbornness (and my deep need to do a bucky character study) I kept listening to the song (which I still fucking love) and reading the lyrics and then this happened and I couldn't be happier

3. darling, i’d go through it again (if i could hold you for a minute), M, 1.8K

There’s an irritating feeling in his chest, making it harder to breathe. It was like this when he first stayed home and Sam started going on missions alone - well not exactly alone, but without Bucky. It took some time, but he got to a better point where he could actually breathe while Sam was away.

This is different, though. This isn’t the tightness of chest he’s come to be on familiar terms with, nor is it the forceful beating his heart has gotten used to dancing to.

He wants to voice it, to let it out, but when he goes to, the words lodge in his throat.

another one from the series and my first MCD! I really liked playing with the fantasy elements in it too

4. for all of the things i am (not), G, 1,8K

‘You’ll find the one,’ people like to say, but the thing is, he already has. He was lucky enough to find him in the scorching desert heat; blond locks that looked like they were on fire, a pair of green eyes so captivating, you couldn’t help but follow them everywhere, and a smile that could bring the proudest men to their knees. He found him, but he slipped away from between his fingers in the darkness of the desert sky as he sank to his fate. Forever falling, forever gone.

Or, Sam's grief catches up with him.

had to throw in my only gen fic up to date and ngl I wanna write another one. unfortunately the engagement with these is quite low I find myself leaning towards character studies with background shipping. but yeah would love to do it again

5. Firsts & Lasts, T, 613

You never know that your last time is going to be your last.

Or, Sam considers his lingering feelings for Riley, and his developing ones for Bucky.

look I have such a soft spot for samriley, I love writing them so fucking much. the tragedy is oh so gorgeous. I really hope to write that samriley idea I have one day

[evilgabe29]

i recommend taking a look at this real quick otherwise you might be confused

ill put this on the daily writing list, i also cant focus enough to edit it right now so i might post an edited version later

oh and ill start calling the wip magic space prospectors (MSP) since i cant think of anything better right now

MSP Chapter 3 : Takeoff

Vik left their room properly dressed, ring spike on their belt and coat a bit too big hung on them perfectly, well except for the sleeves that needed to be rolled up so that they didn't get in the way. 

Vik still wasn't used to being on the ship, basically a cube of metal plating haphazardly bolted and welded together. The heaver, Kali, seemed pretty nice. they could get used to them. Based on their conversation Kali was close to losing their housing on Kuralon before getting a job with the port guild and was given guild housing. It was a shame that Vik was so young when they’d lost their place of inhabitants otherwise they might have done the same thing. 

Lan and Nell were sitting on the couch. Nell looked like they were struggling to stay awake, while Lan was in deep concentration about something. Kali was still setting up in their room. 

Kali left their room, they were dressed in a simple blue shirt with the port guild emblem printed on the left breast area. Attempts had clearly been made to scratch off the logo but they seemed to have been ineffective. Their long and black went down all the way to the middle of their back. Vik was a bit jealous. Vik used to have long hair like that but it could get caught in things way too easily so Vik had decided to not deal with it and cut it. Now that they weren't living on the street anymore they might consider growing it out again. 

“Are you alright?” Kali asked, Vik realized that they’d been staring. They blushed furiously 

“Yeah I'm fine,” Vik replied, futilely trying to hide their embarrassment. 

“Cool, anyway do you have any idea when Lan will finally explain why we're here?”

“Nope they’ve just been sitting there, do you want to ask them?”

“Yeah I guess I'll have to ask him, otherwise they might kick us off the lot,” Kali said, walking over to Lan over on the couch with Vik trailing behind.

Kali gently tapped Lan on his head, they jerked back hitting their head on the wall behind them. Lan Yelped, causing some of their coffee to splash onto them.

“Ow, shit, sorry, I get very jumpy when I'm thinking,” Lan said, getting up and wiping themselves off. Nell, who'd been woken up, wore a wide grin, silently giggling to themselves.

“So when are you going to explain what we're doing here?” Kali asked, seemingly unphased by the turn of events.

“hum? oh right yeah i forgot that i forgot to do that, uhh i guess we should probably do introductions now. my name is Lanyard Wayne, please call me Lan though,” Lan gestured to Nell inviting them to continue.

“Yeah, I got it, my name's Nellson Wayne, although you're free to call me Nell if you like. im a spiker and Lan here is a dodger” Nell shot a sly smile over to Lan. they seemed to have not noticed.

“I guess I'll go next,” Vik said hesitantly. “My name's Vik, it's not short for anything. i'm a dasher”

“Right, my turn i suppose, my name is Kaladar Pickwick but i prefer to go by Kali. im a heaver as i suppose you already know” 

“Alright now that's over I'll explain what we will actually be scouting for. We will be looking for a white moon.” Kali and Vik both grew silent. Kali was the first one to speak up.

“Are you insane? We only know of two Keno moons and both have been in pieces when we found them, what makes you think we can find another one?” Kali said. Vik just nodded in agreement they didn't know much about cosmography but to their knowledge most of the areas around the solar system had been thoroughly mapped out. The only hope of finding another white moon would be to go outside that range and lose contact with civilization. It didn't sound particularly like the best idea but they kept their mouth shut till they got all the facts.

“Yes, I know that. But there has been evidence that Aothos that orbited Aramis was whole while modern humans were alive. That's why we have so many legends about the sky falling apart. And we also found pieces of Melanus in the ring. So scientists have theorized that Melanus was wandering like many we have seen. What was I talking about again?” Lan abruptly stopped their torrent of words in confusion.

“Why were we looking for a Keno moon?” Vik said in a small voice.

“Oh right that. I just want to examine an untouched specimen. Oh and I guess it'll break the economy but that's irrelevant. There's also a chance that if it is orbiting another planet there's a chance that there would be life on it. There are a few theories I want to test when it comes to non-humans and if they can also be Kenek” Lan looked so excited by the prospect, Vik couldn't say no to them. And by the looks of things neither could Kali.

“I…see” they said slowly “well I guess I don't have any other option. Are we going to take any jobs while we're looking for the thing? Because chipping pisces off the engine when we need to pay for things doesn't sound like a long term solution”

“You know, i didn't intend on it but now that you mention it that does sound like a good idea” Lan said walking over to the kitchen area and pouring themself another cup of coffee

“Anyway we need to get going soon so let me explain how the ship operates, come here” Lan beckoned both Vik and Kali over to the big white rock that was bathed in yellow flame. Rods made of some kind of white metallic substance pierced through the boulder at various  angles, connecting it to the ship and rendering it imobile.

“This here is our engine, it is just one big chunk of keno. It is of 256 grade M, you know what that means right?” Lan asked to their confused faces. 

“Lan,” Nell said, glaring at Lan.

“Right, right, I'll explain it later. All you need to know is these rods here make it so any Kenek induced property the the engine is succumbed to the rest of the ship will respond as if the property was applied to it as well. Does that make sense? Any questions?” Vik hesitantly raised their hand to just above shoulder height.

“Uhm what are those rods made from?” 

“Ah right. The rods here are made from small keno shards that have been melted down and were mixed with some iron to make kenosteel. It's not the most creative name but I didn't come up with it. Anyway Kali, would you like to do the honors?” they gestured Kali over to the engine. They approached and pleased their hand gently on the stone. Nothing happened.

“Althight Vik, your turn. You know how to make things accelerate in reference to other objects right?” Vik hesitated, they were pretty sure they knew how. But what if they got it wrong, what could happen? Vik slowly stepped over to the engine and gently rested their hand on it.

Vik’s senses exploded, they could feel the immense power running through the rock. Vik struggled to focus, what were they doing again? Right the, the thing, right.

Vik took a small piece of the Athos, even that tiny piece was more Athos they’d ever touched let alone used. They focused on the landing pad below their feet. Using that as reference they multiplied the acceleration of the ship tenfold although it was still zero at the moment, the command clicked and the small pieces of Athos that they’d taken were returned back into the pool.

“Are you done?” Lan asked, as Vik stumbled back from the engine gasping. 

“Yea- yes” Vik said, finding themself a seat on the couch.

“Cool, good work, Nell our turn,” they both walked over to the engine, touching it. The ship suddenly jerked up at an insane speed, and the speed kept increasing. Nell who was the only one that wasn't completely squished against the ground reached up to touch the engine, the fire around it suddenly turned Cyan, despite it being violently yellow just moments before.

“Vik, by how much did you multiply the acceleration?” Lan asked, picking themselves off the ground.

“Uhmm…ten?” Vik whispered, almost inaudibly.

“I see, that's kind of impressive actually, but for reference usually you should only do it around two when we're taking off. Either way you did good, better than I expected actually for your first time.” they took a sip of their coffee 

“Anyway, welcome to the great nothingness, that everyone agrees is actually a whole lot of something. Yes, that is the full official name, research papers have gotten quite lengthy over the years. Anyway Now that we’re here we can take in the view.” Lan and Nell walked over to the front of the ship and unhooked a big metal panel spanning the entire width of the ship, revealing a large pane of glass. They hooked the panel to a spot under the window probably to keep it from moving around when flying.

The sight was beautiful, sure Vik had seen the night sky but the great nothingness was truly something else. 

Kali finally picked themselves off the ground, rubbing their head.

“Is that how that normally works?” they asked.

“Well we haven't actually had a dasher on board before. This is only the second time we’ve flown theo since she was built, i'm surprised it stood up to that crazy acceleration”

“I see, where to then?”  

“I uhh didn't think that far ahead” Lan scratched the back of their head. “Any suggestions?”

Kali sighed.

“Lets get over to Kuralon. They have a better market for mercenary work than Artagan,” they said, taking a seat next to Vik on the couch and taking a swig of their flask.

@ohnoitsslime @kaylinalexanderbooks @theeccentricraven

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@weird-dork37 @ratedn @leahnardo-da-veggie

@you-need-not-apply @elsie-writes @fwoofz

@fallenrain40

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[yiifu]

compilation of mdzs fridge moments over the past few weeks:

1) all 3 characters who dabbled with demonic cultivation in some way (wwx, xy, jgy) all died and each one of them was in some sort of friendship/relationship/companionship (whether platonic or romantic or enemies) with a tall graceful dude, like look at this: wwx & lwj (lovers), xy & xxc (enemies), jgy & lxc (friends till the bitter end to enemies ????) idk it’s just something something the other r/ships are parallels or dark AUs of wangxian and maybe what could have happened to them if wwx hadn’t gotten lucky with mxy & nhs bringing him back from the dead. u know like how some ppl say jgy and xy are foils or mirrors to wwx yeah i think the r/ships they form are foils or mirrors to wangxian too ;-;

2) i’m so stupid dude like i’m so used to eating lotus root soup every saturday that when i saw yanli’s lotus pork rib soup in mdzs i was just like ‘oh cute i eat that too it’s good stuff’ and im only just realizing that she’s making this soup cos they literally live in lotus pier, like, they’re surrounded by the stuff ofc she would have had lots of chances to make it 

3) reading a bunch of fanfic (fix it, alt-timeline) and i started to sympathise so much more with jgy (i mean i alrdy did without reading ff but now i like him a lot more idk) and also the juniors trio ships are literally so cute, whether it’s platonic/romantic ships their dynamics are really good. sizhui and jingyi? the sweet guy and the sassy guy (blue oni red oni), childhood friends to field partners/lovers. sizhui and jin ling? angry brat and sassy brat, enemies/rivals to friends/lovers. sizhui and jin ling? blue oni red oni acquaintances to friends/lovers. love them so much.

4) ALSO there was this reddit thread that was like ‘what single event could have prevented most of the shit in mdzs from happening’ and it was so eye-opening i loved all the answers and wish there was more. but what i got out of it was that essentially jin and wen clans were to blame for their greed. jin guangshan/wen ruohan/wen chao dying would have fixed most of it. jin guangshan dead = no jgy. also depends on how early he died. but then again jgy’s descent into villainy also came about because of the wens and the war and also what they did to wwx to cause him to invent demonic cultivation. so like everything is so interconnected. all i know is that the three yunmeng siblings could have actually lived a pretty okay life at lotus pier post-sunshot campaign if the jins had treated the wen remnants better and didn’t trying to frame wwx as the public enemy. remember that jiang cheng and wwx didn’t fall out until it came to the issue of the wen remnants. jiang yanli’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back and put a nail in the coffin of their r/ship. 

like, wwx could have just continued to study or practice demonic cultivation while living in yunmengjiang, jiang cheng as sect leader with his two siblings by his side would have helped him deal with the sudden huge responsibility a lot better, mentally and emotionally at least, and yanli would have probably married out anyway but she and zixuan wouldn’t be dead, and they’d probably be ok bringing jin ling to lotus pier to visit once in a while. and hey, maybe over time wwx and jiang cheng and jin zixuan could even warm up to each other slowly as they all mature and get over the past. even for wangxian - without the desperation of having to protect the wen remnants, wwx wouldn’t have been so adamant on demonic cultivation and so convinced that lwj hated him. lwj could probably have talked him out of it - stuff like, hey, the war is over and you don’t have to use this anymore. wwx could have just used it from time to time to solve little issues with the dead, like he does in post-canon mdzs. they’d have had a lot more time to spend with each other in wwx’s first life.

not that i’m saying that mdzs was unsatisfactory - in fact it’s probably the only story i’ve ever read where i love all the characters and all the story arcs - it’s just so fun to think about what could have been.