#without being overly shippy

[rising-volteccers]

-slides you a 20- So would you be willing to write Friede x Orla

Decided to knock off two things by finally finishing this piece inspired by @cocosnowlo-drawings art of Friede and Orla because I'm very much a sucker for sickfics. Getting sick over the weekend meant that that I had to make Friede suffer too, and I figured I could add a shippy sprinkle to it. I might consider writing another chapter from Friede's POV but for now, I'm happy with what's written here. Hope it's an enjoyable read!

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Orla

Warnings: Descriptions of someone being physically ill. Vague spoilers for HZ044-HZ045.

--

Friede was avoiding her.

He hardly made conversation during dinner and fled to his room the moment the table was cleared with a mumbled “good night” so quiet that Orla would have missed it if she hadn’t seen his lips move. Cap stuffed his cheeks with the last bits of his own meal before scampering after Friede, slipping inside his bedroom just before the door closed properly.

Orla let him go. He’d been quiet and withdrawn all throughout dinner and, if she looked back on it, the past few days too. She figured he was exhausted from all the extra work he picked up to fund the repair expenses for the Brave Olivine. He’d be out for most of the day, returning only to share a meal with her whenever he was able to before he disappeared into his room or headed back out again. 

It didn’t really bother her at first. Orla too spent hours of the day fixing up the ship bit by bit, lacking any sort of time to ponder about Friede’s whereabouts outside of what he told her. If he remembered to share, of course. 

Orla told herself that there was nothing to worry about. Friede was a grown, capable man that could take care of himself. He also had Cap to look after him, and thus far, Cap didn’t seem overly concerned.

While Friede had seemed a little off for the past few days, she believed that if something truly was bothering him, he’d eventually open up to her. 

Unfortunately, Orla forgot how irrefutably stubborn Friede got when it came to these things. 

One night, she roused from slumber at the faint scratching noise coming from her bedroom door. Opening her eyes revealed it to be still dark out, and as she pushed herself into sitting up, she heard Cap’s chitters. 

Feeling a bit more awake now at that realization, Orla stumbled through her darkened bedroom, barely managing to switch on the light before opening the door.

Her gaze automatically lowered to see Cap, sporting a worried expression. She had little trouble distinguishing the reason, seeing as she heard faint retching noises coming from the bathroom. She grimaced in sympathy, quickly following after Cap towards the sound.

Orla pushed open the slightly ajar door to find Friede hunched over the toilet, white knuckled from how tightly he gripped the porcelain. His body shook from the force of his retches, and by the sound of it, he seemed to have emptied the meager contents of his stomach, leaving him to painfully dry heave until he shakily pulled away.

She saw the sweat coating his face, not entirely from throwing up judging from the glassy look to his eyes and the flush coloring his cheeks. His previous oddities clicked into place, and she sighed, knowing that she was in for a busy week.

Friede looked up at the sound. Before he could speak, his face became a shade paler as he surged back to the toilet, once more gripping onto it for dear life throughout the new round of dry heaves.

Orla swiftly entered the bathroom and knelt beside Friede, rubbing his sweat soaked back in what she hoped was a soothing manner until it subsided. She put her arm around his shoulders to support him when he slumped back, chest heaving from his noisy breaths.

“So–Sorry,” Friede gasped out.

“Shh, it’s fine,” Orla replied. Even without checking, she knew that he ran quite a temperature simply from how warm he felt pressed against her side. “Do you think you can get up?”

“Mmm. Y-Yeah, I think so.”

With her support, Orla managed to help Friede rise to his feet. He immediately staggered once upright, prompting her to brace herself against the wall to saddle the extra weight until he got his footing. 

Once she felt like he could handle it, they began the slow, arduous journey towards the bedroom. Friede managed to walk under his own power for the most part, so Orla’s task was to keep them from bumping into walls due to his unsteady gait.

Cap helped by pushing open Friede’s bedroom door, and by the time the pair made their way inside, Orla’s muscles were screaming in protest. She had a fair bit of upper body strength thanks to her time shoveling coal into the engine but saddling the weight of someone taller and heavier than her used muscles she didn’t know previously existed.

Still, she made sure to gently ease him onto the bed. Friede laid down bonelessly atop the blankets, looking thoroughly exhausted. Cap had hopped onto the bed by Friede’s side, sporting a worried frown on his face.

“I’m going to find the thermometer. Cap, you look after him alright? Call me if anything happens,” Orla said. Friede looked like he was moments away from falling asleep but she could never be too careful. 

Cap gave her a determined nod, so Orla took that as her cue to leave, making a return trip to the bathroom. Upon entering, her nose scrunched up from that distinct sour smell indicative of Friede’s earlier bout of sickness. She ignored it for now, her focus on rummaging through the medicine cabinet for a thermometer.

Luckily for her, she quickly found it alongside a half empty bottle of Tylenol. Orla filled up a glass with water before carrying everything back to the bedroom. She found Friede laying on his side, seemingly fast asleep now with Cap keeping watch.

While it made her a little guilty to disturb his rest, she knew the priority right now was to figure out what sort of fever they were dealing with. Orla placed a hand on his shoulder and lightly shook it.

“Friede, wake up. I need to take your temperature,” she spoke, punctuating her words with a few more shakes. 

That finally drew out a pained groan from Friede, who struggled to open his eyes and focus on Orla. She coaxed him into sitting up, adjusting the pillows so he could lay against it. His head lulled weakly to the side, hints of yellow barely peeking through half lidded eyes.

“Here, keep this under your tongue for a bit,” Orla instructed as she slid the thermometer into his slightly parted mouth. She kept it there with her right hand; in the mean time, she pulled out her Rotom Phone with her left, swiftly opening up a private message to Mollie. 

[Friede’s sick. Fevered and threw up earlier. Taking his temp now]. 

The thermometer beeped just as she sent the message. Orla shifted her attention to Friede, gently pulling out the thermometer to looked at the reading. She frowned heavily; while his temperature wasn’t high enough to require an emergency room trip just yet, he teetered on that edge. Orla needed to get his temperature down as quickly as possible.

“Bad?” he mumbled, his tired eyes gazing at her.

“It could be worse,” she replied, placing the thermometer down. Orla reached for the bottle of Tylenol, shaking out the appropriate dosage before handing it to Friede alongside the glass of water. “Take those, it should help.”

Friede swallowed the pills without much fuss, which spoke volumes on how poorly he felt. Typically he resisted the idea of taking something to ease whatever discomfort or ailment that plagued him, claiming that they usually left him feeling dull and fuzzy in the head. Orla waited until he drained the glass before grabbing it from his hand.

“Try and get some rest. I’m going to grab some stuff to help with the fever.”

Friede gave the slightest of nods, then laid back down with Orla’s help. She encouraged him to get under the covers, pulling the blanket up till it covered his torso. Before Orla pulled away, she couldn’t help but lightly brush back the sweaty bangs from his forehead. 

Friede sighed from the light contact, her fingertips cool against his heated brow. Her hand slid down to briefly cup his cheek, prompting him to turn into her palm, his warm breath ghosting against her skin. 

Orla suppressed a shiver from the strangely intimate moment. In any other situation, seeing him pliant like this with those half lidded eyes would definitely result in things getting handsy. As it was, he let out a soft whine when she reluctantly pulled away.

“I’ll be back. Cap, look after him.”

Orla left the bedroom once more after Cap took position by Friede’s side. A heavy sigh broke through the silence, her shoulders drooping from exhaustion that crept up. She didn’t need to look at the clock to know that they were still hours away from dawn. As much as she wanted to slide back into bed and sleep, she knew getting any meaningful rest would be futile.

The slight buzz in her pocket had her Rotom Phone zoom out to hover in front of her face. Orla saw that Mollie had replied to her message.

[How high is it? Make sure he gets plenty of fluids and rest. I’ll come over in the morning].

The prospect of having Mollie on board to help later in the day eased some of her worries. Mollie had way more experience in treating the sick than Orla, so if Friede somehow took a turn for the worse, she wouldn’t be completely helpless.

For now, Orla typed out a reply before pocketing her Rotom Phone. She passed through the living room to reach the kitchen, where she pulled out a medium sized bowl and a new dish rag from the cabinets. Orla filled the bowl with water, dumped some ice from the ice cube tray into it before carrying it back to the bedroom. 

She carefully nudged the door open with her foot. Friede and Cap remained in the same position, though only Cap turned to look at her. Judging from his slightly rapid breaths, Friede appeared to be sleeping.

Orla gingerly placed the bowl down on the nightstand. Wetting the rag in ice cold water, she wrung out the excess before folding it neatly atop his forehead.

That act stirred him awake. Friede mumbled something incoherent, eyes cracking open slightly. His gaze flittered about until they settled on her. He then exhaled a deep, shaky breath.

“Orla,” he whispered. Friede didn’t look as pained now with the cool rag easing the fever’s heat. A soft groan of appreciation slipped out when Orla adjusted it to partially cover his eyes. 

“That help?” Orla asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Mmm, loads. Thanks.”

For awhile, no words were exchanged. Orla worked in cooling Friede down by re-wetting the rag every so often, alternating between placing it on his forehead and wiping his flushed face down. Friede made these little noises that caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. Once again, she might be doing something differently with her hands in a more favorable situation.

“Sorry,” Friede uttered at some point, breaking the room’s silence. His glassy eyes were trained on her.

“For what?” Orla hummed, in the midst of wringing out the rag.

“Getting sick.” There was a pause, followed by an audible swallow. “And not saying anything till it got this bad.”

Orla placed the folded rag onto his forehead before leveling him with a serious look. “I’ll admit that I was a little upset. I knew you were acting weird but trusted that you’d open up if something was seriously wrong.”

She kept her tone even and non-accusatory, though it still made him shrink into himself, an air of guilt palpable around him. Friede looked even more pathetic, and that dispersed what little anger left in her. 

“But I suppose I should have known you’d be a stubborn idiot about it,” Orla continued, her gaze softening. She placed a tender hand on his cheek, prompting him to look up at her. “That’s just one of the many things I’ve come to accept and learn to love.”

Friede’s fever-bright eyes widened, his voice falling into a hush when he said, “I love you.”

A small smile formed on Orla’s lips. “I love you too.”

“I wish I could kiss you right now but I shouldn’t.”

“You shouldn’t.” Orla lightly grazed his cheek with her fingertips. “Get better first and we’ll see about it.”

“Okay,” he breathed out, eyes sliding shut. It seemed that he couldn’t stay awake any longer. Friede slowly raised a hand to settle his palm atop of Orla’s hand. 

“Stay?”

Orla’s voice was warm. “Of course.”

[luna-the-cretar]

I have some EoM playlists, if you’re curious (no, there’s not nearly as much as my ouaw playlists. There’s only 5, and I imagine there will only be 5–sorry Briggsy, Yorgrim, and Farryn)

Just general EoM vibes. Decided to get creative with the name for once

Them 💜

Wifey 💜💜💜

Okay, listen, I know Lethica’s playlist is significantly shorter than the other 4. That’s not due to favoritism, like with OUAW, but just bc it’s really fucking hard to find songs that fit her character without it being overly shippy. And I didn’t want her playlist to just be a million “I’m a badass woman” songs.

Also, in the case of ouaw, I’m also taking my headcanons (in which I have many per character) into account. For eom, that’s not exactly the case, since I have basically no eom headcanons that aren’t purely visual or are related to scent or whatever. So all of their playlists are pretty short, all things considered

[thorn-rosed]

hey, so i read your wwii au thing, and i wanted to let you know that although it doesn’t seem to be intentional, your post was very insensitive and a horrible example of holocaust-based media.

i am an actor and a dramaturg who has a lot of experience with specifically portraying holocaust stories through art or media. im also a queer, disabled person of color. i know what i’m talking about, and this isn’t intended to be some preaching, but i do think it’s important you know this for the future because this is not how you write a holocaust au.

i love historical aus. im currently working on one that takes place in and discusses the horrors of the industrial revolution in america. but these things that are based around real life have to be done with a certain level of tact, or else they are rendered ineffective.

yes, i hate the death eater characters. and yes, i hate jegulus. but my critiques have nothing to do with my personal biases and would have been just as prominent if different characters had been used.

now, here are all the issues as i see them (this is without all the personal issues i have with the ships and the characters and all that)

1. the overly sympathetic tone of regulus’ description. regulus was a nazi. he wasn’t some gentle, sweet freedom fighter. if you’re going to do the death eater -> nazi comparison, be real about it and commit to it instead of making your favorite “one of the good ones”. it softens the nazi regime and it’s just incredibly unrealistic. if regulus was rescuing people at such a large scale, it wouldn’t have gone unnoticed, and he likely wouldn’t have been placed in that position to begin with if there was any indication of doubt about the regime.

2. the fixation on the romantic relationships between nazi x nazi, as well as nazi x holocaust victim. to turn something as terrifying as remus needing shelter to hide from nazis into a cute romantic situation, is insensitive and frankly, ridiculous. it would be like making a romance spin off of anne frank’s diary. in fact, that’s exactly what it is. i also don’t understand the relevance of all these romantic relationships to the historical education. the fact that EVERYONE is gay is also just another layer of disbelief (there’s nothing wrong with gay rep, but balance is necessary), and to me, only weakens the concept that you claim to be backing. these people were nazis. they were torturing and killing millions purely for being different. why are we focusing on them going on midnight strolls or having sex in the bathroom. why do you care so much about that, but barely write about jack shit when it comes to the actual horrors of the concentration camps that these exact same people are doing? it seems to be less about gay representation and more about using queerness as some sort of shield to try and make these nazis seems less like “bad guys”. and i find that not only very bad storytelling, but just incredibly annoying.

3. barty and lily getting along and having children is absolutely ridiculous, especially considering that lily was more than likely a holocaust victim if we are basing this off her muggleborn status in the books. it seems like lily is not only having her trauma dismissed, but she’s also being treated like a walking womb with no sense of self. this is just bad practice in any media, not just holocaust-centric media.

4. the “bloody gory sex” bit at the end was completely unnecessary and seems to be just making light of all this. this whole post seems like you’re taking real horrors that happened to people who are still alive today, and turning it into some shippy trope soup with a historical background.

i appreciate the research put into it, but clearly, not enough was done for this to be effective, educational, or sensitive. i don’t believe in censorship, so i’m not requesting that this be deleted or anything, but i just wanted to express the very blatant issues of the post so hopefully you will put more thought and care into these types of things, not just on a research level, but in a human respect sort of way.

best wishes,

annie

hey uhm, thanks for the actual constructive criticism, i can do way more with this than people simply asking what is wrong with me. so yeah, thank you for that. I did took that post down because i saw that it hurt a lot of people without me wanting to, and because in the first place i wrote this because i wondered what it would be like to put the characters in the situation, so it really isn't important to post. i was having doubts about posting it from the start and wondering if it was too insensitive but at some point i thought fuck it I'll just do it... i now know I shouldn't have done that. i would like to mention that im also a minor, its not like i wanna excuse myself but just so people know that even though i tried to make this a bit educational, i wasn't aware of how many feelings this would stir up and I've never done a post like that before so I didn't really know what to do.

I'll now answer all of your points separately as good as possible.

1. I wasnt really noticing that I've done that, truly I wrote my notes to this in at the beginning of August last year, and I myself had some doubts about my ideas when writing them down on here, but thought that no one would see it anyway and was a bit too tired to edit the entire thing.

2. My reason for them being queer is that in my head, they are. i know that realistically they wouldn't have been, but this can be said about the entire marauders fandom in my opinion, so I don't/didnt understand why it was problematic. as I said, i put my own representation of them into it. I believe it would have been better if the post would have only featured my idea of their positions, because that way i dont think I would've hurt anybody. The reason i put the situation of Remus hiding in there was because I know that there's many jews and other people who have done this during the war, and i wanted to make it realistic, at least for that part. Really I simply thought about how the usual shippings would work during this time without realising how big of a part it played back then.

3. The reason for this is that I really like the dynamic of Lily and Barty together and genuinely forgot that Lily would've been a holocaust victim. I know it sounds weird and if i think about Lily in general of course i know that shes got muggleborn status, but i didn't make the connection there for some reason. I put the fact they they might even have kids in there not to display Lily in a misogynistic way, but to show that they have a positive connection.

4. Not gonna lie... i agree with you on this. the end of my posts are always a bit... well, im always just happy to be finished without really caring what the end is, as long as its an end. maybe its because for me rosekiller just has sex like that often so to me, it would only make sense in a torture situation... I did not think of the impact towards the historical background.

All in one I can say that it was a big mistake for me to post the au the way that it is, and that I thought it would be able to separate the romance layer from the historical layer to a certain level. For that reason, I deleted it and thanks to actual criticism i understand why people have such a big problem with it and I want to sincerely apologise for this. I will keep my hands of the topic, i might post historical AU's, but nothing in the direction of ww2 (the only thing i could realistically write is an au after ww2 in eastern germany bc i did a scientific work thing on that but i dont think i will). When i wrote the AU, that was 9 months ago. I didn't yet write my scientific work, i didnt understand the complexity and importance of the entire subject. Truly, you can ask why I posted it now... the truth sounds silly and childish and very unfitting the situation: I wanted to empty my drafts. sure i thought that this wasnt my best post but with so much time it has spent rotting in my drafts i should finally post it. As i said, I now deleted it for the reasons which I've specified above, and I want to ask everyone to stop insulting me without any constructive criticism or to make this a big topic. I understand the severity of my mistakes and no matter how sorry I am, I can't do much more but to ask for your forgiveness, addressing the problems, taking the post down and doing better in the future.

best wishes back to you, annie, once again thank you very much.

[cafeoleconlimoncito]

Now, let me talk a bit about Yuni’s personality: She’s a girl from another universe entirely (as I explained in another post, her world has no magic and no Disney though the Grimm brothers' tales and other adaptations do exist. The only thing missing is Disney’s versions). So, right off the bat, she’s a bit of a "cultural alien," which makes her way of expressing herself more emotional and direct (Like in latinoamerica).

She usually acts like a good girl—sweet, sociable, and fun. Sometimes, she plays shy so people treat her affectionately, knowing others might find her cute. But don’t be fooled. No matter how innocent she acts, she’s opportunistic and can be manipulative. She’s not a genius, but she’s clever enough to hold her own. All those social skills? Just tactics to make people like her. She knows she’s pretty and won’t hesitate to use it to her advantage—just like her duck form helps her appear harmless and pitiable (she’d absolutely play the victim card to avoid consequences).

When a situation overwhelms her, she can get pretty scared. With no magic of her own, she tends to run from problems or rely on others to fix them. This has made her overly dependent on Grim, who covers the magical side she lacks. Though she enjoys exercise and trains as a rhythmic gymnast, she’s not physically strong (she could maybe overpower Idia or Riddle, but even Epel could beat her in a fight without breaking a sweat). Most guys could easily take her down if they wanted and she often tries to exploit being a girl to gain sympathy. But knowing most of the Twisted boys, that’s not very effective (especially with someone like Floyd, who doesn’t care if you’re male or female—he’ll mess you up either way).

Still, she’s not a bad person. She’s just finding her own way to cope and fit in at NRC. In fact, over time, she grows genuinely empathetic toward the boys.

Despite being a bit spoiled and somewhat bratty, deep down, she’s just a scared girl who wants to go home to be in her mother’s arms, reunited with her family, and back to her normal life. And though her behavior can be negative at times, she also shows positive traits: defending those she cares about, genuinely worrying for people who’ve looked after her (this is especially clear in her relationship with Grim), and even feeling empathy for boys who once tried to hurt her (Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, Vil, Idia....).

Plus, she’s not mean or rude to everyone—only to those who treated her poorly or tried to harm her (and even then, time can heal things). You’ll see her act genuinely kind and sweet toward guys who were good to her from the start—like Deuce, Kalim, Silver, Epel, and Malleus.

As for shipping or romance... well, it’s not a major focus in the story. Yuni just got out of a toxic relationship and is still grieving. A new couple isn’t something she wants—especially since only a few months have passed in the original timeline.

In other words: Sure, I can draw shippy art or play with romantic scenarios for fun – it’s not off-limits. But the core focus of her story is about healing with the help of her friends. The game’s prologue establishes that she’s just broken up with her toxic ex-boyfriend, so we’ll see her work through that trauma through friendships.

To reiterate: Fanart and playful dynamics are fair game, but romance isn’t the end goal – at least not in the main narrative.

[mamamittens]

Here's some night time rambles about toxic traits for my little shippy ship!

Starting with!

Thatch!

Arguably, his most toxic trait is his tendency to steamroll people. He's a charming guy and knows it, so he labors heavily under the belief that he's always right one way or another. And he always means so well, so obviously his idea has more merit than anything else!

He's so reasonable and thoughtful, how could he be wrong?

The fact that people usually end up falling in line with his idea does not help this delusion. In fact, it's usually made just a bit worse.

If someone argues otherwise, then they just haven't gotten with the program yet. There's something that they need to work through to go down the 'right' path. In fact, they probably need more of his help! Poor, poor person, unable to see what's best for them!

Good thing Thatch is here to help!

Izou

Izou has an issue with respect. Mainly that people need to earn his respect--which isn't bad in itself! But it's what respect entails for Izou that's the problem.

See, it's sort of all or nothing for him. He won't listen to a damn word you say if he doesn't respect you, even if you're right. When it's proven that you were right, you just got lucky or have a minimum amount of sense. Not that impressive.

And when he does respect you? He has a tendency to treat your word as gospel (at least for the subject matter he respects you for). It does mean his trait tends to go unnoticed as just being stubborn with high standards rather than an issue of either flat out dismissing people or hanging on their every word. He, himself, views it as just being particular.

He doesn't see any issue in blindly trusting and distrusting people so arbitrarily. It so rarely goes wrong for him, so why not?

Nikia

Passivity is almost certainly her most toxic trait. She doesn't like confrontation, so she lets offenses slide in favor of completely ghosting people at the first opportunity. The idea of putting her voice out there mortifying. It also leads to some assumptions. Mainly second guessing people's motives even if it should be abundantly clear what they're doing, and knowingly at that.

Without even thinking about it, she often completely deflects any hint of conflict, appearing overly agreeable at times or even naive.

She'd rather make no commitment than outright deny something. Deflecting in the softest way possible at every opportunity if she really doesn't want something.

Out of the three, Nikia is the most self aware and self loathing about her trait. The other two mostly delusional about the issues with their own traits with Thatch being the most delulu about it and Izou faintly aware that it's not very wise to write people off or totally endorse people like he does.

In terms of a relationship together, Izou and Thatch have had the most time to get used to each other's 'quirks' and work around them. So Nikia's at a disadvantage, coupled with being the youngest of the three, and her own trait not being an issue of pride in some way. Which at many times, leads to them... Sort of treating her like a child. Thatch being the worst about it, but only in a 'in your face' way. Izou more subtly writes off her opinion in some matters despite her fully disclosing if she's uncertain about a topic.

In terms of in their relationship, this does lead to them having to pay more attention to avoid going too far with her. Being so agreeable a positive in the bedroom, but only to a point. In tandem with Izou subtly assuming Nikia is being dishonest about her comfort (a middle ground for him since it's on the subject of her own feelings), Thatch can mostly avoid pushing too far. But he does find it frustrating to not be certain she'd speak up if she was uncomfortable while also kind of liking it in a fucky, kinky sort of way.

He's a pirate. He enjoys taking things for himself. But he does not like the idea of an unwilling lover so it's a balancing act.

They're working on it, collectively. And they can't help but feel pride when one of the others actively works against that toxic, knee jerk reaction. Whether that's Thatch pausing to sincerely hear someone else out, Nikia voicing her displeasure clearly, or Izou listening to someone he doesn't like or respect without dismissing them out of hand.

It's a learning curve, but they're all happy to be there.

[shadowmaat]

I've been here too long

I miss the days when I could just read a fic and enjoy it without being suspicious of its motives. Is this person really a fan of my fave, or are they writing this excessive whump to punish him for perceived wrongdoing? Does this writer really want to portray the weird side effects of trauma, or is it just an excuse to lavish one-sided love and attention on him? Is this shippy fic really about how two fully-realized characters love and respect each other or is one of them a prop meant to make the other one feel better? Or a racist caricature? Or, well, the list goes on.

It feels like I'm giving in to the growing attitude of "take the worst possible interpretation of everything" that's metastasizing in Western society and I hate it. But at the same time, I also know this kinda stuff does happen. Just maybe not as often as I think. And it's also possible that fans are absorbing "bad" habits just by seeing them everywhere. I've certainly fallen into that one, myself.

It's just tiring. I want fandom to be my escape from the horrors of reality, but sometimes those horrors carry over with us, whether we want them to or not. And losing that awareness can be just as dangerous as being overly aware.

Ah well. I'll continue to read. I'll continue NOT to take it out on individual authors. And I'll keep working on trying to find the right balance so I don't get caught in the negativity spiral that has already claimed far, FAR too many people.

[acollapsar]

i usually don't like to talk about certain characters or ships i don't like in an overly negative way because i honestly see no point in wasting my energy on hating a certain ship when i can spend that time loving my otp instead. however, i'm having a bit of a rough time with filtering on tumblr and i really need to vent... so, i guess if you're a sebac*el enjoyer... don't read?

i'm so insanely tired of going into sebastian's tag on tumblr and be so overwhelmed by all the sebac*el fanart. and what sucks even more is when i see a piece of art of the two of them that i perceive as non-shippy and simply just.... you know, them, in the same manner yana would maybe draw them (which many people would call 'suggestive', yet what i would refer to as just sebastian being possessive over his dinner. i know, i know, this topic is a debate in and of itself but it's not what i'm here for today).

but that is exactly it. that's what pops into my mind whenever i see that type of art of them; ociel being on display, more or less, and sebastian patiently waiting for his dinner to be ready. i don't know if i'm making a lot of sense, but i HOPE people get what i mean; an artpiece that i don't perceive as shippy, but shippers do (i know not all sebac*el shippers are the same, so don't throw that at me - i'm talking about the general degeneracy some seba*el shippers does have).

i see artpieces like that, thinking they look super freaking cool and pretty and i want to reblog them - until i read the tags and they're tagged with their shipname. suddenly i'm so turned off from reblogging it because i don't ship it so i don't want those kinds of artpieces on my blog. maybe the artpiece isn't even meant to be shippy, but the op still tags it as that to reach a wider audience. but how should i know? i don't want to reblog something really pretty that i didn't think of shippy at all, only for it to be intended that way by the op.

now, i'm well aware that art is INCREDIBLY subjective. if i see an artpiece like that and i don't think it's shippy, that should be well but enough for me to reblog it and call it a day. i don't care what other people think of me either if they saw that on my blog and saw the tags on the op post and somehow thinking that i ship it or whatever. but what i do care about is my own immersion. if i look at an artpiece that i do not perceive as shippy, but am told via the tags that it actually is, then my immersion is broken.

people can post whatever they want, i don't care. i try to blacklist certain tags to the best of my ability as it is, but more often than not certain posts slips through the cracks anyways, and i just feel very disappointed.

you can ship whatever you want, and as long as i don't have to see it (hence my tag blacklists) if it happens to be a ship i strongly dislike, i really don't care what you ship. i am also in no single way trying to imply that great artists are "wasting their skills drawing something i dislike" - absolutely no fucking way. but it still doesn't change the fact that i get this sense of disappointment every time i see a really pretty artpiece of the two of them that i want to reblog, only to find out that it's supposed to be shippy.

this isn't even anybody's fault, except tumblr's website because you just can't properly filter out things you don't want to see. it's not the artists fault this website is shit, and it's not even my fault for feeling the disappointment that i do (even if it might make me come across as a little bit entilted just because i'm expressing my own disappointment with the amount of awesome fanart i see that turns out to be something i strongly dislike; it's just that it happens so much and so often that everything piles up within me after a while).

all i want is to be able to browse tags without having posts slip through the crack - whether they're something as trivial as fanart pieces, or even something really triggering type of content.

[ronmanmob]

SHIPPING INFO // Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

REPOST. Don’t reblog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

Towing the honesty line here and saying that every ship - no matter its nature - has something I flat adore about it; something unique and captivating and that makes me excited about writing and exploring it. Stacking them up and naming names or pairings just feels like a fast track to potential hurt feels and I'm not about that life. Each is my favourite version of itself.

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

Most anything, honestly. Any kind of relationship - platonic, romantic, familial, a complex mix of those appropriate for mixing or a more straightforward affair. All sorts of relationships fascinate me, and I'm happy to explore provided it's well plotted out and we - as muns - have chatted about yeses and nos and boundaries and all that good stuff.

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

I won't ship with minors or write ships where Ron and a minor are even vaguely romantically inclined. Otherwise - provided we're writing about legal adults consenting to things/being in situations - I'm not overly bothered about it as a concept, however--

However.

I can promise you a 38 year old Ron, say, would whap an 18 year old interested person round the head and chuff 'em off home to their mum as soon as look at 'em. Just because it's write-about-able doesn't mean Ronnie'd be interested. Man's got his own wants and needs and I can flat swear someone 20 years his junior like that example there says cannot, CANNOT meet those.

Are you selective when shipping?

I need to have a good rapport with the other mun, certainly. We need to plot things out, test ideas, make worlds and if we can't do that, I can't get comfy enough to open my (hard as fucking nails but still) muse up to the kind of connections shipping (any kind) entails. Elsewise, of course, there must be chemistry between muses if we're talking romantic shipping.

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

Friends I'll write everything from the beginnings 'til the ends of an intimate encounter, but I'll also always follow my writing partner's cues and comforts in that regard. I don't and won't write smut. More power to those that do, of course. It's just not my thing. But intimate scenes needn't be smutty and I'll write, like I say, all the detail my partner's happy with. We start mentioning parts and private zones, that's NSFW and it'll be tagged as such. Mine is, //Behind Closed Doors.

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

I've been shipping with @hislittledxll since...2016? With @brooklynislandgirl for perhaps a sneeze less time? So they're my darlings and I don't know what I'd do without them. Other, newer shippy-loves are @vxctorx and @id1eyouth. A dear friendSHIP is had with @tabbyrp, likewise @corinnebaileyrp. Like I say, I'll consider ships of any kind with anyone.

They just need plotting :3

Does one have to ask to ship with you?,

Yes please. Scream at me about our muses in my DMs. Pounce on me on Discord. I'll do the exact same. Assuming shipping - any kind but romantic especially - will only get my (and Ron's) back up. He's an easy flirt, bless 'im, but there's A L O T of heck-fire and dagnabit this man's been through and dealing with and just...inviting oneself into his intimate circle...It won't work.

How often do you like to ship?

I do like it lots, definitely. I'm mulling over happy little motes of inspiration almost constantly. But it's not mandatory by any means. I'll write anything that interests me. So bring it in pals!

Are you multiship?

Yes, but every ship has its own verse. As was so wisely spoke in Ghostbusters by my hero Doctor Spengler - Don't. Cross. The. Streams.

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

Ship more-or-less. There's more to life, more to writing, but gosh it's fun.

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

Other than the ones I've made up round the characters I write Ron with? XD I...don't really know I have a fandom specifically. Some pairings I've loved to see in recent media include Paul and Chani in Dune/Dune 2, and Lestat and Louis in Interview With The Vampire (it's so toxic...SO TOXIC, but so beautifully done).

Finally, how does one ship with you?

Legit, talk to me. I'm always either here or on Discord. We'll need to chat, plot, discuss boundaries and story arches and all and it'll be fascinating and awesome and I promise we're friendly, me and Ron. So just pop by. There's always a pot of tea on the boil and biccies out the draw to snack on while we natter.

Tagged by: I stole it off @brooklynislandgirl (gratefully, thank you darling)

Tagging: C'mon go play!

[angels-heap]

14 and 17 for the ask game!

[Questions from this post!]

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

I'm assuming this is supposed to be a petty gripe, so: Barney addressing Gordon with Overly Southern pet names that I simply cannot take seriously coming from his character. Every now and then, I get curious and check out the AO3 tag and go "oh, here's a new fic that people seem to like" and then... BAM.

In the authors' defense, (1) I'm aware that this is a matter of personal preference, though I maintain that he's really not that fucking southern (and southern people do not all talk Like That) and (2) I should know better at this point. My online experience will be so much better when I finally internalize that pretty much every free//houn fic by an unknown author comes with an implicit label...

... and proceed accordingly.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

I feel like I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I hunger for fanworks (gen or shippy) that really delve into the fucked up aspects of the post-HL2 setting without being melodramatic for the sake of it.* I live for a specific balance between fluffy/happy and realistic/depressing that I feel like I rarely see in HL art or fic, which I guess can best be described as "the same tone as canon but with heightened extremes on either end"? I know it when I see it but I cannot describe it. I hope someone out there understands.

*A certain flavor of melodrama is also desirable (I'm not a complete hypocrite) but it's gotta hit just right, y'know?

[thewickedbohemian]

Because I feel like my last poll on this subject caused some confusion out of my own weird panic-induced wording

I understand part of the point this episode may have been trying to make about how people shouldn't try and control others' relationships or w/e (although one doesn't have to ship Kayabeth to see how that also kind of applied to Kaya and her apparently-a-boyfriend-now giving me Leonard and Priya flashbacks from what screentime he had, y'know, that particular ship doesn't feel long for this world to me or at least like it's gonna be endgame no matter who you think Kaya should be with instead) but people on the subreddit were talking about their friendship in the past tense and otherwise basically acting like this is a full-on friendship break-up just because Kaya got a boyfriend and was barely in an episode and Elsbeth had to work a case without her. So I guess I just got extremely anxious which is part of why I may have sounded overly shippy (I guess I just thought the more people signed my petition about them becoming a thing the more the writers or w/e see how much the fandom cares about them being a duo no matter the nature of their relationship as sure you might see this show/its showrunners as unlikely to make a lead canonically queer till the end but it also seems unlikely to drive more wedges between even their platonic relationship out of spite for people wanting them to be more than friends) because whatever happens with the nature of the relationship between them I just don't want that relationship to end

[thevoiceofthepeople]

My Rules and About Me

POV Be Me: Dexter or Dex or Dee or whatever. (He/They, heavy preference on They tho)

Age: 32, soon to be 33.

I've been rping on and off for about twenty years I believe, I got the One piece bug after going through my old rp blog and missing my gurl boss Seda. I have adhd and a not so busy but really full list of things I should be doing most days so I may dip in and out of here when I have free time.

When it comes to rping, the key to me is fun. If I'm not having fun I'm not doing it. So that being said, I don't make overly flashy/stylized posts. Graphics design is not my passion and so I don't find any of that stuff fun for me to do personally. Same with making a Carrd or any of that. Everything you need to find about me and my gurl will be on this blog and tagged accordingly. If you are looking for something in particular let me know and I'll gladly tell you. I have maybe 4 spoons on a good day and I'm not using up my good spoons doing something I dislike when I could be doing something I enjoy.

If you need a post formatted a certain way, let me know, otherwise you are getting it raw, baby!

Just don’t ask for the text to be too small. I have dog water eyesight so I still have to make it accessible for myself.

I yam an artist tho so I'll be more inclined to include art with any post about Seda I make because I'm a visual learner. And sometimes, a quick image gets the job done.

Da Rules

1. The basics: Mun =/= Muse, Don't tell me what my character is doing, don't get overly shippy without us talking about it out of character.

2. Don't be a dick. If you are flinging around isms and phobias, then I will unfollow and drop any threads we are having. If it's something that can be talked about cause it's a misunderstanding then we're cool. But if it's a "Actually, I don't think brown people should have rights." You can fuck right off with that. I'm a black bisexual trans person, so anything that goes against my fundamental human right to exist is conversation ending.

3. Both mun and muse are in their 30s and so, if there IS any shipping, let's keep it gucci with someone close to her age range or older. And I'd like to rp with people over 18. If you are younger, I'm going to ignore you. Sorry.

4. I do adore shipping, but I'm not hungering for it if there is no connection. Same with friendships. If it doesn't feel right, let's not force it. Seda is more than willing to talk with someone she loathes and I think that's a fun dynamic to rp out. Duplicates of anything are just fine with me. In her old form, Seda was bffs with at least three different luffys and she loved them all to bits.

5. There will be talk of sensitive subject matter as is the nature of One Piece, but anything truly nsfw will be put under a read more or moved to private discussions.

6. Speaking of nsfw, I have a pathological inability to write nsfw rps in public, so very likely, anything saucy will go fade to black. I will likely draw it though, just, having to put a mirror to myself and then telling everyone "Hey y'all, look at this vulnerable display of passion and lust that I'm writing with my own two human hands with another person!" fills me with dread.

7. Because I have adhd and the brain of slug sometimes, I make spelling mistakes. I try and catch them but I'm sure there are at least 5 in this post alone. It's just gonna have to be something you accept. No matter what I do, I don't see the mistakes.

8. My main focus is on One Piece characters but I'll rp with characters from other fandoms or just fandomless ones.

9. Anything about Seda is subject to change because that's the nature of life baby. She's had a lot of play testing from my blog ten years ago so this version of her is the stable 2.0 edition, but if I see something I like or decide a piece isn't meshing right, I reserve the right to change it. (Just as we can change anything about ourselves, yada yada)

10. And number 10, don't be a dick x2. I truly am just here for a good time and to play around in this little sandbox we call Tumblr Rping. When it stops being fun for me, I'll stop. But until then:

[incorrect-bbs-misfits-au-quotes]

Smii7y: That would go against my moral compass

Ohm: Your moral compass is a fucking roulette wheel, Smii7y.

[just-here-for-the-art-shit]

Alright before I go into this blurb SPOILER WARNINGS and also sorry to like the ten people that follow me this isn't my usual bullshit but fuck it I'm talking about one piece right now in a completely disorganized fashion.

I just went through chapter 1045 and 1046, and we see how Luffy's using his new powers in wild and zany ways, which isn't new for him, but it feels "different" this time. This new form, Joy Boy, is already showing its physical repercussions, but there's something happening mentally too. Luffy has put his crew in risky situations before, believing they can handle it, but this time it almost seems ... Dismissive, cruel even, as the entire castle is burning up in flames. Luffy is losing himself to this extreme Joy that it seems all other emotions and moral concerns are going out the window. His heart is thundering. The entire island of Onigashima will crash down from the sky if Kaidou can't maintain it with his clouds - and in response Luffy grabs a fricken lightning bolt and prepares to smash it down on Kaidou (left as a cliffhanger right there). The next chapter I guess will decide whether he strikes or not - and will show if he's so far gone, or if he's still in control of this almost god-like persona.

A lot of this lines up with tales of how gods can be overly destructive, unempathetic, and caught up in themselves rather than thinking of others, shown with Luffy contemplating what to name his attacks rather than worrying about what the attack is going to do.

My fear/head canon idea is that Luffy is going to do something undoable, something he will regret. For him, it's always been about getting stronger - he blames himself, his perceived weakness, when he couldn't save Ace, when he couldn't stop his crew from being separated by Kuma. His crew has managed to pull through his antics before, but what if they cannot this time? I think it's possible this time that instead of protecting his Nakama, he'll become the number one threat. I can bet that the next few chapters will be some variation of him either realizing what he's doing and getting it under control, or continuing to blindly let loose and risk the lives of everyone involved.

What good is a King without his kingdom?

What's the significance of sitting on a throne, if the room is empty?

Ok - other thing I wanted to discuss that's a more shippy, headcanon-y thing:

I want to ask a question (panic tw) - have you ever been so joyous, so happy, that it sends you into a panic attack? Laughed so hard until something is wrong and suddenly you can't breathe, your hearts pounding, you can't think straight? But you're laughing - you must be happy, right?

I'm wondering if that's what Luffy's suffering right now. A joy so powerful it's sending him into a panic attack. Spiraling out of control.

Now who's been unconscious/pre-occupied this whole time to see Luffy's current state? His first mate - Zoro was knocked away by Kaido, right before Luffy woke up and began to transform. Zoro has no idea this is going on. As current as it gets, Zoro is unconscious with Franky and Chopper, and while the castle fire has been put out, the battle above rages on. If Zoro wakes up and sees this, I think it's possible he may realize that Luffy could be jeopardizing his dream of becoming Pirate King if he can't think straight, if he gets "stuck" as Joy Boy. Someone's going to have to stop him, and it can only be a friend, his crew, to remind him of himself. And there's no doubt in my mind that the moment Zoro's conscious his ass would be the first bolting into the thick of it, Sanji too.

[laeorinel]

FFXIV Write 2022 - DAY 30

Prompt - Sojourn

It's finally over T.T

Over 28k words written over this month and not a day missed. My brain is broken and needs a rest.

Had to finish this month off with shameless fluffy shippy nonsense.

Translation for "Khairaa" = my love.

Vague spoilers for 5.3 Shadowbringers. Thancred x Wol

Thancred cursed his body as another padded arrow slammed into his chest. He knew getting back into the same physical shape he had been in the First would take time. Even with Krile's and Master Matoya's work, his body had effectively been wasting away in the Source, and by the Twelve could he tell.

His muscles burned and ached as he moved to dodge out of the way of another barrage of arrows, deflecting a few with the practice sword he was using in place of a Gunblade. He wished he could claim it was getting easier, but progress was painfully slow. What both helped and hindered him was the one he was training with. When he had asked Samara to help him train, he had made the crucial mistake of asking her to go all out.

So she did. Samara held nothing back, moving and fighting just as she would in a real combat scenario. Her padded arrows hit with pinpoint accuracy and with enough force that they would likely leave bruises. Whenever her barrage would force him back, she would move forward, collecting discarded arrows as she did. Right now, he felt as though he was being herded, arrows flying just an ilm past his left shoulder, forcing him to retreat in the opposite direction.

She was boxing him in, forcing him towards the cliff at the back of their training range. Were they on the First, it would be little issue for him to run up the cliff a few paces and use it as a springboard of sorts to dive off and close the distance between them. Right now, he wasn't overly confident that he could run up the wall without falling flat on his back. Not that he would even have a chance to try as he heard the rush of footsteps coming towards him. He waited until the last moment to swing his sword in a wide arc, but he saw little more than a blur of pale skin and black scales drop low to the ground before diving up, two practice daggers pointed towards his chest.

With a sigh, he dropped his sword, holding his hands up in front of him. "I concede…again."

Samara smirked up at him as she tucked her daggers away. "You are getting better. The fight lasted longer that time."

"If you say so. I still could not land a hit on you." Thancred says as he tentatively rolls his shoulders, muscles bordering on the verge of cramping.

"And it will likely be many moons before you can, even once you regain your strength."

Thancred rolled his eyes before pulling the woman close, voice dipping lower as he leaned forward to touch his forehead to hers. "Is that so…well, I guess I will just have to settle for being your shield then. Such a hardship."

A rumble in the distance drew the pair's attention. They had been so focused on the sparring session both had overlooked a rather mean-looking storm forming on the horizon that was now right above them. The rumble of thunder was the only warning they had before the heavens opened; Thanalan's rainy season had finally arrived.

Thancred and Samara let out a stream of curses before making a run for a nearby cave where they had stored some of their belongings; both were soaking wet by the time they reached the entrance. Both of them had spent enough time in Thanalan to know that rain storms like this tended to last for the better part of a day or more. It seems they would be spending more time away from Mor Dhona together than originally planned.

Thancred slumped down to the ground heavily, a weary chuckle leaving him as he looked out the cave entrance, rain coming down thick and fast. "Not quite how I pictured our first getaway."

Samara set her bow and quiver down to the side before moving over to rummage around in the saddlebags attached to Altun, the Baras she had brought back from the Steppe. She didn't look up from the bags as she spoke. "You had already made plans for something like that?

Thancred shrugged, head leaning back against the rock. "Nothing elaborate. Just a brief sojourn somewhere. Kugane perhaps? In all the times I passed through there, I've never had the chance to visit their renowned hot springs. If rumours are true, they have private springs for couples."

He watched as she moved around their makeshift home for the night, making a firepit from various pieces of dried wood and sticks she had gathered earlier out of habit. Her silence dragged on. Had he said something that upset her? "Samara?"

"Hm? Oh…it's nothing. I just…never really thought of doing anything like that. To go somewhere purely to relax. It sounds…nice. Especially if you were there." Her voice quietened towards the end, a faint blush covering her pale cheeks.

He couldn't help but chuckle a little at her blushing at such a thought, as though going somewhere with your partner was something scandalous. Then again, from what he had been able to piece together, relationships like this were somewhat new territory for her.

"Well then, maybe we could arrange something once we return to Mor Dhona? We may as well take what moments of peace we can. Once I am back to full strength, I imagine I will be busy. My contacts are keeping me up to date with the situation in Garlemald, but I would rather see it all with my own eyes."

Samara sighs, holding her hands over the fire pit to warm them. "Do you ever stop thinking about work?"

"I just…do not want to repeat past mistakes." he frowns, his gaze fixed on Samara's back, where he knew he could find a rather large burn scar towards her shoulder and long jagged scars by her ribs. The whole debacle around Ifrit still weighed heavy. Too many died that day because of him, and then there was the mess with Lahabrea. Too many scars on her body were a result of his carelessness.

Samara shakes her head, knowing the thoughts that are likely going through Thancreds mind, muttering under her breath. "Silly man. You know I blame you for none of it. Now, come here." she then tries to guide him down to rest with his head in her lap.

He resists at first but the aches and pains in his body protest, begging him to take this moment of relief. He shuffles around, sighing and groaning in discomfort before he is lying on his side, head in her lap, one of her hands gently running her fingers through his hair. Tension begins to fade from his body as exhaustion sets in. As he fights against slumber, he lifts one free hand to grab hold one of hers, holding it gently as he loses the battle. He wants to say something, but his mind is so clouded he struggles to form words, so he just squeezes her hand, hoping that small gesture says enough.

Samara smiles, looking down at Thancred as his eyes close and his breathing evens out, her fingers still lightly combing through his hair. "Rest, Khairaa. If only for a little while. The world and all its troubles can wait."

[andrastesdirtysocks]

MLM!Cullen Fic Rec List

Inspired by this post. Here is my fic rec list of some of my favorite fics with queer Cullen. Happy Pride :)  🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍🌈

Cullen/Dorian

Only True in Fairy Tales by Dragonflies_and_Katydids

Summary:  In which Dorian is a special forces operative, Bull is his partner, and Cullen is the guy they're sent to rescue. Hijinks ensue. // Words: 110150

Modern AU. Dragonflies_and_Katydids makes me read the weirdest stuff. But their work is always captivating. The more ridiculous set up the better outcome, I promise. This one is both ridiculous and absolutely perfect. And somehow one of the very few modern au fics in which Cullen's lyrium addiction is well transfered without making it literal.

Fashionably Late by tsurai

For the tumblr prompt: Cullen/Dorian Soulmates AU? <3 "Maker’s breath, this is absolutely the worst timing, he thinks distantly." // Words: 1038

This is but a tiny thing but I'm a sucker for a soulmate AU. Would I love it more if it was 150,000 words? Yes. But I'm just greedy.

COLD HANDS, WARM HEART by spicyshimmy, stonelions

Summary: Cullen and Dorian's friendship deepens. Cullen is a romantic. Dorian is literally cold. Cullen is no longer certain what he would consider surprising. Mages and Templars working in perfect cooperation, perhaps. Evil and corruption disappearing into the ground along with the blight, blood magic falling so far out of favor it ceased to be. A united Thedas: that would be a surprise. // Words: 25369

I think this is most recced Cullrian fic and for a good reason. Slow burn, drama, all the delights. 

Light In This Darken'd Time Breaks by RamonaDecember

Summary: Cullen wouldn't say he hates mages, not anymore, but he can't see himself ever trusting one again. Dorian is no exception. The mage is off-color, self-important, and all together too much for Cullen to deal with. So why is it that every time Cullen is at his lowest, Dorian seems to be the only person by his side? // Words: 121289

Slow burn with 121289 words, what more do you want?

Cullen/Bull

Jump In by Dragonflies_and_Katydids

Summary: In which Cullen is almost terminally awkward, Bull and Dorian are literally brothers (because why not?), and Bull tries really hard to be good. Or: In which Dorian tries to set up his brother and his roommate, if he can avoid killing them for being so clueless. (You might get cavities from reading it. Don't say I didn't warn you.) // Words: 33700

What did I say about Dragonflies_and_Katydids and ridiculous premises? But if you're as delighted with awkward Cullen as am I - enjoy.

Dragons from Stars in an Empty Sky by Midna_Ronoa

Summary: The one in which Bull takes Cullen dragon-hunting. // Words: 10423

Fluff and smut and dragons!

Stuck on the Puzzle by thespectaclesofthor

Summary: Once, back in Kirkwall, Cullen had an arrangement with a member of the city guard that satisfied his needs. But time changed all things, and he despaired of ever finding a similar arrangement again - that was, until he met The Iron Bull. Problem being that Bull seemed to care far more about sorting out the nitty-gritty of such an arrangement than Cullen ever has. // Words: 235586

No fic rec lists that can involve Bullen canot do without Stuck on the Puzzle. If you haven't read it - please give it a try. As far as I'm concerned - the best fic in the fandom. And definately one of the best fics in general. <3

Cullen/Dorian/Bull

Exit Light by Dragonflies_and_Katydids

Summary: In which Cullen is suicidally depressed, Dorian is a high-functioning alcoholic, and Bull just wants them both to be happy, except when he wants to crack their heads together for being emotionally stunted idiots. // Words: 77427

This premise is actually very close to canon, compared to some other stories by the same author recced here. The angst? Delightful. The smut? Delicious. The exploration of issues? Delectable! Cheff kisses all around.

to burn cool and collected by toomanyhometowns

Summary: Dorian hums. "Here is the function of the spell: Upon invocationne, ye caster's spyryt shal sterte to ye form of whomsoever mofte recently achieved releafe by hys hande." He taps the page in punctuation and looks back up. "And then there's a lot of text about the vast joys we may experience together, et cetera, et cetera." // Words: 16121

Ok, this list shows more than anything that my main delight is issues and angst wrapped in with porn. Anyway - cracky premise (body swap!), and angsty, sexy outcome.

Hold by queeniegalore

Summary: Everyone knows Cullen doesn't trust magic. But he trusts Dorian and Bull, so maybe they can make this work. // Words: 6654

Issues? Trauma? Kink? I'm a one trick pony when it comes to recs.

Cullen/Cole

Okay now that we’ve gotten the obvious out, let’s enjoy the trully unexpected enjoyment.

Into The Light (Cole/Cullen Ficlets) by Sinister_Kid

Summary: A series of what I hope are tasteful Cole/Cullen fics that don't exploit or overly sexualize Cole's developing character. Based on a prompt I filled out of boredom in which I imagined the spirit actually hearing someone's pain like a physical noise in his ears that caused discomfort. Explores the option of making Cole more human, with my own original take on how that affects him as a character, and depicts Cole developing romantic feelings for the Commander as he discovers what it means to be human. // Words: 20454

I admit I don't often read Cole shippy fics but this one stays true to the info in the summary and it is careful and tasteful. Also Cullen learning to speak with Cole properly - <333

Cullen/Varric

Verse & Volley Triptych by boycoffin

Summary: POSSIBLE TITLES: This Shit Was Even Weirder: A Surprisingly Not-Doomed Romance In The Shadow of the Apocalypse The Commander and the Rogue already taken, Antivan maritime smut with an elf girl in it How The Hell I Ended Up With That Guy: A Tale for The People Who Keep Asking Me About It In Bars The Short and Curlies that's just terrible Love Among the tropey garbage A Tale of Two Names pretentious and unclear The Penman's Paramour Memoirs of a Moron (That He's Going to Regret Publishing and Will Never Hear The End Of for As Long As He Lives) // Words: 133354

One of the very few fics in which I can not only accept but love 1st person POV. Crack. Slow-burn. Pennames. Lovable OCs. DELICIOUS. Also a fic that made me start this blog, so love all around.

Cullen/Krem

Last but not least, my delightful fave (maybe, possibly, probably) and involving a shameless self-plug because it’s the month of pride.

Swordplay by orphan_account

Summary: The Bull's Chargers are undisciplined, untested, and unprofessional; but Cullen can't stop thinking about their lieutenant. // Words: 3910

I have a soft spot for whoever Krem being shipped with not knowing he's trans at first. But also oblivious, pining Cullen <3

If you have been starving, a creature of bone by missivesfromghosts

Summary: Cullen is content with where he is. He has a life and a purpose. He’s doing the Maker’s work and he’s cut the Chantry’s leash on him. He barely thinks about the fact that he’s trans anymore. The last person who knew he was born anything different, barring his sister Mia, died during the Blight. This works for him. That is, until he starts falling for Krem. // Words: 769

A tiny thing but I have a soft spot for the idea. Also what's better than a ship with trans character? A ship with two trans characters. Keep that in mind for further recs actually.

Sweet, Merciful Andraste by Tainaron

Summary: PWP. Honestly, Cullen should invest in walls and a ceiling that don't have holes if he's going to keep having such loud sex. Pure, unapologetic smut between trans men who love each other. // Words: 4187

¯\_(ツ)_/¯  What more do you want from me? Sometimes porn is just porn. Enjoy.

Champions of the Just by Tainaron

Summary: En route to Griffin Wing Keep before the battle of Adamant, Cullen falls prey to an injury that reveals a shameful secret about his trauma with magic. As Cullen struggles with his past, his duty to the Inquisition, and his love life, he becomes increasingly uncertain if he’s the target of an assassination attempt or just his own personal demons. // Words: 67885

Well, I also have some plottier and angstier fics in my rec disposal. This one actually explores the problems Krem and Cullen could encounter in their relationship and all within the canon plot line. Plus bonus points of Cullen actually interacting with other Chargers.

cabbage: a love story by psikeval

Summary: Krem’s grin fades into a quiet smirk, his eyes warm and amused, and Cullen does not forget how to move his legs because he is a grown man, a leader of soldiers, commander of the Inquisition’s army. He breaks the silence by coughing loudly, because he is also an imbecile. // Words: 18932

Creme de la creme of Krem/Cullen fics <3 Fluff, crack, porn <3 This delightful series has it all! 

[tuesdayintheservantshall]

Jimmy has no right to *that* hostile (ie downright homophobic). He already almost threw Thomas out onto the street without a reference; if anyone has a right to be scared it’s Thomas; he’s now aware everyone knows he’s gay and he knows at least one or two of those people(one of them being jimmy) would happily throw him under the bus given the chance. He’s literally never been so vulnerable and there’s no need for jimmy to rub it in

Hey Nonny you’re my first official fandom argument! Or you were when I first drafted this over a week ago lol. Since then I've waded into some drama bc I have poor impulse control. Well you're my first argumentative anon still! Do I get a prize, or do you? Have an, um apple of discord: 🍏And I will have one too: 🍏 (Intended tone: genuinely friendly, although if you are not already aware you should know that in fandom spaces messages like these are generally considered hostile acts. Most people don’t want to argue with strangers about why their faves suck, and especially not in response to tags they made about their overwhelmed shippy feelings. (Although I guess if hypothetically you’re the OP of the post I put the tags on and weren’t comfortable with them being on your post that’s admittedly a tough place to be in. Coming to me with your face on and asking me to remove my reblog or the tags because you’re not comfortable with them runs the risk of me being an asshole or taking something in your phrasing badly and starting a big fight. Uh, the chances of that seem rather remote so I’m gonna leave the tags where they are unless OP comes to me and says “I hadn’t wanted to say anything but actually -”.) Anyway I’m not gonna derail this into a long(er than it is) ramble on preferred ways to discuss disagreements in fandom but I might post something like that at a later date.)

God I use way too many parentheses. Apologies to any with a blacklist for Jimmy (do I still have any of those? not sure), obviously I don’t want to put this in the tags. I shall tag this and any further discourse on the subject with “the storyline that shall not be named”. Let’s get (finally) to it!

So, the first thing I wanna say is: yes, Jimmy makes homophobic comments and that’s bad, both because Thomas being gay is not the reason he assaulted Jimmy and because there’s hypothetically a chance someone who doesn’t already know might figure out Thomas’s sexuality based on Jimmy’s comment(s? There's the one before the rope tug and then I could have sworn there was one other one but I'm blanking on what it actually was.)However a) the moment I was commenting on wasn’t one of the homophobic comments and b) I find it important to distinguish between the specific manner of hostility (sometimes homophobic) and the level of hostility (nasty remarks and making a constant point of distancing himself) and the level is in fact 100% warranted. If you think nasty remarks and pointed distancing are more hostile than a person has a right to be towards the guy who sexually assaulted them, then we have a pretty profound disagreement.

As for your other point, regarding fear: Thomas and Jimmy both have very compelling reasons to be afraid of each other but I have to ask exactly what you think Jimmy is “rubbing in?” He initially tried to retaliate excessively against Thomas, backed down from that, and then discovered that instead of facing a reasonable consequence for assaulting him, such as being fired but with a reference that reflected the fact that this was one very bad mistake rather than a pattern*, Thomas was promoted to a position of direct authority over Jimmy. Although Jimmy was bribed into not making a fuss about this rather than, say, threatened, I think he has nonetheless been given a fairly clear message from his employers that they will back the senior coworker who assaulted him against any potential consequence he might try to bring. From Jimmy’s point of view, which is admittedly blinkered by fear and self interest, Thomas is the one in the secure, powerful position and Jimmy is the one extremely vulnerable.

I don't even just mean from his point of view like, ~emotionally. Genuine question: what would happen if Thomas started being overly touchy-feely again, or did worse than that, and Jimmy went to Mr. Carson or Mrs. Hughes or Lord Grantham to report it? I really don't know, and neither does Jimmy. Personally, I'm guessing that whether they believed him would probably depend significantly on things like Jimmy’s demeanor, and exactly what words he used, and basically whether he came across as a victim or as a brat trying to get someone in trouble. And which of those things a person seems like has no particular correlation to the facts of what they’re reporting - as we can see from what happened the first time! Like, Jimmy came off as spiteful and nasty and instead of being fired Thomas was promoted. That is actually what happened! The fact that Jimmy's motives were mixed doesn't change the fact of what Thomas did: Jimmy, when evaluating his safety, has access to one really strong datapoint and that’s that last time the majority of his superiors came down on Thomas’s side, either from the beginning or by the end.

Now, it’s true that he’s had a year to observe Thomas’s behavior and make an educated guess that Thomas really is sorry and won’t do it again. We can only speculate as to what extent he may have reached that conclusion and why he has or hasn’t. Some possible reasons why he might not have: trauma blinkers, homophobic and sexist beliefs, sufficiently bad at reading people to not know what clues to even look for, too self-centered to bother thinking about it in those terms... we don’t know. And perhaps he does know perfectly well that Thomas won't do anything like that again and any lingering fear is of cooties or of people mistaking him for gay and him being in the line of fire along with Thomas next time! You can read him that way if you want. You can say “wtf I see no fear of any kind”. It’s a flexible canon and none of these interpretations are actually contradicted by the text. Indeed I happily read other interpretations and when I babbled in those tags it was more "this is the interpretation I am thinking about right now" than intended to assert it as my One True Headcanon that I will not deviate from. But Jimmy definitely has reasons to be afraid, and of more than cooties.

Of course Thomas also has logical and emotional reasons to be afraid of what Jimmy might do, I'm certainly not denying that. (In fact, one of the things I find so compelling about these two is that they both have such strong reasons not to trust each other and they both reach out anyway.) It seems that Thomas’s belief in who Jimmy is as a person supersedes those reasons (“He wouldn’t be so unkind. Not on his own.”) but if Jimmy has a similar belief about who Thomas he keeps it hidden at least until the fair.

P.S. please reconsider the phrase “has the right to be scared” in every context but especially when discussing someone’s reaction to a situation that involved them being sexually assaulted. I offer you the alternative “logical reason to be scared” or "compelling reason" as perhaps capturing what I hope you meant. I think that’s a language choice that really does matter a fair bit.