#also makes being a multishipper awkward sometimes!

[bekkachaos]

my most boomer opinion you ask?

I miss the days when fandom and shipping wasn't a war to see whose ship would be canon, and you could just enjoy your cute little guys falling in love and if you didn't like a pairing, well, you just didn't ship it.

[goldendoodlerlockerlove]

I’m a huge Multishipper and find the merits of almost any Ship for Bob’s Burgers. I’ve seen so many good content for so many lovely ships!! Here are some of my favorites (and the blogs that produce the best content for these ships):

Tina/Josh is so underrated, in my opinion. The show did make it so they’ll never be canon (probably), and Josh didn’t get nearly enough screentime, but I think they’re adorable. I loved them so much in Linda-Pendant Woman, with Tina pulling a Prince Charming and trying to find who Josh’s bandaid belonged to. And their Fresh Feed kiss!! Tbh, I kind of ship them the most (please don’t come for me) and they’re super cute. But the show’s most likely not going to do anything else with them. They have a ton of potential, and I wish they spent more time fleshing Josh out as a character. If they had, this ship had the potential of being as good or even better than some of the other ships with Tina. I also definitely headcanon Josh as Bi. That boy is not straight in my opinion.

Tinimmy is such a classic, I adore it and all of the lovely content that @drawthethingdoppelganger and @jimmyjrsmusoems have put out. These two are the absolute Tinimmy Queens, so if you want Tinimmy content, go to their blogs immediately!! It helps that this ship is basically canon, and Jimmy Jr. is such an awkward dork 😭 He doesn’t know how to express his emotions, but he does care so much about Tina despite what some people say 😒 It’s so frustrating when people always put J Ju down because of one episode (V For Valentine-Detta). Yes, it was a jerk move, but he’s a flipping middle schooler!! And it wasn’t even that bad, anyway. And one bad move doesn’t erase all of the lovely things he’s done for Tina. Like finding her Barrecklace and saying it made him think of her?? Wanting to do a Sky Kiss with her?? Agreeing to go on a date to Pie in the Sky even though he’s not really a fan, and inviting her on a completely genuine date to Fro-Yo Mama?? Come on, these two are adorable. And they deserve a coffee date sometime if DT’s recent art is anything to go by. I also headcanon Jimmy Jr. as Bi sometimes and a heavily closeted Gay boy other times. It kind of depends how I’m feeling, pffffft. @br1ghtestlight has headcanoned him as Aro/Ace, and that’s a fun and valid interpretation too, but I usually feel as if he does have some sort of interest in Tina romantically. I’m not sure. I guess it depends??

Zekina is so cute even though I don’t ship it as much as the other two. Zeke wanting to take Tina on a date to the aquarium and then out for tacos is just so adorable!! But it always annoys me so much when people say that Zeke is obviously the better choice for Tina and is always nicer to her and always has her best interests at heart. Like, Zeke is a sweetheart, but he’s had his moments of not being great to Tina. He’s a teenager just like Jimmy Jr. He’s not obviously the better choice for her just because he suggested that date of tacos and touch tanks. Zekina is lovely, and I respect anyone who ships it and makes content for it. I definitely see the appeal. But people really need to stop coming for Jimmy Jr. Yes, I will keep yelling about this forever 😭 Anyway, if you want some of the best Zekina content, you must go to @theangrypomeranian’s blog right now. You should absolutely read Baby Steps!! I started it but haven’t gotten far because of the length, but everyone should go read it and support them!! @br1ghtestlight has also written a Tina and Zeke fic (though they might just be platonic there) that I still haven’t read yet, but everyone should go read that too.

Zeke/Jimmy Jr., aka Zesto (not sure if that’s their actual ship name, but it should be) is great. It has so much potential, and I ship it a ton. I tend to ship Tina/Josh and Zeke/Jimmy Jr. the most, not because of Jimmy Jr., but because those are the ships I just enjoy the most and I think have the best potential/chemistry. But plenty of other ships have lovely potential and chemistry too!! Anyway, these two can be read equally well as platonic besties, but them being together romantically intrigues me. It would be a ton of fun, I think. They would definitely be a chaotic couple, but a cute one. I mean, Jimmy Jr.’s reaction when he thought Zeke would start going to a different school?? He was so stressed!! And Zeke always wanting to wrestle with J Ju as a sign of affection? And agreeing to do things like help J Ju get a chicken nugget in his mouth? I love.

Genecadero is adorable and @dianadeadwing has made such cute artwork for them. Gene doesn’t have many ships, and I probably enjoy this one the most. It’s definitely a rare pair. Gene deserves a cute romance with a sweet partner!! It’s weird to me when people sometimes say that Gene is too young for that when the show already tried giving him a straight relationship with Courtney. Yes, they broke up, but still. The showrunners are clearly open to giving Gene a relationship. I love the idea Diana brought up of Peter not-so-subtly having a crush on Gene and Gene just not getting the hints. But I like to think he becomes super lovestruck and a super doting partner when he’s older.

I’m cheating and putting Gene/Alexis (I came up with a super cute ship name for them now now I can’t remember what it is ☠️ Does anyone want to help me come up with one??) on here, because I was like “Welp, if others don’t want to give Gene many ships, I’ll make one myself!” I’ve grown very attached to Alexis as an OC, and I’ve suddenly realized he has similarities to Alex 😭 I imagined them both as being voiced by Thomas Middleditch, their names are similar, and are both kind of nerds. But I think that’s where the similarities end. I definitely wanted Alexis to stand out as a character, and I think he’s still different enough from Alex. Anyway, I can’t help but talk about these two, they make my heart sing. I will never get tired of making content about them or just rambling about them like here.

Gene/Sasha is such a rare pair, and the enemies to lovers potential?? Amazing, actually 🤌🏼 If this ship wasn’t so rare, I think it would have Louigan potential, tbh. I love the idea of these two talking more and bonding, because let’s be real, Sasha is 1,000% not straight. Just look at him. Their ship also kind of reminds me of Dipcifica from Gravity Falls, with the rich kid potentially opening up and becoming a better person thanks to someone else’s influence. I just love a good Enemies-to-Lovers romance, and the potential they have for banter is immaculate.

Ahhh, Roudise (aka Louwheeze, which is an incredible ship name), is just the cutest thing on earth, I adore it. I love a good Friends-to-Lovers, and I think I just have them on the brain because of Roudise Week. They’re just adorable and basically canon like Tinimmy. I probably ship them the most?? They just make me happy. I love how Rudy brings out Louise’s softer side, and Louise helps bring Rudy out of his shell. Their friendship is precious, their potential romance even more so. I just have a lot of thoughts about these two, they make me happy. Also, Louise slapping Rudy after kissing him in Bob, Actually sends me every time. If you want some of the best Roudise content, go to @ltwharfy and @devilh0rnsinc. Their Roudise content is just so lovely!!

Louigan!! This ship is great too. I don’t understand why people who ship it get blocked. There’s so much potential there!! Again, Enemies-to-Lovers is one of my favorites. And their potential for banter?? Amazing. Incredible. No notes. If you want the best Louigan content, you must go to @babsvibes immediately. I started reading Stacy’s Cardamom, which is basically her Magnum Opus. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s incredible and everyone should go read it. She’s truly the Louigan Queen and got me interested in this ship in the first place. And she was kind enough to invite me onto the Louigan Discord, which has been an absolute blast (even though I hardly share anything Louigan on there ☠️). I want to change that and make more Louigan content. I have a lot of ideas. Y’all better watch out if Louigan Week happens again next September 👀 Louigan Week was also amazing this year!! Everyone show Babs some love for running that incredible event.

Louissica is cute and has potential. I feel as if it’s quite similar to Roudise as a cute, charming Friends-to-Lovers. But Jessica just needs to appear more and be more developed as a character, because she just hasn’t appeared enough for me to have as many thoughts about this ship as all of the others I’ve listed so far. I loved them hunting for that Wharf Monster together, that was such a fun side plot. And them bonding at Louise’s sleepover when she’d driven everyone else away.

BOBLIN. If there’s a ship from this show I love the most, it’s Boblin, no contest. There’s a reason my very first ask to DT was Boblin-related. But I’ve rambled about them enough, so I’ll try to keep this short, pfffffft. They’re an example of a couple that’s as close to perfect that I’ve ever seen. They’re so sweet you’ll get a cavity, they’re domestic, and they’re ancient as hell muppets. What else could you want?? I love how their love stems not just from huge, loud, romantic gestures. It also stems from more quiet, subtle moments. Like Bob massaging Linda’s feet. Or Linda deciding to give Bob a quiet night in for his birthday, because she realized he’d enjoy that the most. Or Bob making her a heart-shaped pancake on Valentine’s Day. You get the idea. If you want the best Boblin content, then @jimmypesto is your girl. She’s written some of the best BB fics I’ve read, and the way she writes Boblin is unmatched. She’s such a talented writer, it’s insane. She’s also written a ton of Boblin smut, if that’s your thing!!

Frondbrose is wonderful. These two also have such good chemistry and banter, it’s insane. Their Enemies-to-Lovers potential is insane. I wish they were canon so bad. They definitely need to interact more. Mr. Ambrose showing his softer side for Mr. Frond is just so adorable to me!! This man would be the epitome of “I hate everyone, but I don’t hate you 😌” They make me all giggly. I can’t get enough. They’re definitely the type to have Hate Sex once and then deny it ever happened 🤣. But everyone would know the truth.

Tedmort is so cute and has so much potential. I love it. I think Teddy and Mort’s friendship is precious already, but a potential relationship between them?? The wholesomeness meter would be off the charts. They can be an ancient muppet couple like Bob and Linda!! Mort would treat Teddy 1,000% better than Denise, but tbh, anyone else would treat Teddy better than Denise. If you want Tedmort, then @keepyourhornson-spyro is the person for you!! They’ve written some lovely Tedmort fics that everyone should read.

Marshmallow/Nat has such potential, and there should be content about them!! It just seems like such a fun ship, and I think being with Marshmallow would help Nat get over her ex-girlfriend. These two also share a similar vibe of just coming and going as they please, and “being truly free” 😌 I still love that Marshmallow is canonically Trans and Nat is canonically a Lesbian. They’re wonderful.

Hemita is a canonical rarepair, which I didn’t think was possible, but here we are. I think they’re so cute and definitely good for each other. Susmita asking out Henry in Morse Code?? That was adorable. We need more moments of these two being cute. I love them.

Barryl is such a rare pair and has won me over so much. There’s just something that makes sense about these two being together that’s difficult to describe. There’s something so sweet about Becky being able to find love after being unlucky with Jimmy Jr. Darryl would be such a sweet boyfriend to her, and she would be such a sweet girlfriend in return. They would be so cute holding hands and listening to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat. Sure, to ship them, you need to ignore Rosa, but she was only in one episode anyway. I gotta shout out @theangrypomeranian again for basically creating this entire ship herself. Amazing.

Arnlee is such a gigantic rare pair it’s insane, and they’ve definitely won me over too. They’re so cute!! They’re just two socially awkward kids who would work really well together. They deserve to have some sort of side plot where they bond. I would love that. @devilh0rnsinc made the cutest art of these two together for @ltwharfy, and that was what officially won me over. That and @ltwharfy’s adorable fic about them which everyone should go read.

I might cut myself off there, because this post is insanely long. But it just goes to show how many lovely ships there are in this fandom. And they’re all valid. Seriously, can we please just respect each other and who we ship??

Anyway, there’s a little something for everyone in terms of ships, and I just love that so much. Everyone needs to check out all of the blogs I mentioned for some lovely content❣️They’ve also just been so sweet and welcoming towards me, I can’t stress that enough!!

[intrusive-thought-library]

I finished Kagero and Orochi's support stories and I can totally see why people ship them so much!! They have so much chemistry too 🥺💞

Because I'm a multishipper and enjoy bisexual dilemmas, here are some thoughts for my personal Fates timeline.

Kaze, Orochi, Saizo and Kagero grew up together and spent a lot of time hanging out as kids since their families served the royal family. Despite them all being very close friends, there was an obvious stronger connection between Kagero and Orochi. When Kagero was training, Orochi would be there for moral support - when Orochi was gathering herbs, Kagero would be there to serve as an extra pair of hands. The diviner in training was the extrovert who adopted the weird emo introvert as her bestie, and everything was great when life was simple.

However, as time goes on, the priorities of adulthood started taking more and more of their free time. Because Ryoma was present in most battalions sent out to try and rescue Corrin, Kagero had to be there for him as his loyal retainer. Not only that, but she also had her duties to train new army recruits as to not leave them at Saizo's mercy, who never cut them any slack. They started to grow apart, the once best friends who spent almost every day of their childhoods together were now lucky if they could find the time to have lunch in the same hall.

Kagero was in love with Orochi way before she even knew what love was. The admiration she felt for her was way more than as a best friend - the way she yearned for her when she was gone, or reminisced their younger days playing at the brook when in need of comfort. It will be unsurprising to note that Kagero has always been notoriously bad when it came to expressing her feelings. Since young, she's always had a natural predisposition for secrecy, and the ninja training only further solidified her firm belief that her life was pointless and expendable. Her sole purpose was to protect Lord Ryoma and the royal family, Kagero was never allowed the luxury of choice and was perfectly comfortable in this timeline, or so she would say if someone asked her.

Growing up in a heteronormative family and culture made her place great importance in passing down her heritage. Her family needed to continue their tradition, so she ignored these feelings for many years. No matter how much she wanted to kiss Orochi, they were never meant to be. No matter how much she craved her touch, those arms were not hers to hold. Even though they've always been physically affectionate with each other growing up, there was always that longing for something more that sometimes nagged at the back of Kagero's mind, only for her to neutralize those thoughts as if pulling out a weed.

Orochi felt similarly towards her, although not as intense. Any thoughts she had about trying anything other than her typical playful flirting had her panic at the possibility of her not reciprocating. Deep down she knew Kagero felt the same way towards her as far as friendship goes, but the larger their distance grew, the more romance became an afterthought. The fact Kagero wasn't good at demonstrating her feelings had Orochi caught on a spiral where she was deeply insecure about change. What if she soiled the best thing she's ever had, what if things became irreversibly awkward? The possibility frightened her too much and there was no happy prediction that could give her enough courage to try altering fate.

Then, Corrin was rescued, and they all started to spend time together again at the camp. Orochi grew closer to Kaze, and in their playful banters and silly little games, they fell in love. It was the perfect turn of events - they looked like they were made for each other, birds of a feather with a kind of chemistry that rivaled even the most heartwarming novels. Everyone gossiped about them, everyone was so happy they got married. Kagero loved to see how happy Kaze was making her, Orochi really deserved that happiness after everything that she's been through after the death of the queen. In her head, she was certain that keeping those feelings to herself was the best thing she could've ever done for Orochi.

In her heart, however, she could still feel that weight sinking in every now and then, watching them from the shadows while she wondered what could've been if only that was them instead.

[dark-arts-stuff]

Hello! It's about time I make one of these so here's me introducing myself

☆~I'm DarkArtStuffs though I mostly go by DarkArt or D.A. and around 18 to 20 years old

☆~I go by She/They

☆~I am a ditigal artist who sometimes animates and writes in her free time though drawing is my main focus.

☆~I'm in multiple fandoms, the main ones being Deltarune, Helluva Boss, and The Amazing Digital Circus.

☆~I'm also a multishipper which basically means I like multiple ships in a fandom. For example, I really love the ship spamvil (Spamton x Jevil) from Deltarune, however I also like the idea of Swatchton (Swatch x Spamton)

☆~I also make art and lore of my ocs like Jackpot, a fanchild of Spamvil you can check in the tags

A Few Things

♡~I don't mind my art being used for profiles, banners, etc, but please put credit.

♡~You can tag my art as a ship (UNLESS IT'S A UNDERAGE, INCEST, PROSHIP, AND OTHER HARMFUL THINGS SUCH AS THOSE)

♡~I don't mind you guys sending me asks! You can ask about my OCs, about fandons or the characters and what headcannons I have for them or just about me in general.

♡~Reposts and Spam Liking is very much welcome here. But if you just wanna like and not like reboot, that's okay too.

♡i'm kinda awkward so I probably won't chat here. Sorry guys.

♡~Anyone who is a proshipper, supports incest, abuse, and anything just harmful in general, please kindly fuck off leave.

[nehswritesstuffs]

Father Like Son, Mother Like Daughter, Parent Like Child - Part 1 of 4

Yeah... this has been happening in my brain. A good chunk of it’s done... so... let’s get this going, I guess.

6901 words to start; I’ve been getting deep in the niche multishipper rabbit hole lately, hence this; I’VE SHIPPED ON LESS, SO NO SHAME HERE; I did snag a couple lines from the manga; I know the Westermarck Effect usually involves younger children, but work with me okay?; also, let’s please pretend that Rosinante is, like, two and a half to three feet (~76 to ~91cm) shorter than in canon because yowzah Oda-sensei why are all these people so tall I’m not even short and it feels like they are TALL; this fic shall also contain copious amounts of the kids in this relationship, because it’s important, so apologies for this not being straight-up only Bellazón

To stare down the world at sixteen and seventeen, it means that there are many things that don’t make a whole lot of sense. To offer up one's heart is a terrible thing. To change the course of events with something so small... it's a lot of responsibility to make sure it still goes right. [AU where Cora-san and Bell-mère live with their six kids in the East Blue and everyone is better-adjusted]

To stare down the world at sixteen and seventeen, it means that there are many things that don’t make a whole lot of sense. You look at the way the world works and all you can see are inconsistencies and contradictions. Sometimes there is a path, and sometimes there is only darkness ahead; a wild, unknown, nebulous dream that consumes all thoughts of the future. The adults all know, except most of them really don’t, because they can’t see what you can. Their eyes have all been molded to someone else’s vision and that is something not yet done in you. As peers get sucked into the lies and complacency, it is only natural for those who are left to gravitate towards one another. Numbers dwindle, and suddenly, the only other survivor is staring at you from across the mess hall, eyes burning into your soul.

To steel yourselves at sixteen and seventeen, it means you have secret meetings, with hushed whispers and rushed departures. Awkward limbs and trembling hands; wrinkled uniforms and mussed hair; shared forbidden cigarettes and separate lonely assignments; carefully avoiding evidence and yet somehow achieving intimacy; it’s a bond that holds you both tight like nothing either of you have experienced before.

To be fully-vested soldiers at sixteen and seventeen, it means that you know each time could be your last, so why do anything else but make things passionate and strong and tender all the while? With the only one still sane in the entire base?

To love someone else at sixteen and seventeen is dangerous, and you don’t know for whom until it’s too late.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Belle, please.”

“No.”

“You don’t realize what the fuck you’re doing…!”

“…is that a threat, Lieutenant?”

“…never…”

“My answer is the same regardless. I don’t care what you, or Sengoku, or Tsuru, or Kuzan, or any of those obedient paper-pushers have to say! I refuse!”

In another room, a baby cries.

“Belle, I beg you. Please. Consider it.”

“There is a strength here that you don’t understand, Rosi. Until you’re in my position, I doubt you ever will.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

To offer up one’s heart is a terrible thing.

To leave it behind, in the embrace of the last person who understood, was dangerous and painful.

To realize you had more love to give after all that… simply liberating.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Law beat on the lid of the chest, attempting to kick it open with little success. He screamed despite the lack of noise, his throat ragged. Damn it! The rest of the Family was right there and there was nothing he could do!

“He has nothing to gain from you, the Incarnation of Destruction,” Cora snarled, unseen by the young teen.

Cora-san! No!

“Just let him go! He is free!”

All the breath left Law’s lungs as he heard gunshots ring through the air. Something heavy and solid hit the chest and the thick, metallic stench of blood filled the air.

“Alright,” Doflamingo said coolly, “let’s move out. Leave the traitor—he’s as good as dead.”

With his former boss’s words hanging heavy over him, Law curled into a ball best he could within the chest and began to cry. No sound came out—Cora-san was still alive, if only for a while. He felt the chest get lifted and carried over to the ship before being placed down on the ground so that a packing strategy could be planned. Once the coast was clear, he slipped out of the chest and began the walk back to the town.

Except, as he kept walking, he noticed that his sobs and sniffles remained silent and his footfalls like nothing. He mentally calculated how long it had been since Cora-san had been shot and came to a realization—the man was outliving his wounds beyond expectation. With as much as he had been injured in his reclamation of the Op-Op Fruit, he should have died within minutes. An explosion behind him caused him to turn his walk into a full run; he had to get to Cora-san before it was too late!

Following the others’ fading footprints, Law found where Cora-san was laying in the snow, clung onto life by only a thread. He rushed to the man’s side, allowing cold and wet to seep through his cloak and clothes as he knelt in the snow.

“Ah… there you are…” Cora-san hummed, vision fuzzy. “You made it, Law. You’re free.” He tried to read Law’s lips as the boy spoke, unable to decipher it as death slowly took him. Placing his hand on the boy’s cheek, he released the effect of his Devil Fruit, allowing the boy his voice.

“I love you too, Cora-san!” Law sobbed. “Just hang in there, okay?! I’m gonna make you better!”

Law looked at the body before him and began to panic. He didn’t know where to start or what to do first aside from stopping the bleeding.

“Shit!” he swore. “I need an operating room for all this!”

Suddenly, a small blue dome sparked up around them, with an eerie sensation flowing through Law’s fingers. He looked at the dome, then at his hands—he was using his Devil Fruit.

“Okay… um… operate! Heal! Uh… extract! Un-bullet! Shit!” Tears began to flow anew as he became increasingly frustrated. “We were supposed to leave together! Cora-san! We were supposed to live and be free of Doflamingo! Now that’s all in shambles!”

Law gasped as Cora-san’s body split apart into dozens of pieces, separating at joints and wounds, isolating organs and… the bullets! Law could see the bullets floating freely in the air! He began to grab them, tossing them on the ground beside him. His sleeve brushed against Cora-san’s lung and the man coughed, surprising the young teen with the reaction.

Working quickly, Law took all the bullets out from Cora-san and began to carefully put the pieces of him back together. He was able to align arteries back together, faked a couple sutures, and somehow convinced the major wounds to clot over. With the last piece in place, Law fell atop Cora-san and passed out, his strength completely zapped.

Snow kept falling and, in the bay, the Donquixote Pirates outmaneuvered the Marines yet again.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“I don’t want to be here…” the young polar bear sniffled. He shivered as he clung to the elder Human teen’s leg, effectively anchoring him in the rowboat.

“Come on—are you a bear or a chicken?” the teen scoffed. “You’re going to be useful, got it? Anything’s still here and you gotta sniff it out.”

“Yeah—whatever went down here the other day… there has to be plenty of treasure leftover from it,” the younger teen agreed.

The polar bear Mink, Bepo, whimpered quietly as they all piled out of the boat and tied it to the dock. Everything on this island was quiet and stank. He didn’t like it one bit; it reminded him of finding a dead seal, but worse. The older teen tugged at his harness and pulled him along, making it so that he had no choice but to follow.

Yes, that was what the past few days were about: following the whims of these teenagers. They had beaten him up and made him do things for them, like spook travelers or catch fish, and pulled him around Swallow Island like a pet on a leash. Now they were on the neighboring Minion Island—only an hour away—as rumor had it something big had gone down and the teens, Penguin and Shachi, wanted to find out what.

The village posed more questions than it answered, the trio discovered. Bepo covered his nose and trembled while the teens stared slack-jawed. Corpses littered the street, slowly being pecked apart by crows and other critters. There was evidence of a mass fight-to-the-death, as well as mysterious gashes in some of the buildings.

“This can’t be good,” Penguin blanched. “What the fuck happened to this place?”

“I don’t know…” Shachi said, stomach squelching. “Something tells me we shouldn’t’ve come here…”

“There’s someone here!” Bepo gasped. The teens both hit him on the head.

“They’re all dead, you idiot,” Shachi scolded.

“No! I can smell food! Being cooked! Someone’s here in the village, and they’re alive!”

At that, Bepo ran off, the surprise of which caused Penguin to lose his grip on the harness’s leash. Both teens ran after the young Mink cub, following him through the deserted village until they came upon a house that had smoke coming from the chimney and a warm glow in the window. All three barged in the door, falling on top of one another just inside the threshold.

“Shit! What the hell are you doing here?!” The trio looked up and saw another teenaged boy, this one scraggly and skin covered in white patches, who promptly closed the door against the chill. “Who are you?!”

“My name’s Penguin, and this is Shachi, and this here is our pet polar bear,” the eldest teen bragged. “I know, it’s pretty hard to catch a polar bear, but we were able to do it, because we’re that cool.”

“It just looks like you put a kid on a leash,” the new teen deadpanned. He went and unhooked Bepo’s harness from the leash, which caused the polar bear to lick his face in thanks. The boy staggered back, unsure of what happened.

“Law…? What’s going on…? Do I hear voices…?”

The four looked towards a door leading off the living area and kitchen and the kid with the white patches hissed.

“Nothing!” he lied. He then turned towards his visitors, his glare set and serious. “One wrong move out of any of you and you’re going to be just like the rest of the villagers, you hear?” The visitors all nodded. “Good. I’ll let you warm up here, but you have to go before my dad gets up.”

“Law…?”

“Coming!”

The young teen ladled some stew from the pot on the stove into a bowl and got some bread, which he put on a plate, carrying both into the next room. Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo all looked around, seeing that the homey décor of the place was at complete odds with the rest of the village. There were even photos on the wall, though none of them were of the other boy…

“This isn’t our house.” They glanced towards the door and saw their reluctant host had returned. “Why did you come here?”

“We were hoping to see what happened, see if there was any treasure leftover,” Shachi admitted. “We didn’t expect this.”

“There’s nothing left on this island of monetary value,” the boy explained. “Anything worth anything was taken by the Donquixote Pirates days ago. Once my dad’s better, he and I are leaving too.”

“Wait… the Donquixote Pirates?!” Penguin gasped. “How did you survive that?!”

“Barely.” The four lads cringed, realizing that the adult from the other room had hobbled out, his stew bowl in one hand while the other one was busy holding himself steady on a crutch. Brown goop was all down his front and he looked to be in pain. “I spilled.”

“You just found a way to not eat your bread.” The young teen took the bowl and brought it over to the small kitchen table before helping the man over. He was tall—very, very tall—and looked at the guests curiously.

“I thought no one else was on this island.”

“We’re from Swallow Island,” Penguin said. “I’m Penguin, this is Shachi, and this is our pet polar bear! Cool, I know.”

“That looks like a kid in a leash harness,” the man noted. Penguin scowled at that, which only made the man laugh. “Well, I’m Cora, and you’ve already met my son, Law. If you’re looking for treasure, the only thing we really have is each other, and I’m not sure you’re really here for that.”

“Law said you’re leaving?” Bepo asked. “For where?!”

“There’s not a lot of places we can go,” Cora said. “Law was poisoned for a long time, and until we get rid of that, he’s going to look very different from everyone else. I know someone in the East Blue that might be able to help us, and no one over there would be scared of Law’s poison.”

“Why would someone be scared of a kid that’s poisoned?” Shachi wondered. Law simply scowled.

“If they think it’s contagious, that’s how.”

“…but your dad just said that it’s a poison,” Penguin noted. “You can’t catch a poison… not like a cold, anyhow.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell people for over six months, but now… we have another way to fix it. We just need a little more time.” Cora spilled some more stew along his front and hissed in pain. “What about you? Do your parents know you’re here?”

“I’m trying to find my big brother, but I got lost and can’t go back,” Bepo said, “and then these two tried to make me their pet.”

“There’s no one missing us,” Penguin scoffed, trying to seem aloof about it. “Shachi and I are our own men.”

“Your own men, hmm…?” Cora chewed on his stew bits thoughtfully before nodding. “How would some men like you three like to accompany us to the East? It’ll be fun.”

“Cora-saaaannnn…”

“Are there any babes there?” Penguin asked. Cora laughed at that.

“My friend is a woman, but don’t let her hear you refer to her as that,” the man chuckled. “She has a pair of daughters, but they’re more around this one’s age than the rest of you.” He patted Bepo on the head, an act that the Mink cub leaned into. “I doubt the youngest even remembers me at this point.”

“We set sail in a week,” Law stated. “Cora-san suffered a lot of wounds when the Donquixote Pirates were here, and that’s the soonest he can move. We’ll have to cross over the Red Line into the East, but that will be easy enough as long as we get there undetected.”

“If you come along,” Cora added, “the Mink is not a pet, but your cute baby brother.”

“Garachu, Cora-san!” Bepo squeaked, hugging the man excitedly. Penguin and Shachi looked at them, then at Law, then at one another.

Well, it wasn’t like they had anything else better to do.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The first thing that awaited Donquixote Rosinante upon landing in Cocoyasi, was a slap across the face.

“You absolute fucking degenerate!” the scary-looking, angry woman screamed. The teens still in the boat froze in terror, figuring this was the legendary Bell-mère, the one who Cora had been talking about for a couple months now, who they suspected had been more than just a friend at one point. Bepo, who was on the pier with Cora, simply began to panic.

“Good to see you too, Belle,” Cora winced.

“No note, no goodbye, no warning, no letters! I have literally spent the last four fucking years thinking you were dead! Everyone thought you were dead!”

“Not Sengoku,” he defended. That was the wrong thing to say, as Bell-mère’s eyelid began to twitch.

“So he’s been in on it too?! See?! This is why I didn’t want to raise the girls on a base! They’d get too used to fucking idiots like you!”

“Is, erm, everything alright here, Bell-mère…?” Cora glanced over his old friend’s shoulder to see a man with a pinwheel stuck into his hat, looking at the encounter warily.

“Yeah, I can take this loser any day,” Bell-mère scoffed. “We were officer-cadets together—you remember Rosinante.”

The man blinked, then his eyes went wide. “Young Rosinante?! You don’t look anything like you did your last visit!”

“Going undercover wasn’t easy on me,” Cora admitted. “Please, Belle, I need a place to lay low for a while, outside of the Marines’ grasp. Can you help me?”

“You’re an idiot and a fool if you think you’re going to be able to lay low with all these goddamned brats,” Bell-mère scoffed. She took note of the tag-alongs and scowled. “How did you seem to acquire four children not your own? Tell me, Rosi.”

“Belle…”

“That is a Mink, Rosinante. A child Mink. What have you been up to?!”

“It’s… uh… a long story…” Cora put up a sound barrier so that only he and Bell-mère could hear. “I can’t go back to Sengoku—I sent in a final report while I was still in the North, and now I’m done.”

“He’s like your dad,” she scowled. “I remember how the two of you were.”

“…and I can’t bring the boys there, especially Law. They’re already hurting so much and all I want is a place where they can be normal for a little bit before they’re adults.”

“Desertion is considered a treasonous act, you know.”

“You left to raise your kids, and now I’m leaving to raise mine—there’s no difference.”

“There is to the paper-pushers… to the admirals.”

The two adults stood there at a stalemate, trying not to notice the crowd that was beginning to form along the edge of the docks. Cora dropped the sound field and offered his old comrade a smile. Fuck… she couldn’t refuse that smile, that innate Celestial Dragon charisma of his, and she didn’t completely hate it.

“If you plan on staying,” she sighed, “you’re going to have to figure out a way to pull your own weight. My earnings barely cover me and the girls, and you just showed up with three teenaged boys and a bear cub.”

“Did you get denied your pension?” She stared at him, confused. “You were a Captain, Belle. Reaching that rank, it doesn’t matter how long you were there—you’re entitled to a pension as long as it wasn’t a dishonorable discharge. All you did was resign, right…?”

“Yeah…?”

“Anything up to Commander you need a certain amount of total years put in—your former rank supersedes that.” Cora took a healthy step backwards as Bell-mère began fuming.

“Those fucking bastards! Why I—” Cora threw up another sound shield around Bell-mère as she ranted and used the most absolutely choice words for what she wanted to do to their former employers.

“Uhh… Cora-san…? Shachi asked from the safety of the boat. “Are we allowed to stay?”

“For at least a little while, it looks like,” he said. He glanced back at Bell-mère and frowned. “Law? Should she be turning that color…?”

“As long as she doesn’t stay that color, then yeah.” He clucked his tongue worriedly; this was going to be a joy to navigate, that much was clear.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Nojiko and Nami weren’t entirely sure what to make of their mom’s visitors at first.

They were all boys, for starters. The pair weren’t used to living with boys at all and were a bit worried about what might be different between boys and girls. Both a lot and nothing, they quickly found out as they all piled into the house, interrupting their board game.

“Okay kids; new plan,” Bell-mère said. “Good thing about this house is that we’ve got a lot of room. Bad thing is that we’ve now got a lot of us. You older two,” she pointed at the taller boys, “you get a room. You and the Mink,” she pointed at the shortest boy and a miniature polar bear, “you get a room. Nami, this means you’re moving in with Nojiko.”

“Boys…” the very tall man warned. The boys all bowed slightly.

“Thank you for taking care of us,” they all said, somewhat in unison. Nami reached out and tried to pet the bear, only for Nojiko to pull her back.

“Mom…?” the blue-haired girl asked shakily. “What’s going on…?”

“This here is one of my old Marine comrades and his kids. They need a place to stay for a bit. Their family’s like ours.”

“…so, by choice…?” Nami furrowed her brow and stared at the newcomers. “Is that why he’s a bear?”

“Sorry,” Bepo mumbled, bowing deeply. The seven-year-old instead gave him a hug, which he happily returned.

“Nojiko!” she squealed. “He’s so soft!”

“Can I hug you too?” Nojiko asked. Bepo nodded and soon he had both sisters hugging him.

“Ugh, kid stuff,” Penguin scowled. Cora gently flicked the teen’s ear in punishment.

“Bepo and Nojiko are the same age, and Nami’s two years younger,” he explained. “You’ll have to be good big brothers while we’re here with Miss Bell-mère and her girls. I’ll have nothing less.”

“I guess,” Penguin sulked. Shachi, not wanting to feel left out, imitated the older boy, while Law…

“Nami-ya, which room is yours? Bepo-ya and I can help you move.” He gave her a smile that Cora could nearly consider to be bright.

“Oh! Yes! This way!” The small girl took Law’s hand and led him up the stairs, all the other kids trailing close behind.

“You get the couch,” Bell-mère stated. She then looked her old comrade up and down and frowned. “Though… I’m not sure how you’d fit…”

“I don’t fit a lot of furniture in the Blues anyhow—I’m used to it,” he shrugged. He then felt blush rush to his face and neck, the fact this was real and happening sinking in, despite the distance now between them. Memory of the last time they met came flooding back to him, and how he had kept it close to his heart on lonely nights, for the Corazón, of all people, needed to remember love. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you for doing this for us.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll pay,” Bell-mère chuckled, “with your body.”

Donquixote Rosinante, son of Homing, ward of Sengoku, former Celestial Dragon, now-retired undercover Marine, former supposed officer of the Donquixote Pirates, never thought in a million years he would hear those words come out of Bell-mère’s mouth… at least not in reference to him. He nearly fainted at the very thought…

…actually, he did faint at the very thought. About ten minutes later, he woke up on the couch, with Nojiko, Bepo, and Nami bouncing at his side.

Things were already not going as-planned.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“What do you think?” Penguin asked, staring out the window at the night sky. They had not yet gone to sleep in the strange, now crowded, house that Cora-can’s friend owned, instead choosing to stay up and relish in the quiet. Shachi shrugged from his spot near the bookcase, more interested in what was there.

“Well, they’re characters, that’s for sure,” Shachi replied. He plucked a book from the shelf at eye-level and furrowed his brow at the title: Wanolese for Beginners. “The woman and Cora-san definitely have something going on… or at least did… and that’s the only reason why we’re here.”

“Not to mention Law keeps looking at the littlest kid… I wonder what that’s about…?”

“Hard saying.” He threw the book onto Penguin’s bed and the other teen looked at it curiously. “At least we won’t be bored. There’s a bunch of shit in this lady’s old books that might be useful. Where do you think Wano is?”

“The Grand Line,” Law said, coming into the room without so much as a knock. Bepo followed sleepily behind, trying his best to not turn his yawn into a lethargic roar. “It’s not a place easily accessible to most people—the high cliffs surrounding it lead very easily to an isolationist policy.”

“How would you know that?” Shachi asked. Law sat on the other bed and shrugged.

“The young Master made sure I studied hard, and some of it pertained to geography, politics, and history… at least what is known of the subjects. Some language too.” Penguin passed him the book and he opened to a page towards the back, at which he pointed to the characters on the page. “Konban-wa. Watashi wa Koizuki-san desu. Nan desu ka? Inu no jinja. See? Easy.”

“Yeah, yeah, know-it-all,” Shachi frowned. “Why did that creep make you learn that?”

“Wano is about as difficult to learn about and access as it is to find Zou,” Law shrugged. The three teens looked over at Bepo, who was curled up on the floor. “He had plans to make me the Corazón after Cora-san… but that just makes me wonder…”

“…about what…?” Penguin asked.

“It makes me wonder about why he thought the seat was going to become vacant.” Law exhaled heavily before looking at the other two teens, his expression resolute. “When we’re older, let’s sail again.”

“...and what…? Become Marines like I’m sure the adults want us to do?” Shachi scoffed. Law shook his head.

“We’ll become something better than Marines, better than that stupid Family, better than them all.”

Penguin and Shachi both raised an eyebrow curiously, which only caused Law to grin manically.

“Let’s become pirates.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As it turned out, Bell-mère's insistence on Cora paying her back “with his body” meant a lot of time in the mikan groves. His height proved well-suited to picking off some of the higher branches, which meant that orders could go out in better time, with a more even quality. Her business was thriving, and with the additional income she was getting after writing a particularly angry letter to Marineford, things were comfortable for the first time in a long time.

“Bell-mère!” Nami screeched, running at top speed through the orchard. She found the two adults easily and held up a piece of paper. “Look at what we drew!”

“Would you look at that…” Bell-mère nodded. She took the paper and stared—it was a map, and a damn good one at that, despite some of the shakier lines. “You made this?”

“It was me and Bepo! He wants to become a navigator too!”

“Do you, now?” Cora asked. Nami nodded exaggeratedly.

“I want to draw a map of the whole world one day! He wants to find a moving island! Bepo and I will have to be the best to make that happen!”

“That’s a good map, but you’ve got a long way to go before you’re both the best,” Bell-mère said. She handed back the map and patted Nami on the head. “Good thing you’re both just kids.”

“Yeah!” She looked over her shoulder and saw that Bepo was coming down the row. “She said it was good!”

“She did?!”

“For a couple of kids!” Bell-mère shouted. “Keep at it!”

Nami giggled as she ran to meet Bepo halfway and they went back to the house. Bell-mère and Cora both watched, the pair enjoying the ease of the moment.

“They’re really getting along well, aren’t they?” Bell-mère asked.

“I’ve not seen any of the boys so happy,” Cora replied. He took a couple mikan from the top of the tree and gently placed them in the basket hooked in his elbow. “I’m glad I brought them here.”

“They’re brats and you know it,” she laughed.

“As though you’re one to talk.” She elbowed him in the leg, hard, making him drop the mikan basket directly into her hands as he fell, a trick she was getting disturbingly good at. “Ow! Hey! I just know I’m not the only one who remembers training!”

“Shove it up your ass, Rosi.”

“You punched Garp in the balls on our first day!”

“He wasn’t paying any fucking attention—served him right.” The smile from her face faded as she heard Law scream inside the house, something she unfortunately knew that needed no attention. “That boy is going to overdo it one day while tearing that shit out of him.”

“It’s that or be guaranteed to die young,” he replied. “Got a light?”

“Hold on.” Bell-mère took two cigarettes from her pack and put them between her lips, lighting both at the same time. She passed one over to an embarrassed Cora, who took it gratefully.

“You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“I know—I just don’t want my orchard to burn like a fucking Buster Call.”

“Fair.”

Cora inhaled deeply and let the cigarette smoke fill his lungs, holding his breath before letting it all pour out. He was starting to develop a cough on particularly humid days, which made Law stare at him in horror. He couldn’t stop, though. It was the only thing that made him feel grounded, made him feel Human, and yet the look on the boy’s face…

“You’re spacing out again,” Bell-mère noted. Cora took the cigarette from his mouth and held it between his fingers, staring at it.

“I was just thinking… I better enjoy this thing.” He replaced it and took another deep drag.

“Why’s that?”

“I think it’ll be my last.”

“You don’t say?”

“Don’t act so wise—you were the one who got me into the habit.”

“Huh… I guess I was, wasn’t I?” She looked at her own cigarette and shook her head. “Looks like it can’t be helped.”

“What can’t be helped?”

“If you’re quitting, then I’m quitting too, asshole,” she said. “Can’t have you looking better than me.”

“I am better than you.”

A scoff. “At what?”

“Acquiring kids—I’ve got more, and that’s a statistical fact.”

“Yeah, well, mine can still wipe the floor with yours, so fuck off.”

“I’d like to see them try.”

They were nearly done with their cigarettes when a put-out-looking Nojiko came stomping down the lane to the house. She was pulling along Penguin and Shachi both, the pair of teens looking slightly worse for wear, not to mention embarrassed out of their minds.

“…do we even want to know?” Cora asked. Bell-mère simply shook her head—no it was wisest to simply let the matter be.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Having one adult going through nicotine withdrawals was bad enough. Having both of the adults in the house going cold-turkey from their decade-long habit? It was dreadful.

“They’re both cranky and grumpy and just really, really mean,” Nami scowled. She and Nojiko had joined Law and Bepo on a walk, and now the four of them were sitting on Genzo’s porch, making their complaints known to the sympathetic adult.

“Those were all synonyms,” Law noted, nose buried in a book. His white patches were almost gone, though he claimed his research was far from over.

“I don’t care what’s a cinnamons or not!” Nami pouted. Genzo simply sighed as he pat the girl on the head.

“Those two are… a handful, even on their best days,” he stated. “Your mother was a hellion, and with the way Rosinante is, I’m sure he was one too.”

“You and Bell-mère keep calling Cora-san that,” Nojiko mentioned. “Why?”

“I’m sure you were too little to remember, but he came here once a long time ago, when Bell-mère first brought you and Nami home. He begged and pleaded for her to come with him, to bring you girls along, saying you’d be safer with his father. I guess it wasn’t the first time he’d done it either.”

That got the kids’ attention.

“Cora-san has a father?” Law asked. “He… never mentioned him.”

“He’s a father like Rosinante is to you, if I remember correctly,” Genzo shrugged. “Anyhow, when Rosinante was here, he had stayed a couple days, but then left. That was the last Bell-mère saw or heard of him before he showed up with you four.”

“No wonder it looked like she was going to explode when we first got here,” Bepo shivered. “Uncle Genzo, can we stay with you until Bell-mère and Cora-san are acting normal again?”

“We’d be living with him forever,” Law deadpanned.

“Look who’s talking,” Nojiko sniped. She and Law exchanged glares that made Genzo laugh heartily. He then noticed Penguin and Shachi coming down the street, the two of them looking irritated and put-out.

“…and have you two decided to find sanctuary on my stoop as well?”

“Nah—we’re here to collect Law and the brats,” Shachi grumbled. “Fuzzball, Gingersnap, Nojicakes, let’s get going.”

“Stop calling me that!” Nojiko snapped. “You two are so weird!”

“We’re your big brothers; it’s what we do,” Penguin said. He took Nami and put her on his shoulders before giving Genzo a slight bow of his head. “Thank you for watching over them for us.”

“Any time,” the man chuckled. He watched as the gaggle of mismatched children wandered down the street, an odd collection that fit together so well. It wasn’t until they were on the edge of town and the house in-sight before any of the kids spoke.

“Penguin?”

“Yeah, Gingersnap?”

“Why did you say you’re our big brother?”

“Well, that’s ‘cause I am.” The teen tried to seem aloof about it, despite the fact he was anything but.

“We’re only with Bell-mère-ya on a temporary basis,” Law noted. “Cora-san said we weren’t staying long-term from the moment we left Swallow Island.”

“That was before, and we’re here to tell you that things have changed in the meantime,” Shachi chuckled. “I mean, they quit smoking together.”

“So…?” Nojiko frowned. “They shouldn’t’ve been doing it to begin with.”

“That is, Nojicakes, why you are still a little kid, while we are your big brothers,” Penguin smirked. Nami smacked both his ears at once, making him stumble slightly. “Hey! Traitor!”

“They mean that Cora-san and Bell-mère-ya are likely engaging in copious amounts of sexual activity,” Law said dryly. Shachi and Penguin both cringed, while the younger three simply looked at him.

“What’s that?” Bepo asked.

“Oh… is that what ‘fucking’ is?” Nami wondered. The eldest two, who thought they could not be more mortified, suddenly defied all possibility and logic to become Most Mortified.

“Gingersnap, where did you hear that phrase…?” Shachi asked. He and Penguin were sweating bullets, hoping it wasn’t the two of them.

“Someone in town was talking about Bell-mère and Cora, and said they were fucking,” the youngest said. “What is that, anyhow?”

“It’s when adults lock the door to the bedroom and if you press your ear to it, you can hear weird noises… as long as Cora-san forgets to use his Devil Fruit,” Law replied frankly. He gave Penguin and Shachi a shit-eating grin—that little asshole…

“Ultimately, it means that we’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” Shachi explained. “It probably also means that Cora’s your new dad.”

“Yeah, and Bell-mère’s your new mom,” Nojiko smirked. Shachi sulked as they approached the house, the smell of dinner pulling them in.

“We don’t need a new mom,” he frowned.

“Sach,” Penguin mentioned, “we’ve never really had a mom, or a dad, before them.” They made it to the porch and let Nami slide off his back, the younger four heading into the house ahead of them. “We’ve never really had a family. Not… not a family like this.”

“With cute little sisters and bratty little brothers and parents that don’t make us do illegal shit all the time?”

“It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it really is.”

The teens went into the house and saw a spirited yet silent debate underway between Cora and Bell-mère while they cooked dinner, with Law and Nojiko each curling up on the couch with their respective books of choice, while Bepo and Nami stared at the adults’ animated dramatics.

Not fucking, as the town thought, but they looked dangerously close.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As it turned out, the withdrawal symptoms in both Bell-mère and Cora lasted for a couple weeks. In the meantime, all six kids tiptoed around them and were often scarce around the house, trying their best to not be noticed unless absolutely necessary. While it was true neither of them tried to be mean, at the same time.

“The fuck’s all this then?” Bell-mère hissed, looking at the dining room table. She had just come into the house from work and was getting ready to make dinner, only to see books and papers strewn everywhere, yet no one in sight to claim it. With the way everything was abandoned, it seemed as though the culprits had left in a rush.

“At least they’re reading,” Cora retorted wearily. He picked up one of the books and hummed—Histories of the World. “It would be enough to make Dad lose a fucking gasket.”

“If that man has a problem with anything, then he can come here and tell it to my face,” she scowled. She then shot him a suspicion-filled glare. “Does he even know you’re here?”

“No—I gave him no indication of where I would be retiring to, only what I learned and that I as a chess piece am officially out of play. I couldn’t put much about my intended path forward in an official communique and still expect to be left alone. Dad is one thing, the entire World Government is another.”

“So you really did say ‘fuck this, fuck you, fuck everything, I’m retiring, peace out, fuck off’ at the end of your report, eh?”

“In more polite terms, yes.” Cora closed the books and stacked them neatly at the end of the table, hissing as he suffered a papercut. He sucked at it gently, the metallic tang of blood invading his mouth. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Dad retired himself just to go looking for me.”

“He’s a career Marine—his soul is too tied to the uniform to do something so drastic,” Bell-mère said quietly, events from long ago snapping into place. Cora looked at her, seeing that she was staring at the pan she had placed on the stovetop. Tears were in her eyes, a sight that Cora realized pained him more than anything since first bringing his boys there. “He wanted you to bring the girls and me to live with him at Marineford, didn’t he?”

“Yeah…” He licked his lips, suddenly noticing how dry they were. “He was willing to both get you reinstated and take retirement for himself so he could help with childcare. Operation Fallen Dragon was already in the planning stages, so it was best to get affairs in order, since it was widely considered more suicide mission than anything.”

“…and why the fuck would he do that, Rosinante?” She turned her gaze towards him, eyes still glassy. “That was years ago. We weren’t even together… not like that…”

“Dad knows his chance at a family when he sees it,” Cora stated. He carefully approached Bell-mère and brought her into a hug, at which she began to cry, her entire body heaving with each intake of breath. Placing a sound barrier on her, he allowed her to get it all out without the embarrassment of the noise as well.

A few moments passed and the preemptive sound dampening he placed on the house proved to pay off as the kids all piled inside, only to awkwardly stare at the scene in the kitchen. Cora motioned for them to all get out and go up the stairs, letting them know that he could handle it.

That night, after Bell-mère had cried herself out and dinner had been made and cleaned-up after, Cora was stopped as he went to place the bedsheet on the couch as was normal. Instead, he was led up the stairs to Bell-mère’s room, where he was informed he was going to sleep on a real mattress for once. They gently kissed, which turned into touches, which then turned into gasping and sweating and the shedding of clothes. It was like riding a bicycle, and neither of them had forgotten how to steel themselves against the world.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cora ended up being very, very glad he had eaten his very specific Devil Fruit, as neither he nor Bell-mère were particularly quiet that night, and he wasn’t exactly in the mood to explain to any of their kids what was going on. He simply silenced the room and tried to make sure at least a little bit of his train of thought was set on maintaining it, hoping none of their young housemates would figure any of it out.

Considering he left Bell-mère’s bedroom the following morning, and with bite marks in rather interesting areas, he knew there would be no fooling them after all. The younger three—thankfully—seemed to neither care nor notice. (Did they think they were weird bug bites or something? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.) The eldest two avoided looking both him and Bell-mère in the face all of breakfast. Law, however…

“I can study obstetrics if you didn’t use a condom last night,” the young teen said casually, helping Cora carry mikan bushels later on that morning. His father figure nearly dropped the fruits, helped by the lad shambling them back into the container. “That specific area of medicine is something I need to get new books on anyhow—the sections on it in the ones I have are clearly written by men who think that women are exotic and inscrutable creatures when in reality they’re literally half the planet.”

“Can you, I don’t know, not…?” Cora groaned. “I should be giving you the talk about safe sex, not the other way around.”

“I still want those books,” Law said, in a tone that insisted it was non-negotiable.

“Only if you never talk about Bell-mère and I having sex ever again.”

“I’ll consider it, but I am a doctor, after all.” Law smiled at Cora, expression wry and knowing—the man couldn’t say no, at least for long.

[maliciouslycreative]

How I played damage control to an anti in a small anime fandom and may have led to her ultimate downfall

I know I had a really nice write up of this at one point but oh well. I’ll spill more of the tea in this one because honestly the tea was so hot.

There are a few things that I have to give context to first. Gaia online was like THE mega forum of the 2000s, you made a little avatar and through posting and doing other activities on the forum you made money to buy clothes for your avatar. There were forums for everything but the fannish portions were really what drew in most of the people. The anime I was into was Beyblade. It was a shonen anime about fighting with tops that were possessed by the spirits of magical creatures. The story was honestly pretty average but the characters were fantastic and the fandom is to this day still one of my favourites. The series had a primarily male cast and didn’t even have a female lead until the second season. This led to the fanfic for the English fandom being about 70% canon/OC, 10 % canon m/f, and 20% slash. The most popular character in the English fandom was by far Kai Hiwatari, the loner badboy of the team.

Also before we get started I would like to add that one of my best friends was neck deep in this and the two of us were more or less fandom married. This is the same friend that I fake dated, had feelings for, and she nearly got me into kpop in 2011 so like if you haven’t read that story please read it too because it will give you a good idea of how stupid I am and how much of a fanfic I have truly lived. 

To set the stage I was 16, soon to be 17 when I joined the fandom and it was 2004. In September of that year I wrote a humour longfic that became an absolute smash hit and I found myself somehow fandom famous. It was around this time that I joined Gaia online. I made my little avatar and immediately went looking for the beyblade thread so that I could make new friends. I found the main thread, made my little introduction and at the end of it mentioned that I was a slash writer but I supported all ships. This is where I met C. She had declared herself the authority on Beyblade in these parts and I had just committed the crime of mentioning slash which was very obviously not canon and we did not discuss in this thread because we only discussed canon things. I was like well that’s a bit severe but like sure whatever I just want to hang out and have fun. 

Oh boy did I have no idea what I was in for. 

C was a year older than me and unfortunately that made her older than the majority of the fans at the time. Her favourite character was Kai, and she was not shy about talking about this fact. She stanned Kai above all other characters, and often at their expense. She was also a fanfic writer of a popular canon/OC series. Actually, she was so full of herself that she didn’t even call herself a fanfic writer, no her stories were in fact novels and were apparently very good. I never read them. But more on that later. 

Eventually the slash fans got tired of her being rude to us in the general thread so we made a Beyblade slash thread. There was a core of like 8 or so of us and we honestly had sooo much fun. When C would be too unbearable in the main thread the people from there used to come over to our thread and we’d chat with them about non slash stuff because we were honestly all multishippers and just wanted to have fun. We’d get comments like “wow, I’ve had more pleasant canon het ship discussions in the slash thread than the regular thread”. We never worried about C coming over and getting upset about comments like this because she refused to be associated with anything related with slash lmao. 

I tried my best to keep the peace between C, myself, and the rest of the fandom because ultimately I hate being in fandom drama. I just want everyone to have a good time. I’m a people pleaser. Unfortunately my newfound fame put me in the awkward position of being the most fandom popular person in our small community aside from C. Virtually every fan that read fanfics that came into our thread knew one of us or the other by reputation and C HATED this. Especially because people would come in to the thread, recognise me and go “oh my goodness I love your fanfics!” and I’d be super sweet with them and it’d lead into “I can’t believe how nice you are, I love you” which would lead to us crying at each other. This was not the kind of fan interaction that C got, no her fans were more kind that were there to praise her and worship her like a deity that had blessed them with some gift. Rarely did they tell her how kind she was. 

Back in the mid 2000s there were really commonly those commercials (usually by Christian organisations) asking people to sponsor say children in Africa or to help build schools or provide drinking water. You all probably know the ones; know the language that they used in those commercials. My fandom wife, who I suppose I shall call wifey because yes we were THAT couple back then, once said that C described her fics like those people described donating money to save the lives of Children in Africa. So we used to joke that her fics were so good they’d save lives in Africa. Looking back at it all, she almost had a very fundamentalist Christian approach to bringing people into her fanfics. She of course tried to get all the slash people into reading it. None of us read canon/oc fic mostly due to our poor treatment at the hands of their fans and creators. Getting fed up I one day told her that if she would read any one of my fanfics that I would read the entirety of her novels. Yes, I was willing to commit to read a couple 100k of canon/oc fanfic that I’d never touch normally if she would even read one of my 1k 1 shots. Heck, I had a fic even that shipped 2 minor characters so she didn’t even have to sully herself reading about one of the main characters. It was honestly a good deal in her favour. I kept this up until the day we all left the fandom. Sometimes I do wonder if her fics were even ¼ as good as she claimed, but I will never know because she refused to read my fics. 

She wasn’t all bad and a tyrant all the time. As long as people kept the conversations on track and didn’t come in to the thread saying things like “KAI IS SO HOT ND T3H BEST N I AM GUN 2 MARRY HIM” she stayed mostly civil. It was always hilarious watching InuYahsa or Naruto fans try to come in and bad mouth Beyblade because they’d unleash the dragon and C was great at chasing off undesirables in the thread. 

The real apex of goings on though on Gaia was the guild drama. So guilds were like exclusive themed mini forums within Gaia. Anyone could buy one and run it however they want, as long as it still adhered to Gaia’s ToS. C of course was the owner of the only Beyblade guild. The fandom wasn’t really big enough to support 2 guilds so we just kind of let it go. Technically she allowed people to post slash fanfics but like everything had to be explicitly tagged and there was absolutely no slash RP. Wifey and I controlled a handful of minor characters together in the forum RP and definitely used to try to push the boundaries a little bit. Some ambiguous flirting here, a stray comment there. It was such a fragile balance though because C was heavy on the ban button. The active portion of the guild was just people that were in the cult of C and worshipped her writing. 

Understandably the other slash fans and myself were getting disheartened by this. So we pooled our funds together and decided that we’d open a second guild that though it was run by slash fans we would welcome anyone into our ranks. We just wanted to have a fun place for everyone to hang out, and to hopefully run a few events out of. In hindsight, we should have seen what would happen. When we opened the guild, with me as the guild leader, it was like somebody blew up the whole dam protecting the delicate ecosystem we had cultivated. Every single person in the Gaia fandom that was not a zealous follower of C applied to be in our guild and left her guild. We of course figured that we’d attract some of the gen population but we did not expect to accidentally poach all of it. All of the moderators were getting messages from people thanking us for giving them a place where they could say whatever they wanted without fear of getting their faces ripped off or banned. 

C lost her shit. She was so mad that we went behind her back to ruin her guild. We literally had to show her posts in the very public slash thread that we had been planning this in public and that it was not to ruin her life. We just wanted a place where we could freely post slash. The two of us had some spicy comments back and forth and then she dropped an absolute bombshell on me. Since Gaia’s mail system is terrible I unfortunately no longer have exactly what she said but it was something along the lines of “Ok, you win. I’m going to close my guild.”. Us slash fans had never been doing this to win anything. We had never been competing. We just wanted a safe space to be ourselves. 

C never joined our guild. The fandom slowly faded out within the next year anyway. We weren’t getting new content so naturally people just drifted into other fandoms. C kept up with the main Beyblade thread for a lot longer than most of us but eventually that eventually faded into obscurity too. 

I learned a lot about fandom bullies from those days. But honestly the thing that stuck with me the most out of everything was that if you provide a positive safe space for people they will flock to it. It may seem like there are so many hostile people out there, but there really aren't. They're the minority but they just make sure that their voice is the loudest. The best way is to ignore them and just do your own thing. The bullies just want attention and if you don’t give it to them and prove to them that their opinion doesn’t matter to you then they’ll move in and find something else to yell at. 

[justalittlebluetiefling]

You talked so wonderful about jesters feelings (and I am totally with you and I love Fjorester and might have rewatched the scene in ep 117 often!) but I wonder what her feelings for Caleb are? I am very confused by her right now...

Hey anon! Thanks so much and I’m really glad you liked reading that piece of meta. I really enjoyed writing it. I love thinking about Jester!

So.... I’m not gonna main tag, ship tag, character tag, anti tag, discourse tag, etc. because I’m not going to go into too much detail (in hindsight, this was a half-lie). Also, you caught me on a day where my filter is lower because I got very little sleep last night lol. But I don’t want this in the tags and I think I’d prefer it if this doesn’t get reblogged, because I’m not going to use this as a way to say that someone else’s feelings are wrong or someone else’s fun is wrong.

I don’t know if I’m the best person to talk about Jester’s feelings for Caleb. I can’t write essays on them the way I can about her feelings for Fjord. And like... I’m sure that a WJ shipper could write some beautiful meta on her feelings for Caleb. The thing is, Laura hasn’t talked about this enough on Talks for me to feel like I can interpret anything properly. Same with any other Jester ship. I could talk the Traveler or FJ until I’m blue in the face, because Laura’s talked about both a lot and I feel like I have some Laura-insight to help back up my Jester opinions on them. 

I am going to give you my opinion below this cut, but I’m not really sure where I would direct you if you wanted an unbiased opinion. Mine is very clearly biased and I know this. So if you’re not looking for the answer you’d expect from me, someone who is not a multishipper, I’d recommend not clicking below the cut. But I swear I’m being nice the whole time. I think??? I don’t know. Maybe I’m not. I’m starting to worry lol.

OKAY.

So. Here I go, I guess?

I think Jester’s feelings for Caleb are 96% platonic. I picked an arbitrary number there. Because the deal is, I get where WJ shippers are coming from sometimes. I don’t really see romance when I look at most of their interactions, but I can absolutely see where someone who wanted to see that would. Like, let’s take the story for example. If that were Fjord and Jester? You better believe I’d be all up in those drawings about them cuddling while reading the story and thinking about longing looks on both their sides. But it wasn’t. So instead, I saw Jester going to Caleb’s room asking him for the ability to read the book. And then Caleb saying he wanted to read it to her. And Jester being like, oh, well, okay, I get to know the story either way. And that’s how I see all of their interactions. One-sided romance from Caleb and friendship from Jester. 

But the deal is, that’s what I’m looking for. Anyone can always find evidence to back up their point of view. If I went back and did another rewatch, I bet you I could find you a reason per episode why her feelings for him aren’t romantic. But someone else who wanted to find a reason per episode why her feelings are romantic probably could.

See what I’m saying? This is hard to talk about. I try very hard when people ask me about this stuff to stay unbiased, but logically, I’m not. It’s impossible for me to remove my own personal feelings from the situation and try to see it clearly.

But I am going to repeat a tiny piece of meta I’ve already said multiple times elsewhere. About why Jester’s feelings for Fjord are different. And it’s the awkwardness. That’s what it all comes down to. If Jester acted that way with anyone else, I’d start to get worried. But Fjord flusters her and makes her shy  and nervous while also making her feel safe enough to talk about her fears in a way that no one else does. That is what romantic feelings look like to me. 

Do I think it’s possible that she has/had a crush on Caleb? Yes. But I also think it’s possible that she has/had crushes on Beau and Yasha. I know she has/had a crush on Artagan. And maybe Essek a little. It’s hard to tell with Jester. However, on this note? I will say that Jester has pushed literally everyone else on this list (except Artagan) toward being in a relationship with someone else and shown zero signs of jealousy. With Fjord, she suggested sleeping with Avantika in an almost transactional way. In spite of her constant jealousy. Which means it wasn’t really the sex she was jealous of. It was the possibility of him having feelings for Avantika that she was jealous of. She’s even still to this day snapping at people for hitting on Fjord. But she’s so happy for Beau and Yasha and their feelings. She seems happy, in my opinion, for the potential of feelings between Caleb and Essek. Or Caleb and Astrid. Other people getting romantic attention doesn’t bother her. Fjord getting romantic attention does.

I don’t know. That’s all I really have to say, I guess! I hope this was at least a little helpful! I’m sorry I couldn’t really be more specific. 

[shiroganeryo]

D.Gray-Man Tag!

I got tagged by my friend Violet to hop into this little game she made, and there are few things I love more than babbling about DGM, so let’s go! The rules are to tag three people to get the game going, so I’ll do it at the start because this will get looong. I’ll tag @14th-melody, @metzzi and @rudimentor0x0. Here’s the blank post. Sorry if you have already done it, I might’ve missed the posts ;;

⭐ What year did you first get into DGM? Hmm, actually, that’s a hard question because I didn’t get into it right away? If memory serves me right about what grade I was in high school when that happened, I was 15 - so, 2008. Pull a chair, I’ll tell you how that went. It was actually a recommendation from a friend of my best friend; we weren’t particularly close, I just knew he and I had a similar taste for anime/manga and I was looking for getting into a new series... but I wanted it to be worthwhile. So I asked my bestie if her friend wouldn’t give me a rec. He recommended me D.Gray-Man, and just like I do before watching any series, I watched the first opening to get an overall “feel” of it and I quite liked it: cool aesthetic, music was dope, characters were nice-looking. But, for some reason, I didn’t watch it and eventually forgot about it.

Then, one day on my way back home from school, I stopped by a nearby newspaper stand since here they also sell manga. They were all very cheap at that time, so I would often look for new volumes of the titles I was collecting (my allowance was enough to buy two or three!). I saw DGM’s first volume there, and went “oh! It’s that one series he had recommended me! I’ll take it and finally give it a shot.”

I fell in love.

I really liked it at first, but the point where DGM completely won my heart was during Lala’s arc. I had never cried with a manga before. 

⭐ Who’s your favorite character? This is probably very unoriginal, but it’s Allen! At the start I was very lukewarm about him, but as time went on, I felt like I could relate more and more to that kind-hearted boy and he became my role model. DGM has been with me through some of the worst of my life, and Allen’s resolve to keep going, keep walking, no matter how hard things were for him was what motivated me many times in past. It still does. Allen also taught me to be kinder and through him I realized being there for others makes me truly happy. Sadly, I also share with him the same trait of being unable to truly see how appreciated I am and all the good I bring others just for being there... But I’m working on that! He became the first character I felt like I could fully relate to, and I was surprised - but still very happy - to realize that, now that I’m an adult with more experience and maturity, I feel like I can understand him even more and better than before. Our connection didn’t wane with time, I feel so much closer to him now. He’s very special to me.

Standing at the second spot - because it’s also fair I would mention her -, is Miranda! I always say that if Allen didn’t exist, Miranda would be my number 1 since she stands so close to him hahaha After him, she’s another character I deeply relate with. My self-esteem isn’t the best out there so I’m quick to think I’m worthless or useless, just like her. Even so, she wouldn’t give up. Every time I felt like giving up because of auto depreciation, I would think “Miranda would try again, she would work harder”.

It’s like the two of them were walking me through the steps so I could move forward and keep doing my best.

⭐ Who’s your least favorite character? I’m going to say Chaozii. But, before we get to the usual “Chaozii slander” we’re used to doing in this fandom, let me elaborate. It has nothing to do with him not siding with Allen. As much as I love Allen, I know we’re able of sympathizing with his ideals because as the readers we have a plethora of information on his motives; if not for that, we would probably take the same stance as Chaozii has taken about him.

What riles me about Chaozii is that, unlike all of the characters, his mindset is either black or white, good or bad. Everyone seems to have a perfect mix of both, showing many facets just like, well, real, imperfect people. Chaozii is the only one who doesn’t have that. Being simple-minded is not a bad trait, but when that clouds your judgement, then it turns into a bad thing.

It all fell apart when he snapped at Allen when he refused to kill Tyki. That particularly bothered me a ton, even if I understand his feelings. Chaozii, who thought it was wrong and cruel to kill humans and was grieving for his lost comrades, was fine with killing a human whom he wasn’t even sure if was being forced to do things or not. Do you see the issue here? Chaozii never feels to me like he’s striving to do the right thing in order to bring justice, but instead, because he wants revenge.

I hope he does get to learn one thing or two in the future. He has potential to be a great character; but he needs a “redemption” first.

⭐ Who’s your favorite general? Tiedoll! Although I like all of them for different reasons. I really love Cross and differently from what some people think, he did care for Allen and I love their rather dysfunctional relationship. He’s a much deeper character than just a womanizer full of fishy shenanigans. He’s also really badass: former scientist, user of magic, (former) wielder of both an Innocence of his own and another person’s (Grave of Maria). I just happen to love Tiedoll a liiiittle more because I can’t take this guy! He’s just so sweet, and his doting nature makes him both funny and lovely. General Sokalo is really cool and all, but I feel like he’s just a cool guy to me. On a side note, General Klaud could step on me and kill me and I’d thank her. I hope we get to learn more about her Innocence sometime.

⭐ Who’s a character you would get along with? I would love to say it’s Allen, but he’s someone really hard to get close to. If I think about the characters I’d like to befriend because of shared traits or interests, I think I could get along well with Miranda, Krory, and Marie. The first two because they’re two softies who just happen to be really awkward, I feel like I would probably befriend them after trying to comfort them too often. And, the latter, because I’m a person who likes calm company whom I can have honest talks with.

⭐ What kind of innocence would you have? I honestly have no idea. If I had to pick one from the ones we already have, I think I would go with the Dark Boots. Being able to fly and maneuver in mid-air would be a dream come true, I feel the happiest when the wind blows against me. If I have to think of something “for me” specifically, I think I would like a long range Innocence. I particularly like firearm-like weapons like guns, so maybe a gun or dual pistols? Yeah, I think I’d really like the dual pistols.

⭐ What’s your favorite ship? Ah, to be in the DGM fandom is to be a multishipper; yet this is the part where I always get nervous at because my favorite is a rarepair. But!!! I’m building up the courage to be more open about (and less self-judgmental of) the things I like. It’s Allen x Miranda. I don’t really know when it started; from what I said before, you already know they’re both my top favorite characters and very special to me, so I naturally loved it when I saw them sharing screentime. When I realized it, I was looking at them and thinking “they would make such a cute couple together”. It just kinda happened.

To keep this short, there’s this blog I really like explaining about this pair’s dynamics. I think they have a great dynamic together and much potential. They could very easily have a wholesome relationship based in lots of patience and mutually covering the other’s weaknesses and helping them become someone better. These are the best kinds of relationships imo. I hope to share some of my headcanons for them (and even writing, hopefully!) sometime in here. I always picture Allen being older, so that gives me some free room for creativity; it doesn’t look like he has time for romantic love right now, and I don’t really feel comfortable with him being a minor for this ship, so both things go hand in hand.

Honorable mentions go to Link x Allen (again, older!Allen), Yulma and LaviLena, as I also get super happy when I see these particular shippings. 

⭐ What’s your least favorite ship? I actually have some, but it goes against my policies to publicly (consciously) say negative things about certain things if I can help it. I know I’m allowed to have opinions, but you never know who can stumble upon it and what I dislike can be something that makes someone really happy, you know? I tend to stay silent about such things when it comes to something as harmless as shippings.

So, I think I can say I’m accepting of everything as long as everyone respects each other! And, of course, if it isn’t distasteful (as in, illegal).

⭐ What branch would you want to be part of? We’ve only seen the European and Asian branches properly before but even if there aren’t many choices, this is still a hard question; I think both have lots of good things going for them. I think I would probably want to settle with the Asian Branch! I love how lively the atmosphere is and I also feel like there are way less science division shenanigans in there... Sorry, Komui. 

⭐ What’s your favorite arc? I have three! The Rewinding City arc came right after Lala’s arc - that had touched me a lot -, bringing in even more feels. It introduced Miranda and at the blink of an eye, made me care so much about her. The first activation of Time Record after she protected Allen, followed by his thanks to her hit so hard; I get really emotional talking about it. It was such a great, yet touching moment. I think everyone can relate to that; being worthy of receiving gratitude for something they did for someone.

Then, there’s Lulu Bell’s Invasion of the Black Order arc, followed by the appearance of the Level 4 Akuma. I can’t express into words how great the flow of the elements are there. The plot is focusing on multiple characters with their own background dramas happening, all at once, yet none of it feels out of place. Everyone gets their moment, everyone contributes to the big picture (saving the staff and defeating the Akumas). It all felt like one big collective effort of several parts uniting forces, no one was more or less important than the other. It was expertisely done.

And the last mention goes to the Searching for A.W’s arcs (Saying Goodbye to A.W also included). These arcs are being extremely painful but, at the same time, also extremely rewarding to go through. For the first time ever, we’re seeing Allen give in to his wants and acknowledge his feelings; he’s not honest with himself very often, and seeing him actually admit that he still wanted to go on - for himself -, that he still wanted to hold onto hope was something that I suddenly realized I had always wanted to see him do. It’s like I had been waiting for so long. Allen is growing up, and I’m loving to see the part Johnny and Kanda are playing in this. I could talk all day about how happy it makes me, to feel this much hope in the midst of such a difficult situation these arcs are covering. It captures very well the essence of D.Gray-Man imo: the bittersweetness of the hardships of life, and the good things it makes us realize we have had all along. The people we have by our side. The will to continue moving forward because we still have something we love and want to fight for.

Whew, I expected this would get long but guess I got too carried away; those were amazing questions to answer to! If you read until now, you have my most sincere gratitude and appreciation. I wish you have a lovely day! 😊

[oetravia]

For the character break-down game: Brainy?

Answering this one for you, Anon and @should-be-studying-not-shipping (who is right, it would’ve been remiss to not ask me about Brainy xD).

Buckle in friends, this might  will get long winded. 

How I feel about this character:

I love him to bits, I do. Truly, it was only a combination of accidentally falling into a wormhole of Brainy related videos on YouTube, and massive interest in how the show actually handled Nia after all the hype around her introduction (imagine my pleasant surprise in finding out these two characters were not just an item, but that I actually shipped them?!) that encouraged me to watch the show again (I’m a bit of a magpie, the allure of shiny new things always distracts me - and led to me accidentally dropping the show at the end of S2). 

So, I’m very fond of him for that reason, but also because his character is one of the few that is genuinely always fun and interesting to watch. There’s something a little bit different each time we see him (honestly, what did this show do to deserve Jesse Rath? The way his portrayal of the character has evolved has been truly incredible to watch), and it’s great to see a character that is allowed genuinely stand out emotional moments and to be a source of comic relief (even if they sometimes overdo it...balloons, anyone?). 

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

I mean, if you follow me, you know that Brainia is my #1 Supergirl ship, but this show makes me a filthy multishipper, so…

Even aside from Kara/Brainy being such a major relationship in the comics, because honestly, let’s not go into any of the arrowverse shows expecting major things in terms of comic book accuracy (especially where relationships of any nature are concerned), I absolutely adore the dynamic they have in the show. If it wasn’t for Brainy/Nia (and Mon-El/Kara), and how awkward that would make things (and the fact that I don’t think for a second Kara (or Brainy) would ever do that to her friend), I’d definitely ship them more than I do. Kara/one of the Brainys we met in the Bottle Episode would be very interesting.

And Winn/Brainy made me smile every second of screen time they shared. Much like Brainy’s dynamic with Lena, it’s always nice to see him having conversations with someone who can (at least try) to keep up with him intellectually. Aside from the intellect thing, I just loved watching them move from begrudging allies to genuinely being friends (preschool flirting tactics included). And the fact that Winn was the only one to recognise Brainy when he first started wearing his image inducer was, quite frankly, adorable. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Oh boy. 

Look, I love watching Lena/Brainy’s scenes (and, as I said about Winn, Brainy being able to work with someone who, while not a twelfth level intellect, can actually engage in deeper scientific conversations with him), the platonic dynamic that I enjoy most has to be Alex/Brainy. Specifically watching Alex’s journey from being annoyed by Brainy’s every move to that ‘if anyone so much as looks at you wrong, I will murder them, but I will happily murder you with my bare hands because you’re annoying me’ that all siblings recognise so well. 

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I don’t think I have any unpopular opinions, to be honest (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). 

I just wish they’d let Brainy be slightly cockier like his comic book counterpart (more like he was in S3), and that they’d stop dumbing him down to make other characters (Lena, in particular. She doesn’t need them to reduce Brainy’s intelligence to show she’s smart. The way she used to be dragged in every time Brainy was working on something to magically find the solution Brainy couldn’t got a little bit much. I don’t blame Lena, and I enjoy watching them interact...but it was a little tedious) look smarter. 

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

I’d love to see more about his family, honestly. We’ve gotten so many little snippets of information, but I’d love for them to have gone slightly more in depth (and especially with his more immediate family, particularly his mother). 

I don’t know, I have loads of silly things I’d like to see, but his family is one of those dangling threads that they’ve never really committed to pulling on. That and his life before the Legion. 

And in general, for them to stop using him for cheap comic relief (those sodding balloons, I swear). We get it, Jesse has good comedic timing...but so do other actors on the show. Brainy doesn’t always have to be the punchline. Or if he is, can it at least be more intentional on his part than him being socially inept or...balloons.

Sorry that got long... I can’t be concise to save my life, and I had a lot of feelings, apparently. Thanks for asking!

[imaginedhaven]

HI this is the same anon- ahhh thank you for your response i loved hearing your thoughts !!

ok after some reflection i have determined that there were more reasons why i had such a negative response to the whole aelin/aedion romantic relationship. when i read the series for the first time i was absolutely determined to ship and love whoever aelin ended up with, (i was rooting for aelin/archer, aelin/kaltain, pretty much any character with a pulse, i shipped aelin with) so then when aedion showed up and he was feeding my vicarious aelin ego by thinking about and discussing aelin all the time, i kinda missed the whole rowan thing . yes. like rowaelin just slipped my crazed notice. anyways !now i’m a huge rowaelin fan. but i was like oh my goodness why did i go so incest crazy when the romantic interest was RIGHT THERE before my eyes, ya know? so perhaps my yuck reaction is more about that, since as you mentioned, first cousin marriage was common, and the vibe from the series matches that mindset.

i completely missed or forgot about aedion’s bisexuality wow i just looked that up and i really don’t know what to think—some more context or something would have been good and interesting perhaps? on the other hand, i do appreciate how it wasn’t a big deal; i don’t really think every lgbtq+ character needs to have the self discovery or familial acceptance storyline, but we still could have gotten more details or more references. i definitely agree that that was such a weird, awkward place to mention it. honestly, it reminded me of a guy dropping that just for the purpose of “don’t worry i’m an ally!” if you know what i mean, but of course i know that was not the case with aedion.

and yes yes yes, the depiction of a not-perfect relationship was definitely gratifying and it helped with the realism of the characters. oh my goodness imagine the angst in a settling/giving up immortality fic i would just pass away

it’s so awesome to have this discussion!! ❤️

YES ANON, I am HERE for this discussion!

I think one of the best and most important things we as fans can do is have the difficult, analytical conversations about what we love. No work is perfect (especially not mine lmao), but I think that’s what makes works... good. If that makes sense. They can be gritty and messy and beautiful in their imperfection.

That... actually makes a lot of sense to me, your explanation about Aelin/Aedion! My shipping goggles were firmly on for Rowan by that point, because I am a SUCKER for enemies to lovers (see also: my very recent read of The Folk of the Air where I was up until 5am my time because I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN), but usually I’m much more of a multishipper and I can definitely see where Aedion’s... extra close relationship with his cousin would raise someone’s shipping eyebrow! I do remember thinking at the time of my first read that boy sure thought an awful lot about his cousin lmao. Maybe that’s why he was rushed into the whole Lysandra relationship! 😂

Yeah, people being so easily able to miss Aedion’s bisexuality is one of my (admittedly minor) issues with it. I’m one of those people who don’t make a big deal of my own, so if you met me IRL it’d be pretty easy to miss as I wound up in a heterosexual marriage and I’m pretty happy where I am in life! So in that regard I kind of liked that he wasn’t just... I don’t know, constantly throwing himself at everyone in the text like it’s implied he did while he was pretending to fight for the King of Adarlan. But to have it come up as a throwaway line in one of the last scenes we have with him? That didn’t hit me as the best way to do it either, even if we’re making it not a big deal. I don’t know, representation is TRICKY and messy and actually an issue I’m struggling with myself in my prompt series Reluctantly Rooming because there are things in there that I KNOW are parts of those versions of the characters but that I don’t want to either overdo or underdo, and when/if they “come out” to y’all in the story (though all is already known to Aelin!) I want to do it justice. Gah. Life’s hard sometimes, isn’t it? Lol.

I think it is no longer a secret at this point that I LIVE FOR ANGST as long as it has a happy ending lol. I love gritty, imperfect characters having the hard conversations as they work to fit their pieces together into a workable relationship. It’s those moments that make for interesting characters, interesting character studies, interesting stories, and interesting lives. If we were all perfect this would be a dreadfully boring place, wouldn’t it?

Like seriously, this has been one of my favorite conversations so far on this site! I love this level of analysis and thought, and I think it only serves to deepen our relationships with the work we discuss like this. Thank you so much, anon!

[gumceline]

another massive bubbline shipper here too say i got mad respect for this blog. as much as i stand by my ship 1000%, i also stand by the fact its totally okay too ship them with other people. i admit the bubbline fandom can be pretty toxic, but alot of us will stand by you. not only are you being super respectful even when you get hate, but you arent straight washing. also the way you looked at the negative parts of our community with understanding in last post, that was real great

oh i appreciate it! I prefer never to judge an entire fanbase by one dude because EVERY fanbase has THOSE people, no fanbase is ever perfect.

I really wished my experience with bubbline shippers had been better, it really was unfortunate to have countless hate, to have people make posts mocking me, to be put on “Lists to block”, not to mention that i legit had supportive friends who were bubbline shippers, but they pretty much turned their back on me, abandoned me, and called me a “Homophobic uncaring asshole”.

It really broke my heart dealing with the stuff i did, and i wasn’t perfect either, but i still don’t think i deserved what that was. I was a kid at the time, and was still having fun and i REALLY wanted to be a part of the fanbase because i love the series and loved the characters, but the fandom just....hated me.

Because i was a multishipper and had different opinions on the characters.

It really didn’t matter to them that i also shipped the characters with other female characters, or i said myself i don’t consider them straight. Because the fandom didn’t really care, they took one look and decided nothing i said mattered.

Being in the star fandom is widely different because the biggest ship there is Starco, a MXF (Which i personally don’t really like but that’s just me), and my favorite ship was...and still is Tom and Marco, because i love their chemistry so much and i genuinely consider them to be a much more believable relationship then the romance they wrote for star and marco.

And trust me, it’s always annoying if you don’t ship the most popular ship and like another pairing more but are succumbed to it everywhere regardless of the characters themselves.

But me not shipping star and marco didn’t make me someone who hated straight people, so i don’t think it’s collectively fair to tell anyone who may of liked marcy or bonnie with finn or maybe they ship them with a male oc of theirs....hate lesbians or were just homophobic.

it’s Like if i took finn out of his (Maybe) relationship with huntress and shipped him with....Tiffany (Who is a male character)...that wouldn’t mean i suddenly hated all straight couples and think finntress should burn.

That’s still a huge leap to jump to and extremely dangerous because you’re collectively accusing someone of something serious without really knowing much more about them then “They like this ship”.

Without any knowledge of them outside of that.

You could effectively damage their rep and make their time in the fandom a living hell out of something minor or something you just assumed, i would know.

I welcome progress, i am quite happy for the bubbline shippers who got their ship, heck...i’m STILL mad that we didn’t get poly tom x marco x star on star vs and felt VERY baited by the crew on that.

but even though i am happy for those people, i don’t think it’s validation to beat up on other shippers either, it does nothing for anyone’s case to do that. If the people are actual bigots who are actively acting terrible and throwing around nasty words and doing terrible stuff, then by all means, call them out.

But people who are just causally shipping stuff for fun? In a way it just feels like using them being a gay ship as a weapon against everyone else, because if they disagree with you and have a different opinion you can effectively boil them down to a bigot and no one might question it...especially when it’s the vast majority.

And that should not be acceptable to do, i ended up hearing from a friend of mine that this fandom actively started purging out other creators for having opinions people didn’t like, and now people are starting to regret that they shunned out so many members of the fandom based on things that were probably incredibly trivial in the long run.

And i get it, it’s an important ship, but it’s important as a rep of that ship to be respectful to others, because if not what you’ll end up doing is turn people away. I would like to be more celebratory of your success in getting the ship canon, but it makes it harder if i’m getting several messages asking when i’m deleting my “Hateful” blog because bubbline was now canon.

I’d like to get along with and support these people, but they don’t want to try and support me and have almost just decided to hate me and it sucks, and there’s not much i can do. That’s why i am thankful for those who don’t just immediately decided to judge me and want to know more about my views on the characters. 

This of course does not apply to the community as a whole, not everyone is acting like this, but it is a problem and it has consequences and i hope the fandom does work on it in the future. Please do better in the future.

Now when it comes to shipping, I have my limits personally, like if the characters have canon sexualities i tend to stick to those sexualities, i for one, have a oc that’s gay. I effectively tell others if they make fanart with him for fun that’s great and i love it, but i want his sexuality respected if ships are involved.

Since the AT ones are left in the air, it means i am left to come up with my own ideas, so that’s what i do. I think everyone should be allowed in that regard to have their own interpretations, marcy could be bi, lesbian, ace,pan, ect and all of those are perfectly acceptable headcanons.

i don’t think one should be held superior over another.

I’ve never looked at Marcy or PG and said “Oh yeah, these two are so obviously straight”, they’re about as straight as a bent nail. XD The people who say this stuff clearly don’t follow me to know that they’re not treated as straight here and i think that’s just frustrating because it’s attacking for completely incorrect information.

And the main problem i think i have, like the biggest issue, is i see the F&C characters differently.

Because i know where the fandom is getting this impression people who these other pairings are homophobic is coming from, it’s because most of the fandom doesn’t really see those characters as much more then well...GB characters.

If i saw tomco, and one was turned to a girl to avoid them both being boys, i would be annoyed, i would, i wouldn’t assume the person was homophobic without other evidence but i’d be annoyed. (I mean for all i know it could be an au and i could be mistaking the situation entirely)

What makes this different for me, is because for one, these aren’t fan-characters, the fans didn’t make a genderbent world and design these characters for fun or anything. These were show characters, that were in episodes and have their own comics and all that.

The way the show approached them for me, makes me feel like they’re kinda misjudged, and people don’t have to agree with me on that fact. But i just feel like between them being fanfiction characters ice king made up, the fact their canon is different, the fact the characters do things the F&J characters don’t do, i just can’t help but feel like treating them as if they were something fans did for fun and have no difference outside of their gender is not the right approach for them.

(I mean ice queen died in one comic and has her own unique origin story which is apparently tied to cake’s, flame prince apparently speaks cat and is the most nervous and awkward cutie I've ever seen, gumball is apparently a card wars superfan and legit takes it WAY too seriously, i just can’t really look at these characters and say “Oh, these are all just Ice King, Flame Princess, and Princess Bubblegum but the opposite gender”).

I feel like the show does enough with them,and had a unique enough approach, that i feel like they should be judged as different characters. Like the redraws of regular episodes with the F&C characters are cute but they’re for fun and probably not what ice king wrote for them in his weird stories.

Like i can’t imagine ice king knew PB so well he made sure gumball had her entire backstory and motivations.

And i feel like the people who do enjoy these ships, heck, ALL FOUR of these ships, feel the same way i do. I’m sure some could def be shipping them for the wrong reasons, but i can’t help but think it’s less about their gender and more that other people recognize they’re different and have considered the different dynamics...like they would if they were shipping any other pairing.

And people don’t have to agree with any of us on that, but i don’t think the alternative should be to accuse us of something so heavily either.

These days i have newer friends who like bubbline who are chill with me, and yeah that’s cool, and i personally don’t really draw the ship myself because i’m still not too comfortable in the AT fandom or with the community right now....the situation with it never leaves me feeling safe frankly.

But we get along, they’re lovely, and the shippers who like bubbline but support the blog are also lovely people and i adore them.

At the end of the day i just want to have fun, i’m fine being in a small subsection of the fanbase and who knows, maybe i have gotten people to think about the F&C characters in a new light, i’m not sure.

But i hope maybe at some point the fandom can chill down and we can support each other without turning it into...whatever that entire situation is. Because i don’t want to be fighting with that community and would prefer to get along with them, but only time will tell.

But thanks for the support! I wish you the best ! I sometimes still have a lot to learn but i hope throughout this whole thing I've gone about it as respectful as possible.

I love the show and all the characters and the fun ships and relationships, i hope someday in the future i can be comfortable enough to get back into the fandom as much as i used to be! ^-^

[siriusly-unexpected]

OKAY. Voltron season 8 thoughts below. Very much spoilery. 

AND LONG I’M SORRY. 

I took notes with a pencil on paper like the old-fashioned person that I am. Also I binge watched all 13 eps without any breaks so my thoughts might be a bit all over the place. But, let me try to organize them a little bit.

Allura x Lance

we gotta start with this shit.

I mean no hate, if you ship this then great, this is just my opinion.I respect your ship, you respect my ship. (I totally just wrote shit. Oops.)

it felt too rushed. like why make all of that happen in the first episode and then forget all about it for a few??!

it was too soon, like i didn’t really think it would happen? they should have had a little more waiting time before going all oooh allura totes said yes to a date with lance, like where did that come from??

allura has been paired with a lot of the male characters throughout the seasons, and I HATE THAT

let her be a strong female character without a love interest goddammit

yeah that is actually my main problem with allurance. like, wasn’t she just kissing lotor a while ago? and then she had her moments with keith? and first was shiro in the very first season i could tell they were thinking of making it a thing

ugh

that first kiss was so ugh i actually gagged too much romantic for me

that was not a grammatically correct sentence i am sorry i am an english major but it is just past midnight

i get that this show is aimed for a younger audience, but show some connection between the couple before they become a couple and after??

yeah i just don’t like this ship

i am still klance trash

but i will admit allura and lance kinda cuddling? that was cute af

also they were SO CLICHE at times (ep11... the ending...)

this didn’t have to happen? the season would have been great without it? this didn’t really add anything to it? other than a couple awkward kisses? forced hetero romance -.-

Keith

gotta have a section for keef he is my baby boy whom i love

“the one i really want” meaning keith i mean same

he is so hot goddammit

and such a great leader i love

a lot of my comments are literally like “KEEF UNF” (ep1), “KEEF GOT A GUN *heart eyes*” (ep3), “BBY KEEP” (ep5), “keith babe <3<3 shouting at zarkon” (ep10), etc. you get the point i love him

oh one more

“as long as we’re a team we stand a chance” i literally wrote: YAS KEEF BBY !!!

that was ep 12 btw

also in ep5 when the whatshername was falling into the volcano i just had enough time to think ‘what a bad way to go’ and then my boy saved her <3<3<3

Paladins

BONDiNG MOMenTS

i love klance and you cannot make me not love klance

after their handshake thing in ep 11 i let out embarrassing noises because even with lance and allura i still can’t not ship klance okay

i love keith and hunk bonding or spending time together or getting stuck in an amusement park ride together

i love LOVE lions saving their paladins? like eating them in space? that shit so good mmh (ep 3)

i hate to see pidge cry do not make my child cry ever again

hunk has won over my heart i love him

Honerva (& Lotor and stuff)

iiiii’m not sure how i feel about her still being alive and being this season’s main villain

but i guess it makes sense since it’s the last season and all

they didn’t really have enough episodes to make a fully new villain

i really really wanted lotor to be dead and stay dead i mean he had his seasons now it’s momma’s time in the spotlight i mean what

honerva having guardians to protect her thoughts and memories reminded me of inception in some way

i liked the old paladins being there? it felt appropriate 

little lotor was cute

and when he said she’s not his mom? yass alternate lotor do some good

honerva was a little predictable tho? like in the end esp. when she couldn’t have what she wanted she was like ‘the no one can have anything’

but of course she turned good and helped in the end

about that. THE ENDING THING

that. was. so. intense. actually this whole season was really intense

i don’t like multiple realities things in anything

it’s a cool theory but it usually doesn’t do it for me in books / movies / etc

this was no exception

they made it a thing and then forgot about it for a while

which, bleh

then they saved the universes with (OFC) enough time to say goodbye cause who needs to hurry when realities at stake lol there’s always time for a goodbye kiss

(but hell yeah lance with altean markings??!! why what how??! but hells yeah.)

(catch me with that future altean!lance x galra!keith fic. i want it give it to me.)

yeah for a moment i was really afraid allura would find a way to come back? but THANK GOD that didn’t happen and she stayed dead

which i CALLED IT

like even before they went into honerva’s mind i was like it’d be p cool if allura died

not like cool cool but cool from the show’s perspective? you know?

someone had to die okay. even in a kids’ show, someone has to die.

iiiii didn’t really like that they had a statue for allura it reminded me too much of the lotor one and look where that got us

paladins color coding even a year later hell yeah

bye lions :’’’’’’’<<<<

also the picture of them older? hells yeah hot damn

SHIRO

WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT SHIRO

I SOBBED OKAY I SOBBED

that. was an actual gay kiss. on a CHILDREN’S CARTOON. AAAAAADDGDRHKAEDH

REPRESENTATION MATTERS

but it was pretty funny how it was like ‘the paladins did this, and that, and accomplished this and that, oh and shiro was gay’

but still. i love love love

keith with long hair can GET it, also him in the future? i love.

i have too many emotions about this right now

(i still believe in klance i do i do) (i mean i also ship sheith and pidge with like some of the boys sometimes? but klance is my main hoe)

i am a multishipper so i accept you and your ships even if they are different from mine

Finally, other misc things

voltron tv-series :’’’’DDDDDD 

i had chills down my spine multiple times when they were giving inspiring speeches, like for example when they were leaving earth in ep1

KOSMO <3<3<3<3<3<3

paladins in black underarmour can GET IT

matt is hot what is new

ATLASBOT is thicc and i love her <3

theee video diary documentary ep was actually pretty cool, i liked it

i had my doubts when it started, but seeing everyone from a different perspective was really cool

(there was a dude named seok jin i see what you did there bts IS taking over the world)

(yes i am actually kpop trash)

it was really stupid having everyone elsewhere when allura was doing stupid shit with the dark orb what was it called again? anyway.

i didn’t like that part actually, her using the dark powers (lol is this star wars?? come to the dark side allura)

REALLY PRETTY ANIMATION AT TIMES THO!!! I LOVED IT!!!

some moments were a bit predictable but again, kids’ show

i really enjoyed by binge watch, despite all the critique i have said here

i like this show, and will be watching it again from the start some day

i still don’t remember the names of the new kids from last season but i guess i’m glad they didn’t die? i thought they might

i’m just rambling now i should just end this here

i don’t think anyone but myself will read this but if you did, thanks i guess? send me a message if you agree with anything i said? what did you like? was it a good final season? i think it was. thank god they knew where and when to end this and not go on forever.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

Hi. I’m the one who left that Josh/Amy comment on your fic here awhile ago. This might sound weird, but I wanted to say that if you ever want to discuss Josh/Donna & Josh/Amy, I’m up for it. I have a hard time sometimes with the latter because I can’t “ multiship,” but I recognize their importance for Josh’s character development.

Hi! That doesn’t sound weird. I’ll talk about TWW anytime, really any aspect of it. :) I’m an endless multishipper, and also a lifelong fan of Mary-Louise Parker, so I think I am more of a fan of Amy and Josh/Amy than most Josh/Donna devotees. They’re still my faves and I adore them, but I also love Josh/Amy in a “they were never going to work but they have a beautiful aesthetic appeal and I’m always down for totally hopeless pining” sort of way.

(This is gonna be really long. I’m sleep-deprived and rambling all my thoughts at this point without aiming for brevity; read at your own risk of confusion and/or boredom.)

So…Josh/Amy. My personal take on them is that I love them both individually, and they just weren’t well-suited. Amy’s entire personality is about pushing back against things, and Josh’s is about fighting but not pushing too hard, so she never respected his limits because she never respected ANY kind of status quo and the thing is that politically, I support that. It made her both an ally AND an antagonist for the Bartlet administration, which of course means we were rooting for them and not necessarily her, but just like with Stackhouse in S4, the centrist government needed liberal radicals–not to let them burn the house down, like she often tried to do…but to TRY to do that, to keep tugging them left so that they didn’t ever completely lose sight of what they wished they could do in face of the opposition.

I haven’t slept, so to try and make that sound clearer…those who actually have to govern can’t try to throw out all the rules and do whatever it takes, like Amy was willing to do to get what she believed was right. When Josh tried, he’d tend to cause the biggest messes and get into fights with the President or Leo or Bruno. BUT if they, as an administration, didn’t have interest groups and lobbyists who were unrealistically radical in their goals, then the conservatives they needed to negotiate with would always have the ability to pull them further right? So it’s like Amy and her ilk helped maintain the balance, of outside interests that contributed to what the government was able to justify doing. Hopefully that makes any sense at all. (Seriously, I’ve been up all night.)

PERSONALLY, though, of course Josh should have been able to state clearly that some things were off limits and have Amy respect that. To her, the political was personal and vice versa and her ideals mattered more than anything else, including her relationships. Again, on a political level, I get that! I’m a romantic in my personal life, but I totally understand making your life the pursuit of equality or justice or whatever your beliefs are–to the exclusion of all else. But it meant she and Josh were always doomed.

Do I think their relationship made sense though, and mattered? Absolutely. Amy’s smart, and she gets him. Not like Donna does, because nobody sees him like Donna does, but Amy gets him well enough to be his only major romance in the entire show before he and Donna get it together in S7…and it’s completely because she knows him well enough to know that he needs to be ‘hit over the head.’ There’s a reason why his crush on Joey Lucas goes nowhere, and it’s not for lack of adorableness: it’s because Joey expects him to stand up and make a move, if he’s interested, and Josh is too awkward and avoidant in his workaholic way, to be that guy.

It’s Donna who makes her interest clear, before they finally sleep together. It’s Donna who sweeps into his room after that and takes him by surprise, and it’s Donna who invites him to go for a walk or something. Before that, it’s the woman with the telescope who drives him out for a not-quite-date and gets his full attention…and it’s Amy who throws a water balloon at him, because she’s interested and she knows that nothing will happen unless she makes the first move. 

(For that matter, it’s Donna who points out in S2 that his M.O. is to NOT ask a girl out on a date but instead to “randomly tumble into a girl sideways and hope she breaks up” with him soon. So of course it’s Amy who gets things rolling, and then Josh is hooked. She knows how to hook him.)

Anyway, I think their relationship is important for his character development but also for Josh/Donna, because before Amy, nobody’s seriously turned Josh’s head. He has an obvious crush on Joey, but nothing happens, and Donna clearly figures out quickly that nothing’s going to, so then she feels comfortable trying to nudge him in Joey’s direction. If it’s not gonna happen, then there’s no reason to fear the loss of their dynamic.

But with Amy…Josh makes a real effort with Amy. He lets her push past the boundaries he tries to establish, mixing work and their relationship. He turns off the TV for Amy and tries to be the kind of guy who can leave the job behind for a weekend. It’s about as serious between them as it could be, when they were only sometimes on the same team.

So when Donna says, “A whole new chapter begins,” in S4, that’s the most directly snarky we’ve ever seen her. She’s so nice about Joey, even OVERLY supportive, enough that smart, savvy Joey Lucas is paying better attention than Josh himself and can tell that Donna’s worried. But while Donna starts out there with Amy, chatting to Josh on the phone while he’s with her, teasing and keeping up their usual banter…over time she gets sort of obviously sick of it. 

And even just from a friend perspective, that makes sense. Amy’s not good for Josh, and he’s not that good for her either, cuz he’ll never be willing to capitulate as much as she wants and honestly they’re both people who want to be right all the time but who see government from completely different perspectives and Josh IS his job and Amy threatens his job which means threatening his actual identity…

Which is why I love the way Donna gets exasperated and implies that Amy doesn’t understand Josh well enough at the end of S4. Because I’m not sure that she’s right about that, I’m not sure that THAT’s the issue, I think it’s just as likely that Amy knows most of his insecurities but she isn’t willing to ever let up and cater to them…but either way of course Donna wants nothing more than to make that stop, of course she wishes that Amy would just GET IT and be a little gentler with Josh because Donna sees the scarred parts of him, she was there after Rosslyn and after his father died and she’s willing to push him when he needs it but she also wants to protect him.

Amy as far as I can tell has zero desire to protect him, and most of the time she’s happy to USE him, along with every single other method/tool/way she can think of to get what she wants. And if he were like her, that single-minded and unsentimental, sort of, then they’d maybe be less toxic as a couple. But he’s not. He’s good at his job but he also has limits and boundaries and tries to rein himself in because otherwise he fucks things up–and he’s got a very tender heart under all that swagger, and so the way Amy approaches the tension between their romance and their conflicting jobs? Josh would never do that. 

He’ll fight and try to win, but I honestly don’t think he’d ever fight as dirty as Amy is willing to, because some things still matter more to him than winning. Despite his bravado, it’s not ALWAYS the most important thing, and he doesn’t ALWAYS see the issues in black and white. But Amy’s crusading, not just legislating, and she does.

However, with all that being said, I don’t see her as some ubervillain, and I don’t hate her, and I don’t even see her as an obstacle to Josh/Donna. He and Donna weren’t ready in the early years, and for me his relationship with Amy was a totally separate thing. An unhealthy cycle in which they could never be really good for each other, even though they wanted to be, yes–but not at all a threat to what he had with Donna, not really, because he and Amy weren’t meant to last, and he and Donna were. 

But I love him with Amy in that sad doomed way, because I love the way he smiles at her when he realizes she’s flirting (I wish Josh more happiness always and less lifelong angst) and I believe she means it when she says she misses him (but only once he can’t hear her) and even though I was always ALWAYS rooting for Josh/Donna, that completely silent scene between Josh and Amy in S5 with her painted toes and her inability to stop talking? That whole thing is art. Even if I didn’t like them, I think I would still love that scene, because the staging and the acting and lighting is just all so gorgeous.

So, yeah. I like the way that the show makes their issues obvious from the start and never really shies away from them. I love that they’re self-aware enough that Amy can tell Abbey basically that they don’t work but have chemistry, because that one exchange explains their four years of interactions, always. I love how sad they are by S6, when he no longer has Donna in his life but that doesn’t mean seeing Amy will go anywhere, because their problems were so much bigger than the fact that he’s loved Donna for years whether he was willing to face it or not. 

I love that by S7 when he’s finally with Donna, he still gets that slightly awed look on his face when Amy’s at the memorial, not because he still wants her, but because she’ll never stop figuratively hitting him over the head, surprising him even if it’s just by appearing when he least expects her–and I love the way he can be sort of fond with her, now that he’s loved and happy, but she has a bitter edge when it comes to them and to her new guy, because romance is never going to be her priority enough that it’ll be what MAKES her happy. Somebody she doesn’t constantly fight for dominance in the world she cares most about is really the best she can hope for…but I think she wanted that person to be Josh, just not in a way that meant she was able to give a little.

And as for my fic and our bit of a comment chat there, I think whether he loved Amy and she loved him is up for interpretation because the show never states it outright–but in my opinion he loved her a lot, enough to keep trying long after it hurt, enough to let her push him and make his job harder and to see it as a personal insult when she worked with Stackhouse and when she fed lines to candidates besides Santos. I think he was fully able to love both her and Donna, in different ways, without making either less valid.

It seems to me that what he had with Amy was a little bit similar to what he had with Mandy, but with better chemistry between the actors. And I think that in the post-canon world where Amy works with the Santos adminstration, she and Josh probably work well together sometimes, fight a lot still over policy and the best course of action, and are never able to quite be friends, not in the way they could have been if they hadn’t loved each other and hurt over it not working out.

(Tangentially related side note: I think there are sort of weird parallels between Donna and Amy when it comes time for J/D to actually have a shot, and I’m still not sure how I feel about that but I’ve never mentioned it on my blog either so why not now.)

TL DR; I love Amy Gardner as a character and even though Josh and Donna are my faves I love the pain of watching Amy and Josh try so hard…because there’s something so relatable and human in the fact that they both want it to work but wanting it isn’t enough to make it healthy or even possible.