#and it's a ship dynamic inversion of sorts

[sciderman]

Okay so I have a question that was sparked from your art of Olive and Anita, what would their dynamic be? Do you ship them together or are they like, rivals?

oh, they're toxic.

i think olive adores anita, but is chronically unable to say anything nice to her. he opens his mouth and an insult pours out. it's entirely affectionate. but scathing. olive literally cannot say anything nice. it's a minor birth defect.

anita, on the complete inverse, is full of niceties to say to olive - so, so outwardsly civil and ladylike, and pays olive constant compliments (from behind she is biting back the constant urge to drop a piano on him.)

anita hates olive. despises sharing the spotlight, and hates how successful olive is at hogging it. olive is a little oblivious over how much anita despises him - or... kind of revels in it. he loves everything about anita, including all the blind fury that she hides behind her aire of decorum and ladylike etiquette.

olive has no such ladylike etiquette. (he's so unrefined.)

i think the huge difference between the way olive and anita carry themselves, as queens - olive is frank, and honest to a fault – completely uncouth, and has a complete disregard for appearing any kind of "ladylike", despite all the pink glitter. olive doesn't put any sort of effort in - he's spontaneous and unapologetic. whereas anita's entirely performative - it's so important to her that she remains elegant and prim. and it's not effortless for anita - she puts a lot - a lot of effort into her performance. which is part of why she's so angry at olive, for ruining her show.

[golvio]

I’m very excited about Fury. I have absolutely no idea what to expect, but here are my two best guesses on how they’re going to turn this romantic:

On the most surface, plot-driven level, it’s about you asking yourself “What Am I?” That’s a big question and you won’t have all the pieces necessary to come to a conclusion until five rounds of experimentation. So why not take a look at it through the most literal, concrete, straightforward way possible by physically taking yourself apart and looking at your insides? And, look! The Princess is unwittingly here to help you! Are you ready to go on a journey of exploration and discovery…For Science? *Magic School Bus theme interspersed with horrible squelching meat noises starts playing as Fury unzips your flesh-vessel like a twizzler*

On a more metaphorical level, if Thorn was the “romance” chapter, then Fury is going to be the “physical intimacy” chapter, given all the bodily metaphors. Granted, Beast was also a sort of physical intimacy metaphor regarding the consumptive nature of carnal desire. But this is going to be very different, as a more “guided” experience.

But, also, death doesn’t stick for either of you the way it would for regular people. Pain, too, is only something you experience as much as you believe you can experience it. Your perception changes what you are physically capable of within the Construct, and in Chapter 3 you’re powerful enough to change the direction of the story if you don’t like where the Narrator is going with it. What would happen if you decided to indulge your morbid curiosity and wanted to explore just how much transformation and unmaking and remaking you could take? What would happen if the swift, brutal process of the Fury unwinding you as punishment became a dialogue as you came back and told her what you experienced, then asked if you could try it again, but sideways this time?

And I keep coming back to Shifty’s description of Fury having a strange sort of compassion within her heart. What if, during the process, the two of you caught a glimpse of something the Narrator didn’t want you to see, some sort of truth about your physical bodies that gives you both a major clue about your respective true natures? What if you being transformed by dying gives you a brief experience of what Change is like? What if, at the climax, Fury unmakes herself, and for a moment she glimpses what’s on the other side as you experience Nothingness together? In an inversion of The Wild, where the two of you get to be a feathered landscape in a distant dream together? The two of you, feeling the jagged edges of where you were torn apart, becoming aware for the first time of the little piece of the other that exists within yourselves, seeing things from the other side.

Like…seeing that one snippet of the dialogue from what I assume is the Tower-Fury route in the trailer, I immediately thought of Rammstein’s “Ich Tu Dir Veh,” describing a consensual but also extremely weird sadomasochistic relationship that doesn’t resemble conventional romance or love at all. In particular, the lyric “You are the ship / I am the captain / Where would you like to go?”

The story is about Shifting Mound collecting experiences to understand herself. It is also about you, The Long Quiet, also sharing in and directing these experiences to better understand both your narrative cellmate and yourself. To me, Fury kneeling down next to you and taking you through every step of the process of being unmade and put back together, and experiencing both firsthand and vicariously how painful that is, to see what makes you tick feels like the general premise of the game taken to its darkest, most logical conclusion. But it also feels like a more worksafe metaphor for an actual BDSM torture session with a first-time domme, while Tower was more about unhealthy power dynamics and dubious consent. Here, there is the possibility of negotiation. Here, she is made something closer to equal to you, as a fellow creature of flesh and blood. She may still be more physically powerful and with a terrifying sort of divinity, but you still make the choices that move the story along, and you ultimately have the last word. She will only go as far as you ask her to go. The process itself involves heavy negotiation and the prodding and examination of boundaries. When it goes too fast and you’ve had enough, you tap into your divine nature and pull away from her, becoming Nothing so that she can no longer touch you, no longer hurt you. Otherwise, Shifty ends the scene and pulls you out so you aren’t stuck in the narrative dead end of eternal torment. A dance must have both partners be willing. She can’t continue unless you let her proceed, if only to see what happens.

I think…during the more “loving” ending, there is going to be some kind of change in the dynamic between you and the Princess that shifts things from a torture session into something much more consensual, if still gory and a little messed up. This thing, which was supposed to be purely physical, suddenly shifting into a profound moment of connection for reasons flesh and endocrine chemicals alone can’t explain. I’m looking forward to seeing that moment, and if the “first-time physical intimacy” metaphor ends up holding water, where it ends up going may or may not make me cry.

[derangedfujoshi]

Icky fandom confession: I don't tend to ship my older/younger pairs mutually romantically, but I like a specific dynamic of the older one treating their loli/shota love to several things like fancy dinners, nice clothes, etc. to try and win over the affection - but the love is fully unrequited, and the loli or shota is just using the older one's affection as a way to continue getting free stuff for themselves. I love the idea of the younger one of the pair using the older one's love this way as a sort of power inversion. It's a fun concept to me! I think unrequited ships are just as fun as mutual ships ^-^

[purplehairedwonder]

Chapter 1082: Setting the Stage

Wait, so you expect me just to... move on from 1081? That’s rude. I’m still in mourning 😭

Sigh. Fine.

On a lighter note, the cover illustration this chapter is adorable.

It made me smile, which I desperately needed after the devastation of last chapter.

On to the chapter, which continues to set the stage for the race for Laugh Tale:

We see the first major casualty of Cross Guild: T-Bone. 

It’s interesting that of all the Marines that could have become victim to the Cross Guild bounties, it’s T-Bone, one of the few genuinely good ones. That shows that, for all fandom was cracking up at the idea of Cross Guild pulling a Reverse Uno card on the Marines by putting bounties on them, it’s actually quite a damaging thing to do. It’s a stark reminder that these people we’re following, have, in some cases, come to feel affection for, are pirates.

Perhaps it’s inevitable T-Bone would become a victim of the Cross Guild bounties; when we first met him back in Water 7, he’s described like this:

His hobby is saving people and he’s willing to do anything to help others “even if it destroys this body of [his].” When we see the man who apparently killed him for his bounty, he’s utterly pathetic:

His family was starving to death; it’s easy to imagine T-Bone willingly giving himself up so this man could claim his bounty for his family’s sake considering what we’ve seen of the man. But now the Marines are down one of their best men and are worse off for it.

Speaking of Marines, it’s also good to see Sengoku and Tsuru. They chat about the danger Cross Guild represents to the Marines before Hina drops a bomb on them:

I have to wonder if we’ll see Sengoku and/or Tsuru follow after Garp to Hachinosu. Tsuru has her granddaughter to think about while Sengoku has his close friend--and, though he doesn’t know it yet, Blackbeard has just wiped out the crew of his sort-of grandson. Moreover, it’s possible Blackbeard recovered the Hearts and brought them back to Hachinosu as prisoners. Wouldn’t that be interesting to see Sengoku faced with Law’s crew?

Meanwhile, we also get some great comedic relief with the Buggy vs. Mihawk and Crocodile dynamic.

The Cross Guild ship is hilarious.

And Buggy knows that’s not going to sit well with Mihawk and Crocodile. 

He’s right.

Interesting that Mihawk says they need to establish overwhelming power when we just saw two captains worth 3 billion defeated and possibly in need of new direction. What did Law say back on Punk Hazard about surviving in the New World? You either join an Emperor or you try to become one.

I have a hard time imagining Law aligning himself with this group (even if he would fit the whole former Warlord vibe; Law’s far more likely to reunite with the Straw Hats, I think) but Kid? (Assuming he survived, of course. This is One Piece, so I feel pretty safe in that assumption.) Kid’s going to want revenge against Shanks for destroying his crew, and who better to get him close to Shanks than Buggy?

We also get some further elaboration on the grudge Buggy has been holding against Shanks -- and it’s completely unexpected.

Buggy thought Shanks was going to follow in Roger’s footsteps, but when Shanks decided to hold off, Buggy felt betrayed. This is... weirdly wholesome? And earnest? Like, Buggy had so much faith in Shanks as Roger’s successor that Shanks not immediately going for Laugh Tale comes across as a betrayal. Buggy is disappointed in Shanks.

(It’s also interesting to consider how Shanks and Buggy are the inverse of one another. Shanks is the strong head of a notoriously weak fleet while Buggy is the comedic relief figurehead of a group of more powerful pirates.)

So, Buggy decides he’s going to do what Shanks refused to do for all those years.

Why does Buggy, of all people, have me up in my feels now? Rude.

A lot has been said about Blackbeard being a dark parallel to Luffy, but Buggy has his own parallels to our favorite rubber boy. Back at Marineford, Mihawk noted what Luffy’s true strength is:

And Buggy has a similar ability, which he puts to use in this chapter:

So, at this point we’re seeing all four Emperors making moves toward finding the One Piece.

Meanwhile, surprising absolutely no one, Sabo is fine:

He wasn’t on Lulusia when it was blown up; he was evacuating some people from Lulusia who wanted to join the Revolutionary Army. We’re on the verge of learning what really happened at Reverie...

So, any bets on how many chapters it’ll take to return to Sabo’s story?

(Anyway, I’m going to crawl back into my hole and continue crying about Law, Bepo, and the Hearts.)

[madsmilfelsen]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @thenookienostradamus, quyanaa!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 22 :)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 237, 409, yeehaw!

3. What fandoms do you write for? Magic Mike (allegedly), Always Sunny (allegedly), Killer Joe, True Detective (season one, I get too weepy if I think about season four too long but someday!), Midnight Mass, Shadow & Bone, Tell Me Your Secrets, Loki, and I've got an original work snuck in there, too

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments? Typically! I have a habit of hoarding my favorites in my inbox so if I take a week or three months to answer you it's because I've been thinking about kissing you on the mouth. Comments really make my day so I do my best to show gratitude to those who take the time to make them.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Maybe Sinhound? I don't set out to write angst.................. ever, but ending with Mildred's funeral wasn't what I was expecting either.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? All of them :) I'm a sucker for love and happy endings :)))))

8. Do you get hate on fics? no and that gets more and more shocking each time I post a new work lately as my ao3 becomes a pit of depravity while I work through everything I can't put in my novel manuscript.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? hell yeah fuck yeah. I like playing in varying degrees of consent, unhealthy or unbalanced dynamics, girls who come too fast and have weird relationships with sex, yada yada. I have a really supportive husband who I am disgustingly, deeply in love with so a lot of genuine warm and fuzzy feelings for one old man in particular generates a lot of material.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I simply don't have the mind processes for it and admire those who can mix media like that.

11. free space / no question here, send me an ask with one instead please :)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of! would be awfully neat though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Oh man, I had a fun star wars piece I was writing with my dear friend, Jess, when impostor syndrome struck too hard to finish-- I still have the embroidery she did of our title (the inverse must also be true) in my office hanging below my first rejection letter :)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? every goblin couple that make out nasty style, so uh, rust/sugar :( they're so special to me and pulled me out of a Hellacious writer's block

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My only wip is Sunday School Dropout because I sort of forgot where I was going with it, it'll come back with light voyeurism, blood drinking, virginity taking, the usual order

16. What are your writing strengths? I feel like this is question to really sell myself but honestly, hell if I know, creating place? mannerisms maybe? Beyond my general insecurities, some of the nicest compliments I've gotten are for things I did unintentionally so hard to say! I have crafted some fuckin nonlinear bangers I'll give myself that much.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAINTAIN TENSE and I HAVE NO WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF SENTENCE STRUCTURES, which annoy me and are my father's biggest complaints so I can't take them seriously enough to consciously attempt to improve on them yet. Lately, I've been smoking weed and flipping vocabulary flashcards before bed because my diction feels stagnant, a bit repetitive across pieces like.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I can't even speak english well enough to write coherently I'm not going to fuck up further with google translate. I did some ballet au's a few years back that I know have some french in it but I think I did a firmly okay job with the sprinkles of dialogue-- I know damn well my terminology is correct.

19. First fandom you wrote for? technically game of thrones, I have a sansa/sandor reunion very angrily tapped out in my notes app when season eight skipped it. The first work I posted was Seduction of Odile after I saw a post here about the potential of a rey/kylo blackswan au, reached out and asked if I could give it a try and here I am 22 works and years later :)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I'm going to be corny but I have a soft spot for every fic that connected me with other writers who are so talented and inspiring and force me to be better so I feel like I can talk to them lmao

tagging tagging tagging @the-heartlines @labyrinthphanlivingafacade @littleredwritingcat @abeadofpoison @teeth-ing @itstendereye @barbie-nightmare-house

[axolotlsupremacyowo]

One thing I’ve always liked about Klapollo is the fact that their dynamic is sort of an inverse with Franmaya and Narumitsu. I’ve always seen Apollo as more similar to Edgeworth and Franziska, and Klavier more similar to Phoenix and Maya. Idk why but I found this super neat, and it made Klapollo my top ship...until Franmaya dethroned it super quick LMAO.

Don’t worry, I still fondly love Klapollo.

[rollercoasterwords]

hi rae, i was wondering if there was any specific reason for y regulus is the first one to leave/rebel in atwmd, and sirius being the one who is the most dedicated to being a death eater, bc their roles r inversed from what they r in canon, and im curious if there is a reason y u chose to do that or it was just something that worked better for the narrative (just to be clear bc the marauders fandom is a bit weird, this is a genuine question, im not shitting on your characterization)

lol appreciate the clarification dw tho i get what ur asking! it's mostly explained in the fic in pt ii + the reg pov ch, but happy 2 summarize & explain the thought process etc.

atp i no longer remember if i was planning 2 have reg be working w the order or just be dead when i first started the fic, but i decided pretty early on that i wanted him 2 have a locket-arc similar 2 canon & to be seemingly dead when the fic begins bc i love giving s a dead brother <3 & from there i decided it would work better 2 have him secretly be alive + joined up w the order bc that helps explain how s comes around 2 working w them. so then i had 2 figure out how 2 make that fit both their characters!

the thing abt this fic is that i'm still writing it trying 2 preserve like...what i personally view as the characters' core traits/key parts of their personalities from canon, just transplanted into a completely different world. so s is actually still less dedicated 2 the d.e. than reg in this fic; s is essentially forced 2 join the d.e. the way that some parents ship their gay kids off 2 military school (in the u.s. at least), but bc of the way he was coerced into it he resents the d.e. from the beginning & even tho he's internalized many of the prejudices he grew up with he still has a pretty strong moral compass that creates this ongoing internal conflict w what he's doing. at the same time, the power he gets from becoming a higher-ranking d.e. is what allows him 2 then go let loose & like...fuck around + be gay, essentially, without fear of repercussions, bc he can basically do whatever he wants in private (even if it becomes a bit of an open secret) as long as he's got this scary public-facing persona. so he chafes against pureblood society more throughout childhood + into adulthood, but he's also powerful + charming + able 2 succeed in that world.

reg, on the other hand, doesn't rebel the same way s does growing up + kinda flies under the radar, which would be fine in theory--except reg does want 2 be powerful + recognized, & he develops this sort of inferiority complex + almost resentment of his brother in some ways. that's why he compares s 2 a sponge in his pov ch; even tho s kind of protects reg growing up by taking up their parents' negative attention, he also soaks up all the positive attention, and reg ends up feeling forgotten. as they get older, this same dynamic is echoed in school, where s gets shit on 4 being gay but also is undeniably magnetic + talented, and reg doesn't understand why his brother can't just be normal bc he'd be so popular if he didn't insist on like. being so open abt who he is. & then s joins the d.e. + suddenly he's like this entirely different person & everyone is scared + in awe of him, and he doesn't have time 4 reg anymore. & even tho reg has resented him 4 soaking up all the attention, s is also the only person who's actually paid attention 2 reg in turn, and suddenly that's gone, and he feels even more invisible. so he goes + does this fancy difficult alchemy program but even then nobody seems 2 care, so he finally decides 2 join the d.e. himself bc he wants 2 become a powerful + noticeable person the same way his brother is.

so as in canon, reg actively decides 2 join the d.e. in this fic, and wants 2 be there. but when he joins s pulls the same old trick: he starts soaking up all the attention, suddenly becoming one of voldemort's best soldiers. & for s he's trying 2 protect his brother from being noticed + used for horrible things, but bc he's doing such a good job of it reg doesn't even know what he's being protected from, and he resents s 4 stealing the spotlight again. so reg decides he'll have 2 get voldemort's attention some other way, & he starts paying really close attention 2 things + picking up information he probably shouldn't, which leads 2 him figuring out about the horcruxes on his own--but through that process, he realizes how stupid he's been 2 join the d.e. & like...the depths of depravity in the organization, & ironically by trying 2 impress voldemort he's learned way too much & essentially doomed himself, bc he knows voldemort will kill him if he finds out, and he will find out eventually. so in his frustration + hopelessness reg decides "fuck it if i'm gonna die i'm gonna go out swinging" & goes after the horcrux on his own, & that's when the order intercedes bc they've been after this same horcrux, & james saves his life, & then he's like hey wanna join the order. & reg is like well. what else am i gonna do i basically need 2 kill voldemort now if i ever want 2 show my face in britain again.

so even tho this leads 2 reg rebelling + joining the order rather than s, the roles aren't actually meant 2 be inverse to canon! in fact, the reason s doesn't rebel is largely bc he's trying 2 protect his brother, and then once reg is dead he's just kinda going thru the motions. he's a product of his environment & so there's only so far his questioning goes; he disagrees w a lot of pureblood society but doesn't really question the foundational assumptions (wizards + muggles are inherently different; wizards r superior 2 muggles) + still goes along w the path of least resistance even when it eats at him, etc. but ironically from the pov of basically anyone who didn't grow up w them it seems like reg rebelled + joined the order, even tho reg was the one who actually wanted 2 join the d.e. (unlike s!) so their actions kinda flip-flop, but their motivations remain the same as in (my interpretation of) canon: reg decides 2 join the d.e. + then changes his mind + works against them; s acts out against his family + gets punished for it + ends up doing his best 2 protect those he's loyal to + himself--only in this world, when he acts out + gets punished there's nowhere 4 him 2 turn, and the main person he's loyal to is reg, so he has 2 figure out how 2 protect himself & his brother as a d.e. fun!

[kritischetheologie]

There's an essay to be written about the popularity in some parts of this fandom of ships centered on a dynamic where a protagonist deliberately written to be unlikable is inexplicably loved by an extremely likeable romantic lead, and what the popularity of this sort of perverse self-insertion fantasy says about people's general self-esteem and views of their own worth and worthiness of love, but I don't have it in me to be the one to write it.

Edit: because I got asked what I mean by perverse, I almost meant it more in the sense of "reverse" or "inverse": instead of fantasizing about being somebody MORE worthy of love (a typical Mary sue) you fantasize about being somebody LESS worthy of love who nevertheless receives it.

[fontasticcrablettes]

Flystelle and Judelle for Ship, and hrm. Let's do Alexei for the Character. ...or Judith. Or both.

I'll do both! and put it under a cut because it got long.

Flystelle!

when I started shipping it if I did: I started shipping them about a year after I got involved in the Vesperia fandom, so about 9 years ago.

my thoughts: HHHHH my otp for the game. I love them. But I'm also kind of glad they aren't canon because I don't trust Bamco to write them well.

What makes me happy about them: There 2-3 years pre-game when Flynn and Estelle were each other's only friend and I think about it constantly. (Well, Yuri was still Flynn's friend, but after Yuri left the Knights they weren't really lose for those years). Flynn was the first person to show Estelle friendship, and I aaaaaa.

What makes me sad about them: Probably just that they're a rarepair so there's like, next to no content. In canon, thinking about Flynn's role in Alexei's coup and thus his guilt over what happened to Estelle because of him is SO SAD.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Well, there isn't really much fanfic in the first place, but of the fanfic that exists, I with there was more that dug into the deeper aspects of them. Like, I don't think the way they are in canon is the set-up for a healthy long-term relationship. They've both got some idealized images of the other to work through (of seeing the other as a perfect knight/delicate princess). And the way they work through those unrealistic views in order to love the authentic person is a whole process that a lot of fanfic skips over.

things I look for in fanfic: I'm always looking for any sort of Flystelle fic that has some meat. Like, I can enjoy a quick shot of fluff, but like I said before, I love a fic that digs in deeper. And I am always here for hurt/comfort, but I especially like it when Flynn is the one who's hurt and Estelle supports him. Partly because Flynn is my go-to whump magnet, and partly because it's an inversion of the "expected" dynamic of a knight and a princess. I want to see the knight in peril and the princess rescue him!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: My second choice for Estelle is Judith, and my second choice for Flynn is Yuri.

My happily ever after for them: They live together in Zaphias. Estelle is a novelist who works from home and occasionally stays with Rita in Halure for extended periods, usually whenever Flynn is going to be out of town on Knight business for a while. They have a family and work together with Ioder to bring reforms to the Empire. Estelle's biggest job is making sure Flynn doesn't overwork himself.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Estelle is big spoon when she drags Flynn away from work and pulls him into bed and holds him tight so he can't sneak out to write one more report. Flynn defaults to big spoon in other cases by virtue of being significantly taller so it's just easier.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Just sitting around talking. Discussing the books they've read and places they've been and ideas for the empire. They just enjoy each other's company.

Now Judelle!

when I started shipping it if I did: I think it was around 5 years ago. One day I was watching the scene where Yuri talks to Judith in Zaphias castle after the Sword Stair, and the way Judith talks about Estelle suddenly clicked and I said "oh no I ship it now."

my thoughts: Estelle is the anchor that pulled Judith out of drifting aimlessly with Ba'ul. Judith has such a subdued way of speaking, but when she talks about Estelle, she sounds fiercely protective.

What makes me happy about them: I love both of them opening up each other's worlds. Judith represents the freedom Estelle was denied all her life, while Estelle is the stability Judith hasn't had in a long time. I just think they're cute

What makes me sad about them: They're even more of a rarepair so it's almost impossible to find content. I'm pretty sure they only have 1 fic on ao3 and that was written by me.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Well... there is no fanfic.

things I look for in fanfic: I just want them to be happy and giggly and have fun together. I think they would both make each other better people, with Judith encouraging Estelle to focus and Estelle encouraging Judith to take part in the world and open herself to others.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Estelle with Flynn, and Judy with Yuri. Those are my two top ships for Vesperia, so Judelle is more of the "if not those other two, this one" option.

My happily ever after for them: They don't live together, because Judith wouldn't want to be grounded all the time, while Estelle does want to settle. They get together whenever they can. Judith writes her letters while sitting on Ba'ul's back, and Estelle always gets excited when she sees that speck in the distance of Ba'ul flying toward Zaphias.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Estelle tries really hard to be big spoon, but Judith tackled her into a bear hug.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Heading out into the world and exploring.

Alright, on to characters.

Alexei:

How I feel about this character: He's an amazing character. He's a poorly utilized character. He's so complex. He's a one-note villain. I think I see a lot more in him that a lot of people do, and all my interpretations are drawing directly from things he says and does in game, but also at some point reading between the lines becomes doing the writers' jobs for them. I don't know. I really like him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don't really ship him romantically with anyone, but I'm a fan of fucked-up and unhealthy one-sided Yuri/Alexei, and also fucked-up and unhealthy Flynn/Alexei where Alexei is using Flynn's crush on him to manipulate him. Both of these are sorta ships but mostly the premise for drama and angst fics. Oh also his unnamed OC ex-wife who dumped him and triggered a midlife crisis.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I'm also interested in Flynn and Alexei's relationship in a non-romantic context, but also I like the idea of Duke and Alexei being estranged friends. I like to imagine they were close friends who joined the Knights together, making them an even closer parallel for Yuri and Flynn

My unpopular opinion about this character: I think he has clear motivation for his actions in canon. I know a lot of people say he's just vaguely evil for world domination, but without even looking at content from side materials, he's pretty direct in canon about wanting to reform the Empire in a similar way that Flynn does. He has all the same ideals that Flynn does, but was disillusioned after the war that he could achieve those goals without going to extremes.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Not die at Zaude!!!! I've said this a thousand times but he should have been the final villain. He's got all this personal drama with the heroes and then he just dies and we go into act 3 with no one to fight against. And he was just getting really interesting when he realizes he fucked up with Zaude but he died before getting a chance to explore that realization.

my OTP: I mean.... nothing romantic really. Either of the aforementioned Yuri or Flynn angst relationships are good.

my cross over ship: Hm.... I am wracking my brain and cannot think of any.

a headcanon fact: I think a lot of his more grandiose villainy is an intentional act - he failed to save the world as a hero, so he's going to do it as a villain. He'll play the role of villain if that's what the world needs of him, and I think framing it that way in his mind helps him distance himself from what he's doing

And finally, dear Judy

How I feel about this character: She's super cool! I find her hard to write and it's hard to find fics that I feel really nail her. She's so... slippery. Both blunt and subtle. I love the way she slowly opens up to the others over the course of the game.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Yuri, Estelle, and Flynn are the main ones. I can enjoy Judith/Rita content sometimes too.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: All of the above romantic ships are also good friendships. I love the way Yuri and Judy vibe together, whether they're romantic partners or not. And also her relationship with Ba'ul!

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't know if this is widespread enough to be an unpopular opinion, but I don't believe she and Rita are sisters.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she and Yuri had continued the flirty banter they had in Ghasfarost, and I wish she and Yuri had a more in-depth talk about what she did after Nordopolica and his feelings about punishing her for that, both for Yuri's development and her own.

my OTP: Yuri/Judy

my cross over ship: Judy/Izumi Curtis from FMA would be amazing

a headcanon fact: She doesn't "talk" to Ba'ul with words and full sentences, it's more like a telepathic exchange of emotions and images and moods. She's spent so long primarily communicating with him in this way that she's sort of forgotten how to talk to people with spoken language, which is why she can seem a little weird sometimes.

[majorbaby]

Please, I need to get this off my chest. Charles has always upset me... he is constantly talking about how much better he is than everyone and sometimes he says white supremacist things :/ and in a deep way because he isn’t just racist towards Klinger! He also thinks he’s better than Radar by calling him a bumpkin. It really annoys me when people ignore that part of him or try to write him as this misunderstood, lonely man

i'm iffy about commenting on how people write characters/ships they wanna write, especially when it comes to less popular ones like Charles because I generally believe in "don't like don't read" buuuut I also think it's so interesting to see what dominant trends emerge from fandom because fandom is a legitimate creative, communal space so we should note our observations and critiques in a respectful way. But anyway, my response is more about the general portrayal of the character and the flaws you've brought up because I think you raise an interesting point, I assume that you made it in good faith, and I’m very into discussions about race and racism in media but particularly wrt MASH. Cut to spare people who aren’t into this and CW for white supremacy and all -isms ingrained in it: 

Winchester is kept in check to some degree by being consistently positioned on the moral low ground, BJ and Hawkeye get the better of him constantly and whenever he makes a prolonged target out of anyone it’s usually Hawkeye and BJ which you could still call classist and how bad it lands depends on what you imagine Hawkeye and BJ’s backgrounds to be. They’re not implied to be from high society themselves but we don’t know much more than that. You’re not supposed to admire the nastier parts of Charles’ sensibilities and the show makes that overwhelmingly clear imo, he’s not a straight villain the way Frank was but he’s still an antagonist. Later on I think Rizzo gets the better of Charles a few times and that’s very satisfying to watch. There’s an interesting inversion of power dynamics when you look at Potter and Winchester. Charles looks down on Potter for his social background and Potter takes a lot of glee in reminding Charles that while he’s in the army he’s to be under Potter’s heel. Which, like, go ahead, eat each other. 

Winchester also gets a lot of moments that (imo, successfully) “humanize” him and it’s fair to feel uncomfortable about that if you perceive Winchester to be a white supremacist which, yeah, I can’t pretend I don’t ever see it – DOS has a remarkably smooth delivery that softens the blow but oof some of the things he says. In Mail Call 3, Margaret is concerned about not being good enough for Donald’s family and she opens up to Charles about it, he makes this comment about eugenics – I think he actually uses the phrase “maintain the integrity of the breed”. And while my brain knows that I’m supposed to empathize with Margaret here and not Charles, I can’t help it if my skin crawls. He calls her good breeding stock and tells her that it’s of utmost importance to the Winchesters and the Penobscotts that they “Maintain the characteristics of the bloodline” like that’s… that’s a white supremacist talking point. So be assured I see where you are coming from. And I have to talk about Klinger: “Klinger whatever happened to your frivolous, pet-like demeanor” yikes. Charles isn’t the first person to say racist things to Klinger, talking down to him for laughs becomes a frequently relied-upon gag in the later years, Potter and Margaret do it a few times. Hawkeye and BJ and even Radar have their iffy moments as well, but it sounds different coming from them than it does from Winchester, in part because he’s made other comments (like the one with Margaret) before that that suggest a much darker belief system – ‘suggest’ might be too weak a word.

We also get glimpses into how the social systems he subscribes to and benefits from actually oppress him too – which is true to life. But how much you care about that sort of thing will depend very much on how you feel about the character in general.

I don’t think Winchester gets a straight “redemption arc”, he’s just portrayed as being a  three-dimensional character, for better or for worse. And look, it sucks to have to think of your political enemies and threats to your existence as three-dimensional people – I know I don’t on a day-to-day basis. I think this was a choice on the part of the showrunners after seeing how things played out with Frank Burns, who some people believe should’ve also been more three-dimensional – you can’t really win with a character like that. I’ve seen people say they prefer Burns to Winchester and I’ve never understood that until this moment lol, because Charles being less cartoonish has allowed me to actually enjoy him. But now I see how one might be more comfortable with a character like Burns because he’s such a butt monkey and he doesn’t get a single redeeming moment that he doesn’t immediately ruin. I guess we know that Burns just ‘wants to be liked’ but I don’t think that garners a terrible amount of pity from anyone – any Frank Burns sympathizers in the audience?? I didn’t have the Burns-Winchester transition on my list of contributing factors to the show’s shift to the political center but you know what, that might actually be a thing: Burns being portrayed as a straight villain vs. Winchester (who is much more well off than Burns it would seem) being portrayed as multifaceted. I’m more or less neutral when it comes to these redeeming moments when they happen between Charles and Margaret, who has her own racism to deal with – and I can’t think of many other occasions aside from the one I described where he was overtly misogynistic to her – although the one example I did give was pretty egregious. Or Charles and Hawkeye or Charles and BJ because as I said about Margaret and them a few days ago, they’re closer to one another on the ladder. It’s really a class issue when it comes to them and that’s not something to be ignored (I don’t care at all for how Charles treats Radar and Rizzo who are both from non-urban, implied to be poor, backgrounds and who are of significantly lower rank in the army) but again, it really depends on how you feel about Hawkeye and BJ’s respective backgrounds and whether or not you think their pranks on him constitute appropriate retribution. I think if you are going to humanize a less-than-savoury character, a good way to do that is to show how their belief systems are to everyone’s detriment, including their own. Charles does go through this a few times: he realizes his discriminating against Honoria’s Italian husband will drive a wedge between him and his sister, similarly his self-imposed separation from the “unworthy” Hawkeye has kept them from perhaps being friends and he calls himself on it in Sons and Bowlers and finally he seems to really be at war with himself over his own lifestyle choices in Foreign Affairs. 

There is also a wrong way to do it – please miss me with his calling Klinger “Max” in Death Takes a Holiday, where the narrative wants me to accept that this is some grand gesture on Charles’ part after he’s been a racist twat to Klinger on multiple occasions and gleefully takes up any opportunity he can to remind him how inferior he thinks Klinger is. This same thing is actually done much more effectively in Sons and Bowlers (...”Hawkeye”) 1) Charles has actually spent the episode doing a lot more for Hawkeye than this single gesture at the end  2) I’m just gonna say it lol, Hawkeye is white so things land differently. Hawkeye is an equal, Klinger is "the help". I’m just pointing these things out, not trying to convince you of how you should or shouldn’t feel about Charles. Ultimately it’s up to each person to decide for themself what they will and won’t condone. I would suggest observing how that plays out when it comes to different characters. Are you uncomfortable with Charles’ notions on the family unit while at the same time being unbothered by BJ’s? Do you forgive the one-off joke from Hawkeye about BJ’s 16-year-old babysitter but get up in arms over Henry In Love? Do you have something to say about Aggie’s pursuit of BJ but nothing about Margaret’s full-fledged relationship with Frank (and btw why do we not keep the same energy for cheating men as we do for the women they are cheating with??).  I’ll end by saying what you let slide vs what you don’t is a deeply personal thing. Mulcahy hits me in a certain way because of the particular chip I have on my shoulder, but at the same time I don’t have any issue with other people’s enjoyment of him. At some point you will have to look the other way on something because no character is perfect and they all uphold some fucked up standard in one way or another. What is important imo is being able to identify what kind of messaging a story intends for you to accept and if you want to take it a step further, consider if there are any harmful ideas it might be perpetuating. 

[hrwinter]

As a fic reader what kind of AUs do you tend to like best?

Jesus Christ how much time can I waste answering this

A lot

okay

- enemies to lovers, or even friends to enemies to lovers or even friends to lovers to enemies to lovers

- compelling, sympathetic female villains so I like AU’s that makes one or even both parts of the ship an inversion of what is usually the “hero” or the good guy i.e. “evil” Russian Kara or “evil” Lena Luthor

- i have read a lot of friends with benefits in my day or even “there was only one bed” but what i really like in these typical AU stories is a dynamic angst element that is keeping characters apart but they are smashing anyway. if the reason for not dating isn’t good enough, I can find these really unrewarding though and a bit taxing to continue

- I really enjoy fantasy AU’s but what I really want in this One Life is a sci fi AU and they’re rare (which I get because so much creativity and world building is involved) but I would absolutely shit my pants if it existed. This is where I really want to write a Gattaca AU or an Edge of Tomorrow AU

- vampire AU’s. Period. And werewolf (internal cringe)

- sort of sci fi related, too, but multiverses, time travel, alternate timeline AU’s

All that said my favorite fics ever have been all over the place AU wise so I honestly will read and enjoy anything that’s well written. But the above I will read, every time, whether it’s well written or not!

[expensivemistake]

Is there a reason you seem to be more into MLM ships? I don’t mean Glee wise but in general it seems like you tend to favor the MLM ships over Wlw. I hope this doesn’t come off malicious (and if it’s wrong I’m sorry it’s just my observations) I’m genuinely curious because a lot of WLW feel the same way and I’m just interested in why.

Oooh, interesting question! Don't worry, I didn't read this the wrong way at all, and I have historically had a lot of thoughts on the topic!

I think I'm an interesting person to ask, I think, because I'm not really a shipper. I tend to just like characters, and sometimes that involves ships with the characters I like. But I do sometimes think there's a few big reasons.

Also for context (anyone who doesn't know), I identify as a lesbian, though I did identity as bisexual a few years ago.

Adolescence. So, eh. The simplest explanation is the old classic, which is... how my teenage self went about fandom. I very much had a little bit of that "not like other girls" attitude, which I'm gonna expand deeper in my next point, but 15 year old me was the type of young queer girlie who felt quite disconnected from traditional femininity. I think it's quite common for this attitude to permeate through fandom when we're young, and some of it sticks.

Relatability. So, I'm going to use Glee as an example here, but I do think there's general differences between the writing of mlm vs wlw in popular, especially teen, media. I think there is a general trend of the gay male characters being more outcasted/othered, while the 'popular mean girl lesbian' is one of the most dominant tropes. While this isn't strictly true of everything, the media that sticks in my brain typically falls into this. Let's just say, while I very much appreciate Santana's story, it doesn't connect to me in the way Kurt's does.

Writing. Sort of similar to the above, I think the pervasive stereotypes/thresholds for representation have something to do with it. Again, with Glee, I do think part of why I don't connect much to Santana is because she falls into the "gay man's idea of a lesbian" thing I've heard a few people talk about. These characters, while not bad representation, are often sassy/mean and have diva tendencies, which appeals to gay men who do want a diva to worship. Now, that doesn't mean I think every gay man prefers wlw representation over mlm, but there's a general trend where the sorts of guys who love lesbian characters like Santana will really diminish Kurt's impact. I think the inverse can be true too. The focus on gay male characters as being markedly queer for not fitting gendered conventions, using fashion as a form of self-expression and having generally compassionate personalities is very relatable as a lesbian. At least to me.

In most of my fandoms, I tend to focus on characters/platonic dynamics. For instance, with Doctor Who, I've never been a shipper in any sense. I really, really love the queer companions, but because I'm not a doctor-companion shipper and because a lot of them are going from place to place with some alien (usually presenting male) I don't have a lot to latch onto. I LOVE Bill Potts as a character. She's one of the most special lesbians to me. And I like Bill/Heather fine, but also I saw Heather like twice so as long as Bill's happy, I'm fine but won't really think about their relationship (I also have this with Klaus/Dave from the Umbrella Academy). I love heavily implied bisexual companions like Ace and Clara, too, but again, unless a love interest is on the show a lot, I'm not much of a shipper. It's actually why I think I can like a lot of m/f ships, things like Rory/Amy or Clara/Danny. Basically, I like a lot of characters without being a ride or die shipper. Clare is by FAR my favourite Derry Girl and I'm happy she's happy, but I don't feel the urge to explore a one-episode dynamic she had.

I think those are the main four reasons I can think of. It's mostly down to a preference thing, relatability of the storylines that get written in the media I consume, a lack of investment in shipping in general unless it's a character I love with a canon connection.

But I'd love to hear your thoughts on this too!! It's a complex, messy kind of thing in fandom spaces. xx

[hopingnfts]

To convert the sentences to describe someone who is committed to inversion exercise, you can modify the context as follows:

"For example, Incorporating inversion exercise into your routine can become a lifestyle decision. It involves making significant changes to your daily life. It's not easy. To be physically prepared for the practice, dedicating three weeks of consistent exercise and conditioning is necessary."

In this modified context, the emphasis is on someone making inversion exercise a central part of their lifestyle, and they are willing to put in the effort and time to prepare their body for it.

The passage you provided seems to be emphasizing the effort and preparation that someone is putting into meeting their boyfriend. This can be seen as a form of self-care and personal grooming. While there isn't a specific "technique" mentioned in the passage, it's more about the author's dedication to looking their best and maintaining a certain appearance for their boyfriend. This approach can be described as "meticulous grooming" or "careful preparation" rather than a formal technique.

The reason the author is taking a significant amount of time to prepare to meet their boyfriend might be due to personal preferences, relationship dynamics, or simply a desire to make a positive impression. Some people place a high value on personal appearance and invest time and effort to maintain it. In this case, the author seems to be emphasizing the importance of these preparations as part of their lifestyle choices and their commitment to their relationship.

The author is emphasizing that engaging in inversion exercises is a deliberate and well-thought-out commitment. It involves making various lifestyle adjustments, sacrifices, and optimization efforts to incorporate this practice into one's daily routine. Here's a more straightforward rephrasing:

"Incorporating inversion exercises into one's life is not a spontaneous decision; it's a conscientious, planned, and ongoing process that requires significant adjustments. This includes changes like going to bed earlier, moderating food intake, and adapting daily routines. It's not something that can be started overnight; instead, it's a lifestyle choice. Those who choose to adopt this practice tend to make it a consistent part of their daily routine."

In the context of shipping products:

"Shipping products is not a decision made overnight. However, the waiting period for receiving orders can be lengthy. To ensure the feasibility of shipping products, there's often a need to optimize available space for storage and accommodation." Inversion excercise. Deciding to inverse is not a sporadic decision; it's a conscious, planned, and ongoing way of incorporating a lot of adjustments and offsetting many activities of days to incorporate inversion in life. Sleeping early. Making sure, not eating a lot. A lot of change in individual needs and preferences. This is not something one can decide overnight and immediately start. It's a lifestyle choice, indicating that individuals who adopt this practice tend to make it a regular part of their routine. What is this mean ? The author has made a lot of sacrifices ? or did offset a lot of activities just to tune the body to do this excercise ? This is sort of optimization ? How do you re-write this in a meaningful english like ? Shipping of products is not a overnight decision. But waiting for a lot of days to receive orders of shipping products. Optimizing space for accomodating the products to make sure the shipping the products will be feasible enough

[magpiejay1234]

I talk about Kairi a lot, so let's go over the other female characters who are in major ships:

Naminé:

So Naminé's whole deal is being Kairi's Shadow Archetype, though she is more literal in this sense, since Kairi's body is already with her, so Naminé is like a weird gestalt shadow clone created from Sora's body with Kairi's heart's characteristics. This makes her like a Nobody's Nobody.

Her overall character arc is:

**Being Kairi's Nobody, she is a manifestation of Kairi's repressed characteristics. She automatically gets infatuated with Sora, and Riku, and later on Repliku, and Roxas (and much later on Xion). She tries to replace Kairi in Sora's mind, tries to replace Kairi in Riku's mind (which sort of works?), develops a strong bond with Repliku, and Roxas.

She and Riku actually develop an interesting dynamic in Reverse/Rebirth, Days, and KH2, but that's not elaborated on, since Naminé has more important relationships in all those games/stories (Sora, and Repliku in CoM, Xion in Days, Roxas in KH2), so rather than focusing on that (like Watanabe, and Kanemaki did), Nomura focuses on Riku being Repliku's replacement.

This way, our secondary relationship ends up becoming less of a bond forged through the insanity of the plot, but rather our deuteragonist fulfilling the will of his presumed (but not actually) dead little clone brother. This is some Type-0 tier nonsense.

**Xion:

Originally an empty mimic puppet, Xion gradually becomes a biological clone of Sora, but using Kairi's idealized features in Sora's mind. She retroactively becomes a person, because of the few Org 13 members who treat as a human (well, as a Nobody, only Roxas treats her as a real person).

Xion is weird inversion of Roxas, while Roxas is both Sora, and Kairi (and technically Ven), Xion is Sora pretending to be Kairi. So Sora part of Roxas views her as an ideal clone of Kairi, but Kairi part of Roxas is presumed to view her as Sora.

(Riku, in contrast, in that ho-yay moment, only views her as Sora when he actually gets close to her.)

Because Xion is a clone of Sora, she also gets her own ho-yay moment with Naminé, who also presumably views her as transgender Sora.

Within the meta of the story, Xion is a weird creature, since Kanemaki wanted her to make her a self-insert that would also double as her interpretation of Naminé from her novels, but Nomura, being terminally afraid of female genitalia (and into YGO GX at the time presumably), made her trans. So she is the clone of a Nobody's Nobody, but also inverted Mary Sue clone of the protagonist (Sora), but but also a retread of Repliku's storyline.

This is all very amusing to me, since it is clear Roxas/Xion is the only hetero romance Nomura is clearly interested in, but the whole relationship hinges on inverted dynamic of Sora/Kairi.

**Aqua:

Aqua is a weird creature, since being the "Kairi" of the group, you assume she would be shipped off to Ven, or Vanitas, but the default ship with her is with Terra, which is presumably only here due to Xemnas's backstory. Of course, if KH2, and KHUX didn't happen, Nomura would have probably shipped her with either of the two for thematic consistency, but ehh.

Terra-Aqua is inherently problematic since they are basically adopted siblings, but being the only "legally adult" ship besides Lauriam/Elrena, we are allowed to be bit more explicit with their relationship, though only when one is yearning for the other.

Terra/Aqua is also weird since BBS storyline jokes about them being Ventus's sub-parents, if not also arguably Vanitas's.

*****

Other notes:

Elrena/Larxene:

On one hand, it is very sexist of Nomura to imply she is only into this because of Lauriam. On the other hand, her characterization in CoM is mostly her failed attempts hit on Axel, and Marluxia. So this consistent with her character, even if it is sexist.

We don't know what happened between KHUX, and current timeline for Elrena to continue her teen crush on Lauriam, since Lauriam in KHUX has more interactions with Brain than anyone, so we assume this is just a one-sided crush.

Strelitzia:

While the player character can be male, or female, thus making Strelitzia canonically bisexual, it is obvious in the narrative Nomura intended the player to be male. Since the player's reincarnation as Xehanort is one of the most heavily gay-coded villains of contemporary culture, we can't say what Strelitzia's one-sided crush on the player can lead to. We presume it will be transferred to Sora but ehh.

Of course, since Ephemer is presumed to be Riku to the player's Sora, this might make Strelitzia the hypothetical Kairi of the group (and Skuld would be Naminé I guess.)

****

Bonus round:

Skuld:

As everybody knows, even though they were initially shown as a pseudo Adam-Eve analogue, since we now know Ephemer had sex one of Skuld's siblings, and Ephemer himself being more of a Noah analogue now, Skuld's current characterization hinges on the fact she and Ephemer did not, in fact, have sex.

If she is indeed the Subject X, her presence also is here to have a "no homo" moment with Lea/Isa.

(Of course, if Nomura was allowed to go at full power, we would have a like whole Biblical genealogy of Ephemer's infinite bastard children.)

Ava:

Whole Gula/Ava thing is likely a set up of the fact Ava is the presumed traitor, and Gula's job was doomed from the beginning. This is a fairly early Nomura twist. I can't say how Luxu fits into this as the not-Riku, we might be doing something to similar Riku/Kairi relationship in CoM with Luxu/Ava.

This relationship is actually somewhat plot relevant, so there will be twists involved.

****

Conclusion:

Of these main ships, only one clearly interests Nomura (Xion/Roxas), though due to the Subject X mystery, and Foreteller plot, we will pay some lip service for the bonus round ones.

Elrena/Lauriam may or may not be important beyond Elrena's one-sided crush, but both characters are relevant for Strelitzia, and Ventus, so their importance hinges on Streltzia, and Ventus's importance.

(Subject X plotline probably won't involve Ventus, or other Dandelions even if Skuld is Subject X, since the only reason Nomura wanted to prolong that storyline so Sea Salt gang would have something to do in the MoM arc, which is insane to think about in context.)

Rikunami would be decanonized the second Repliku is brought back, or Xion gets killed off. Terra/Aqua doesn't have much further relevance other than Terra being Riku's pseudo-mentor, and Aqua now being Kairi's actual mentor.

[archer3-13]

mobile suit gundam seed episode 6-10 fast thoughts

been a bit since i did this huh. I covered the first 5 episodes a bit ago so to briefly summarize those ones i thought episodes 1-5 were: i thought that despite all of the shows later problems and some early problems in terms of pacing and repetition they were fairly solid episodes for what they were, being referential to the original 0079 without being overly reliant on replicating it beat for beat. this is also kira at his most tolerable as a character ironically because its also kira at his most overtly scared and dissatisfied creating the early impression of someone who proclaims to pacifism less out of genuine belief in its values and more because of a deep seated fear of killing or dying.

6-10 episode thoughts time, with inherent pattern or play by play:

-flay starts to be more of an actual character with prescience here and i'll admit i actually rather enjoy her usage as a character during this early stage as someone who inadvertently complicates things and whos privilege of wealth and popularity has inoculated her from consequence until now. shes daddies lil rich girl and has an appropriately coloured view, well also having yet hit her soap opera scorned woman phase as it were. which in retrospect is probably going to be when all this nice believablity of character gets tossed out the window.

-im kinda surprised how much i actually like sai? he definitely feels like the most important of kiras friends/secondary character undertaking a sort of parallel development along with kira at the moment. it also cements in my mind that sais probably should have been the friend athrun kills later on instead of tolle. tolles fine mind you but his relation to kira feels a lot less significant compared to sai and it would have naturally jelled with the on going 'flay tries to manipulate people for her gain' subplot to have sai be the one insisting on pilot lessons and eventually getting killed in combat right infront of kira. and if ya really wanna have that dereka miriallia thing you can have the archangel sustain damage that ends up killing tolle because of dereka giving more significance to that plotline as well.

-given what i remember of her later on, lacus feels remarkably like a human being when ya first meet her being portrayed as fairly clueless about the negative feelings of others [such as when she starts signing the one pop song she knows in the middle of a battle until flay yells at her] and somewhat lost in her own world wandering the ship seemingly without a clue on how tense the situation is. you can see the issue with her character as it were however pop its head as early as episode 10 though when she suddenly turns on 'stern authoritative politician voice' to diffuse the immediate situation because it feels too tonally dissonant with her portrayal as flower child newtype character until that point. its not that it couldn't have worked, having a character thats all soft frills new age psychic on the outside only to reveal astute politician and leader on the inside could make an interesting subversion of expectation especially given how lacus also plays off idol culture in japan and idols are typically expected to act a certain way [it can be a scandal for idols to have romantic partners for instance because it pollutes the pure uwu i can be your girlfriend image they're expected to have]. further if we're to consider her the equivalent of the laylah for seed it adds an interesting arguably progressive inversion of that dynamic where lacus more so wears the pants compared to athrun so to speak. where it stumbles I think is that its not really treated as an opportunity to express character its more so treated as a mechanical device to get the plot moving which as a consequence results in lacus not really having a character of her own. we need to have a tense build up and moment of holding her hostage for ethical questions moments so she'll be hippy flower child here, but we need to get rau to fuck off so not only will he arbitrarily obey her orders despite otherwise being an agent of chaos lacus herself will suddenly switch to a authoritative and stern voiced politician leader. flower child well helping kira heal and steal the freedom or getting athruns ass in gear, stoic war leader for when we actually get into combat. it makes her come across as needlessly manipulative for a character that i really dont think is suppose to come across that way. which only gets worse once destiny comes around and you have natural and talented leader lacus fucking off to play hippy flower child as zaft cautiously rebuilds itself only to eventually take control of zaft at destinys end anyways.

-again a pacing issue here where we probably coulda condensed everything that happened into half the time. mood and atmosphere are important to stories dont get me wrong, but brevity is the breath of wit [i know i ramble a lot myself but i stand by this] in writing a lot of the time and we really didnt need to have lacus sing that same fucking song 4 times in a row to get the point and atmosphere across. 2 times would have sufficed fine.

-i like scavenging ice from juinius seven it has an appropriate sombre atmosphere to it, i like the imagery of the space paper flowers for a drive by funeral, and i like the unease with their own morality it inspires in the earth alliance regulars even if its just a question in the moment as it helps lay down the idea that maybe the right thing to do is abandoning their side. like everything related to juinius 7 and the earth alliance as a whole though it just lays down this comically stupidly evil impression of the earth alliance that it becomes impossible to accept any claim of moral relativism or a grey area in terms of this war when the enemy zaft is fighting nukes its political enemies into submission and refuses to recognize its opponents as even being human on the upper levels of command. or in other words, like a lot of gundam fans we're confusing and treating the earth federation as the titans when the earth federation in 0079 and other tomino works was mostly just incompetent as opposed to stupidly evil. like the titans. which i suppose is why zaft has to go all neo zeon on everyones asses near the end if we're to pretend to any amount of grey morality in terms of this war.

[meanscarletdeceiver]

Toby? For the shipping thing-

sorry. obligatory:

It's Tobyyyyyy the Tram(p)! Lock up yer sons and daughters!

💞✨  OTP ✨ 💞: Henrietta

(sorry mate! but i can’t help it—their long history together—toby’s protectiveness of her on a dozen different occasions—ahhhhh to me it’s cliched for a reason and the reason is They’re Married)

Other Ships That Are 👌: Terence

This would be a super interesting one—they have enough proximity and adjacent sorts of work, and I think they’d get on well. Terence is incredibly underexplored so there’s lots of room to play and even invent some drama. But, altogether, very wholesome!

also—the J15 Toby helps in his flashback story in RWS—that lil tale is in the end soooo anti-climactic as to feel pointless, so I’m amused by the notion that the real reason Toby’s mind still drifts back there is because ✨ 💗✨ First Love✨ 💗✨

Interesting But Fence 👀:

I see Henry proposed a lot—the whole “Forest” episode gave some material—it’s hard for me to see how to flesh it out, but, yeah, interesting. ssshhhh no one tell Henry they had to kill a few trees along the way to build Toby

Duck—Just underexplored. “Everyone knows” Duck is a fussy know-it-all but believes Toby is so chill but RWS Toby is really not all that chill it’s funny how the common perception is that they are so different… I think they’re really awfully similar, and in fact the mutual I-want-things-done-my-way stubbornness could cause the occasional conflict! but they also have a sort of “city mouse and country mouse” dynamic in their backgrounds for contrast… interesting.

I’ve also given some thought to your proposal of Edward. This is funny too, because the “everyone knows” here is the inverse of the above—so many people believe that they are interchangeable but I really don’t see them as all that similar. That said, I admit I’m quite lukewarm on this because I don’t see the chemistry… but it would be cute to re-interpret canon as Toby arrives -> likes Edward a lot but is exasperated by how much crap he just takes from Some Of The Others -> it’s thanks to Toby that Edward develops a backbone…

Better As Friends 😊:

… ultimately, though, while I kept an open mind for your sake, I don’t see how Toby benefits from Edward? also tbh i have a headcanon that edward has a Thing for engines bigger than him. And therefore I would put ‘em here.

Also, I’ve said this before, but I still would love a ficlet centered on the early stages of Toby and Bertie’s relationship—think that would be cute. Though by “relationship” I here definitely mean “friendship.”

While we’re at “brainstorming Toby interactions, because by God we deserve far more than we seem to get,” well, Toby’s friendship with Bridget and Stephen as they grow up would just be such a joy to explore—

Meh 😑 / Overrated : Mavis

They’re a great duo, but they’re not romance-coded just coz they both have sideplates, smh

It Happened Once In A Dream 🌑 (or AU 🤔):

Oh, Daisy definitely got hot and bothered about Toby once in a dream. She was baffled, appalled, questioned her sanity. She tried desperately to act normal afterwards and made a hilarious hash of it.

However, Toby regards Daisy as nutters generally, so he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. He has no idea why she acts the way she does. Ever.

also Toby does unironically think James looks splendid—reminds him of that J15 he once rescued and remembers so fondly, doncha know—but James has put any chance he ever had with the tram through the shredder, of course. like, multiple times.

If I Had to Put Them in a Polycule 💗: Ummm…

Toby/Henrietta/Elsie? idk. Oooh, and of course I have wondered about the dynamics once Victoria arrives. I’d be down for Big Happy Poly Family. Like, I don’t think it actually happened, but yeah, sure, I’m open to it.

Or, hell, Toby/Henry/Terence/Trevor just all go and have wild witchy nocturnal orgies in their forest, idek. they summon the bloodthirsty old gods of Killdane and everything—

NOTP 😤: idk, none?

in fact...

just for the fun and @totalbullshingles...

i dare anyone to try to come up with a Toby ship that i can't write a drabble for