#and it's ironic that my favourite almost romantic relationship is the one that I didn't like at first.

[sovamurka]

Me, smiling: it’s such a wonderful day! Bubble comics: *releases new Exlibrium chapter* Me, suddenly sweating: Oh no-   ~fifteen minutes later~ Me, crying intensely: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

[shiroandblack]

I don't know if the 07-Ghost fandom is dead or alive, but it's still one of my favourite mangas to this day and I wanna talk about how love is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom in this manga. Let's start with Vanessa Antwort aka Chrom's legal wife and queen (because sadly, Millea Klein was a concubine because she was 'too lowborn' to be the Queen of Raggs).

We know that Vanessa was deeply in love with Chrom, but Chrom was deeply in love with Millea. However, Chrom also didn't treat her badly at all. When Ayanami said that she was granted the greatest consideration, aka having the political power as queen and also having Tiashe/Teito (considering in this era his name was Tiashe, I will be calling him Tiashe here) kept away from her sight, he was correct. While yes, this was definitely for Tiashe's safety because she absolutely did not look fondly upon him, but I think this was considered a concession to Vanessa because Tiashe is basically a living reminder that Vanessa will never be the 'first' in Chrom's eyes. Also I imagine it would be deeply humiliating for a queen, who has yet to have any children yet with the king, to have a concubine's child, who until she and the king have a child is the heir to the throne, be paraded in front of her. So yes, I agree with the notion that she was treated well in Raggs. Especially by Chrom, who despite not loving her the same way he loved Millea, held a degree of fondness or friendship for her and I think treated her with the respect and dignity her status as queen warranted. I think that in another world where Vanessa was not in love with Chrom, this whole political marriage might've worked out well.

Now, we all know Vanessa and Wolfram basically helped start the Raggs war which saw the Raggs kingdom destroyed and its people displaced simply because of . . . Unrequited love. Wolfram, the Emperor of Barsburg, was deeply in love with Millea (who was originally born in Barsburg) while Vanessa was deeply in love with Chrom. Don't get me wrong, these two were manipulated to the high heavens, however it's also important to remember that they did choose to do these things despite knowing it was objectively wrong. So many atrocities in 07-Ghost were done in the name of love, but so many wonderful things as well.

The first example I can think of is Castor and Lazette, who while not a romantic relationship (I don't interpret their relationship as romantic, however if you do then it's your prerogative) is still a relationship full of love. Castor, a young heir to an old and wealthy noble house, died for Lazette, a character whose very species is considered inferior to Castor, nevermind social status. And we see him being moved enough by the depth of Kuroyuri and Haruse's relationship (I'm sorry if I got his name wrong it has been years, it's Haruse right?) to give Haruse another chance at life, instead of the poor, half-life Ayanami was able to grant him. And Labrador's entire past was a tragedy, but he sacrificed himself for love as many characters have done.

Now, let's consider what is arguably one of the most important love stories in 07-Ghost. Verloren and Eve. Of which the entirety of the plot of 07-Ghost wouldn't have happened without them. Verloren and Eve loved one another and when Eve died, it all came apart. It's ironic that despite Verloren acting as if Eve was murdered unjustly, he is in fact her murderer. Her death was unfortunate and dare I say it, almost accidental. She fell back and Verloren touches her to catch her, and we know that as the god of death, his touch kills everything. And because of this, he is obsessed with finding her reincarnation on earth to the point he basically kills people just to see if their soul is truly Eve's and he reincarnates time and time again, just to continue his search for her. And we find out that it's basically all for nothing, because Eve has reincarnated as the light in every human's souls, as the goodness in their hearts. I personally think that it's very fitting that someone as warm and empathetic as Eve had basically become the manifestation of human kindness.

So yeah, I find it beautiful that 07-Ghost shows the duality of love. How love, while generally a positive emotion, can also lead to something terrible. The worst crimes in 07-Ghost are all done in the name of love.

[starleska]

For the f/o ask, Monika? 😏

squeals - Monika!!!! my sweetie!!! 😭💖 i'd be more than happy to oblige my friend 🥰 my apologies for taking a little while, i've been busy (ironically) with my Literature dissertation!! What made me like them: ohhh come on you guys know me well enough by now. a morally corrupt, obsessive, murderous, intelligent, reality-bending redhead? i was smitten the moment i saw her!! prior to playing the game i was already aware that she was at least a little villainous, but her personality captured my heart very quickly 🥰 the real answer is that i found DDLC once again through Markiplier, and much like with BBIEAL quickly became invested in the fan content - especially the fan songs, like JT Music's Doki Doki Literature Club Song. Andrea Storm Kaden's yandere, melancholy portrayal of Monika with that cute little giggle just got me in the heart;;; slap on top of that all of the other fabulous fan songs (looking at all of OR3O's Monika performances) and adorable fan content, and i just didn't have a chance;;; 💖 My favourite thing about them: 1000% her intensity. i apologise for being such a cliché but almost every character i love has this kind of inappropriate focus, the kind of drive to get whatever they want, and Monika is no exception. she cares so deeply about you and tells you that no matter how others feel, that she will always love you...that just makes my heart melt 🥺 put it this way; Monika would have been my favourite even if DDLC were a perfectly normal dating sim, but given she becomes a reality-bending killer, doing it all for you??? she's just perfect 😭💖 plus, she's got that dual science-humanities thing i really love in a character. i'd say a code-breaking president of a literature club counts as one hell of a nerd, and i love nerds!! (honestly, i'd put her in the same category as Sans;;;) but besides that she's a lover of books, words and poetry, and without fail that trait always snags me!! being a Literature student myself, i'd love nothing more than to curl up someplace cosy with her and read side-by-side, maybe exchanging passages every now again while we enjoy each other's company :) Nicknames we have for each other: this question makes me scream because nicknames fluster me!!! i think she likes to be given romantic, meaningful nicknames - 'angel', 'sunshine', etc. just being in her presence, i don't think i'd be able to hold back from calling her all manner of sweet things 🥺 but for the day-to-day, when she doesn't want to be embarrassed around her friends, i'd stick to 'Moni' 🥰 much like with all of my f/os i would take any cute nicknames given to me, but i'm incredibly weak for a 'darling', 'sweetheart', 'baby', etc. Monika is a poet, after all - i'm sure she'd come up with beautiful nicknames that would make me blush 💖💖 A headcanon of our relationship/friendship: university AU baby!!! i'm doing my Masters in English Lit so i love imagining meeting her on my course and bonding quickly over our shared love for beautiful words. i do really like Monika's poetry: it's mature and captivating in a way which seizes you without the need for purple prose or minimalism. just the idea of having little coffee dates where we work on our assignments and writing together...gosh 😳 My favourite image of them:

there are so many adorable images of Monika both in-game and from fanart, but i'm going to have to default to this precious, coy little pose 🥺🥺 i love how she giggles when she's teasing you and looking for your attention!! Anything else? it's quite rare that i have a feminine-presenting f/o so Monika completely blindsided me, and i couldn't be happier for it!!! Monika is another pandemic f/o and she has been such a wonderful comfort all this time...i love her so much 😭💖 [ask game]

[deliahscrush2003]

Hiii! I meant to send this last week, but I forgot. You mentioned you wanted to gush about TW? Gush away! What are the popular or unpopular ships, whether canon or fanon, that you don't get, and why? :-D

Hey @wordspin-shares ! No worries, we all lose track of things!

That is an excellent question and I just want to thank you for giving me the chance to rant about Teen Wolf and stuff because it really gives me motivation to write!!

TW: Before I go on, I know the fandom can be sensitive about ships, so let me make it clear for anyone who comes across this, this is just MY opinion. This is not fact, this is not hate, this is just ships that I don't personally get and why I don't get them. If anyone wants to have a civil, rational discussion about any of this, you're free too. I am a flexible person, so I like to rationalise and understand my perspectives and other people's perspectives. I'm all for respecting others (unless of course, others are spreading hate or toxicity).

Teen Wolf Ships I Don't Get (Just My Opinion, Don't Hate Me)

Stiles Stilinski x Peter Hale

I kind of understand how people came to ship it. The two have great banter, witty moments and interactions, especially in Season 1 and Season 3a. Season 6a, they were stuck in the Ghost Rider's train station so that was bound to get everyone in love with the Forced Proximity trope hot under the collar. Not to mention Peter is hot.

Things that don't engage me about this ship:

Peter is old enough to be Stiles' dad.

Stiles is a teenager for a good portion of the show (16 - 18) and Peter is in his 40s.

Peter is Malia's father, who Stiles canonically dates.

Maybe if I saw more fics where Stiles was out of highschool before he was paired with an older man, than maybe I could enjoy it but I can't.

Another thing that I don't get is why Stiles is constantly positioned as a timid, damsel in distress to Peter's big bad wolf?

One of the things I love about Stiles as a character is that he might be in the most terrifying situation, but he's anything but timid. He'll verbally kick the ass of every single Teen Wolf big bad and that's like erased in fanon when he's suddenly next to a big bad wolf?

Additionally, the narrative that Peter is the rescuer to help empanicpate Stiles from his supposed abuser and villain, Scott, doesn't really make sense to me but that applies to almost every single Stiles x villain pairing so…

Scott McCall x Malia Tate

Look, their sexual chemistry was pretty good, all thing considering. It just that Scalia had no romantic build up. To me, when I was watching Teen Wolf, it came out of nowhere with no hints of anything between them prior to Season 6b.

There was not a strong relationship between them besides friendship and packmates before Season 6b. I guess you could count him being the one to turn her back to human in Season 3a as a form of connection, but to me this only meant that she became part of his pack.

Maybe if their relationship had grown from that moment in 3a instead of Stalia's (which didn't have so much as chemistry but a fantastic build up and plotline), then maybe I would be able to understand it and even enjoy it.

Honestly though, after Allison, Scott's best canonical relationship was with Kira, who matched him well in both personality, development and storyline. Ironically enough, my favourite Malia ship is also with Kira. I just love Kira, guys.

I think there are some ships that are better platonic, and I especially find Scott and Malia's relationship lacking in fics where they just come off as stoic co-leaders rather than actual romantic partners.

Jordan Parrish x Lydia Martin

I understand that from a narrative standpoint, their connection as Hellhound and Banshee would obviously leave them with some sort of tension and that would have probably engaged me if their human identities were completely different.

Specifically, if Parrish was not, say, 24, a grown man, and a police officer. Whereas, Lydia is, what, 17-18 Season 4-5a, but still a teenage girl in highschool.

The power imbalance between their human identities is just off-putting, and if there's one thing about me that you should know it's that I can't ship two characters who are not equals in someway or another. It's not as bad as Stiles and Peter, but any young girl getting into a relationship with a man in position of authority just isn't my cup of tea. If there's a huge disreprency in respect, age, trust, power or authority, than it just puts me off.

Maybe if their connection was approached differently from on the show? If anyone knows fics that could help me acclimate this ship, that would be great?

If anyone has anymore questions about my personal Teen Wolf preferences and headcannons, I am open to discussion at anytime!

[[ RE: Discussion, not Hate. If you send Hate, you will be blocked. If you send Anon Hate, it won't see the light of day on my blog, so why bother send it?]]