#even a basic romance idc

[mariuspompom]

Can you guys recommend me a good and highly addictive kdrama please? I've tried Arthdal chronicles and I found it boring. Then I tried Vincenzo and it just wasn't for me at all. I *love* korean cinema so much and I wish I could find a kdrama I can bingewatch 😒

[bridgertonphd]

taking a break from witcher 2 bc it took me several years to figure out markarth’s layout in skyrim and now i gotta do this all over again in vergen. and i can’t use map markers to help me out 😭 and there’s not enough map markers naturally 😭😭😭

[icanbeyourgenie]

CALRON (Taylor's Version) — fearless

you're not sorry / fearless / you belong with me / love story / hey stephen / white horse / the way i loved you / the other side of the door

[themindelectricdemo4]

i got a new roommate thre other went aaway..........she is so wonderful & nice to me. her name is very cute too. she is epic hope hses hanving a fangtastic week

[seethestarsalittlecloser]

So I’ve been thinking about Bruce, Clark, superbat, and queerness and how sexuality would have interacted with their various identities depending on the time period.

(cw: discussions of homophobia)

These days, I’ve seen a lot of fics where Brucie Wayne has always styled himself as a bisexual disaster and leaned into that aspect of his identity to sell the brucie wayne persona and sometimes it’s super fun! I love that for him! But I’m in the process of writing a fic where superbat have a summer romance in their late teens/early 20s pre-capes and then meet up years later and there’s angst and one-sided identity shenanigans as bruce realises that Superman is the One That Got Away, etc, (and also how much the way he left clark back then fucked clark up real good).

So I was doing the maths to figure out when that actually would have been, using that Tim Drake Robin comic run that was set in 2007 as a baseline and combining that with basic info/generally accepted facts/fanon on how far apart the bat kids are in age etc. And I worked out that Bruce was probably born (in that continuity) around 1967 I assumed that Clark was maybe slightly younger for the sake of the fic so lets say he’s born in 1969 (also. I think it would be funny for clark to be the same age as the Moon Landing). Which means superbat would have both grown up and started figuring out sexuality stuff in the eighties.

Even if you set aside how traumatic it was to be a queer person in that time period, that means that Dick would have been orphaned in 1993 or ‘94 (give or take) and Jason would have come along in approximately 2002. Idc how rich he is, a single, openly queer man would not have been given custody of children in the 90s or 00s. For such a high-profile openly queer man, even trying would have been a disaster - not only potentially for Bruce and Dick as individuals, but for Wayne Enterprises (and Batman, indirectly) by association.

And even if Bruce and Clark are in their early forties in 2025, that still means they would have been coming of age in the early 00s. Basically, if we wanna be historically accurate about it (and totally chill if you don’t! I also enjoy escapism sometimes!) Brucie Wayne had way too much to lose (mostly his kids) to be openly Bi for most of his life. Maybe if he’d never adopted Dick as his ward or Jason as his sons it wouldn’t matter so much.

Idk as a queer who remembers how homophobic things were in the 2000s, I’m compelled by the idea of this being another thing Bruce has to sacrifice for his family and his mission, another point of difference between the man and the Brucie Wayne persona.

[luminousdryad]

yeah I ship Aglaea and Anaxa(goras) idk I just think there's a lot of lore we don't know about them yet bc the 3.2 quest had more focus on Castorice's lore rather than an in depth expansion on Aglanaxa's dynamic (plus their Titans being lovers and Cerces shipping them while they're trying to avoid each other is funny)

idc if people disagree w the ship; they're entitled to their own opinion, as am I and if you don't ship them then don't waste your time commenting about it, but the consistent mischaracterization of Anaxa (and Aglaea by extension) irks me

they appeared to hate each other at first in 3.1, that gave birth to the divorced couple memes, but 3.2 reveals that they actually don't dislike each other and find the other to be really admirable–it's just that their ideals clash with one another, which is not indicative of personal hatred.

Upon reading his thoughts, Cerces gives the audience an insight to how Anaxa actually feels about Aglaea: "...you think quite highly of her, no?" to which he'll respond (in EN anyway) with a little stutter, the only time his present voice isn't steady. Later, Aglaea basically says she respects that Anaxa can stand opposed to the world unwaveringly.

these two do not dislike each other, I feel like assuming they do undermines the complexity of their relationship and what's revealed in 3.2–that for all they scoff at each other, they're really not that different from one another with their self-destructiveness when it comes to fulfilling their goals, and even respect the other for it–and oh, they hate that they do, because, well, pride. It's actually a really interesting dynamic to think about, and it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic, even if it has undertones of it.

I also just think that it's neat that Aglaea is the demigod of Romance but is the stoic™ and has more similarities to the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena with her leadership and being a voice of reason, while Anaxa, chosen by the Titan of Reason, is driven by love and passion: he loved his sister so much he sacrificed his eye to see her again and never let go of the dromas plushie she gave him, he takes pride Phainon, Castorice and Hyacine as supported by extra material, he's passionate in his research and teaching.

they are foils your honor

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Oct 8th

~*~

1. Hello! Thank you for being doing this, I find so many things I haven't read! Today, I'm in the mood for any fic where WWX is really shy only around LWJ, like, incredibly nervous, and they end up together eventually, maybe one where LWJ is the one who flirts, subtly, in his way and WWX loses his mind over it �� @ghostwolf-93

loveliness by orphan_account (T, 1k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Pining, Teen Romance, Getting Together)

Back up and dream again by The Silverfish (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 3k, WangXian, Fix-It, Time Travel, Fluff, Flirting, Cute, Embarrassed WWX)

🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 828k, WangXian, WIP, Fix-it of sorts, Talisman master WWX, Not JFM Friendly, Study Arc, Getting together, Fluff and Angst, Engagement) The first few chapters of Stunted, Starving Juvenility () feature a flustered Wei Ying after he realizes he's attracted to Lan Zhan which is close to the request but maybe not quite what they were after.

~*~

2. I am in the mood for a fic with dark Jiang Cheng (maybe even demonic cultivator Cheng) and some Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian pairing. It could be alternate universe where they didn't grow up like siblings and I would like some arranged marriage between them. It doesn't have to come through and the endgame can be different pairing. I am curious if there is such fic out there.

~*~

3. hello and thank you so much for what you do!!! I just read "although my mind is young, it is not gentle" by everythingispoetry and I was hoping you could recommend me something similar? Something centered around Lan Sizhui and showing his relationship with Lan Wangji and/or Wei Wuxian. Could be him growing up pre-canon or during canon , idc. @ladyhavilliard

let the yoke fall from our shoulders by occultings (microcomets) (G, LSZ & LWJ, LSZ & WWX, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ & WWX, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Character Study, Mentions of Canonical Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Gusu Lan Juniors Dynamics, let capricorns cathart agenda, Happy Ending, Family Feels, Established Relationship)

🔒 Not Yet (There As Needed) by sunrise_and_death (T, 13k, LSZ & WWX, JL & WWX, JL & LSZ, WangXian, Post-Canon, Family Feels, Family Bonding, POV LSZ, This Fic Has Everything, even more yearning, WWX & LSZ figuring out wtf their relationship is, Dramatic Revelations)

Important Distinctions by nagi_blue (T, 5k, gen, Fluff and Crack, [Podfic] Important Distinctions by semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona)

your name, safe in their mouth by astrolesbian (G, 10k, LSZ & WWX, WangXian, Father-Son Relationship, Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, More aligned with CQL than novel canon, Miscommunication, Eventual Positive Communication, Trying to be a family, how to tell your dad you want him to be your dad in 6 easy steps!)

Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart (Not Rated, 19k, LSZ & LWJ, WangXian, dad wangji, LWJ’s Questionable Parenting Skills, Grief/Mourning, Recovery, Injury Recovery, Hopeful Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses [podfic] by someplacelikebolivia)

Inquiry by incendir (G, 10k, LSZ & LWJ, WangXian)

to the act of making noise by words-writ-in-starlight (WordsWritInStarlight) (G, 19k, LSZ & LWJ, LSZ & WWX, WangXian, Grief/Mourning, Father-Son Relationship, inquiry, LSZ is the best of boys and I will not hear debate, Music, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, [Podfic] to the act of making noise by Ceewelsh, flamingwell, kisahawklin, Rionaa) This is basically Lan Yuan growing up with Inquiry as a lullaby (and seeing LWJs grief through his eyes) I'm not familiar with the fic mentioned in the ask, but this fic focuses on LSZ growing up. Tissue alert! And double tissue alert for the podfic version

to recollect and long for by mme_anxious (T, 4k, LSZ & LWJ, LXC & LWJ, WangXian, Angst, Humor, Fluff, weird mix of book and live action, Forehead Ribbons, Family Feels, Weddings, Sort Of, POV Multiple)

~*~

4. HII! Can you please find some zombie au's with wangxian? Ty!

The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 (M, 277k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, Zombie Apocalypse, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Accidental Baby Acquisition During a Zombie Apocalypse, Junior Quartet, (except they’re all babies), Angst with a Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Ensemble Cast, Worst Zombie Fighting Team Ever, Found Family) Amazing Zombie AU

When the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation takes a week off by galaxy_in_your_eyes (T, 20k, WangXian, Modern Cultivation, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives, only those that deserve it, kind of fix-it, Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, POV Alternating, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts, Brief Mentions of Cannibalism, Zombies, We don’t see the Zombie Apocalypse, It happens behind closed doors, WWX in quarantine, Wangxian being Wangxian, Mentions of Smut, Established Relationship, Courtesy Names, local necromancer gets sick with the flu)

Darkness Before the Dawn by Selenay (E, 64k, wangxian, Zombie Apocalypse, Modern With Magic, Necromancer WWX, Reunions, toddler A-Yuan, There Was Only One Bed, There are zombies but not graphically horrific zombies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Find a home in the middle of an apocalpyse)

when the sun goes out by travelingneuritis (E, 176k, WangXian, Modern Cultivation, tech cultivation, Necromancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, insecurity around adoption, Dad!WWX, dad!lwj, Grief/Mourning, Mistaken Identity, Mood Whiplash, Body Swap, sex tears!, Falling In Love, Consensual Somnophilia, apocalypse (localized), Smut, unrealistic sexual stamina, Flashbacks, Time Skips, Illustrations)

❤️ A Corpse Called By Name by jaemyun (Not rated, 60k, WangXian, Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Horror, Zombie WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, yunmeng trio, Eventual WangXian, WWX is dad material even in death, Humor, YLLZ but make him dead, A Corpse Called By Name by jaemyun [Podfic] by Miss Appellation (Lizeth)) WIP podfic / featuring WWX doing the impossible again, being the best big brother, dad and LZ's crush as a consious boss zombie! Beware of some angst tho

a thousand teeth, yours among them by darkredloveknot (enheduane) (E, 10k, WangXian, Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Violence, Mild Gore, Hook-Up, Falling In Love, metaphysical sexual body horror (??), Non-Sexual Intimacy, Melancholy)

~*~

5. hello! i would love recs for mpreg fics set in canon/post-canon that are NOT a/b/o.

🧡Accidents Will Happen by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 45k WangXian, Post Canon, Mpreg, Fluff, Light angst, Mojo's post)

Bloom where you are planted by luckymoonly (M, 44k wangxian, MM/WQ, Canon Divergence, Fix It, courting, Mpreg, Sunshot Campaign, Fluff, Happy Ending, getting together early, Romance, WWX giving birth in the middle of the war? Most likely than you think!, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, Smut, Drama, Blood and Violence, Minor Character Death, There Is Only One Bed, No Fall of Lotus Pier, Crossdressing, Shotgun Wedding, Mention of miscarriage (not WWX), wangxian Have a Breeding Kink, Giving Birth, Soft granduncle LQR)

Blooming in white by luckymoonly (T, 38k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, MM/WQ, NMJ/LXC, NHS/JC, Canon Divergence, Mpreg, Getting Together, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, hidden pregnancy, Mutual Pining, Drama, Misunderstandings, Everyone Lives AU, Miscommunication, WWX and NHS are BFF, matchmaker NHS, Fix-It)

Impermanence, Transience, Permanence by Best Bepsy (BepsyGray) (E, 39k, wangxian, canon divergence, unplanned pregnancy, mpreg, gore, sunshot campaign, assumed miscarriage, medical procedures, childbirth, golden core reveal)

in a river you wade by bleuett (M, 20k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Mpreg, Postpartum Depression, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Good Uncle LQR, Family Feels, Happy Ending, Kid Fic)

Take My Pieces, Make Me Whole by InTheGreySpaces (M, 297k, WangXian, NieLan, ChengQing, XuanLi, Canon Divergence, Angst, Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt WWX, JC & WWX Reconciliation, JC is a good brother, LXC Is A Good Brother, Golden Core Reveal, Mpreg, Yuan really IS WWX's son, and LWJ is his other father, LQR is a good uncle, Eventual Happy Ending, WWX Has Memory Issues, NMJ is a good brother, Hurt LWJ, Hurt NMJ, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, tiny bit of non-con, chapters will be tagged individually with necessary warnings, sentient Yin Iron)

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6. I am in the mood of fic with some body swap trope. I mean like if Lan Zhan swapped his body with Wei (maybe some magic went wrong) and both have to pretend to be who they are not. Or it could be bodyswap with any other character. Lan Zhan and Huaisang or Wei and Mingjue or anyone else. I think there is big potential for great stories in there. No modern aus or gender swap please.

🔒💙 Holding shreds by barisan (T, 5k, WangXian, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, No Sunshot Campaign, Body Swap, Not for sexy shenanigans, Chronic Pain, Hurt WWX, Hurt LWJ, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Abusive YZY, Bad Parent YZY, Bad Parent JFM, Good Uncle LQR, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, POV WWX, Angst with a Happy Ending, Jiāng Family Bashing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Getting Together, Smart WWX)

come home to my heart by occultings (microcomets) (M, 29k, WangXian, Bodyswap, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Canon Divergence, First Time, Getting Together, Confessions, Sharing a Bed, Misunderstandings, and a little bit of hurt/comfort as a treat)

These next two are crossovers with TGCF & the body swaps involve characters from that story:

🔒even across a thousand miles by merryofsoul (T, 10k, WangXian, HuaLian, Bodyswap, Post-Canon, Light Angst, Crossover, POV Alternating)

lost my fear of falling by thefireplanet (E, 30k, WangXian, HuaLian, Bodyswap, YLLZ WWX, WWX-centric, WangXian-centric, Post-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Canon-Typical Wangxian Sex Things)

Two Sides of the Same Coin by JiangChengLotus (T, 4k, XiCheng, WangXian, Bodyswap,Humor, Fluff, Bonding, Chaos, Developing Friendships, Misunderstandings)

flux by orphan_account (E, 60k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Canon Continuation, Case Fic, Getting Together, Sharing a Bed, Curses, Bodyswap, Sharing a Body, Psychic Bond, Love Confessions, Light Angst with a Happy Ending, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Sexual Tension, Explicit Sexual Content, Masturbation, Telepathic Sex, Investigations, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Slow Build, Slow Burn) i have to recommend Flux! its a case fic that starts out as bodyswap and eventually leads to sharing a body where they can jump between their two bodies together. its so interesting and i find myself coming to back to it from time to time

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7. ITMF request pls 🙏🏻 there's quite a few reincarnation/time-travel fix-its where either both WWX and LWJ retain their previous memories, or only LWJ but not WWX. Are there any where WWX retains his, but not LWJ? Thank you in advance ♥️♥️

Practical Mythology by metisket (T, 17k, WangXian, Time Travel, YLLZ WWX, myths and legends, apparently the burial mounds has to fix everything itself, zombie farm collective, accidental deities, Families of Choice, WWX has no idea what he’s doing, that’s why he’s doing great) WWX travels back in time & becomes known as a powerful immortal. Baby!LWJ grows up on the myths

Last(?) Loop by PyrrhaIphis (T, 9k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Time Loop, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, before the Cloud Recesses study arc) WWX is in a timeloop, but told from pov of LWJ, who is not in the loop

❤️ And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 138k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together) multiple podfics and translations into multiple languages available

Wish me luck by starlight1395 (Not Rated, 164k, WangXian, Fix It, Time Travel, Angst, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Nightmares, Slight fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Lots of tears, canon levels of blood/violence, Minor Character Death, secondary character death, Sibling Bonding, JC curses alot, battle scenes with appropriate levels of violence and blood, semi mild smut, it's emotional and soft smut tho so it's okay, mild Self-harm)

Lay my body down by tawaen (M, 48k, WWX & WQ, WWX & WN, wangxian, WWX & JYL, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Eventual WangXian, No Golden Core Transfer, Not Cultivation World Friendly, Canon-Typical Violence, Not JC Friendly, What if WWX saw the first siege of the burial mounds and said Nope to the war, OCs, OC point-of-view for one chapter for plot reasons) has WWX's soul zip back to the moment JC strangled him. The memories are incomplete but I think it still counts?

We’ll Build A Dynasty (one the heavens can’t shake) by One_eyed_God (T, 66k, WangXian, WWX & WQ, WWX & WN, WWX & JYL, canon typical Jiang family dynamics, BAMF WWX, Canon JC Characteristics, POV Outsider, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, WWX is a Wen, Sect Leader WWX, Genius WWX, The Casual Intimacy of Hand-Holding, A Love Letter to WWX, Not JC Friendly, Time Travel Fix-It) is one where WWX is the only one to travel, but the story is told from everyone else's POV

two guys r in love thats literally it by victortor (M, 11k, wangxian, Time Travel, the fluffiest thing ive ever written)

~*~

8. Itmf more like " dispersing clouds ". I Just love the wwx in it. He's written soo good there. Especially the aspect of him being a head disciple, the author wrote about it in such a way that he actually felt like a head disciple. That one paragraph about him waking up and going " 5 laps around the pier now. " It was soo hotttt! Helooo?

Everything else in the book was written so perfectly true to every character.

This book comes par with " 12 moons and a fortnight " for me NGL. @constellationdks

Just go forward like you mean it by tawaen (M, 101k, WangXian, WWX & WN &WQ, WWX & JYL, NHS & WWX, Canon Divergence, WWx does not attend the Wen indoctrination, WWX saves Lotus Pier, Inventor WWX, No Golden Core Transfer, Sect Leader JYL, JC Has No Golden Core, Bad Parents JFM & YZY, Not JC Friendly, but he gets a happier ending than canon so don’t look here for bashing) Like in Dispersing Clouds, WWX leaves the Jiang but spends time fixing the defences & interacting with elders & fellow disciples. I definitely feel it has similar vibes to that fic

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9. hi!! im looking for recs where both lwj and wwx time travel to the past (preferably longer and novel canon, but anything works!) thank u!!

Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WWX & WN & WQ, JC & WWX, wangxian, graphic depictions of violence, major character death, Canon Divergence, Angst, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Time Travel Fix-It, Not JC Friendly, Dark, BAMF WWX, mentions of abuse, Not Everyone Dies au, XY doesn’t have a happy ending)

🔒 Here With Me by iamwish (T, 58k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, wwx turns this into a no war!au, Canon-Typical Violence, Period-Typical Homophobia, Bad Parent YZY, POV WWX, POV LWJ, POV JC, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, WWX Has PTSD, and also depression sometimes, Unreliable Narrator, (all of them))

💖 Regrets by antebunny (G, 37k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Time Travel, Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Angst, Explicit Descriptions of Love, and other squishy feelings, Angst with a Happy Ending)

🔒 Ad Oblivione by Baph, HikariNoHimeWriter (M, 70k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, POV Multiple, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Identity Reveal, Golden Core Reveal, Cultivation World Critical, Not JC Friendly, Abusive YZY, Angst with a Happy Ending) Out of the pair of them, initially only WWX remembers, but LWJ regains his memories of the undone timeline over the course of the fic

A Life Without Regrets by naqaashi (M, 163k, WangXian, JFM & WWX, JC & WWX, WRH & WWX, LXC & LWJ, LQR & LWJ, LWJ & NHS, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Crack Treated Seriously, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Murder Husbands, PTSD, BAMF WWX, Cultivation Sect Politics, Genius WWX, Cultivation Theory, Sentient Burial Mounds, Dysfunctional Family, Grief/Mourning, Angry WWX, No Golden Core Transfer, BAMF LWJ, Angry LWJ, One-Braincell WangXian, Idiots in Love, Requited Love, Requited Unrequited Love, Soft WangXian, Married WangXian, Soulmates, Not Cultivation World Friendly, Immortal WWX, Canon-Typical Violence, Not JC Friendly, Not Yunmeng Jiang friendly, not gusu lan friendly, Immortal LWJ)

Family by Quiet_crash (G, 57k, WangXian, XuanLi, Time Travel Fix-It, Grief/Mourning, Loss of Parent(s), Established Relationship)

The Wild Geese’s Tomb by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (T, 66k, WangXian, Time Travel AU, fixit, Temporary Character Death, all women live no women die, LWJ’s canonically intense feelings about everything all the time, WWX’s clinical depression gets treated and blamed on resentful energy, navigating gay marriage in ancient china by utiliizing class snobbery for your own ends, if you’re not sure whose fault anything going on in here is then blaming NHS is probably a good bet, WWX plays ‘summon LWJ’ it’s super effective!, the ‘unexploded cow’ approach to dealing with your enemies) CQL rather than novel canon, but it's too good to not recommend

~*~

10. Itmf: the most comforting and soft fic recs you have!

I want a happy ending and for it to be about Wangxian. I don't care about length, it can be a long, plot filled story, as long as there's plenty of fluff!

I'm talking lots of cuddles, soft kisses, non sexually bathing each other, hair brushing, things like that! Bonus points for the smell of sandalwood relaxing Wei Wuxian, but certainly not required!

Thank you all! @acebookdragon47

Continuation by thefaceofno (T, 13k, WangXian, 3zun if you squint, Canon Continuation, wwx builds a lotus pond in cloud recesses, Hair Brushing, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Pining, gay disaster lwj, Post-Canon Fix-It)

call me home and I’ll build you a throne by anaphoricae (E, 51k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Post-CQL, Canon Compliant, Getting Together, Developing Relationship, Self-Indulgent, Gusu Lan Juniors Dynamics, Touch-Starved, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Sexual Intimacy, Lán Juniors Gossiping about Wangxian, Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Farmer WWX, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Mutual Pining, Communication, Quietly Falling Into a Married Life, Light Angst, Wholesome, POV LWJ, POV WWX, LWJ in braids agenda, Sharing a Bed, Semi-Public Sex, Inventor WWX, Jealous WWX)

where the chaos is by darkredloveknot (enheduane) (E, 6k, WangXian, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Compliant, Post-Canon Reunions, Love Confessions, First Kiss, First Time, Emotions, WWX is overwhelmed, Domestic Bliss, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX, Intimacy, Hair Brushing, and more!)

🔒Heart of hearts series by apathyinreverie (M, 40k, WangXian, Dark LWJ, (Ish), Amnesia, WWX gets to be Not Okay after the BM, Hurt WWX, Recovery, Protective LWJ, Possessive LWJ, some definite manipulation, but not everything is as it seems, not nearly as dark as the tags make it sound, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Reveal, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Kind Of, Domestic WangXian, Fluff, WWX Goes to Gusu, Possessive WWX, Sunshot Campaign, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, Not Cultivation World Friendly)

We Meet at the Thousandth Step by Admiranda, Rynne (T, 316k, WangXian, CSSR/WCZ, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign, CSSR & WCZ Live, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Different First Meeting, Night Hunts, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Plot, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Everyone Lives, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, WWX’s Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, WWX Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings, Married WangXian, Honeymoon, Wangxian’s Baby Fever)

~*~

11. itmf fics where characters have a crush on wei wuxian or fall for his charms?

Cotton Wool by incendir (M, 34k, wangxian, LJY/OMC, JL/LSZ, JC & WWX)

Help, My Dad Is Fucking Someone My Age!! by sweetlolixo (T, 3k, WangXian, LSZ & LWJ, Canon Divergence, Humor, Crack, Fluff, Romance)

Transcend by covalentbonds (not rated, 7k, WIP, WangXian, Post-Canon, Fluff and Humor, Smut, YLLZ WWX is prettiest fight me)

~*~

12. hi! this is for itmf.

can you recommend fics that discuss sizhui’s dislike for jiang cheng? this could be because of his treatment towards wei wuxian or maybe because of his treatment and dislike of the wen remnants. thanks!

on the importance of restraint (or lack thereof) by nixtothou (G, 3k, background WangXian, LSZ & JC, Families of Choice, Light Angst, LZS Needs a Hug, Angry LSZ, i simply think lsz deserves to snap, zhuiling if you squint, Not for jc stans, Post-Canon, Character Study)

Symmetry by Vir_Abelasan (M, 13k, LSZ & WWX, WangXian, One-Sided JC/WWX, One-Sided JC/LSZ, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Canon Divergence, LSZ is raised by WWX, WWX still dies sorry, Revenge, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Dark LSZ, Manipulation, Power Imbalance, Torture, Not JC Friendly, JC’s Canonical 13 Years Murder Spree, BAMF LSZ, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, LSZ Gets to Go Apeshit)

~*~

13. itmf wwx or lwj centric modern setting long fic with some family angst! preferrably not slow burn, no vers please! thank u <3

🧡🔒Truth Will Out (when caught on video) - End_OTW_Racism! by KizuKatana (E, 179k, wangxian, WN & WWX & WQ, graphic depictions of violence, modern cultivation, canon divergence, YZY abuses WWX, caught on camera, partial core removal, WWX kicked out of Jiang sect, livestreamer WWX, meet ugly, dual cultivation, smut, no war)

Ornaments Under the Stars by trippednfell (M, 62k, wangxian, Modern, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, the wangxian Hallmark Movie AU no one asked for, plot and title were randomly generated, Kidfic, Disabled Character, debilitating injury as substitute for missing golden core, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note, Angst with a Happy Ending, Guest starring Lan Zhan’s sky blue coat, The Coat deserves its own tag, disordered eating habits - not a major plot point, WIP)

❤️ save a sword, ride a socialist by sysrae (E, 33k, wangxian, modern w magic, college/university au, fake/pretend relationship, single parent WWX, homophobia, light angst w/ happy ending, idiots to lovers, fluff)

‘Let’s go home.’ by Crowgirl (E, 27k, WangXian, Coffee Shops & Cafés, LQR's Excellent Parenting, Meet-Cute, First Kiss, First Time, First Meetings, Pining, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Angst with a Happy Ending, Modern AU, Past XiYao, past emotional abuse, Past Emotional Manipulation)

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14. hello! for the next itmf i have three requests! i would love to see canon/post-canon fics of

A. jingyi seeing wangxian as his parents

B. jin ling seeing wwx as a parent

C. jin ling struggling with his feelings about jc after finding out the truth about everything

no AUs please!

~*~

15. Hi! so this request is under itmf i think!

i didn’t see much mention of this but are these any fics that talk about lwj and wwx’s class difference? anything where wwx gets to experience luxury for the first time as lwj’s husband? 🥹 it doesn’t have to be in detail but i would love to read about that!

as always thank you for your blog and all that you do 🫶

🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 859k, WangXian, WIP, Fix-it of sorts, Talisman master WWX, Not JFM Friendly, Study Arc, Getting together, Fluff and Angst, Engagement) In the early parts of this fic, WWX worries about how LWJ is out of his league class-wise & that the elders will never allow them to get together

~*~

16. hi! are there any canon divergence fics where wei ying snaps out of whatever disassociation he experienced and manages to save lan zhan before the elders can even get to punish him? like, the whipping didnt happen at wei ying lives type of beat. thank you!

~*~

17. Hi! Hope you have a nice day! I’d like to ask for fics which include a-yuan calling Wuxian his dad or wwx calling wen qing his sister

The most dangerous thing is to love by KatAnni (E, 113k, WangXian, Golden Core Reveal, Fix-It, Everybody Lives, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Hurt!WWX, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Torture, POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Cannibalism, Panic Attacks, PTSD, Golden Core Transfer, Golden Core Transfer Fix-it, Medical Procedures, Fainting, Major Character Injury, Blood and Injury, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Asexual JC, homophobia doesn’t exist here, Marriage Proposal, Marriage, Wedding Night, Whump) a-Yuan refers to Wei Ying as his dad starting in chapter 18

❤️ Seen and not heard by eatmyass (E, 51k, wangxian, case fic, no sunshot, kid fic, dadxian, strangers to lovers, found family, LWJ pov, pining, fake/pretend relationship, first time, falling in love)

The Core Issue by Hauntcats (T, 21k, WangXian, Angst with a Happy Ending, Not JC Friendly, Canon Divergence)

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[justiceiscalling]

why have i never seen any batman fics based off epic the musical songs??? like omg i was just listening to the playlist and i was thinking, wtf, why is ruthlessness so jason todd coded??

"you are the worst kind of good cause you're not even great! a greek who reeks of self righteousness, that's what i hate! cause you fight to save lives, but won't kill and don't get the job done. i mean you totally could've avoided all this had you just killed my son! but no."

like if that's not jason to bruce then what else is it????

'we'll be fine' is so tim to literally everyone post jasons death and pre his revival reveal.

really i just want to see a fic series of epic the musical but with batfam members instead but like relate each fic to a song in epic. really, you could just make odysseus jason and then tim can be telemachus. and if you want a romance you can make penelope artemis or rose or roy or bring back rena (jason todd's first girlfriend pre-death), idc. or you can just not include romance and twist the lyrics to be more familial, and make penelope bruce or alfred or literally anyone jason has a familial bond with.

make polities roy, make eurdycice talia or just someone who would try to overrule jason if he was being too reckless. it literally does not matter to me.

so overall i'd love to see a series of fics where jason (i'll also accept damian or tim but i don't know about dick) is basically in odysseus situation and is trying to get back home to gotham OR a series of fics where songs from epic the musical apply to the batfam.

i hope this rant made sense, please PLEASE let me know if a fic like this is in the process of being made or is already made. i'm craving it.

[questionablecuttlefish]

Ezreal's kinda great actually.

Ez is a champ I used to love to hate, but he grew on me because once you get past his arrogant showboating e-boy wannabe shonen protagonist energy (and boy is it a lot) the fact that his entire ... the above thing is a masquerade for a lonely young man who blames himself for being abandoned by his parents is....wow ouch.

His backstory…oof, give that boy a hug. IDC what Christian Linke says, he would be fine in an Arcane-like show if you leaned into his bravado being a mask for loss.

I know we all rag on his crush on Lux, it's basically a running joke at this point but it's also an interesting bit of characterization…like the rest of his cocky adventurer persona it's completely superficial, he doesn't know anything about her except that she's blonde and pretty, and she doesn't know who he is.

And ofc they can't really work as a romance because Lux has SO MUCH GOING ON that has nothing to do with Ezreal, and her story is firmly grounded in Demacia, her family, and the plight of the Demacian mages, while Ezreal's story is all about his globetrotting adventures, his tomb raiding, his search for his parents.

If he stays with her, his story ends, if she goes with him, her story ends. They could in theory be a cute Disney protagonist romance, but the incompatibility of their storylines and the way Riot has spent probably over a decade now playing his feelings for laughs as a cringe, nigh-stalkery crush and her complete disinterest doesn't bode well for any kind of actual relationship coming of it.

It's not an evilbadtoxic ship by any means, it's just, imo, a bit of a nothingburger without enough actual connection or chemistry to make it worth sacrificing both characters for 'the ship'.

So the crush is funny (and Jarro Lightfeather is hysterical) but a critical part of an Ezreal character arc would be getting over it and moving on, imo. You don't give a guy a shallow stalker crush and then reward him with 'getting the girl' and call it character development, it's only character development if he doesn't.

Ez is at his most interesting when you can see the glimmers of him getting over himself and being the genuine hero he could be. (turning back to help Kai'Sa in Warriors is a good example).

I could really, really enjoy an Ezreal show where he ends up in a fun little D&D party with Kai'Sa and Taliyah running around Shurima exploring ancient ruins and battling Void horrors. I would LIVE for the comedic value of Ezreal being the most annoying showboaty jackass he possibly could be ("Ha ha! It's ALL skill") trying to impress the intimidatingly baddass Kai'Sa, whilst she's just so deadpan Raised By Wolves socially awkward killing-machine-trying-to-reconnect-to-humanity that she just takes him completely in stride.

Ez getting increasingly ridiculous in his antics and just completely failing to either impress OR annoy Kai'Sa would be just comedy gold, imo. Alternatively, getting back into the 'canon bi route' and my Ezko agenda, he he, Ezreal and Ekko actually make a really interesting pairing in the main timeline because

They've got a LITTLE bit of that oil-and-water energy with Ezreal being a Piltie, but he's an adventurous, inquisitive Piltie who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, so Ekko would appreciate that even as he was giving the guy MASSIVE sideeye for all the cultural theft.

Ezreal would annoy the shit out of Ekko, since he's such a damn poser and Ekko is such a genuine, grounded guy.

They're both very, very intelligent, though, and they're both big fat nerds. Ekko is much more on the genius tinkerer and inventor science nerd end and Ezreal much more on the lore, culture, history nerd end, but they are both big nerds.

I think Ezreal would be just in awe of Ekko from the moment they met. 'This guy is so f'cking COOL how do i get him to think I'm COOL' and then drive Ekko up the wall overcompensating trying to get his attention/approval but coming off as being hypercompetitive and showboaty.

But if Ekko (especially League Ekko, whose parents are such a big part of his story) gets a whiff of Ezreal's past and his parents, he's going to start seeing through Ez's masquerade very quick, and if there's one thing Ekko is, it's a compassionate person, a carer, who just wants to help.

The boys could bond over shared adventurers plumbing the depths of Zaun for some secret mystery hidden in the ruins of Oshra Va'Zaun that could potentially be a threat to Zaun or the Firelights, and that Ezreal has an archaeologist's interest in.

You get all the back-and-forth dynamic, conflict, bickering, and slow burn affection that make Ezko a fantastic ship.

I might just write this.

[petitepatateuwu]

Have some rants about my fav Sonic ships

Trust me when I say this is not what I intended to do for Valentine's day, but my access to the proper materials for my next big project is currently fairly limited, so instead have this (I didn't think I had so much to say I got a bit carried away 👉👈). This is heavy with aro/ace/aroace discourse because as an aroace myself I cannot help it, and huh, reminder that this is just for fun and everyone's opinions are accepted around here as long as it's respectful :3

Espilver is so wholesome I am willing to temporaly remove the aromantic label I put on both these guys. And when an aroace person is ready to drop this label for a ship you know it has to be good. (They're still both asexual idc tho)

I am prone to shipping Sonic with pretty much everyone (elligible for that at least) while thinking he's the biggest aroace mood ever (but I know I am not alone on that one)

Since I've started posting Sonic fanart, there has not been a SINGLE sonadow ship art, but I still really love this ship. Like it's mostly what got me into Sonic in the first place but I don't want to draw it (honestly I think my mind is just drawn to less popular things, I mean sonadow is already everywhere on my dashboard)

Because (except for espilver) my top ships are sonjet and surgamy, I'm basically shipping your two main hedgehogs who are sometimes implied to have feelings for eachother in a gay relationship with a green person with spiky hair and an attitude, and I thought it was funny because it was NOT on purpose xD

Speaking of sonjet I have like three different timelines existing in my mind with this, because I love the "they never dated but they are definitely exes now"/"they tried smt some time ago it didn't work out" narrative, but also the one where Sonic can be the perfect boyfriend and respond to Jet's needs and issues I imagined for him, and also the one where Jet is a total girlfailure of a man who tries to rizz up someone who has zero clue.

I have thought over and over about Blaze ships and my mind just blocks it. At first I thought it was just Silvaze because I was overprotective of my Silver's orientation (when I first saw it I thought "yeah he's aroace", and I'm not a fan of shipping a guy and a girl just because they interact with eachother and are close). But it's everything. Sonaze? I mean she blushed around him on several occasions, so what? I feel like she's just not used to social interaction. Blazamy? I see the fluff, I see the awesome lesbian couple (and I'm an Utena fan, I gotta love the pink/purple yuri), but it doesn't light up anything in me. Are they any other Blaze ships? Idk, but I can't see her with anyone romantically. Never has a character given me so much aroace vibes that the very forces of nature are preventing me to ship her.

Vectilla activates my brain chemistry like crazy. TF you mean the only "sega-approved" ship is between two grown ass people who are not even part of the main character group? And one is a single mother too? Like it's very simple but it's already a norm breaker in my opinion. Though usually a bunch of male characters have their own personally-crafted love interest, they fall in love for no reason and the love is immediately reciprocal because of course it is (*cough* looking at you ninjago). I think it also work because both Vector and Vanilla have their own things going on, and the romance is just a nice plus. And since Team Chaotix is already the peak of Sonic found family, it's also cool to think about the shenanigans with the children (aka Espio, Cream and Charmy). I am a strong Vectilla shipper and I will make you care about them >:)

[thissccounthatesfascists]

TL asleep? cool.

(long post, strap in)

i wanna talk about colin's wet dream. that was the most demisexual shit i have EVER seen. there's not even any sex. its just a romanticized, elevated version of their first kiss. its colin's subconscious wanting to replay the moment he fell in love with his best friend in the Most way possible.

lets break it down:

we got the same location of their first kiss. Complete with mood lighting and a fog machine. It’s giving pride and prejudice 2005

Penelope comes out (looking gorgeous, of course) to their rendezvous spot, which has been previously agreed on.

colin thanks her for meeting him, she doesn't know why he's asked her to come

he confesses his feelings for her

she reciprocates (this is the important part of this to me. ) her wanting him, makes him want her more (do you see where the demisexual colin energy is coming from? do you understand?)

they make out

he kisses her neck as she pants his name over and over (see my point above re: her wanting him makes him want her more)

he wakes up, absolutely shook

this is an idealized reimagining for colin: during their first kiss he was basically in shock, his new personality chokes on the reality and vulnerability of the moment

in the book he talks about how he tries to think of something witty to say but finds that no words are necessary, and there's no combination of witty banter or suave bravado that could help in that moment. the rake persona that he has put on up to this point absolutely fails him. but here, in this dream, words are crucial, the declarations of love are why its sexy! (demi colin is canon idc idc)

and its so important that this wet dream, the idealized version of this scenario happens like this. because we've also seen colin having sex with sex workers (and luke newton has talked about this) but his energy in those scenes is very detached, very focused on him and his pleasure with zero connection to the women he's with. he has two different threesomes (if you can even call the second one that, he's barely even looking at them) with four different women and we know nothing about these girls. they don't even get names. they don't matter, and its simply not. as. good. as the feeling of kissing pen. there is no connection

which is, i think, why he taps out during the threesome in ep4. he tries to go back to the devil-may-care attitude toward sex and intimacy that he had before kissing pen, he tries to return to that mask he put on of "the rake" and it just doesn't work! he feels nothing! in fact he feels disdain for the position he's in and the choices he's made!

the threesome in ep4 mirrors the outburst he has later at the club really well. like he's so frustrated with this position he's put himself in, the men he's surrounded himself with. he literally says "none of you are gentlemen!" "you're actually gross and disrespectful!"

a line that i love is :

"... it is tiring, is it not? The necessity imposed on us to remain cavalier about the one thing in life that holds genuine meaning. Do you not find it lonely?"

and they laugh! in! his! face! because these are men that feel perfectly fine sleeping with strangers and bragging about their "conquests" to their buddies

but that is not who colin is! he's still very young. and his experience with marina (who tried to seduce him and it didn't work, imo bc he just didn't feel that passion, that love that makes his relationship with penelope so different) has left him jaded, but not nearly as jaded as he wants to believe. even if he wants to be casual about romance and sex, he just isn't. this man proposed to marina after knowing her for what? a couple weeks? He is an All or Nothing type of guy. He has that Bridgerton 'when i fall in love i will only ever talk about my spouse' Gene

Now: some costuming details that i love:

Her hair:

(i know this is a stretch but go with me here) her hair is in slightly tighter curls than we've seen this season, which to me seems like a nod to colin liking (or at least not minding) her hair the way it was in previous seasons and maybe not caring as much as we might think about her transformation. but its still down and flowy and in line with her new style

let's talk about this! dress! (it has genuinely been keeping me up at night)

the sleeves seem much more similar to the silhouettes of her costumes in previous seasons, not necessarily in shape but in style

the sleeves are bulkier, compared to this season's costumes, which while they might have been the same size and shape, they are made of much lighter material, giving the silhouette a softer, more mature feeling.

compare it to this dress from s3 ep2: it looks very similar with the sleeve shape and the floral appliqués, but in the dress in the image above, the appliqués are much more obvious, closer to penelope's style under her mother's tastes

the point i'm trying to make here will be made more clear in a sec. what I am NOT trying to say that colin prefers her in her little girl dresses with loud designs, bright colors, and silly hairdos. he just associates those bigger, brighter, louder style choices with penelope.

And he has always liked Penelope. Even when he didn’t take her seriously as a potential partner, he always saw her as an equal. He never made fun of her silly dresses and questionable hair choices.

This has nothing to do with Colin but i feel like i should point it out:

there is something to be said about how her muted pastel color palette along with the more demure style that she has adopted shows that she is trying to Show Up with this social season, but as a wallflower, she is shy. she's always hated those brightly colored dresses her mother put her in, because no matter how close to the wall she clung, she was always visible. she was always vulnerable to ridicule.

but i don't think colin knows or realizes this because why would he think critically about the specific style changes she's made. and he probably doesn't really make the connection of the influence her mother has on her clothing. and around him, pen has never seemed all that shy. she's been confident and witty. if you pair her personality that shines around colin with her louder outfits, it seems more congruous

(take the scene from season 2 where we get the line "My purpose shall set me free") this is a side of penelope that no one, not even eloise!, sees

what his subconscious knows is that he associates pen with vibrant, textured, and often 3-dimensional outfits, and his subconscious creates a dress that fits her new style, with a little more of that featherington flair thrown in.

the fucking tie in front: i feel like this is a very clear reference/ foreshadowing to the mirror scene

for those of you who haven't read the book, the mirror scene doesn't actually happen, but colin tells penelope about a fantasy he has about touching her in front of a mirror

this is a pretty small offhand comment made while they're having sex for the first time but amongst book fans the scene has become pretty fleshed out i think, with fanfics especially

because the idea that it touches on is colin fantasizing about penelope seeing herself the way he does, as sexy and desirable (he seriously cares about her pleasure so much its sickening, I'm actually sick)

and although Book Colin doesn't mention it, the idea of him undressing her in front of a mirror has become a popular story set-up

i think the tie in the front sort of plays on the time period sensibilities of propriety: this is a time where in "good" society an unmarried man and woman would never touch skin to skin, its why all the women wear gloves most of the time. its why the scenes in season 1 between daphne and simon play on the excitement of removing the gloves: its a taboo thing

this is unrelated to this post but i need an explanation as to why pen isn't wearing gloves in a lot of her scenes this season, like the scandal that that would cause??? I'm assuming its representative of her growing into her sexuality; and bridgerton is a fantasy, not a historical nonfiction, but like some consistency would be nice guys bc i was so confused abt all the skin-on-skin contact happening. even with Francesca and Lord Samadani WHEN HE KISSES HER BARE HAND I WAS SO UNCOMFORTABLE FOR HER. especially because of all the glove-related tension in s1. but i digress.

so the tie in front is sort of a dare. even though its clearly an addition, and untying wouldn't actually remove her dress, its her (colin's subconscious version of her anyway) way of saying: "you could untie this, you could undress me if you wanted to" "i love you" "i want you"

and i think that's beautiful. this season is great and i will die on this hill.

If you've made it this far, congrats! you're just as feral as me! come and gnaw on the drywall with me while i post fanfics inspired by this season: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55988977/chapters/142190584

chapters 1+2 of my new fic are up

photos are from : https://www.cap-that.com/bridgerton/302/index.php?image=bridgerton3x02_1502.jpg

[inkyquince]

The idea of Gortash and Astarion being in love with the Durge at the same time is so interesting to me. Because their both fundamentally in love with two different people. Pre-tadpole, Gortash fell for a Durge who was a slave to their urges. Astarion fell for a Durge whos regained autonomy over their mind and now has the ability to choose who they want to be.

This may be a hot take, but idc.

I feel like... From reading everything in game about Gortash and meeting him? He would be so into a redeemed Durge. Like, yeah, slight downside of their morals being a smidge too light now, but oh well.

Dark Urge had gotten free of Bhaal. The one actual barrier between them and also fully going into their plan. Remember, Durge apologised to their father for being so FOND of Gortash, they promised that they'll kill the other Chosen in Bhaal's name, etc. The one controlling all their moves? Their Father.

And they either are/want to be free of him.

Fuck, he's hard. They're so fucking strong and stubborn and perfect.

He uses guile, he uses charisma, he uses everything to get a leg up. He used his body, his joined a gang, all while younger. Now he's here. Nothing he respects more than gaining power and influence without being controlled, if his time in the House of Hope taught him anything, it's that being controlled will lead to being beaten and used and discarded.

Control is what made the Dark Urge so fucking endeared to him in the first place. They're not a mad dog, like Orin. They loose control some times but LOOK at the acts you just played through. They have SO much fucking control compared to what their urges want them to do. Gortash values control so fucking much.

But, just like Gortash, Astarion will fall in love with the Dark Urge, redeemed or not. Even if he remains a spawn, he's so soft with them. He will stay until he can't watch them loose their mind anymore. But ascended? He wants them in his lap, naked and rabid and far gone. He loves them, even as nothing better than a feral dog.

Like.... I think Astarion and Lae'zel and Shadowheart are the ones who will fully love the un-redeemed Dark Urge. Gale, as we can see after the Tiefling Massacre, will stick by you but he fucking HATES your ass for what you put him through. Wyll and Karlach leave. Even if you don't pick the nasty sides in the game, when Dark Urge gives into their... well, urges, they're horrified. Astarion, Lae'zel and Shadowheart, while not ECSTATIC are less incensed about the shit you do. Hell, when you take Bhaal's offer, everyone in the party basically... Says goodbye to the person they loved, EXCEPT Astarion. Even if you break up with him, he says that 1000 years from now, when he's forgotten how to open himself up to people, he shall spare a thought for his little lost mad love.

The fact is, Gortash and Astarion will love the Urge, just in different ways, Redeemed or Not. Hell, if the Dark Urge goes feral, Gortash will still love them properly, I feel. Ascended Astarion, like a normal Tav, will love them as a pet. For the romance of ruling by your side, to bond in blood, to adore you bringing sacrifices to his door like a cat with their prey, Gortash is the dark romance love interest you want.

[bluespiritshonour]

Dude I don’t even ship Maiko like that and even I disagree with all of your takes on the writing lol, are you sure that you actually enjoy it?

Since you said you don't ship maiko like that I'm sure you aren't wasting away your precious hours thinking about them, so I wouldn't be surprised if you don't agree with my takes (hint: they didn't form overnight. I wasted my precious hours thinking about them)

Besides, I do have a sort of superiority complex when it comes to this so we're both alright I guess. I mean, this is a fandom that doesn't understand why Aang not killing Ozai was important (I'm a batfandom cast off in ATLA and after the Bat-doltry that DC engages in, which is such a myopic and privileged view) ATLA was refreshing! ATLA did the "hero refuses to kill villain" right. I can't even think of a single other media off the top of my head that dealt with it as satisfactorily.

People saw Zuko getting his face burned off because he didn't like the idea of using soldiers as canon fodder (which is basic military strategy, anyone else would've said. There'd be collateral in war, anyone else would've said) and yet—I see blog posts and fics of Firelord Zuko being a stoic and reserved leader... Not an earnest bone in his body. Even though Zuko's overly emotional nature is NOT something the show posited as a flaw for him to get over. (If anything, Ozai tried to beat it out of him) idc people call it character development. I can see him being less angry, more peaceful, more patient with age, but are you certain you want him to go the "that's just how things are"/"difficult decisions have to be made" direction? He's supposed to rehabilitate that country, a non-proactive, non-revolutionary attitude is NOT gonna help. Yet, that's the kind of Firelord this fandom fantasizes about because "royalty."

Boriiiiiiing.

(I'm pretty sure the above paragraph is not going to be understood right because I really didn't do a good job of explaining it. I don't have the right words. Hence the large word count and rambling. I wish I was eloquent)

This is the fandom where freaking zutara is popular (I'm sorry I'm laughing)

This fandom (outside of kataangs) doesn't understand how romantic "why would I choose cosmic energy over Katara" is. How amazing it is that an indigenous girl is loved and valued like that!

This is the fandom that thinks Zuko is a dark romance bad boy. My reading of Zuko already doesn't match with 90% of the fandom, I know it.

And I'm supposed to take it seriously if some anon disagrees with my takes. It's okay! It's fiction! It is one of the few things where we can agree to disagree! (The other thing being food)

And if I read ATLA with an overly critical political lens and/or I want it to be subversive and non-tropey, then trust me, I'm more aligned with its themes than those who think "that's just how things are done" are (I say this assuming my long ass post about what I want from maiko is what led to this ask)

As for if I truly enjoy maiko, I'll point out the things I do enjoy about it:

Guys like Zuko don't end up with girls like Mai. If it had been, say, Mai/Aang, that'd have been flipping the good girl/bad boy dynamic over a 180 degrees but it's Zuko we're talking about. If ATLA had been normie media and not subversive Zuko would've ended up with, idk, Jin. Someone who can fix all his problems with kisses. As much as he enjoyed kissing Mai, his problems didn't disappear. Heck, if they had to pick one of Azula's friends to be Zuko's love interest, they could've picked Ty Lee! I wouldn't have shipped them though. That's not to say I hate ships like jinko or ty luko. It's just not something I fancy. Girls like Mai simply do not get the guy.

Mai is the active one. She pursues him. She kisses him first. She decides she wants him and she gets him. She knows what she wants and the narrative doesn't shame her for it. I can count on the finger of one (1) hand the number of ships where the woman leads and all of it are unpopular (I'm not surprised. I'm beginning to wonder why female-led hetero ships always get the "he didn't want her" accusations. I won't elaborate on that) I just like women taking the lead and maiko does it for me, okay?

Mai is ride-or-die without being a doormat. Another balance that the show, at least, strikes right: everytime I hear ride-or-die, I know the term is being misused and the woman is a doormat. We live in a man's world after all. Mai was ready to die for Zuko but she wouldn't put up with his bullshit and "fix him".

Mai got the guy, got a happy ending all the while without changing her identity. This is a fandom that can't appreciate nuance. Either Mai is robot who feels nothing or swerve right in the opposite direction! She's bleeding heart who feels everything too much. It's... More complicate than that? (Actually it isn't. I'm incapable of saying anything in under 500 words. I'm pretty sure my description of fandom perception of Mai isn't doing its job.) But I made a behemoth post about it here!

And if my saying "I didn't think they were toxic in the show, the comics are another story" is what prompted this ask. Then lemme present to you: The Beach was one episode! One. It would have been too unrealistic if they'd never fought at all. But since they had so little screen time The Beach just sticks out. It does get its point across though: Mai wouldn't stand being disrespected. Zuko gets confronted with the concept of accountability when Mai shuts down his attempt to justify his ill behaviour with his backstory. Even though it was pretty dramatic and heavy handed about the whole thing. I don't like that episode for that reason. Yeah, I'd have liked it if he'd grovelled and made it up to her. But Avatar Studios never cared about Mai(ko) like that. But other than that, their break up—the actual break up that lasted more than an evening—was due to "opposite sides of war. Angst. Hurt/comfort. 18000 words—" okay. Not 18000 words. Avatar Studios never cared about Mai(ko) like that.

I was enjoying maiko alright until certain part of the fandom started grating on my nerves with their "hE fOrGoT hER iN PriSon" takes. If Mai is not a good girlfriend (which is bullshit, she's a great girlfriend) it's Mai's fault. And if Zuko's a lousy boyfriend... it's also somehow Mai getting laughed at? So I thought, why not hold Zuko to an even higher standard? I mean, yeah. You might think "Blot, if you like loverboys so much why do you ship maiko?" Because I think Zuko is capable of being one, y'know? It wouldn't be OOC for him. If you disagree see above☝🏽I already don't see eye-to-eye with the Zuko fandom. It is true that romance was never a vital part of Zuko. For comparison's sake, it was of Aang! Even though kataang is the kind of ship where if you take the romance away, they're still soulmates. Which is why people who hate their bond (you don't have to ship it! Just don't downplay their relationship) simply do not get the show. Another take I disagree with the fandom about: zUkO iS FeMale gAzey. He isn't. Goodness, I wish he was! I fucking wish he was!!! This, even without bringing maiko into the picture. Aang refuses to learn from Pakku because he wouldn't teach Katara. Sokka had a whole unlearning sexism arc. Zuko? Zuko had none of that. I have no idea where the fandom gets its Zuko and/or FN were feminist idea. Pink washing at play here? This time for fiction? Because you relate to the colonising power more?

Now. If only those things were fleshed out and maiko was allowed to grow as couple instead of the comics truly making them toxic. I say toxic because Boiling Rock was a turning point for maiko. They shouldn't be having old hangups after it!

I'm not a shipper as a rule because the kind of ships I prefer are rare. On top of that, I do not enjoy romantic melodrama. I've heard shipping in comic book community gets insane. I was in DC fandom for 4 years and I have no idea what the shipping side of things looks like. I couldn't be bothered.

All of the points above, but especially bullet points 1 and 2. Maiko at least gives me that. You know how rare that is? I just can't with ships where women aren't assertive. There's nothing wrong in that, just not my cup of tea.

They could've not paired Zuko up with anyone. But they did and proceeded not to develop his side of it. I think I can complain about that. I still ship maiko because I think their characters are interesting together. The idea of what-could've-been. If it bothers you so much, then think of it as fanon ship 😁

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Guilty Pleasure Trope Showdown: Round 1, Poll 3

Incest Is Relative

Incest.

Propaganda:

Cause incest is so versatile and fun and taboo, a blending of multiple relationship types.

Love Triangle

Two characters are in love with a third, and the third must choose one.

Propaganda:

I count it as a guilty pleasure because even though it's a pretty basic/common trope, I think a lot of people have a negative reaction to it being used because its considered really overdone at this point. But idc I love a good juicy love triangle. I love when romance in fiction gets jumbled up with weird complicated other feelings and becomes messy and slightly toxic and I love how watching each part of the triangle navigate that mess in their own personal way can, when done well, be a way to show you a lot about their psyche and how they operate

I know a ton of people hate this trope, but there's something in the drama of someone being forced to make a choice that gets me, along with the fun shipping aspect, picking your "team" and whatnot. I also find it fun to see how the creator plays it, there is just a ton of fun versions.

[ilynpilled]

🔥 have any thoughts on the “enemies to lovers” trope and its use or perception in storytelling?

it is my fav for ships sorry idc im a basic bitch i truly dont care like its sexy to me im sure i can pull some pretentious nonsense as to what this type of dynamic gives me even at a subconscious level out of my ass but like. idk what would qualify as a hot take. ig as much badly written garbage is attached to it (as with every other trope) ppl who try to be fringe and condescending about it make me roll my eyes lol. especially if its ridden with “oh those silly women and their cliche and overrated enemies to lovers dark romance 🙄” or lame psychoanalysis lmao. ofc ppl r very drawn to a dynamic that has conflict embedded into it like this bc it tends to be interesting for a story. two characters with drastically opposing ways of viewing and interacting with the world in a fundamental way will result in some kind of meaningful parallax and lead to a relationship with a lot of dynamism. it is a good vehicle for dealing with two characters as foils and parallels too and lead to a potentially interesting synthesis. theres also that feeling of them knowing each other very holistically or whatever. like ofc its popular all this makes for v fun interactions and dynamic on the surface

i also wont be trite here with “u guys only want defanged enemies to lovers that doesnt even qualify as that” bc ofc my preference tends to lean towards when its more brutal and #edgy or whatever but to be frank with u everything has been said and i only give a shit when ppl cry about shit being #problematic and idc if u like the version of it where its just office rivals hating and bickering w each other lol like sure i can see how it echoes the feelings i described above. i dont particularly care about treating these tropes as very strict labels and monoliths like we r at a point where i dont think we can restrict the definition of this by virtue of how it is in popular culture now and how the label functions in practice

[saveahorserideaneddie]

tbh while the people who say Eddie is abusive are overreacting it’s clear that Buck & Eddie don’t have the healthiest dynamic. i’m ambivalent on buddie so i don’t want to see them together unless that changes

bae their dynamic is like that bc they aren’t together??? they’re repressing how they feel about each other??? why are you here if you’re not a buddie shipper have you read my blog 😭😭

im done being nice about it- if yall still say shit like this idek how yall watch shows when yall can’t even comprehend basic level miscommunication tropes involving two mentally ill people and it makes me wonder what the state of your real life relationships are

like idc if you’re a buddie shipper or not- this isn’t even really about shipping it’s about the way they quite literally are the answer to each other’s problems and any miscommunication that happens between them is bc they don’t know how to articulate their feelings because they don’t yet grasp what those feelings even are 😭😭 it’s literally a basic romance miscommunication trope that’s done in quite literally every onscreen romantic pairing out there but for some reason when it comes to buddie yall wanna act like you’ve never seen a slowburn tv show relationship before and affix all these random ass problems to them that literally are non-issues bc they’re THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CONFLICT

i don’t even say this as a buddie shipper tossing this word around i say this as someone with an arts degree who has had to wrtite screenplays for college it’s literally basic film storytelling 101 bc if they were perfect and had no fork of conflict then the story wouldn’t feel impactful

(this reply was kinda mean, yes but im extremely exhausted from rehearsal all day and extremely irritable bc of it and you sent this ask right as i was abt to take my meds and i had to reread it a few times bc i couldn’t believe i actually got one of these people in my ask box)