#great otp gods above

[rulamantic]

I will become my ship's #1 supporter once I grow the balls to actually draw them kissing and being lovey together.

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Day why am I still counting these because I'm not planning to stop at the end of the year? 340, as it turns out. Anyway, I did some pose iterations for Triumph and I think I found one I like. We'll see how I feel about it after inking and color and shading XD

[alwayswriting101]

Can you recommend some Florelia fanfics please?

So this is actually a terrible question to ask me because I think all Florelia fics are amazing just by the nature of having my OTP 😅.

But here are my general recommendations:

Literally anything and everything by @florelia12. All of her work is fantastic x1000, But Moonlight & Monsters has literally changed my life. I love this fic (and all her fics) soooo much. She is also a (obviously) a massive Florelia stan. AO3 page

The Florelia chapters in Winx Club One Shots by SeaEmerald (chapters 2, 5, and 6). Oh my God is their writing incredible. Very highly recommend all of their fics, if you're interested in other couples/fandoms.

A Natural Fit: Soulmates AU. Also anything by QueenofHufflepuff. I love their writing style to the point where it's inspired my own fics!) They also go under Matrices and Vectors on ffn.

All the Petals Fall by @lynpheas. I swear to God this fic made me quit writing because like what point is there in writing when a fic this good exists 😭😭😭. Also recommend all of @lynpheas works but not all of them are Florelia. AO3 page

Black Sky by SilverSongstress. I cannot emphasize how epic this story is. There's lots of Florelia conflict (that doesn't really get resolved by the end (at least to my memory)) and I was okay with that! There are some issues re: formatting but it's truly a very strong story.

Lunar Rainbow and Under the Cherry Blossoms by Roxy Fan 4 Ever. Literally love these fics so much. So romantic!

The Neighbor by libra986. Now I actually don't remember shit from fuck from this fic, but I remember being OBESSED with it...do with that what you will...

High Temperatures . I like this one.

Six Years, This one is just so nostalgic for me, I think it was one of the OG Florelia fics 😭. I can't tell you how much it PAINS me the sequel is unfinished.

I Promise, Courage from the Heart, Save Me, My Turn to Save You, and Remember Me by Lill2350. Again very nostalgic fics! I think they have a few more Florelia fics as well.

Living a Dream. Very Cute fic.

Chastity Slightly NSFW so don't open if you're at work or underage. But I thought this was a really cute/romantic fic.

Style by KinkyWings. I think this fic is really, really cute. The author has other fics based on more...untraditional pairings (and fics that are definitely NSFW), but I really like this one.

Waned Worries. Why did this person orphan this account 😭? Really good oneshot.

Kamilia has written a bunch of Florelia stories, too many to list and many of them NSFW in one way or another, but check them out if you'd like!

Flora's Christmas. Just a cute Christmas Time Oneshot

As an aside: here are some fics that I tend to really enjoy that focus on Flora or (mostly) Helia as individuals and not as a couple.

Retired, Falling, and The Moonlight Project by @redemptionarcsucker. Their characterizations of Helia are unmatched. And their writing is impeccable! AO3 page

Also @floralovebot has really great Flora/Helia/Florelia headcanons/characterizations on their page.

A Conversation Between... Literally, love this fic with every beat of my heart since I read it years ago. This fic actually focuses mostly on Stormy but Flora has a lot of characterization through her.

The Meaning of the Color Black and Inspired by Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel. Fantastic Helia centric stories by a fantastic author. They have also written on other pairings.

Names. A random, unromantic one shot but I really like the concept.

Never Have I Ever and A Specialist's Journey by QueenofHufflepuff. I've already raved about them in the rec above. Really amazing work. The former is Flora based and the latter mostly Helia based (from what I can remember).

The Shimmering Sunflowers. I am a big fan of fics where Flora is a big sister to Miele.

And finally, I always recommend The Great Witch Rebellion, Brothers at Arms, Band of Brothers, and Bonds of Brotherhood by tearsinrain These fics are focused on the group as a whole and are basically rewrites of the main storyline, but these fics are fantastic. I would bind them into a book if I could. The characterization of Helia (who unfortunately is not really featured in Brothers at Arms), is amazing. And the Florelia scenes that are available are really amazing.

I am a big, big fan of Florelia. If I could fit every fic featuring them onto this ask, I would, but unfortunately, I can't! But if anyone has any additional recommendations please feel free to add! I'm sure there are some stories/authors whom I loved but might have missed, but this is a very general list.

[dangermousie]

I decided to rewatch The King's Woman. MMMM.

A male lead who starts the first episode by putting a bloody head into the bed of his mother and her lover:

Proceeds to preside over a massacre:

And then pulls the sword on and almost kills (but eventually exiles) his own mother:

No current drama with that ML (especially ML not being a fictional person but Qin Shi Huang himself) would ever pass censorship now.

But, more to the point, what I love about this drama is, forget the term "red flag" beloved by the kids nowadays - this man is shown a bona fide ambitious, capable, magnetic monster. No coy flag terms needed. He's totally fit to be a period ruler, but as a romantic choice, oh boy! (His troops also murder FL's grandpa on their conquering rampage, but he's not personally involved, so that is the least of his problems.)

Between that first ep, the historical QSH and the fact that this is a prequel of sorts to Legend of Qin, which follows FL's son and where QSH is the villain (!), everything about this screams "this is a not a man who will mellow and reform due to the love of a good woman." But the drama is so brilliant because it uses the viewers' own yearning for a proper romance narrative, their experience with the default narratives being "ruthless man reforms for love" and the fact that not only does the OTP have great chemistry, but that ZBB, who as ML gives the best performance of his career imo, does portray the ML as someone who is impossibly magnetic and impossibly intense and utterly, completely in love with Dilraba's FL, to lead on the viewers to go "but what if...maybe...maybe?!" Only to then slap you with that infamous ending. (One of my favorite, most logical tragic endings of all time.)

God, this drama is SO GOOD!

ETA: I always thought that ending was both a perfect punishment and a perfect test. Because she knew, KNEW, he would kill her if she came at him with a weapon. But the thing he has to live with is not just the knowledge she merely used him to commit suicide by cop because she flipped the dagger at the last moment making it clear she never planned to hurt him, but the knowledge that it was also a test by her, wasn't it? If he loved her enough to be willing to risk being hurt/killed by her, to trust her, she'd be alive, he'd be unhurt, and I think this would have given them another chance - she'd have known he loved her above himself even when it looked like her love turned to hate, and I think this really would have enabled them to be happy in the future. But, as she knew he would, he failed that test. And he has to live not just with the knowledge that he killed the woman he loved and who never intended to harm him, but with the knowledge that he took his future of happiness away himself.

[cryptidanathema]

piers

Why I like them: Yeah he's hot, extremely entertaining and has great fashion sense but at the end of the day what I adore the most is that he's so stubbornly and unapologetically himself despite The Horrors. 

Why I don’t: They took my man's vocal chords 😔 Also I wish we got to see more of Spikemuth than just his alleyway and stage 

Favorite episode (scene if movie): He was in like one episode of any of the animes so that one I guess? Good ole Mournful Piers... 

Favorite season/movie: See above. 

Favorite line: Is "all of them" too much of a copout...? Guy's one snarky beautiful bastard through and through. Even when his dialogue's not particularly notable it's still an excuse to stare at him 

Favorite outfit: As cringe as Gacha games and the way they exploit FOMO to get all your dollars are you REALLY can't go wrong with Sygna Piers. His painted nails.... 

OTP: Piers/Raihan and Piers/Raihan/Leon all the way, sorry for being basic 😔 Something about thier whole dynamic is just, incredibly and profoundly pleasing, especially after the Star Tournament got added. Piers and Rai TOTALLY NOT FLIRTING when facing each other, Piers kind of taking Leons little bro under his wing...even in the base game Raihan shoots his shot *in the middle of a Kaiju rampage* and Piers sure does have somewhere to be quickly once all that nonsense is resolved...

Brotp: Several. Leon in the timelines Leon's not part of the polycule. Prehaps more controversially, a poster exists that implies he and Opal get along better than thier Galarian Star Tournament dialogue makes it seem so I think it might be fun if Bede wasn't the only feisty queer moron she's mentored. And also an..."interesting" fic I read once had he and Nessa be besties and as much as that fic was An Experience they were kinda cute together in it 

Head Canon: Many, but my main one is that his season was the same one as Leon and Raihan's and they hung out several times much like Marnie does with Gloria and Hop. Little 11 year old Raihan in particular had a fairly restrictive and shitty home life where he was subjected to immense and stifling pressure so of course he thought this scrawny little punk kid from Spikemuth was THE COOLEST and was kind of starstruck whenever thier paths crossed. No I don't have an ulterior motive for headcanoning this why do you ask /j

Unpopular opinion: "Greasy chaos demon that would knife anyone for 5 quid" memes are fun but aren't  really reflective of what we get in canon. Guy's soul is a latte /ref 

A wish: He shows up in a future game (and we finally get to hear him sing). Hopefully he's happier if it's a timeskip, guy deserves to rest and do things for himself for once. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: He shows up in a future Legends game. 

5 words to best describe them: Uh, "tired as fuck special guy?"

My nickname for them: oies, the rodent

[ultraviolet-ink]

Mycroft Holmes for the 002 character ask (he is my underrated fave in the ACD short stories)

God I love him!! I've just started reading Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, and I really like it so far!! :D

How I feel about this character:  He gives me so many brainworms, like what kind of person is someone who's even more talented in some respects than Sherlock Holmes himself. Perhaps we're all lucky that he's content to do his own thing, because I feel like he'd be a mastermind in any way possible (This is why I think that HE is the better Holmes to foil Moriarty with, but this is an essay for another day)

All the people I ship romantically with this character:  I don't really have any ships with ACD!Mycroft, so I'll cheat and say Albert James Moriarty from Yuumori haha

My non-romantic OTP for this character:  Granada got me on the "Mycroft and Watson are amicable" train, and I am here for the ride

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't think I have any unpopular opinions, he's a bit of a blank slate with what we know, so I think everyone just likes to build up on each other over the years!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I'd love more Holmes² adventures, it's such an under explored concept, or even a little vignette where the brothers have a deduction battle XD

my OTP: See above, so I'll just say Yuumori MyAl XD

my cross over ship: I like to think that he would also have great chemistry with Yujin Mikotoba XD

a headcanon fact: I like to think that if he has a wife and son, they're both russian, as a nod to the soviet series where that was a specific fact I latched onto haha

Sauce Here!!

[forgan-forge]

I want s3 of Good Omens to be Aziraphale and Crowley leading the humans against Heaven and Hell. This is a story about love, of course, forbidden love. But it’s also a story about the value and priority of humanity. Throughout the series, the angels and demons of Heaven and Hell talk about God’s Great plan. It’s highlighted at the end of S1 that they don’t know about God’s Ineffable plan. I believe that Her plan has always, and will always be about letting humanity thrive. (I think that She’s also a giddy shipper and Aziracrow is Her OTP).

(Rant continues under the cut)

We’ve already had hints that the systems of Heaven and Hell are corrupt and bound to break down. We’ve already had a love story between and Angel and a demon that (so far) has had a happy ending.

My theory is that this story will end with the abusive structures of Heaven and Hell finally breaking down. We know that Heaven especially is abusive, see the lie theory and the fact that they need to keep up appearances (the whole institutional problem spiel).

We know that Jesus is going to play a part in this story. The plane that he arrives in is seen in the s2 intro.

The planned sequel involved Crowley and Aziraphale tracking down Jesus across the USA. I theorize that this will lead Jesus into teaming up with A and C, a parallel to Adam. (This’ll be either after they make up, or it’ll be a comical race to see who can find Jesus first. I personally prefer the latter.) This, of course, would infuriate heaven and hell, and they’ll pledge war. With Gabriel and Beelz absent, there would be new leaders that don’t exactly care that the rules are. I think that Aziraphale would try to stop Heaven, but to no avail. (The abuser never stops being abusive, you’re just wearing rose colored lenses.)

Aziraphale leaves Heaven, rosy lenses broken, and Crowley probably has a whole “I was right now do the dance” moment, and they make up. But, there’s a war happening, a real one this time, and they need help. And what better help to stop the destruction of Earth than the very inhabitants of the planet, who probably wouldn’t be very pleased at their demise.

Jesus helps A and C just like Adam did, going against his purpose. (You know how Neil likes his parallels.)

And maybe it’s the three of them combined that stops Heaven and Hell, or maybe it’s God Herself. You see, she says in the beginning of s1 that she plays “an ineffable game of [her] own devising” and I think that the aforementioned game is a test. A test of what, exactly? Heaven and Hell, and they’ve failed. You can’t just give beings power, put them in charge, and expect them to run things perfectly. I don’t think it was God that cast Crowley out of heaven, it was beings who thought that they knew what God wanted. She likes to play games, she likes to bet with Satan, and plan things that only She knew the contents of.

She was testing Heaven and Hell, just like she tested Job and Jesus. Nobody could figure out her ineffable plan because it was just that, ineffable. But, Crowley and Aziraphale had a better understanding than any other Angel or demon.

Where is this rant going? I think that Humanity will come out on top of Heaven and Hell, and that the two kingdoms will renounce their abusive ways of guessing everything that God wants, if not dissolve their governments completely. I want to see an end where angels and demons achieve peace with each other, and humanity is allowed to exist without any divine or demonic influence.

And I think that this love letter to humanity, and love story between two enemies by nature, will end, as it began, in a garden. Specifically, the garden of Aziraphale and Crowley’s South Downs cottage. I think that it will rain, and A and C will shelter under an umbrella, humanity’s wing.

EDIT: There’s also some pretty huge emphasis on Azi and Crowley’s combined power, so I hope they do something really cool with that. “The power of love prevails above all” type shit.

[fayesdiary]

001: for your ship of ships, Yunaka x Alear, and 002: for Timerra

Alear/Yunaka

when I started shipping it if I did:

I started genuinely shipping them when I played Engage for myself, because that's when I realized that oh. Oh this works so well.

my thoughts:

OHHHH THEY'RE SO GOOD. The parallels are immaculate, their dynamic is super silly in lighthearted moments and so heavy during more serious ones, they give hopelessly in love vibes and, you know. I adore them platonically too, obviously.

What makes me happy about them:

Yunaka finding love and support from her god of all people, someone who she always thought would judge her to be irredemable and instead adores her, and Alear trusting Yunaka despite her being expicitly sketchy being the first step in their self-forgiveness. When you think about it, Yunaka's background is basically an abridged version of Alear's.

Just, idk. They make me so happy!

What makes me sad about them:

Oh boy. Their pasts and their trauma. Yunaka's constant self-loathing and fear of her past coming to the surface and impostor syndrome and thinking Alear's too good for her. Alear's discomfort at being treated like a god and feeling alienated because of it. Past Alear. Just... Past Alear.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I don't think I've found anything that actually annoys me, to be honest. Which is good.

things I look for in fanfic:

Both the fluff with them being silly together (pre and post relationship) but also the angst of them dealing and opening up about their trauma.

That good hurt/comfort stuff 🥲

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

For Yunaka I'd say Citrinne, since you know. "Enemies" to lovers is always fun

For Alear I don't have any other strong ships, so I'd say I'm fine with almost everyone. Except the kids and the rest of their family, obviously. And Lindon.

My happily ever after for them:

Them being happily married and obnoxiously in love while they watch over Elyos together 💕

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

They switch! I think they're very into cuddles, generally :3

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Yunaka infodumping about weapons with the detail of an MGS codec call while Alear listens to her with heart eyes ❤️

Timerra

How I feel about this character: 

Love her! She's such a good mix of silly and serious, she can be really goofy but also she's one of the smartest people of the cast and will not fuck around with people she deems a threat, but she's super chill with anyone else!

If I had to describe her in a word, it would be "Fun".

All the people I ship romantically with this character: 

Ivy's a fun one (thanks Koto), but her, Merrin and Panette are so polycule shaped. Oh, and Nel too!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

Veyle! The fact she goes from being among the most skeptical about her to one of the most supportive once she actually joins for good is so interesting, and also the contrast between someone so carefree (on the surface at least) and someone who feels ashamed to even be alive. Just, idk. I really like them.

I think she'd be besties with Alfred too, wish they had supports together.

My unpopular opinion about this character: 

She's smarter than she looks, her voice is great and she's a lot more interesting than people give her credit for.

Also the fact the Solm siblings are the most overlooked ones of the cast is... sus, to say the least. This fandom is not escaping the racism allegations.

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

I wish she was more involved in the story. Compared to the other roylas she and Fogado don't go through much that directly involves them, you know?

Oh also while I'm not sure I would actually want it in canon, recruitable Fell Timerra would've been cool.

my OTP:

See above. I don't feel particularly strongly about any of them to declare them my OTP, so...

my cross over ship:

If FEH counts as a crossover, she and Sharena would hit it off really well. Azura too would be fun! OH, and Rinea too. Just thought of it👀

As for other stuff, hm...

BOTW Zelda would be interesting, she and Daisy would be cute and, hm. Her and Aqua would be the crackiest of crack pairs but, you know. It could work!

I dunno, I'm just throwing stuff around at this point.

a headcanon fact:

She absolutely brings Fauxgado with her during battles and on official business. Nobody's going to stop her from bringing her poorly done youngest brother along!

[fincalinde]

JGY! (getting in ahead of the crowd)

Ah, but of course. I have only had 3 asks for this meme so I can only assume people are sick of my whinging, so it's not like you beat the rush.

a song that reminds me of them

I'm trying to think of songs that I haven't already strip mined for fic titles and not coming up with much. So maybe this can just be a recommendation for PHILDEL, who is one of my favourite artists. A lot of her work has serious Xiyao vibes, and off the top of my head the one that might be the most JGY on his own is Glorious.

There's a place I go A place I always stand alone And need no witness to my throne Here I say my piece And have no need to be believed The bridge I built will carry me Beyond the creatures of your sea

and

Here I win my day I make my kill upon the grave And need no hero to be saved Here the light still shines Despite the odds and all the time Despite the gods and their design

—like, omg

what they smell like

He's obviously fastidious because he can't ever afford not to be, but I'd probably stage it like this:

Before his mother dies - can never get rid of the cheap sickly smell of the brothel incenses.

After his mother dies - not around much if any incense and must be as respectable as possible, smells of clean cloth and silk and whatever hair oil he can afford. He is very careful about hair oil, he absolutely must not appear to be cheap or tacky.

When he's serving the Nie - similar to the above, probably keeps making little adjustments every time he's bullied about something in a fruitless attempt to mitigate all the judgement and make himself respectable.

When he's serving the Jin - see above but so much worse.

When he's serving the Wen - very careful at first but begins to adjust to having some form of power and resource that protects him from direct abuse. Spends enough time with WRH that he smells like the same incenses WRH prefers, and his scented hair oil and the like is carefully chosen to be consistent with whatever is fashionable amongst the Wen and approved of by WRH.

When he's legitimised - see above but dialled up. He has to walk a fine line between being the same as the other Jin without coming across as vulgarly ambitious. In fic a time or two I've mentioned that he smells of olibanum incense, which I chose as something that would have been imported at great expense and seemed characteristic of the Jin. He needs to demonstrate his status and his wealth, but that said: I guarantee you that it's a typical fragrance that's used all over Golden Carp Tower, and not a scent that's considered a signature central Jin family fragrance. He wouldn't be so bold.

When he's chief cultivator - sticking with what he was doing before. He can never stop being careful.

Secret bonus scent: sandalwood because he spends so much time around LXC.

an otp

oh well let me think of course it's Xiyao. I don't think the text supports a reading where they're lovers, but I think it does support a reading where their intimate friendship includes romantic feelings and the potential for a romantic and presumably also sexual relationship. LXC is the only person who gets on the MS tier of the JGY harm pyramid. JGY is the only person who sees LXC's needs and attempts to meet them. Their relationship is a true meeting of the minds, and the secrets between them are either mutually agreed and healthy or the result of horrific external circumstances. I think I've summed it up before.

a notp

I already mentioned how repellent I find Nieyao in my NMJ response.

Honestly though, JGY with anyone but LXC is a no from me. I think his relationship with QS is sweet and tragic, but it's telling that he never once talks about loving her for who she is and how they are together. He insists he loved her and the forcefulness of that assertion makes it clear he's being sincere, but the emphasis is all on how he's grateful for the fact that she never made his background an issue. It reads to me like he loves how sweet and kind she is and how brave and loyal, but even that is not enough for a healthy and successful relationship. I'm not going to get into the incest thing as that would be a whole other post.

Based on this, I think if he didn't need a wife for social and political purposes he'd have been equally as happy to have her as a supportive friend and political ally. She is canonically not that bright, and he needs an intellectual equal for true partnership—and that's not even getting into the importance of him needing a partner who's capable of grappling with moral relativism.

favorite platonic/familial relationships

This might make @thatswhatsushesaid happy—I really like JGY's relationship with NHS before he's forced to take out NMJ and it all goes to hell. JGY deserves a didi he can dote on. NHS probably does not deserve another doting gege, but I'll allow it anyway.

I also love JGY and JL. The flashback to JGY giving JL Fairy is one of my favourite scenes, not just because it shows that JGY genuinely loves and cares for JL, but because it shows that JGY's unique background and struggles have equipped him to provide JL with comfort and support that no one else could offer.

I always assumed Jin Chan and his little mob of thugs have parents who are a political threat to JGY within the Jin, or how else would they have the guts to harass the heir who will one day rule over them? So there's a lot of layers here for JGY, who has to navigate a delicate political situation while trying to do what he can for JL. I just think it's a beautiful moment where JGY cannot do what I'm sure he wants to do and deal directly with the source of the abuse, and so he does what he can. He knows better than anyone else that sometimes you can't make the abuse stop; but it still matters if you can help someone bear it a little bit better.

a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with

I mean, how much time do you have? I have no patience for the ubiquitous bratty power bottom JGY bossing around 'service top' (vomit) LXC, and I also have no patience for the I think less ubiquitous now but still worth mentioning sadist dom JGY who fantasises about cutting lines into LXC. Those are probably the most common base types I've seen around, but the list, it goes on. I could write another few thousand words joylessly debunking what seems to get people off on AO3, but I really do spill enough ink already on highlighting how inconsistent these portrayals are with the JGY we see in canon.

I'm not saying every single word I personally write is blessed by the angels and incontrovertibly in line with the translated text of the novel, and obviously we are all here at the end of the day to have fun. But it does baffle me that this is so inescapable, because if you want those sorts of dynamics then there are so many other pairings out there to choose from.

the position they sleep in

This probably varies but he must be an extremely light sleeper and probably never sleeps with his back to the door.

a crossover au i’d love to see them in

Can I bring up my ATLA AU yet again ... yes, I am shameless. Or how about the theoretical X-Men AU I raised in the last post? The trouble is that this would have to be a setting where being a mutant is desirable and he has a weak mutation that he exploits to the maximum and perhaps later is able to strengthen.

my favorite outfit they’ve ever worn

Since THAI COVER JGY was already taken, I'll pivot and say I really love what he's wearing in his official artwork. Look at this man! He is elegant and wealthy and powerful and classy and a skilled diplomat and administrator and yet there remains an air of danger about him. Precise! Deadly! Polite! sorry i think i got possessed by lan xichen there for a moment

[ryutarotakedown]

Haori for the ask!

[ask game link] MY GIRL MY GIRL MY GIRL MY GIRL MY GIRL THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME ABOUT HER!!!!!!!!

How I feel about this character: um. see above. she is my favorite dgs girl ever and i love her so much and she deserves the entire world and also to rest once in a while. she is incredibly brave to the point of recklessness and she is incredibly responsible to the point of self loathing and she feels emotions so much all the time and i think she might actually be the least deliberately-repressed character in dgs which doesn’t say that much but still! every day i think about her in awe

— seriously, sixteen years old and you’ve helped make an entirely new poison and diagnosed its symptoms on sight and acted accordingly and also went into a beach hut to yell at a confirmed murderer. didn’t even do it because she hated her, did it because she wanted her goddamn poison back. who is doing it like haori murasame

All the people I ship romantically with this character: susato!!!!! and gina but i haven’t thought about ginahao as much as i should tbh. i think haori would take a shine to her immediately but actually fall for her the moment she sees gina scream at someone for susato’s or haori’s sake

My non-romantic OTP for this character: all? of them? yuujin and wilson are both super fascinating dynamics to explore with haori! but the one that actually takes up my entire frontal cortex is her and jezaille.

— they are both women in the same field but jezaille is lauded because she’s british whereas haori surely is not — i mean, that’s not actually said in canon but auchi disparagingly refers to her as a “tomboy” and susato mentions how incredible it is that she has a job in an all male university, i refuse to believe she didn’t have a fucking Time of it. and that in itself inspires jealousy, right, and then haori finds out she killed her mentor and she still has to work with her for Months??? i’d go insane! it’s a miracle haori didn’t actually murder her! like. here is my only chance to bond with someone who understands the exact position i am in, and then it turns out she hates me for almost the same petty reasons as the men in the laboratory. and also killed a guy. haori is so fucking alone it drives me up a wall

— also i wrote a ficlet in dante’s ronin au once where jezaille calls her susato’s attack dog

— also also, we do not have any information on whether she knew asougi or not but i like to think she did. just like as that guy who’s always around susato with the sword and the cringefail aura. maybe they had conversations while waiting for susato to come out of her tutoring sessions! maybe they knew each other!! do you think susato told her that he was dead after getting back to japan, or do you think she only found out after mamemomi accused mikotoba of covering it up at the end of 2-1?

My unpopular opinion about this character: tragically i dont think theres enough haori content for me to actually have unpopular opinions on her. but she performs so incredibly well under stress. i think shes one of the rare people for whom stress actually helps to narrow down her focus.

— also one thing i always laser in on when writing her is her unfailing emotional honesty which is deeply funny considering 2-1 happens because she decided to find out about the poison on her own rather than telling anyone; the self loathing slash impostor syndrome slash fear of failure and rejection overrules that bit of her i guess :pensive: she is fully in panic mode for so much of 2-1

— oh yeah Yeah The Self Loathing thats also something ive never seen in any haori fics yet! she has a whole bit about wanting susato to throw her to the ground in the recess halfway through the trial and it’s kind of a joke but also Not yknow. “i completely betrayed your trust” like. god. theres a perfectionist streak there i think or at least signs of a not super great self esteem!

— hey haori would you say that the two things you hate the most (about yourself) are poisoning and betrayal. haha. okay thats not actual character analysis but i couldnt resist the reference

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish she came back in any form at all i wish susato mentioned her after 2-1 at all although i will say that 1) her being part of the defense in the end credits is like catnip to me and 2) it is my firm belief that susato deliberately avoids talking about her because she’s too afraid of her own feelings to even consider opening up to ryuu about her

— when will the haori murasame fancase of that trial at the end appear, by the way. i want them to get hosonaga a decently light sentence for theft and then he is immediately accused of murder right afterwards

— she also should have gotten to learn about wilson being awful. and also should have been the one to give susato jezaille’s case notes in 1-1 (i saw that hc in a susato roleswap au fic and i have completely integrated it into my belief system. as far as i am concerned she was that person. but a confirmation in 2-1 woulda been nice)

My OTP: [poking head out behind ao3 page and enough susahao fanart to drown a man] take a guess

My OT3: add gina in there baby!!! i dont have as solid ideas on the rest of the girlcule yet but gina is Necessary.

— i actually think haori would dislike both maria and nikolina upon first meeting, maria because of The Racism (she’d scream at her about believing in skull sizes) and nikolina because she does come off as pretty privileged and smug and aloof when you first meet her

— [insert five page rant about how we never see nikolina outside of her being afraid for her life and therefore have almost no idea what she was like in the troupe or among the crew but also she was probably afraid for her life while in the troupe as well so in a way we do have a pretty good idea of her behavior and also i think she uses aloofness as a shield]

— but Point Is they both remind her of jezaille too much for her to like them at first. but later! who knows?

[danpuff-ao3]

Embroidery Commission

I was going to do a longer introduction but really I can't tease the people like that. That would be quite rude of me!

This, my friends, is the gorgeous embroidery hoop I commissioned from @onbeinganangel!!!!

Okay you have the goods now, read ahead if you're ready for Danni babbling.

Yesterday morning, I got an email from our apartment's Amazon hub that I had a package ready for pickup. And since I knew exactly what it was, I was annoyed (cuz it's early and I'm at work and I have to wait) and excited (cuz MY HOOP!!!!!)

After work, I rushed home, ran to the hub, grabbed my treasure, and pranced back to my apartment. You know, carefully. I wasn't sure how delicate I needed to be and I was risking this hoop for nothing!

Above pictures is what I found inside the box. My hoop carefully and beautifully wrapped in tissue, and a sweet note!

And if you know me at all, you'll know I was too excited to rip right into it. I don't know if anyone else deals with this, but my excitement levels get so high I just don't know what to do with myself! Have to smile and shriek and dance a bit. Shake out all those nerves! Breathe a bit (because oxygen is important.) (That's what I'm told anyway.)

Once I had my wits about me, I very carefully peeled back the tissue and beheld my beautiful hoop!

And started crying, of course.

(If you know me at all, that won't surprise you, either.) (Overactive tear ducts, I swear to Merlin.) (Or maybe that's just me being overemotional...either way 🤷‍♀️)

It was in early November that I reached out to Mari. She had posted about making sure she could get commissions done in time for Christmas, and while I didn't need anything by Christmas, it did prompt me to think "hey...maybe I could commission something!"

If you've not seen Mari's embroidery, you should definitely check it all out! (Conveniently: click here.) Her work is gorgeous, and it's extra special to have another craft used for fandom purposes! Fan writing? Great! Fan art? Great! Fic binding? Oh cool! Fan embroidery???? Oh god I'm in love. (Also Mari writes, so here's her AO3.) (We have to stan a multi-talented queen.)

I was a wee bit nervous, because I've always been hesitant to ask about commissions from people who I don't know are okay with Snarry. My OTP is so controversial to others, but so beloved to me, and so I rarely reach out, but...I don't know. I couldn't help it! It seemed like too cool an opportunity to not try for, and Mari seemed so sweet so I figured if she let me down, she'd do so gently!

...because obviously I'm going to commission Snarry things. Much as I love other ships, if I'm spending my hard earned money, it's going to be Snarry. 😍

As you can see: it was not a problem!

What I most wanted was a piece for my pride and joy, Contempt. I wiffle-waffled a bit. I thought Orange Blossoms might have better imagery for embroidery, but I already had a fanart done for Orange Blossoms, and while more is more...I really, really in my heart needed a physical representation of my beloved Contempt.

I felt a bit bad about the timing and assured her I didn't need it by Christmas and to prioritize Christmas projects (even though I was quite eager for this!) Like: "I saw your post about Christmas commissions but...this is not for Christmas!" Anyway between the Snarry worries and timing guilt and my anxiety...that should tell you how much I wanted this piece! And let me tell you, it was worth fighting anxiety for!!

The other tricky part of commissions is me trying to give creators an idea to work with, while also stressing that I value their creative input more than my own vision. Everyone is different; more details are useful for some while others enjoy the creative freedom more. (So of course I fretted about that, too.) But generally I am drawn to creators for their own skill and creativity and want as much of themselves in there as possible! I have so much respect and admiration for other creators!! And why I want so dearly to support them however I can! (And to also selfishly benefit from it, not gonna lie.) (Look at this thing!)

What I gave Mari to work with were primarily the quotes. Both are spoken by Harry in the work, though in separate portions of the fic. I wasn't sure how weird that would be, but I don't know...they go so well together and really sort of sum the whole story up! My ultimate love/hate endeavor!

As for the imagery, I had suggestions for that, too: the door to Snape's quarters have "serpents entwined with ivy and dahlias" and there are moments in the story where other flowers are given, those being white gardenias and forget-me-nots. Between my personal love of flowers and animals, as well as my great love for symbolism, and the role they all play in the story...well, I'm glad they all fit in! (Also, Mari is a champ for listening to all my rambling about symbolism and vibes haha!)

From one of our email exchanges, I mentioned: "It's a very stark, intense story. A bit brutal. Lots of shame. Riding that line between love and hate. That's another part of why I like nature imagery; all of the beauty and brutality of the world around us." And I feel like it came through! It feels very simple and natural. It looks a bit like fallen, fragile flowers and a snake slithering along, a sort of unsuspecting seduction. (Sorry, I sure love to read into things!)

Honestly, Mari was such a joy to work with. She has such a good eye for design and color! And such clear skill. She was easy to talk to, happy to communicate, and best of all so kind and patient and sweet! And in the end, she crafted something truly priceless.

Contempt is truly the story of my soul. (If you follow me, you're probably tired of hearing about it LOL.) The concept has lived with me for so long. Writing it was a true labor of love. Having this piece of it to hang on my wall is genuinely so meaningful. I cried when I first saw the finished product (via email) and cried again when I had it in hand. And again when I hung it on my wall.

It's not in its final spot just yet. A few inches to the right (not pictured) is a Hogwarts plaque that I plan to move to another wall this weekend, so I can move the hoop a bit to the right. But I was much too eager to share this to wait until the weekend! But this should still give you an idea of what my Snarry wall looks like, and will more or less look like after the shift. (The art beside the hoop is the Orange Blossoms art mentioned earlier, by LuEndland!)

Mari, thank you so much again for working with me and creating this truly precious hoop! Also: feel free to make your own post if you like, one with less word vomit haha! You are a true angel, I hope you know!!

To everyone else: if you've been thinking of commissioning an embroidery hoop...for sure do it!!!! 10/10 do recommend.

Also please expect more photo dumps once my work space is all set up!!

[captain-astors]

Hi! Can you do 001 for trigun and 003 shirazu?

1. I am glad to know you’re not a bot for certain at long last because I enjoy consistently spotting you in my notes, also sorry this took so long.

2. ABSOLUTELY?? You have functionally handed me an early christmas present in an ask. I'm going to divide this up into two posts, this’ll be the Trigun one, I’ll do the Shirazu one in a separate post.

Favorite character: 

LEGATO BLUESUMMERS MY DEAREST. Oh this poor man. I can’t even say “I want him to get better” because he would resist it with all his might and I can’t say I want him to get worse because this man is at rock bottom and actively digging deeper. Hugging him is not enough. I need to divide him into atoms, sort them into categories, and hope it gives him relief. I have 99 problems and seeing Legato heal wouldn’t solve a lot of them but it would be great. 

Least Favorite character: 

Difficult question because I really do like them all. Is none an option. I could just go with a random side character who exists just to be scum of the earth but I suppose if I’m looking for “was marginally involved” Stampede Conrad makes me want to hit my head against a wall. 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): 

Mashwood and all its individual parts, the insurance girlfriends, Summerknives? Millionssummers? But for the consequences of feelings more than an actual belief that they have the capacity to be a couple. I saw Zaziemeryl once and that was sweet. Everyone x Therapy. 

Character I find most attractive: 

No idea. Wolfwood? I’m starting to realize there are very few characters I’m actually acutely attracted to aesthetically for long periods of time but I’ve been loving his expressions for as long as he’s existed. Also I’m not sure about attractive per say but Zazie has such splendid gender and I would like them to share. 

Character I would marry: 

Vash. I am not immune to his sopping wet energy and the freakish height. I would like to either carry him in my arms or be carried, either is fine.  

Character I would be best friends with: 

Zazie! Or alternatively I would sell my soul for a hug with Milly. I’d say I could have trans solidarity with Elendira but unfortunately she wants everyone dead and that might cause a lot of awkward conversations.

a random thought: 

I really want to lick stampede knives’ snuggie thing. 

An unpopular opinion: Whenever someone attempts to quantify Legato and Knive’s dynamic as simple pining, mentorship, or even familial, they inherently lop off an intrinsically necessarily quality of that same dynamic which is the fact that Legato does, more than anyone else, see Knives as an actual god. He worships him, and what a terrible thing it is to love your god. Also Roberto was lovely but he did have to die. 

My Canon OTP: 

What canon couples are there? Whatever the ‘98 anime was trying to set up between Wolfwood and Milly was sweet so I suppose that. 

My Non-canon OTP:

Technically it’s half-canon but, Millionsummers, but in a I-want-to-see-the-consequences way.

Most Badass Character: 

Dominique the Cyclops or Elendira the Crimsonnail. 

Most Epic Villain: 

They’re both villains so… see above. 

Pairing I am not a fan of: 

Pl*ntc*st. WHY is it so popular now, YES the subtext has always been there but no one demanded you to make it TEXT.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): 

Elendira deserved more attention in Maximum, she’s so cool. 

Favourite Friendship:

Hmm… Milly and Meryl. 

Character I most identify with: 

Legato. I’m fine, trust me. 

Character I wish I could be:

Zazie! No contest. They’re just living their best life.

Thank you!

[quasiimodo]

JOSE CARIOCA 🦜

i GASPED this was such a good character thank you

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them

he's such a comfort character for me??? melody time is a movie i watched over and over as a kid because we owned it on vhs for some reason? and world showcase has always been my favourite place at disney world, so because of all that josé is just very special to me?? i love seeing the iterations of the three caballeros through the years and different shows. i think it's great to see him still evolving and appearing in media over 80 years after saludos amigos

least favorite thing about them

uhhhh can i complain about the fact that he's not very well known??? or that disney can't hire a native brazilian to voice him (sorry eric bauza i love u) or that they can't PRONOUNCE HIS NAME RIGHT????? i don't have anything bad to say about josé himself, but disney's treatment of him is whack sometimes

favorite line

HAVE YOU BEEN TO BAHIA, DONALD?

brOTP

the three caballeros

OTP

the three gay caballeros (i love them as an ot3, but if i had to pick a monogamous ship it would be josé/panchito)

nOTP

i don't even know of any other ships for josé other than the caballeros but ig just in general it would be women??? he's gay sorry

random headcanon

he's gay, i already said that above. he's fluent in portuguese and english, and he starts learning spanish because of panchito. (he would know some spanish, i believe, because of brazil's borders with spanish speaking countries, but he wants to become fluent). he's the kind of guy that will whisper sweet nothings into your ear in your native language. what a charmer.

unpopular opinion

i think my love and fascination for him is unpopular opinion enough for someone who doesn't live in brazil

song i associate with them

oh god i'm so bad at song associations and i feel like saying any of his canon songs is cheating but probably just any samba song? josé has moves

favorite picture of them

this art is hanging in my living room. they're all so cute but i love josé's little smile :3

[cryptidanathema]

raihan

Why I like them: He's that guy that you THINK'S gonna be a total douche but is actually a really great guy once you get past first impressions. Liable to do something stupid trying to impress you. Dragon in human form. Canon fang haver. Brags about himself in the third person and should not be trusted with tapestries. Babygirl you need so much therapy /aff

Why I don’t: That hat that can't decide weather it's a sweatband or a beany. Seriously what is that thing on your head man

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Haven't watched any of his anime scenes tbh, kind of scared to after how dirty they did Leon. So I'll just use this section to show some love to the bit in Pokespe where he tries to take on Eternatus... himself. Not using a Pokemon. 

Favorite season/movie: See above 

Favorite line: ...I'm just gonna put "Especially you, Piers! The way you battled me in the Champion Cup... You really had my Dynamax Pokémon up against the wall!" and apologize profusely. Yes for ship reasons but also the fact that the guy starts hitting on a new rival in the middle of a Dynamax Pokemon rampage just feels weirdly on-brand? 

Favorite outfit: Shout out to that slightly douchey waistcoat ensemble with the Flygon shades from Masters...which he has a matching stupid, stupid hat for. 

OTP: Raihan/Leon/Piers and Raihan/Piers both qualify. Leon just straight up hits the "you don't even have to Ship It, some characters having had sex is just objective truth" threshold and they're often really sweet together, I just have to throw an alt boy in there too to get into it because my brain craves them like a body craves air. And Piers...they get tragically few scenes together but the ones they do get are so weirdly charged? Like someone else said there's a certain "should we be watching this?" energy to them lol 

Brotp: Leon also goes here, mostly because coming up for platonic explanations for the sheer depth of Raihan's brain rot in regards to that man leads to some FASCINATING relationship dynamics. I'm a big believer that romantic vs platonic indicates a relationship type rather than inherently implying a hierarchy of importance and these two are a great outlet for mentally rotating those themes. Also he and Gordie are fun in Masters, I like to think that they became friends while having shared sadboy time in the locker room. 

Head Canon: Probably my biggest is that with the way there's some pretty depressing shit left unsaid about the way he views himself, the occasional signs of anger issues he shows, and how he's the only member of The Rivalcule you don't meet the family of, the guy did NOT have a good childhood. On a lighter note, the guy has absolutely dogshit music taste. Like we're talking Skrillex and below here. The fact Piers doesn't strangle him over it is testament to the depth of his affection. 

Unpopular opinion: Don't really have one? 

A wish: Gigantamax Archaludon whenever the Galar remakes come out in 10-15 years, he deserves to just summon a wholeass suspension bridge (that notably has a weather-related signature move at that). And, well, just more of him in general. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Same as Piers, please don't throw this man into spacetime GameFreak 🤞

5 words to best describe them: Selfie boy kinda worries me 😔

My nickname for them: Rai, Rai-Rai...💖🐉

[dramatothethirdpower]

A River Runs Through It

How Much I Loved It: ★ ★ ★ ★

Rewatchability: ★ ★

Bingeworthy: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

How Many Times I’ve watched it:  ★ ⋆ (I started and dropped once and I honestly don’t remember where I stopped)

OTP: Xiao Ju and Shi Yu

Some of my favorite things:

This was the cutest coming age of story; I love how we follow them as they grow

The banter! This is top tier banter and I loved it

The angst. It hurt so good, I almost called out of work so I could get past the angst because it was making me so sad

The plot moves along nicely I didn’t ever really have time to be bored! I thought no way can I finish 36 episodes and by around episode 30 I was thinking god I wish it were 40

The friendships! Yes there’s a lot of focus on relationships but there were so many sweet friendships

The side couples were great and I as nice to have some romance happening while the main couples were flailing around being idiots

The symmetry of Xiao Ju hurting and longing and doing everything she can to help Cheng Lang whether he’d ever be with her or not and then Shiyi doing the same for her. It was perfection

Things I hated

That ending was so incredibly unsatisfying. We got zero resolution. Why did Shen Dou answer the phone? Did Shi Yu literally never visit? How did either of them reach out for YEARS?! I wanted to scream

No cute now we’re together scenes! Why?! I guess this is the same as above but I desperately wanted an episode of happy and in love!

Speaking of no resolution plots that make no sense, how did Bao Bao run under the radar for so long?? Are Xiao Ju and Qiu Le Tao even actually friends?

Towards the end Xiao Ju got major I’m the main character syndrome and it made it a lot harder to like her

Why couldn’t we have a tiny moment where Xiao Ju had to pick between the boys?! It would’ve been so good and I feel robbed

Basically I guess I wanted more

Overall I think I’m going to end up rewatching this one… and possibly seeking out fanfiction for a better ending. But if you like wholesome coming of age stories with friendship and love then look no further!

[gregoftom]

I don't know if you've watched it but if you ever did need something else that has tomgreg vibes…I would thrust Suits upon you. the quality is gonna be a dip from succession, but. marvey. mike and harvey. they.

it's the semi-reluctant but love-stupid mentorship. it's one of them kind of being a fuck-up (and getting high) and the other being high-flying, from the bottom to the top, teaching them how to be rich.

it's the teasing. it's mike trying to get harvey to admit he cares about him -- and as the seasons go on, harvey's care for him worn on every single one of his sleeves, can't contain it. it's the way their humour just clicks and they enjoy each other so much.

it's the heated "good boy" (in the second fucking episode!!!!). the way harvey gets such secret pleasure after mike teasingly telling him "aye aye, captain".

it's the devotion. "he goes, I go." "I'm not giving them you." it's the way whenever mike's love life with a woman progresses harvey's immediate response is lashing out in frustration, and by the end of the episodes he's collected himself to be happy for mike's happiness, because caring about mike is his number 1 above all else. it's the possessivenessss. it's harvey not knowing a single other associate's name, other than "mike ross."

it's harvey imagining mike in drag??? it's the Looks between them. it's their surprise when they're witness to how much the other cares about them. it's them existing in each other's space. it's the outright fucking flirting. it's the heartache.

it's other characters calling them on their shit ("you boys have a nice date?" and harvey, defensive, like why is that funny "couldn't be better. he even paid") (and "I need to know if the prom king and his boy wonder are still an item […] Did Mike and Harvey break up break up, or did they take a time-out and, like, say to each other, 'hey, let's see other people'"). it's "my date just got here" as mike enters.

it's mike turning up to harvey's parent's funeral and being the one person harvey most needed to have there for him.

it's the puppy motif!!!! and calling him with fucking hand gestures!!

it's harvey not even wanting an associate and then being like This One so fast. it's the way they push each other. it's the actor and his wife shipping them! it's "the one person who has the right to treat me like his associate, but treats me like his partner anyway."

it's it's it's.

they're like, otp of all time, imprinted on my heart. and I think why tomgreg is attacking me so badly is because there are a Lot of similarities in the dynamic it's soooooo. anyway I miss them. and any tomgreggers might like em.

(also I adore all your talk about tomgreg, and chewing through all the show has given us. it's not ooc at all and it's so fun and it's such a nice community enjoying itself and you're providing joy and connection and it's great. that anon's just having a sad day and lashing out. have a good one, love you for being here <3)

oh my god?! THAT SOUNDS AMAZING and soooo tg core omfg i NEED to check that out, holy shit. i just read the summary too and!!! omg. omg. YES

and!! thank you so much! that's great to hear, i'm so glad! <333 love to hear it, and i love being here too! <3333