#otp: two halves of a whole

[daheckinbestbitch]

I made more merlin stuff cause again currently obsessed with these two!!!

[wilsonthemoose]

For @adihildilid

[thelightwillbreakthrough]

buck sees everyone in his life in the dream except for eddie. eddie cedes his time sitting with buck to chris. if i loved you less i might be able to talk about it more

[wyrm-clangen]

What do you think your dynamics are? Rainfog

Hello and welcome to my 72 hour slideshow dissertation on RainFog, my OTP and the only true ship.

They're two halves of a whole idiot lmao

Rainstripe doesn't talk much, so that can lead to a lot of cats putting words in his mouth. Fogtail is a little ditzy, but she never seems to be frustrated with his lack of words, and always seems to know what he's thinking. They're a fantastic team, and I can't imagine them ever willingly parting.

And talking from the future, their kids are SO cute, you guys.

[qqueenofhades]

That kiss in GO 206 was probably one of the most heartbreakingly romantic kisses I've ever seen. It was both !!!! and GOD WHY from the kiss to the look on Aziraphale's face when they broke away. I can see him going back to heaven only to later realize what he actually wants and get the F out of there to go find the love of his life.

IT WAS SO MUCH, GOD

From the whole Crowley-getting-ready-to-propose to Aziraphale's completely-in-denial insistence that they could go to Heaven and be together! Just like in the Beginning! To Aziraphale's anguished "I need you!" to Crowley just throwing six thousand years of pining to the winds as the cello music swells and going in for the Big Damn Kiss! Aziraphale's hand clutching his back! And then...

And then....

(Muffled sobbing)

Look, I'm not gonna lie. I love Stupid Homosexuals Who Can't Communicate and Unnecessarily Get Themselves Into a World of Self-Inflicted Hurt Because They Are Stupid. I love romantic but heartbreaking angst where the two halves of the ship both want the same thing, but can't agree on how to do it, and that ends up driving them (temporarily) apart. I love the villains desperately trying (and inevitably ultimately failing) to break the OTP up because they're just too powerful together. I love the whole "you have to clearly and explicitly choose what you want and defy the oppressive and cruel systems that have controlled you up to this point and are now taking you away from Your Person." And like I said, I honestly didn't think they were going to Go There with the kiss. I wanted them to, I wasn't sure how the story as it had been set up could progress without explicitly having a Big Romantic Moment and not just Super Totally Platonic Besties, but I still just... couldn't be sure.

Welp.

Anyway, Neil Gaiman has already said they all want to do a s3 to "give a satisfying ending to everyone we care about" and honestly, I do 100% trust him on this. This was the second-act cliffhanger, the Empire Strikes Back, the Han-and-Leia "I love you/I know" before Han is frozen in carbonite and taken away by the bad guys. It is a clear and obvious dramatic beat to set up for the ultimate resolution in a three-part trilogy. Yes, if this was the end of the story, it would suck. But it's not, and it just... makes me really, REALLY EXCITED for a potential s3, where Crowley and Aziraphale are canonically confirmed to be in Love-love and can actually fight for that, find out what it looks like, break free of old constraints, and get a happy ending that is narratively earned and not just given. So yeah.

[jeremywhitley]

Julie Power, Queer Relationships and OTPs

Hey, two provisos before I jump into what I’m about to say:

1) My last name is not Marvel and I don’t own these characters. Before and after I write them, other people will write and/or have written them. Most of them. That’s what success in corporate comics looks like in this day and age - not that you get to write a character/group of characters forever but that other creators remember they exist and include them in new stories and they get to have a long happy life. That said, characters change and the valid interpretation is the one that leads to more stories. You, as a fan, are also interpreted to love whatever version of the character you like as long as you don’t hassle creators about it.

2) As always, I am not the perfect person to write this mini-essay, I’m just the one writing the comic and therefore the one that can explain the thoughts and feelings that went into making the decisions I did.

We good? Okay. Let’s continue!

Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual or wherever else a person falls in a spectrum does not make a person more or less than human. It does not make every relationship perfect. In fact, having a sexuality for which there isn’t quite as many years of literature and self-help books often leads to complications that you don’t know how to navigate. It is a rarely acknowledged but pretty obvious fact that this would go double or more for people who were also dealing with the complications of being a superhero in the modern era. A lot of those people have experiences with multiple apocalypse scenarios, a knowledge that there are parallel universes in which pareallel versions of them exist (like a version of me who types parallel the same way twice in a row, one can dream), mind control, reality manipulation, and time travel. Their life is complicated and relationships are difficult in a world where few of those things are commonplace.

In talking about Schitt’s Creek, Glen Weldon expressed a frustration and distaste for the central gay relationship in that show, not because it wasn’t cute and precocious but because it wasn’t realistic. You have a person who has been dating around and having several unresolved and unsatisfying queer relationships paired up with a freshly out, just admitted he’s gay, never dated another man love interest. It’s sweet. It also gives an unrealistic portrait of what life is like for a queer person. It’s hard to argue with people loving that relationship, but it’s impossible to argue with Glenn’s point. Dating is complicated and difficult. Adding queerness to that only makes it more complicated, not less. We often don’t know what we want or need and it’s more difficult to understand what you want and need with less context. Straight people have been struggling with telling their partners what they want and need even as their relationship has been a necessity of human species survival.

But we tend to push the idea of an OTP or “one true pairing” onto queer couples for a variety of reasons, but mainly two:

1) There are so few queer relationships in media that when one happens, queer audiences tend to hold onto it tightly in the worry that there will never be another one like it.

2) The idea that all or most queer relationships are the result of an undeniable love between two halves of the same whole reunited at last and it would be horrible to part them, makes queer relationships more palatable to straight audiences who are still growing in their understanding of the difference between same sex sexual attraction, same sex romance, and same sex fucking.

The end result is a pretty warped understanding of queer people and same sex relationships.

All of this is sort of preamble to say that in this week’s issue of Love Unlimited, I broke up a romantic pairing off panel that I created in Future Foundation a few years ago. In the last issue of Future Foundation, I had Rikki Barnes and Julie Power kiss. They had just been through an extremely dangerous prison break during which they had both almost died and saved one another’s lives. The moment was absolutely ripe for two Sapphic people to get swept up in the moment and intensely make out. It was a relationship I would like to have explored more, especially as they are two characters I care very deeply about. I think it would have been fun. I also do not think it would have worked out long term. Most relationships don’t and they are very different people.

I saw a post somebody made earlier today on tumblr about how Julie Power throws herself at every queer and available white girl in the Marvel Universe. There’s only one part of that I would prefer to not be true and that’s the white part. It is true about the comics as they have come out, but I don’t see Julie as the kind of person who wouldn’t fall in love with a person of color. In fact, to the point of that post, I see Julie as a person who is open to connection and cares a great deal about physical affection. She’s a hugger. She’s constantly taking people under her wing. She falls for people hard and loves hard. Not to get too intimate with it, but she’s probably a person who enjoys sex and physical contact and affection. Those things aren’t important to everyone or meaningful in the same way to everyone, but they are to some people.

But also, that doesn’t mean that every relationship those people enter into has to be THE ONE. We all enjoy our own OTPs and a lot of us have that same investment in people we know in real life. God knows, I have had that investment in queer friends that found love and there are people that have had that same investment in my wife and I because we’re a mixed race couple. Those facts about a relationship don’t make it work out without the same sort of effort, love, affection, and sheer luck as any other successful relationship. I think ascribing that same sort of mythological status to every same sex relationship is ultimately short sighted and harmful.

Julie’s way of finding love, like a lot of us, is to throw herself headfirst into relationships, love hard, experiences extraordinary moments, and get hurt when things don’t work out. She, literally, has a heroic impulse toward relationships. Is that healthy, maybe not. But hey, I kind of admire it.

So yeah, I broke up a relationship off panel that barely had a chance to exist on panel because that’s the way I see it going. On the bright side, she’s in another relationship now and we’ll see how that goes.

If there’s a thing I guess I want people to take away from this, it’s that it’s okay for your relationship not to work out and that you shouldn’t treat your queer friends like they’re characters in a Shakespeare play that have to love each other unconditionally and die together in a crypt if things don’t work out.

[desertfangs]

Daniel for the 'send me a character' thing

Send me a character and I'll do the thing!

Sexuality Headcanon: He’s definitely on the bi side of the scale, but I think he skews a lot closer to gay and probably identifies more as gay, especially in the 70s in the circles that he and Armand traveled in. Although I don’t think Daniel has ever been particularly picky about labels applied to him in that sense, either.

Gender Headcanon: Daniel is the opposite of toxic masculinity. He can be masculine and he has body hair for days, but he’s generally soft-spoken and gentle. Cis, but not worried about being manly enough, you know? 

A ship I have with said character: Armand/Daniel is my OTP of all time. I think he and Armand are just two halves of a whole and they make each other better. I absolutely think they’re soulmates in the deepest sense of the word. There’s the joke that Daniel is sort of Armand-sexual but I think it’s sort of true. Armand is the love of his life and the feeling is mutual. 

And sometimes Daniel/Marius? Please don’t hurt me, but I go back and forth on whether I see him and Marius as romantic. The first time I read PL, it felt very platonic. Marius had spent a long time as Daniel’s caregiver and while they’re obviously close and connected, it didn’t read to me as anything romantic and the asexual in me longs for more platonic ships in this fandom. But I think the vampires can have a lot of intimacy without getting hot and heavy (this is true of humans too btw). I do think as a romantic ship, it's hot as hell and tbh I’ve written it both ways. I can enjoy it both ways! But in my personal fanonverse, it’s something I waiver on a lot. I do think they’re good together either way!

A BROTP I have with said character: Daniel and Lestat (it’s a BroTP with benefits, bonus points if it’s with Armand as an OT3). They just have a fun dynamic. They can get into trouble together and cause chaos, but they also sort of even each other out. Daniel allows Lestat to open up a little more than he usually does because he’s a good listener, non-judgemental, and adept at asking the right questions. Lestat allows Daniel to vent about Armand (in an affectionate way - we all need to get things off our chests!) and he appreciates Daniel’s sense of humor and wit. They both liking having fun and doing random shit.

A NOTP I have with said character: I don’t know that I have any real NOTPs with him. Maybe Santino? I don’t personally see him having any sort of romantic relationship with Louis, I see them as being friends who both have great love for Armand, but I’m not bothered by the idea either. 

A random headcanon: When Daniel was recovering from his madness, Armand sent him an iPod when he heard Daniel sometimes got overwhelmed by noise. Daniel became obsessed with the podcasts at the time, mostly radio shows, things like Radio Lab, This American Life, and Stuff You Should Know. After he moves back into Trinity Gate, he and Armand listen to his favorite episodes of these together and have long discussions about them afterward. 

General Opinion over said character: I think Daniel is neat. He’s affable, he’s friendly, he’s good at making conversation. He’s curious and up for almost anything, which is why he and Armand work so well. He’s funny and has a dark, sardonic sense of humor. He laughs easily, maybe too easily, but he’s pretty easy to get along with. He’s generally pretty agreeable but he isn’t afraid to speak up when necessary. He’s a cool dude. I dig him. 

[shifuto]

OK

SO

THIS ↑

buckle up I'm about to go batshit this stuff is literally KEEPING ME AWAKE giving me insomnia aaaaaaaassxcewsrdtfcgyvh

SHIPPING AMIRITE in which I glue several headcanons together on a hivemind of its own (and I'm incredibly consistent, somehow?)

Disclaimer 1: this is all headcanons I made up in my head with my own severely mentally ill brain, so take it as seriously as you want (or not, it's not my problem)

Disclaimer 2a: "but you could solve everything with polyamory!!11!" I know I know BUT this IS about the drama and the pain and the heartbreak dude

Disclaimer 2b: I won't get into other Ryoga ships here so pretend it's just Yuma. I don't feel like branching this out too much, but my other OTP of his is with IV

Disclaimer 3: this might read a little like fanfiction but everything is not set on stone and is ever changing so.. REMOVE THY BRAIN WHOM SHALL READ TIS

-

soooo let me preface with

[Astral X Yuma] KEYSHIPPING

that was the first and main OTP of mine for this show for the longest freaking time. It just works and it's canon, what's there to argue about, right?

Yuma is a magnet. Everyone likes him (but not Ryoga, at least at first) and that was no different for III, they hit right off

[III X Yuma] AZTECSHIPPING

III knows how much Yuma loves Astral and he had no intention of getting in their way (even though he also knew that, ultimately Astral would complete his mission and leave Yuma regardless), he would fight besides Yuma and be his "sword", he would protect and tutor him. In short: he would do anything for him

not surprisingly, these feelings shift into something different and..... love ensues! Which was! Really bad! Because III would never put Yuma in a position where he would need to choose between him or Astral, III would just concede

in one of the many scenarios I imagined for these 2, after Astral left, III was the one to tend for Yuma's wounds and, when the prospect of Astral's return became a real "threat", III saw himself forced to "confess" (by stealing a kiss), he backpedals badly, understandably. That friendship was more important than his own feelings and he would fight to maintain it until he caved in and let his love in the open

that wasn't all bad though... but he didn't know yet, of course

Yuma is shaken

[Astral X Yuma] KEYSHIPPING

he could never stop loving Astral. That makes sense, they're two halves of one whole, soulmates. They're supposed to exist as one and together. Forever

except that.. never really happened. Astral came to him, they met, they stayed together for as long as they had to, then Astral left - not because he wanted to but because he had to

in one of the many scenarios I imagined for these 2, Astral manages to come back and "whole" (meaning he got a body of his own. A real body made out of flesh and bones)

Yuma is shaken again

[III X Yuma] AZTECSHIPPING

just when he finally started accepting Astral as someone he's not meant to be with, even though they're soulmates, Yuma is flooded with all these emotions upon Astral's return

but there's something else..

because of what III did, the kiss, everything, Yuma was uncertain of his own feelings. Perhaps that woken something in him, perhaps it just helped him see what was buried deep inside, either way he was torn because he imagined how hurt III would be, considering everything

he loved Astral and he loved III too but.. was it the same kind of love...?

[Ryoga X Yuma] SHARKBAITSHIPPING

Ryoga hated Yuma's gut on their first encounters but, of course, with his insistence on being friends and general stubbornness, he made his way into Ryoga's heart and mellowed him out from the inside

he doesn't let it show but he is so protective of Yuma. Watching from afar, just making sure he was fine was enough

Ryoga, being the main cause of many issues himself, has witnessed most of that happened between Yuma and Astral, and to some degree, between Yuma and III

Yuma loved everyone, including him but there was never hope of his feelings getting anywhere because Yuma never looked at him with that kind of affection or intention

his love kept ablaze though, eating him from the inside, so terribly painful and lonely

[Astral ?? Ryoga] UNAWARESHIPPING

as a Barian, Ryoga was capable of traveling between the worlds and he would often aid Astral in his missions

they did everything they could to keep Yuma away from danger and that was one of the few things they had in common in the beginning

they both also shared loss and their backstories were intertwined

Astral was apart from Yuma against his will and Ryoga willingly drew apart from Yuma. Their pain was similar, even if coming from different places

in one of the many scenarios I imagined for these 2, Astral does "return" and manages to get a body of his own but there was something.. unsettling about Yuma

because Ryoga knew and because he also predicted several outcomes, he stand by Astral - nothing to lose and regardless of what happens, he would remain alone either way or they both would

[III X Yuma ?? Astral] DESPAIRSHIPPING

everything was supposed to go back to normal after Astral's return the problem is... too much time have passed, too many emotions took place, too many wounds were festering in the open

Yuma kept overthinking about how much he loved Astral and what they mean to each other, as if he were trying to hold onto the feelings, because if he stopped, it would all fade away

wasn't that because he didn't want to deal with all those other, strangely familiar, feelings he started cultivating towards III?

Astral declared his love and pulled away

III declared his love and pushed forward

he was happy about Astral being back and his feelings never changed, even though he felt they waver. It was just that.. he had a whole set of other feelings directed to someone else entirely

it was conflicting, and painful

[Astral X Yuma ?? Ryoga] COMPANIONSHIPPING

Ryoga saw what was happening and felt bad for Astral, but he felt so much worse for himself

when he was "competing" with Astral, he could still twist and bend his mind into believing the slightly drop of hope, that his feelings would reach Yuma and it would be reciprocal

Astral wasn't there

[III X Yuma ?? Ryoga] ALTERSHIPPING

but III was

that's when Ryoga felt he "lost" - he and Astral both

unlike them, III went after what he wanted in spite of consequences. It paid off. Yuma was conflicted. Everyone was hurting

[Astral X Ryoga] UNAWARESHIPPING

while everyone was taking some time to process everything, unforeseen circumstances ended up drawing Astral and Ryoga closer, and helped them both drift away from Yuma

at least, regarding feelings of love

it was harder for Ryoga, since Astral, in essence, didn't have many attachments over his own emotions - meaning, he was aware that fretting over what was, is and could be would take nowhere, only cause unnecessary stress

but they manage to walk through the pain, and see the other side

they remained together even after Astral left

they were together now, too

that was comforting for Ryoga, in a way he couldn't explain, and Astral did notice their friendship deepening but he only had Yuma to compare and that hurt Ryoga, as if everything in their lives revolved around Yuma

that was true..

Ryoga don't want to think about that anymore. His hopes are shattered beyond repair and he can only move forward

he and Astral fight at some point, because they want to move on and seemingly can't

much like the other 2, an "accident" stirs confusion and sow feelings that would, otherwise, remain buried or be born anew..

[III X Yuma] AZTECSHIPPING

Yuma and III grow closer and closer, not because he and Astral drift afar but because III did make his way into his heart after all

the doubts and confusion start becoming clearer

a new love is budding

[Astral X Ryoga] UNAWARESHIPPING

the wounds in Astral and Ryoga, their past as individuals and collectively will never really go away

but they found each other and they can heal and grow stronger

their connection is still immature and cold, but their bond is solid and unbreakable, their similarities work to their advantage

just like that, they have a place to come back to

they have each other

-

if you read until here, congrats! You get a hug and a smooch in your place of choice! Now I'm sufficiently tired because I drained my brain's batteries writing this ENJOY MUA~

ps.: yes I was purposely vague on Ryoga X Astral parts because [SPOILERS] of that comic I'm making! Other than that these are various headcanons I've had throughout the years (they're all over my blog just check the shipping and writing tags) where I shifted my focus onto a pairing I would never have thought about but it's now my current and major obsession (LETS GO ME WOOOOOOO)

[silasoctakiseron]

harrow for the character game!! :)

HARROW MY ANGELLLLL 🗣️🗣️🗣️

favorite thing about them

Ohhh this is hard. Tie between her decade of being in love with a dead woman via psychotic hallucinations and the fact that she will just keep going and going and going no matter how sick or hurt or close to death she is and no matter what you throw at her.

least favorite thing about them

Hey queen! It was not fucking cool to actively participate in the enslavement of the only child your own age on your entire planet.

favorite line

She has so many fantastic ones that are dramatic and romantic and gorgeous and terrifying but the one I always think of first is this one: Harrow worked each finger gently within its socket, and said, this time more brightly: “So, Griddle, this is where you are to be my shining star.”

brOTP

I'm such a sucker for the way her relationship with Ortus develops over the course of her time in the River bubble. The reveal that she can recite his poetry from memory! His incredibly heartfelt apology for not stepping in as an adult during her terrible childhood! Aughhhh.

OTP

It's Griddlehark. Sorry. They're two halves of a whole. I do also love Harrow/Alecto though.

nOTP

Harrow/literally any man. I think Harrow/John is the worst of those but every time I see someone write her with a man I'm like. Are you out of your g-ddamned fucking mind.

random headcanon

Extremely skilled at needlepoint. I also think that once she finally started to get over the hill of "only ate food almost completely devoid of flavor for 17 years" she would develop a weird taste for fermented food and would always have some fucked-up pickling project going in a crock in the pantry.

unpopular opinion

The Cohort coffee shop AU was good but like. Was it that good. I also strongly believe that John was intentionally taking advantage of her completely wrecked emotional state to force her to depend on him for comfort and purpose in life and thereby become malleable to his will, which is apparently an unpopular opinion but I feel like it's right there in the text.

song i associate with them

I WHO BEND THE TALL GRASSES by Lingua Ignota; The Lady Rachel by Kevin Ayers.

favorite picture of them

Lowkey it's gotta be nil-elk's Harrow Nova fan cover 😵‍💫 I Love Her. But there's so much great art of her out in the world!!

[daheckinbestbitch]

Merthur fanart

I have been on a Merlin kick recently and I wanted to draw some Merthur fanart so here it is!!!

[kinard-buckley]

i do kind of regret making "two halves of a whole idiot" my buddie otp tag when adding it into a serious buddie post. sorry @ anyone i reblog from who thinks i'm insulting them.

[realreulbbrband]

the queen herself, victoria (character ask)

Oh, the most wonderful girl thank you!!

Why I like them

Her solos are some of the most mesmerizing parts of the show for me, and I would love to see them live. There's just this softness and grace about her that's very comforting.

Why I don’t

The entire 2019 Mr. Mistoffelees number was unbearably cringy for me as much as I like the film but particularly when she started singing. It was giving disney zombies....

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

I have three.

One of my first favorite scene is actually from Warsaw where she's dancing with the stars. It really goes back to her connection to the moon that nobody else seems to have.

Alternatively, I love this scene where Jemima wants to approach Grizabella and brings Victoria along with her, and Victoria hesitantly looks back but decides to go along with Jem. They both scatter off when Jenny forbids them from touching Grizabella but I love how it nods back to how they're two half's of a hole.

And of course, one of the softest parts in the show for me and in my opinion one of Victoria's best moments.

Favorite season/movie

I Like Victoria in all versions of cats' media!! even when she's less prominent like in shiki. But for favorites I'll say standard version, 2019 film and broadway revival.

Favorite line

We're doing 2019 for this since Victoria doesn't have any solo lines.

"But at least you have beautiful ghosts."

I know a lot of people don't like this song and the criticisms for it and Victoria's character are fair, but I do think this sort of naive condescend-Iness works as a flaw for her. She doesn't mean harm, she want's to cheer up Grizabella and show that they're similar but ends up making Grizabella still feel isolated just like the jellicles.

Favorite outfit

I've grown to like the white / gold Victoria costume quite a bit but here's some designs I'm fond of:

OTP

Ah, ok so I've been convinced a little but don't be mad please. 2019 verse and standard stage verse is with Rumpleteazer but revival verse is with Plato. I don't why or how that happened either but yea I hope that makes sense.

Brotp

Mistoffelees recently, but mostly with Jemima. Again, two halves of a whole.

Head Canon

She worries a lot about injuries since she's aware about how delicate bones are and how a significant injury could hinder her dancing. So, she tends to watch her surroundings and positing more carefully than others.

Unpopular opinion

Hypothetically, I wouldn't mind if more non-reps went the warsaw/shiki route and didn't have Vitoria do a pas de deux but instead had a different solo involving the stars/moon.

A wish

More non-replica's to go all out with her design. Really emphasize the ballerina part of her look.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

probably losing her connection to the Jellicle moon, if she can't feel it at all she'll probably panic and assume something's wrong. If you want to look at it from a monochromatic sibling's angle, then she would've lost the one thing that made her "special" in comparison to her brother.

6 words to best describe them

HER WORDS they're perfect

Innocent, Romantic, Unselfconscious, Young, Inhibited, Inquisitive

My nickname for them

Again, I don't use character nicknames. But Vic<3

[dreamfilleddonuts]

001 nearlymellodramattic please 🥰

when I started shipping it if I did: So, my hobby is roleplaying on another website, mostly in panfandom games. And sometimes the lines you create in games stick with you and become OTPs, or in this case an OT3.

my thoughts: ship wars are stupid when polyamory is a thing and all three of them can love more than one person, love them differently, and have a fulfilling relationship

What makes me happy about them: They're all three the balance for the other two.

What makes me sad about them: Um. Canon. Near winding up alone after the other two are killed.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Say it with me. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT tag love triangles as a three person ship. DO NOT. It is NOT the same thing at ALL. SO MUCH of the tag on Ao3 are love triangles and that's not what I'm here for. They all have two hands.

things I look for in fanfic: For there to be a relationship between them all as a whole and not just two relationships centered around one of the three. For AUs where everyone is happy and alive and together after the events of canon.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I cannot see Near or Mello with anyone but each other, man. They are two halves of a whole. If not part of an ot3 with Matt, they belong to each other and each other only. Matt I can be swayed on.

My happily ever after for them: Near and Mello taking up the mantle of L together and Matt keeping both of them from overworking themselves while also helping them with his own skillsets. They have one room they share together while also having their own spaces when they just need time to do their own things. God knows they have the money for as big a space as they want.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Kinda hard to answer when it comes to three people. I will say that Near sleeps like a damn octopus around the other two. When he hasn't stolen all the blankets and turned himself into a boyfriend burrito.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: mostly just parallel play. The three of them doing their own separate things in the same room next to each other for quality time. But Near and Mello will play games with Matt sometimes, Matt and Mello will bingewatch shows with Near based on whatever his current special interest is. Matt and Near will listen to music with Mello.

[dangermousie]

And we end the show on radiantly happy Aziz and Efnan hoisting the Turkish flag after removing the French flag (politely and giving it to Francois; one of the things I enjoyed about this show was that despite the strong underpinning of patriotism, Pierre was always portrayed as an out there loon disliked even by his own government; France wasn’t portrayed as benign and definitely colonialist and oppressive but all the truly terrible stuff was Pierre going above and beyond) free and happy in the Republic of Hatay, about to work on making sure it joins Turkey.

AWWWWW

And we are done! The show was renewed for second season but that did not go forward (the rumor I saw was that Murat Yildirim really hated s2 script but who knows what the actual truth is.) I am actually very happy this was the end - sure there are some small loose ends about secondaries (Maksudeh and Kenan’s story or Adem’s missing mom - tho they seemed to have forgotten about her in general) but all the big plot points have been resolved - Hatay is free from the French, Dilruba is gone, Aziz and Efnan are happy and their business is doing well, Pierre has been defeated and removed. There really is no need for a second season, especially in light of the fact that Turkish shows rarely have second seasons as good as the first and that the writing already started going downhill by the end (eps 23-28 are nowhere near as good as 1-22.)

So, now I am done, I can say this is definitely going among my faves. If the quality kept being the same as if it was in the first 22 eps, it would be my n1 Turkish show of all time but as is, it’s in Top 5. I can complain about the character and dynamics changes and inconsistencies as well as plot holes all after 22 and the fact that the patriotism narrative took over by the end is perhaps not surprising but I am not the target audience so my interest wandered at those parts.

BUT it would be very churlish to complain about a show which gave me so many hours of sheer unadulterated pleasure, especially during the time where I had some stressful RL things going on. I giggled, I sniffled, I drooled, and I swooned like a maniac! Aziz and Efnan are now one of my all-time favorite OTPs and I loved the complex slowburn and how they were allowed to be flawed and how the show sold me on their being two halves of the same whole despite age and class differences. They were EPIC!

I loved the costumes and the setting and the narrative and a special shout-out to Pierre, a deliciously Gothic villain who was so utterly fun and magnetic to watch and hate.

And now what’s next? Other than catching up on all the shows I neglected while binging? @academyofbrokenhearts and I were going to make Gecenin Kralicesi our next Murat show, but since she is still watching Aziz and it’s going to take her some time, I am going to watch Suskunlar since that one is too angsty for her.

Anyway, thanks Aziz, for giving me a great time!

[diesoonandsuffer]

sp ock

genuinely the guy of all time. i purposefully saved this for last so i could think about it more and i still don't think i'm ready so here i go.

favorite thing about them

to quote kirk "of all the souls i've met in my travels, his was the most human." i love how proud he is of his vulcan heritage and how he tries to honor them but i also love the way he just cannot fight off his humanity. and the way he eventually learns to accept that part of himself as well, become not two split halves but rather one whole complete and complex person. he can have a moral code governed by logic and see the world through a lens of science while also having passion for the arts, having capacity for empathy, knowing when to take a different approach. like THE guy of all time genuinely

least favorite thing about them

that he doesn't jump on kirk's bones sooner!!!!

no i'm kidding mostly uhh i mean we could go into all of the ways this little guy is messed up like he is repressed he is contradictory he is too mean he is loyal to the rules to a fault. but also most of these things eventually change or shift? so by the end of his arc those things don't really stick. i guess i wish he would open up to more people other than just kirk and occasionally bones, i do wish i could see his other friendships thriving

favorite line

god he has so many good lines.....like both spirk related ones that make me insane but also regular lines from the show he has so many bangers. okay i'm going with this one:

"after a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. it is not logical, but it is often true." like okay go off king of gay yearning. he walked so tumblr could run

honorable mentions: "JIM!!!" and "they are not the hell your whales."

brOTP

him and uhura <3 any time i see fanart of them hanging out im like YEAH!!!!!

OTP

you are my superior officer. you are also my friend. i have been and always shall be yours.

nOTP

him and uhura </3 KELVIN TIMELINE I AM LOOKING DIRECTLY AT YOU

random headcanon

i have a hc that kirk was like involved in theater in starfleet academy somehow. i don't know if they met at the academy but if they did i think spock would go to his shows

unpopular opinion

i don't think we should be making more spocks like i'm sure these new shows are good but this man already has so much lore and has been made and remade so many times like he has 15 versions of himself WITHIN himself and none of them really feel the same or capture the original. like just leave him be lol

song i associate with them

the first song i thought of was cold, cold man by saint motel. it's basically about someone who does not show many grand or outward gestures of affection but is assuring their lover that they are the only thing that matters.

favorite picture of them

this one

[image ID: spock slunched over on a table, head on his hands, near tears.]

send me a tos or tng character!

[thatblondeperson]

You know, as a bi man I really don't mind how Tim coming out was handled too much, besides, you know, they not showing Tim and Steph break up on panel. I feel that there's this trend when it comes to male bi characters in media and in comics too, that the only romantic relationships that are given emotional depth are the ones they have with other female characters, while their relationships with other men are just something physical or not "deep enough". Like, people forget that while there's this annoying ideia that bi people are only "bi enough" if they are with someone of the same gender, there's also a lot people that are only okay with bi characters if they end up with someone of the opposite gender. And I feel like this sentiment is really common in comics spaces.

Idk, I'm happy that they're showing that Tim is happy with another boy, and that his relationship with him is real, and special and important. I still want him to get back with Steph in the future, they're my OTP, but for now I'm really happy with how things are.

Oh it's absolutely wonderful the way they're portraying him with Bernard. It's sweet and sappy and cheesy and romantic as hell. On top of that, I'm thoroughly enjoying this solo run, i think it's cute and it feels very Tim. It's a nice fun story.

I don't think there's a way to win with bi portrayal in media. If they're in an opposite sex relationship, it's not bi enough. It's defaulting to heteronormativity, it's regressive, it's lazy. If they're in a same sex relationship, they may as well have just written them as gay. The biphobes come out and say that writing them as bi isn't enough rep and if they're already with a same sex partner, why not make them gay? Bisexuality gets dismissed when the bi character is in a same sex relationship because it's too complicated to discuss or whatever. It's a mess.

It's never going to be perfectly clean. I think Meghan does tend to ignore canon with some stuff, which is where her decision making gets clunky for me, but in the larger picture of viewing the story as a whole, I'm not mad at her writing. I just think we skip over stuff and miss maybe important plot details along the way. We're not going to get them, so that's my time to try to fill in the blanks with whatever I've got.

It's all a game of interpreting the text. That's what I'm spending my time doing while I read and disect Tim's character. I like to pull him and his experiences apart and put them back together in the stories he's in a re-approach the text in different ways. Overall, I'm happy with the direction we're in. Please don't mistake my obsession with past canon and overanalazing emotional bonds as anything other than my normal shtick of reading far too much into every line of text.

There's a million ways they could have written this whole scenario, what I am most upset about is not getting to see what lead up to, and the subsequent breakup, and not getting to see Tim really coming out to Steph. If they're not together, it's fine. They're my OTP still, but I'm happy if they're just given the respect of being two halves of a whole, whether it's romantic or platonic.

I think we're going to get quite a bit of emotional depth with TimBer in this arc which is going to be so nice, and I'm excited to see how the Robin card gets played in their relationship. It's nice to get to have another romantic partner for Tim to be fully open with, and to be vulnerable and honest with. I don’t want it to come across that I don't like that we're getting that.

It's a great story, it's a great direction, it's a great little queer romance, and it's much needed representation that's been a long time coming. I'm all here for it, I'll be buying the trade book probably once it's out. ✌️🩷💜💙