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beatriceeagle · 5 years

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@scarletwinterraven asked: Of the shows on my list, what are my favorite ships and why?

ATLA: Zuko/Mai. I wouldn’t have called myself an ATLA shipper, but on my most recent rewatch I found myself really fascinated by the Zuko/Mai dynamic and by Mai as like, a person, generally, and I actually have most of a fic about them written. I just like them both so much individually, and also, there’s something deeply interesting to me about the balancing act that they must have had to perform throughout their adolescence, having a crush around Azula and all that palace intrigue. And can you imagine being Mai, and having a crush on the crown prince once day, and then the next day he’s been banished forever, and his sister is still ostensibly your best friend? And knowing that any amount of emotion you display over that is power that you’re giving her over you? And then he comes back after three years away? I would so desperately love to have seen their reunion scene.

Angel/Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wesley/Lilah. It’s technically an Angel ship, but Angel should really be on the list, anyway and also my GOD I love that ship so much. They were the first couple I ever shipped, which, uh, probably tells you something about me. I don’t want to see them end up together, or anything, I just enjoy them so damn much. Also Willow/Tara of course, but I don’t wanna talk about it.

Community: Britta/Jeff. Also not in an endgame way, more in like an, “I really enjoy every time these two people are paired on screen together” kind of way, but they obviously shouldn’t be together, that would be a trainwreck. (I also thought Britta/Troy was very sweet.)

ER: Carter/Abby. They’re one of my ride-or-die OTPs, and I will NEVER be over the bullshit that show pulled with this ship. She left him for Luka? LUKA? HOW BORING CAN A PERSON POSSIBLY BE?

Farscape: So like. Is it possible to friendship ship people? Like, not in a BroTP way, but like, specifically, there’s a kind of dynamic that I very rarely see in fiction that I can get REALLY into, where two people are best friends who love each other incredibly deeply and want the world for each other, and who have a platonic relationship, but there’s a lot of sexual tension there and they both know it, but it would be an incredibly bad idea to follow through on it, so they don’t, or maybe they do for a while but then they stop, but there is a definite sexual component to the relationship, but ultimately it’s more friendship than anything else, just… complicated by this other thing. I fall head over heels for relationships like that, and in that sense, you could say I “ship” John/Chiana.

Girl Meets World: I am. Sigh. A Lucas/Maya shipper. Don’t look at me.

Legend of Korra: Korrasami, obvs.

Leverage: Hardison/Parker/Eliot TIL MY DYING DAY, BAYBEE.

The Magicians: Quentin/Eliot is still a great ship, and you will pry it from my cold dead hands, motherfuckers.

NMTD/LoLiLo: Pedrazar :) :) :)

One Day at a Time: Uh, okay, so here’s the thing, I don’t SHIP Penelope/Schneider, but I ABSOLUTELY see the chemistry and I think it’s HYSTERICAL, and because I am secretly, in my heart of hearts, kind of a troll, I’m so excited by the fact that it’s there and the show is getting another season and somehow they’re going to have to deal with it. Does that count?

Parks and Rec: Ben/Leslie are a weird exception to almost everything that I normally ship, but whatever, I love them. Gimme all the wholesome nerds in love and supporting each other.

Schitt’s Creek: I “ship” David/Stevie in all the same ways and for all the same reasons that I do John/Chiana.

Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated: Fred/traps.

Star Trek: Tom/B’Elanna is probably the ship I have loved the most that has ended up being endgame, and I can’t believe that it was on freaking Voyager. There’s something about the way that they are both such incredible disasters, and they are both kind of incredibly hard to be in a relationship with, but also they both try so hard to be there for each other regardless, that really works for me. Every relationship should ideally switch back and forth between insulting each other, sincerely reassuring each other that you’ll be there during times of trouble, and encouraging each other to commit acts of ecoterrorism.

(I’m also really into Picard/Crusher but specifically as a weird, tense, unconsummated thing. Like hell yeah, TNG, show me a future where Picard and Crusher are already divorced. That’s the good stuff!)

Superstore: JONAH/AMY OH MY GOD. These two are a disaster in probably a bad way, but there’s something so real about Superstore, and something so delightful about their chemistry, and again, I’m just such a sucker for people who can’t get their shit together, and like. They had sex for the first time when she was pregnant with her ex-husband’s child? Their life is a series of awkward, undernegotiated attempts to merge their extraordinarily incompatible contexts? I just feel like Jonah/Amy takes the standard trappings of the Mike Schur style grounded soulmate workplace romance and turns it into this slightly sordid, unwholesome, not always good thing, where the fact that they’re opposites who attract and work together leads them to have real problems, like, a lot of the time. But also (because I promise I’m not a complete downer) that relationship just feels so fucking lived in, those people just feel so detailed. The joy they take in each other feels equally real.

Teen Wolf: If you’ve gotten all the way to the bottom of this list, surely you can guess that I am in love with Stiles/Malia. FOR FUCKS SAKE. They lose their virginity to each other in the basement of the mental hospital that they’re both staying in while dealing with their overwhelming trauma. After knowing each other for like five minutes. And then they turn that into a relationship. Those two are in no position to be dating anyone, let alone each other, I love them so much.

As you can see, I find it very difficult to ship like a normal person, and therefore I am perennially frustrated. (Other ships I have loved: Jane/Michael from Jane the Virgin; Clarke/Lexa from The 100; oh, and I wrote what I believe to be the single most popular Tony/Nebula fic in all of Avengers fandom.)

My migraine is getting better, but feel free to keep sending me meta asks!

#meta

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cescalr · 4 years

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OTP Game

I was very kindly tagged by @sunel0 to do this! Thanks!

Pick your top 10 OTPs without reading the questions.

Uhhhh oops, I already read the questions >-< nevermind! I’ll be ordering these by all-time-favourites, so 1 is my number 1 OTP.

Stalia; Stiles/Malia - Teen Wolf.

Ronarry; Ron/Harry - Harry Potter.

Willara; Willow/Tara - Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Claysmond; Clay/Desmond - Assassin’s Creed.

Steo; Stiles/Theo - Teen Wolf.

Vladerie; Sarah/John B - The Outer Banks.

Clex; Clark/Lex - Smallville.

Percabeth; Percy/Annabeth - Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Scira; Scott/Kira - Teen Wolf.

Spike/Buffy/Faith - Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Basically as soon as it happened in canon, I mean - I could tell straight away that was gonna be The Relationship, ‘cause OBX is kinda cliche (in a good way!!!! cliches are cliches for a reason, if done well, they’re very good) so I KNEW that was the ship the show was gonna sail, and I was very happy to be right :) It’s very wholesome.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

Yes! Hell, I’m writing one, technically? There aren’t many for them, which is depressing.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

Nope. I don’t really tend to put ships as that sort of thing, which is what makes Stalia so clearly special to me.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Well, they never dated, and my reaction would be different depending on the situation for them dating in that AU. Like, either ‘makes sense’ or ‘kinda sad but gets it’, yanno?

5. Why is 1 so important?

I’m not entirely sure? I just love them so much. Like, more than anything else I’ve ever shipped. They’re just, so good you guys.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

In what way? Like, they’re serious for each other, but they’re very sweet and carefree when Kira’s fox isn’t out of whack. I ship it seriously, not as a joke, and idk? What you mean by that?

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, in order, 1, 3, 6, 2, 5, 9, 4, 10, 7. You may notice i didn’t list 8; percabeth is in it’s own category of ‘chemistry’, like, it’s more than that. You can’t rank them.

8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond?

2, then 8, then 6. Maybe 8, then 6, then 2. Depends on what you mean by it.

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

Like, too many times, man.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

10, if you mean ‘since i’ve shipped it’ - I watched Buffy long enough ago that my first fanfic at the ripe old age of six was a fan episode for Buffy, and it didn’t take me long to start shipping, and from there it didn’t take me long to start shipping these three in particular. If you mean ‘in canon’ how long has a ship lasted, it would be 8.

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

None, actually.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

Either, actually, depends. Ron and Harry are a good team, and Percy and Annabeth are a good team. And they’re both two sets of fighters, though maybe Ron and Harry have the edge because they’re ranged? Idk, I’d have to think about it.

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

I mean, they would have, if it happened.

14. Is 4 still together?

I would hope so, if they’d became canon at any point. I mean, technically though they’re not together together (as far as we know) they’re stuck together where they are right now, with nobody else around, so,,,, technically???

15. Is 10 canon?

Nope. Spuffy was though. so, one out of three dynamics? Sad.

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Not an easy one to answer. They’re all very capable people, and if it was a forced fight to the death, I think most couples would end up protesting. Though, if they couldn’t do that, I think certain ones - steo - would end up being detrimental to each other before anyone else, and others - Ronarry - would refuse to kill, so... Claysmond might be the only one that would survive just by virtue of them being assassins? I’m not sure.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

asgj;lkjgs nobody but themselves I assure you

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

All of them.

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

No, I just cry instead. <- I don’t need to change your answer lakjg;lkjg;lg THEY’RE SAD OKAY I’m still mad about it.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

Scira, I guess? Scott and Lydia is a pretty good ship so there’s that, and Kira can be with Malia and then I can have Steo, Scydia, and Malira, which is a very good setup. Malira, by the way, would be number 11 on this list if 11 existed. I have a lot of OTPs, to list them all I’d need more than twenty slots.

Thanks again for the tag!! I’m scared of annoying people so, if you want to, feel free to do this, person reading this post :)

#tag game #otp game

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half-bakedboy · 5 years

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6, 19, and 30!

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in. To name a few:

Magnus/Alec (SURPRISE)

Lorenzo/Underhill (I can’t choose from the two, don’t make me)

Spike/Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Willow/Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Nico/Levi (Grey’s Anatomy)

Ten/Rose (Doctor Who)

Jack/Ianto (Torchwood)

Stiles/Derek (Teen Wolf)

Mal/Inara (Firefly)

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them? Clace. I hate that I don’t like them, but I just can’t. They seem so toxic to me with the way they were written in the show. 3B changed my mind a bit, but for some reason, I just can’t get behind them. EDIT: I’m adding Buffy/Angel to this list because for some reason I just CAN’T with them. Maybe S1 Bangel but like I can’t otherwise.

30. What inspires you to write? Hmm… This is an interesting one. I think other writers mostly. I am inspired by so many of the writers in this fandom and every one I’ve encountered (you included, Lynne), have been so supportive and wonderful. I wouldn’t write if it wasn’t for that.

#that list took too much energy #but ugh i love these #answered #lynne-monstr #thank you my dear <3

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bibaybe · 1 year

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OC Valentine’s Challenge 2023 / Day 2 : Same Couple, Different Font

- Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena

taglist: @wordspin-shares @ocappreciationtag @foxesandmagic @veetlegeuse

#ovc2023 #ocappreciation #ocapp #ochub #allaboutocs #queerocs #oc: willow lahey #otp: willow/stiles #my works #fandom: teen wolf #type: aesthetic

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deanspillowprincess · 2 years

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Tag 9 people to learn more about their interests!

Tagged by the wonderful @mieczyhale

MUSIC

fav genre? Alternative, pop, pop-punk, classic rock

fav artist? Fall Out Boy

fav song? Last of the real ones by Fall Out Boy

most listened song recently? “we don't talk about Bruno" from the Encanto soundtrack

song currently stuck in your head? "Blinded by the light" by Manfred Manns Earth Band

5 fav lyrics?

1. “I wanna scream I love you from the top of my lungs, But I’m afraid that someone else will hear me” - The (Shipped) Gold Standard by Fall Out Boy

2. “I parked my car right between the Methodist, And the school that used to be ours, The holidays linger like bad perfume, You can run, but only so far” - ‘tis the damn season by Taylor Swift

3. “Her faith in love is better on sunny days” - City Grown Willow by Radio Company

4. “And I went home, Chasing twisters in the canyon, My cathedral is the badlands, Dust and devils on my conscience, Come back to me darlin’” - Chasing Twisters by Delta Rae

5. “If I can live through this, If I can live through this, If I can live through this, I can do anything” - Champion by Fall Out Boy

- - - - -

BOOKS

fav book genre? fantasy, horror, mystery, romance

fav writer? either Terry Pratchett or Walter Moers, but I love me some Garth Nix too

fav book? The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

fav book series? until JK-Terfling showed her colours it would have been HP, but now it’s gotta be the Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy

comfort book? it sounds silly, but its usually books I read as a little kid - Dr Seuss, the Brambly Hedge books, Beatrix Potter books, that kind of thing

perfect book to read on a rainy day? any, obviously

fav characters? Sophie Hatter from Howl’s Moving Castle, Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes from Discworld, Lirael from the Old Kingdom series

5 quotes from your fav books that you know by heart? The only one that comes to mind is “This is where my story begins” from The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers. I’m not the sort of person who memorises that stuff, although I know most of my favourite poems by heart

- - - - -

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? comedy, fantasy, mystery

fav movie? How to Train Your Dragon

comfort movie? Howl’s Moving Castle

movie you watch every year? I try and do a Hobbit/LOTR marathon every year, as well as all the HTTYD films, but apart from that it’s usually only Christmas movies I reach for each year

fav tv show? Masterchef or The Great British Bake Off

comfort tv show? GBBO

most rewatched tv show? at this point, probably Critical Role (I know it’s not technically a TV show, but I watch it on my TV so I say it counts)

ultimate otp? Hiccup/Astrid, Sterek, Merthur, Stoney, me and any fictional character I’m attracted to

5 fav characters?

1) Dean Winchester (Supernatural - come on, you’ve seen the url, this should not be a surprise to anyone)

2) Astrid (How To Train Your Dragon)

3) Stiles Stilinski (Teen Wolf)

4) Gwaine (Merlin)

5) Sophie Hatter (Howl’s Moving Castle)

Gotta tag a bunch of people to do this, so @penguinsandpanthers, @crossbonesandcutlery @threedaybreakdown @jordantargaryen @canitwaitforabit @strawberryhi @aegis-shield @audioshoes @the-busy-ghost

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jaimistoryteller · 6 years

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OC/Author PrideFest Question Mess Part 3

Thanks for the tag @raevenlywrites ! Ended up sleeping longer than expected, here’s the last part of the set of questions.

Rules I am going with: answer the questions you know or are comfortable sharing, tag others, add a question if you feel like something is missing.

Note: I will be answering in three different posts, one per section, rather than all together because of how many questions there are.

Questions for you:

Introduce yourself! Tell us a little bit about you and what you write

Why do you write LGBT+ characters?

Have you always written LGBT+ characters? If no, what inspired you to start? Is it a deliberate representational choice?

Do you use modern labels in your work? Why or why not?

World builders: do you have any neat societal twists? (unique names for IDs, different marriage practices, etc.)

Do you write outside your own experiences? (cis writing trans, wlw writing mlm, etc.) If yes, how confident do you feel about it?

Tell us about a favorite book/character someone else wrote that inspired you (or just plain gave you a warm and fuzzy)

Any advice for someone else writing LGBT+ characters?

Would you like people to ask you more questions when this is over?

Free space! Wax poetic about something near and dear to your heart.

Questions for your Ocs (in character or out, dealer’s choice):

Say hi! Let us get to know you, you big beautiful person, you!

How do you feel about the world your author has created for you?

Are you out? To whom, why or why not, etc?

Tell us a little about your journey. Have you always IDed the way you do now? Are there parts of you you’re still figuring out?

Do you feel settled in your ID, or do you think it might change as you and your author go on?

Did your author always know you were [blank], or did you have to tell them? If yes, oh please, please tell us how! :3

Is being [blank] particularly hard in your world? How does your society treat you differently than ours might?

Tell us a little about your unique experiences with your ID. Do you experience dysphoria? Is it impossible to find a date? Just want to find that special someone for snuggles but everyone expects sex? Unload for a minute, it’s okay to struggle sometimes.

What’s the best part about being [blank] in your world?

Do you like getting fan-mail? Would you like people to ask you more questions when this is over?

Grab that mic! Drop some truth on us, something you’ve just been dying to share! Shout out to your besties!

Questions for either you or your OCs:

Going to answer these like I would a Q&A post, with the first three characters that comes to mind for each question.

What’s your orientation and gender? Wave that flag!!!

Tichina - female and pan. I’m proud of both. While I have not yet met my soulmates, I have had a variety of partners over the year that covers the spectrum of genders and sexualities.

Quin - agender and queer. I am much more comfortable with my gender then I am my orientation.

Stepan - male, demisexual, pan or poly romantic, never quite sure which is a better fit. I’m good with my alignments and try to always be respectful of other peoples. If my patient has one I am unfamiliar with, then I make sure to do research so I can help my patient to the best of my abilities.

When did you realize you were LGBT+?

Jon - as a preteen. The others on the gymnastics team were talking about how cute people were and I didn’t see it.

Isa - in my mid-twenties. I’m older than I look.

Nazreen - after meeting my soulmates in my mid-twenties, prior to that I just thought there was something wrong with me.

What makes your heart melt?

Nazreen - not technically related to my orientation, but seeing Akaal with the children, particularly the smaller ones. He’s so big and yet I know he’s never going to harm them.

Sitara *chuckles* Nazreen beat me to that one, *thoughtful look* I’m going with the way acceptance is the norm and not the unusual within the Balakhnov Building.

Tichina - any time I am able to get one of my high risk kids off the street, bonus points for the ones who find themselves and do so proudly.

Do you have a favorite LGBT+ song? Movie? Book? Artist? (comic?)

Marie - too many books to list them all, the beauty of being an editor. I’ve always enjoyed All the Things She Said by t.A.T.u

Ioanna - Father would have been horrified if still alive to know I play games like Saints Row 2. I think that Gat, Aisha, and the main character are a triad. Since the main character can be anything the player ones, I take them to be genderfluid, so no matter how the relationship unfolds it’s bi

Sparks - Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. You know she keeps them in line and makes Bruce stop brooding so damned much.

Do you have a secret crush outside of your own work? Some wild crossover OTP?

Aither - I spent my teenage years shipping myself with Buffy and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and there was that one time I wondered what it would be like to be an Aither sandwich with Squall and Seifer from FFVIII. . Of course, as an adult I have also shipped myself with Sam and Gabriel from Supernatural.

Aaron *tries not to fidget* Q from the Craig!Bond movies is quiet adorable and I wouldn’t mind a good snuggle with him.

Diego - I don’t know if I’d like anything more than friendship, but I’d love to get to know Stiles and Lydia from Teen Wolf. Maybe Even Scott if he could get his head out of his rump long enough to actually act like the friend he’s supposed to be.

Tell us about your LGTB+ headcannons (I’d really love to see someone’s character answer this)

Karl - I always thought that William and Geoffrey from A Knight’s Tale were boyfriends. When Jocelyn joins them, they form a proper triad.

Isaak - no one can convince me that Bones, Spock and Jim weren’t a space-husband triad!

Vara - I’d like to think that Nathan, Audrey, and Duke in Haven are a triad. Most of Nathan and Duke’s conflict coming from the fact neither of them wants to admit it for whatever silly reason.

What’s your favorite thing about being LGBT+?

Vasilia - I’m myself and able to accept that I am myself, rather than trying to be someone I am not because I hadn’t accepted being transgender.

Isa - there is a community of people like me.

Keywon - pride in my friends and community.

Is there a cool place you like to hang out with your squad? Maybe an LGBT+ meet up?

Keywon - well, our team hangs out at the basketball court a lot, we also spend time in the community center where we are able to get help with any school work we need. We’re encouraged to bring others our age or orientation to hang out and what not.

Quin - before meeting Aither, I spent a lot of my time at the queer book store, I didn’t really have a squad, but at least it was somewhere safe for me in public. Not that I like being in public too often.

Molon - while I do spend a lot of time at the community center and at the basketball court, I also spend a lot of time at the nomyn san (Mongolian Library) where a lot of people of a similar descent hang out to share culture.

What are some things you do to keep positive?

Tichina - I help those in my community and the communities around mine. Every time I do so, I know I am helping someone else avoid the hardships that I and others before me went through. They’ll have a chance at a better life.

Tzvia - prayer and regular worship, I am active in the both my faith and sports.

Isaak - studying helps me keep positive because it means I can reach for the stars (literally)

Do you have any advice for young LGBT+ people?

Jon - you’re not broken, wrong, or otherwise odd. No matter what some people might claim, they’re idiots.

Aither - own whatever space you are in, most won’t know how to take it.

Jamie - be yourself, it might require leaving what you know, but in the long run it’ll be far better for you.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Isaak - hopefully on the moon, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and study, but my Uncle and Aunt are making it possible so I’m not letting them or myself down.

Falco - retiring, I hope. I sometimes feel far too old for position within the Network that I hold.

Ioanna - I happier and healthier me, preferably.

Welp, that took way longer than planned because of a host of reasons. Still, have some more information on my massive world.

Tagging some peeps I am getting to know off the writer peeps spreadsheet so they can see my answers or do them as they feel fit.

@authordai @forlornraven @lagamerita @writing-at-dusk and @wordsbysarah

Part 1 and Part 2

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shadowedstilinski · 6 years

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Not technically tagged since it said ‘tagging anyone who wants!’ BUT @scottstiles

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions, then tag 10 people you want to know better

I choose:

buffy

harry potter

teen wolf

The first character you loved:

Cordelia

Hermione

Stiles

The character you never expected to love so much:

Spike (aside from THAT EPISODE he can die in that episode THANKS)

Ron (I should have I’m the worst wow)

I’m not sure??? The ones I expected to love I loved and the ones I didn’t I, well, didn’t so :| Maybe Caitlin? She’s BEST GIRL out of all the minor characters fight me. (please don’t, actually)

The character you relate to the most:

Willow? Maybe??

Nobody really.

Stiles, lol.

The character you’d slap:

Glory. Do I hate her or what??? Hate. It’s vehement.

Umbridge because of course.

GERARD FUCKING ARGENT can go die in a hole please

Three favourite characters (in order of preference):

Faith, Buffy, Oz.

Harry, Ron, Ginny/Luna (Four can work if they’re tied, right???)

OH GOD, uhm, Stiles, Malia, Scott/Kira, I think???? Too many good characters... too many.

A character you liked at first but don’t anymore:

All buffy characters have their bad moments, but I don’t hate any of the ones I liked at first.

people are going to kill me for this, but Hermione. Not because I hate her, or anything, she’s just not one of my faves anymore, and that’s the best I’ve got for this section, sorry.

ohhh, I’m gonna get murdered. Kate, alright, I liked Kate because I’m an idiot, that was before we found out she’s a horrible murderer, okay, but when she was first introduced I thought she was funny *Hides in a corner*

A character you did not like at first but now do:

Angel. I understand him more, now, especially after ATS.

Dumbledore. I get his reasoning better and I understand his nature more, and at the time I just didn’t like how he kept secrets.

Either Theo or Peter? Not because I like them as people but because I like them as characters, if that makes any sense.

Three OTPs:

xandelia, fuffy, willara/willoz

hinny, huna/ronmione... harron (runs away)

stalia, scira, sciles

Tagging whoever wants a go!

#what a greenie // ooc ~ me #ignore thissss

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takaraphoenix · 7 years

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Fuck. This is going to be really very long. And I am saying that knowing how long my previous rants were. Those were short compared to what’s about to come.

I absolutely, completely and unconditionally love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is the singular most perfect TV show in existence. Nothing I have ever seen has lived up to it and I doubt anything I will ever see will live up to this show in its whole. This is my second favorite show on my top five list and it’s held that spot for the past fifteen years (which mind sound strange that I put the “most perfect TV show in existence” on spot two, but… I’m fully aware of all the flaws in my most favorite show and that I love that one with my nostalgia goggles on, but it will still always be my number one and not even Buffy’s perfection can kick it off the throne).

Now, just because I love something doesn’t mean I perceive it as flawless. I am fully aware of its flaws. But nothing is a hundred percent perfect.

I don’t even know where to start, but I think the beginning is the best.

What I hate about most supernatural shows is how “They are now thrown into this strange, new world with monsters… and immediately forget all about their non-supernatural friends” that literally every other show with supernatural elements does.

Not Buffy. When she first meets Willow and Xander, the two kind of only had each other and their buffy who gets killed off right at the start. And even then, Willow and Xander were the non-supernatural normal friends. And they became so important.

The fact that Buffy has this group of ordinary people behind her and really just human characters and that they back her up, that alone is awesome.

The Scooby Gang in general is awesome.

That is my favorite thing about the show. The relationships between the characters and how important they are. That the friendship never takes second place to the romance, like how many other shows like to write it. Because regardless of who was added to the plot and who left again, in the very end, it always came down to Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles and I will always cry at the show’s finale when it is just the four of them, parting ways to go into their very last battle, I mean fuck I’m crying right now just writing this because it was just so heavy with the emotions and the importance of their friendship.

They are the heart and backbone of this show and the show never forgot it.

Many shows forget themselves, they forget the values and beauty they once represented, the longer the show goes on. And Buffy never did. Sure, it lost itself in the middle - but we’ll get to that when we get to that - but it caught itself and never declined fully.

Buffy Summers is an amazing character. She’s a girly-girl who loves lollipops and talking about boys and whining. She’s the most badass female character ever written in TV who saves the world repeatedly and comes back from the dead just to do it again, who has been beaten down by life in the cruelest ways possible and still kept on surviving but never without the scars. Her struggles were never just shrugged off. They became themes that were being dealt with realistically. For fuck’s sake, we had a plotline about her working at a burger shop because yes, this is a show taking place in reality and bills are something that needs to be paid even if you save the world. She is not a perfect character, she made a lot of bad decisions along the way, but that is what makes her human. She is not some character created for an agenda to show that “girls can do anything boys can” and is thus forbidden from doing anything overly girls, as many writers mistakenly do when trying to write strong female characters, because a female is not powerful and strong just because she belittles women who like wearing pink and dressing prettily and who see “girl” as an insult. That is not how strong women work.

Women are complex characters, just like every character should be. They don’t have to solemnly be one way so they aren’t the other way. And Buffy is a beautiful example of the complexity of it all.

Willow Rosenberg is an amazing character. She’s one of the characters in TV that had the biggest character development. This shy, demure girl that became the most badass bitch around who could kick your ass into a parallel dimension with the blink of an eye. The fact that she was literally the first lesbian I ever saw only made her more amazing for me. You see, I started watching Buffy with season 4, which first premiered in Germany in 2001, because, well, I was 10 when I started watching that show since earlier was kind of a little too young in my mom’s eyes, but she’s been watching it for years at that point and I kept lingering in the doorway with pleading eyes because vampires and witches and werewolves, mom, please, until I got to watch it. Right in the season where Willow and Tara fell in love. And I was legitimately in awe, because the concept of two women falling in love was new to me. I never met a real life lesbian before and on TV, the highest of their feelings were Will & Grace with the gays, but lesbians? Never seen that before. It was amazing for me.

And I will forever be grateful that Willow and Tara were my first representation of lesbians that I met.

Xander Harris is an amazing characer. I mean, seriously, I could do this for nearly every character but I’ll only be doing it for the Big Three for the sake of time, okay? He was this fearful, dorky, kinda useless normal dude in the beginning, but he had such a strong backbone, he always knew he’d be there for his friends. And he always was. What made him so special was that he wasn’t special. He was just A Guy. Where Buffy was the Slayer and Willow became the most powerful witch in existence, he was just a normal guy. The original Matt Donovan and Stiles Stilinski and Simon Lewis (despite him turning into a vampire later on, I will still count him for this category). The quippy human best friend to the supernatural. But he adapted. He found his own place among the supernatural and his own way of prodicing for them, helping them.

It amuses me that actually, I kind of started watching this show with its weakest season. Season 4. But let’s start with the other seasons first (I mean, I warned you guys that this is gonna be long).

Buffy was my first high school TV show. All shows I had watched up to that point were family comedies like Married with Children and Full House. But this was the first real look into how American high schools work and I loved it. The first three seasons in itself are the best of Buffy. I’m not even able to pick one season as the best because I like the whole stretch of it.

The dynamics, the characters, the villains, the plots.

Cordelia Chase is - argh, I didn’t want to do this for every character, so I’ll keep it short - another amazing example at character development. From the shallow, air-headed Barbie to a strong ally and friend who fought with her head held high and I will never forget Angel for ruining her.

And okay, if I take a sentence for Cordelia, I can really, truly not skip Giles. Giles, who will forever be The Mentor. When I hear “mentor figure” or “father figure”, I will always first and foremost think of Giles. He was the father and guide to them all, but he was not the one strong pillar, he too had his struggles. It’s one of the things that made me love the second Percy Jackson movie because Anthony Stewart Head is who I pictured as Chiron when reading the books and it is the most perfect casting they could have made.

The first three seasons arched beautifully together, tying the struggles of the high school students turned demon hunters, the funny elements and self-awareness, the serious undertones.

The scene at graduation when the class gave Buffy an award for being Class Protector is one of my favorite TV moments, because this… this acknowledgment of “Yeah, we weren’t always there for you and we didn’t bother getting to know you, but we know you’re there and we know what you did for us” and honestly, I’m crying again, this is ridiculous.

They graduate from high school and then… life continues. Like. Life continues in a realistic way. They go to college, or not in Xander’s case. They struggle with what to do with their lives, they try to find their own paths in what I consider the most realistic portrait in TV. In others, it’s not just “Yup, they college. We’ll mention college every now and again, but it never interferes with the demon hunting” like with most others. Buffy struggles with college work and demon killing, Willow soaks it all up because it’s exactly her world, Xander doesn’t know what to do with it, Giles struggles with what to do with his life in general.

Still, I consider season 4 the weakest season because the Initiative was… It wasn’t used well enough. It appeared and then it kind of disappeared again and in this show where the lore and world-building are so rich and on-point, the Initiative was the one hit and miss they did. Not to mention, I don’t like zombies and Adam creeped me out and was the weirdest major Big Bad that they ever had in that show.

But it brought back Spike and made him a more complex character than just “Bad guy with bad attitude and insane girlfriend”.

Which is a good cue-in for the ships and love-stories, actually.

Buffy is and perhaps will always be the only franchise where the love-triangle clicks for me. Angel/Buffy? Yes. Oh god, what a beautiful, tragic love-story, please give me more of them, OTP all the way. Spike/Buffy? Oh, the pain but they are so good for them and when he’s good, he’s the best, please give me more of them, OTP all the way.

I literally can not decide on who to ship her with. With most love-triangles, I either do not care about both options, or I want to cross the badly written female out of the equation and want to dive right into the slash fiction, or there’s only one good pairing in the options anyway.

The tragicly ironic thing is that for Willow, I have and always will ship her most with Oz though. Willow and Oz were that perfect soft warm ship for me, when I got to finally watch the first three seasons as the reruns hit Germany.

Willow and Tara, while beautiful at times, were also very tragic. The way Willow lied to Tara and manipulated her was just so unhealthy. I do love them together, I just think that I love Oz and Willow a bit more.

Xander is a mess. Like. Seriously. Him and Cordelia. Him and Anya. I can not decide which one I like more in the end, but think that, at this point, it really does become clear that I can cut this show into two parts. The first three seasons of high school where Angel/Buffy, Xander/Cordelia and Oz/Willow are just all the yes, as well as the post graduation seasons where Spike/Buffy, Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara are just all the yes. Which really, truly fascinates me.

Because it’s really rare for a show to get me on board with its canon couples in general. This show does an amazing job on that too.

So, season 4 was kind of flawed in the way the Initiative wasn’t grounded enough in this world and how weak its endgame villain came off.

Season 5 brought the legit only thing about this show that I hate. Dawn Summers.

Urgh. It makes me shudder to just think about her. She’s such an awful and useless and stupid person. And yes, I’m saying person here, because “character” would blame it on the writing and make it sound like she’s a badly written character, which she is not. She was intended to be the annoying, dumb, useless little sister. Not every character can or has to be flawless or lovable. She’s just that… one that isn’t.

And she just becomes worse in season 6, honestly. She is such a self-centered brat that has no concept of the struggles of others. Like. Yes, I understand that she has problems and that she suffers too, but so does everyone and if someone doesn’t have time for her, she acts out. They just… They do have a lot on their plates, trying to save the world and keep you from being homeless, you know? Which, okay, was a solid portrayal of an angsty, bratty teen, I suppose, because teenagers, as I recall from my own time as one, are fascinatingly blind for the struggles of adults. Doesn’t make her less annoying though.

I take back what I said earlier, about not being able to pick a favorite season. Season 6 is my favorite season, which in itself is baffling. Normally, I pick one of the very early seasons of a show because they keep declining afterward until they crash and burn.

Season 6 did the exact opposite of what other shows do. Where other shows feel the need to top it all off, go wilder and broader and more brutal and bigger enemies until it becomes an unrealistic mess, this one just…

Three human boys.

That’s the enemy of the season. Just three stupid idiots who play pranks on the good guys, for the most part. And it was the perfect choice, because instead of having to deal with those major Big Bads, we get the chance to deal with the characters. The one thing I keep complaining about in other shows, how they’re too overcrowded with plot to even give the characters any time to deal with stuff or interact.

Buffy did it.

They stepped back from the Big Bad in favor of dealing with the bigger issues. Dawn being not a real human and not dealing well with that. Buffy having died and being brought back. Willow becoming addicted to magic. Xander… completely fucking up the best thing in his life.

We have character plots in this season.

Character plots that still end in a big battle of epic proportions when Willow literally becomes a Dark Witch powerful enough to destroy the world. But instead of it being some epic battle, it’s one of the… quietest fights ever and it’s brought home in such a beautiful way because it’s about grief and loss and pain and love.

And those. Those are the moments that make Buffy the most perfect TV show to me. It never loses its humanity. Maybe the most emotional scene in all of this show happened in season 5, when Joyce Summers died and Anya talked about her death, about the concept of death. That will never cease to make me cry.

And season 7 was the perfect ending. The way it rounded things up, it brought every single thing full circle, all the way to that above mentioned scene of Giles, Buffy, Willow and Xander parting ways before the very final battle, among all the loudness of everyone, it is brought to the forefront one last time that it is them.

The way they solved the whole Slayer thing, the Big Bad they chose for their final season, the development. Nathan Fillion as one of the creepiest bad guys ever. The fact that, even after all those seasons already, Buffy still had a struggle, had to prove herself.

I have one or two major bones to pick with it, because I hated when the group decided “Lol, nope, we don’t need you, Buffy”… that broke my heart. It breaks my heart every single time I watch it because even her friends tell her they need a break from her. I mean, I love how she found safety and support in Spike’s arms after that scene, but that it happened at all and that after things of course go wrong without Buffy, they all come crawling back… it makes me angry. It was important to bring them all as a team together, but to me it will always feel OoC coming from those she had fought alongside with for seven years, those who should always have her back who always did have her back.

And, when talking about bones to pick, aside from weak season 4 and Dawn Summers, there’s just one more major thing that I have a problem with.

Hank Summers. For those who forgot because he’s literally only been in two episodes, that’s Buffy’s dad. Because Buffy has a father. The “(half-)orphan”-trope is very overused, but I genuinely think this show would have benefitted from it.

Hank Summers does nothing. Not even when his ex-wife dies and his teenage daughter and barely-above-twenty daughter are left all on their own. He doesn’t pitch in with money, he doesn’t visit, he doesn’t even think about taking Dawn in and taking care of her himself.

I mean. Same as with Dawn, it can just be said that he is a Bad Person and a Seriously Bad Dad, but… Give me a break, Buffy deserved better than that. Having him be dead would really have been better, especially when Joyce dies and he just… “Nope, no interest in those kids”.

And on that note, let me add Faith (who I accidentally forgot about before). She’s... probably the most complex character, because it’s easy to hate her, but it’s also kind of easy to love her. She’s definitely the most flawed character and that’s what makes her good. Because she’s bad. She gets the same powers as Buffy, but unlike other Slayers, she gets morally corrupted. But she also finds her way again. She’s a badass bitch and she definitely brought something new to the table. I loved how flawed she was, because she was not a good person, but when needed, she was one of the good guys. They never pretended to turn her around into a good person though, she always stayed true to herself.

The reason I’m adding her here is because I feel like she messes up the mythology a little. Part of me really loved how they brought in Kendra after Buffy died, because “When the Slayer dies, another Slayer awakens” and that they remembered to keep with that when Kendra died. But after that, this kind of really fell apart and is one of the biggest plot-holes to the show, in my eyes.

Buffy died three times. But only her first death awakened a new Slayer. Now, you can argue that with that, the mantle was passed on, but... When Buffy came back from the dead, she still had her Slayer abilities. She was still the Slayer, she wasn’t suddenly back to being the normal girl she was before she turned sixteen and became the Slayer. So technically, considering she was still the Slayer, her other deaths should have also passed on the mantle and thus awoken two more Slayers.

Not to mention... in the history of Slayers, Buffy was the first one to be brought back to life? I always found that hard to believe. No one ever used CPR or magic on a Slayer before? I doubt it.

So in this very rich and grounded lore and mythology, I have a problem with “We got Kendra and then we got Faith and... we don’t bother explaining why we never got any additional Slayers”.

Now, as we conclude this, let me wrap up what exactly makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer the most perfect TV show to me.

1.) The superb writing.

Not just the plot as I laid it out above, the way they knew when to step back and when to give character plotlines instead of big and loud action plots. Simply the dialogues alone. This show holds up. It’s a time-capsule of the 90s, sure, but its writing and dialogues are still funny, emotional, heavy, with exactly the right words chosen. The writing on this show is in every aspect overwhelmingly brilliant.

2.) The characters.

They’re individual, they’re well-developed, they have their own plots and relationships and they are all important, not just the titular character. It inverted tropes with its characters, it managed to put strong female characters out there without having “being a strong female character” be their only and defining character trades.

3.) The story.

Okay, this is technically part of the writing too, but I think it deserves its special shout-out. Because this show has a consistent lore where not all of a sudden all the time something new is shoehorned in and retconned in and where it comes apart by the seams the more seasons it has because you notice the writers didn’t think ahead so far. No, this world is fleshed out, its lore is established and as it is. It’s consistent.

Yes, it’s not flawless, but damn it’s the closest to flawless that I’ve ever seen.

#ask me a show and I shall rant #TV Rants #Fandom Rants #Buffy the Vampire Slayer #Buffy is basically perfect #Joss Whedon is essentially a genius #We need more strong female characters like Buffy #mystoryandotherrandomthoughts

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