#really i like everything everything honestly but am not a shippy person

[theloveinc]

Bnha ships? Controversial or typical ones!

mmmmmmmmm, unfortunately, i've never been too invested in ships just bc i'm always a little more invested in the reader insert side of things... but that being said, i really don't have any ships that i truly dislike, either.... so let's see!

-

in completely random order:

deku x melissa - i like to think that a couple years after meeting they have a little bit of fling/relationship. i thought their chemistry was amazing in the movie so it's very cute to me to think that she's the first person deku dates <3 also, american baddie.

hawks x endeavor - no excuse no thoughts head empty... i just like the (somewhat toxic) dynamic of like, younger person makes older person better............... somehow. i think they're funny too, with endeavor being all grumpy and hawks just all ^u^ all the time LOL

kiribaku, ofc! - just a berry cute relationship in general, i love a relationship where both characters meet later in life and become their most true selves together (honestly tho any bakusquad member x bakugo i really like. MINA x BAKUGO ESP, but also denki and sero!)

shinbaku + bakugo x todoroki, too. - dunno. but i see art + fics of them and i like it LOL.

bakugo x momo - they definitely have a relationship at some point and i'm there for it. they just seem a lot more similar than one might initially think, you know? both pretty boys and girls who study hard and like calming things.

(i've said it before, too.. but i also like tsuyu x bakugo and camie x bakugo! i think bakugo would be so gentle with tsu and so funny with camie <3... maybe even todoroki x camie, too)

and i don't think abt it too much bc i know it's endgame, but izuocha is very sweet and high on my list. i love their fanart, it's always so cute! similarly, bakugo x mirko... i hope they have their moment together at least once!!

and finally (tho there's a ton i'm missing, i'm sure): everyone x caitie!! this one isn't too controversial tho i know it's not very widespread in the bnha community simply cuz caitie hasn't been introduced in the show yet. but i know she's fucking EVERYONE (and esp bakugo<3333)

thank you so much for asking, anon! you can always check @cakugo which is my sideblog for most bnha shipart and art in general. what ships do you like?

[nekropsii]

Hi! I've recently gotten into homestuck and I've read quite a bit of it, as well as other people's blogs analyzing and criticizing the media. I've heard a Lot about Dave's arc being centered around internal homophobia and toxic masculinity, so it surprised me to hear taht you disagreed! I was wondering why you think that, and what are your thoughts on what his arc actually is? I know you don't like writing about the alpha/beta kids, so feel free to ignore this ask completely if you want. Thank you, I hope you have a great day!

Hello, Anon! I'm glad you've been having fun with Homestuck lately!! Despite its many flaws, it is a deeply compelling piece of fiction, and I'm always glad to see new eyes on it and new voices being added to the analytical sphere. To answer your question...

Personally, I have never seen what people are talking about with regards to Dave's whole character arc surrounding overcoming Internalized Homophobia and Toxic Masculinity. These are fundamentally not what his arc is about, and this is never what his arc has ever been about. I'd honestly never seen that analytical lens until after DaveKat rose into prominence (mostly due to Post-Canon's heavy featuring of the pairing), and I feel as if these things are related. It is easier to make easy-to-stomach, shippy angst out of addressing your own personal shortcomings than what Dave's arc is actually about. No shade intended. This is because...

Dave's character arc is, and always has been, about Recovering from Childhood Abuse.

This is the conflict we are made aware of in his introduction, and it's a theme that persists all throughout the story. We meet Dave as a 13 year old boy suffering some pretty extreme abuse at the hands of Bro- Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Sexually. Dave's home life is such an active threat that he struggles to even admit to himself that it is abuse in the first place- that's an admission that takes a level of vulnerability that he just could not afford, and it's something he's only left to truly unpack during the Meteor Arc.

I have a couple major problems with the "Toxic Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia" takes. Firstly, Toxic Masculinity is not inherent to any expression of Masculinity. The only Toxically Masculine trait we see that's applicable to Dave is that he struggles deeply with vulnerability and sincerity in his emotions. However... These don't really have anything to do with what his views on what a man is or should be. They have everything to do with the fact that he was abused by someone who punishes any display of weakness, because Bro excused his abuse with it being "Training". Secondly... Dave is Bisexual. Even if the process of Dave struggling to accept being attracted to men was a major point in the story, it would not be called Internalized Homophobia. It would be called Internalized Biphobia, because Dave is canonically Bisexual, not Gay. We have seen Dave be attracted to more women than men, and attraction to both genders was present simultaneously. It was not Compulsory Heterosexuality. If it was, it'd be actually written into the story. Bisexual people exist. This is not a Homophobic argument to make; I am literally a Gay man.

It's anthropologically fascinating how this take arose... Basically out of nowhere from my perspective, especially considering how all of Dave's most iconic dramatic lines have something to do with him having to sort through his own abuse. Does no one remember the rooftop scene between Dave and Dirk, where Dave starts telling Dirk all about the horrible way that Bro raised him, and how deeply it affected him?

If not, I'm posting the most striking part of it here.

[Homestuck, page 7749.]

... So, yeah, no. Dave's character arc is not about "Overcoming Toxic Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia". It's about Abuse. Dave is an Abuse Victim. Point blank period. Any trait even loosely attributable to the ideas of Toxic Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia are a consequence of how he was raised, and how he was abused. This does not mean that this is what his character arc is about. That just means that's included within his character arc. It's a way to show growth, not a way to define his arc in its entirety. That is legitimately not how character writing works. To claim such would be to express a remarkable amount of Tunnel Vision.

Inclusion does not equate to Totality. There is a bigger picture, and that bigger picture is Abuse Recovery.

[utilitycaster]

(Long ask warning)

Hello! I'm jumping on the appreciation train to say thank you so much for all of your meta and analysis! I just found your blog today, and you've already given me so much clarity and context for things I've been noticing in the CR fandom lately.

I quite literally spent my summer living under a rock (in the woods leading spelunking for scouts!) and so was completely out of the loop from early June through September. And while I am not yet caught up (I'm about to start ep. 65), I have been going through the tags and ao3, because I primarily engage with fandom through fic and I don't care about spoilers. And I can't help but notice that everything being written for c3 lately is just... monochromatic. The Hells have such interesting characters and premises. One would think they're ripe for creative and interesting fic. And yet even what little gen fic that I have seen since returning to civilization has largely been boiled down to reiterative mush with vaguely shippy overtones. I can totally see this being indicative of the cresting and waning of the Imodna and Callowmore shipping you've been discussing.

I've gotta ask though, is it really just shipping that is causing this problem? Or is there something else in the source material that you think could be affecting fic in particular?

This is the first time I've been in a fandom with ongoing source material in over a decade. I'm used to watching people beat dead horses in their own little corner, safe in the knowledge that I can block them and it isn't going to affect my experience in the slightest. I guess I'm just having a hard time believing/remembering that shipping can be this incidious.

So a couple of things: first, I was not heavily involved in fandom until Critical Role; I have a decent amount of background knowledge from being on Tumblr and because I do tend to look into/research this kind of thing because it's very interesting to me, but you will probably have better snapshot of what fandom looked like 10 years ago than I do. Second, fanfic has always been a tiny aspect of what I've engaged with and I do find the bulk of it to be dull and samey (which is why it is a tiny aspect), so again, you probably are a better judge of the quality of fanfic elsewhere.

With that said, as part of a much larger discussion of which I only have as mentioned pieces of the puzzle, I do think there's been a shift over the past decade or so of like...people expecting the source material to reflect fanfic-y desires, and resenting it when it does not; people not seeing the point in enjoying non-canon ships; and a broader theme of self-infantilization. This has to a small extent spilled over into published fiction, though thankfully there's plenty that isn't that. It's not just shipping (though that absolutely can be insidious to the point that people have been harassed and doxxed over it); I think it's a general taste for pablum that has been growing within fandom spaces.

I'll link a few posts I've made and a source that, while I cannot vouch for it per se I did read and found enlightening at the end but I think a really indicative example as of late was the fandom response to the show Good Omens (spoilers for Good Omens S2 in the next link if you are by any chance avoiding those). Obviously do not do anything obnoxious to the person who wrote this question, but there are a worrying number of people in fandom spaces who believe this unironically and uncritically: fiction exists to "save us from hurtful reality." And I do understand that the tumultuous politics and world events of the past decade are probably a factor; but I mean, have you looked at literature from the first half of the 20th century (or like. the second half, for that matter)? It is, in my opinion, only going to help put our modern world and issues in better context and honestly make you feel better in the long run if you read, say, The Great Gatsby or The Things They Carried instead of burying your head in lower case song lyrics ... (hurt/comfort, fix-it, happy ending, 6k) and like, to be clear, I have written a small portion of lower case song lyric-titled fics myself but most of them aren't terribly happy, and even so, god I'd be horrified if that was all people were reading.

We've seen it across fandom at large with the polls; I have not watched season 2 of Our Flag Means Death in part because I've realized with horror that this mentality has swept, plague-like, through that fandom; people are acting like having a canon queer ship on a small premium cable show in 2022 is world-changing and unprecedented while also kind of ignoring everything that isn't the central ship (including valid criticisms of how this takes a real-world plantation owner and turns him into a goofy fop, how there's precious few female characters and none in the main cast, and how the actually far more groundbreaking nb character is pushed aside in favor of the core M/M ship). Spoilers for Good Omens again (sorry in advance, Good Omens 2 was a realization point for me how deeply and widely this rot has set in in some places and I have a bunch of sources of people being like "guys stories require conflict and tension to be good" in response to the overwrought moaning that the story wasn't unambiguously happy) but this is another author responding to the "the desired endpoint of all fiction is obviously to have your ship living in a small house together in bliss and anything else is torment" mentality.

In addition to shipping another factor is, I think, people overidentifying with characters and as such being reluctant to actually put them through any sort of hardship, however minor. I recently reblogged a post about the origin of the concept "Mary Sue" and it led me to read a bit about its history, because it was in fact created by women. It was a woman in the Star Trek fandom who was sick of spending money to buy fanzines (pre-common home internet, let alone pre-Ao3) only to find the vast majority of the stories to be this "here is my self-insert who is perfect and beautiful and pure and every other character thinks she is the greatest even if that's entire OOC". It was a frustration with the abandonment of the characterizations in the original work. And that's true today - I have read a popular Imogen and Laudna fluff fic to see what the deal was and it stripped out so much of their premises and characterizations it was unrecognizeable as them but for the hair colors and occasional cringeworthy attempts to replicate Southern US dialect - but what was notable is that those people were at least being honest and writing OCs (though to be fair a lot of them were also young white teen girls and the only woman in TOS was black and that was probably also a factor). Now, you get people who cannot tolerate any analysis of characters that is less than flattering because instead of having an OC, they are identifying so strongly with, for example, Imogen or Ashton, that they cannot separate out the real character or understand this is not an attack on them (or, to be blunt, as someone who sees some of my own worse traits in both those characters, a necessary critique). It's not shipping, but it is that same "fiction should only ever be a soft blanket or a flattering mirror, never a dark mirror and certainly never a door" mentality.

I do place a little blame on fanfiction itself; I think having something that is roughly made to order and tells you exactly what it is up front means people start to think that is the only way, and that's why we have people claiming Chipotle is the height of cuisine while making gagging noises at the authentic Mexican restaurant except for fiction. I think fanfiction can be great; it's fun to write and I have read some great pieces. But a lot of it is mush and formulaic and as that Mary Sue history points out, always has been.

So anyway, to Bells Hells: I think past campaigns also had a lot of dull fanfiction; I think the Nein lent themselves more to poorly written angst than poorly written fluff but yeah a lot of that was really samey and bland in its own way. Fanfiction has always been formulaic to a degree but I think we're starting to see the generation of people who really have read more of that than like, books, and sure there are shitty books, but man there's a LOT of shitty fanfiction, and increasingly, I find that shitty published books are bad because they're too much like fanfiction. [If I get the chance today I have a post I want to write about the ignorance of fantasy tropes in the current fandom which I think is also driving some of this and which I alluded to in my post about shipping; like, I feel the almost automatic but oddly thought-free resistance to gods and fate and the 'right' way to respond to a tragic backstory comes from this ignorance; this also is a case in the D20 fandom when they've dipped into sci fi.] Shipping definitely is a factor, and I think again C3 has an influx of fans primarily here to ship in that "my ship must become canon and must 'win' for some arbitrary definition thereof" which is probably why so much of the fanfic sucks, but again, this is a larger self-infantilizing and entitled mentality that goes beyond mere ships.

Further reading (mostly my own posts but not exclusively)

The fandom echo chamber (also Good Omens spoilers in a broad sense), not by me

Some discussion on queerphobia being inserted only as a tool to assist with specific shipping narratives (I think this ties in again to like. people need obstacles to justify why the characters aren't already in their cottage by the sea but once the characters are together they discard these obstacles even if they are systemic and would still exist, which makes for really bad fanfic bc it's clearly poorly plotted and thought out)

Me on why this campaign isn't good for shipping but a lot of the fandom showed up primarily to ship (might be the post that prompted this ask tbf)

Fandom monocropping (not my post)

My treatise on Imogen and Laudna specifically which honestly, even now that they are canon, still largely holds up re: the fandom and a related one about similarly fluff-centric Change is Evil and the highest order of fiction is Two Blorbos In A House With Zero Problems mentality (not by me but I've been part of that discussion)

[weekend-whip]

Ninjago Fic Rec Week: Day 3

Prompts: Angst / Kai Recs! *aka the best combo ahahaaaa*

Angst Recs (get ready for a lot of Wu being sad):

The Tale of the Teacher: BASICALLY a look at Wu's very tragic life through the eyes of Wu himself, and my personal inspiration for all things, well, Wu and tragic (and you do need to be logged into an Ao3 account for this one). A must-read for all Wu fans, and especially for those who are not~

Photographs: Wu reminiscences on all he's lost in the midst of Season 11 through pictures of times gone by~

No Eye For These: Wu reflects on losing his brother, right after just banishing him ;w;

It Will Rain Again Someday: Not necessarily angst but fills me with enough emotional damage to feel like it is, Wu adores his older brother so so so so much, even when they butt heads, even when they have opposing but equal opinions, even when they're on opposite sides of the battle field...probably the most potent Spinjitzu Brothers thing I've ever read. Changed my brain chemistry, man.

for want (for nothing): the staff corrupted!kai story that speaks to me very specifically snksnksnk Reading the gradually (or not so gradually) descent into enveloping himself in all that power is maddening and awesome and so very painful

Cry Me a River: Kai Post-Seabound; short, bitter, visceral, and powerful in the deliverance of emotions~

Married to the Sea: In case anyone wanted to relieve the pain that is Seabound's ending again, but with a Jay-colored coat of paint <3

half hearted-boy, maybe we'll have more connection: GUT-WRENCHING thing on parallels b/w Lloyd and Harumi. I am not the same person i was before. Tragedy does not have an age limit.

Kai Recs:

All I've Ever Known: One of the best kind of fics- Kai having to cope with team bonding during the events of the pilots <3(I have very obvious tastes). But! Has a lot of introspective Kai moments and outrospective (?) moments with him and the future team he's one day never going to imagine a time without.

Spice, and Everything Nice: Kai, in both a show of brotherly love and brotherly pride, attempts to outdo his siblings in a test of all things spice and chocolate. It's just so cute aaaaaaa!!!!

Bonfire: Lloyd wants to make a fire, Zane tries to offer suggestions, and Kai makes it personal. Slice of Life fic that would have made for a nice little episode during Season 2, honestly! And a nice look at the characters outside of their normally hectic settings~

Flicker: A story about Kai and the warmth he brings to himself and others, doesn't seem like much at first but you will be gutpunched by love and softness by the end~

Bucket List: In the category of angst and Kai with probably a guilty pleasure fic of mine, Kai strikes a deal with Morro and a horrifying journey of self-discovery ensues. It get a little dark but it's funny, gripping, heart-wrenching, and will probably have you looking at Kai in a new light by the end of it.

N Stands for Neutral: Kai teaches Lloyd to drive, chaos ensues, nuff said

Why Birds Fly: Probably not for the squeamish around eggs, insects, or ear-related agony (it's not nearly as bad as I'm making it sound I promise just being cautious) BUT another non-life-threatening crisis story that has an amazing dynamic between Kai, Cole and Jay, and their tendency to be both the best brothers you could ask for and the absolute worst.

The Process of Making Amends: Kai and Garmadon butting head and it's goes about as well as you'd expect....but, there is one thing they can reach a consensus on.

Going, Going, Gone: Vintage Classic on kai's take on Skylor throughout Season 4. Definitely Kailor, but also not exactly "shippy". It really is more of a character examination in the form of lil snippets and it lives in my mind rent-free.

From What It Was: Kai reflects on all the changes in the team post-s7. It makes me misty-eyed every time ;w;

Kai and the Futile Fist Fight: Anyone wanna see Kai and Jay have a real fight during Crystalized, with 50% more awesome fight moves and 50% more raw emotion and 100% more Kai being distressed over his sister in his own way? Here ya go!

"Mr. Smith" At Your Service: Kai pretends to be Nya's father. Nya gets far too much of a kick out of it, and it goes about a well as you'd expect snksnksnk

broken pieces: More Pilots!ninja bonding, short and sweet and ofc with a special focus on Kai! Left a very big impression on me, haha

this isn't how it's supposed to be: MOAR PILOT BONDINGGGGGGG and UNGH it's so BEAUTIFUL, especially love the character dialogue in this one!

[riversofmars]

So I've finally finished listening to Echoes (yes I had this boxset preordered since it was announced, and yes I was incredibly slow to listen to it) and how do Liv/Helen shippers keep winning even when we've already lost (coz Liv returning to Tania at the end of Stranded)??

From episode 2: "Helen - she's my...she's everything I have left"???? I screamed??

Episode 3 where Helen went and got Liv's stuff from the TARDIS but also got her a book in case she can't sleep and a bottle of water and an apple???

Every boxset since Stranded has had Liv be ferally gay over Helen (and has obviously confirmed our favourite lesbian is in fact a lesbian ofc)

And I'm so confused by what Big Finish is doing playing with our hearts like this - but I will also gleefully, and gayfully accept whatever Liv/Helen we can get. Thoughts?

Honestly, I have no idea what Big Finish are thinking other than

Who knows, maybe they have realised that Liv/Helen sells??? And that they made a mistake with the Stranded ending??

But seriously... I hope there is a point to it all. It really does feel like they're doing it on purpose, it's SO SHIPPY! Albie's Angels was just... HELEN CHENKA?! Come on. And you're so right. How easy would it have been to have Liv say "Helen is my best friend!". Having her break off mid-sentence is a conscious choice and you can't tell me otherwise. And that scene where Helen brings Liv all that stuff and then offers to go back? ADORABLE. They're everything.

Now the way I see it... For the ending of Stranded to make sense, it can only be one of two things really. Either Liv and Helen get together and Helen dies... and Liv returns to Tania cause she can't face being with the Doctor without Helen and she tries to bury her grief that way. It would be horrible and unfair, but it would make at least a little bit of sense, because why else would Liv Chenka, brilliant med-tech from the 30th century, want to be in 21st century London where she will be bored out of her mind and never see her sister again?? It just doesn't make sense for her character unless something fundamentally changed her like the death of the woman she loved. BUT LET'S NOT THINK LIKE THAT OR I'LL CRY.

The other option, and I'll hold on to this, is that maybe they all get a happy ending and there are two Livs somehow. We already know from the end of The Robots that there is a Liv duplicate out there. While that duplicate would only have the memories of up to Escape From Kaldor, that doesn't mean that something like that couldn't happen again. This is Doctor Who after all! Think of Rose getting her personal Doctor. Maybe they send a duplicate back to Tania so she gets to be happy too (and the Stranded ending that BF may have realised was silly will still work) and Liv and Helen stay together.

Honestly, who knows! But I will also hang on every scrap BF throw us. The Liv/Helen ship is sailing strong as ever and I think BF may have noticed and decided to cater to it.

I imagine it will be a while for another set for them (though I am curious as to Hattie's role in the Time War one, that will be interesting!) and I don't know if we will ever get a resolution for them, but in the meantime, I say let's be vocal about the ship on socials, hoping BF continue to take notice and give us everything we want. It seems to be working at the moment :D

[mareenavee]

For choose violence asks: 12 (easy), 17 or 18 (my favorite questions in the list), 22

PARA!!! Flapping about over here and cawing, are we? I appreciate it :D Let's do this!!! And give you something to read over coffee.

From this sardonic ask game right here.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

You want me to talk more about Athis? Well yes, I shall oblige.

I have a hard time judging who is and isn't popular. I just like who I like and will write fanfiction around them LOL simple as that.

But Athis, the bean, does lack quite a bit of fanfiction in his tag and he needs more attention so I'll yell about him some more.

I like how you can ask him his story, even if it's...admittedly not much. AND then if you ask him to repeat himself he gets affronted and sarcastic really fast:

What does it mean to be a Companion? The second time asking: "To me, it means not having to answer foolish questions a second time."

Bean. <3 As good an answer as any especially since most LDBs are gonna be engaging in Riekling Behavior and aren't really worth talking to on a good day LOL. Even as Harbinger.

This little factioid off the wiki:

Although his default gear is governed by the Light Armor skill, Athis is actually more proficient in heavy armor.

So it appears he's that kind of person who is barely wearing any clothing at all for no discernable practical reason. In fact is the opposite of practical if one were to consider the effectiveness of said armor and his specific skill set. So... no reason at all except to be barely wearing any clothing at all. And that does take a specific kind of person, doesn't it? LOL

(I mean I don't write him this bold, honestly because it's a little tiny bit annoying that most of the warriors in the Companions aren't very practical warriors in this manner. But it is a thing. It's a "trait" Bethesda gave him.)

And another tidbit!

You bring his butt with you over to Solstheim or on the Barenziah's crown quest and get too close to that side of the map near Morrowind? The boy gets antsy.

Here:

"Are you thinking you're better than me? I crawled west out of the wasteland, so show some respect." "I avoid going to Eastmarch if I can. Something in the air... I think it's just too close to the border."

I fully intend to twist all of this out of shape and make something really cool of his backstory. I've already hinted at some of it in a few posts here, but yeah. Bethesda gave me a crumb and I will run with it. (:

So yes ATHIS. (Yeah that turned into a ramble. I wonder how that happened. Hm.)

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

For art specifically!! Please more alchemy ingredients just tossed on a canvas. I love plants, love drawing them but I am not the kind of artist who produces work at a very fast rate and I would have a whole blog of just different depictions of Skyrim alchemy ingredients and plants if enough content existed. I love it so very much.

Fic? More friendship fics for sure. Not everything has to be shippy. (Aro brain taking the wheel again.) If it is gonna be somewhat about love, though, please definitely show me as much possible diversity in the different, nuanced types of love, romantic and otherwise or different iterations of romantic relationships. Knock me off my feet with the coolest possible aro pairing I've ever seen. ( :> ) Make me feel seen with your words, people. Make yourself feel seen in your work, because it's yours. It doesn't need to be a shippy fic if what calls to you is something more or something else.

That said, I am very fond of certain pairings and can be persuaded to like ships. BUT more nuance is always very, very needed and good.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

OOOh this one again yesss.

Oh. REBUILDING!!! I want fic where we're seeing things being fixed, and settlements recovering. I understand that the theme of the world is decay, really and the dragons are about to [redacted] up the entire situation. BUT. But. It doesn't make sense that things have stagnated for decades or centuries... there should have been some repair to Winterhold. There should have been some kind of changes made to the structure of cities in Vvardenfell, some rebuilding. I think the fandom could do some really cool redesigning and bring forward a ton of awesome OC backstories set in situations of rebuilding like this. I know some mods fix these things, but like...to really dig into what it means for people and why they may be in Skyrim due to these efforts or being displaced due to incorrect handling of said efforts and/or succumbing to more danger and disaster over the years? SO much to work with. I'll be touching on this with Athis things in future. (:

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

This is a fancy way to ask question 1 again (:

But no there's a lot that can be ignored in canon. And another favorite is that Neloth was alive in Morrowind and is presumed to use and know all those cool spells you can craft.

He should know these things in Skyrim, too, but doesn't. Some silliness about the wiki infers some magic is Illegal but I think Neloth would not give a single shit if it was illegal or not.

So why do these spells no longer surface? (aside from game engine limitations?) Especially when Neloth fights?

I don't know if people ignore this in their fics but I sure don't. I do love my ✨Weird Magic Shit.✨ And crafting spells seems the weirdest and absolutely something that would be frequently and illicitly going on in Tel Mithryn if certain magic is illegal.

It existed and some characters were around when it was normal magic useage and are still around in Skyrim LOL so.... (: Yes. How much weirder magic shit used to be in older games. I feel it's ignored not purposefully...but because not everyone has played the older games. And that's okay too. But I remember and I will take canon and run wild with it.

Thank you for these, Para!!!! AUGH <3 🫂💖

[homelygrantaire]

Rules: answer and tag 9 people you want to get to know better and/or catch up with!

I'm tagging people I know, mutuals or I've ppl I've recently met. Thanks to @emimayooo for tagging me :)

@candide-apples @shippy-shipwall @storiesbyrhi @mediocredreams @bettsfic @iamvegorott @figuringitout22 @irisbleufic @fiddlesolo

⟡ favorite color(s)?

I really like pink! I had a whole journey to admitting to myself I like it. I used to admittedly hate it - I was that person when I was a kid, because my mother would push pink stuff on me, but as I got older I realized I just like pink!

⟡ last song?

Ummm! I think the last song I listened to was by Penny Parker - I am All of Me. I believe it's a cover. I am a die hard fan of Snapcube and their dubs. I just watched the dub of Shadow the Hedgehog on their channel for the fiftieth time. I have time honoured videos that I watch over and over.

⟡ last movie?

holy shit, ummmmmmm. I think the last movie I watched was everything everywhere all at once - with my partners. I don't really watch movies a loooooot. but we rewatched that recently. it's amazing.

⟡ currently reading?

I have a few books by my bedside. I'm always in the middle of reading fanfiction as well.

⟡ currently watching?

I'm currently rewatching One Piece because I'm a maniac and I am having a Blast. I love Luffy. I love Sanji. I love One Piece.

⟡ currently craving?

Uhhhhh. If I'm honest, nothing. But if I had to have something - probably some iced coffee. My aches so badly - chronic migraines are a bitch.

⟡ coffee or tea?

Honestly, I really like both of them. If I'm in a tough spot - or I need caffeine immediately I'll probably reach for coffee first - but only because I usually have coffee that I can drink more quickly. But I love them equally.

[tophsazulas]

Hey Poorni, I mostly just lurk here but sometimes check in with your account and am always blown away by how quickly and drastically you change your mind on so many people and ships! Like on a Wednesday you'll post several times about a pair being a notp and by Thursday you're praising them as an otp and reblogging them constantly and then by Friday or Saturday you're disliking them again lol. For example, you've gone from going on about how much you hate Neia to suddenly calling them an OTP lol. A few weeks ago you didn't like Zaya at all and now they're like your biggest OTP ever. You liked Kitty and then hated her more than anyone I'd ever seen and then will swing back to liking her. And so on. We all change our minds about some ships and characters, and it's great to have an open mind. I'm just curious what causes you to go from hate to love to hate to love again on so many characters and ships so quickly---is it based on rewatches, reading other people's metas, Or do you just kind of wake up feeling totally different than you did the day before? You can ignore if you want to, I'm just always into learning about what makes fans tick, and you changing your opinions so frequently interests me!

First of all, I love long asks so ty for sending this haha!

Secondly, I wouldn't exactly saying that my love for characters and ships change day by day. It's actually the opposite most of the time where it's very drastic.

Like with Kitty, as a kid I liked her but then I saw a few threads on her and I was like 'ok she is kind of annoying when I think about it'. Then rewatching at like 16-17 (i think 17 tbh), she's very irritating and I feel like she's glorified WAY too much (especially in t7s). So then I started having more complex feelings but then after a few more discussions with my friend Sunshine and rewatches, Kitty is actually pretty fucking annoying. She babies Eric and literally never sees him as an adult, slut shames Donna for having sex with Eric and seems to think Donna "corrupts" him. And don't even get me started on how shitty she treats Laurie. I know Laurie is far from perfect, but no one deserves to have to hear their own mother say 'i love you because I have to' and 'Rosemary made a better baby than me'.

It sounds like I'm overreacting but honestly idc. Kitty is not this sweet little good cop to Red's bad cop and she sure as hell didn't have any "character assassination" like Jackie, Kelso, and even Eric did in T9S.

With Zaya, I really loved them as a kid but then hated them because of the shit Zig would pull on Maya. When I did come back to the fandom for good, I had moreso complicated feelings where they're pretty toxic but they can be good together and I'm glad they're endgame. And then I started looking at more Zaya stuff (mostly from Ashton haha) doing rewatches, which made me go back to loving them full force. I still have love for Matlingsworth, Camaya, Zori, and find Zesme interesting at times, but I love Zaya a lot too and I'm glad they're endgame.

As for Neia, I don't think I had much of an opinion on my first watch. I might've been annoyed by them. But I did prefer Jeia over everything. And when I got to Tumblr and did more rewatches, read fics and all that, I was really just done with Neia. My main issue with them has always been how they fucked over Nikki and don't even get me started on how ooc Gwen's advice to Leia was on handling that shit. Plus I didn't see any substance with them aside from having the same wants. Then I ended up being moreso fascinated by the idea of Neia crashing and burning, leading to a Jeia/Geia endgame.

There was a short period where I really wanted to be more open minded with Neia, so I tried looking at the more shippy stuff but I just couldn't do it haha. But eventually I tried again, hence me shipping them now.

Don't get me wrong, my issues with canon Neia are still there. Especially the substance parts, but I personally blame that on the writing more. For all Lindsey's claims of loving Neia, she sure doesn't act like she loves them. Until the 9th episode, they didn't have any alone time. Which, by a writing person, doesn't make sense because Leia is canonically best friends with Nate's sister AND in the dame friend groupl. Not to mention, Leia dated Nate's best friend, yet they don't interact one on one till the NINTH episode? Not even like them accidentally bumping into each other. Like come on!

Short answer: Metas, rewatches, (rarely) discussions, etc.

[hirazuki]

*knock knock* For the 🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

What about...

that one thing you see in fics all the time

that one thing you see in fanart all the time (for totally unselfish reasons)

there should be more of this type of fic/art

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

?

Take care!

Hiiiii ♡♡♡

that one thing you see in fics all the time

So -- of course everyone fandoms how they want, to each their own, etc. -- but literally every fic I've seen about Mairon that has to do with him in the 4th Age in Valinor post-canon or even in AUs leaving Melkor's service earlier/joining someone else (be it a Feanorian, Maeglin, Celebrimbor, whoever), or any flavor of him not being his strictly canon dark-lord-doing-dark-lord-business self, tends to cast him as subservient and Very Sorry for everything he's done. I would kill for a fic where, despite changed circumstances, he is still fully committed to his beliefs. I would die for:

1. post-canon 4th Age Mairon in Valinor who is not sorry at all, would 100% do it again, wants to do it again dear lord please let him try again, the only mistake he acknowledges making is in the how he executed his ideals (because he's a pragmatist and there's no point in arguing facts, and the facts say he failed) not in those ideals themselves.

And/or 2. Canon-divergent AU where Mairon does choose to work with someone else (Maedhros, Maeglin, etc; though for me, personally, it would still have to be driven by loyalty to Melkor; motivated by wanting to save Melkor from the effect the silmarils are having on him, perhaps), but despite this still has the same views, opinions, beliefs, and approaches. The idea of trying to fit his modus operandi within, say, Himring's military or Gondolin's politics, that push/pull between his will and whoever he is attempting to cooperate with is ✨delicious✨ to me.

Idk, bottom line is that I find the idea of "redemption" far too often equated with servility which grosses me out, and is why I finally filtered out that particular tag on AO3 XD

On the other hand, I also don't enjoy one-dimensionally cruel interpretations of Mairon, and with few exceptions it seems to be either/or in this fandom so. I don't really read much anymore for a reason ^^;

that one thing you see in fanart all the time (for totally unselfish reasons)

(;ladkjfsdlkfj oh you ♡)

Portraits. And I honestly don't mean this in a negative sense! I totally get the fandom's preoccupation with character portraits, and I myself am very, very guilty of it too -- I think it's only natural that for book characters that we really only get things like "Tall" and "Tallest" as descriptors (thanks, jirt XD), everyone wants to explore and work out their own visions of what these characters look like. I just wish that in addition to that kind of standard portraiture, we also had stuff that was more detail shots (hands, ears, jewelry, etc), or artistically cropped/sections blacked out/stylized elements or patterns superimposed on the characters, or more abstract non-sexual nudity type of art; moodboards, etc. Idk how to describe it exactly, but fanart that is more suggestion/impression of the characters rather than a visual itemized list. Again, I'm also very guilty of this and trying to change up my own art to include more variety.

there should be more of this type of fic/art

Enemies to lovers, enemies to grudging companions, characters who are diametrically opposed to each other being put in circumstances that force them to work together, regardless of whether it's shippy/not shippy or if it'll last with long-term consequences/it's just a temporary situation and then they'll go back to being as they were, etc. For a story with such a large cast of characters with so many different affiliations, there is surprisingly little content of opponents having to team up together. Granted, I don't venture in the tags often and read very little, so I may be wrong, but the impression I've gotten from being a Silm fan for twenty years is that mostly everyone stays neatly in their designated fields (Feanorians, Doriath, Angband, Valinor, etc.). Like, get messy; please.

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Unsurprisingly, it's "they wandered far together under the stars or by the light of the sickle moon." The whole Nan Elmoth portion of the Maeglin chapter, really, is just full of such intense, obsessive yet intimate and genuine companionship, it's so raw, it makes me absolutely feral.

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Can I say all of them XD You probably know by now that I'm very attached to my complexity and nuance, so I find any complaint both about how characters are being ruined by so-called woobification (i.e. in actuality just given a sympathetic interpretation) and ruined by being hated on (i.e. in actually just having their canon flaws and failings explored and expanded upon) so very, very tired. Certainly, there are interpretations out there that make characters far too meek/submissive and too cruel/evil for my tastes, but overall I've found that the people who routinely complain about it are far louder and more annoying than the people actually doing it, who typically mind their own business and are simply enjoying the characters in their own preferred way. I like my characters three-dimensional, fallible, and grey, and sick of hearing how they need to be strictly one thing or another.

[5and3nevermind]

Sorry if you want to wait on getting this information until after the poll is over but, if not, I wanted to share some thoughts about how I feel about my take on Yoonmin. As you mentioned, none of us know for sure about the nature of their relationship outside of what they show us and bits we've been told by others, so I never feel confident saying/believing in romantic relationships.

There were two options on your poll that I think I fall into though, the I like it as a 'ship' option, whether I believe it's real or not doesn't really change the fact that I enjoy anything that looks 'shippy' when it shows up, I get a lot of joy from ship content and do enjoy the thought of them as a couple.

But I ended up having to choose Close Friends, because no matter how reluctant I am about saying I know for sure about the nature of someone's relationship, there is something about these two that from the moment I first was getting into BTS and saw their interactions, both as the main subject of the camera as well as what was going on between them in the background I remember thinking 'oh, those two are best friends'. I soon realized that the majority of the fandom didn't really see them that way, but I'll always maintain, regardless of whether it's romantic or platonic, those two are way closer than just the way all BTS members are close with each other. There is a genuine friendship that exists outside of the group between them that I feel like I can see between them.

So, I had to go with Close friends, but I'm not opposed to the 'close friends leaning to lovers' option that was suggested either.

Thank you! This is super helpful. My purpose for creating the poll was to better understand how people who are seeking out yoonmin content actually feel about them.

I should probably wait for the poll results but I’ll go ahead and give my two cents. For a long time, I felt similar to what you’re describing: I thought they hovered very close to the line between platonic and romantic. I think two things pushed me over to the romantic end of the spectrum (of course this is just my opinion)… ⚠️ speculation ahead!

First, I felt that they were both fulfilling the role of “special person” for one another. Like Jimin calling Yoongi right after his surgery, before he’d fully gotten over the anesthesia. If Yoongi had a significant other, wouldn’t Jimin have left that role to them? Let them talk to him first? Figured Yoongi was in good hands? And it’s not just that one example; I see it other places as well. And it goes in both directions. Like Yoongi saying that if Jimin goes on the music shows “of course” he would be there. He “should be there”, even. As if it was a given. Not a friendly, “yeah I’ll try to stop by.”

And the second thing that solidified my views was the web show. Everything about it. I remember talking to a friend about it and we began to wonder, “what more could they have done?” We came up with “Not much!” They talked about their dynamic together, talked about spending time off camera, talked about mutual friends, expressed a great deal of familiarity and fondness…and the body language! They held hands multiple times! What more could they (reasonably) have done to show us their bond? It felt significant.

All of that said, I see the people who voted in the Close Friends category and our new Close Friends Leaning to Lovers category as being very similar to those in the Couple category. There honestly isn’t much difference. We agree on most things; we agree on the important things.

I have so many questions I’d love to discuss, but I’ll try to wait til the poll is finished! I hope you’ll stop by again. I’m curious to know more about how people end up in those three categories in particular, and what it would take to move them to a new category. (Not in the sense of me trying to convince someone to change their mind, but in the context of what they’d need to see between ym in order to change their pov.)

Thanks, anon! I appreciate your thoughts.

[likesaly]

Misane, Towa, and Tobari for the character ask thing?

Misane

My favorite thing would be design for sure (even before realizing I was an irl) I really enjoyed her aesthetic in 1Beat! My least favorite thing probably character development in both games; There could've been more if you ask me (it's done a LOT better in the novel from what Nanashi has showed me from their translation so far). Favorite Line: "Could you make an effort to conduct your investigations as legally as possible?" brOTP - Misane and Nanase for sure bc they are the siblings ever OTP - N/A nOTP - Honestly anything shippy with Misane because of her being a time traveler and there's nobody near Misane's age her timeline as well. Though ive seen someone say they used to ship Misane and Shinobu on the wiki somewhere but it's like? How does that one even come into your head like accutallly I'm terrified. /lh A random hc (source compliant) is Cat instinct Misane ( climbing in trees and falling asleep in them. Nanase and Toukai having to build a tree house just for her to fall asleep in the branch directly adjacent to it) I don't think I have any unpopular opinions on Misane accutallly. I associate Lolita by Violent Vira (Mainly for 1beat) and Doomspiral by Black Dresses (This one due to the bad and normal ends) w Misane

Favorite Image:

Towa

My favorite thing about him; Probably the role he plays in 1Beat since he played it pretty well I was pissed w him upon finishing the game for the first time so that's on good writing. And if we're going source compliant that time period when we hung out bc he was genuinely nice to me during that but that's it. My least favorite thing is everything he did to me in 1Beat (mainly /source ) Favorite Line: "...Huh? No I wasn't sleeping. Nah. Really." bOTP - N/A OTP - N/A nOTP - Him w anyone because why would you at this point? And like whatever the fuck I mentioned previously. A random hc - I know it came from a joke but the fucking life insurance commercial actor thing bc it just sounds like him tbh /lh I think my unpopular opinion is he is a good character (not as a person) for 1bh considering how most of File 03's interrogations w him were executed. (Though I am in some weird stockholm syndrome phase w my opinion on him as a person /nav /source /lh) I associate Towa Kristy Killings by Snow White's Poison Bite (Accutallly listen to it, tell me if I'm wrong or right after /hj) and My Own Summer by Deftones (I'm not sure why on this but like guys please see my vision, I literally drew art of this back in April)

Favorite Image:

Tobari

My favorite thing about Tobari is definitely her design, she was my favorite side character ever since I finished the game for the first time! I actually don't think I have a least favorite thing about her considering she's written well and I have good source memories with her. Favorite Line: "I'd simply have to turn down working with that odd fellow again. And it would be best to leave it as little more than a hobby." bOTP - Tobari and Kirara - I personally think they go on shopping trips together! OTP - N/A nOTP - N/A (I don't really have any for Tobari, I hc and remember being aroace but I'm sure there's something out there that could work) A random hc is I feel like Tobari has plans to travel the world at some point since she likes trying things out.

I don't think have an unpopular opinion for Tobari at all as well I associate Tobari with the song We appreciate Power by Grimes (I generally associate the hackers overall w that song)

Favorite Image:

[firstelevens]

hi zainab!!! 💫 🌈 🎀 🤲💌 for the fic writer asks?

[Barbie voice] Hi Mak! Thank you for sending these in! 💕

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Honestly I'm verklempt any time someone decides to leave a comment, but it is absolutely my kryptonite when they choose to highlight a specific line or moment in the fic that they loved. I don't know what the magic is but so often the thing that gets highlighted is a bit that I was nervous about and it always makes me happy to know that I managed to make it work. (See also: any time someone says they can picture the characters delivering the dialogue that I wrote.)

🌈 is there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

I think I mentioned in the author's note on chapter 4 of the Bake Off AU (aka Bread Week) that I'd struggled with writing the chapter, but I'm not sure if I ever made it clear how much I'd struggled? Like, I joked a lot that it took two years to get the Bake Off AU finished, and a big part of that delay was me not knowing how to write that conflict in chapter four, and nothing else could happen until I'd made that happen. I fought it so hard and gave up repeatedly and distracted myself by making the cake chart and writing fake tweets but I really thought the fic would never get done because I couldn't get past that scene. Everything I came up with felt melodramatic or not involved enough or out of character and it simply was not happening.

And then I started posting the fic anyway, because I thought I might trick myself into being brave, and then when I got to chapter four, Emma literally called me on the telephone and basically held my hand through it and I managed to make it happen. I'm still very proud of that.

🎀 give yourself a compliment about your own writing

I feel like I usually have the same answer to questions like this, so I will change things up and say that I think I write non-romantic relationships pretty well, actually? I know I mostly write shippy fic so it doesn't come up as much, but I think I've been able to put texture and history into friendships and familial relationships and I'm proud of that.

🤲 what do YOU get out of writing?

I've been telling myself and others stories for so much longer than I've been posting them on the internet, and on my best days, I think that really is the thing I'm searching for while writing: if I do it right, I get to watch the unfolding of a story that I would really like to read, and I know it would never exist in that way if I hadn't sat down to create it.

I also just really like connecting with people over over storytelling? Whether that's going back and forth with someone in the comments or chatting about an AU with a friend or having a person with whom I am allowed to be my most creative and silly and indulgent authorly self, I don't think I would ever get that in quite the same way if I wasn't writing.

💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Okay well first of all chapter two of the Bake Off AU prequel is up and it is SUCH a fun time and everyone should read it.

However that fic is fully written and therefore technically not a WIP, so instead I will say that the Formula 1 AU grows in scope by the day and I recently had to increase the chapter count because I'd outlined an interaction that Sam and Bucky have with Steve and Peggy's daughter and that grew so rapidly on its own that I needed to reserve a whole other chapter for plot progression stuff because I couldn't squeeze it in. Sometimes you simply must devote a whole chapter to Wholesome Uncle Energy.

[wifiwuxians]

just a random guy who really loves your art. i noticed you made the cute doodle asking peeps to reblog your art and i just wanted to share why i dont? i really love your art and i absolutely wanna reblog it but im a songxue shipper and lowkey you seem kinda grossed out by that ship. which is totally oki, i know its not everyones cup of tea, but sometimes it seems like you'd be offended if a shipper reblogged your art i guess? and i dont rlly wanna bug you, i love your art and i adore your content. i think your likes and dislikes are valid as hell and you're totally allowed to have them. i just wanted to say that i do want to rb your stuff and i do love your stuff and im sorry im not supporting your art in that way, i just really didnt want to cross your boundaries. thank you for sharing your art and drawing so much of the guys (they're my blorbos, thats why i ship them and you're basically the only person who draws them ic imo). you're a wonderful artist and your art regularly impresses the hell out of me. your sense of humor, expressiveness, color pallet, creativity, and just plain Skill are all so freaking amazing and you deserve accolades. im sorry for being a weirdo who likes one of your squick ships but your art is fabulous. maybe i'll make a sideblog where i hide my ship tendencies and just rb you a lot there, you deserve the support :)

hey now,,, this is very sweet lkdhlkh and i really appreciate it + am glad you enjoy my art so much and think it's in character LOL i know i make things that are completely silly and absurd so it fascinates me (in a good way) that it's still seen as in character

also thank you so much for reaching out, i've been having a really rough time (depression! YAY) and honestly didn't expect anyone to say anything ;; (which is totally fine, people don't need to say anything! but it feels really good to be acknowledged)

i guess i'll take this as an opportunity to address this in general! i don't mind if people ship something i don't like/a notp as long as they're not making me engage with it, i don't track people down at gunpoint like HEY SHIPPER SAW YOU TOUCHED MY ART! no! all i ask is people don't /tag/ my art as whatever if i don't want it tagged as such (and don't ramble on about ship ideas in there either lol please), but i'm making an effort to make that obvious in the body of the post itself :) lots of my friends/followers ship things i don't and we coexist just fine!

but as for your ship, i've made mention to it a few times i think that it doesn't really bother me that much! in fact, the more i draw them together, the more chill i am with people taking away whichever kind of interactions they want from my art of them! they're my blorbos too and i love drawing them together, and although sometimes i am explicit about not wanting them tagged as a ship (so like, if they're drawn as family, xy is a child and sl is not for instance, lol), and sometimes i wish not everything were seen as shippy, it's very unreasonable i think for me to expect people not to see it that way. does that make sense? that's why someone requested i tag it a certain way so they wouldn't have to see it anyway OTL

anyway, you're totally fine! if you want to reblog it go right ahead, and if you wanna slap that tag on it, go ahead too (WITHIN REASON, see above). it's the other ostensibly more popular xue yang ship that i'd rather not get wrapped up in, haha

don't hide who you are! don't try and bottle things up for the sake of making someone else feel better. i've been doing that for too long and regret it immensely. maybe this year i'll finally put that to rest too

[dramatisperscnae]

😳 ; What is something or someone you have always wanted to write with? i.e. a particular plot, a character, etc.

[More Munday Asks || accepting]

Oh man. I have so many, and a lot of them are just things I love writing and love writing with multiple people because everyone's reactions are gonna be at least a little bit different ^^; Here's a short list:

Frosthawk. I'm interested in the dynamic and I want to see how it might work after everything in A1. Loki having to earn that kind of trust from someone he respects [because he does respect Clint, or at least mine does] and whether it's even possible or not. I have a couple routes this could take depending on the verse I use for Loki.

Winteriron. See above. But even if it doesn't end up shippy, I want to play out Bucky and Tony reconciling. Howard was Bucky's friend, goddammit, he's gonna feel some kinda way about what he was forced to do.

My Midwinter's Turning verse for Bucky, in which he manages to break through his programming due to Howard's assassination and goes rogue from Hydra.

I really want to play with Conrad. I want to have someone find his dumb ass playing vigilante and teach him how to actually fight. I want someone to figure out that the dumbass vigilante boy is actually an AFAB history major. I want someone to take in the homeless runaway with no support system who just wants to be his true self. I'd be lying if I said I didn't also want the excuse to potentially ship with some of my favorite characters[indulgent self-insert OC, remember?], but honestly I don't even much care if it's just platonic and friendly and I get to have Bucky or Clint or Jason or someone just being There™ and letting me talk to and interact with my heroes. I know the kind of person I am, I know how Conrad is, romance is probably not going to happen very often with him, but friendship? That's a possibility ^^;

I'd like to throw Judas at someone like Bucky or Steve, someone who understands what it is to be a man out of time.

I'd like to throw Judas at people in general just to watch them freak out when he does something stupid like let himself get shot to save someone else and then just. Comes back to life a few minutes later because he can't fucking die. I'd especially love to throw him at someone like Matt or Jason or someone else who is actually religious, because the revelation of this is fucking Judas Iscariot is something I live for tbh.

[lurking-latinist]

Top 10s Meme

I was tagged by @thisbluespirit - thanks for the tag!

Rules: List your "top 10" (or up to 10 if you haven't written that many) fics ranked by kudos on AO3. Are you surprised by what's most popular to your readers? Then, under a cut, provide your ranking of your personal top 10 fics (with explanations if you want!), and then tag a few fellow writers! 

My top 10 fics by kudos:

1. Book Learning (Susan, Ian/Barbara) *

1. Doubt and Doubles (Five/Tegan) *

1. Ms Smith (Thirteen & Sarah Jane)

2. don’t worry, he’s with me (five ways Donna explained the Doctor to people, and one way he explained her) (Ten & Donna)

3. Anything Once (Inquisitor Darkel/Sabalom Glitz) *

3. Vicarious (Six & Martha)

4. Time Flies Like an Arrow (Witches Fly on a Broomstick) (Discworld - Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax, & Magrat Garlick)

5. to all our nights and days to come (Seven/Romana)

6. Nociception (Seven & Ace)

7. Nitro-Nine (Thirteen & Ace)

8. Somewhere to Belong (One & Susan)

9. The Strands of Fate (Four &/ Romana - the confusing designation is because it’s sex pollen, but it’s subverted, but they still act pretty darn shippy)

10. XOXO (Six/River) **

* These got hit by kudos bots (personally, I blame Glitz) and I am not counting them.

** This might have been hit by a kudos bot? Maybe? I can’t remember. It seems implausible for it to be this high, but some of the ones that I know for sure weren’t hit by bots are also pretty surprising.

Well, yes; this is a pretty surprising list all over for me. I think the top... four... are all on there more because of the popularity of the characters than the quality of the fic. I mean, Ms Smith is definitely fun, but if I’d written the same concept with Peri I’d have gotten about ten kudos and been happy with it. Including the current Doctor is a good recipe for attention, as is including a super-popular companion who had her own spinoff. (*prays earnestly for an Ace spinoff*)

Further reflections on the top 10 below the cut, as well as my personal top 10; it got lengthy.

don’t worry, he’s with me also had the advantage of being for an exchange, which no doubt got it a few more reads than it would otherwise have had. But a lot of its kudos have been post-exchange: Ten & Donna are just very popular. I don’t like to run down things I’ve written for exchanges, because it was always my best at the time, but I was really stuck for this (one of the first exchanges I’d ever done, and before I learned to prune my offers) and felt like I just kind of squeezed something out that was honestly more like meta than fic, so I was really surprised by how many kudos it’s accumulated over time!

Vicarious is genuinely good, and it contains a New Who companion, and the audience for Martha being validated and appreciated is (it would seem) encouragingly broad, but it’s also got Six in it, which normally means I’m writing for the same ten people as always. (Love you all!) It’s been podficced and everything! And it was inspired by a mashup gif, so I think of it as a lovely example of the fannish ecosystem.

Time Flies Like an Arrow... is another early exchange fic--specifically, the exchange in which I learned I shouldn’t offer fic for books with strong authorial voices. Apparently I can do cod-Pratchett when pushed, but it’s difficult for me to enjoy looking back at it because I can see the seams. I’m glad people have enjoyed it, though! It’s got a baby in it. Nice to see I have been able to write babies at times.

to all our nights and days to come is indeed one of my best fics. But it initially made very little splash, understandably, being an angsty under-explained AU for a rarepair that about six people have ever shipped and not all of them at once. Then I mentioned it on a Tumblr post where people had been speculating about Seven in the Time War, and apparently it found its audience! XD

Nociception is very good, I’ll admit. But it’s not really me. It’s just Seven and Ace being themselves. I am but your humble chronicler. XD

Nitro-Nine is pretty much just excited flailing in fic form--it was written back when we were all excited that Thirteen was dropping Seven-era references--little did we know we were actually getting Ace back! It definitely benefited from the “posted like the day after the episode aired” boost. Not something I can normally do without access to actual time travel.

Somewhere to Belong definitely does belong in the top 10, although if I could go back and edit it, I’d file off some of the rough edges that make it obvious that it started as a meta post. I’d keep the metafictional elements, but I’d make them subtler. (I suppose technically I can go back and edit it. But I don’t like to make big changes so long after the fact. It feels weird.) It’s still my default headcanon--the one I use when I have no reason to use a different one--for Susan’s origins. (And I would take off the tag “NOT doctor/oc.” I have no idea why I was so worried about people thinking that.)

The Strands of Fate is very funny and charming, and a good transition out of the early phase in which I used to write almost exclusively gen trope-subversion ficlets. I still do all those things, separately and together, but it was almost the only thing I did for a while there. Also, it contains an undressing scene with my OTP, but not like you’d think, naturally. And (spoilers) it’s all just a leadup to a silly looms joke. And Heimeldat drew fanart of it. :D

XOXO, like I said, was probably a kudos bot but I can’t quite remember so I didn’t cross it off. I have written much better Six/River.

So now for my personal top 10. I couldn’t possibly do these sequentially, so I will just list 10 that I think represent my best and/or most fun work.

Of the popular top 10, I’d keep:

1. Somewhere to Belong

2. to all our nights and days to come

3. The Strands of Fate

and I would add:

4. and will not let me sleep (Six & Peri)

5. and opposition of the stars (Doctor/TARDIS)

6. Stand and Deliver (Six/River)

7. Paraclausithyron (Seven/Romana)

8. Like Sunshine Through Rain (Six/Charley)

9. Bestride the Narrow World (WtOVPIC - mainly Katrina and Lucy)

10. Blazon (Seven/Romana)

But, as everyone knows, the best fic is the one you’re just about to write. (So stay tuned...?)

If you have read this far... why? And thanks. I enjoyed rambling about my own fic.

I will now tag some people: @heimeldat @swinging-stars-from-satellites @strange-destinations @fortes-fortuna-iogurtum @dyonisia96 @ontologicalmoki and anyone else who wants to do it!

[ikiyou]

That was a very professional response. I *know* BSD isn't a shippy anime, *but* my brain needs serotonin and it'll take it wherever it can. Even if that is in the wildly overblown subtext of canon. Guess, I'll just have to read it and come back to you on how much I find *rubs hands*. Now I am interested though, how did you start shipping skk if you didn't see it initially? Also feel free to ignore me if I am bothering you. That's not my intention.

Rotfllll it was professional wasn't it. All right - I personally didn't think the stage play was really shippy - some yeah, but nothing at all like chuuya's in dazai's lap, squeeeee!Dead Apple. I think at that point they're teenage boys and probably the last thing they wanna do is be obvious about their feelings. But I know there's more written in the book, and unfortunately, I can't say yet. My main focus was literally on 'what is the truth behind Arahabaki and Chuuya' rather than soukoku. Would love to hear your take on the book though!

As for me, I literally did not see SHIP when I saw Dazai and Chuuya interact for the first time. I took it as 'what you see is what you get'. Literally, old partners, one betrayed, the other angry about the betrayal of the organization. Did not know why other people could not see the obvious. This is actually how I watch anime, honestly. 'As it says on the tin' - I do not read further into it. I enjoy it as it is presented.

So when I wanted to read fics, I kinda started out with Dazai/Atsushi, as they were the main characters, and which was nice. I mean, that's what it was, it was just nice, it wasn't super all encompassing love at first read. And then for kicks I saw a Dazai/Chuuya fic that looked mildly interesting so I gave it a read and liked it and then probably found another and then never looked back, Dazai/Atsushi sitting in the dust in the rearview mirror wondering what the heck just happened. Like, I did NOT go back and to this day, I will only read Dazai/Atsushi if I'm super craving for a trope and cannot find one to my liking in Dazai/Chuuya. It was a complete and total 180. To this day, I could not tell you what that first soukoku fic was. It certainly wasn't any sort of a long fic. I do like looking for soukoku ship in everything now though XD

And don't worry, you're not bothering me at all! Please feel free to keep sending asks if you have any ^^