#we ship villains and murderers and incest and age difference in here

[emilykaldwen]

@alexandria-millie sent three asks for this so I'm putting them all into one!

I've seen a theory that Jaehaerys' murder was planned to cause suffering and discord among the Greens. Play Aegon against Aemond. If Healena had been furious instead of sinking into depression, the dance would have had a different ending. Daemon's marriage to Rhaenyra was a huge political mistake on Rhaenyra's part. Daemon can't be controlled, it was a matter of time before he did something horrible and unlike Viserys it wouldn't be easy for Rhaenyra to punish him.

 Why you gotta bring me into the lion's den lmao. Okay. I'm gonna try tread respectfully and carefully here because these are all really nuanced, especially your final question: re daemyra (and I'm not their hype girl so take with that what you will).

Before I dive into everything else, I think what it has to come down to is how you view the Targaryens. They are a MESS. Capitals. Are they a fun problematic dynasty with dragons and incest and chaos? Yes, that's why we like playing with them, but they have been shown time and again to not be oh so great for the realm. They truly, genuinely believe they are above the common man (See: Doctrine of Exceptionalism), and as George has said: Dragons don't grow trees. The nobility as a whole for Westeros is a bad thing, Fuedelism ain't great! So it's really important to remember when it comes to talking about Targaryens is that you absolutely have that Valyrian Supremacy at play and while some may be better than others, you are supposed to be in the twilight of the Golden Age of Dragonriders, so remember that.

And if GRRM comes out and confirms: Yes, Daemon ordered B&C and all that, yes that's how I intended it, then there we go, word of god and all that.

1. Jaehaerys' murder motivation

I disagree. I can see why one would think it would sow discord, but truthfully I think that's a wobbly outcome to bank on because child murder does nothing but hurt Team Black. When I first read F&B and this situation, oh yeah 100% anti-Daemon cause that motherfucker killed babies! what the fuck! and while I'm still not Daemon's biggest fangirl, further reading of the situation and the story really highlights that Jaehaerys' murder was a fucking tragedy that shouldn't have happened, but there's no way anyone would believe Daemon Targaryen for being like 'yeah no I didn't order for Jae to be killed'. Because Daemon's spent his time not really fighting the sort of rumors and allegations thrown at him. He's just living it up in the myth people want to create of him. Make me your villain, I'm just doing my thing. Jaehaerys' murder gains sympathy for the Greens, it martyrs him in a way that Luke isn't. Luke was an emissary to a potential ally and was killed and it's tragic and sad. We sympathize for the loss of Rhaenyra's children.

Aemond's a 16/17/18 whatever year old riding a war machine with no experience in that way. It shows how utterly unprepared all these children fucking are for this.

Killing Jaehaerys only further villifies Daemon and now spreads that to Rhaenyra. It doesn't hold water, because it only really hurts Rhaenyra in the end.

[cavaet: This is the kind of set up thing where I could see 'well let's kill his son!' and then realizing 'shit no bad idea, okay lets kill aegon and/or aemond', but hey! for all I fucking know, George really was like 'yeah no they lost their shit and did something incredibly stupid because this whole book is filled with dumb shit that doesn't make sense like why is no one patrolling the gullet for enemy ships???]

2. Helaena's Grief and Rage

Sooooo seeing your child fucking decapitated in front of you after being forced to choose? Is gonna fuck you up. Her immobilizing grief makes sense to me. However if she had become a dragonrider in battle, yeah, that would change things. Dreamfyre is older than Vermithor, and Helaena's bond with her dragon is stronger than Hugh's with Vermithor IMO. The Blacks have Daemon and Rhaenys both experienced in battle on dragonback, but not with other dragons and Vermithor is being ridden by a dude who just learned how to ride a dragon. Dreamfyre puts the playing field strongly in Team Green favor from a battle standpoint, which is why she's taken out early.

3. Daemon and Rhaenyra

(no one @ me please)

the tina belcher sounds I just made. Okay, where do I start. Going up to my whole preamble about Targaryen Supremacy: No Targaryen marriage is politically advantageous. Their practice of dynastic incest continues to separate them from the realm that they rule because that's what they want. They are above men, they are closer to gods, and they don't want to dilute their blood (if you buy into the blood magic needed for dragon riding). Marrying out of the family would let other houses hold potential claim to dragons. We see this in Rhaenys Targaryen whose half Baratheon being able to claim a dragon.

The smartest marriage to happen at this point in time for the Targaryens was Viserys' marriage to Alicent Hightower. The Hightowers are tied with the Maesters (something something maester conspiracy), they are one of the most powerful families in the realm. THAT is a politically advantageous marriage (and a reason why they were not made Lords Paramount of the Reach). But politically advantageous or not, Viserys treatment of Alicent and her children further fractures the dynasty. His half-hightower children are not pureblooded Targaryen children (or even Aemma's children, which is a whole other can of worms), and I could very well see that as a reason why Viserys didn't name Aegon as heir (because he sure as shit held that threat over Rhaenyra's head in her youth because let's not forget he was a shitty dad to her too in different ways). Daemon, politically, doesn't help Rhaenyra's cause. Marrying her to Jason Lannister would have been a smart move. Laenor Velaryon still was a smart move. FUCK EVEN HARWIN WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD MOVE!

So you can look at the Daemyra marriage in three ways: For love, for dragon, or both.

Daemon's unpredictable, and he pokes buttons, and he takes things too far (re: the gold cloaks for example). He's also very loyal: in the books, he's loyal and in love with Laena, he loves his children, and he's been in love with Rhaenyra as well for years (and probably having threesomes I guess? they were all way closer in the book than in the show) these two sides of a person are allowed to coexist if we allow the same for characters like Aegon and Aemond. And we are led to believe that him and Rhaenyra did in fact love each other. I mean, me personally, I'm the Rhaewin OTP girl because I love me Rhaenyra and Harwin and I think they were very good for each other/could have been very good, I mean they had three kids together, Rhaenyra didn't go find herself a Lyseni dude to fuck, so the kind of risk she was putting herself in with that means there was something more there. Not only that, but Daemons' loyalty was absolute: he would have done anything for Rhaenyra and I don't think he would have risked hurting her position and claim just to have a 6 year old killed.

I think it also puts her oldest three sons in further danger in terms of a future succession conflict based on the rumors of Jace's legitimacy vs Aegon the Younger, who is undoubtedly fully Targaryen, and had the Dance not happened, that would 100% be the grounds for a future succession crisis of children half-targaryen vs full targaryen blood including the TargTower children. The dynasty was primed for a civil war regardless of when that happened because Viserys failed utterly to secure the futures of his family and just hoped there were enough nepo baby jobs to go around I guess.

Case in Point: The Blackfyre Rebellion.

Basically: the Targaryens make huge political mistakes all the time. @gwenllian-in-the-abbey pointed out their theory in a comment on the last chapter of Maiden how Viserys being the one to have Aegon and Helaena get married would hopefully neutralize Aegon's power, because otherwise, you're marrying him to someone like Cassandra Baratheon, and Borros would 100% want his daughter to be queen!

Anyway, I hope that answers some of your questions!

[vole-mon-amour]

.

[ouatsnark]

The truth about CSers vs Regina Stans

A while back I made this distinction on twitter and I just thought I would preserve it here for the ages. I thought it was an interesting comparison and it got quite a few hits over on twitter so hopefully you all will find it eye opening as well.

The truth is CaptainSwan fans know Hook was a villain and we acknowledge it. We know there was sexual tension up on the beanstalk but we do not conflate that with love. Emma and Killian were not in love while they were still on opposite sides of good and evil. What happens between them prior to S2 ending is not indicative of two people who love each other. Most of us were even hesitant to begin shipping them until Season 3 when it became clearer that the pirate with a heart of gold beneath the guyliner and black leather armor was on his way toward a redemption.

CaptainSwan stans tend to be the kind that gravitate toward true hero characters. The majority of us know Killian Jones is devilishly handsome no matter what but for the most part it's hero Killian that truly makes us swoon.

Contrast that with those that claim Regina & Emma fell in love at first sight while Regina was verbally, emotionally and physically abusing and attempting to murder Emma. This is the majority of the Swanqueen fandom.

Also, the majority of Regina stans deny she’s murdered children, raped a man, abused Henry and has been abusive toward Emma, Killian and Snow. They find her destroying people hot. And I’m sorry but that’s sick.

Here are some examples but really it's a widespread fandom issue.

Yes, Killian stans tend to focus on seeing the best in him... just like Emma does... but that doesn’t mean we aren’t aware that he was a ruthless pirate. Difference the show actually put effort into changing Killian and we saw that transformation and it's that change that makes him irresistible!

Lets take this a step further and review how Regina stans see the characters vs how CaptainSwan fans, who follow actual canon, see the characters.

You might be a HookedQueen stan if you think our Killian chased every skirt (doubtful) and now loves hearing Regina always putting him down.

"No "Captain Guyliner," no "One-Handed Wonder"? Where are the bon mots tonight?"

You might be a HookedQueen stan if you believe an evil mass murdering bitch that didn't think twice about murdering children would be able to help a vengeful pirate and herself find redemption. How? They would have fueled each other's evil tendencies.

Also you might be a HookedQueen stan if you call CaptainSwan incest (wrong) while at the same time believing that Hook slept with Cora and Regina (wrong and wrong) and finding that sexy. That is much closer to incest.

But you might be a CaptainSwan fan if you think Killian worked for his redemption because he wanted to be a better man not only because he fell in love with Emma, a woman who believed and supported him, and wanted to be worthy of her but because it was always who he was meant to be.

I'm Team Killian Jones. Are you?

You might be a SwanQueen fan if you think Emma is a dumb blonde with low self esteem that Regina walks all over. You believe Emma loving a man is weakness because you refuse to accept the fact that Kilian supported, encouraged and believed in Emma a hell of a lot more than Regina ever did. But that makes Emma weak whereas Emma not defending herself against Regina's insults in canon as well as in your fanon is a sign of true love and a healthy relationship. Because how could two women be abusive?

But.... You might be a CaptainSwan fan if you think Emma is a strong, independent, hero who has the undying love and support of a heroic man. You also believe that loving someone isn't weakness but that Emma found even more strength when she stopped being afraid of love and her walls came down.

I'm Team Emma. Are you?

Also there is an awesome twitter thread here about double standards. Check it out.

[phoenixyfriend]

Asking for a friend but could you maybe post what you wrote about each couple in the problematic ship test, they're super funny and I'm struggeling to get them but keep failling and I'm tired :(

thx <3

Sure!

Context:

The rarepair quiz

The femslash quiz

The #problematic ship quiz

Fanon vs Canon

Disclaimer from the start of the quiz: you must recognize that, as a quiz about problematic ships, this will contain references to hot-button topics, namely clonecest, dating within the jedi lineage as pseudo-incest, and age differences. It will also make pointed jabs at some ships for comedic purposes. From this point forward, you take your experience into your own hands.

Rexsoka - Rex/Ahsoka The big one! We are here for ambiguously-shaped relationships that are nonetheless incredibly devoted and intense. They COULD be best friends... or they could be basically married. It doesn't matter! They are two halves of the same black ops specialist.

Jangobi - Jango/Obi-Wan One of these men is an incompetent but well-meaning older brother/dad. One of them is an absentee father to over three million. Together they are... something.

Obitine - Obi-Wan/Satine We are not here for a HAPPY ENDING. We are here for the DRAMA and the TRAUMA and the PINING and DYING IN EACH OTHERS' ARMS.

Jangosoka - Jango/Ahsoka ...................listen, she goes back in time, kicks his ass, and accidentally makes him fall in love with her. I don't know what else to tell you. I've written tens of thousands of words on them.

Bosoka - Bo-Katan/Ahsoka The important part is Ahsoka murdering something and then Bo-Katan killing villains and sending the body parts to her as a courting gift. (I only ship it as a time-travel, but Bo-Katan's age is ambiguous enough that they COULD be in the same age group? As you will.)

Chewku - Chewbacca/Dooku Literally why

DarthFett - Vader/Boba The inherent eroticism of sending this bastard in armor to go kill things for you. Maybe hire him to hunt you for the sport of it. Have some fun with the game. Attempted murder is love.

ObiLeia - Obi-Wan/Leia I know my flowers AND I know a bitch when I see one!

MaulObi - Maul/Obi-Wan What's love without extreme trauma and multiple attempted murders.

Jinmi - Qui-Gon/Shmi He's just very GALLANT to her and we're going to ignore the inherent power imbalance of it because he's such a gentleman to her, and only her, in TPM.

CodyWan - Cody/Obi-Wan The main thing here is that a lot of the people who DO ship it are the same people who are judging me (and others) for enjoying other results from this quiz, and yet... shipping a thirteen-year-old slave with his boss, who is three times his age, and is legally a person when the technically 13yo guy isn't exactly... I mean, it sure is problematic! We don't talk about it much, but it sure is a thing that is in the text! It's not pure and lacking in problems!

Barrissoka - Barriss/Ahsoka Sometimes your girlfriend (20F) frames you (16F) for terrorism and ruins your life. It's fine. Everything is fine. Don't worry about it. You can fix her.

Blyla - Bly/Aayla YES it's a gross abuse of power, but consider this: she pretty.

Codexwalker - Cody/Anakin/Rex Rex is in love with Anakin and Cody wants to ruin That Jedi and also egging Rex on, and when you grow up in a population of three million identical faces, it doesn't ping the Westermarck effect at all, so it's not hitting the incest button, especially when you've got this whining mess of a Skywalker to take apart together.

QuiRael - Qui-Gon/Rael It's not incest but it sure does sound like it if you don't know anything about Jedi Lineages

Anidala - Anakin/Padme YES he choked me out almost to death while I was nine months pregnant on a lava planet. NO I am not giving up on him. I can still fix him.

Obikin - Obi-Wan/Anakin Okay I'm not actually an active shipper of this one, BUT if you don't think time-travel fics where young oblivious Obi-Wan has an immediate crush on his-age-or-older Anakin, which Anakin tries his hardest to ignore while other time-travelers laugh at him for it, is THE ABSOLUTE FUNNIEST THING EVER--

JangoShmi - Jango/Shmi Do they have shared traumas? Yes. Do they have a massive power imbalance? Also yes. Do we care? Only insofar as it makes an interesting fic.

Windwalker - Mace/Anakin Sometimes. Sometimes you have a rage crush on an authority figure. It doesn't go anywhere, but you ARE a teenager with a lot of time and a lot of adrenaline and a magic sword...

ObiAniDala - Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme We are going to ignore so many things... OR we could feed into it. Anakin's already got enough issues, let's just use his complex and messy relationships with Obi-Wan and Padme to make it all ten times worse.

Padme/Sabe It's literally just the handmaiden/feudal lord meme, but you don't have to believe me. Here's a Sabe quote from the actual novel: "Of course I [love her]. It's a complicated relationship. She can order me to my death, and I will go. And she knows it. We've worked hard to maintain a balance we will never truly have. As far as I can see, she will always pick Naboo, and I will always pick her."

[tartareus]

Do you condone/ship incest? I was reading your rules and got confused about your sentence where you said if people are uncomfortable with fictional consensual incest this isn’t the blog for you. Except Incest is incest regardless of if it’s fiction

hi there, friend, how do you do?

while i'm not particularly fond of anons (nex time you'd like to discuss something regarding my rules and/or character portrayal, i strongly encourage you to do so via ims - i don't bite, and if our points of view don't quite match? that's alright, i promise i'll leave you in peace :) ) for various reasons, i'm so glad you've read my rules (that probably makes you one of the few who follow me - at least i presume you do, idk - who has done so, so thank you so much!), i cannot stress enough how important they are to me. if i happen to follow you, rest assured that i have read yours (unless, ofc, i couldn't find one in your blog - in any case, if i happen to accidentally break one of yours, just hmu or gimme a nudge).

considering that you've asked more than one question, i'll answer to you in separate sections - needless to say that while i break it down your questions, the answer might become a little longer than usual (again, i'm sorry). i'll keep this tagged, in case any of my followers don't feel like reading about this. without further ado, let’s dive in.´

“do you condone/ship incest?”

short answer? nope. but that is not a black or white question i’m afraid. no, i – nox, the human behind this blog of fictional characters – personally do not condone incest , never have and never will, and  don’t ship it. i do, however, ship consanguinamory on rare occasions, and when i do happen to write it i never do it in a good light.

for those who are not familiar with the term, here’s a little bit of info about it x && x. in short, the key difference between them is: incest is usually linked abuse (a fictional example that can be used, taking in consideration one of my very own muses, in this case is margot verger – who was sadly abused by her brother in the hannibal books) while consanguinamory (the lannisters, for example, or even the sharpe siblings from crimson peak are examples of consanguineous relationships) is the consensual romantic and/or sexual relationship between members of the same family who are of consenting age.

[ personally, i find both of them gross as fuuck irl but when it comes to fictional works i may get over this first disgust and ponder more on that && take in consideration the characters arch, plot, thoughts and the whole world they are set in. ]

i suppose the turning point here is the consent. i never, never, condone any sort of abuse – not in fiction and neither in real life – and while it’s a subject that bothers me to no end in real life, when it comes to fiction i am less inclined to project into them. i may write dark and toxic relationships, but i obviously do not condone them. that’s the point here – people on this hellsite usually mix the two together (condoning something and shipping/writing it, that is) when in fact they shouldn’t even be in the same box to begin with.

let’s say you write a fictional serial killer – norman bates, tate langdon, hannibal lecter, catherine tramell (that chick from basic instinct), patrick bateman, mrs lovett and sweeney todd, kai anderson, bellatrix, grindelwald and voldemort (the list of plausible examples could go on forever…) – here and ship with them; does it mean that you, the writer, condone every single action and choice your muse does? if writing something purely fictional equals to condoning it in real life, well… the world is even more fucked up than i first thought.

you see, in this little exercise in imagination, you could’ve easily picked a good guy or gal to write, the hero; the goody two shoes. why didn’t you? well, it’s complicated to pin point why some are drawn to darker works of fiction and characters while others are not, i suppose each individual has their own reasons && i can only speak for myself when i say that i am drawn to these sort of fictional works because they the safest way to explore dark topics that pertain to human society. on my side, it’s nothing but raw curiosity.

there’s also the issue of how different cultures see these relationships. in case you haven’t noticed, i am not from the states but actually from brazil. especially in the rural area, it’s not uncommon for second cousins to date or even marry (ew, i know, pretty gross). that’s something that is luckily falling out of practice, but you can easily find it, more so in the poor rural areas that are really far from the cities.

you may have noticed that most of the sources for the terms come from a blog that advocates real life consanguinamory – but make no mistake, i don’t support it. these were the only places i’ve found as sources in a quick look online. i don’t support it irl, but whatever consenting adults are doing amongst themselves is no concern of mine – i have no say on the matter and all in all, i don’t give a damn. i just don’t like it. everything i’ve discussed here is related to fiction, consent and is only ever related to people of consenting age.

“i was reading your rules and got confused about your sentence where you said if people are uncomfortable with fictional consensual incest this isn’t the blog for you. except incest is incest regardless of if it’s fiction”

to be honest with you, anon, i couldn’t possibly see how you’ve got confused with this. i thought i was pretty clear with that, but perhaps not. sorry, my english is not perfect. however, with the risk of sounding like a meme, i said what i said. if you personally feel uncomfortable or even triggered with fictional consensual incest otherwise known as consanguinamory, maybe my blog isn’t for you. not because i – as the mun –  condone it, but because i might mention it or even allude to it when i write certain characters. again, consent is the main thing here – you won’t ever see me writing that awful part of margot’s past, but i might mention it on some threads as it is part of her trauma but i will write jaime’s feelings regarding cersei and joanna’s love for tywin – and that should not be overlooked.

“except incest is incest regardless of if it’s fiction” 

so far so good, am i to assume that you also believe that “murder is murder, regardless of if it is fiction or not”? should we call the police on, idk, george rr martin for killing....hell knows how many characters...at this point i’m sure not even he knows. leaving my petty comment aside (it’s the arthritis, i’m always annoyed when in pain), i see where you’re coming from; fair enough.  but you missed a big point here – consensual. i do not write abuse, even to the muses who – in the canon source material – have done so    ( like jaime lannister himself – who’s in a consanguinamorous [therefore, falling under the category of fictional consensual incest] relationship with cersei – who abused his sister next to their son’s dead body [ yeah, jaime apologists, i’m out to get y’all...jokes aside, i do not acknowledge people claiming that cersei manipulated him into going to bed with her, while they are both shitty and toxic as fuck people, their relationship is mutually messed up – gag if you must but jaime lannister is far from innocent angel ] )     in the past. i. don’t. write. it. but i do write jaime’s feelings for cersei because they are canon and are also a big part of the character he became.

all of that, of course, has to do with my own position on the “war” between the people who believe fiction has a great power and influence over reality vs the ones who do not believe in that. personally, i find it hard to believe that fiction is a brainwashing tool rewiring people’s brains  - i find the idea itself ludicrous, the ones who strongly stand for that aren’t that different from flat-earthers and people who believe in reverse racism tbh – but i do acknowledge the influence media has on society. its not nearly enough to turn someone to the “dark side” alone by itself – those who claim that videogames, for example, made them violent most likely already had something different and perhaps wrong with them before the games triggered something. i don’t believe that media creates things on people, but brings buried things (fears, feelings, emotions, hopes) back to the surface. it’s all about the stimulus.

if you wanna be scared, watch an horror movie; if you wanna be happy, a comedy video.  wanna feel warm inside and live unrealistic romantic expectations vicariously through fictional characters? read a 50.000 words slow burn fluffy happy fanfic of your otp at 3 am even though you gotta wake up early in the following morning....

point is, they are not creating things, they are bringing forth responses from you that were already there in your brain (everybody has laughed before and felt fear, it’s part of human development). and how you react to certain content is entirely to you and your past. say, if you drowned as a kid on the sea - and had trauma from that - the idea of watching titanic is not so fun, is it?

it’s not my place to decide what you should do, that is entirely your own choice to make, just be aware that, as i’ve stated before countless times, i may write dark topics that may or may not be triggering to some.  i do so because it is my blog, and i don’t react so harshly to this content (in fact, i love horror, thriller and dark fictional stuff – meanwhile i dread the thought of rom coms, hell knows why??) for i am lucky to be able to separate fiction from reality. basically, whilst writing a villain, i myself do not become one in real life – that part remains in fiction only and doesn’t affect me.

that is not a constant, sure. i don’t just write dark shady stuff – there’s plenty of fluffy shit on my blog, but i like to warn people beforehand to make sure we are all on the same page. it’s for your own comfort, i suppose, because i may not understand certain points of view on fiction but i will always defend your right to be comfortable and safe.

so yes, if you aren’t feeling well at that notion, please unfollow and block me if you must – i never wish to cause any discomfort to anyone – however, before you do so (that is, if you do so) i beg you to just send me an im warning me beforehand, please? that way i can block you – and your other blogs as well – so the chances of me running into you again and causing you discomfort will be minimal. that way we’ll both be on own respective lanes and happy about it. i mass follow very often and don’t usually know which blogs belong to whom (uh, did that make sense? my latina ass is not used to using whom in a sentence....), i may follow another blog (or the revamped blog) of someone who has blocked me and never even realise it – that’s not me following you around and stalking like a total creep, that’s probably me not even remembering who you are. again, sorry – i don’t mean for this to come off rude or anything but???? its the truth? you know the drill, big following list, big followers list (well, big for me tbh, i cannot remember the name or alias of 600 people for the life of me, excuse me if my memory doesn’t serve me right), hard to keep track. there will be no witch hunts, at least on my part, because i deem them to be childish and way too dramatic for my taste. if you’d like to speak in private, adult to adult, i’m always game – i dread vague posting, i personally see it as a pathetic and weak trait. 

as long as you’re civil, so am i.

either way, do whatever makes you feel comfortable and safe on your blog – your  mental health is far more important (to me, and hopefully to you as well) than a hobby, than tumblr, rp or whatever fictional stuff someone’s writing or reading; you are responsible for your own online experience, and i am responsible for mine. that’s an empowering thing that should be reminded more often.

i truly hope i’ve managed to answer whatever doubts or questions you had in mind, if not my ims are always open and so is my discord. once again, thank you for reading my rules and stay safe!

edit; my dumb ass forgot to drop my disco handle, since i change often. it currently is   DOCTOR BITCHCRAFT !!! | 𝒏𝒐𝒙#1398

[hauntedheroines]

Heavy pining and unresolved sexual tension

Shipping doesn’t have to be necessarily about sex.

But come on, who are we kidding.

Here is a list of couples with moments that exhale sex and will murder you with sexual frustration.

I’ll be restraining myself to dysfunctional ships and with many UST scenes. Included one-sided attraction.

PS: Keep in mind dysfunctional not only means toxic and immoral. It also means people who can’t date normally bc, despise not being villainous, it’s their tragedy or bc they have too many differences (They maybe even enjoy bicking and teasing more than dating)

Faves

Batman franchise (Batman x Catwoman) {They are on opposites sides, but aren’t toxic}

BBC Robin Hood (Guy x Marian)

Boy, The (Brahms x Greta)

Carmilla (Carmilla x Laura)  [Female!Villain x Female!Hero] [Age gap]

Company of Wolves, The (Huntsman x Rosaleen) [Age gap]

Escrava Isaura (Isaura x Leôncio)

Grisha Trilogy, The (Alina x Darkling)

Guest, The (Anna x David)

Hannibal franchise (Clarice x Hannibal) [Age gap]

Juror, The (Anne x Vincent)

Labyrinth (Jareth x Sarah) [Age gap]

Mary Reilly (Jekyll/Hyde x Mary) [Age gap]

Nightmare on Elm Street, A (Freddy x Nancy) [Age gap] {UST is euphemism}

Notre Dame de Paris (Esmeralda x Frollo) [Age gap]

OA, The (Hap x Prairie) [Age gap]

Pedra Sobre Pedra (Murilo x Pilar)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Elizabeth x Jack)

PotO, The (Christine x Erik) [Age gap]

Princess Daisy (Daisy x Ram) [Incest]

Red Eye (Jackson x Lisa)

Schindler’s List (Amon x Helen)

SoIaF, A (Arya x Jaqen) [Age gap]

SoIaF, A (Petyr x Sansa) [Age gap]

SoIaF, A (Sandor x Sansa) [Age gap]

Story of a Man (Do Woo x Eun Soo) [Incest]

Uncle Adolph (Adolph x Geli) [Age gap] [Incest] [Every possible definition of wrong]

Vaghe Stelle Dell'Orsa (Gianni x Sandra) [Incest]

Wicked Science (Elizabeth x Toby) [Female!Villain x Male!Hero]

Honorable mention

A Forfeit of Dreams (Labyrinth fanfic): Considered by the fandom to be the perfect Labyrinth sequel, A Forfeit of Dreams is better than all the fanfics you ever read and most books as well. It could also be called UST: The novel.

Complete list

(below the cut)

CANON

Ashes to Ashes (Alex x Gene)

Batman franchise (Batman x Catwoman) {They are on opposites sides, but aren’t toxic} [3]

BBC Robin Hood (Guy x Marian)

Bear and the Nightingale, The (Konstantin x Vasya)

Bedazzled (The Devil x Elliot)

Blood Plus (Haji x Saya) {It’s a tragic ship, not vxh}

Boy Next Door, The (Claire x Noah) [Age gap]

Boy, The (Brahms x Greta)

Carmilla (Carmilla x Laura)  [Female!Villain x Female!Hero] [Age gap]

Company of Wolves, The (Huntsman x Rosaleen) [Age gap]

Crush, The (Darian x Nick) [Age gap] [Female!Villain x Male!Hero]

Daredevil (Frank x Karen)

Daughter of Darkness (Grigore x Katherine)

Death Machine (Hayden x Jack)

Dracula 2000 (Dracula x Mary)

Escrava Isaura (Isaura x Leôncio)

Gladiator (Commodus x Lucilla) [Incest]

Grisha Trilogy, The (Alina x Darkling)

Guest, The (Anna x David)

Hannibal franchise (Clarice x Hannibal) [Age gap]

Heart of Justice, The (Elliot x Emma) [Incest]

Heathers (J.D. x Veronica)

Jigoku Shōjo (Maho x Mikio) [Incest]

Journey, The (Diana x Surov) {They are on opposites sides, but aren’t toxic}

Juror, The (Anne x Vincent)

Labyrinth (Jareth x Sarah) [Age gap]

Legend of the Seeker (Denna x Richard) [Female!Villain x Male!Hero]

Lost in Austen (Amanda x Wickham)

Mary Reilly (Jekyll/Hyde x Mary) [Age gap]

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Jane x John) {They are on opposites sides, but aren’t toxic} [2]

NBC Dracula (Lucy x Mina)  [Female!Villain x Female!Hero]

Nightmare on Elm Street, A (Freddy x Nancy) [Age gap] {UST is euphemism}

Notre Dame de Paris (Esmeralda x Frollo) [Age gap]

OA, The (Hap x Prairie) [Age gap]

OUaT (Emma x Every fucking villain that ever crossed her path) {I could only watch until half of season 3 doe. The show gets cheesier each season}

Pedra Sobre Pedra (Murilo x Pilar)

Peter Pan 2003 (Hook x Wendy) [Age gap]

Pirates of the Caribbean (Elizabeth x Jack)

Pitch Black (Carolyn x Riddik)

PotO, The (Christine x Erik) [Age gap]

Princess Daisy (Daisy x Ram) [Incest]

Prometheus (David x Shaw)

Red Eye (Jackson x Lisa)

Schindler’s List (Amon x Helen)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Eris x Sinbad) [Female!Villain x Male!Hero]

SoIaF, A (Arya x Jaqen) [Age gap]

SoIaF, A (Petyr x Sansa) [Age gap]

SoIaF, A (Sandor x Sansa) [Age gap]

Story of a Man (Do Woo x Eun Soo) [Incest]

Sucker Punch (Babydoll x Blue Jones)  [Age gap]

Tokyo Mew Mew (Ichigo x Kishu)

Uncle Adolph (Adolph x Geli) [Age gap] [Incest] [Every possible definition of wrong]

Vaghe Stelle Dell'Orsa (Gianni x Sandra) [Incest]

Wicked Science (Elizabeth x Toby) [Female!Villain x Male!Hero]

NOT CANON

ATLA (Katara x Zuko)

Life With Derek (Casey x Derek)

Kim Possible (Kim x Shego) [Female!Villain x Female!Hero]

So Weird (Bricriu x Fiona) [Age gap]

World Without End (Carys x Edward)

Tesis (Angela x Bosco) {This one is very hot for a non canon}

[transmxnfenris]

My Discourse Thoughts

I know I speak out against antis a lot but I just wanted to specify I’m not an anti-anti either. I just think antis cause more harm than anti-antis but tbh this is my Middle Ground opinion. I don’t like either groups. I think this discourse is not as black and white as people make out. Before you start, I am saying this as an incest, rape, child porn, and abuse survivor. So. Yeah, my feelings aren’t about something I’m not aware of. It’ll be kinda focused on written stuff, because I’m a writer, but I try to be inclusive. I’m mostly writing this so I never have to say my opinion again and can just link it here.

Yes fiction can affect reality, of course it does. See the Jaws affect and discussions about representation of marginalised groups for evidence. So, artists do have to be careful and try to do better in terms of bigoted stereotypes and stuff like that. But. But. This is kind of like the “murder played violent video games and became a murderer” thing. Violent video games would only cause someone to become a murder if that desire is already in place (this is what the trauma control model says. - info on that from adopduction.) Abusive relationships only normalise abuse if they portray the abuse as normal. So like, 50 Shades of Grey - that portrays abuse as romantic and fun. That’s normalising abuse. Running with Scissors is a book that very much shows the abuse as clearly really bad. It doesn’t explicitly say it, but it assumes the reader knows that these abusive acts are horrible and wrong. Which is a fair assumption. I don’t think people should create things that suggests bad things (abuse, rape, etc) are fine and even normal, I don’t think that means we shouldn’t have art about these topics, we absolutely should. For one thing, it’s therapeutic for a lot of people to get the dark things out of there head and into the art their creating / consuming, for another - spreading awareness isn’t normalising. Books talking about things that really happen is showing you that people are capable of awful things. Their reaching out to survivors and validating them, and sometimes their helping everyone see the signs. Books like Haunted show that anyone can be an abuser, and that’s important. If we think of the perpetrators as monsters, then it makes it difficult to believe someone we know is an abuser or rapist - that’s how we get the “but he seems like such a nice guy!” Defence.

So in terms of subjects discussing dark topics - I think people should absolutely be able to. I think people should stick to things they have experience with (eg Chuck Palahniuk got the idea to write fight club because he got beaten up on a camping trip by homophobes and when he went to work the next day people said nothing even though he was visible beaten up) but I’m not gonna police people - so long as they do their research and are being respectful it’s fine (besides, saying only survivors can do it says people have to open up about their trauma even if their not ready and that’s not cool.) I think as long as people aren’t normalising these topics it’s fine but by normalise I mean 50 Shades of Grey style stuff. Writing about them isn’t inherently normalising them. A general rule I use to see if someone’s normalising something is is it tagged or classified as abuse? Or does it explicitly say abuse? If so, it’s not. 50 Shades of Grey doesn’t ever say it deals with non-consensual BDSM, stalking, and abuse because those are awful things as everyone knows. So, if an Ao3 fic is tagged ‘abuse’, ‘pedophilia’, or ‘rape’... it’s probably not normalising it. It’s classifying it as a bad thing. I think a fic is normalising pedophilia when it’s got a seventeen year old with a thirty year old and saying it’s fine because it’s legal in the U.K. thus they don’t tag it. Like, that’s a creepy age gap your normalising. It may not technically be pedophilia, but your pulling a Call Me By Your Name, it’s kinda normalising grown adults grooming kids. However, if a ship is about the same thing but the adult is the villain, the creep, the ‘everything is done to show their a bad guy’... That’s not normalising anything. I write about incest, because I’m an incest survivor, so I have some incest ships - none are healthy. I could go on, but seriously. So long as they’re not showing how incestuous relationships are healthy and fine, who cares?

In terms of ships... Oh boy, this is a tough one. I live by Don’t Like Don’t Read and Live and Let Ship. I think shipping adult characters regardless of whether people think it’s bad or abusive is fine. It doesn’t mean I like all ships. For example, I do not like the ship Reylo, but I have friends who ship it. I have it on my blacklist. I don’t care that they ship it. It doesn’t remotely affect me. I only really see it when people are complaining about it. I think in this case it’s also important to note shipping and fanfiction aren’t mainstream, your fanfic on Ao3 won’t have much of an effect to any mainstream audience. If you identify as a woman and love m/m fics? I don’t care. I’ve seen amazing fics and art by women of m/m ships. Hell, the community is what helped me realise I’m an mlm trans man. Do I get a bit skeeved when homophobia and fetishisation happens? And transphobia and intersexism? And racism? And ableism? And bigotry in general? Yeah. But why don’t we just, approach them in a civil manner because it may be by accident. A lot of people like that apologise then improve if you’re nice about it. Do I like women getting off on mlm? Erm, I don’t care. So long as their not homophobic and weird about it. Final note: shipping doesn’t always mean “I love, approve of, and want this ship to be canon.”

That being said... NSFW art between kids if you’re an adult is weird. I do actually have ships with under 18 characters, and I don’t care if anyone else does. Ships aren’t inherently sexual. But I’ve never written porn or anything sexual for them. Because the thought makes me feel sick. If you’re a 15 year old writing about two 15 year olds that’s totally different and of course you will, but I would strongly suggest fans like that be careful because weirdos might get ahold of it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people creating art with underage characters in these situations if they are in them, but be careful. I’m going to specify at this point I mean smut and porn. Stuff written for actual sexual purposes. Not all art involving sex is like this, I’m ace as hell, and I’ve... Never really written sex for that purpose. I explore power dynamics because it’s interesting, and dark topics because it’s therapeutic. I don’t ever write actual sexual (abusive or otherwise) scenes with anyone underage because it skeeves me. I just imply it. So I think underage ships are a grey area... but porn involving kids and teens is really weird. And hand drawn porn of kids is illegal in the U.K. even if it isn’t in the US so don’t rely on that if you do draw it. I’m gonna specify though, I mean kids who are like, actually under age definitely children, not ageless figures in an anime who’s age you only know if you research the background bit they all seem like adults. This isn’t about porn with the guys from Voltron, it’s about porn with like, Dipper and Mabel. Another shipping trend that skeeves me is real life people shipping. It just crosses a consent line for me, I particularly started to dislike it when my abusive ex’s friend wrote a fanfic of my ex-girlfriend with another person. It fucking sucked. Now, if someone explicitly says “write about me in weird sexy ways if you want” fine, but like... Otherwise it’s fucking creepy.

To expand on that, I really don’t think “do what you want” is a good rule. For example, erasing representation is a shitty thing to do. Dorian Pavus of Dragon Age fame, has an entire backstory dedicated to being a magical conversion therapy survivor... so let’s not make a “bi Dorian Mod”. I don’t like that. And as I said, I don’t like child nsfw stuff, and lolicon, and babyfurs, and whatever else. It’s creepy. Basically my opinion is “do what you want, just don’t be bigoted or a fucking creep.” And... maybe don’t invest your time into being angry about it. It’s not healthy. If you see something bigoted or creepy, report it, block the person, and move on. If you see something you personally don’t like, but isn’t bigoted and isn’t harming anyone (like, whether you think Reylo or Kylux are abusive or not... it’s not mainstream, it’s not harming anyone really) maybe you should just. Leave it alone. Block the tag, and move on. This whole, deciding what harmless ships are bad and good and causing witch hunts is fucking conservative, cultist bullshit.

Tl;dr:

Don’t like, don’t read and ship and let ship are good rules. Within reason.

Let people create art and write about whatever they want. You don’t know their life, you don’t know who benefits from it, and art deserves freedom. Within reason.

But. We shouldn’t let bigotry and weird creepy stuff get a free pass though. But sometimes people don’t mean to be bigoted so try being nice and explaining stuff before abusing.

But also... witch hunts are like, bad?

[lostinthewinterwood]

Hetswap 2020

Hey there friend!  Thanks for creating for me. 

Sorry this letter’s late—it includes the general likes and fandom-specific notes that my signup is tragically lacking.

My other exchange letters can be found here, and all the fandoms I’ve linked have fandom-specific request tags too.  I’d be happy to get treats in any medium.

 General DNW non/dub-con; non-canonical major character death; heavy angst; hurt no comfort; on-page deliberate self-harm*; on-page suicide; smut; gore; grimdark; complete downer endings; character bashing; incest; cringe comedy; a/b/o; mpreg; graphic eye trauma; graphic hand trauma; issuefic; unrequested full-setting aus; unrequested identity headcanons; a focus on unrequested romantic relationships**. *I don’t include things like, say, punching a wall in a fit of emotion under this. however, something like cutting would not be appreciated. **canonical levels of canonical ships are perfectly fine; background non-canon ships that I haven’t dnw’d are okay too.

  General Likes

– I really like plotty fics

– Secret identity and disguise shenanigans, the more layers to them and more absurdity the better.

– Crossdressing for whatever reason and gender disguises, also for whatever reason, though not as a kink—that I enjoy less.

– A focus on family and/or friendship, especially characters realizing they’re not nearly as alone as they think they are, and just generally characters who like each other and enjoy spending time together

– Found family; families of choice

– Character studies

– Worldbuilding

– Canon-divergence AUs and missing scenes; things set pre- or post-canon; wriggling into canon and poking at it to see what it spits back at you, if that description makes any sense at all.

  Art Things(??)

I’ll be real here, I’ve never requested art before; I don’t really know how best to prompt for it.  I like a lot of different styles, though, so—if you matched on art or want to make art, just, do your style?  I’m sure I’ll like it!  For the visual media, definitely don’t feel pressured to stick to the canonical art style if you don’t want to.  Seriously—digital, traditional, some combination—you do you.

As I, again, don’t really know how to prompt well for art, I haven’t given art prompts even where I’ve requested art.  Don’t feel pressured to try to work any of the proposed scenarios into your art, though if you feel inspired by them that’s great; just give me the characters together, however you think best—that will be enough.

  Podfic

My only podfic-specific comment is that I do generally appreciate not having very sudden volume shifts, especially from quiet to loud, as I like to listen on headphones.  Apart from that, again, go with your style :D

   Original Work

·        Male reforester who's planted thousands of trees/Female dryad of the new forest

·        Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl/Female Student Warrior Disiguised as a Boy

·        Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl/Female Fellow Student Mage

·        Runaway Princess/King of Thieves

·        Sheltered Prince/Roguish Female Thief

·        Teen Girl Medium/Ghost of a Murdered Detective Helping her Solve the Case (OW)

·        Teenage Supervillainess with a Secret Identity/Teenage Superhero with a Secret Identity

·        Teenage Supervillain with a Secret Identity/Teenage Superheroine with a Secret Identity

·        Fanfiction

 This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, but I'd rather all the human characters in relationships be at least fifteen, and I'd rather not have a very large age gap (say, >5 years) if one of the characters is underage. (For the medium/ghost, you don't need to keep it that small; just maybe don't draw too much attention to it and/or make her an older teenager lol).

fandom-specific dnw: predatory manipulation between characters in the relationship in service of the relationship--if, for example, the superheroes/villains are manipulating each other for non-relationship things and such that's okay, but i'd rather both parties in any of the ships be interested in the romance of their own accord.  Additionally—this isn’t in my signup—please don’t have characters react to any gender-disguised characters (or characters in general, but it’s most relevant to them) in transphobic or transphobic-adjacent ways (i.e. none of the characters are requested as trans, but I still wouldn’t want to see the kinds of comments people make about trans people aimed at them).

  Reforester/Dryad—I really like, idk, the vibe I get off this one—it’s got a very nice atmosphere?  I don’t really know how better to say it, I’m sorry.

 Student Mage/Student Warrior; Student Mage/Student Mage—obviously I love identity and disguise shenanigans; it always struck me as tragic when I was younger that there were all these stories about girls disguised as boys, but no one ever seemed to do the reverse?  Hence prompts such as these.  I’d love an identity/gender reveal, or maybe a post-reveal setting; I’d really rather not see them engage in any kind of serious romance without both of their genders being accurately known to the other, though flirting is definitely okay, as would be a date or two.  It’d be fun to go with some variety of mutual pining pre-reveal though, that could make the reveal all the sweeter.

 Runaway Princess/King of Thieves; Sheltered Prince/Roguish Thief—these seem to be mirrors of each other, somewhat at least; how does a royal meet a thief?  Does our princess find herself in the criminal underworld when she runs away?  Does our prince have a burglar appear on his balcony, or does he perhaps meet a girl at a masquerade who’s no noble and instead a thief?

 Medium/Ghost—lots of fun shenanigans you can go into here! What kind of case are they working on? How does a relationship work, when one of you is alive and the other isn’t?

 Supervillain(ess)/Superhero(ine)—love me some superhero identity shenanigans. Do they know each other in their normal lives?  Are their identities secret from each other, or only the world?  How do they first fall for each other—were they friends in their normal lives and enemies in masks?  Is this enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, or maybe something in-between?  How do they reconcile a romantic relationship with one being a hero and the other a villain?

    Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure

·        Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel (Cartoon)

·        Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Stalyan (Cartoon)

·        Fanfiction

 Eugene/Rapunzel—they’re adorable.  I love them.  Give me more—a moment in their lives?  Something in the year before the series starts; something post-canon?  Or maybe glimpses of them on the road?

 Eugene/Stalyan—I will admit that this certainly isn’t my endgame ship for this canon, but I’d really love something pre-canon, when they were engaged or dating—what was their relationship like?  How did they interact with each other and the world?  Maybe a heist fic; that could be fun.  My interpretation from what we get in canon is that their relationship wasn’t necessarily the healthiest (healthy relationships don’t usually lead to one getting left at the altar, after all) but it didn’t seem to me that it was necessarily abusive; I’d appreciate it if it was kept out of the actually abusive zone.

    Hanging Out with a Gamer Girl (Manga)

·        Terazaki Kaoru/Takekawa Izumi (HOwaGG)

·        Terazaki Kaoru/Ousaka Nanami (HOwaGG)

·        Fanart

·        Fanfiction

·        Podfic

 Fandom-specific dnw: sexualization of Kaoru’s crossdressing, full justification of Kaoru’s fears re: Nanami’s dad

 Kaoru/Izumi—they’re both cute; they have cute interactions; give me more of that?

 Kaoru/Nanami—I, admittedly, don’t usually ship these two—but I love their friendship.  Give me more of that, show me how it becomes a romance?

 My typical DNW for unrequested setting aus does not apply here; if you want to write an au and want some ideas, I requested several in my AUEx letter.

    Tortall – Tamora Pierce

·        Stiloit Tasikhe/Varice Kingsford

·        Kaddar Iliniat/Kalasin of Conté

·        Roald II of Conté/Shinkokami of Conté

·        Fanfiction

 fandom-specific dnw: characters in the political marriages hating being married to their spouse throughout the fic--they can start off with reservations or not liking it but i'd really rather end with them at the very least liking their spouse.

 Stiloit/Varice—they had quite interesting interactions, the few times they got the chance; Varice is a bit young for him in Tempests and Slaughter, but say he didn’t die—say he was alive still when she grew up a bit more—what does their relationship look like?  What changes in the wider story, if Stiloit doesn’t die, if Ozorne doesn’t become quite so close to the throne as young as he does?

 Kaddar/Kalasin; Roald/Shinko—these are both political marriages between characters who either seem to like each other or like they’d have a reasonable chance to like each other; what does marriage look like when you came into it as a diplomatic thing rather than falling in love?  How do they learn about and come to care for each other?

     Revolutionary Arc – kitsunerei88

·        Aldon Rosier/Francesca Lam (Revolutionary Arc)

·        Aleksandr Willoughby Dragic/Fei Long Lin (Revolutionary Arc)

·        Fanart

·        Fanfiction

 Aldon/Chess—they do not have enough fluff or gentleness in the story right now; I’d like some more, please.  Maybe post-war, with Chess off at muggle university—how does Aldon do with living properly in the muggle world?  What do Chess’s classmates/friends think of him?  I would also happily accept fluff/soft things set in the universe of Blake.

 Alex/Fei—they haven’t ah, interacted ever in canon that I recall, but they seem like they’d fit together well, if only for a little while—is this a wartime friends-with-benefits?  Maybe post-war?  If you go with the friends-with-benefits take here I wouldn’t necessarily mind a bit of smut, as long as it’s not only smut—please no PWP.

    Rigel Black Chronicles – murkybluematter

·        Arcturus Rigel Black/Pansy Parkinson (Rigel Black Series)

·        Remus Lupin/Rispah Cooper (Rigel Black Series)

·        Fanart

·        Fanfiction

 Archie/Pansy—so.  Archie’s quite attached to Hermione right now; but he’s also fourteen.  Not all romantic interests people have at age fourteen stay strong; I’d rather not have a hard break or too many hard feelings between him and Hermione, and I think he’d be interesting to see with Pansy.  As for Pansy herself—she seems to be too close to Rigel as a friend to seriously consider him as a partner, but she did seem potentially interested in Harry at the Gala—perhaps she’d also be interested in Archie, when she gets to meet him properly.  Maybe this is a post-reveal thing; perhaps in trying to get to know the real Black heir she falls for him?  I don’t know.

 Remus/Rispah—this is admittedly partly my inner Song of the Lioness fan coming out, but I’d love to see Remus learning more about the Lower Alleys and what goes on there, and conversely bringing Rispah more into his world too.

[diaryofanobsessivefangirl]

Masterlist of Ships Subtropes

Dynamic tropes

Puppy love

Romance between children.

Examples: Gendry x Arya, Arnold x Helga, Mike x Eleven, Shaoran x Sakura

Childhood Acquaintance

They meet when they were children, regardless of the frequency or how close they were. They may have been raised together, may have saw each other every now and then, or even just once.

Used to be Friends

Examples: Petyr x Catelyn; Erik x Christine; Mina x Lucy

Used to be Lovers

Couples that were officially together (At least had sex) before everything went to hell. Ships that only flirted, such as Anna/David (The Guest) and Jackson/Lisa (Red Eye) are not included.

Examples: Athos x Milady; Tom x Elizabeth (The Blacklist); Dolores x William

Love Makes You Evil

A character who was originally good but did things for love that turn him to the dark side.

Examples: Anakin, Petyr Baelish and Claude Frollo

Love Makes You Crazy

A character driven to the brick of sanity because of love.

Example: Claude Frollo from Notre Dame de Paris and Ram from Princess Daisy

Not So Different After All

Opposites/rivals/enemies that actually have many hidden similarities. They are canonically each other’s shadow and are compared as two sides of the same coin.

Example: Anne x Vincent, Steerpike x Fuchsia, Kylo x Rey, Jackson x Lisa

Love Beyond Death

Meeting in the after-life, meeting reincarnation or person coming back from the dead.

Example: Catherine x Heathcliff, Petyr x Catelyn, Dracula x Mina, Naraku x Kikyo

Dragging You to the Gutter with Me

A villain turns a heroine into a brutal lonely broken thing only he can understand what it’s like to be, and still she won’t come to him. So what keeps them together is also what keeps them apart. Read more.

Example: Naraku and Kikyo; Alina and Darkling; Petyr and Catelyn; Dolores and William

In Love with the Mark

A man who works for some really big, bad guys. He may or not believe in their ideology; that is not the point. He is there for the money and he prides himself of his professionalism. For some reason, this organization working on the shadows have “business” to deal with this ordinary everyday woman. So he is hired to stalk, threaten, or even kill her. Turns out, Stalking is Love, and he develops feelings for his target. That doesn’t stop him from keeping up with the job, thought. He had to be undercover to get closer, so cases of Used to be Lovers/Friends are probably included. You will likely hear from a character In Love With the Mark the quote “It wasn’t personal.”

Example: Jack/Angela; Jackson/Lisa; Vincent/Anne; Tom/Lizzie (Jacob/Masha); Skye/Ward

The Queen and her Champion

Woman occupies traditionally feminine roles of power and the man is an example of masculinity for others. She uses clever words, social understanding and schemes. He is her sword and her armor, but nothing more. Because of their different stances, he is bound to be close to her he protects, but never with her.

Examples: Maly and Alina; Zelda and Link; Lancelot and Guinevere; Rhaenyra Targaryen and Criston Cole; Daenerys and Ser Jorah; Every Elizabeth Tudor romance, Queen Anne and Aramis; Lucrezia and Cesare; Cersei and Jaime.

Art Inspires Love

When character A realizes or falls (more) in love with character B after watching him dance, sing, or doing something artistic.

Examples: Frollo/Esmeralda, Christine/Erik, Hap/Prairie, Isaura/Leôncio, Anne/Vincent, Sandor/Sansa and Babydoll/Blue Jones.

Supernatural Connection

The characters have a psychic or physical connection. Maybe they can communicate through telepathy or can feel each other’s presence and emotions when they are nearby. There might be a spell connecting their hearts in a way one can only die when the other one does. Maybe they are twins. Whatever the reason, these characters are bonded in a way no one else could be.

Examples: Kylo x Rey, Nuada x Nuala, Darkling x Alina and Cersei x Jaime.

The Frollo Effect

A guy falls in love with a girl he is suppose to reject, repulse or dehumanize, and fights against it. By trying to suppress it, her converts love into hatred against her and himself, and probably punishes both hoping it will make the feeling go away. It does not work and the guy starts doing things he never thought he was capable of in order to deal with this unbearable need. He is usually proud, rational and very in control of himself until she comes along. Her initial dismissal as a suitor commonly starts out as social expectation - in which the characters are from divergent social segments and ideologically separated -, but it’s always a expectation the guy has over himself, regardless if anyone else imposes this on him.

Examples: Esmeralda x Frollo (Gypsy and priest), Amon x Helen (Jew and nazi), Isaura x Leôncio (Slave and master), Daisy x Ram (Sister and brother), William x Dolores (Host and guest) and Hap x Prairie (Subject and scientist)

Bonding undercover

When the bad guy pretends to be a normal person long enough to befriend the good girl and make her fall in love with him. This is usually how tragically two-sided vxh happens, because she gets to know his other side before the bad one gets in the way, but they can still have a happy ending because it also establishes they could have the base for a healthy relationship if only he could abandon his malicious quest. This only happens when the girl develops deeply romantic feelings for him; if it's only a crush or devilish attraction (Red Eye, The OA and Agents of SHIELD) than it doesn't count. She must be sobbing on the floor when this is done. May also involve an amnesia period in which the antagonist approaches the hero as an old friend or a lover.

Examples: Steerpike and Fuchsia, Christine and Erik, Kiara and Kovu, Elizabeth and Tom, Dracula and Vanessa

Generation Parallel

A love story doesn’t end up well. Years later another generation repeats the first one in a slightly different manner. Most of the time, the parallel between the two affairs means the characters from the first one have the chance to develop as we wished they would, and that their love might have grown roots under a different field. Sometimes it just means shit happens no matter the circumstances, and that people will make the same mistakes of their elderlies despite that they should have known better by now. If we are talking about the first generation’s offspring (Incest not necessarily included), it might mean their love is on their DNA and they would fall over and over again under different names and places. In any case, this trope is the romantic side of History Repeats Itself.

Very common theme in incest, because their birth requires a previous affair between their parents, but it only counts if it is a story on its own, full of ups and downs, and people talk about it. If it’s not mentioned or important to the plot, there is no point in calling it Generation Parallel.

Examples: Jaime and Cersei (Joana and Tywin), Arya and Gendry/Jon (Lyanna and Robert/Rhaegar), Catherine and Hareton (Cathy and Heathcliff), Abby and Henry (Wakefield and Sarah), Rey and Kylo (Padme and Anakin), Isaura and Leôncio (Almeida and Juliana), Leonardo e Marina (Pilar e Murilo).

Roaring Rampage of Romance

Love that starts a war and the main plot. Characters that destroy cities and galaxies because Love Made Them Evil, because they are trying to be with whom they love or to secure their safety and happiness. It might be on purpose, in which they have foreseen the consequences but choose to take them anyway as a means to an end, or it was accidental. There may be decades of conflict and the count of a hundred corpses, or maybe a famous massacre with a handful dead extras. Maybe a murderer is hunting down everyone on an Island so that he can be alone with his beloved. Anyway, innocent people that had nothing to do with them nor interfered with the couple’s happiness will suffer the collateral damage.

Common trope among royalty, since marrying or bearing the children of someone you were not supposed to could have disastrous consequences to the State, still people would do it for love.

If the character is causing the rampage in search for something else, like power, and to secure his beloved is an incidental bonus, it isn’t considered Roaring Rampage of Romance, unless he is doing it because Love Has Made Him Evil. Alina/Darkling and Nuada/Nuala, for instance, don’t fit this category.

Examples: Penny Dreadful, Inuyasha, ASoIaF (Rhaegar x Lyanna, Jaime x Cersei, Petyr x Catelyn), Harper’s Island, Westworld, Notre Dame de Paris, Wuthering Heights, The Phantom of the Opera, Bram Stroker’s Dracula, Apollo and Cassandra, Star Wars (Anakin and Padmé)

Taboo Tropes

Incest

Self-explanatory. Cousins will not be considered incest in here. I’m brazilian.

Subtrope: Decadent Aristocrats

Ho Yay

Homosexual couples

Age gap

Ships with age gap between then, 10 years at least. Supernatural/immortal beings won’t be taken into account unless the other part is a child or coming of age.

Wife Husbandry

A man adopts or temporarily takes care of a little girl. She may or not develop a precocious crush on him. Little girl grows up into a extraordinary and desirable woman. She had him on a pedestal all these years and has been saving herself for him. Man is distressed bc he can’t reconcile the image of the child he cherished as a father and the provoking woman she turned out to be. He mostly resists her advances, but they work that out by the end.

Example: Older!Mathilda/Leon AU, Nancy/Hartigan (Sin City), Veronica/William (Final Girl)

Development Tropes

End game ship

Is not everyday an OTP becomes end game

AU ship

A.k.a. “Canon? Who needs canon?” ships. OTPs that had a lot of potential but were ruined by canon. So either I ignore the end they were given, either some parts in the middle. Unlike Not Canon ships, these were meant to be romantically involved, but the way it was executed ruined it.

Secondary Interest ship

That One Scene ships are the ones with nothing shippable except for one or two scenes. Sometimes is not even canon and are more anti-recs than anything, but it’s still about villain x heroine, so it’s relevant to this blog.

Not canon

Word of God stayed silent and, according to my best judgment, the subtext was not enough. If something sexual or romantic happens between the characters but isn’t based on desire, such as the villain seducing the heroine for his advantage, it’s not canon.

Example: Scream (Billy/Sidney), Kim Possible (Kim/Shego), Mulan (Mulan x Shan Yu), World Without End (Carys x Edward), Sky High (Layla x Warren), Star Wars (Obi-Wan x Padmé), Richard III (Anne x Richard), Tesis (Angela x Bosco)