ballet-235

[theothermaidoftarth]

Title: Song for Evermore

Pairing: Daeron Targaryen x Baela Targaryen 

Rating: M (a light M; it’s mostly T, except for a few paragraphs of non-explicit sexual content)

Summary: Daeron Targaryen’s hopes and dreams always came back to belonging. It had been so ever since he became a ward of Oldtown at five, at an earlier age than most. He finds a kindred spirit in an unexpected place: Lady Baela, the daughter of his grandfather’s bitter rival, Daemon Targaryen.

Word count: 47,559

Multi-chapter (essentially a one-shot split into six parts)

Status: Complete

Excerpt below:

“You sing to your dragon?”   

“Yes, I — yes.” Daeron thought he was alone, save the dragons and the last vestiges of his song, echoing back to him. She startled him. His eyes took her in, from boots to breeches and studded jack. Lady Baela and her grandmother had arrived too late yesterday eve to be presented to the court; they had met with the queen and her father, the Lord Hand privately before retiring to their allotted chambers. Baela had been shaped as if by a fine hand; spare, too lean, most would say, with the barest hint of womanly curves. Her hair was pulled back in a thick braid, the silver curls even brighter against her rich bronze skin. Her mouth, generous and lush, curved in a faint smile. Her purple eyes, large, doe-like and beguiling, at odds with the intensity of her expression which he saw as she drew nearer curiously; her gaze was as keen as a blade.

He thought she was as surprised to come upon him in the Dragonpit as he was her, though she hid it slightly better. Surprise was too weak a word. Even as he rose, feet firmly underneath him, he felt unsteady, as if he were on the deck of a ship embroiled in a storm. Fitting when she has both Baratheon and Velaryon blood. How his thoughts run from him, even more than usual. He should bow. He had forgotten to, but neither had she curtsied. Likely it was too late now. He had a thought she would laugh if he did, Daemon’s eldest daughter. Of what he had heard of the man, the uncle he’d never met, it seemed likely. She’d laugh for he would seem like a dog slow to remember an old trick. He might like to see her laugh, he thought hazily. Better that than this halfway state, midway between impassive and expressive.

“Is she the only she-dragon you will sing to?”

“You, my lady?” Daeron didn’t recognise his voice, a low husky murmur. He swallowed against a dry mouth. “You wish me to sing to…”

Her eyes were full of laughter as she said, “Moondancer.” Hot blood rushed to his face, though her amusement was not mocking. Her dragon, she meant her dragon. “Although…” her head canted to the side, “I would not say no to a song, Prince Daeron.”

At last he dusted off his wits. “And what of yours? Your voice, I mean.”

"It would make her weep.”

He gave a little laugh. She surprised him and that cleared his head some. No other lady he knew would ever admit such a fault, especially not so blithely. “So bad as that?”

She cast a fond eye over her dragon, green with pearl tipped wings and crouching stiffly as if expecting a fight. “Certes it wouldn’t settle her, see her thus, like—“ she nodded to the blue dragon behind him, lolling upon the floor contently; were she a pup, she may have rolled onto her back, legs all in the air.

“Tessarion,” Daeron offered with a warm smile, patting his dragon’s flank. Despite her blithe mien, Baela’s stance was almost too casual; something had her on edge. Oddly enough he did not think it was him. Just as oddly the same was true in reverse. She could have been any young woman and he any young man, not two scions of a family split in two. “Any particular requests?”

“If I said The Bear and the Maiden Fair…”

“I’d say you want me sent to the Wall for debauching a lady of the blood.”

“As if you were the bear himself to lick honey from my hair.” The silence was charged with something hot, heavy, which made his breathing hitch. Mayhap she felt it too for her voice was soft, a bare whisper. “You’d be singing a song.”

“And after? How do you know what I would or wouldn’t lick?”

Hot embarrassment at speaking such bold words filled him — Mother have mercy, he had only just met her — but then she took one step towards him, then another, and another. Something fiery stirred low in his belly as she looked him over from head to toe, her brow raised. Then her mouth dimpled in a cheeky half-smile. “My grandmother used to warn me away from the singers who’d come to call at High Tide. Seems she was right to.” Singer. Did she think him such? In truth he was a bit of everything. A bit of nothing. He felt like something under her gaze, like he could be something. “Is that a promise?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“It is discourteous to answer a question with another question.” But she was smiling as she said it, a slightly broader smile.

Seven save me, he thought, you’re so lovely, I can barely breathe. Princess Rhaenys was right to warn her away from those singers; one look at her smile and they must have yearned to carry her off over their shoulders, to sail away with her under the cover of night. What he said when he found his tongue was, “You are enjoying this.”

She stepped backwards away from him, and towards her dragon. The dragonkeepers had saddled her while they were talking. Moondancer was still tense; would a flight see her settled as well as a song? “Why we came is a matter of little and less enjoyment.” Baela paused, uncharacteristically grave, then her voice brightened, “So, why not seek it where I may?” She looked at him over her shoulder and winked.

A smile played across Daeron’s mouth. “Is that a promise?”

“Do you want it to be?”

He was laughing as he called to her retreating form. “Tis discourteous to answer a question with another question.”

Her merry backward wave was the only answer he received.

Read more on Ao3

[ifindus]

ScotNor Fic-Art

The promised ScotNor surprise as a celebration of 1 000+ followers is here. I am so greatful for all the wonderful writers we have in this fandom, especially those who write for rarepairs, and would take this opportunity to show that. That is why I have drawn an art piece for every ScotNor fic on AO3 that's not written by me with ScotNor as a main pairing - thought it would be a fun project 💖

Sylfiden - by @hana-noiazei

Quote: “I saw your face when you first laid eyes on me. I doubt you have ever looked at Marianne that way. At the very least, I have never seen you do so.”

Exile - by @fuckflorida-hetalia

Quote: It occurred to him that Ingve had said “I need supplies”, but Alistair had been taking enough for both of them. Would he really leave his family and everything he had to make sure Ingve made it?

Of Coffe, Rain and Red Umbrellas - by @roessslyng

Quote: Allis shrugged. And then, with a grin, added, – ye can imagine, that Ah came here tae see ye, if ye wanna.”

ScotNor/Storm - by @darcymariaphoster

Quote: […] - assuming Brodey had eyes for literally anyone else. But he doesn't, and Sigurd knows it. There's been nothing formal, but Sigurd isn't daft.” or “For all the time they've spent together over the past few months, Sigurd has to say that he enjoys not knowing exactly what Brodey is thinking.

Anticipation - by moist_meat on AO3

Quote: “You get a reward.” He kisses him, long enough to make him want more and short enough that it wasn’t enough.

A Little Peace and Quiet - by @randomw07

Quote: "I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be."

The Witch of Wesmerland - by @hana-noiazei

Quote: Oh. He could hardly breathe. This man did not appear at first glance to be the witch that had risen out of the lake, but he quite clearly was. His hair was now short and fluffy, shoulders wide and strong beneath the velvet; there was something about him that made it nigh impossible to look away.

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

if we’ve covered some red flags, what are some of your green flag ships? like of those “fuck yesssssss” ones that you really enjoy

AYO SELF CARE HOURSSSSSS. i do genuinely like talking about the controversial ships but thank you for the positive vibes anon! love that

under the cut, just because the post is a little long:

actually im not super into shipping i think? i definitely value being able to imagine a dynamic for even the nichest pairings and have a lot of fun stretching or emphasizing certain parts of each characters' personalities to get them to work the best while opening up the potential for some development on each characters' side (thats exactly why im doing the ship bingo! its a ton of fun!), but theres very few things i actually like. Ship beyond surface level thoughts tbh. and recently the things i actually do ship have gotten increasingly niche. so enjoy this ramble that mostly pertains to specifically me and only me LMAO /lh

metadede ofc is the big one. not niche obviously. extremely beloved by me hiiiiiiiiii. they just have so much to work with in canon it makes so many varied interpretations which are a blast to see honestly. in general i love seeing how people portray their friendship too. an idiot whos smart to smart guy whos an idiot communication. enemies to friends to lovers..... their personalities bounce off of each other really well and the content the community makes is always a+. actually im going to take the opportunity to share my favorite mtdd fic ever. this is like pretty much peak metadede to me if anyone wants to know what i hope my personal interpretation will live up to [link!]

people might be able to tell ive been getting very into dametaberge. oh my god im so insane. no one look at me. dmk+jambacult found family Real. i have like three comics in my drafts for them. its mostly dametaberge thoughts rn but i like to think susie joins them later to make a poly ship. dmk and susie are a little tense at first but susie is, "like so over her knight phase," as she says, which dmk is extremely conflicted about whether to be offended or relieved at. and then they learn how to relax around each other and are always the two in the relationship to have awful destructive ideas, which flamberge vetos or approves of on a case by case basis. they get very happy and excited when flamberge approves of their awful plans

and of course my beloved gsa ships.............. theres falsgato which i am incredibly insane about thanks to my friend dragging me into it and now its a thing in my animeverse. enemies to friends to lovers I KEEP SAYING IM SO WEAK FOR THAT. dragato was a huge asshole to falspar for Various reasons regarding the nature of the gsa and perhaps dragatos own personal insecurity, but once they lost the war they got to bond since dragato like, realized how little the shit he antagonized falspar for actually mattered in the first place. and falspars a guy who really sees the best in people and ahahahghdjk its a whole thing its a whole thing i wont go into it rn LOL

theres also metarthur which is my very very beloved longtime rarepair. which i um. uh. ahahahah............. i get very slightly nervous talking about on main because a lot of people hc arthur as meta knights dad or parental figure but i shouldnt be nervous about hc differences really....... anyways theyre supposed to be like parallels of each other. people who are opposites thematically (arthur being leader of the gsa; mk being a former deeply infamous demon beast) who find themselves in similar positions in that they both kinda struggle with their sense of purpose vs their sense of self. meta knight sees his past struggles in arthur and so he finds himself drawn to him. he cant really Solve his situation, but (during their war-time relationship specifically) he hopes to offer some solace to him which functions as a form of catharsis to mk himself too. the two get to connect and understand each other in a unique way. i wont get too into this one right now either lol since the dynamic changes a lot depending on if its their during-war relationship or post-war relationship but theres the basics. i have a comic expanding on their general relationship in my drafts too but its at the bottom of my to-do list tbh. maybe someday though

im only into this one casually nowadays but morphogala... you really cant go wrong with "knight of death saves the greatest warrior in the galaxy from their torturous fate". something something the themes of wishing for the release of death being subverted into yes, death itself releasing you but in a way that actually Saves and rescues you instead. the hope and love in spite of all of the hopelessness AHHHHGH the themes of this one make me so weak. theres so much potential...... i really love this one on an aesthetic level too

you know i take my comment on "not super into shipping" back i think my multishipper ass has disillusioned myself into thinking being insane about like 4-5 ships isnt enough or isnt the norm. maybe i am insane about shipping......... oops

ships that make my thumbs up list in that i like them in concept but dont ship myself would be: marxolor; any of wave 3 x each other tbh. i have them as just besties in my hcs but paired up in any way is very fun; i kinda like shadow metadede but im really particular about the dynamic of that one; fransoos gets a very big thumbs up from me for themes and concept+enemies/rivals to lovers; metagala is. i dont super get it myself but the aesthetics alone are absolutely on-point enough to put this one in the thumbs up category. yayyyyyyy. im sure theres more that im missing but i think that covers any that arent too niche

[aces-to-apples]

hello can i ask for skyberrie, dinmaul, and darkpilot?

Skyberrie

Don’t Ship It

1. Why don’t you ship it?

Tbh I just don't find Padmé terribly compelling? Like she was a baby politician, a child queen, fought off an invasion, has a ridiculous murder-peacock wardrobe and these grand sweeping ideals, but like. She has no bite? No edge? Instead she's this Platonic ideal of, like, a tragic doomed love dead wife, instead of the hit mess of a person that she should have been. I mean she impulse-marries a 19yo when she's like 24! She's been a head of state since she was like thirteen! That's fucked! Her brain should be soup! But instead she's just the Dead Wife of the franchise and that's on George, RIP.

2. What would have made you like it?

Lol the above I suppose. If any of her massively traumatizing life (because yeah being in charge of actual human (or whatever) lives from the age of ten and your entire existence being a public servant is fucking traumatic) was actually addressed or impacted her personality. Instead the majority of her character is Looking Like Natalie Portman. Again, RIP.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

The concept is very good and I have no issue with it in the movies (don't talk to me about TCW, I have nothing nice to say about that trash fire), I just personally am not drawn to actively shipping it.

Dinmaul

Ship It

1. What made you ship it?

I was last-minute nominating ships for either the Rarepair Exchange or Maythe4th and frantically throwing characters that interest me at each other and when I looked at Din and Maul next to each other it was like part of the universe slotted into place. Oh yeah, those two'll work.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

The absolute fucking ridiculousness of it all. The rich history and backstory of Maul that Din doesn't know jack about shit about. The hilarity of Din carting around one of the last scions of the Jedi and hooking up with one of the only survivor of the line of Bane. Two by right of conquest Mand'alors who actually don't give a good goddamn fuck about Mandalore. The fact that if Maul looked at the Darksaber and said "hey that's mine, some little teenaged shit stole it from my fucking house" then there's a good chance Din would be like "oh wow that's crazy do you want it back" fully knowing that it would drive Bo-Katan around the fucking bend. Yhe fact that it's entirely possible Grogu would fucking know who Maul is, to some extent, and either side-eye him like a motherfucker or trust in the fact that his dad has him well in hand lmao. The fact that all Din wants is his family and all Maul wants is a friend. There's so much, there's so fucking much.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

.........i don't think there's enough content for there to be any kind of fanon? But given how shitty the fanon is surrounding Din and Maul separately, i'm sure if dinmaul becomes more popular i'll find something lol.

Darkpilot

Don’t Ship It

1. Why don’t you ship it?

I just don't like Kylo, I don't find him interesting or compelling. He's not even crunchy.

2. What would have made you like it?

If Kylo was a better character? But then maybe not, because my condolences to Mr. Driver but I find him deeply unpleasant to look at or listen to. RIP.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Y'all seem to be having a fun sexy time with it and that's what's important 💖

[mrslittletall]

Controversial, I know, but: Smough/Gwyndolin 001?

Send me a ... and I`ll tell you

I don't think this ship is controversial at all ^^

when I started shipping it if I did:

I don't really ship this one in my verse because Smoughstein and because I like to headcanon Gwyndolin as aro/ace, but in the case where I am flocking to the ship, it works very well in a context where Smough and Gwyndolin are literally the last people left in Anor Londo and are drawn to each other because they are both outcasts.

my thoughts:

Those two are basically a beauty and the beast ship where both of them think they are the beast, one who is not happy with being the beast and one who is totally embracing it. And that is why they work. Smough can show Gwyndolin that it is okay to embrace their nature and that they don't have to be a monster just because others perceive them as one.

What makes me happy about them:

That they can find love when everyone else has left them alone.

What makes me sad about them:

That they are the last two people left in a giant fallen city and none of them will leave their post. Both too fiercely loyal, Smough to Gwyndolin and Gwyndolin to their dad.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

That is an open secret, but I dislike transmasc Gwyndolin. No shade against the headcanon, I know where you are coming from and you can do whatever you want, I just view Gwyndolin's relationship with gender a bit more complicated as "was forced to be cis" and like to explore them a little differently. Shipwise? That is such a rarepair that even finding something with them is hard, so nothing can really annoy me.

things I look for in fanfic:

I don't really look for fanfiction for this pairing. And even if I find something, like I said, I can't be picky.

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

Oh, that is easy. Smough is going with Ornstein. Gwyndolin is staying single ^^

My happily ever after for them:

They should just leave Anor Londo and live together at the countryside or something, without all the duties and the flame and everything.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Smough is the big spoon and Gwyndolin the little spoon. Smough is very warm and big and Gwyndolin is constantly cold because of their snake genes.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Cooking with each other. Smough is an amazing cook and Gwyndolin is actually not half bad as a baker and cook, so they really like to see how to improve their recipes.

[honestlyvan]

bulkjack for the bingo?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha

you know

I was gonna say "what more is there to say that I haven't already said" but I realise that I don't actually talk about them that much on any public platforms because I am tired, and fandom is bad and I hate it here. It's so weird that my immediate reaction to this thing that I love is, like, deep bitterness that I can't quite explain away just by "oh that's just what shipping a rarepair is like" (see also -- the pointedly uncircled rarepair square)

Anyway yes, I'm-- *inhales* I love. Them. I'm just *gestures* they're just so *gestures more* like it's not just the whole negative worldbuilding space of former blackops, paired with the in-universe reputation of the Wreckers -- I, I just think they're cute? Bulkhead's gushing over Wheeljack is genuinely fucking adorable, and Wheeljack's little weh moment with Arcee when he realises he's being. Fucking ridiculous about his and Bulkhead's relationship is such an underappreciated moment for him, they have good chemistry, their banter is cute, their affection for each other is cute, it's just--

*rubs face* Like I know my schtick is building on top of that, I know I know, I joke about it too, the soil is soft and I'm ready to dig, if Hasbro wanted me to not ship them it should have no-homoed them harder, I know, but tbh at the core of it is that I watched Prime and I was just like leaning on my hands with a dreamy look on my face when they interacted because they just have that. Chemistry, they just have the vibe. IDK what else to say, genuinely.

They're just sweet!! It just makes me happy!!

And that's kind of the snag, isn't it, the thing that tows me under and drowns me in the negative worldbuilding space is that there's this looming backstory that we don't know, but we know enough about to know that it was quite bad. It comes through in nebulous moments that even the fairly cheerful tone of the show can't obscure. We know shit went down, and somehow the version of their dynamic that survived it is the one where they're clearly just... really happy to be around each other! Whatever it was that happened, what they have for each other burns clean enough that they're not ruled by resentment, it's not a matter of just the familiar and comfortable, it's not just the social sunk cost fallacy, they've got options, and they're still drawn to each other out of affection, and it clearly isn't easy for either of them.

So, in short -- I am fucked. I've learned to embrace this. I've also kind of embraced that I am Fucked Enough™ about this that I'm probably always gonna have to write it myself to really get in there and dig out the... the all of it, the thing that makes me feel things. This ship is horribly underserved for fic that would really tackle the complexity, the implications it has for both of their characters, and the problem is that I am so invested in the platonic-ideal version of it in my head that I don't even know why the majority of the content for it leaves me so cold. Weh.

[takaraphoenix]

1, 3 n 4 for fandom asks

Thanks for playing, Hiro! ^o^

1. What would you say is your top fandom right now?

Oh gosh, I don't really think that I have a top fandom right now. My extreme obsession with DCMK has ebbed to A Normal Amount Of Obsession right now, Shadowhunters, DC and PJO are still on the same level, no new fandom has entered my life since. So I'd say it's an even four-way tie.

3. What draws you to a fandom?

I guess what first draws me in are the characters, always. I'm a character-driven person. Even if the medium itself is a horrendous shitshow, as long as the characters have the potential, it'll draw me in. I guess the worse the quality of the medium itself, the more I'm drawn into the fandom, seeking to fix what is wrong.

So it's a combination of good characters + "bad" writing. Bad, in this sense, is a stretchy term applicable in different ways; it doesn't have to be all bad, it may just be bad around my favorite character, or it focuses on the wrong elements which makes it uniquely bad for me.

I think that's why it took me until 2021 to actively get into the BtVS fandom, near two decades after Buffy ended. Because I read the comics and while the show is as close to perfection as a TV show can get (despite some flaws, yes, but these were never enough to make me want to actively fix anything), the comics season 8 is an actual shit show and for the first time I got overcome with the urge to write for it and fix.

Now, into what part of fandom that draws me always depends on how popular the things I like are and how inspired I personally feel.

If the thing I like is suuuper popular, then I might be more drawn in by the content I get to consume, the fanart I get to enjoy and the fics I get to read, but I'm actually less likely to get super invested in being an active part of that fandom and creating for it myself - since what I want already exists.

While if my favorite thing is more on the rarepair front, obviously there's not much of the fandom that I get to consume, but I am much more likely to actually create for that. To fill that gap.

4. What are your top three ships across any fandoms?

Oh. Oh, I've recently been re-evaluating that actually! So my all time all fandoms TOP OTPs would be:

Kuroba Kaito/Kudou Shinichi

Magnus Bane/Jace Herondale

Spike/Buffy Summers

Fandom Ask Game

[lilfellasblog]

I tried to choose a question but, I'm pretty interested in answers to all those tbh

You. I like you.

Talk about the first ship you ever had. - Tiencha (Tien Shinhan/ Yamcha), which is why I'm very sympathetic to those also suffering in rarepair hell.

Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life. Destiel, Tiencha, Analogical

What’s your current OTP? Oof, I think I gotta go Prinxiety! So much potential for angst with hurt/comfort.

What’s your current NOTP? You know, I honestly can't think of any tbh.

Do you have any poly ships? For my OTP question, I originally answered LAMP/CALM, so definitely that!

How do you feel about love triangles? I think they can be intriguing if done well. If there's cheating involved, it would be pretty difficult for me to feel sympathy for the cheater.

How do you feel about RPF? It's fine, do whatever you want. Fanfic has always been for fans, not for creators. Purity culture and entitlement needs to stop. It's like seeing a sign that says "Snapping Turtles", jumping in the pond anyways, then yelling at the people who put up the sign after you lose a couple pounds of flesh.

Have you ever shipped yourself with a character? Tbh, the closest I've gotten is wanting different characters to adopt me and take me from my home. But I don't think I've ever romantically shipped myself with someone.

Do you have many ships that never got together at all? *cries in All Of Them*

Do you ship any characters that have never met? Huh. I don't think so tbh.

Talk about your favorite first kiss. Well in college there was- Oh! You mean fictional characters! :3 I think Virgil's first kiss with Roman in Healing Broken Wings is my favorite.

Have you ever been disappointed when your ship finally got together? *cries in It's Never Happened*

Has a ship ever broken your heart? In fanfic? Yeah, I've read some sad endings before and that's usually not my jam.

How do you feel about will they/won’t they? I'm fine with it so long as it ends in "Yes they will!"

Have you ever “shipped at first sight”? Analogical, actually!

Talk about a ship you initially disliked. I think when Remus first appeared, I had a hard time imagining him with anyone because of what a gremlin he is. I've come around to the trash rat tho.

Talk about a pairing you’ve stopped shipping romantically. Destiel.

Talk about a moment which made you question an entire ship. Season 6 of Supernatural. Destiel. >:(

Have you ever shipped something despite yourself? Kind of? I've done spite fics with spite ships.

Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping. Tiencha, or Tien Shinhan/ Yamcha. They'd be so cute together!

Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against? Any ships that are part of fandoms I'm not in. I guess maybe Tony Stark/ Steve Rogers? They have such different values and ethics. They literally need a threat to the entire universe to come together.

Which of your ships have the best chemistry? Oh Analogical, easily. Royality too I think.

Which of your ships deserve better writing? Tiencha :(

Do you mostly ship canon pairings? Lmao no.

Have you ever shipped a pairing before you even started watching the show/movie simply because of gifs and graphics or similar? Yes I have! Crowley/ Aziraphale.

Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to? Not really, it's kind of all over the map.

Is there a ship you’ve shipped for most of your life? Tiencha.

Does shipping come easily to you? Yes, I am trash.

Do you need to ship something to really enjoy a movie/book/tv show/comic? Definitely not. I was a Potterhead, and I still don't really ship anything there.

Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships. Harry Potter, Marvel, DC Comics. I'm not in those fandoms tho.

Talk about one of your favorite headcanons for a ship you love. Roman is playfully protective of Virgil, and Virgil teases him by dramatically swooning.

Share five must-read fics. "Unexpected Destinies" was my first fic that I got into. Destiel fic, very complex and interesting AU. I think it got deleted during a LiveJournal purge tho. I got really into the "Battle Scars" series for a hot minute. Disabled Goku/ disabled Yamcha. "Perfect Attendance" by Periwren is great hurt/comfort starring Roman and Logan. "Welcome to the Neighborhood" by LeFay_Strent is absolutely hysterical. Shenanigans with Remy and Virgil, background Prinxiety, baffled Logan, it's a good time. And "War is Hell (but crushing is way more awkward)" by Jasper01 is incredible in so many ways! Funny, tragic, accurate, romantic, sweet, heartbreaking, all the things!

Name your favorite fanartist(s). So many fanartists have moved away from Sanders Sides, so I'm having a hard time thinking of many. To make sure I cover everyone, if there are any recs please let me know and I'll signal boost!

Share your favorite fanmix for your OTP. *Googles fanmix* It would appear I have none.

Recommend 1-5 shipper blogs. Gosh, so many of the shipping blogs I follow have become inactive in the Sides fandom. So! If any of you shipping blogs would like a shout-out, lmk and I'll signal boost!

Do you create fanmixes/gif sets/fanart/fic/fanvids and so on for you ships? Fic. So much fic.

Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP? I mean I'm partial to Healing Broken Wings AU. As for trope, I'm a sucker for angst with hurt/comfort.

Do you like and use ship names? Definitely! Much faster to type.

Is there a fictional relationship you’d really want for yourself? I'm taking the word "fictional" literally here, because there is someone I'm in unrequited love with that I'm working on dealing with and I would really love a relationship with this person even though I know any hope is fiction.

If you could change one thing about your OTP, what would that be? Prinxiety, and that Roman would get some goshdang therapy!

[iboughtaplant]

Follow Your Arrow (or You’ll Never Know What You’re Missing)

Prompt: Childhood Friends 

Relationship: Geralt/Renfri

Rating: T

Warnings: no warnings apply

Summary: Geralt: I can handle myself. I am a Witcher. Renfri: And that [insert monster here] was coming at you from behind and I took care of it before it ripped your throat out

Here is my third fic for @witcher-rarepair-summer-bingo

Read it on AO3

Geralt’s head whipped up to look around, he had heard the slightest rustling in the underbrush behind him. He turned his head around to look right when an arrow zipped past his face and landed solidly in the center of the makeshift target hanging from a tree branch.

“You almost hit me,” Geralt grunted.

“I thought you were supposed to have quicker reflexes than that, or did those mutations do nothing?” A voice said. Geralt groaned in annoyance.

A few moments later, a girl of about sixteen, the same age as Geralt—who had undergone his Witcher mutations several months earlier—walked out from behind the bushes, bow in hand and a quiver of arrows on her back.

“Aren’t there other people you can terrorize, Renfri?” Geralt asked.

“Why would I want to when you’re my favorite person to terrorize? It’s what best friends do, they terrorize each other.”

“I think you have a skewed idea of what friendship is,” Geralt said, the small smile on his face a contradiction to his words.

“Well everyone tells me I’m crazy,” she said as she walked closer and slung an arm around Geralt’s shoulders, standing slightly on her tiptoes to do so.

“You’re not crazy, Ren,” Geralt said in a soft voice.

He knew that Renfri was going to reply with something self-deprecating disguised as something  humorous, so he changed the subject before she could continue.

--------------------

Geralt and Renfri had met when they were both young teenagers. Renfri had run away from Creyden and found her way to Kaedwen and eventually Kaer Morhen. She hadn’t expected that the Witchers would help her, but she did have quite a bit of coin she stole before she fled. And it turned out that Witchers, at least the Wolf Witchers she met, where a lot kinder than stories of them led one to believe.

Her friendship with Geralt wasn’t instantaneous in any way, but she felt drawn to him when she met him. He was quiet and only talked to a couple other witcher trainees that he had grown close to. He was also kind and strong and he didn’t shy away from her just because she was a girl.

Their friendship really started when Geralt caught her in the armory taking a bow off the wall where it hung. He could have told his teachers and gotten her in trouble, but instead he helped her sneak out and silently set up makeshift targets for her to shoot.

A few days later, Vesemir arranged for her to join the archery lessons of the trainees a few years younger than Geralt. Apparently Geralt had asked his favorite instructor to see if Renfri could focus on archery since she already excelled at it.

Renfri proved her ability within the first day, when she out shot all the trainees in the class. She also proved to be leagues better than Geralt and even some of the older witchers. She really was gifted with a bow and arrow.

Despite being an awful shot himself, Geralt would get a bow for himself and practice with her. It always ended in laughter from Renfri as Geralt’s arrows went wide or missed the target completely.

“Hey, Geralt, have you ever tried archery blindfolded?” Renfri asked.

“Um, I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

“Why not, at least that way you wouldn’t know what you were missing.” Renfri said, trying to hold in her laughter.

Geralt sighed in defeat.

--------------------

Some years later, when Geralt and the rest of his cohort were ready to head out on the Path, Renfri was pissed when she realized Geralt had set off without her. He had promised that she would go with him whenever he left and yet he left her behind and didn’t even say goodbye, the coward.

She knew that he had qualms about having a companion on the Path since it wasn’t something witchers really did, but he had promised and Geralt had never before broken a promise to her.

After breakfast, when she realized Geralt had left, she ran back to her quarters and dressed in traveling clothes and light armor before packing all of her things into a bag.

She slung her bag and her quiver on her back and grabbed her bow in her hand and set off down the stairs and through the corridors. Along the way, she came across Vesemir, who raised an eyebrow in question.

“Geralt left,” she said.

“He did,” Vesemir confirmed, “this morning at first light.”

“Without telling me,” she said bitterly.

“I see, well he shouldn’t have gotten too far yet, only a couple hours ahead of you, and we both know he is sure to rest that horse sooner rather than later.”

“You won’t stop me?”

“I don’t think I have ever been able to stop you from doing anything.”

“Thank you, Master Vesemir.”

The old witcher nodded. “Look out for each other.”

--------------------

There was not supposed to be a forktail this close to the keep. The older witchers, the experienced witchers, had set out a few weeks earlier and cleared them from the trails leading up to Kaer Morhen, but they must have missed this one. Or maybe it had only recently made its way here and took advantage of the lack of other monsters to fight over territory with.

Either way, it meant that Geralt already had to deal with a monster when he hadn’t even fully made it to the Path yet and wasn’t even getting paid for it. But a monster was a monster and it shouldn’t be so close to the keep.

Geralt left Roach where she should be safe. And she was well trained enough—despite not having been on the path either—that she would run if the fighting and danger got too close to her. He then set off in the direction he last saw the forktail to track and then slay it.

Geralt spotted the forktail a few minutes later, but it took a little while to maneuver to get within range to strike. He followed it to a small clearing ringed with trees and blasted Aard at it, sending it back into a tree with a solid thump.

The hit dazed the creature a bit, but it proceeded to rush towards him in attack. He managed to strike it with his silver sword, but it didn’t do much to slow it’s attacks. Geralt tried to retreat, but the forktail followed, flying up in the air where it was quicker and more mobile and then landing to lash out with its spiked tail.

When the forktail was turned away from him, Geralt spun to gain momentum and struck the beast again, this time causing more damage. But the beast still wasn’t close to being dead yet. Geralt was panting with effort and tried to catch his breath. He raised his sword to strike again, when the forktail again took to the air.

Geralt was trying to track its deadly tail while also keeping track of its head, knowing from the stories of older witchers that a forktail bite could be quite nasty. The forktail ended up above him and as much as Geralt tried to put some distance between them, the monster pursued him.

He started to think that he wouldn’t make it out of this fight alive when the forktail shrieked in pain and took to the ground. Geralt looked up to see an arrow through the forktail’s eye. And before he could swing at the weakened monster or wonder who had shot the arrow, another arrow was soaring through the air and sinking itself into the forktail’s wing, and then another swiftly followed, striking into the wound that Geralt had left with his sword earlier.

Knowing he couldn’t split his focus to find the archer, and already having an inkling as to who it was, Geralt took advantage of the forktail’s weakened state to kill it. He went around to the forktsil’s blindspot—caused by its partial blindness due to having an arrow lodged into its eye—and hacked through the neck with his sword, severing its head from its body.

Still panting with the effort and the adrenaline from the fight, Geralt slumped to the ground. He couldn’t think about cutting up the beast for potion ingredients quite yet. He took stock of his body, noting, thankfully, that he was uninjured, just a little bruised.

He then yelled out, “Renfri! You can come out now.”

Renfri emerged from the trees, bow still in her hands. She rushed towards him, not even giving a glance to the forktail. She knelt down next to him, and put her bow to the side, the arrows left in her quiver jostling against each other as she bent closer to look at him.

“You utter asshole, you absolute coward,” she seethed. “You left without me, without even telling me you were leaving.”

“Witchers don’t have companions in the Path. I can handle myself.”

“Oh like you were handling that forktail that would have ripped your throat out if I didn’t shoot it and weaken it? I think “Thank you, Renfri” is the phrase you are looking for.”

“Thank you, Ren.”

“Oh save it,  don’t say it unless you actually mean it.” Her eyes softened a bit then and she asked, “Are you hurt?”

“No. Just some bruises,” he responded.

“Well that’s good.” She then proceeded to launch herself at him and wrestled him to the ground. “Means I can beat you up for being a coward and leaving without telling me and not worry about you keeling over.”

They rolled and tussled on the ground for a bit and Renfri got him on his back again, hands pinned to the ground near his head as she straddled his torso. “I am coming with you. And I am telling, not asking.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. He then opened his eyes again and looked up at her. “I would be honored to have you as my traveling companion.”

“Damn right you would,” Renfri said as she let go of his hands and scrambled off of him and got to her feet. She held out a hand and he took it and let her help him up. She then went to pull her arrows out of the forktail’s body. Geralt followed suit and harvested the parts of the body that could be used for potions. He then perfunctorily cleaned his silver sword before returning it to its sheath on his back.

Once he and Renfri were both ready, he led the way back to where he had left Roach. He stashed the various forktail parts in his saddlebags. Before swinging up onto Roach’s back, he looked at Renfri and said, “Thank you for coming after me.”

“Always, you idiot,” Renfri said, punching Geralt in the arm.

--------------------

It had been a few months of being on the Path when they came across a large town that looked like it was preparing for some sort of festival. It looked like every inhabitant was out in the streets, setting up stalls and decorating storefronts. In a patch of empty land, men were setting up tables for arm  wrestling--as the sign they put on one of the tables informed, and further in the distance, targets for  archery and axe throwing were also put in place.

As they walked a little further they saw a table set up and someone taking down the names of those wishing to enter in the events.

“Geralt, come on, I have to enter. We both know I will win and then we will have enough coin to fix Roach’s saddle.”

“I fixed her saddle.”

“Yes, with an old scrap of leather you fastened with a buckle from a saddle bag.  It’s really holding up,” Renfri said sarcastically. “We need a real leather worker. Face it, it’s not your strong suit.”

“It’ll hold until the next town.”

“Stupid witcher never wanting to let anyone help you,” Renfri muttered. She then rounded on Geralt. “Why can’t you just admit that you know I will win that contest and that we could use the coin no matter how we acquire it? Just because you’re a full-fledged witcher now doesn’t mean you have to act  like a brooding asshole. I thought we at least had a couple decades before that happened.”

“Ren, wait—”

“No. I’m entering the archery contest and enjoying the festival. You can stay or leave, I don’t really care.” With that, Renfri slipped into the bustling market of the town, and Geralt lost where she went. She was the one person he could never track accurately and the one person he wished to always know the whereabouts of. But she knew him better than he knew himself and could easily evade him if she wanted to.

Geralt knew that Renfri was his weakness and it was exactly why he didn’t want to rely on her. It was why he set off on the Path without her. But he could admit to himself that he was relieved when she caught up with him and kicked his ass for leaving her behind. The problem was that he didn’t think he would ever be able to admit it to Renfri.

The least he could do was stick around and cheer her on in the archery contest she was dead set on entering. Roach could also use a break, they had been traveling for a while. With that decided, Geralt sighed and led Roach to the closest inn to see about a room and  where to stable Roach.

--------------------

Renfri stalked off into the crowd and headed towards the table with a couple men calling out, imploring people to sign up for the archery contest. And they advertised that the prize for winning was 150 crowns.

Renfri knew that she and Geralt could really use that money and she knew that she could easily win the contest regardless of whoever in this town she might be up against. While she wasn’t a witcher, she had still been trained in Kaer Morhen, not to mention she was a much better shot than most of the witchers she met, Geralt included.

Renfri knew she had lost Geralt in the crowd, and while she hoped he came to find her eventually, she would just catch up with  him in the next town if he didn’t. But she was on a mission now, a mission to further prove her worth. She usually didn’t care what others thought, but Geralt was different, he always was and always would be. He got under her skin in a way no one else did, but she almost enjoyed it.

That was enough thinking about her dolt of a best friend though, she still needed to actually sign up for the contest.

She finally approached the table and slapped down four crowns and twenty or so coppers  she had dug out of her coin purse. It was almost the last of her coin, She had only noticed the sign advertising an entry fee upon getting closer to the table. But, no matter, it was probably a paltry sum in comparison to the prize she would win.

“Hello, gentlemen. I would like to enter the archery contest that is being held.”

“I’m sorry, miss,” one of the men, spectacles on his face, said snidely, “but that is not enough coin to cover the entry fee.”

She was about to ask what the entry fee was exactly since the sign didn’t actually say when a young man came up to the table and the other man seated behind it greeted him and asked for five crowns.

“Well that answers the question I was about to ask, it’s five crowns for entry then? I’ll be back, see what I can scrounge up from my saddle bags. Just need another crown,” she said mostly to herself.

“I apologize, miss, the entry fee is ten crowns.”

“But that kid just paid five crowns. What’re the extra five crowns for?”

“This is usually an event for citizens of the town.”

“Oh really, it’s just because I’m an outsider then? Or do you just need an excuse to bar a woman from entering? Afraid I will win?”

“Unless you can find the coin to make up the rest of the fee, it looks like you won’t find out if you could beat out the other contestants.” The spectacled man said thinking he had had the last word, a smug smile on his face.

A smile that fell off his face a few moments later. Renfri was about to question it when she felt a presence at her back. The subtle creak of leather giving away that it was Geralt. No wonder the spectacled man had gone pale, probably not used to dealing with witchers.

Geralt reached an arm around Renfri and with a gloved hand put down six more crowns next to her four and scooped up the coppers, passing them back to her. She took them and shoved them into her coin purse tied to her belt.

“That’s ten crowns,” Geralt said to the men, “she has enough to enter.”

The men looked like they wanted to protest, but the beginning of a rumbling growl—and what was surely a matching scowl—from the witcher behind her had them thinking otherwise.

The spectacled man took the coin and handed it to the other man before asking for her name to add to the roster.

“I would say it was a pleasure gentlemen, but it wasn’t, so I won’t.” With that she slipped her hand around Geralt’s bicep and pulled him away from the table.

Once they were out of sight and earshot, leaning on the outside wall of an inn, she deflated a little and leaned her head on Geralt’s shoulder and groaned.

She then moved to lean her head back against the wall instead of his shoulder. Looking over to him, she punched him in the arm and said “You didn’t have to do that. I can handle myself.”

He chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I know you can handle yourself, I never doubted that. But they were assholes and I know that was the last of your coin. I also know that for some reason you care about this contest.”

“But you don’t. You didn’t even want to stop here. And now you have guaranteed that we will be here longer, and lost the last of <em>your</em> coin.”  

“I didn’t lose it,” Geralt said with a smirk.

“Then what do you call using the last of your coin to pay for my entry fee?”

“An investment.”

It was Renfri’s turn to smirk. “You think I’ll win?”

“I know it.” He said, and flashed her a smile that only she ever saw.

--------------------

The parameters of the archery contest were straightforward and fairly simple. Every contestant was tasked with bringing their own bow and arrows since the town didn’t have them to supply everyone with the exact same equipment. Everyone was to shoot five arrows and whoever hit the bullseye the most or hit closest to the bullseye would be the winner.

Renfri was a little upset that the contest was so simple and she wouldn’t be able to show off any trick shots, but nonetheless she was excited. There were still a few hours until the contest, so she and Geralt settled at a table in the tavern. They didn’t have the coin for an inn room, but they did have enough to order a meal to share for lunch.

While they sat and ate, Renfri saw to her bow and arrows. She checked the string of her bow, testing to make sure it was taut and fixed the fletchings on a couple of her arrows that were a little worse for wear.  

Geralt was quiet while she tended to her equipment. After they finished their shared meal, he took out his Gwent deck and shuffled through his cards to have something to do.

“Well that’s the best it’s going to get,” Renfri said in regard to the arrows she mended. She had a mismatched set since it was easy to lose a few on the road, but also easy to scavenge the arrows that were shot at them from time to time.

“We don’t have much longer to wait. It’s supposed to start soon,” Geralt said. “I’m going to check on Roach beforehand.”

“I’m going to head over to the field then, maybe practice a bit,” Renfri said.

“You don’t need practice.” Geralt said.

“But it can’t hurt,” she said as she fastened her leather chest guard around herself and then checked the fastenings on the bracer on her left arm. She then slung her quiver, full of her newly mended arrows, on her back and grabbed her bow off the table.

Geralt put his Gwent cards away and fastened his swords onto his back. They walked out of the tavern together and parted ways in the square, Renfri to the field and Geralt to the stables.

--------------------

When Renfri got to the field where the archery contest was being held, she looked around at her competition, not that any of them seemed like threats to her victory. Most were gathered around talking with a few taking practice shots at bales of hay with crudely painted target rings on them.

She also noted, unsurprisingly, that she was the only woman present, and probably the only outsider as well. The rest of the contestants were men or boys from the town, if the way they all seemed familiar with each other was anything to go by.

Renfri walked over towards the hay bales and stopped when she got to a plank of wood on the ground that marked where to stand to shoot from the proper distance. She ignored the people around and the glances they threw her direction.

Pulling an arrow out of her quiver, Renfri took up her stance behind the plank of wood, her left boot brushing against it. She drew up her bow and nocked the arrow, the fletching brushing her cheek. She took a breath and released the bow string as she exhaled.

The  arrow soared through  the air and penetrated the  hay bale with a thud. It landed just left of the true center, but still well within the center ring. With a self-satisfied smirk on her face she stared at the arrow for a moment. It felt good to shoot at a target just for the hell of it. She had gotten so used to shooting monsters or the occasional bandit, that she sometimes forgot she liked archery just for fun.

A few of the people gathered around actually clapped. It was odd and completely  unexpected, but nice all the same. She gave a cheeky bow before going to collect her arrow from the hay bale.

--------------------

Once everyone that wanted to had taken their practice shots, they moved on to the actual targets instead of hay bales to begin the contest. There were only ten competitors in total and they each had five shots to take. They went in order of how they signed up, so Renfri was close to the end of the lineup but not last, so she was in the second group.

There was a teenaged boy who took note of everyone’s shots by marking them on targets that he drew in the dirt. He would mark an ‘X’ for where each arrow struck.

Watching the first group, Renfri could admit that a few of them were skilled, but only one hit the bullseye, even if a couple others came close. When it was time for the second group to take their first shots, she was more than ready.

Standing on her mark, she peered around the gathered crowd of spectators. She caught sight of what she was looking for at the edge of the crowd. Geralt, standing out in his black armor, had stationed himself out of range of others, but still close enough to watch the contest.

Renfri caught his eye and he smiled at her, it was a slight thing as he didn’t like to smile much in public, but it was still there and it was for her.

When she lined up her shot and nocked her arrow, she closed her eyes. She took a breath and kept her eyes shut as she released her bow string. She heard someone let out a whoop and then opened her eyes, her arrow was lodged right in the bullseye.

The contest continued from there, with both groups taking their shots until everyone had shot five arrows. By the third round, with Renfri being the only one to even shoot three bullseyes, the rest of the contestants seemed resigned that she was going to win. But surprisingly none of them seemed too upset about it. Maybe they were here more for fun and tradition than to win the coin. With a town like this, whoever won probably spent the coin in the various shops in town, so really it all circulated back. With that thought, Renfri vowed to at least buy a round of ale for all of her fellow competitors after she won.

With her fifth and final arrow, Renfri hit the bullseye yet again, although this one was close to the edge of the circle that made up the bullseye. But it didn’t matter she won, like she knew she would. There was a lot of clapping, and Renfri looked back at the crowd, noticing that there were a lot more women watching than there had been when the contest started. The sight warmed something in her, but not as much as the sight and sound of Geralt with his fingers raised to his mouth to whistle through them. He was showing more outward emotion than he usually did and she loved that something she did brought it out.

She made sure all of her arrows were in her quiver, and started to walk towards Geralt, but in her way, she was intercepted by the spectacled man from earlier who politely handed her a purse full of coin. “Your prize, miss. It was well earned.”

She wanted to say something, but the man walked away before she could even utter a thank you.

On her way to Geralt, she passed the boy who had kept track of everyone’s shots and presented him with the arrow that hit the bullseye on her final shot. The boy looked delighted and thanked her before running off to show his friends.

Renfri finally reached Geralt where he was still standing on the fringes of the crowd. “So how did I do?” She asked.

“I’ve seen better,” he said with mock nonchalance.

“It’s only better when I’m saving your ass, huh?”

“Hmm, maybe,” he hummed.

“Well dinner is on me tonight and you can tell Roach that she will have a repaired saddle soon.”

Renfri started walking back towards the tavern they had been in earlier, but Geralt grabbed her arm. In a low voice, only for her to hear, he said, “thank you.”

“For winning us enough money to last us at least a month? No problem,” she chuckled. “If only contracts were that easy, huh?”

“Not just for that, Ren. Thank you...for everything.”

“Don’t mention it, you dork. But be careful, if you keep showing your soft side, other people  might catch on.”

[cranehusbands]

glory, to olympus

loba andrade/crypto | park tae joon; established relationship; hurt/comfort; post broken ghost; apex rarepair week; 1883 words

a/n: first thought is why the fuck did ao3 butcher crypto’s name so bad.. that’s not how his name is said. taejoon is one word. crypto im so sorry

secondly, this has been my agenda this whole time. welcome to cryptloba hell, population me. i absolutely adore these two with all my heart, i was so excited for finally write for them, and will be doing so later this week, as it’s apex rarepair week! the prompt i went for for this one was meet the parents and well... you get the idea. angst time baby

@apex-rarepairweek thank you for hosting this wonderful week!

likes < reblogs, any comments in the tags are appreciated

ao3 mirror in the reblogs!

Preview: The thief’s mouth hung open in her rambles, before she looked up to Crypto, still standing in the rain with his hands in his pockets, hair flat against his face. The shadow over her eyes fell now, mascara running down her cheeks as she wiped the nose with the back of her hand in an uncharacteristically sloppy way. “...Am I doing them wrong, Park? Have I done bad by them?”

The gentle sound of the radio was enough to not make the room sound so deafening in its silence, raindrops hitting the window like tears from the clouds, as if knowing the day to the date, and mourning on her behalf. The song was a lighthearted one, one about running away to the big city - an older one, from more than many years ago, somehow still prevalent on the radio stations that she tended to be drawn towards. Was it because this music was a comfort to her? Her father always cared a lot for songs like those, and he would whisk herself and her mother around the living room while some lovelorn fool sang about a Caroline or an Eileen. 

  Loba was gentle in the way she did her makeup, having mastered her technique in the past few years - her philosophy had always been to not get caught, but if she were to be, she had to look her best. She closed one eye, gently placing a synthetic eyelash over the smokey eye makeup she’d carefully painted on already, pulling away and staring at herself in the vanity mirror in her room, and hand running through one of the shorter braids, the ends of her hair no longer stark red and now simply a subdued blonde. Her eyes fell on a small polaroid in the corner of the vanity, moving to run two fingers of the faces of the two adults - a suited man and a smiling woman - staring at the young child with a wide smile and a small tooth gap. The thief smiled a little, at the way the girl was so oblivious to her future, her happiness at that moment forever caught, to be cherished and longed for. She stared for a moment or two more, hand pulling away to catch a glance of the two parents by the girl’s shoulders, just as happy as she, before she stood to her feet, grabbing the leather-gloved form the edge of the desk before she opened the door, and began heading out of the dropship, passing by the kitchen and listening to the clicking of her boots against the floor-

  “You’re awake early.”

She jumped at the sudden voice, shooting a glare over to the table in the dropship’s kitchen, where a pair of eyes stared back at her from over the back of a laptop. “For god's sake, Crypto, make yourself known. Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry.” He almost looked sheepish for a moment, pulling down his laptop screen so she could see his face, the clear bags under his eyes from behind his glasses and the weak smile he gave. “You’re looking very… monotone.”

Loba hummed, doing a little half-hearted spin. “I have places to be. Quite in demand, don’t you know?”

“Hm. Visiting death, are we?”

“I guess you could say that.”

He frowned at her for a moment, brow furrowing before he closed the lid of his laptop and stood to his feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Grabbing my coat.”

“What- no, you’re not coming with me.”

He didn’t respond, shoving his hands into his pockets as he made his way back to his room.

“Crypto!” The thief called out to him, but again he didn’t respond, not even so much with a turn. And though she gave an exasperated sigh and folded her arms across her chest, she didn’t try to leave him behind in this momentary blindspot. Deep down, she was almost glad for the company. Especially his.

  The hacker soon returned, now donning a fuzzy black coat, somewhat more professional and warmer than his normal attire, though still jarring to see him in something that wasn’t white or green… though, hints of his usual accent still came through, in the formal shirt and tie he still wore underneath. Hands were shoved into his pockets, clearly fiddling with the cube he always carried with him, more for comfort than out of function. Crypto shot her a small nod as she turned to look at him, quickening his pace a little to join her at her side. “So-”

Before he could finish, he was cut off as she ran a hand down his chest, feeling the soft material of his coat under her fingertips with a soft expression. It wasn’t often they shared moments like this - the two were discrete about their relationship, especially since their mission had led to both… complications and rifts in the group, but also new bonds being formed, including their own. Interactions between the two were kept strictly professional when eyes were on them… but now Loba fixed his coat collar, a sad smile on her face, perhaps getting a bit closer than what she would have normally. But it was the early morning, and the open kitchen was silent. It was just them. What did they have to hide?

Crypto’s smile was weak, and embarrassed, perhaps still not used to the shift between professionalism and PDA. His voice cracked a little as he continued with his train of thought. “S-so, where are we going?”

Loba pulled her hands away from him, tucking her arm into his with a solemn nod, as if to hype herself up. “The closest thing I remember being a home to me. ...To Olympus.”

  The ride was quiet, but they both were tense. Loba knew that Crypto never liked crowds, not much - it was bad enough that a handful of the legends knew who he really was, but being so visible was a threat, even if these people had never heard of Taejoon Park before. She reached a hand over to him without looking to make it obvious, feeling for his hand to hold onto for comfort, as she knew the way his eyes fell on her and his face softened in a way that only she knew. The thief gave him a glance, and a small smile, running a thumb over the back of his knuckles, to comfort him, but also perhaps to comfort herself, as through the window the overview of the city so foggy in her memories became clearer. It was so different, and yet... not at all. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it kept coming back, enough to make it hard for her to breathe as they left the landing zone and headed down a familiar road, being dropped off at the front of an extravagant building, where pedestrians entered through lavish double doors. She exited the taxi they had shared, a hand holding onto the door for a moment before she quietly shut it.

“Damn rain,” she grumbled, though it was certainly half-hearted, pulling out her cane and extending it to lean against it, in the way she usually did, her other hand over her eyes to avoid damage to her makeup.

Behind her, the taxi started up again, driving away as the hacker now joined her at her side, hands in his pockets. He hummed. 

“What?”

“You haven’t told me everything about yourself. If I knew any better, I would make a joke that this was your second home… the gaudiness is fitting. But…” He looked over to her, and the way she stared back at him.

Loba swallowed. “Yes, well I… the loss of my family to that… demon… meant I have lost my home, my heritage. I have no grave to return my good wishes to, so I…” With her cane, she gestured towards the building in front of them - to the restaurant where all but one little girl had lost her life over twenty years before.

  There was a long, drawn-out silence, the only sound being the sound of rain that his the pavement leading up to the glowing restaurant doors. 

“I feel my papa would have liked you.”

“Hm?” He glanced down to her, how the rain fell down the sides of her face and how the gloomy sunlight cast a dark shadow over her eyes.

“He would have liked you. From… what I remember, anyway. He was a kind man, a family man. ...Yes, he would have liked you.” Her voice quivered as she repeated herself.

“...Loba, I-”

“-And mama would have too. Oh, the things she would say, I can almost hear them, in a distant sort of way. ‘Mi yerno es un ángel.’, I think is the phrase she’d say… I-I’m sure she would call us married already, she was a housewife type despite her… her profession-”

“Loba.”

The thief’s mouth hung open in her rambles, before she looked up to Crypto, still standing in the rain with his hands in his pockets, hair flat against his face. The shadow over her eyes fell now, mascara running down her cheeks as she wiped the nose with the back of her hand in an uncharacteristically sloppy way. “...Am I doing them wrong, Park? Have I done bad by them?”

He didn’t know what to say. He’d never had this issue before, not for himself - what was done with him was done, and he had no one to mourn… no parents, and no sister. He quickly swallowed before he could ride down that thought path. Reaching a hand out of his pocket, he took hers and gently squeezed. “You… are an amazing woman. They know that, surely, from where they reside. Regardless of what you have done, or will do, you are still theirs. Be proud.”

That’s when her face, that had tried so hard to remain like stone despite her tears, wrinkled, and her grip on his hand grew tighter with a squeeze, before she burst into sobs and practically threw herself onto him, burying her face into his shoulder, as if to hide her dignity, her hands moving to claw onto his back and hold it as if he would leave her at a moments notice.

  He didn’t move, unsure if she would shatter in his arms like fragile glasswork, so perfect and delicate as she shook in the cold and the pressure of containing herself, but soon Crypto held her back, and brought her close, the warmth still foreign to him, even after all the times that had done this behind closed doors. No… it was never like this. Loba was strong, she held her cards close to her chest, and only let herself be vulnerable when she knew she had nothing to lose - and to her, she still had everything to lose. Losing her legacy, her revenge on the simulacrum that took her life away from her. The hacker held her close, holding the back of her head with a hand, quietly shushing her muffled sobs as he ran a hand through her hair, now knotted and wavy with the rain.

“Te amo,” she whispered into his neck, before pulling away and looking up to him, smiling despite herself as she wiped her eye, now red, though not like her usual makeup attire, with the back of her finger, smiling despite herself as she moved a hand to brush at his shoulder.  “Sorry about the makeup all over your coat.”

He couldn’t help but laugh, moving to cup her face with one hand and brush his thumb under her other eye, still wet from tears.  “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. You will be fine. Saranghae.”

[revasnaslan]

Now give us your Kolyat thots

how i feel about this character: THAT'S MY SON!!! i have a surprising amount of love for a character who only has like ten minutes of screentime in a game series that took me over 90 hours to complete, but here we are. we love angry teen going on a buckwild teenager runaway phase to spite his dad representation in this house. the amount of love i have for him hit me like a truck and i can pinpoint exactly when it happened and it was when he started spitting curses like an angry wet cat. like he gets punched across the face and is just like WHAT THE HELL, he called a cop a son of a bitch to his face??? and that's not even getting into how he spends the entire scene talking like he watched one too many heist movies and decided he knew how to hold someone hostage and commit murder when he can't even shoot someone when they're less than three feet from him with a pistol. i'm pretty sure he expected to get by on this hit with nothing by rage and prayer. it's such a shame that the devs basically shunted him off to the side in 3 cause i want more of him 😭😭

all the characters i ship romantically with this character: oh so this should be fun to explain. so, i only have one ship for him............. and it's him and grunt? they have all of one artist who hasn't drawn them since like 2019, who also wrote the one (1) fic on ao3, so i am once again in rarepair hell. i can't even really describe why i like them so much, but i think it's probably the whole opposites attract thing, grumpy/earnest combo... also they have a lot of april and andy energy and i like that a lot.

my non-romantic otp with this character: not counting his dad?? cause i mentioned loving them in my thane ask... i don't personally see him and oriana romantically at all, but i do adore the idea of them as best friends. also him and solana. in my current wip, the three of them are roommates.

my unpopular opinion about this character: i'm not sure how unpopular this actually is, but he is allowed to be absolutely pissed at his dad, he is allowed to still have jerk reactions where there's a X Doubt looming over his head because thane is trying yeah but it's still difficult to get along with him. people skip over this a looooot in fanfic because i guess it's not fun to write, so he and thane are just magically healed uwu they just get along uwu which just ain't realistic.

one thing i wish had happened with this character in canon: *stares longingly at the scrapped mission he and thane had in 3* oh yknow 😭😭😭

my otp: him and grunt l m a o

my cross over ship: don't have one

a headcanon fact: if he ever ended up with baby siblings, they'd realistically probably be like 20+ years his junior, but he would do everything in his power to make sure they don't feel unwanted like he probably did growing up. he didn't have a big brother to protect him, but he's here now so he'll protect them.

[enragedcatdad]

(re: what kind of moot am i) ur one of my moots who talks in tags a lot so i get to have fun reading them :> (also if i see my dash suddenly flooded w mmjr or rarepairs m like oh is that nix oh yep it him lol)

YESSS BAHAHAHHA idk why I'm drawn to some rairpairs so much but like,, cant blame me for some of them, they are genius. Like seroroki?? MINAMOMO?? Exquisite. Also the momojirou spam,, I'm not sorry

However, I do apologize for my inability to queue things... I have a dep fear that something bad will happen to me and I will never see those posts reblogged to my account and so I have to live in the now and reblog when I see them ( ･ั﹏･ั)

[seerofmike]

Incompatible

pairing: bubblysparks / wattson x rampart 

word count: 2,371

rating: t

tags: beach day, a continuation of yesterday’s soulmate au prompt, background/implied relationships 

summary: Everyone else is enjoying themselves at the beach except for Natalie, who is still reeling from finding out who her soulmate is

i ended up splitting it into parts instead of 1 whole fic! day 3 of rarepair week, part 2 of the bubblysparks saga! 

reblogs> likes

read on ao3

OR

below

Natalie adjusted her sun hat, trying to block the bright rays from shining directly in her eyes. She heard a distant whoop of ‘cannonball!’ followed by a shout of ‘SILVA!’ When she looked over, she saw that Octavio had leapt from the very cliff he’d been told not to jump from, and now he was pulled onto Makoa’s surfboard, missing one leg.

“It should float back up,” the man was saying. “I wore the waterproof ones today.”

The leg never appeared, and Octavio had to be taken back to shore where he sat, arms crossed and pouting.

Natalie approached him, stepping carefully onto the towels and blankets laid over the sand, as she hated the feeling of it beneath her feet, before crouching next to him with a smile.

“Would you like to build a sandcastle?” She asked kindly.

“No way, José,” he complained. “I wanted to dive.”

Natalie frowned down at his swimming vest. “But...would this not make you float?”

“Yeah,” Octavio said. “I can’t swim.”

Natalie was very confused, but she was used to feeling that way around him. She sat back on her haunches and looked at everyone else enjoying themselves.

Elliott was sunbathing on a yellow towel, arms folded behind his head and hair wrapped up to protect it from the sun's harsh rays. Crypto was reading a book beneath the shade of an umbrella, the hood of his sleeveless hoodie drawn up as he fiddled with his puzzle cube in his free hand.

Ajay, Anita, Wraith, and Pathfinder were all tossing a ball around in the water while Loba floated on her back, somehow managing to stay above the waves without seeming bothered. This place wasn’t very good for surfing, but Makoa seemed content all the same to swim out into the sea on his board, little more than a speck in the distance.

She twisted her head around, looking for the remaining few Legends, but suddenly Octavio started crawling away from her, heading in Elliott and Crypto’s direction.

“Where are you going?” She asked, curious.

“I’m gonna convince Crypto to let me bury him in the sand. Later, chica.”

Realizing that she had been left alone, Natalie looked over at the others again and considered joining in their game—Wraith looked like she was having fun for once, and she wanted to be a part of that experience!

But then a pile of clothes landed beside her, causing her to startle, and she heard a familiar voice drawl,

“Alright, mates, the real star of today’s beach episode is here.”

Sighing, Natalie glanced behind her to see Ramya approaching, ponytail fluttering in the window. She was somewhat surprised to see what she still had her nose and bellybutton piercings in—wouldn’t those get irritated in the water?—but she chose not to voice this out loud.

The girl made a beeline for the water, but she came to a full halt when she was submerged up to her calves, before turning around and looking directly at Natalie.

“C’mon, Miss Paquette,” Ramya said, and she wasn’t so sure as to why she kept calling her that when she had a crude nickname for everyone else. “Fancy a swim?”

Natalie scowled, rubbing at her inner wrist as she watched Ramya cackle before purposefully kicking water in Elliott’s direction, earning a shriek. Those words seemed especially mocking right now, as she was sure that Ramya had figured out that that was what was written on her skin.

Natalie had wanted to join in their game before, but as soon as she realized that Ramya was too, she resigned herself to sitting alone on the beach. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she watched the others have fun, and felt rather left out—which was ridiculous, she knew, because she had chosen to be by herself. But still...

Loba soon got out of the water, wrapping a towel around herself and winking at Natalie on her way to the beach house; a reward they'd been given been given for reaching the end of yet another Apex season.

Anita soon followed after her, saying that she had important things to do, and she watched Ajay and Ramya exchange knowing smirks at these words. She didn’t really get why, though.

“Oi, Nat,” Ajay called, and she waved her hand in response. “Come and join us, now. Have some fun!”

“We’re at a bit of a disadvantage with these two,” Ramya said, pointing at Pathfinder and Wraith. “Cheaters, is what they are.”

“I am simply tall!” Pathfinder said cheerfully.

“Doesn’t change the fact that Wraith somehow always knows where the ball’s going to go!”

The older woman didn’t even say anything—just smiled.

Natalie sighed, considering her options for a moment. Crypto was still reading his book, though he was now lying flat on his back as Octavio covered his legs in sand. Elliott was still sunbathing but he was now laying on his stomach, and...

A shadow loomed over her, and when Natalie looked up, she saw Dr. Caustic approaching the group with several vials in hand. Natalie stood up quickly and backed away from him, and without even looking at her, he gruffed, “I’m taking water samples.”

Wanting to get as far away from him as possible, she glanced between the beach house and the water nervously, before turning on her heel and heading up the sandy slope.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go inside, if I were you!” Ajay called, and Natalie gave a frustrated huff, whirling around.

“Why not?”

“Just trust me.”

Natalie bit on her tongue, considering all of her other options—even the ones she didn't particularly care for—before letting out a sigh of defeat and marching herself over to the water, still making sure to not step on the hot sand directly. Ramya let out a whoop as she waded in, and Wraith greeted her with a smile.

“Alright, ladies,” Ramya said, holding the ball up high. Aside from Pathfinder, she was the tallest person playing. “Let’s give ‘em a game to remember.”

Natalie frowned, feeling like this was a dig at their opponents’ personal issues—but then Ramya tossed the ball up and hit it towards Wraith, who had backed up before it had even gone into the air. She returned it swiftly, and it barreled right between Natalie and Ajay.

The only reason Natalie did not immediately try to intercept it was because she wasn’t so sure about the rules of the game—was she supposed to keep hitting it, or could she catch the ball and then pass it like Ramya had?—and decided that she would observe the others playing before trying to do much.

The ball went back and forth between their two teams, and by the time Pathfinder had bopped it towards her, she felt confident enough to reach high into the air and try to it hit back—but Ramya leaned over, effortless due to her height, and smacked it out of the way.

Natalie looked over at her, slightly offended that she had not been given the chance to get the ball, but Ramya simply winked and clicked her tongue at her, the sun glinting off of her nose ring.

This happened twice more—if the ball came in her direction and Ramya was near enough, she would reach over and intercept it before Natalie could even raise her arms, and soon enough she was frustrated.

The wind blew towards them and nearly swept her sun hat away, but Ramya reached over and caught it, pressing it down on her head to keep it steady with a “Whoops, don’t need to pollute the sea more than we already have.”

“Do not touch me,” Natalie snapped at her, and then immediately felt bad for being rude when the other girl threw her hands up in defense.

They continued their game, and Wraith sent the ball soaring over her head. She tried to jump and catch it, but it splashed into the water behind her, and some of it got into her eyes.

Feeling close to crying because of the burning sensation, Natalie waded out of the water, trying to resist the urge to rub furiously at her face to get it to stop. Because she couldn’t quite see where she was going, she ended up stepping directly onto the hot sand, and let out a frustrated sob as she felt it between her toes—rough and burning and unpleasant. 

She heard the others calling after her, but she needed some time alone, needed a moment to cool off—so she stepped carefully onto the towels again as she made her way up to the beach house, hoping that nobody would follow after her.

She heard the shower running, so she did her best to flush the sea water out of her eyes using the sink after placing her hat on the counter. Natalie braced her hands against the cool edge of the sink, taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

There’s no need to act like a child, she told herself, brushing a stray tear out of the corner of her eye. The spider-webbing scar on the left side of her face seemed to burn after so much time in the sun, so she turned to the fridge to pull out some ice, hoping that it would cool her off.

When she turned around, she yelped and nearly dropped the frozen water bottle she’d grabbed—Ramya stood there, wearing her sunhat, which couldn’t sit right on her head due to her ponytail, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Just checkin’ up on you, Miss Paquette,” Ramya said, and procured a thin box from seemingly nowhere. “Want a chew?”

“No,” Natalie said stiffly, and fought back the urge to demand for her hat back. “...Why do you keep calling me that?”

Ramya raised an eyebrow—the slit one—unimpressed. “Is that not your name?”

“Yes, but.” Natalie took a deep breath, trying to gather all of her thoughts into one cohesive narrative, before saying, “You call everyone else by nicknames. Rude nicknames. You’ve even called me Watty—so why the sudden change towards Miss Paquette?”

“It’s cuz it’s easy,” Ramya retorted with a grin. “Sounds a bit like my name, so that way I always remember it.”

Natalie squinted at her, trying to figure out if this was another one of her jokes, before asking, "And why did you keep stealing the ball from me?"

"I didn't steal anything. You kept avoidin' it, so I figured you just didn't want to hit it 'nd did you a favor." Ramya crossed her arms, cocking one hip out as she continued, "I can add it to ya tab if you're so ungrateful."

More annoyance flared up insider her and she clenched her fists, trying to find the politest way to tell the girl to leave her alone, when Ramya suddenly sighed, deflating before her very eyes.

“'M sorry if I’m going about this all wrong,” she said, and for the first time Natalie detected an undercurrent of...something in her voice that wasn’t sarcasm.

"And I..." Natalie mumbled, averting her gaze. "Am sorry if I have been rude."

“It's just...I never thought I’d meet my soulmate so early, ya know? Thought I’d be six feet under and meet them in whatever afterlife the universe gives me—never expected ya to be here.”

Natalie rubbed at the skin on her inner wrist, trying not to feel guilty for the way she’d been reacting to the other girl, but she couldn’t help it. She was just...loud. And rude.

But not to everyone else, apparently. They all thought she was funny, and seemed to love her. What was Natalie missing out on? What could the others see that she was unable to? Had she not given her enough of a chance?

“But I get that you don’t care for me,” Ramya sighed, turning her back on her. “It’s whatever. No use cryin' over spilled beer, or however the dumb saying goes.”

Natalie watched her leave, and felt, for the first time, the urge to follow after her and talk to her. But she hesitated, and by the time she made up her mind, the other girl was long gone, probably returning to their game.

Sighing, Natalie went to sit on the couch, but froze when she saw Loba standing outside the bathroom, toweling her hair and looking amused.

“Trouble in paradise?” She cooed, and Natalie’s face flushed. “Understandable, dear. Anita and I had lots of tension to work through before we—”

“Leave the kid alone, Loba,” Anita cut her off, exiting the bathroom as well, before giving Natalie a look much more gentle than the one she was accustomed to receiving in the Ring. “Don’t force yourself into it if you’re not ready, Nat. Parekh’s a good girl, I can tell you that, but I get that she’s not your...”

“Type?” Loba supplied.

“You’re not very compatible is what I’m saying,” Anita finished, giving Loba another look.

“Merci,” Natalie mumbled quietly, holding the cold water bottle up to her burning face as she seated herself on the couch. “I...have a lot to think about.”

The older women went to go sit on the patio, and Natalie watched them through the windows, the sun starting to set over the sea and painting the sky blood orange. It reminded her a lot of Ramya's suit that she wore in game, and she let out yet another sigh, carding her fingers through her hair.

Perhaps...Natalie had judged her too soon.

[zuzuslastbraincell]

1, 5, 23 for the salty asks please

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

I think I *get* the appeal of most of the major pairings, even if I don’t necessarily like them.

The exception being, while it’s not really anyone’s OTP, I have never understood the appeal of Jet/Zuko outside of a very brief fling that never went further than making-out on that ferry that one time. Jet hates the fire nation with such a passion, it ties into very personal trauma, why would this ever be a good idea, finding out that he’s dating the literal prince of the Fire Nation who lied to him about that would hurt him so much?? how traumatising?? and for Zuko to pursue a relationship while lying about something so important and not coming clean... idk, it’s bad, it’s really cruel, quite honestly? And Jet’s not in a place where he could work past that, certainly not forgive, even if Zuko did all the right things and owned up and apologised and defected to the EK resistance right there and then. I also feel like Zuko honestly hates lying and would know better than to lie about something so important (we see him shed his anonymity in Zuko Alone over less). Also, knowing Jet feels this way about the FN, it’s the sort of relationship I can only see Zuko entering as a means of self-harm?

(For whatever reason people always portray Jet as the abusive partner when it seems clear to me, given his ignorance of Zuko’s background, it’d be him most likely to end up hurt?)

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

oh, z*tara. I was open to z*tara when I rewatched the show, and I’ve actually read a lot of popular z*tara fics in hope of finding something salvageable there but been so disappointed, almost every time, there’s just so much shitty and racist writing there. Honestly in another world where it wasn’t 1. the dominant m/f ship to the point of being oversaturated 2. filled with racist AUs and concepts like slave AUs or pocohontas AUs 3. true to their characters, instead of writing katara as a self-insert or zuko as your standard edgy white boy antagonist, I think I’d actually quite like it? I am a sucker for cheesy comparisons to celestial bodies and silly fire/water parallels, and honestly *in theory* it could actually be quite good – in an AU, ideally, since on rewatch, the supposed rock solid canon evidence for it seems very very flimsy, and Katara hates Zuko (with good reason) until the penultimate episode. I also think the relationship would look very different to how most people would imagine it (I think you’ve mentioned this before, but they have great summer romance potential, as something with great chemistry that would probably never last).

Also, a small bugbear of mine about z*tara: a lot of z*tara fans these days seem also to be r*ylos, and quite frankly, I can’t think of a ship I despise more than that, and it’s so telling that that’s the kind of fictional dynamic they’re drawn to. (also the idea of zuko being compared to kyle ren makes my skin crawl).

z*kka is sometimes testing my patience, but it’s not quite there yet, I still love it. In fairness, I don’t think the fandom is quite as bad as the z*tara fandom – while there are a LOT of issues with the sexualisation of sokka, the reduction of sokka to a trophy husband / the erasure of his water tribe background, all the fucking arranged marriage fics, I feel like the writers/artists are more open and receptive to criticism, on a whole? (but I could be wrong there). there’s certainly none of that insufferable entitlement z*tara fans have – none of that ‘we were robbed!’ or claiming to have a monopoly on feminist interpretations of katara’s character (LMAO) nor is there half as much character-bashing with a lot of appreciation for suki’s character in particular (although a lot of them write the worst itteration of jetko I’ve seen with abusive jet). there’s also the excessive amount of explicit fic, and the way it’s becoming pervasive at times, like it seems unavoidable in a lot of meta. it’s also frustrating as z*kka shippers tend to be some of the worst offenders of reducing zuko to a soft blushy nerd boy these days and erasing the fact that he’s an asshole (z*kka is an asshole/asshole ship I’m not taking criticism). I still don’t hate z*kka. Wish it was still a rarepair though :((

23. Unpopular character you love?

I don’t think there are *many* unpopular characters in ATLA. I want to say suki as I love suki a lot and have a lot of thoughts/headcanons on what she’s like, her background, etc. but I honestly don’t feel like I talk about suki enough to justify that opinion!

I also love Yun from the Kyoshi novels, terrible tragic villain right there, and nobody seems to talk about him :(

[theshinsun]

Hello again! Here I am sending more 😂 Do you mind doing character thing with Kasamatsu, Imayoshi, Wakamatsu and Otsubo? If it's too much, can you do with the first three? Thank you 💕

Hello again! ^^ (So sorry for the delay I was half done and then I got hit with homework and classes and didn’t have much time to do more analyses, but they’re done for the week now! I’m free!) 

I don’t mind at all! But if it’s alright with you, I probably will just do those first three, not just because it’ll be ridiculously long otherwise, but because I don’t really? think I have any strong specific feelings for Otsubo? Idk why, I like him I just didn’t connect that much with him I don’t think... but I’ll gladly talk about the others!

Kasamatsu

How I feel about this character

GOOD SENPAI. I love this guy so much and wish he got to interact with more of the cast, I really vibe with his character design (his eyes are just... damn, also SOCKS), and I love the relationship he has with his team. He’s ruthless but obviously cares about all of them working together well, and is just looking for the respect he’s due as captain. Boy puts up with so much bullshit from his team of chaotic flaky weirdos, someone needs to cut him a break.  

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Kise (KiKasa ftw, the character development Kise goes through because of Kasamatsu is excellent, and almost instantaneous after he joins the team [“I liked being Kise of Kaijo”]. it’s really easy to interpret his behavior toward Kasamatsu as a crush; there’s no denying they’ve got chemistry and work well together... and even tho Kise drives his senpai nuts, they obviously both care about each other a lot)

Aomine (I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. They have one [1] interaction in canon, but that one interaction sold it for me. Aomine showing deference to someone and calling them “senpai”, helping him up after he got knocked down which seems... pretty unusual for him at the time, I’m so down for these two being in a relationship, it’s such a different dynamic than I usually see with pairings featuring Aomine, and there seems to be some legit respect to build off of there)

Imayoshi (I blame Lysapadin’s fic The Long Game for this, the way these two play off each other there and also canonically is... hilarious, the flirting, the Banter, please give me more quality captain ships I have a need) 

Hyuuga (MORE QUALITY CAPTAIN SHIPS. I talked about them a little in my list for Hyuuga, but I just love the idea of both of these tough, exasperated captains getting to be vulnerable with each other)

and this one is a crossover but

Oikawa Tooru (maybe because he reminds me so much of Kise, and Kasamatsu so much like Iwaizumi, I feel like they’d have a similar dynamic, but it’d be interesting to see how, unlike Kise, a hardworking somewhat self-destructive person and a fellow third-year like Oikawa would get on with this guy.) 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Hmmm.... I’m gonna have to say Imayoshi again, even tho they work together as a couple too. The way they interact is so good, whether it’s platonic or not, and I’d love to see more one-on-one interaction with them. It could just be because the way Lysapadin handles their respective personalities in multiple fics is so perfect, but if they’re not romantically involved I’d at least like to see them as snarky semi-begrudging basketball buddies. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don’t know? If I have one? Mostly bc I don’t really know what the fandom itself thinks about Kasamatsu, he didn’t get a lot of press even in KNB’s heyday. A random opinion/hc of him tho is he seems to be a bit of a pessimist. Whenever he’s commentating he’s just talking about how the team’s gonna lose, and even before his own game he seemed to just be thinking about how he lost before. Idk what else to give ya, just something I observed that I don’t really see talked about or portrayed for this guy.

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

*deep inhale* MOOORE SCREEEENTIME. And not just as a commentator/attachment to Kaijo where Kise hogs the spotlight, give this guy some time to interact with other characters and flesh him out some more please! I know I’m a broken record but that’s the only thing I can think of to improve him.

Imayoshi

How I feel about this character

I didn’t used to have much opinion of this guy tbh, when I was new to KNB… but NOW, damn, I love him every time he appears. He’s hilarious, I love how sassy and clever he is, I love that he has an accent (tho it’s only pointed out in the manga), I love that he gets to have little tidbits, like that he’s bad at drawing but good at mind-reading, and how he wears slippers in a school environment and just goes around teasing everyone, whether they’re teammates or opponents. Love this guy. I love how extra he is and I’m living every time he’s on screen.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Aomine (ok I talked about this quite a bit already in my Aomine rant analysis, and I mostly blame Lysapadin’s A Firm Hand series, but I just can’t get enough of the idea of these two together… [also this comic ] Imayoshi taking Aomine in hand and knowing how to handle him when no one else does, and gradually warming up to him when he stops playing tough and finally shows his soft side. good shit)

Momoi (also probably bc of A Firm Hand, but I could see these two having a very interesting relationship. They’re both extremely smart, and good at understanding people, and I really like the idea of Imayoshi taking Momoi under his wing so she doesn’t have to suffer in silence and handle everything by herself. I feel like they’d be surprisingly sweet to each other, but lesbehonest, also a potentially terrifying power couple that I almost never see done)

Kasamatsu (again, just like above, a unique dynamic and a lovely rarepair that doesn’t get talked about enough. they didn’t get nearly enough time to play off each other in canon but what we did see was damn good) 

Hanamiya (ok so… I’m not immune to this ship. I’ve seen some art, a couple fics, and it doesn’t seem to be much of a thing anymore, but still, why the hell not. they’ve got history, they’re both smart slightly evil [or very evil] shits, and they’d be such a disaster of a couple that’s why I love them)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

If not Kasamatsu, then probably Susa. They only got a little time to bond in canon, but I do love their dynamic and how chill they seem to be with each other. They remind me of a team mom/dad duo (tho I couldn’t tell you which was which lol). I could probably be talked into shipping them romantically, but I also just like the way they get along as friends and teammates. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

This is more an argument I keep having with my sister… but I actually, genuinely like this guy’s design. She thinks he looks creepy and too evil and doesn’t like that his eyes are drawn closed, but esp in the manga, he looks really polished and I like that you can tell when he gets serious by whether you can see his eyes open. (or as I say to my roommate “oh shit he’s got eyes they’re in trouble”)

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

I wish we got to see more of him just hanging with his team. Idk maybe I’m biased, but I feel like Touou in particular doesn’t get that much time devoted to, like, practice and normal everyday shit (maybe bc we got to see Kaijo twice and Shuutoku got a whole training camp plus some, but all we get of them is the hot springs scene and a very short scene at the beginning and end of the show imeanwhat) I would’ve liked to get to know this guy better and see more of how he runs his very strange individualized team, but that could just be me.  

Wakamatsu

How I feel about this character

My dude puts up with so much shit. I mean the first we see of him he’s getting kneed in the stomach by a certain dickish first-year, and he just always seems… so done with what’s going on around him. When he’s not yelling about it, which… mood, tbh. He’s relegated to little more than a background character in the anime, and only gets a liiiittle more development in the manga (as well as lots of really good faces), but tbh I’d love to see more of him. I’d love to know what he’s like as a captain and see more of how he gets along with the team; he’s the kind of hotheaded noisy player they make into the protagonist of other shows and I want to know more about him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Momoi (k a couple of my friends @spaztictwitch and @hadenxcharm actually sold me on this one. It’s a really really rare pair, but now I can’t stop thinking about it and I really like the possibilities of them as a couple.)

Aomine (again I talked a little bit about this in my Aomine essay, but I’m a sucker for this kind of ship… the love/hate dynamic, I mean. that doesn’t get old does it. and yet I don’t think I’ve ever seen content for these guys together, maybe I should take it on myself)

Sakurai (hot-tempered senpai/captain and anxious apologetic mushroom, sign me tf up these two would be Hilarious as a pairing, oh my god. I love it)

Kiyoshi (k listen. LISTEN. yes all I’ve got is the fact that they’re both centers and they only interact, like, twice, but the idea popped into my head and I think I could actually totally see it. any takers?)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Imayoshi. I don’t know if I’d ship them as a romantic pair (tho like with most things, if someone made a good case for them I’d consider it), but I do like their canonical interactions, like Imayoshi explaining the exceptions made for prodigies in sports (“do you know the golfer Tiger Woods? How about Shaq?”), and passing the proverbial hat to him when he retires as captain (“no worries, you’ll do fine!” like he’s reassuring a new parent or smth lmao). They’re good teammates even if Touou is not really about teamwork, and I like the mutual respect in how they seem to get along.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Not just a one-note guy who yells all the time. I mean, yes, he does yell and he’s got a short temper, but so does Kagami and people don’t portray him as a guy with only one emotion and that emotion is Anger. I mean… usually they don’t. Idk maybe it’s because most of his screentime involves him butting heads with Aomine, but he seems to get along with the rest of the team alright. He respects his seniors and the spirit of the team too, he’s just an all-around good guy that seems to get the short end of the stick a lot.

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

I have a MIGHTY NEED to see how this guy does as captain, I want to know how he does things differently than Imayoshi and how he handles all the bullshit the team throws now that it’s all gonna be landing on his shoulders. We only got a tiny scene at the end of the show demonstrating his policy about Aomine, and we barely saw him at all in the Last Game, is he doing okay?? Is he ruling Touou with an iron fist or getting into screaming matches with his kouhai? I need to Know.

Thanks so much for asking, I really appreciate the show of interest! <3 Sorry again about the delay!

[twistedsinews]

2019 Writer’s Year in Review

Tagged by @chyrstis.

Word count:

53248 per AO3 stats, and I think maybe a couple of thousand more on Tumblr.

Number of smut scenes:

Day 6752 of writing fic, still 0 smut.

It's not for lack of trying.  It's a lack of terminology thing and an inability to find a narrative voice I find fitting to the characters and the setting thing.

Maybe this will be The Year.

New things I tried this year:

I wrote for a few fandoms I'd been meaning to but hadn't gotten to, yet; as well as for a few rarepairs/character combos I love but never got that much attention.

I'm not sure I tried anything new on a technical level.  The way my narrative wanders, I wouldn't be able to tell you if I tried one that was new or not.

Favorite thing I wrote this year:

Where There Also Be Dragons: exchange treat for a UDIC alumni who requested Ultima and also dragons.  It practically wrote itself, but I had fun with it.

Frightful Tides of Smoke and Ash: FFV thing started for a challenge I signed up for and ended up missing the deadline, I still managed to finish it eventually.  I like all the places it went, even though it never got any feedback.  *shrug?*

Sun and Moon and Stars: First ever Moon Hunters fic for Be the First.  Best Ending.  Solar eclipse themed.  People even liked it!  Fun!

Favorite fic I read this year:

So, uh... I signed up for like seventeen fic exchanges this year and I've mostly only read the fic I got from those, and prompted fic on Tumblr.

And frankly I love them all, why would you make me choose.

sigh.

Half Sunk a Shattered Visage Lies: I got an amazing amount of awesome Ultima fic in exchanges this year, particularly for a fandom that's always had a bit of a tiny ficdom presence, but this one has bonus Halloween Creepy drawn directly from game elements and woven together in a fantastic uneasy way.

You Were Broken-Hearted (And the World Was, Too): So I randomly wanted SD3 fic a lot this year, and found out halfway through this exchange that we got an official translation after over two decades, omg!  Not only that, someone wrote me a fic with all of the feelings for one of my favorite obscure childhood ships.  It was just such a happy nostalgic surprise.

ignobility: All around fantastic Gat-voice that combines the off-the-wall Saints humor with absolute the drama of "Don't die," and Feelings.  Lots of feelings.  And it does those things very well.

...ugh, now i kinda wanna list them all, but maybe on a dedicated post and I'll finally rec all of the thing.  XD

Writing goals for 2020:

Fewer fic exchanges.

I mean, I will do Yuletide (because Yuletide I've been doing ten years as of 2019), and maybe one or two others, but even though I had a blast doing them and it got me writing again, I didn't get much else in that I wanted to get done last year because of it.  Like, across the board.

For writing, then, I need to sit down and write some of my own stuff, even if fewer people (if any) are going to pay much attention to it.  The deadlines help me write and so does the communal nature of it all and the promise that at least someone is going to be reading which was great; but it doesn't help me in getting to hammer out the stories that have been lurking around in the corner of my eye for years and years.

Also... just... write more.  Write better.  WRITE ALL OF THE THING.

Specifically, start on Quest of the Avatar.  Finally.

...oh, and I need to go through and update my AO3 account, because I've been trying to do that for ten years.  Technically that's an indexing thing, not a writing thing, but I gotta do it.  (And bookmark all the fic.)

And read more.  I haven't been doing that enough, I am sure I am missing some fantastic stories.

Tagging: @faejilly, @gatticus, @saintcorner, @ ... fuck it, whoever wants to, DO THE THING IF YOU WANT TO.  (obligation free!)