#yeah that's where i think i'd go if i was *compelled* to ship him...

[meanscarletdeceiver]

Do you ship Gordon with anyone?

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy holiday to you too!

Eh, I dunno. I made a comment on one of DJ’s (as in @djs-sideblog-for-pog-trains) fics a long time ago to the effect of:

Gordon/ComfyArmchair OTP 💞

I think I’ll stand by that. Perhaps a recliner instead of a mere armchair. The unbearable sexual tension between Gordon and Relaxation...

In seriousness, I can enjoy lots of Gordon ships but I’m not too married to any of ‘em. Gordon/Henry is a soft NOTP for me. 

[boytoyhalo]

Your Selkie au is super compelling! Plus you are a very good writer. A question, will you ever go into more detail about Pac's previous captive situation? I'm very interested in how you will adapt Fuga's lore into your au. ( Specially bc of Cell and Cellbit stuff)

I'M SO SO SO LATE BUT IM USING FITPAC WEEK DAY 3 (WHICH IM ALSO LATE FOR) AS AN EXCUSE TO FINALLY, FINALLYYYYY GET THIS POSTED THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT ANON AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO'S AN ENJOYER OF THIS AU I PROMISE IT ISN'T ABANDONED IVE JUST BEEN IN AN END OF YEAR SLUMP

selkie au snippet #4 (i think) || T || slash (ambiguous) || @fitpacweek day 3 (belated its actually day 4) AU day!!!

read the rest of my posts about this au here

"Can I ask you somethin' personal?"

Pac paused, hand suspended halfway towards the checkerboard that was currently serving as him and Fit's way of passing the long hours up in the lamp room of the lighthouse. He kept his eyes on the round piece he was holding as he deliberated on how to answer, sure that if he met Fit's gaze his face would give away his nervousness; "personal" could mean a wide range of topics, most of which would spell disaster for Pac and his poorly constructed web of secrets. He slowly placed the piece in it's spot on the board, fighting to keep his voice even as he responded.

"Mmm, you can ask, yeah. I might not answer, but you can ask." Fit hummed bemusedly, absently flipping his own game piece between his fingers and he contemplated his next move.

"What happened to your leg?" Pac's breath caught in his throat, and Fit rushed to continue, "It's ok if you don't wanna talk about it, I get it. I just- I mean, you've probably figured out how I lost my arm, right?" Pac looked up at the familiar, mechanical clacking of the veteran's stiff wooden fingers flexing in and out of their open position, eyes involuntarily darting to the gnarled pink scarring that crawled from under his collar and up to the side of his head. He quickly returned his gaze to the board, face reddening a little in shame. Thankfully though, Fit seemed far from offended. "Heh, it's okay, I know. It's pretty obvious. And besides, you're a smart man. I'd be surprised if you hadn't assumed correctly. Me though - I'm just brawn, I don't have a whole lotta brainpower up in this thing." He knocked his fake knuckles lightly against his temple, a light smile on his face. "So if you are okay with me knowing, you're gonna need to tell me."

A small, nervous laugh bubbled it's way out of Pac's chest, his face properly flushed now in a mix of embarassment and flattery. "Don't - don't say that about yourself Fit, you're smart! Smarter than me, probably-" He cleared his throat, redirecting his focus to the topic at hand (ha.) "I can tell you, I don't mind. It's just a, it's a tough topic, you know? I need to get my head in the right place." Fit nodded easily like he understood, which Pac supposed he did at least somewhat.

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere." The selkie chuckled a bit, tracing the edges of the paneled glass walls that surrounded them as he considered the best way to talk around the subject; he knew, or at least had decided, that he owed it to Fit to give him some semblance of the truth. After all, they had been growing steadily closed for months now and yet Fit knew so little about his life. Which was out of necessity, or course, but his friend had been so kind and so patient with him, never demanding more information than he was given. Pac needed - no, he WANTED to let him in as much as he reasonably could. He deserved it.

"I..." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, steeling himself to sort through the painful, tangled memories and hoping he would be able to hold himself together. He starts at the beginning, where he won't have to omit too much of the truth, though if anything that makes it harder to talk about. "Mike and I were on a merchant ship off the coast of São Paulo that was attacked by axis submarines a few years back." Fit winced sympathetically, patiently waiting for him to continue as he picked his next words. "We avoided the worst of the blast, but... Mike was in really bad condition, and I had to hang onto him with one arm and a piece of the wreck with the other while I waited for help to come. By the time someone found us, I was too tired and too um- too relieved to realize that we were being taken as prisoners and not as refugees."

It was all technically true so far, just with some important details omitted: like how they were only on the ship in the first place because their pelts were being imported as merchandise by a fisherman who believed himself to be incredibly lucky, and how they weren't taken as prisoners of war as Fit was no doubt assuming. Pac fails to suppress a shudder as he remembers the smug, taunting grin of the man that stood above him on the deck of his supposed refuge, two familiar seal pelts clutched in his meaty fists.

"I'm so sorry you went through that, Pac. You don't have to keep-" Pac cuts him off, already committed to opening up.

"No, I want to tell you. We," He clears his throat again, pushing down the memories of too-small tanks full of too-salty water, of needles and IV drips and white lab coats and pencils scratching on clipboards as he writhed in pain. "We woke up in some sort of facility, I'm not sure where exactly? I think the men who had us were European but that's all I remember, it's all blurry you know? And that's where we met Cellbit and Felps actually-" The image of frenzied black eyes claws its way to the front of his mind against his will, but he can't help a small smile at Fit's attentiveness as his eyebrows raise in intrigue, the checkerboard between them completely forgotten.

"Anyway, we were there for- months, I think. And long story short Cellbit ended up, um. He tried to- to eat my leg off?" It comes out sounding uncertain, Pac having realized there was no way to say it that wouldn't raise more questions. Sure enough, Fit's mouth drops open.

"Wait he- He tried to eat you?"

"Not- it wasn't- aaaaugh, he wasn't himself ok? They were- they were cruel to us, and they injected him with these drugs that made him all crazy and violent and they kinda just. Let him do it? It wasn't his fault, is what I'm saying." Fit looks disturbed, although significantly less so than Pac would expect from most people. He supposes bearing witness to the horrors of war would give you a higher tolerance to this sort of thing.

The thing is, it really wasn't Cellbit's fault. He had been there the longest of any of them, starved and beaten and forced through their cruel experiments since he had been a teenager. He was angry and desperate and hungry, and it was pure bad luck that Pac had happened to be the closest to him when the "researchers" had decided to test the effects of whatever combination of steroids they had injected him with. The ghost of his leg twinges in pain as it remembers the feeling of sharp teeth tearing through it's flesh.

"Wait so did Cellbit..." Fit hesitates, like he can't quite put together what he means to ask. "So he, bit your leg off? but how does that even-" He's interrupted by Pac giggling, and after a moment he joins in quietly with a confused laugh of his own.

"No, no he- he just did enough damage that the sci- that the jailers had to amputate it. And it wasn't that bad honestly, I mean, they weren't kind enough to knock me out before they started sawing but at least I didn't die!" His amusement at Fit's horrified reaction to his nonchalance almost drowns out the echoes of grief that his heart sounds for one of his fellow prisoners who hadn't been so lucky. Pac puts on a wide grin, forcing himself to perk up from his slumped posture. "So anyway, that's the story! Pretty cool don't you think?" Fit sputters a shocked laugh.

"Pretty- Yeah, sure, Pac. That's- *cough*- that's cool, yeah." It's a joke, obviously, but warmth washes over him anyway at the way that Fit lets him control the weight of the conversation like always. He wouldn't be able to handle trying to talk about his past seriously, and he's grateful to whatever higher power may or may not exist for bringing him Fit, who not only cares but understands despite being a human, and who always without fail meets him wherever he needs to be at. Pac doesn't know what he did to deserve a friend like him. "So, okay," Fit's voice snaps him out of the appreciative haze he had fallen into. "How did you guys get out? Were you released, or rescued, or..." He trails off, eyes imploring him to go on. Pac feels his face light up at the opportunity to discuss his favorite part of the tale - the only part, he likes, really.

"Oh, you're not gonna believe it. It was Richas! He actually saved us!"

"What?" Fit exclaims in elated disbelief.

"Yeah! So ok - they were keeping him prisoner too, but he was just a baby, like a, a toddler right? And the guards that were assigned to him treated him like their own kid-" Minus the horrible inhumane experimentation, of course. "- and he somehow, he figured out how to use their sympathy to get them to tell him where they kept all their keys," - and all the pelts - "and then managed to convince them to let him play with us alone. So he came to me and Mike and told us, so we told him to steal us some guard uniforms and figure out where the breaker box was, and after some planning and waiting for the right time we were able to escape by having him shut off the power and filing out with the rest of the guards! Mike wanted it to just be the three of us but I told him we weren't leaving the others behind." For all the suffering they had been put through it had honestly been comically easy - the facility they were at was small and not well guarded, probably funded independently considering that if any powerful government had proof of the selkies' existence everyone including the scientists would have been in a much bigger mess - the world was already at war, Pac doubted anyone was eager to add another variable to the conflict.

Fit crosses his arms and sits back, nodding in amazement. "Huh, so little Richarlyson is a hero! That's crazy"

"What, you don't believe me?" Pac shouts in mock offense.

"No no no I believe you! That kid is a fighter, I know it. So you guys all just stuck together after that? What about Bagi and Forever?"

"Ah, so- Bagi and Cellbit, they're brothers, or uhm- they're brother and sister, yes? And Bagi had been searching for Cellbit since he was taken, and somehow she ended up at the place we were being kept just a few days after we escaped, and she was able to track us from there. She's crazy smart, Cellbit and her both are. And Forever," Well, truthfully, Forever had just swam up to their pod and started playing with Richas one day while they were searching for a new home, and then the two had become inseparable so he just... stuck around. But Pac wasn't sure how to spin that into something that sounded reasonable for a human family, so he just went with "Forever just showed up one day and wouldn't leave." Fit laughed again at that, and this time Pac laughed with him.

It felt unbelievably good to tell Fit about his story like this, even with parts of it changed. Still, he wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth of what he was - he almost did, right then and there, swayed by the sound if his laughter and the mirth in his eyes. But, he reminded himself, that had to be a family decision; it wasn't just his secrets at stake. It was all of them, and as much as he loved trusted Fit and would be happy to gamble his own safety on that trust, he wasn't willing to risk his whole family.

...But, it would be so much easier if he could just say the whole truth. He wonders if Fit would react with the same attentiveness and amazement he gave to Pac's storytelling.

The rest of the day passed with little more of note, mostly filled with idle chit chat and card games. As Fit tries to teach him how to play Kings on the Corners for the third time, Pac finds himself thinking about how much Fit was changing his life without even realizing. A few months ago, Pac had never wanted or even tolerated human company that wasn't absolutely necessary. But now, he couldn't imagine not having the veteran around to occupy his time. In fact, when Fit had taken his first two-week relief back on shore after two months of service, Pac had felt inescapably lonely even when surrounded by his pod. Not even Richas, who had also been upset over the Ramon's absence, had been able to completely cheer him up. And while Pac's always been somewhat fascinated by humans, and had enjoyed watching the previous lighthouse keepers as they went about their work, he had never found himself as interested by any of it as he does when it comes to Fit.

"What is it?" Fit's voice snaps him out of it yet again, cards abandoned as he looks at him curiously. "You're staring."

"Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing! Just thinking about Richas and Ramon - what do you think they're up to?"

"They should still be hanging out with Cellbit, right? They're probably doing puzzles or something." Fit looks at the clock over on the left side off the room. "It's almost six, Bad should be here soon to take over for the night. Do you want to go join them and I can catch up?"

"Um-" Pac flusters, face heating up slightly. He's not sure why the emotional exhaustion of talking about losing his leg is what's bringing all these revelations to his mind, but he can't seem to pull his thoughts away from how much he appreciates the man in front of him. Which.... "Yeah, I think I'll go find them now! I'll see you soon?" Fit nods.

"Sounds good, Pac. I'll see you in a little bit." With a nod back at him, Pac shuffles out the door and makes his way down the tower. Instead of going to find Cellbit and the children, however, he beelines straight to the rocks where his pelt is stashed and hastily wraps himself in it's familiar comfort, sliding into the water before his limbs have even finished morphing into flippers. Surely a nice, solo swim is what he needs to clear his head.

...If only he could take Fit with him.

[mixelation]

I would love to see you rank Akatsuki by how shippable they are with Kakashi

oh my god. called out. but i will answer. CRACKS KNUCKLES

tbh this was kind of hard to write because even though i love akatsuki ships AND i love kakashi ships, there's not a lot of.... like..... easy/natural chemistry going on here??

least to most shippable

9. Zetsu - Does anyone ship Zetsu? No. Get out of here, Zetsu.

8. Pein - I think the connection here would be like. Similar Traumas (tm) and I know some people like this but I don't LMAO. That or missing-nin!Kakashi joins Akatsuki because he likes what Pein is selling philosophically, and it turns into one of those "loyal follower sets themselves apart in order for leader to notice them Romantically" which is another dynamic I know some like but I don't.

7. Kisame - Kisame is Chill For An Evil Villain and I think he'd admire Kakashi's philosophy of ninja who abandon their comrades being less than trash. He'd be annoyed but not lose his mind over some of Kakashi's more annoying traits. But, idk, this ship doesn't really have enough Spice for me.

6. Itachi - I like the fanon that Itachi and Kakashi were friendly in ANBU, and for a long time I liked the idea of them running into each other years later and reconnecting in a more shippy way. But I have rotated and rotated this and I cannot make it work in a shippy way. I've read some fics and they else seem to just not have.... a spark? a Spice? There's something missing. I just like them more with a platonic dynamic.

5. Sasori - There are some interesting parallels and contrasts and vague plot connections between these two, but oh my GOD is it hard to fit them all together in a compelling way. There's probably something in "Your father killed my parents and it fucked me up for life" vs "Yeah well, then he also killed my father and fucked me up for life" but you will have to work so hard to extract it. Sasori and Kakashi are antisocial weirdos in opposing ways and GETTING them to the point where you can do anything is so hard.

4. Kakuzu - Despite fighting each other, canon failed to produce any emotional connection at all between Kakuzu and Kakashi, which is unfair to us all. Kakuzu is ranked here because he's the first person on this list I can see getting into bed with Kakashi without the writer having to do a shit ton of work. Kakuzu fucks. Kakashi fucks. I think under the right circumstances they'd fuck each other. If I wrote it, I'd have a Catfishing AU where they're both trying to lure the other one out to collect Dat Bounty but they're doing it via the lonely hearts section of a newspaper. Anyway their public personas don't impress each other but once they switch to private letters they both realize they're both weird kinky freaks. Kakuzu WAS trying to catfish you in that he lying about his age and name and sent a fake photo, but somehow he was not lying about the tentacles.

3. Hidan - I think Kakashi and Hidan would make eye contact across a bar and then go hook up. I just think they're both like this. Maybe they run into each other again later and are like, "fuck it, why not?" It's a very straight forward relationship and both somehow miss all the ways the other one is completely unhinged. ALTERNATIVELY, Hidan thinking Kakashi's suffering and wallowing is so, so beautiful.

2. Deidara - Okay. Do you remember his "sees Itachi for the first time" face? I think Deidara would make this face at a raikiri. And as we all know, Deidara is at his cutest when screaming because someone is actively trolling him, and Kakashi loves trolling people. I don't think Deidara would be very impressed with Kakashi's dedication to a never ending mourning period, BUT I think there's room for interesting character growth on both sides here. Also I just think Kakashi should fuck him. As a little treat

I. Konan - Okay. Listen. My ideal Kakashi het ship is "weird damp man and woman who would crumple him up and wring him out like a paper towel." This is them. Kakashi literally only knows how to take care of his loved ones by going out and killing their enemies and Konan thinks this is so sweet. She doesn't NEED him to, but he does go out and kill people she hates and he's not even weird about it. Kakashi murdered more specific enemies of the Ame or Akatsuki than the Akatsuki. Very cute. Also they'd look good together. ALSO the pairing of her blank, judgmental stare and his trolly grin. Excellent vibes all around

BONUS RANKINGS:

Orochimaru (between Deidara and Konan) - They would hook up specifically for the psychic damage to everyone they know.

Obito (True Number One) - OBVIOUSLY. Rivals to friends to enemies to lovers! The mutual obsession! Bonus identity porn!

[leonawriter]

Kaitou Kid

(I'm gonna just go with Kuroba Kaito rather than Kid as a composite character or whatever)

First impression

You know, I'm not sure? It's so long ago now. But I probably got caught up in the cool factor of "class clown plus Phantom Thief."

Impression now

Still one of the coolest and most amazing characters Gosho ever created. Needs more friends. Needs a hug. I think I'm less taken in by the "silly guy" impression that he wants people to have of him, but that just means I'm leaning harder on the "oh, oh no, he needs help, several more assistants, real friends, and a sense of safety."

Favorite moment

The first that came to mind was actually the "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" and grin from the Midair Walk.

Also high on the list are: the moment he shoots out the windows of a building in, I think it's Private Eye's Requiem? As well as two less bombastic moments, with the Dove Scene at the end of that one movie (Lost Ship in the Sky, I think) and... spelling out Happy Birthday Aoko at the end of Blue Birthday.

Idea for a story

For all that I've got a lot of dramatic ideas up in my head, and I have the "Hakuba saves him from a collapsing burning building" one that I posted about a while back still in my head, I'm gonna go with...

A story that covers Kaito's own birthday. Maybe he's been having a bad few days, and someone has sent out a challenge for Kid (maybe Jiroikichi, maybe not) that coincidentally happens on the same day that he can't get out of, and he expects to just have the worst birthday since years back, but... instead, the heist is weirdly quiet and when he gets home there's a small party that's been waiting patiently for him to get back from "whatever" he's been doing - Aoko's made a cake, Akako seems strangely tired, Keiko's there with some of their classmates, and... Hakuba's finishing up a call with Nakamori to say he can deal with whatever's left another time.

Kaito realising these weirdos are his friends.

Unpopular opinion

Huh, I don't know? Being a cousins truther feels like low hanging fruit.

Perhaps that Kaito doesn't actually have anything against wearing black himself, as long as it's a) civilian clothes, or b) part of a trick to misdirect. I've seen the headcanon around that he won't wear it, but I think that expecting the bad guys to wear black more of a Conan thing?

Favorite relationship

His dynamic with Hakuba is the number one in my head right now, with Aoko is currently slightly under that.

It's compelling. Detective and Thief? Of course I'm interested. Add to that, the fact that Hakuba comes to his own conclusions about Kaito that don't align with following the law? When he's a detective? I'd love to get inside Hakuba's head. I'd love to see what got him from "I'm going to handcuff him" to "I'll call him from France and tell him how to succeed in his very illegal heist."

It's Hakuba being logic-driven and the idea of "what would happen if something pushed him to make an irrational, illogical decision in the heat of the moment, because he has to choose between Kaitou Kid and the law in a way that can't be rationalised away?" and it's "the one case that drives me crazy" and. YEAH.

Favorite headcanon

Hm... a lot of my ideas about him come from either canon or things I've seen other people come up with that intrigued me or that I adopted. I don't know where it fits in, but-

The idea that if he's not in full control of himself (in pain, or just drunk off his ass, or so tired he seems drunk) he starts slipping between all sorts of voices. Aoko is used to this. She doesn't get why Hakuba is looking at him like he's grown a second head the first time he sees it happen.

Thank you for the ask! :D

[evelhak]

Feeling daring today - Haizaki for the character and ship bingo ;)

Your takes are much more interesting, so there may not be anything illuminating here but I tried. xD

*Non-sarcastically normal. Haizaki is a pretty neutral character when I think about him by myself, I just don't have that special connection to him.

*However I love him when you talk about him and I'm sure I would love him more if I just had an incentive to write about him. But I don't feel anything like that because you're already giving him justice. My brain doesn't really work unless I feel like I have something substantial to contribute, which I don't.

*Haizaki definitely still gets a lot of unjustified hate, because he was framed as a villain and people then interpreted his every action as coming from the worst place imaginable, while other characters' actions get understanding just because they can see those characters' sides but can't see Haizaki's since he wasn't written in a sympathetic way. On one hand, that's fair to me, if your fic needs a villain it makes sense to pick a character whose motivations were not discussed deeply, so you can turn him into as much of a villain as you want, because you have no need to think about that particular character so deeply. However, the rate at which this happens to Haizaki perfectly exemplifies how the same dynamic happens in real life, especially at schools. He has the outward characteristics of the person who is always the easiest to blame. Not that there isn't stuff to blame him for, it's just that when he gets blamed for more than his share, it becomes a vicious cycle. Not to say it would affect his likability to me even if he never grew less violent or got his shit together, because my like and dislike for fictional characters is not based on morality or whether or not I would like that character in real life. 😂 I didn't pay that much attention to him solely because I just overlooked his story as pretty been there done that. Any character depth he has is implied at best, because he's a side character. I would much rather see an actual depiction of the dynamics that get projected onto him. And you are doing that, so, I'm not complaining.

*I do think Haizaki is pretty silly, he's so macho but he's also kind of wishy-washy about it. Like, one minute he can be thundering on like any of the other macho characters but then his line for changing his mind and going like "you know what, not worth it, actually" is much lower. And somehow he gets depicted as pathetic for that, even though it may actually just be common sense and self-preservation.

*Honestly I need to remind myself that Haizaki exists, sometimes. I'm sorry. He just wasn't that compelling to me initially. I didn't demonise him (I'd like to think that I don't demonise anyone) I just wasn't interested enough. I knew there were reasons he acts the way he does but I didn't make actual effort to find out. You've done some good to me, reminding me that my perception is more limited than I would like, because I tend to pride myself for considering everyone's viewpoints. (Not 100% possible, but I try.)

*Well you said it, Haizadick is not an inaccurate term, no matter what way you look at it.

I didn't ship anyone with Haizaki because I didn't think about his life much before talking to you, so...

*Congrats, your Haizaki and his relationships are now basically canon to me. : D

*I just put that second tier text there because I imagine it's where the relationships that last a bit longer would go, and I think Haizaki just has many short relationships before maybe ending up with his end game.

*I mean I assume he has had fun short relationships with many girls.

*And probably many one-night stands.

*I literally just got it in my head that maybe he experimented with a guy once, while I was making this. He seems like a curious type even though I'm kind of assuming he's straight.

*Yeah, I theoretically get why these are ships but no I don't really get it, I would be lying if I said I truly deeply understood it.

I know my shipping tiers are a mix of "I actually root for it" and "I just sort of think it would happen" but that's what you get from me. : D

[officialgleamstar]

Yeah yeah yeah I'd love to hear your thoughts on the dynamics!!!

OKAY. SO. To restate myself: I THINK (almost) EVERY OAK AND CLOSE/FOSTER SHIP IS SO INTERESTING. They always have something fun going on … and also they’re always bi4bi which is deeply important to me. Sorry if any of this is hard to understand I am so so tired XD

Meryl and Hildy are the only two where I’ve not really dedicated thought to them. However, I could absolutely see them as like… you know that trope of a Casanova desperately chasing after the only woman who isn’t interested in him? THAT. THEY ARE THAT TO ME. Hildy is too focused on her career for men and it drives Meryl crazy

My thoughts on Barry and Bill should not be said in a public setting but I will provide this

Barry is gray and bill is blue. He should fuck that old man (purposefully ambiguous on who I mean). Anyways

My feelings on Glennry are. Well explored LMAO They’re my favorite ship! I know they can be super toxic as a ship, but I do really love them, most of all, as a ship where both parties fight tooth and nail to get better for the other. Because they understand each other and care for one another and the other person is just so so so fucking worth it to them. It makes me happy :]

Henry/Jodie is like, a sleeper agent in my mind. I think they have the capacity to be so fuckin compelling but I’m usually dedicating too much time to Glennry and Rodie to think about it. I LOVE these two though. I’m not usually a huge fan of Jodie struggling with his sexuality (it’s just funnier to me if he dated Scam with no hesitation.) but I’m in love with it specifically for Henry/Jodie contexts. Something about Henry being so loose and free with his sexuality contrasted with Jodie being so buttoned up about everything makes me so fhdksgajdhskdh!!! And of course, it is canon in that one AU-of-an-AU for MnMoms LMAO

Nark <3 one of my original ships and one I’ve been thinking about a lot this weekend. The PEAK of adhd boyfriend/autism boyfriend in my mind. As I said the other day - I love them as established but ambiguous. No one knows what their relationship is, least of all them, but it has been going on for years. I find them really interesting but I don’t tend to agree with some of the like, I dunno, trademark features of popular Nark dynamics? I think Nicky is the type to do anything to get approval from those who cares about, way more so than I’ve seen some people give him credit for (more, maybe they give him too much credit? Wording LOL), and I think Lark feels intense guilt for the mere act of existing, and I think these two characteristics are SO fun to throw up against each other. Also I know Nicky is a cool alt demon boy when they’re teens, but he’s still a cop’s son and I LOOOVE that in contrast to Lark’s hot-to-those-in-his-age-group brooding and general delinquency vibes (ie (our only real example) swapping places with his twin so he can risk his life LMAO). GOD SORRY IM RAMBLING ABOUT NARK NOW I like them. A lot

In contrast to Nark, I think the general consensus on Lovesong is awesome. Sparrow and Nicky liked each other so much as teenagers, they were an adorable T4T couple, they’re adhd boyfriend/autism girlfriend, and now they’re the worlds messiest exes ever and it’s everyone’s problem <3 ohhh sword to throat scene, you will ALWAYS be famous. I also love them with a dynamic of like… Sparrow being much more confident around Nicky, but struggling a lot in general social interactions. Something about her blossoming and opening up when around Nicky in particular, and maybe neither of them even notice at first… but then one day it clicks. They’re just SO comfortable around each other and I love thinking about like. The details of how that relationship dissolves, and how much worse it must have made the betrayal. Their current antagonism is made so so so interesting, especially when Sparrow is such a pushover to everyone BUT Nicky… OUGH. LOVE THEM!!!! (do you guys like how I automatically trans fem Sparrow in Lovesong settings specifically LMAO)

Oakworthy is another one I’ve talked about at length. They are two bugs I am raising in captivity together and they keep trying to each other, so I have to separate them, but I put them back together anyways. Because thIS IS HOW OAKWORTHY CAN STILL WIN-!! I love these two, fully immersed in the fantasy that they’re going to fix things and get together in the end. I think the fact that they both have such strong identity issues but in different ways - Hermie has no idea who he truly is and tries on a million masks to compensate, while Normal tries so desperately to be someone else but his true identity always shows in the end - makes for a REEEALLY interesting dynamic. They both try so hard to be who the other person wants, and fail to realize that what the other wants is for them to be themselves. Makes me crazy

AND FINALLY. NORMAL/TAYLOR. Tayloak <3 only something I’ve started thinking about, like… in the past few weeks XD but I think they’re REALLY FUN. Obviously there’s this massive aspect of Normals jealousy of (and over) Taylor, which can be fun to play with in a “do I want him or do I want to be him” way! I think those types of crushes are SO funny in fiction. And also. Once again. They fit the autism x adhd dynamic except this time, they’re both high energy. Tackling as a love language. To me.

Obviously, all of this is just my personal opinion!!! I do not pretend to know these characters better than anybody else (except Jodie.) and this is just my interpretation of these ships :] if people have wildly different opinions I’d love to hear em as well, just be nice LOL

[infimace-blog]

Okay I have to say it. I have to say it because it passes my mind every single time I see anything remotely related to Baldur's Gate 3.

So there's the first quest, right? There's an idyllic druid glen and you have to rescue the head druid Halsin because the vice head druid is racist against tieflings. And he got captured by goblins so you go to the goblin camp in the ancient ruins, where the goblins are all completely and utterly unsympathetic. And that's racial essentialist horsefeathers but it's a DnD game and you can't rely on Wizards to actually commit to being less racist rather than just saying they will. We knew what we were getting into when we bought the game.

And then you find the head druid and he's stuck in bear form and getting tormented by three kids and their babysitter, and to free him you have to murder every single goblin in the room?? Including the children??? Who are not combatants?????? You can go out of your way to not kill the children, which makes the fight harder because they inevitably call more goblins who can actually fight, but then the noble and progressive head druid you came to save will just murder the children himself.

I'm not trying to turn this into 'every person who's fantasized about a Shadowheart/Astarion three-way thinks goblin children deserve to die'. Disco Elysium is one of my favorite games and I love talking about Tequila Sunset and Kim, the World's Most Perfect Man, but also Measurehead exists and I hate him and everything about his writing. But also I bring up Measurehead more than I normally would when I talk about Disco Elysium because the weird way his race is handled in the game compels me, and no one does that with the goblin children murder? It's not an obscure part that no one sees. Rescuing Halsim is one of the easier routes in the first major story quest, he can become a recruitable companion, and the first I heard about the game was 'hey, there's a druid companion and you can bang them while they're turned into a bear'. The game pointedly glosses over the fact that you murdered three children for the crime of being jerks to an animal, and I guess that means the playerbase did too? Even I had to do a double-take because I initially assumed that I screwed up the encounter and that the correct way would have let the goblin children live (and probably give me an easier fight to boot). But no, unless you're handling the quest in some really unintuitive way (maybe you can knock them out?????), you gotta kill the kids to get the bear sex.

I guess some players just agree that there's nothing wrong with killing children as long as they're goblins and categorically evil. But I feel like the overlap between that kind of DnD player and the kind I occasionally see posting shipping art of BG3 isn't that large. Hopefully.

And it bugs the hell out of me because the biggest game of the year, based on one of the most popular TRPGs of all time, just goes 'yeah, we're going to put child murder in one of the good routes to complete this quest, but it's fine because they're the wrong race and they're kind of dicks' and it's not news. Wizards has spent years trying to do a soft rollback on all the racial essentialism in its worldbuilding, up to and including retroactively making a type of good drow so they can get off the hook about making an entire race of dark-skinned fantasy creatures evil. Sure, Wizards cares about fixing the obsession DnD has about race performatively half the time, but it does try. And now Wizards knows that it doesn't even need to care performatively anymore. If the product's good enough and the racism is subtle enough, it just goes forgotten.

I don't even, like. Need this to be universally condemned by the fanbase. But at least talked about more? I'd have preferred it if I knew about the goblin children murder *before* I bought the game and played enough of it that Steam won't refund me.

[decepti-thots]

would you ship: driftpercy, shockstar, wavewave, getaway/rodimus

Drift/Perceptor: this is kind of a 'depends on what you mean by 'ship' tbh' deal! I like the idea of them as a pre-canon or even mid-canon kind of casual thing. Not necessarily a grand romance, more a FWB-esque situation, but one of genuine camaraderie and mutual respect. I can't necessarily see them as anything more romantic than that, though. (I'd be really curious about throwing Rodimus into this mix in early MTMTE, actually. Hmmm.)

Shockwave/Starscream: this is definitely a big 'what continuity?' one, because Shockwave is wildly different across those! I think it's funny as hell in G1 though. (Including, thanks to a bizarrely compelling bit in the otherwise fairly dire Regeneration One miniseries, in Marvel G1.) Oh and also I think it would be great in Cyberverse. They would be so fucking petty and evil in that. I would dig it. In IDW... mmm, nah. There's nothing personal there for me to latch onto between them.

Shockwave/Soundwave: this doesn't tend to grab me much in any major continuity tbqh! It's fine, but idk, it rarely scratches an itch for me tbh. In IDW1 you'd think the really intense dynamic Barber gives them in his mild retconning of Soundwave's backstory would make me interested but tbh I'm just so charmed by the sheer, visceral loathing Soundwave has for him that I've got no interest in mucking around with it, lol. In G1 Sunbow it's pretty funny, I guess, since that's a continuity where they're both moderately competent and having to run around managing the otherwise batshit Decepticon nonsense going on, haha.

Getaway/Rodimus: this is actually one of my IDW1 OTPs and I adore it. If you are new here, I have a whole tag for it. There's just so little out there for it!!! And I also I have a very exacting dynamic I enjoy for it. But yeah no I love it lol, PEAK 'these fuckers hate each other slightly too much and are way too alike for their own good' shit.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Sangyao for the ship game?

WOW I forgot I decided to do this meme, I am so sorry for leaving you hanging, anon!! (and also to the other people who sent me asks, I will get on those now) so:

ship it 👍

but as with most of my non-xiyao ships, I don't think I sail this particular one the way lots of other sangyao shippers do, since 1) I think there is very little canon support for it, and 2) in all of my non-jgy ships, I can never divorce jgy from his feelings for lxc. so even when I ship jgy with anyone else, he still loves er-ge best, and that is bound to be something that not everyone is here for.

that said, here are my answers to the other questions:

1. what made me ship it?

it was their vibes in cql, I think! I loved how quick meng yao was to throw himself between wen chao et al. and nie huaisang during the cloud recesses reception in episode 4, and how nie huaisang immediately shrank back behind him. because he trusted meng yao to take care of him--meng yao, who may or may not even have a golden core at this point, has not been raised among cultivators, but who nevertheless on pure instinct places himself in harm's way to protect chifeng-zun's easily flustered didi. in the novel, it was all of the gifts that jgy showered on nhs after he becomes jin guangyao, and how much joy and delight nhs seems to derive from his visits, as well as receiving such thoughtful gifts from someone who seems to actually understand his interests. I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't a little 👀 over the possibilities of what these two often underestimated men could accomplish if they were given the opportunities to do what they do best and support each other while doing it. (well. jgy would probably do most of the supporting, but I won't throw nhs totally under the bus in that department).

2. what are my favourite things about this ship?

this is another area where I expect my answer is not going to be super popular among some other sangyao shippers, but whatever, here goes. probably what I find most compelling about this ship is that, no matter how attentive and loving and devoted to meeting nhs's needs as jgy is, nhs will always know on some level that in jgy's heart, there can only be lan xichen. and given the darkness I think is absolutely present in nhs's heart even before nmj dies, I think there is a lot of potential for gothic horror-romance there. tl;dr this is not the ship I reach for when I want to indulge in some happily-ever-after vibes, even when I am hoping to use a romance between the two as part of a canon-divergent fix-it.

aside from that downer, I do like that nhs as a person is just extremely hands-on and tactile with how he interacts with others. in a sangyao ship, I imagine this was something that shocked jgy to start with, but I can also see it being one of the things that he comes to cherish most about their relationship. because nhs just doesn't care about the world's perception of him, and it does not occur to him to be too concerned with the world's perception of jgy either. he wants to drape himself dramatically across his san-ge and beg for help with these wretched grain tariffs, and no one is going to stop him, and as much as this probably exasperates (and frightens, on some level) jgy, I don't think he would give that up easily.

3. is there an unpopular opinion I have about this ship?

y... yeah. lol. a lot of them to be honest. I do not vibe with the idea that jgy would ever have chosen to do nhs harm prior to figuring out that nhs is behind the complete destruction of his whole life, and so when I see jgy being cruel to nhs physically or emotionally in fic, I smash that back button. I also don't think that a happy ending for jgy involves becoming nie-furen (or nie-er-furen, if nmj is still alive) anymore than I think he would be happy as lan-furen, and while there's far less fic for this than there is lan-furen, I still just sigh when I encounter even fanon speculation about it. jgy isn't a lan, and he isn't a nie--he's a jin, and I think while nhs is blind to a lot of things, he would not be blind to something like that.

wahoo, better late than never!!

[inusmasha]

Just rambling about InuKag dynamics I don't see ppl talk about.

this is 'long post' disclaimer .

Its a ghostly day today, and I have it all to myself. So while defrosting this english muffin I started musing about what sort of dynamics I like most in fiction. Like not just romantic wise. I wanted to figure out what was.. the tension? I enjoyed most... between what two archetypes?

And I what I noticed is that I love a good Mentor/Mentee dynamic. It's something that's been pretttyyyy consistent since childhood. (I can't name any atm to help my argument but you feel compelled to keep reading)

However, I didn't see how this would fit InuKag? My Titanic? My ship of dreams? My childhood? InuKag sometimes stands out like a sore thumb compared to my other interests. I was going to chalk it up to "Well it's baby's first anime so.." UNTIL..

I realized the fandom tends to focus on how Kagome helped Inuyasha (recover his lost heart, humanity, the unconditional selfless love, understanding ect.) but like.. we don't really talk about what he provides for her as much? And I'd love to indulge you with my take but we'd have to go over why I think Kagome decided to leave the modern world and opt for a life in wilderness of the Feudal Era.

Yes, yes. A big part is Inuyasha. That is a huge driving factor. But Im saying step back and see what's happening in the grand scheme of things.

I think..for Kagome..her romance with Inuyasha acted as a portal to a type of freedom she didn't know she craved. He acts as a guide of sort. He gives her access and safe passage to explore this dangerous world fully without fear. It reminds me of when I was with my first bf and I was over the moon happy when I realized I could walk around at night with him. It was THRILLING to my sheltered teen ass. It was like I was holding the key to the VIP room. I was allowed backstage. He was a door that opened me up to new experiences that would not of been available to me at that time otherwise!

And then the benefit of being immersed in nature. With your lover. Who is a figure that exists outside of the society that was keeping you locked up in the first place. Kagome's name is also referencing 'a bird in a cage'.

Like?

Kagome also serves as a guide for Inuyasha. She brings him back from the liminal space of the forest to the village/community/connection. Again opening him up to the possibility of trusting others and forming bonds and setting down roots in the village.

Kagome also represents us the Audience. She is our perspective. She is "The Ordinary Teenage Girl". She's pulled into the well like we are being pulled into the narrative. She grapples with her identity. Her purpose. Her abilities. She's lip singing to Kelly Clarkson with her hairbrush in front of the mirror. She's trying to get to school but...OOP...You know what? I'm 16. I'm suddenly in a fairy tale. The faries spirited me away and I can't take the test right now. The magical jewel was in my hip you see. I'll think about high school entrance exams later when I'm done shooting my sparkly arrows.

You can't sit there and tell me that you didn't long to escape the druggery that came after graduating lol? The what so I do now? The who am I ? And where do I belong? What major do I want? I have to buy a house now? No? I have to fix my credit score-

No babe. You're going to hitch a ride on your bf's back with ya hair down and eat fruit by a waterfall. He's going to ask you wtf a test is to the sound of a million birds chirping in the morning. Then you're going to go back to your loving village that welcomes you home and calls you a hero.

It makes sense that she stayed. It makes sense. You just gotta... see the vision.. you gotta FEEEEL the escapism.

Anyway yeah lol. Not really a mentor to each other per say but their meeting was a catalysis for a lot of growth and learning and trials and tribulations that changed them for the better. And it just feels similar.

[acacia-may]

Have asked already? Gosh, I getting tired! 3, 55, 73 and 96 <3

Hello friend! No, you hadn't asked already, but thank you so much for this one! I'd be happy to answer these questions for you!! 🥰

3. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy incorporating romance into the average story?

In general, probably a 1 or (a very generous) 2, but I think it really depends on the story. I'll admit I will sometimes use romance as a plot device or just to make jokes and then I have a little fun with it, but I took this question to mean legitimate and serious incorporation of romance, in which case it's generally not my cup of tea and even if it's a pairing that I really like, I don't find a lot of enjoyment in it because I don't have a lot of practice writing romance and really get in my own head & worried that I'm going to mess it up. Meet-Cutes and Established Relationships are okay (because they're not super dependent on me being able to write a compelling relationship progression), but when it comes to writing characters actually falling in love or focusing on them deepening their relationship, I get really nervous because I know that's not my strength as a writer.

This is true even when I have a pairing that I made up myself. I had my sister laughing at me when for my self-indulgent birthday fic, I actually wrote our OC into the story but kept her relationship with her (eventual after a decades long slow burn) love interest platonic on purpose. My sister was editing and there's this scene where they like unintentionally brush hands and she just stops and says, "It's your birthday. You know, you can make this relationship super romantic if you want," but I was like "No. I don't think I will. I like them as friends." Cue my sister just deadpan blinking and pointing out, "You literally made her up just to eventually marry him [under these ultra-specific circumstances]" And yeah, that's technically true, but if it's up to me and what I enjoy writing, I prefer writing them as friends (with like optional, super subtle somewhat romantic undertones). I don't mind the hints at possible romantic feelings, but when it comes to anything overt, I think it stresses me out to write more than I find enjoyment in it.

But that's just me. I have nothing against romance on principle. I just don't trust myself to write it and find more enjoyment in writing even my favorite pairings as friends or in an intentionally ambiguous relationships. I have been trying to push myself to write more romance, but I don't think I'll ever consider it a strong suit of mine and I go out of my way to avoid it. In the series I mentioned above which actually does have a CC x OC pairing in it that's actually integral to the plot, the (eventual) couple didn't even officially meet until literally over 55,000 words into the story. And now they're just going to be friends for like 10 years before any dating happens. The story is just not about that. This is what I mean when I say I don't do romance lol 😅😂

But I do try my best because I want to grow as a writer. It's just when the question asks "how much do I personally enjoy writing romance," the answer is not much at all (even for an OTP or a ship I made up myself).

55. Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

Yes. Too many to count 😭 In most cases, I lost momentum, changed interests, moved on from the fandom, or just couldn't figure out how to make the story work. I also tend to get distracted by other projects and ideas. I'd like to return to some of my wips someday because it bothers me to leave things unfinished (especially if part of them had been posted), but we'll see.

73. How do you visualize scenes? do you see it like a movie in your head, or do the words just flow?

Both actually, so it kind of depends. When I'm initially planning/drafting a scene, I see it like a movie (often watching the scenes from the eyes of my POV character, though occasionally watching from the outside like an actual audience). When I'm ready to start writing, I can actually see the words I want to write like I'm reading them. That's generally when I know I'm ready to sit down and get typing (because otherwise I'm just outlining or mapping out scenes in my head).

96. Romantic/social sideplots: interesting or irritating?

It really depends on the work and on why that subplot is in there, but in general my favorite kinds of romance in all of fiction have always been subplots. Honestly, I think if I listed my favorite ships of all time they were all romantic subplots in stories that were otherwise just not about that, and I really liked that because I could enjoy them without them overtaking the story and overshadowing all of the other meaningful (platonic) relationships.

But, on the flip side, I think I am very sensitive to and adverse to "romance for the sake of romance" or just when a ship is shoved into a story gratuitously without it making sense or needing to be there beyond the creators deciding "well there has to be romance somewhere." Like...no, there doesn't have to be romance in anything, ever. In fact sometimes there probably shouldn't be.

Some of my least favorite ships of all time fit in this "romance for the sake of romance" category because it just feels so forced, unnecessary, and uncomfortable to me. But to be fair there are even pairings that I genuinely like & would have even said I "ship," and I still get sour & upset when they get forced together at the end of the story just because it's the end, when I feel they're not ready and/or there wasn't proper build up. In those cases, even though I technically shipped the ship & wanted to see them together eventually, I would have preferred if they hadn't forced it and had just left the relationship open ended.

This is an extremely random example but since I just changed my profile picture to Naomi & Gabe... Elena of Avalor actually did this open-ended ship thing really well imo, and I am immensely grateful that the creators stuck to their promise not to give Elena a canonical love interest at the end since she had so much going on in her life and her story and character journey was never about that. No matter how much I (and from what I've seen, a whole lot of the fandom) want her to (eventually) end up with Mateo, it was NOT the time and this show did not play. They literally had a magical alpaca cut off Mateo's ill-timed almost love-confession at the "expected" (but objectively bad) moment, and it was AMAZING! This was hard core and has my ULTIMATE RESPECT.

So yeah...it's a very fine line between compelling & irritating and understandable & forced when it comes to romance subplots. I think when romance subplots are done well and thoughtfully they can be super compelling and interesting, but when they're done badly or are thrown in there "just because," it's honestly kind of the worst... 😝

When it comes to my own writing, if romance is going to be in there, it is probably going to be a subplot and I hope it's not too irritating lol. 😅 Even in a "romance" story, I feel like the romance is usually still a subplot because it's vying for attention with the friendship between the characters in the ship or their own personal struggles as people or (more often than not) one the character's strained/otherwise complicated relationship with their sibling(s) or family members [i.e. all my fics that have any romance for either of the Spatial Mage Brothers are also heavily focused on the brothers' relationship with each other in addition to their respective romantic ships. I just can't seem to write Finral x Finesse or Langris x Finesse or Finral x Vanessa or ect. ect. without Finral & Langris' platonic brothers' relationship being in there too, at least to some extent]. I find it hard to get into a story when the only thing in it is romance personally, so I prefer when it's a subplot or just one part of a story with multiple things going on.

[naivesilver]

Hello I have been summoned

2. When I tell you I think about raph holding up 03 Mikeys like a hamburger to see the city lights, and I can hear the excited chirps and babbles and just see his face turn to such a soft look URGH I THINK ABOUT IT SO MUCH

5. I really want to read your big pinocchio AU fic that you've told me about, and I will one day for sure and I'll get to see the family you have constructed

7. Definitely that Mikey and Raph thing again, babe I think about it so much, but I just a close second is that belle and vector fix you wrote me a couple years ago for sure

9. Your montabello fic may never update again, it might in years time, it could tomorrow! Idc it's fun and self indulgent and I remember you telling me you where going to do it and how excited you where and it's a great read and it is special to me

10/13/14. All kind of related, listen I really don't like crossover fics much, and I especially don't like when people age up or down characters I never have! But you where so excited about shaking the latch I forced myself to give it a go and it is genuinely one of my favourite tmnt fics of all time and I love love love making art for it and talking to you about it and maybe stealing it a little but gosh it's great and the descriptions are lovely and the characterisations are fab and I just love it so so much I'll be so sad when you finish it you know like a chapter has closed on my life and I'm not even actively involved in it's creation

12. Your early vecpio fics, before I met you I read them so many times I was star stuck we where out in a discord together I have to be honest 💕 I've also read your recent gift fic for me a few times aswell but gosh yeah your so talented babes xxx

FUCK YOU I GOT SO OVERWHELMED BY THE SHEER JOY OF THIS ASK I DON'T THINK I CAN ANSWER IT COHERENTLY, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THIS HARD 😭💞 if I forget to say something, just know that what I tell you every day is the more concise and sensible version and that's that ajsfhjalfhjlahfjl thank you, you absolute menace ❤️

Fanfic Asks (For The Askers)

2. My favorite chapter in my favorite fic of yours

7. What made me the most emotional after reading

LISDEN.........I spent so much time thinking about that scene before writing it, I'm just glad it hit as well as it did for you too. The 03 turtles had a lot of issues with the outside world not accepting them, you know? So big, rough Raph holding this teeny tiny baby and knowing he can break the cycle and keep these children from going through those struggles...Being aware that Mini Mikey TRUSTS Raph to hold him up high and shield him from the world...It does ThingsTM to me, so it's only fair that you feel them, too 💝

5. A fic I haven't read yet from you, but I want to

I'd be honored to have you read that, but I'll be honest, I don't blame you for hesitating LMAO I know I went overboard baby, even if you never touch those 2763847393 fics in there I'll be happy :^)

9. A fic I'm excited for you updating/posting

I WILL FINISH THAT!!!!!! Sorry, I know that wasn't the point of the question, but I NEED to speak this into existence - I have so many ideas that need to come out onto the page, so thank you for having faith in it, it's really important to me 🤗

10. A character/ship I didn't enjoy/think about as much before you wrote about them

13. If I've ever shared/talked about your fic to someone else

14. A fic I didn't expect to like so much

Again, thank you 💞💞💞 not much to say aside from what I mentioned before in private but it's been so much fun to go on this turtle journey with you, and your patience with my VERY delayed updates is extraordinary.

12. A fic of yours that I've re-read

Finally, BOY what a blast from the past - I still don't know what compelled you to stick around after the delirium that was 2020, but I'm super glad you did. Those shitty Chaotix parenthood moments have given me a special friend so I can't be TOO mad at them 🥰🥰🥰

[chromotps]

The thing about Ace/Sabo is that the ship is less about them being brothers but more like them sharing a childhood friendship? That had the potential of becoming something more in the future. Except it didn’t, for obvious reasons. And yeah not everyone’s a fan of that, but people also like the raised by wolves/son of a noble dynamic they had as children. While I agree Sabo does kind of feel like he was stuck to Ace&Luffy as an afterthought, with a piece of chewed-out gum — his existence doesn’t… I don’t know, feel out of place? I also enjoy how kinda tragic his character is, and how he carries that tragedy with him? In the form of Ace’s devil fruit (Sabo also canonically hallucinates and there was an instance where he admitted to hearing Ace’s voice, during his fight with Burgess? so yeah, not everyone’s cup of tea again but I’m a huge fan of hurt/comfort so having a character go through a psychotic depressive episode because of the insane guilt he feels? Just, yeah. Plus there’s something really poetic about him literally eating Ace’s DF and still considering it „Ace’s powers” etc) and the way I see Sabo/Lu is through Ace/Lu (and partially Ace/Sabo) anyway. Because Sabo is trying to fill out the role of an older brother/friend for Luffy that he’s well aware is impossible to fill — because nothing ever will be the same for Luffy. Nothing or no one could even come close to making it up for Ace’s loss to Luffy, and Sabo knows he’s kind of a cheap copy of that (figuratively and literally lmfao, as I know people have been calling him low-budget Ace), but still he tries to? And the fact that Luffy is technically his only remaining family (or at least someone he willingly considers family). And I kind of see it as a parallel to how Ace’s approach to Luffy changed after Sabo’s „death”? Because Sabo was the „kinder” brother, the nicer one, the smarter one, it was usually him who took Luffy’s side whenever Ace was annoyed with him? And the one who explicitly asked Ace to look after Luffy — which then was one of the direct reasons why Ace changed the way he treated Luffy, forced him to be more patient/learn to love and eventually led to Ace willingly becoming the „older brother” figure for Luffy. I’m in no way trying to convince you to like Sabo, don’t get me wrong!! I’m just trying to show an example how Ace/Sabo isn’t necessarily brotherly either (like, I don’t know, Sabo/Luffy seems to be?). And it’s just that while I’m first and foremost a huge Ace/Lu enjoyer I also think Sabo did have a significant impact on their relationship both before and after Ace’s death.

((!! sorry i took a while to reply! i made that post before work on Friday and then got slammed until just now fdghjgk)

the odd thing is, I mostly agree!! I think I had to vent bc i saw ppl (a few specific sabo fans haha) on twitter acting like luffy would feel nothing toward ace but be obsessed with sabo. and, lol, no. but what YOU said makes total sense. like, yes, Ace + Sabo definitely has a different, more involved feeling to me than Ace & Luffy. I've had some ships in the past that fit the raised by wolves/runaway noble trope... the charm of the noble feeling like "this is the only person I feel like I can really be myself around" and the wild one thinking "i like spending time with this noble—they're tougher/kinder/funnier than i gave them credit for" AND/OR "society has always rejected me, but this 'cultured' person accepting me heals that pain a little bit"—all of those things are really charming.

Maybe if we'd seen more about how ace and sabo became friends, or if there were more emphasis on sabo's acceptance being what helped ace's anger (instead of, just from how i saw things, it being mostly luffy's unconditional warmth toward ace that did it?) then I'd personally be more feral about that dynamic, haha. But it's like you said, I guess it all depends on what we each connect with. I dont find tragedy alone compelling... I'm depressed enough already as it is LMAO!! if I think too hard about how viscerally sad Sabo only remembering Ace after he'd died is, my brain just shuts down. But I've got really good friends who would EAT THAT UP. Like, yeah, it is beautifully poetic... hahaha now i'm laughing thinking about my friends who were really into Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet finding out about Sabo & Ace and being obsessed, ahaha (they're not so into One Piece tho, only jjk... at least, for now!! 😈)

it's hard to put into words, but there's something about Sabo being a revolutionary vs. ace and luffy being pirates, that kind of explains why my brain sees A+L as very very very different than A&S or L&S. But like, that's just my brain and how my heart likes to focus on characters with really codependent relationships/dreams/themes, hahaha...

[space-blue]

I love reading your opinions! What about 13, 17? (for any fandom) and 19 for Avatar?

Oh, well, you're making me blush there... (and also sigh with relief, as work was very quiet, and having a long ask to craft was a great distraction, so thank you!)

13 — worst blorboficiation

Mmh, this is a tough one, because I think there's no bad blorbofication. Like I touched on when talking about homogenization, people taking blorbo on crazy trips isn't an issue to me. Maybe a better term here would be woobifying

The best example I can think of within my fandoms is perhaps Thrawn? I'm going through a renaissance with him I guess... I'm watching rebels at long last and I can't wait for him to show up and make the Empire half-competent.

He's a very compelling character, but the new canon gives him an anti-hero slant, which I think is a little unfortunate, as fandom multiplies that into a bit of 'Thrawn did nothing wrong' and 'he's just a cute smartass doing his best'.

But Thrawn shines as a villain. Which he is. He aligns with the Empire for his interests. For the plans he designed. He does orbital bombings and closes his eyes on slavery and is mostly annoyed at the Death Star for being a stupid waste of resources and taking away from his own, better optimised death squadrons! He's. Not. A. Good. Guy. In legends he has a guy killed on his bridge for being incompetent.

And yeah it's the same bridge where this happens:

Now I know my own original First Fic™️ is Thrawn on holidays, and that I put it on hiatus before I got to the War Crimes™️, so it definitely looks like I'm part of that problem. It's just a general trend. Thrawn being cute with Eli. Thrawn being a harmless hottie. Thrawn being relatable. Thrawn saving his people with some hard logic and art appreciation.

Not enough Thrawn being the bad guy he canonically is. There is that out there though and it's great!! So it's not an actual complaint either.

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

For fic, actually gender-neutral readers, not fem readers hidden under a "GN Reader" tag. Your reader is not properly gender-neutral if they have curves, lush hair, full lips, etc. sometimes people try and it just slips past them. Sometimes you really feel like they just slapped the tag on without another thought.

It's hard when it comes down to smut, but it's not complicated to be fully neutral when you're dealing with gen fic. Which ties into another thing I'd love more of : second person GN reader fics that aren't smutty/horny but rather gen. I write them because I rarely find them, and I think they're fun. There's definitely an audience for it!

I don't have anything for art. I'm always happy to see people's work and don't have anything in particular I'm searching for when browsing a fandom. Just curious to see what's up, and happy with whatever I get.

19 — you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

Nice try. I'm not. I like what I like and I don't waste my time with any sort of misplaced shame.

It's not a diss at you! And I understand what prompts this question too. 'Oh no, I never meant to ship it, it's kind of icky, but...' is a common enough sentiment.

Not with me though. If I ship I ship, if I like I like. It's fiction. There's no room for shame or horror.

Thank you for your ask, it was a fun part of a long and empty shift x'D

[pregnancykink]

Happy DFF! i have to work on myself to come up with more specific questions but what do you find the most compelling (could be more things) about the deanjohn dynamic/their relationship?

happy dff!! so i will say i went into supernatural fully knowing i'd ship sam/dean. i love that kind of codependent incest dynamic and i've been in fandom spaces for like 15+ years. i was very aware of what was going on in supernatural...broadly.

johndean BLINDSIDED me lol. i knew john existed. that was about it. i just went back to my early liveblogs to find this lol

Like look I KNEW I was going into Supernatural to get brocon and probably mpreg but I didn’t know I was going to get dadson sonwife daughterwife abortion clinic like that

so yeah. i find the gendered dynamics going on here SO COMPELLING. dean occupying the space of eldest daughter -> replacement wife. john forcing the role of mary on him. and of course i can't talk about the J/D dynamics without bringing up sam. somehow, john managed to make it so that neither sam nor dean think they're john's favorite child. sam lamenting that dean doesn't get what it was like to constantly fight with his father. dean upset that sam doesn't get the toll of being, as alastair said, daddy's little girl.

skin says it best: "He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?"

and lastly...the fucked up part is john was doing his best. i mean, he loved those kids. he knew what was out there. he was trying to protect them. and he went about it so, so badly. trapping them in this enclosed space and imposing nuclear family roles...augh it makes me insane.

thank you for the question!

[andonutty]

ok get ready for SPAM for the character meme thing : first one up? the beloved, the amazing, the most blorbo to ever blorbo ... randy sealman 🥺

send me a character and i'll list...

i'm going to be slowly working through all of these so @ anyone who wants feel free to send more of them! i'm never not accepting these. though if like 5 years down the line you send me the name of a character i'll probably be confused i'm not going to lie

favorite thing about them

EVERYHTINGGNGNG!??!?!?! though i think maybe my FAVOURITE thing about him is how sensitive and sad he is. like yeah sure he's got his "don't even fuckin' start" and "take that shit off" lines but his longest scene has him being so sad and emotional and sensitive?? and then we get the moment where he's like FULLY ass out for this girl he does NOT know?? UGH randy sealman you are the most mentally ill man to ever exist

least favorite thing about them

the fact that he has inconsistent crazy lore and also that he dies and that 0 people care

favorite line

"borden's dead. someone executed him." it is just SUCH a pookie line and he is SOOOOO?!?!?!???!?! so cute for this. obviously i love all his lines but this one is so PARTICULARLY pookie.

brOTP

randy and the bordens for sure. i think their dynamic is so tragically unexplored. like putting aside the fact that i ship randy and william HARD like ... they just seem like such a fun trio? i just think they are so cute and tragic. it's about randy really thinking these two are his BEST friends, meanwhile they both resent him so much after a while. it's just sad!!

OTP

OBVIOUSLY randy/tyler DUHHH. they are so cute and perfect for each other and they fuel me daily. there's something about hole from a man who is so impossibly sad. also im completely enamoured with our lore for them. but inside the actual source material, i would absolutely say randy/william. it's about william's little spat "you're an emPLOYee!" like oh girl you are projecting. you're having a little gayboy moment. honestly josh and daniel killed this movie they put their entire pussy into it and they're the best parts of it so even if their dynamic weren't so compelling i'd absolutely adore them as a couple simply because their characters are so good

nOTP

randy x duolingo girl. also randy x like hugo?? whatever the fuck his name is? creepy ass dude??? basically randy x any rancid character

random headcanon

i think randy really loves the water. this is sort of pulled from josh taylor and stuff about his roles and his insta and stuff, but i think it really fits for randy for him to love the water and swimming and stuff. it also adds a lot to his and maryanne's relationship

unpopular opinion

i love randy sealman and he deserves to live

song i associate with them

obviously deep in the night jay frog remix but i also want to personally shout out not allowed by tv girl and also nocturne by sufferer. i can't listen to deep in the night while writing him so i often listen to a feeling of power from the heavy rain soundtrack instead. i think when i write him i'm usually listening to nocturne though because tv girl, while a bop and super fun to jam to, it's harder to write to imo

favorite picture of them

i think my ultimate favourite picture has to be pool sex but i am also sharing when randy is like REHAB?? and also when he hugs his mommy in the saddest scene known to cinema. imagine your mom holds your face and is like you need help randy and you look so incredibly sad and then you hug her and start crying and say "i'm sorry" like EUGHFHGD. also his ass out picture is a huge fav and it's under the cut

this man was really waiting for this girl to come back from the bathroom and peg him. INSANE.

also not them being SO disrespectful on his cringe fail suspect board and having so many picture of his naked bloodied self. like GIVE HIM SOME DIGNITY