#my favourite characters always seem to be the ones that dont really have much romance shit going on

[ozymoron]

i dont think i actually like shipping for like normal shipping reasons im pretty sure i only like ships cause i like seeing boys kiss and girls kiss especially if what they have going on is fucked up and weird

#⚠️ #my favourite characters always seem to be the ones that dont really have much romance shit going on #like jerome just doesnt have anything romantic going on. spencer reid i remember like no one wanted him lmao except that one girl who died #so fast it was kinda funny pretty sure later he gets with jj but i genuinely couldnt give less of a fuck lol #and ash is more like sex focused compared to romance probably cause yknow having your girlfriend die and then attack you probably #gives you a couple like issues around romance and shit #like he never really gets another partner does he #he got close with that one cop but she died #i mean he did get married to that one lady candace barr i remember her name cause its a pun and i like pun names #pretty sure her name was candace #but like that didnt last very long so #hes so so awful thatw as so fucked up of him i need him so bad but still #herbert is more focused on his work than on romance and sex hes very aroace to me #but the whole fandom is just danbert which is fine i agree theyre gay as hell but like after a while i started losing interest lol #same happened with ed its all just nygmobblepot

[melonteee]

When opla was announced I was guarded, but trailers and learning that Oda would have first and last word about everything made me hopeful.

But I knew that live action are never for the actual die hard fans.

Too much need to be cut because of time, as real actors cant look like they only age two years for 26 years, and some cartoon stuff doesnt translate well to live action *cough* garps fist of love *cough*

So I was able to convince my friend to watch opla with me.

She had read the manga when she was little, up to syrup village, so she was excited to see Kuro because she actually liked him back when she read it.

I was mostly there just to observe my friends reaction to it instead.

My favorite moment was watching her freak out after the "grandpa?" reveal.

I dont like that Garp was included that early on, I didnt mind him being there at rogers execution. But more than that seemed too much. I watched some Netflix guy explaining that they wanted to add a reason why the strawhat had to keep moving from island to island, but no marine would do because who would bother chasing a pirate crew with no bounty. I understand that reasoning. Still dont like it, but I understand.

But my friends reaction made it all better.

Did you know netflix wanted a romance between Nami and Zoro? Thank god Oda was there to stop it.

Also my friend and I quote "Oregano is for savages!" a lot now.

I'm truly glad you liked it anon and I do understand the excitement that came with it, but I honestly could not stand it. Nearly every scene and every line was like "Sanji wouldn't say that. Nami wouldn't do that. Why is this happening? Luffy definitely wouldn't say that."

An adaptation must adapt to its medium, true, but that is not what this did. This was an insanely loose reinterpretation that took so much charm away for me. I've talked about it on this Tumblr tons now but I've finally had the time to watch through all of it now that the hype's died down, and it just made me angrier per episode?

They had to shorten things down, but they included so many new scenes that added nothing? They had to explain the Strawhats going from island to island... WHY? They literally had a spine to go off, the original property had them going from island to island to find a crew and get to the grand line. That's literally a very solid reason. WHY did they need any marines chasing them? It just sounded like an excuse to add a fan favourite character so the Garp fans could scream about it.

And I've said this many times, but Oda being part of the process genuinely means nothing to me. Netflix infamously do not listen to their creators, and not only did they admit Oda HATED the Garp addition and they STILL added him, you can tell so much of his original vision was thrown aside for non-anime fan audience convenience. Usopp and Sanji felt like side characters for god's sake, Buggy felt comically evil for a LIVE ACTION, Mihawk's fight was literally so empty due to the fact no one was THERE? NAMI was the one who yelled she believes in Zoro and they'll always be friends??

I truly do not believe Oda would agree to most of that, and considering we know he was ignored for Garp, we know for sure he was definitely ignored for many other things.

As always, if you loved it, great! I'm glad the excitement was met. Maybe I'm cynical, maybe it's not to my tastes, but it screams Netflix cash cow to me and the whole time I watched it I thought "This is not One Piece at all."

As a reinterpretation? Great!

As an adaptation? It failed miserably. None of the characters felt like themselves and the additional scenes were so nothing. Sorry for the sour reply anon but for those on here who know, I indeed have a sore spot for that entire production.

I honestly think a lot of people got blinded by the pretty actors and the millions of dollars that went into production and promotion to really look at it for what it was trying to be.

#ask #melonask #oplatalks

[m1ckeyb3rry]

i just finished the chapter AND OH MY GOD. it was so cute and sweet but absolutely heartbreaking at the same time. toge and panda broke me☹️☹️☹️ i love hana sm and i love the way you portray her bc she seems like such a sweet person and i really love how y/n tries to befriend her and not make her feel unwelcome

yuta just continues to raise my standards, that man is the greenest flag to exist and the way he loves y/n so much makes me bang my head against a wall. they’re everything to me and they’re literally the definition of what love is

maki is my baby, her and y/ns relationship is so pure and you can see how much they care for each other. i feel like their love for one another doesnt have an explanation, its more than just platonic love, they’re literally soulmates

TULLIA UGHHHHHHH everytime shes mentioned my heart drops to the ground and i miss her so so so so much. it shatters my heart the way she never got to confess to toge herself, they deserved so much better ☹️☹️

and gojo omg. y/n and gojos relationship may be my favourite in the entire series. i love how much they care for each other and the way they’re literally siblings. the photo album ABSOLUTELY killed me, it was so thoughtful and so sweet and fr the best gift you can ever give someone. it makes me really sad that its probably the last thing she’ll ever get from gojo (if the story goes there (PLS DONT IM GONNA SOB AND SCREAM))

all in all, i absolutely loved this chapter but it felt like the calm (if you can call it that really) before the storm and im so not ready for the next chapter. it kills me that pi is ending so soon, i’ll miss it so much and i’ll miss all the characters and inside jokes of the book, but im still really excited to know what happens and see everything get revealed (im gonna be screaming crying shaking and dying on the floor)

toge and panda the forgotten favs 😫 i’m like 99% sure that’s the last time we’re going to see those two and they’ve been there since the BEGINNING so it was so bittersweet writing that chapter 😔 but HANAAA i love her sm she deserved sm better from the fandom and from gege as a whole i will always defend her. the whole trend of female characters obsessed with the male main characters that dgaf abt them is so annoying and disappointing to me tbh especially because hana had so much potential to be such an interesting character given her powers and dynamic with angel. so i tried to expand on her just a little bit!! maybe in another fic i’ll focus on her more because she really is so cool.

YUTA IS SO SWEET he is THE boyfriend of all time like the biggest gentleman ever i love him sm 😢 he’s just so kind and loving and ugh i can’t

maki and y/n really do escape definition tbh. like i couldn’t tell you WHAT they are but whatever it is it’s a very very pure form of love and they are so dear and important to me. their relationship (along w y/n and yuta’s ofc) definitely exemplifies the core of pi and idt the story would be the same without it at ALL

the tullia mentions are so sad for me too because i’ve actually never killed her off before so it’s weird to write something without her there in some way shape or form. her and toge deserved sm more than they got fr.

GOJO AND Y/N. that’s it that’s the sentence…as much as the romance in pi is central to it i think the bond between gojo and y/n is just as important. they kill me every time because they didn’t get as much time as they deserved together (#l/nclanslander) but they still love each other more than anything. the photo album had me sobbing especially describing all of the pictures from the first half of the story 😭 it felt so end credit scene if that makes sense?? and just reminded me that this entire ridiculous journey is almost over ☹️ no spoilers for what will happen to everyone hehehe you will have to wait and see

THIS CHAPTER TRULY IS IT. the calm before the storm the last time we see everyone…it truly will be the end of an era once pi is over (which is so so soon) i’m going to feel so empty for a bit and it’s going to be so odd to not be able to write more adventures of the pi crew (but at least that means asftd and h/h can get back to being updated regularly again!!)

#answered asks #pomegranate ink

[iamacolor]

hii king's affection anon again! I'm all caught up with the show (well except ep 14 😭) and I'm absolutely loving it sm!! dami is one of my favourite leads I've encountered so far. she's just soooo good?? the way we have a female lead who's strong AND vulnerable? literally the most amazing thing everr. also also park eunbin is just SUCH an amazing actress. you can see everything she's feeling and it's crazy (saw her first in do you like brahms and I absolutely love that show, she was flawless there as well)

and about jiwoon, I'll be honest I put of watching this drama firstly bcs it was a historical but also bcs I wasn't the biggest fan of rowoon 😭 especially after the disaster sunbae dont put on the lipstick was shcj but he definitely won me over this time!! he has improved soo much acting wise and his character is a great great love interest for dami.

also I enjoyed the little thing with the late King and gaon sooo much. like ik the king wasn't the best person ever but for him to remember gaon/eunseo and help him out was actually vv sweet

anyways im sorry if this was unnecessary

hi anon!!!! there is absolutely no need to apologise omg i was wondering if you had caught up with the show yet and hoping you'd send your thoughts!! i love reading other people's thoughts (one of the main reason why i make edits is so i can read people's tags lol) and talking about mine (this ask is about to get long) so there is no unnecessary ask don't worry 💜

i'm with you when it comes to dami, i think she's on of my fave leads so far if only because her set-up is so unique and tragic and it really puts her in such an interesting position, one that female characters usually don't get to be in and it's so interesting. i'm glad we got to see her as a child and then as an adult so we could see how she had become cold and had closed herself off to protect her lie and at the same time see how she had grown into the position of crown prince and was able to be commanding and smart and to genuinely care for her people and for her position. i love that she never feels like she doesn't deserve to be crown prince or king or to have power, she knows she can since she's be trained and educated for it and she's so good. but she has such hidden depths, so many things she's never fully experieced because she's never lived as herself (she's honestly such a tragic character) and at the same time she is fully the king now. i hope she gets to find who she really wants to be though and live as she wants one day, without having to look over her shoulder all the time and not being able to trust even her physician. i'm so glad she's not alone anymore (of course she always had a few people on her side with whom she has wonderful relationships) because she can truly show herself to jiwoon and rely on him.

and yes park eun bin is absolutely wonderful!! she's so commanding as hwi and yet so vulnerable all the time and you can always see that she never really releases the tension that her character carries and her eyes are so expressive. i had seen her before in do you like brahms and in age of youth s1 and so i was really curious to see her in this and she has such an impressive range, it's a pleasure to watch her performance honestly and to see how she's making choices to portray this woman passing as the most powerful man of her country.

sldkjfdkh i have not seen sunbae don't put on that lipstick but some of my mutuals watched it and from what i heard i'm not surprised it put you off lmao it seemed to be a very lacking show generally. i have only seen rowoon in extraordinary you before where i thought he did very well (clearly he was the perfect haru) so i was curious to see more of his acting in another tragic romance with impossible odds lol - with extraodinary you because of the genre of the show and the setting of his character he really didn't get to explore as much as he does in the king's affection - his interactions were reduced to very few characters and he also didn't even talk at first lol. so i'm really impressed with his acting here especially because his character is kind of a tricky one since he's put into such conflicting situations but he shines in comedic scenes and in emotional ones as well, it's really nice to see

and yes!! i'm glad we got a scene between gaon and the late king - showing once again that the king was looking back on some of the choices he'd made or things he'd let happen and the regrets he has but also allowing gaon to show more of himself and now i'm really curious about what he's going to do since killing the king was his main goal for so long

#the king's affection #anonymous #i've got mail

[morwensteelsheen]

farawyn and borodred for the ship ask game thing?

thank you so much!! :)

okay i’ll start with borodred because for some unfathomable reason i actually got there first —

1. What made you ship it?

One of my favourite Types of ships is the Elder Statesmen Of War-type set-ups, where it’s less about people brought together through theatrical romantic gestures and more about the steadiness of people who are going through similar (immensely difficult) circumstances, who know that in their hearts they’re always going to put their duty to that cause first, but still seek out human comfort in other people who will understand what their priorities are and why.

I think there’s also a lot of similarities about the kind of helplessness they both face despite having this tremendous innate strength. Both of them still have to deal with family dynamics that are complex (made more complex by the war) and that can’t be fixed just by their own sheer will power; both of them die these utterly unnecessary deaths (not that death makes a ship but I think in this instance it actually points to the constant tragedy these guys face); and both of them are meant to be the principal figures of their families and people and are ultimately sidelined by the cruel mechanisations of war and the forward march of history or whatever wanky term there is for it — my apologies to ep thompson's ghost, dont haunt me bro.

Plus there’s obviously the interesting thread raised when Faramir starts bitching about Gondor and likens Gondor (and by very explicit extension, Boromir) to Rohan. That always made me go ‘Hmmmmmm, wonder what else Boromir liked about Rohan,’ lmao.

Anyways for me the ship is the equivalent of Star Wars’ Kanan and Hera or (my OTP to end all others) Luke and Wedge, just people getting by on love and duty and without big ol fancy romance.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

The fanon, I think, really makes it, as with so many other LOTR ships. battlefield manners, by themightypen is essentially the definitive take for me on them — these two guys who are just so fucking exhausted, man, but still overcome by defensive love for their families, even if their (foster-)siblings are naïve fools. That I just love, love, love. Plus I think they’re unique for their ability to pretty comfortable explore the relationship between Gondor & Rohan in advance of the Ring War without having to stray too far into AU, which I always appreciate.

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

Not really, tbh, except in that I don’t think Boromir is necessarily as laddy as people like to portray him. I’m happy to play into it in, say, my modern AUs because I think that’s a fun and sweet niche for him, but I am a bit 🤪 about Boromir as this kind of reckless, drunken playboy (not least because I think that’s a much funnier niche for Faramir to fill, at least when he’s younger). Chapter Four of Swaddledog’s Hearts and Minds gets my preferred Boromir characterisation absolutely spot on, I think.

And now, sigh, the ultimate OTP, Farawyn —

1. What made you ship it?

For starters, I think I am obsessed with Éowyn in a way I’ve never quite been obsessed with any other fictional character. I came to reading LOTR at this moment in my life where I was intensely frustrated about everything — trapped inside permanently (helplessly!) because of the pandemic, just starting a new political organisation that I truly believed in but that was still making me feel like shit, facing down an untenable about of work, and, fundamentally, really, really hating being a woman and what that means. And along comes Éowyn, who is bitter, who is cold, who is ANGRY, and who doesn’t perform joy or softness or gentleness just because people expect her to. She’s this seminal Woman Of War in so many ways, I think the kind of person a lot of us wish we could be. She’s got her emotional taps cut off at the source, she holds her head high and faces down unimaginable personal and political terrors, and at the end of it all still has this abiding love for her family that, I would argue, is almost unparalleled by anyone else in the book.

After all that, she gets this incredible moment of emotional catharsis (or what we expect to be emotional catharsis): “no living man am I!” She undertakes THE greatest martial act of the Ring War, and in that moment there’s this unbelievably sophisticated dialogue happening about gender (“Éowyn it was, and Dernhelm also”), and leadership (Merry finding his courage not because of the immediate scenario of the Witch-king, but because he’s spurred into it by Éowyn’s presence), and love and care.

And then we learn that no, actually, this glorious act of violence wasn’t the emotional catharsis we thought it would be. She gets to ride to war, she gets to throw herself headlong at death, and in the end that hopeless act of individualism isn’t really what does it for her. She’s still left desolate and despairing, and actually all of her problems haven’t gone away.

And then we need to rewind a bit, because along comes Faramir, who is gentle, and is kind, and does seem to believe in joy, but not because people expect it — actually it's made abundantly clear nobody expects it — but because it’s something quite innate to how he figures the world. And he’s a huge fucking nerd too. I have a lot of thoughts on Faramir’s flaws and why I find them endearing, which I won’t put here, but almost immediately you get this sense of a guy who’s quite melodramatic, good humoured, and very much not made to live in a time of war.

But he’s also clear-headed about war and what it requires (tactically, if not strategically, though that’s a post for another day), but who is kind of cynical and weary of it in his own unique way. And it’s a unique cynicism given his personal circumstances because he’s the second son of The great family of Gondor, he’s apparently — though with some big ol’ question marks hanging about the extent — very able to command some of the elite units in the realm, and what’s more than that, he’s got all these fantastical powers (the light mind reading to start, to say nothing of this apparently magical ability to command animals too. bruh.). By all accounts he should be this brazen hot mess, but he’s not. He’s desperate to claw his way out of this war-torn cage of expectation his people have for how a man should comport himself in time of war. Is it a little naïve? Sure. A little fussy? Absolutely. But does it point to that same desperation that Éowyn has? Yes! But also the practicality, like, neither of them are really enjoying the circumstances they live under, but good fucking god are they both able to Make It Work.

So finally we get to the Houses of Healing and what is the finest and most aggressively romantic writing of LOTR. Seriously, it’s so fucking much. It’s breathtaking. It reminds me quite viscerally of this fabulous quote from Les Mis:

The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.

At some point I will devote more time to talking about the two reasons line, and the blissful Queen of Gondor speech, but I think to me that big, important line is: “And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.”

It’s not about Éowyn changing herself entirely (though, I think, it really does bear mentioning that she does change, and that’s every bit as important to understanding that scene as it is romantic), it’s about Éowyn coming to terms with how to live with herself as herself, and how to live in communion with someone else. She can’t just cut people out anymore, and she can’t just treat them as objects of infatuation as she did with Aragorn, she has to reckon with people as they are. And that’s sort of the moment where I knew I was about to plunge fully off the deep end with these two and never know a moments’ peace again, lmao.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Someone on here once called Farawyn a love letter to women and, by god, yes, exactly that. I love the capacity for emotional intimacy, that is beautiful in ways I can’t express. To me, though, my favourite thing is the promise of life they speak of. Not as in oh they shag loads and have babies (though not opposed to that, obviously), but in the sense that unlike Aragorn and Arwen, who are always going to be buried under/burdened with the crushing weight of history and tradition, Éowyn and Faramir are going out yonder those hills and they’re going to do some real cottagecore farming shit. Obviously with all the trappings of rank and nobility and whatnot, but they, unique to anybody else in the books, get to sow this new idea of what life should be. They are, outside of Aragorn, the single most powerful people in Gondor. Éowyn’s got the ear of a king, a steward (which is essentially a prime-ministerial deal here), and functionally her own prince (if the hobbits are to be believed when they refer to it as essentially hers). I suspect that, in life, there were remarkably few arguments she wasn’t winning, and that Ithilien probably trended towards the jumped up noble hippie camp Tolkien so desperately wanted Oxford to be (or, in other words — Cambridge, lol).

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

Yeah, man, everybody stop treating Faramir like he’s a big fucking crybaby and Éowyn like she’s some kind of shrieking 2010-era tumblr girl.

One of the single most important lines defining Faramir’s character is when Denethor roasts his ass for always trying to appear noble and lordly, if you ignore every other piece of textual evidence we have about him, what part of that line makes you think Faramir’s some simpering daisy? And why would you want to link tremendous emotional intelligence and care with being too limp-wristed to function, lol??? Like I struggle loads with writing Faramir, because I have never once in my life tried to be noble or self-restrained, so find it hard to get into that mindset, but better, I think, to imagine him too closed off than to do this wilting flower song and dance lmao.

And stop making Éowyn out to be this over-emotional angst machine. She’s got problems, yes, and she’s sure as shit got a lot of angst, but at almost every point in the book where we’re overtly dealing with her emotions, she’s sublimating them into something else. One of the most serious times we see her cry is when she’s fighting with Aragorn about riding out, and after that moment she literally tries to kill herself. Those tears aren’t standard, man, that’s a real watershed (lol) moment for her. You have to read around what the text is saying to get a better feel why everybody’s constantly calling her cold and distant.

#god this is probably obnoxiously long because i can't do cuts on my phone #but refuse to open the tumblr website on my laptop lmao #faramir #éowyn #boromir #théodred #farawyn #borodred #god sorry for these fucking tags man im just trying to make my blog slightly more organised #i just have a lot of thoughts #i should really write more metas it would probably help my writing out quite a bit #asks #meta

[jubberry]

oohkay let's go tua with those ship asks: fiveya, horrance and alluther.

thanks el i love you

Send me a ship and I'll answer three questions based on if I ship it or not.

fiveya obvs i ship this since this is 90% of my tua drawings lol

1. ill wait ill wait (to be the one) by georgiestauffenberg made me ship it cause holy fuck dude. I dont know if i ship them romantically when i saw them onscreen cause first of all, age difference is kinda weird lmao. Second, they dont rlly interact much outside literally the first couple of eps. But he was so soft for her, and i felt like they had so much unexplored history.

so i looked at fanfics cause i was wondering if ppl still ship it, then i liked the description of this one so i gave it a go.

Basically the premise is that vanya dates a much older man who seems to know a lot about her. And it was amazingly in character and just provided their characters some depth that u wouldnt find outside of a romantic relationship between them. (The implication of five pining while she doesnt know who he is, their missed chances when he time travelled, fives missed chances of living and having a 'normal' life bec of his own hubris, vanyas insecurity and being able to open up bec shes with someone whos known her since childhood). Its so sweet and thats how i was like, oh yep i can do so much more with these two, and what has kept me interested in drawing them etc.

2. My favourite things are the shippers cause i made some friends in the fandom who are super cool and supportive! I dont get super involved in fandoms and usually just watch from afar so finding people to talk to and muck around with in this tiny fandom is super cool 😭

Though thats not to say I havent come across some bad apples in this fandom and things that I dont like. I think thats the importance of carving out a place for yourself and ur friends in fandom tho.

Another thing I like about the ship itself, i just like the grumpy person whos soft for one person trope. Its so cute. I like all the little clues in canon on how their relationship as kids is quite warm, which is interesting cause five is basically the star student and he can be quite cold vs vanya who is the black sheep of the family.

I also like how five likes her powers even when she caused the apocalypse he spent the majority of his life in lol. Like its a popular hc that five is just a wife guy and i love that.

I see vanya as the type who has a lot of love to give, and she sometimes has unrealistic expectations of what her partner can give. Betrayal and lies really angers her, but also when her partner cannot meet her expectations of love she gets very upset bec its also an indication of how shes not good enough, or not loveable enough to be able to have this in the relationship (her insecurity means every failing always comes back to her, even if its out of her control).

I feel like five would be a level-headed person enough in the relationship to not be afraid to say 'vanya ur being stupid' (ie. the s2 confrontation lmao). Also, five's personality means she will never have to doubt his actions bec she knows hes the type who will not give u the moment of the day if hes not interested.

Not to mention they also have the whole apocalypse vs. saviour, hero/villain thing. Theres just a lot to explore!

3. I probably have several. But mostly I dont mind five being a dick to vanya bec first, even if the appeal is hes soft to her hes already kind of a dick in canon lmao. Also, vanya isnt a child. Shes grown and she can handle petty af things like five telling her shes not good at cooking lol. I also dont mind it cause I feel like people are getting too afraid to write... conflict for fear or portraying an abusive relationship or smth. Like, chill. Conflict is fine, resolving it is how u get a story. However in saying that, nobody should be obligated to write any way unless you want to! Fanfic is for comfort so if what your doing is making u happy then its good enough!

horrance which i also ship but i love the platonic and romantic relationship equally:

1. I came in tua in general not shipping anything so Im honestly not sure. I do remember someone doing a meta before s2 came out that was basically how ben acted weird when klaus summoned dave in s1 that made me go 👀 Otherwise, tua s2 rlly made me like them cause tua FED horrance shippers. Like..... the fact that klaus didnt want ben to leave him, and ben knows thats why he stayed 😢 or the fact that klaus was all over him for some reason???? Somebody also mentioned gay ben once and I resonate with that deeply. Like i get that jill exists but i resonate with gay ben deeply.

2. I love their bickering, theyre so cute together. I just like ben being angry bec hes self aware that hes got both shit and amazing taste. Shit bec he cant believes he likes Klaus (and also amazing also bec Klaus). I think the idea of them being kind of underdogs, theyre not rlly leader types and dont want to be, helps them bond together even in platonic horrance. They're both down to earth, and even tho they can annoy each other, they also know if they want a space to feel comfortable its with each other. Theyre not pressured by rivalry over leadership, or any sort of competition.

I love the idea that even tho ben is like klaus's ''conscience'', hes also down for chaos and bitchy. I feel like klaus rlly enabled that side of him, its not exactly a good thing but its p funny lol

3. I know some people think their dynamic is unhealthy but i dont care lol

alluther. So id say i dont ship this, mostly due to the fact that im not invested? Just like all tua ships so far I rlly came out not wanting anything but platonic relationships cause I feel tua doesnt do romance very well. With alluther, theyre so cute but im not super invested in either of their chars so they havent stuck for me. I appreciate seeing them and talking about them tho, and I'm def open to exploring them further.

1. I think tua canon romances are just so lackluster 😔 Idk who writes the romances but I was just like 'nice' but afterwards I dont really think about them. I love their dance scene and the message behind it! Otherwise, theyre sweet like most of the tua romances but im not super invested, same with all the non canon ships.

2. I really feel like tua needs to decide on what their relationship is. Like, just say its incest or not and stick with it 👀 Or if you wanna support it or not, just make up ur mind. I think I would've liked it better if I found the characters more interesting. Allison especially I feel like suffers from the fact that tua just doesn't want to make her ''mean''. They want to make her supportive and are less interested in making her flawed (ie. she should've had a conflict with Vanya in s2, but the writers didnt want to write the girls fighting which is stupid imo and not what that conflict is about).

In regards to Alluther, the scene where Allison gets annoyed at Luther for sleeping with someone else felt out of line. Like, how are you marrying other people and moving on but Luther isn't allowed to? But honestly, I don't mind if they actually just acknowledge it and make it a deliberate part of Allison's trait that Allison can expect a certain loyalty automatically from other people (which can tie in to her childhood being a star, and the rumour).

Luther is a big simp for Allison, which is sweet, but at the same time it would be nice to have him explore himself for a bit, and who he is outside of the academy. Then maybe they can rekindle their relationship again as new people and see where they go from there.

3. I don't hate them, but they're ok. I'm not super invested in them, just like all the tua canon romance. But I wouldn't mind making content for them if I were a bit more invested in their characters. I love their dance scene in s1 and I feel like its super a underrated portrayal of what their relationship is meant to be. I know no one talks about it but it's just such a great scene, and I'm pretty sure the choreographer was into interpretive dance? The scene had a lot of meaning that I don't see people dig around with.

Essentially I'm pretty sure the fairy lights are obviously a throwback to their childhood together, spending time outside of Reggie. So the dance scene kind of symbolized that pocket of space they made for each other in their life (even if theyre far away, or with other people, they will always have that space for each other).

The way they danced was more like playfighting than dancing, which means their relationship isn't sensual. It's more ''pure'', and romantic. Its basically two kids rekindling their love as adults. I also think this is a response to the incest, cause in s1 tua klaus literally said that 'thank god Regg is not their real father' right before Allison and Luther meet lmao. So its kinda like saying Allison x Luther isnt supposed to be 'ohh step sibling hot' but two people who experienced the same trauma as kids and finding comfort with each other (and rekindling that love after many years).

#harcest #fiveya #horrance #i dont think this is anti alluther but i did say i dont ship it #cause im not invested in tua canon romances #i wont tag just in case #ask game #THIS GOT SO LONG

[theunconcernedembalmer]

what’s the issue with elisop? is it just bc you hc aesop as ace? im so concerned by seeing ppl adamantly opposed to mlm/wlw ships but im also genuinely curious about why you dislike it and other lgbt ships so much lol

hmm. that is a strong accusation, n i find it just a bit odd. are you new here? or perhaps you are taking personal offense at my dislike towards a favourite ship of yours and using the lgbt argument as moral high ground?

whatever the case may be, i thank you for asking. if u r truly looking for an answer, its below the cut n it is very very long. mind u these are all my personal opinions n i am in no way policing how others enjoy ships. just in case this wasnt clear; i dont wish to start discourse on this blog, especially since my takes are probably... unpopular.

firstly i would like to address the “disliking lgbt ships” bit, because this has very strong implications in itself. i have nothing against lgbt ships. i enjoy them, even. if the two characters have chemistry between each other, i ship it. however, the moment characterization is broken for the sake of romance, i lose interest. this is generally my stance on ships in general, n this applies for both straight n lgbt ships. 

the ships themselves are fine. however, i do have issues with the ship dynamics, so ill let u in on that.

i want to touch on mlm ships in particular; i believe u are familiar with the top/bottom dynamic that is rampant in these kinds of ships? (i wont deny that this dynamic can be found in other types of ships, but for arguments sake i will be focusing on gay ships because i feel that this occurs more commonly here) its such a popular dynamic that is prone to stripping the personality from one if not both characters, only for them to be reduced to being dominant/submissive. for a character to be pigeonholed into a stereotypical category based on... preferred sexual positions? its just downright insulting, never mind the larger more problematic implications of it. top/bottom is not indicative of someones personality, by the way. flattening multi dimensional characters into these stereotypes is so so so insulting.

unfortunately this is The Most Popular portrayal of just about any gay ship around. ive seen it being used everywhere in so many fandoms n it just about becomes apparent to me that ppl come to stories looking for a Ship. not the stories, nor the characters, just a ship. while id like to say theres nothing wrong with that, keep in mind not everyone is just looking for 2 characters that look pretty next to each other. if i ship something, i see interesting n meaningful interactions between 2 characters, which is so often not the case once u bring in the top/bottom dynamic. why is it so popular? because somehow this is what ppl like from a gay ship n hence it sells. ppl want the drama, characterizations be damned. ppl want to see the big kiss that happens in the end, n maybe the sexy parts that come after. characterizations be damned.

so u can say im a little wary of gay ships when they cross my feed. hell, as a joseph aesop shipper i see this trope everywhere n im pretty disappointed as well. small tangent but i feel like this is the reason why zh0ngli n ch1lde is so popular in g3nshin. i try to see the appeal, i really do, but after a long while of analyzing their respective characters i dont think they have as much chemistry as ppl think they do. dont even get me started on how incredibly ooc they make either of these very interesting n unique characters in ship portrayals. all because of the top/bottom dynamic that ppl want to see. i say this for that particular ship, but this is pretty much the case for a lot of ships out there, n the latter part is painfully true even when the 2 characters do have potential between each other. ill say it again im disgusted by the blatant disrespect to the characterizations if all ppl ever want is 2 pretty puppets to mush lips together. cos thats what theyre essentially reduced to this way.

n its so obvious to see when an artist subscribes to this rhetoric, because u can so clearly see it in the way they draw their characters. the “top” generally has sharper features to go with their “dominating personality”, while the “bottom” has disturbingly softer, feminine, dare i say sometimes child like features “to submit”. n thats where the uwu soft gay trope comes from, i believe. which, in case u still dont know, i hate with a burning passion.

so again for ppl with impaired reading comprehension, im fine with ships, including lgbt ones, but the moment u break characterization for the sake of the ship, im not that okay with it. u want to do it for a short crack comic? fine. but if thats the only way ur portraying the 2 characters then im immediately wary of ur content. ill still look at it cos usually the art is really good, but im very very wary. so im not “adamantly opposed”, just very critical of how the ships are being portrayed. if other ppl want to enjoy their ships like that, sure. just dont expect me to join in on something i dont agree on.

.

now id like to address not shipping “because i hc aesop as ace”. for ppl who are new to the blog (hello there), im an ace in a romantic relationship, so thats definitely not the reason i dont ship elisop. its more of being in a relationship has largely shaped my views towards romance as a whole. even before i met my boyfriend, i hated the romance genre in stories n media. most of it comes off as incredibly forced, especially those love triangles they seem to love putting into teen novels. thats one reason why i stopped reading when i was younger, but i digress.

did i partake in shipping when i was younger? i did. for a gay ship too (if anyone really wants to know, its kurotsukki from haikyuu. at least this was one that i can remember, i was mostly working on my 20 odd ocs for the longest time). i also used to write little short romance ficlets that i never posted anywhere cos i hated (n still do hate) my writing. but writing romance when u dont have experience was really just a way of projecting n probably a way of coping for myself, not that i knew at that time. but after i actually started a relationship with my boyfriend (whom i love n cherish a lot thank u very much), i began to see how much all these have skewed my views towards romance n have actually done some harm to our relationship. the bullshit that the general media feeds u constantly doesnt help in the slightest either.

quick topic shift to elisop in particular (about time, right?). i already stated that i only ship characters if i sense chemistry between the two personalities, n if u have seen the part where i dont ship elisop then u must have seen how agonized i am over not being able to have a concrete personality for eli. that is the main problem i have with elisop: eli does not feel like a solid character to me. n that is a huge problem, because if he doesnt have any defining characteristics besides being mild n nice, then he can be whoever i want him to be. (i have done this in my exorcist comics, i will admit this. n the fact that i can just do that... it really does not sit well with me personally.)

n that is dangerous.

back to young me doing lil ship things. i think its also pretty safe to say when u really do ship 2 characters, chances are u kinda really relate very very hard to at least one of them. that very quickly can turn into projecting, n shipping therefore is not “exploring the relationship between 2 characters” n it becomes “my preferred dating simulator 101″. of course this isnt always the case, but at least it was for me, n subconsciously it might be for lots of ppl too. n since this is ur mental playground, u call the shots, n there is no consequences if u slightly (or even entirely) alter one or both personalities to fit ur desired narrative. n u wouldnt even notice or know, cos ur blind to ur own biasness.

we bring our perceived notions into real life, im sure u know that. so when ur partner does not become that perfect knight in shining armour, or when they get upset at things that u do (which is a very normal thing by the way), n u think (very subconsciously), That isnt what my otp would do, something is wrong here (nothing is wrong, actually its just ur skewed perception of a stable romantic relationship). why wouldnt ur otp do this? because u are both halves of ur otps, there is no hidden secrets between them (apart from the pining part but thats irrelevant), n again they have been altered to fit ur preferred narrative. 

a real relationship requires a lot of communication between parties, because newsflash, liking someone doesnt mean that u have to like every single thing they do, they will make mistakes n it will hurt u, n guess what, the reverse is also true. if u do go with absoutely anything that they would do with 0 objections whatsoever, ur not crushing on someone, ur idolizing them, n that power imbalance is detrimental to a relationship. these things are not obvious to ppl, especially when the whole climate is hell bent on getting into romantic relationships by a certain age or some bullshit. communication is key n is pretty much the only way to solve relationship issues, because the other person has a lot that u r not seeing n vice versa. as similar as 2 ppl can be, i doubt u can have 100% the same thoughts on all things. i dont make the rules.

so in ur mental playground u focus on the fluffy parts, maybe there is communication, but rarely is there any meaningful conflict. thats unrealistic, n if u bring that mindset to an actual relationship, thats not going to end well. i say meaningful conflict, because yes, generally u shouldnt have conflicts with ur significant other. but inevitably when ur with each other for long enough, u will realize that there are habits that u must change in order to be with the other person. habits that are harmful to the other person directly, or harmful habits towards yourself that indirectly harm the other person. these are meaningful in a sense that if left alone, it will manifest into larger problems that will harm u, the other person n the relationship as a whole. its meaningful to the relationship.

all these is made even worse if ur neurodivergent. maladaptive coping practices, self sabotaging behaviours, inherent disabilities. all these must be adjusted n addressed. im so incredibly thankful for my boyfriend for being incredibly patient with me when working all these out, n it has not been easy for me to work on myself n all my problems, n im still not done working on them. this aspect is often not explored in romance in general (or properly), n there is a very good chance i would have still been stuck in the unhealthy mindset of “this isnt like my otp, maybe we’re not meant to be”. because loving someone is a choice. no one is made for each other, it is a conscious choice made between 2 ppl to make things work. this is how arranged marriages work, i am told, n i do see the appeal, not that it actually does appeal to me culturally.

special mention to the kurotsukki ship, cos from there i found a very, very good fic that explored their relationship before n after getting together, n it actually showed aspects of this problem in the incredibly slow burn of (at that time) 20+ chapters. it was just one fic (n a very good one at that, i believe it was called Leviticus), but it had a lesson i never thought i needed to learn, n learn it i did, with a lot of help from my dear. 

this is also probably the reason why i dont really want to delve too much into romance now. i know its a lot of work, n everything (mostly) that the media feeds u is really false advertising, but ppl eat that shit up n so it remains one of the most popular genres to date. im just very wary that if i do start on a romantic story, i want to be able to show it in a way like that fic did, the truths of relationships, because i dont want to make something that sells, i want to make something that meaningful to me, if a little indulgent. n that also includes being very careful in how the respective characterizations will change in a relationship. almost too careful now that i think about it, but its not something that i mind. i was never one for romance from the start, n now im very careful about shipping because of what happened to me persoanlly.

okay enough about me, lets talk about aesop. in any au u put the character in, the essence of the character must remain despite the change in environment. so lets say we have ur typical modern au. dead mom, check. shitty mentor doing illegal stuff? also check. autistic boy with social anxiety? we’re good to go. all these have implications on aesop as a character, n while ppl are aware of this, again the way they go about portraying it can go, in my personal opinion, very wrong. ppl who immediately woobify aesop completely because he has autism annoy me. ppl who reduce him to uwu soft boi cos he has social anxiety do not know how the disorder really works n as someone who has that i hate it to the core. ppl who do all these for the sake of ship have lost my respect. its insulting.

remember the top/bottom dynamic? not that elisop is completely free from that (even if i dont know much about eli, to put him in either one of those stereotypes feels very insulting to his character. i wont even say anything about doing it to aesop its so upsetting), but its not entirely made up of either. but now i want to introduce another trope i am very wary of, which is “i can fix him”. im sure u guys have seen the meme going around poking fun at this trope (for those who havent, its along the lines of “u can fix him? well i can be his worst nightmare”) n no doubt yall would have seen it n gotten sick of it in some forced hetero romantic bullshit. we have one damsel in distress with a saviour that solves all their problems just by existing n being romo with each other.

remember “my preferred dating simulator 101″? this is not mutually exclusive n from my point of view this is dangerously close to this trope. lets be real, if it was actually a thing that all ur deep rooted trauma magically disappears if someone were to waltz into ur life, we would want it. definitely. no painfully dissecting ur own problems n constantly facing them head on. real life states that this is not the case, but it will not stop us from dreaming. n so this trope is born n lives n will go on.

(finally) pulling aesop n eli into this, at least in my mind, u have one severely traumatized boy with lots of issues n u have this. nice mild guy who can be anything u want him to be. i hope u can see where im going with this, n thats the direction i see some elisop heading towards (i dont read a lot of elisop to be fair). if u came from my eli character talk, i mentioned that it is incredibly one sided. this is exactly what im talking about.

putting it all together in case u havent already, aesop is the damsel in distress, whose problems magically disappear because of elis godly kindness n little to no work on improving himself, n they lived happily n gayly ever after.

can u tell how much that does not appeal to me. 

never mind the butchering of character that inevitably happens somewhere somehow, the unrealistically perfect themes n implications of this trope makes me so viscerally uncomfortable. this is, of course, due to personal reasons, n i definitely see the appeal of this dynamic because i would probably have been interested in this once upon a time as well. but as i am now, with everything i have explained up there n everything i have been through, i would politely rather not.

n its difficult to think of another dynamic, because of how little i know about eli apart from him being this saint, which easily makes him a candidate for being aesops trauma panacea. never mind aesop rarely, if ever, does anything for eli as a character in return, n its so damaging to buy into this rhetoric, where a person like this who would solve all ur issues no strings attached exists somewhere in the world. they really dont. a relationship has to be mutually benefitting, or it will be draining n disastrous. maybe u say, Oh its nice to imagine it once in a while. n yeah, i agree, except once in a while is a little difficult to keep track of n that is sort of what happened to me. id rather stay as far away as possible from this kind of unrealistic fantasy, i just got this shit sorted out with myself n my boyfriend.

i have some other reasons, but theyre more personally problematic, so i wont go into them here. but this is mostly n generally why i do not ship elisop romantically. if u do, u do u, and have fun, but again dont expect me to join u. thank u for coming to my ted talk, this took a lot longer than expected.

#mun rambles #its me the mun #unconcerned ramblings #posting this now cos this is a question ive been getting #although this has been worded in the most unnecessarily passive aggressive way possible that i do not appreciate #im wary about all u so called social justice warriors championing this n that liberal idea when all u want to do is stir shit #thankfully i dont have much experience with this but just passively seeing all these ppl run their mouths is getting very annoying #but just know that i will not tolerate any of that bullshit here. because if u really do care about ppl as much as u say u do #then why r u attacking ppl period #ur really just hiding behind a righteous excuse to harm people. thats disgusting. i dont want u here

[skunked-up-kicks]

I’ve noticed you ship Neil with a lot of people, not just Andrew. I’m also someone who when I’m obsessed with a character I tend to imagine a lot of different potential dynamics in different au’s and multi-ship even when I love the canon romance, so when I see someone else do that I’m always really interested by how they think about it. Could you list all the pairings you like involving Neil and like why/how you enjoy them, can even be by degree (if you want I get if it’s a weird ask lol)

i adore you for sending this anon, fair warning: this is likely gonna be long! i would also like to clarify: NEIL IS DEMISEXUAL❗❗i think he would need to develop a very strong relationship with these people before becoming interested.

neil/andrew: this ones obvious- the mutual understanding? the respect? the communication? the trust? the honesty? both being weirdos? the keys? love that shit. they are without a doubt my all time favourite couple and likely always will be. not to go on forever about these two.. but seriously, one major factor is just how.. accepting of the other they are. especially neil towards andrew who is very misunderstood and judged by many of the other characters consistently. they are the picture of unconditional love to me. that and also the fact that they are very unconventional all just makes me so happy. 🧡 (i would like to add: also, in love with the concept of queerplatonic andreil. and raven!neil x andrew is FUCKING SUPREME)

neil/robin: she's neil's best friend and nora said they do absolutely everything together, attached at the hip. she said the bond between them is unbreakable. and honestly? i see some similarities between crossten and andreil in those aspects. neil sticks up for her when the other foxes bully her. wymack says he is a worse influence on her than andrew ever was lmao. unlike andrew, i think robin would be more open to pda, i still don't think they would kiss in front of people cuz thats just my personal taste but i think they hug A LOT. and i think robin after games will often run and jump into neil's arms 🥺 they are my second favourite ship and i honestly imagine neil dating both robin and andrew at the same time. i've spent way too much time thinking about a poly relationship between the 3 of them.

neil/dan/matt: admittedly i like the neil/dan side of things more than the neil/matt side but i still think they would make a good couple. dan and matt seem to care very deeply for neil (and for each other, and he feels the same way about them) they are so supportive and i think they could really bring out a lot in him.

stay with me on this one okay, neil/seth: ok, i read the ec about how seth and neil used to be close and how seth wears neil's original jersey number and my heart just,, ugh it hurt ok. i've read a few fics where they are friends and i've just fallen in love with their dynamic. i think they have the potential to rlly help each other develop.

neil/allison: you know how everyone talks about the potential of allison and andrew being good friends? because they are so similar?? that's why i love neil and allison together, cuz those ppl arent too far off the mark. further more, neil and allison friendship fics are SO popular. she will literally kiss him, link arms, sit on his lap- i mean omg. they are so close in these fics to dating so i often just imagine they are. neil seems to have so much respect for her in canon and i think that's something ppl dont often give her and i love that about them. there's this one neil/andrew/allison fic that i read which was amazing so i ship that too.

neil/jean: this is much more limited to raven!neil aus where their dynamic is much more interesting and more explored. the fact they would be partners and grow up together... it just... i love it. the fic that really sold me on them is Black As Is The Raven, He'll Get A Partner. (sorry if i remembered that incorrectly) spoiler alert: they don't get together, it's an andreil fic BUT their relationship in it is so fleshed out and its beautiful. canon jean and canon neil i'm much less interested in tbh.

further on from that: in the same fic, theres these ocs called meg and marley and I LOVE THEM. they get recruited to the ravens and are harassed by many of them so neil makes a deal with riko so he (and jean) can be the ones to train them so the others leave them alone. and the dynamic between the entire group, meg, marley, jean and neil is amazing. i ship all of them together i'm ngl.

those are all the ones i can think of rn. just an extra note: any ship that doesn't involve andrew its guaranteed that i imagine neil dating andrew at the same time as he is dating the ppl in the ship.

#i have SO MANY thoughts about neil/robin/andrew #my head is full of them. #also. anon. my beloved. thank you so much for this ask! i wanna hear about what u ship!!! im glad im not the only one who acts like this #andreil is still superior ofc 😌😌 which is why neil MUST be with andrew no matter the context for me #aftg #ask #mine #i actually have more neil x ppl ships oop- #i like him with jack too 😳😳🥴 enemies to rivals to lovers who? #and if im being perfectly honest i kinda like him with nicky too.. my only issue is that i dont want neil dating nicky and andrew at the #same time. cuz thats a bit off for me #uhm.. neil x marrisa too.... #thou ive thought less about them. i dont think it would be a permanent thing... idk? #occasionally. neil x ichirou will pop into my head.. they could rule the mf mafia together bitch. #some fics make them good friends and im like 👀 #if anyone else ships any of these uuh lemme know so im not alone :')

[spookyvalentine]

💫, 🌻, 🌼, and 🌺 for Mercy?

💫What is your favourite fact about this character and why?

I don’t know if I’ve got a favorite because I love mercy too Much, but. that they've got this enviable easiness to their physicality. think about the kid when you were in high school that was just like. effortlessly capable and athletic. always comfortable. the type that made ugly basketball shorts and soccer shorts look good. and when they land some ridiculous slam dunk, then looks for you and dimples like it was nothing? get the fuck out.

So like. yeah, when theyre bopping along to something with a good beat they’ve got dorkass lil goofy moves. but shit. they can dance. (also here’s the thing. mercy loves folk dances. catch ‘em twirlin your grandparents round the townhall floor)

🌻 What little things do they notice about people or the world around them that make them happy? What tiny little treasures do they find in the normal every day that makes the world seem a little brighter for them?

mercy takes a lot of pictures. of moss growin up trees. flowers, birds, bugs. food, produce stands, buildings, cars. tshirts that made them laugh

while on noveria, shepard stopped to snap pictures of indoor plants, comfortable looking office chairs, geth while they’re still shooting at us commander (and cracking open a lot of safes, Jesus, shepard—) anyway. the next morning Ashley stumbles into the kitchen and sees Shepard already at the table with coffee, buttering a hot muffin and scrolling through their omnitool. They’re reading about all the things they’d photographed the day before. It turns into a space Wikipedia spiral

🌼 Who are this characters friends and found family? How did they meet, how long have they been friends for, could they ever be something more than just friends? What do they look for in a friend or a romantic partner?

kasumi was their first ride-or-die. still is. the two of 'em met at vaguely fifteen in san francisco. mercy got to know kasumi's insanely badass cat burglin' grandmama, leaves the reds because of her, was there for the vinny fiasco at seventeen... two lil criminal peas in a pod. their cackles synch up and feed off each other--'heckle and jeckle,' kasumi's grandmama called them. then at eighteen mercy risks stowing away to the arcturus station on a personal vendetta and is arrested by anderson. they dont see each other again until me2.

before kas were the henry's, royann and jo ellen, and those two women had a profound impact on mercy's life (and their name!) although mercy inevitably makes their way to new orleans for a stay at juvie. once out, the reds take mercy in, support them in new orleans and then takes em out to San Fran

after kas, shepard becomes anderson's ward. they have a rocky start (he did arrest the kid!) but mercy falls into the habit of sending him little tchotchkes during their assignments (did they steal it? was it bought?), and he's the first one they call after akuze. even though they're not legally required to spend their holidays with each other any more, they go scuba diving together still, and are pretty close by the time me1 rolls around

for mercy, the questions to meet as a friend are: are you funny? are you interesting? they don’t need to trust you (only close friendships is it necessary). for the longest time the only thing past friends was wheres the body youre calling me at 3 am friends or you'd been filed under: my child

of the normandy crew (and not counting “the children”), id say their favorites are, in no order: wrex, mordin, chakwas, edi, vega, samara, zaeed and joker

romance is new. it's.. it's really good. mercy is so enthralled by thane they’re left a little bewildered. it’s taking them a while to catch up. they’ll get there. boy howdy do they

🌺 What does your OC do to calm down when they’re scared or after a nightmare? Do they have any special comfort items or need to be reassured by a specific person? How do they handle this if they’re alone?

they don’t need one specific person, but usually won’t turn away company. mercy’s used to handling things on their own. mercy will roll out their mat and practice. sometimes a crewmate joins them and it’s really nice—acroyoga always ends with laughter. if it’s bad, 108 sun salutations. reeeally long shower. break something down into its components. sparring with thane on sleepless nights has been um. really interesting. build a model ship. clean out the inbox n reply to emails.

starting before me1, some nights you’d see the commander drinking (usually tea, sometimes stronger) putting together jigsaw puzzles, and people join them. It can be quiet, private, real late night two heads bent over colored tiles trying to find the right words to fit together or there’ll be a rowdy crowd drunkenly cheering and jeering over the table. it becomes the puzzle table. sometimes crew will add a piece as they walk by. Adams hangs the finished pieces all over the ship

#thank you for the asks 🥺 #like okay you didn’t ask for this #this I got carried away #forgive me #oc: mercy shepard #themshep #mass effect

[kpoptrashlord-007]

If you like horror/supernatural/thriller kdramas then i really recommend The Guest (for horror/supernatural) and also Memorist (for thriller)!!!

Idk if you have seen them, but i think they are great!!! There is no romance in both of them! Some fans like to ship the main characters though, but i personally dont interpret their relationships that way.

Anyway, its good to see you post again, even if its just answering asks ^-^

-qtie anon

Qtie Anon, you came back 🥺 sorry again for disappearing for so long! I hope you've been well ♡

Bb, you know my style! I'm about halfway through The Guest and it's definitely turning out to be a favourite of mine 😍 I haven't watched it in awhile because my sister gets scared easily 🤭 but we're going back to it soon and I'm super excited!! It's 100% my type of show!

Memorist... lemme look that one up real quick...

Oh! This one looks good too! I love serial killers! ... wait, that sounds bad aha~ but seriously, thank you so so much for the recommendations! The Guest is 👌 amazing so I know Memorist will be too, since your taste is great.

It's hard to find shows without a romance subplot (especially since the romance seems to always become the main plot for some reason 🤔) so I'm really grateful that you sent this ask ♡

And I'm happy to hear from you again 🥺 I hope to post again soon, I've just been pretty down and unable to write well.

Thanks for stopping by, Qtie, and I hope you have a magical weekend!! 😗💕

#qtie anon #thank you so much lovely! #hope you're well #kdrama #kdrama recommendations #love that

[wlwkiranerys]

Tuvok! (im back for another one!)

ah thank you <3 Sexuality Headcanon: he’s bi, i think more bi headcanons for characters who have relationships with the other gender are needed, and so tuvok is a bi man in a loving relationship with his bi wife <3 Gender Headcanon: im not sure. vulcans as a whole tend to just give me they don’t really think about gender much so i don’t really know for tuvok A ship I have with said character: we may not ever see his wife (a crime) but him and his wife <3 i love how he is committed to her despite thinking he may never see her again, i love that it is clear he loves her in the way vulcans love people, i love that he is just a good husband and it is clear despite never seeing her, that his wife is important to him  A BROTP I have with said character: him and Janeway. The way Janeway never once treats him being a Vulcan as weird, the way that they clearly have such a deep caring friendship, and the way that it never is anything but that. I love that theyre friends, in the truest deepest sense of the world and the show never hints of any romance because we need more relationship like theirs. I love how they trust eachother, how Tuvok indulges Janeway in her jokes, I love that he sometimes jokes himself. I love that Janeway knows his birthday and doesnt make a big deal of it, because she respects his choice to hide it. It is just so so good, and I care about them so much <3  A NOTP I have with said character: I guess Janeway?? I dont think people ship them ever but if they do I think it ruins them being such good and dear friends to eachother, i love that the most important relationships on Voyager for me are all friendships..its good A random headcanon: i like to think because he sang a lullaby to the children on that planet that he has so many memorized and that he tends to always have fond memories linked to them, they remind him of his children and so he holds them dear. I also like to think Tuvok is that Dad who is proud of his kids and will talk about them when he gets the chance even if the person doesn’t want to hear it <3 he will insist it is only logical that he is proud of his kids <3 also tuvok may not like his birthday being remembered but he will go out of his way to make cakes and find sweet gifts for everyone else’s :) General Opinion over said character: my favourite voyager character. it is so refreshing to see a Vulcan character who is given a deep friendship where his identity is mocked. I love how he is such a good father, that it is so clear how much he cares about his family despite us never seeing them. I love that he gives of the wise father like figure to the rest of the crew, always there with a lesson and advice of someone who has been through life. I love just how much his Vulcan identity is respected. I love that he is such a good and wise and nice person. And I love that he also has no qualms with mind melding?? like it is such a deep personal thing but he seems to always be up for using it and to me it seems because he such trust in other people or such trust in himself that he is okay with allowing people into his mind. It’s good <3

#love you sir #you deserve all the love <3 #thank you again for sending another one :) #.ask #.txt #tuvok #professorabacus

[captain-aralias]

8, 15, 17, 28 for the writer meme, if you didn’t already get any of those

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

i just answered this, but since it’s you, i’ll go for some blake ;) hm.... 

i must say, i think i have written some pretty great dialogue for blake’s 7 in my time. here’s one of my favourite bits - 

“It’s a quality operation,” Vila said. “They wouldn’t skimp on a thing like that. You want a boyfriend, Blake – and I want to go to Del Ten. Give me your promise that we can spend a week there once we find Docholli and I’m your man.”

“Vila, once we’ve found Docholli, we will have the key to finding Star One,” Blake pointed out.

“Are there any dancing girls on Star One?”

“I very much doubt it.”

“Then I’d still rather go to Del Ten,” Vila said.

“Couldn’t you wait?” Blake suggested. “Until after we blow up Star One?”

“After you blow up the Federation’s weather control systems, you mean?” Vila said. “And throw the civilised world into chaos? Right, I’m sure that would be a lovely time to take a holiday. Got any more suggestions like that, Blake? Perhaps I should invest in the stock market at the same time.”

“Two days,” Blake said. “I could give you two days on Del Ten.”

“A week!” Vila repeated.

Blake shut his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He willed himself to find the strength to complete this conversation and make the right choices.

“Oh, Blake,” Vila said kindly. “You really need this, don’t you?”

Blake felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up into Vila’s sympathetic eyes. “Yes,” he said with relief. “I’m sorry, Vila. I don’t want to put you in this position. But I really do need this.”

“You’re going to have to give in then,” Vila told him in the same kindly tone as before. “Unless,” he said, a twinkle in his eye, “that is, you want to ask Avon to be your boyfriend...”

i could have quoted this entire scene - even this is a lot. i love writing blake and avon, i love writing avon and vila, but i really really love writing blake and vila together because there are some lovely moments in canon to draw on. they’re two characters who have very little in common except that they’re both smart. this conversation is about how blake - who almost always gets his own way - now needs something he can’t just demand that vila does, and that gives vila the upper hand repeatedly throughout this conversation. blake, even though he knows this is an awkward conversation and really should be better prepared. 

i also like the different lengths of the dialogue - it has a good patter. 

it’s also funny, and funny because it’s cruel to someone (in this case blake, not usually), which is very blake’s 7. also also - it ends with vila insinuating what is essentially the plot - i.e. that avon will have to pretend to be blake’s boyfriend by the end of the story - and this is a trick that i always enjoy for a section end. the audience is like - oh ho, wouldn’t that be simply TERRIBLE? ;) ;) 

good times.

--

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

hm - not sure. maybe right now ... ‘Hang the Moon’? it’s got a lot of good action that would translate well to film, and i have a very clear idea of how most of the scenes look.

it would be kind of weird, though, right to have a film of a ‘carry on’ fanfic before we have a ‘carry on’ film. so i’m finding it quite hard to visualise. 

i would have loved to have written some dialogue for blake’s 7 people to actually say (assuming they remembered how to do the voices properly, paul darrow). i would be so embarrassed to present paul darrow with my porn, though (although ‘An Apple Cleft in Two’ would be so great, though, as it’s practically a bodyswap - i love the idea of seeing the real stephen pacey pretending to be blake, and paul darrow just being so angry), so it would have to be some sort of gen. 

ok - i think i choose ‘Showdown’ because it basically is ‘Duel’, so I know the Beeb could have staged it. it’s got some mega emotion that gareth would have done beautifully, too - 

Blake extracted his hand slowly from Avon’s. He pressed his fingers against Avon’s wrist and waited, but there was no pulse. He let the hand drop and tried the artery in Avon’s neck, but he knew he was just prolonging the inevitable. Avon was dead.

He forced himself to look back at the man who had been his friend.

Avon looked peaceful. The blood spattered on his face was not his – it was Travis’s and had fallen from Blake’s cheeks like tears. Blake screwed his eyes shut again in an attempt to stop it, and in the darkness Sinofar’s voice said,

“So – the battle is over.”

--

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

i almost always write in order. when i think of a scene that is in the future, i will usually write some notes about it, but try not to write it because i very much build on (in my head? i dont know how much comes through in what gets written) what i wrote before in terms of how people think and feel/i do a lot of dialogue call-backs. 

there are a few occasions where i go ahead and write something that happens later, but then i feel like i really screw myself when i try and go back and write the missing piece. i have to re-write everything i wrote previously to make it make sense... ‘Greener Grass’ actually is an example where i didn’t write out of order on purpose, but i thought i’d start with simon’s section which introduces all the bodyswap stuff fine, but it was too heavy with the bodyswap plot AND the introduction of the agatha-isn’t-here/get simon’s magic back stuff. there was just too much going on.

so then i had to write an intro section for baz, which i thin is good - it frames the story as baz’s story, which i know is what rainbow would want, and gives us calm before the storm ... as well as giving me an opportunity to write the exposition i needed. 

but i had to go back an edit the next section a LOT to make room for it. which i hated. 

28. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

i’ll do two batches. 

blake’s 7: 

x_los is my girlfriend, but i knew her first as an amazing writer. i wouldn’t have written half the things i did for b7 if she hadn’t started writing these epic, involved political stories, and she writes great porn. i really am not interested in david copperfield/uriah heep, but she thinks baz is a cat killer who does not deserve the time of day, so there you go. we’re in different fandoms now. 

elviaprose is not only a great writer (the foot fettish fic is incredible, given that neither she nor i have a foot fettish as far as i know), she’s also really engaged with other people’s writing and i love that. it’s really good fun. 

judith proctor  - i wanted to put in a second generation fan, and i was tempted to go for willa shakespeare (so good, so plotty, so porny) or nova (such pain!), but i have to go for judith. judith taught us all how incredible blake is. her love for this character, and the way that she always writes him as smart but flawed, and attractive to avon because he is smart and principled, rather than for any other reason, is fundamental to any of us reclaiming him for the future. (it’s probably not a surprise that the authors i like really influence me as a writer, but worth calling it out - i am very much saying that as well). Touching Life! so good.

carry on:

we have some amazing writers, thank you fandom <3 three of my very very predictable favourites (the same three, i think, who wrote my favourite fics of last year) are: 

@basic-banshee - what can i say? (insert long pause while i think of what to say.) i mean, we all know Ban is a great writer. it’s a pleasure when the most popular writer in the fandom is also a genius. i love all her secondary characters and that she spends so much time with them. she writes the way i want to - lots of good tropey stuff, great fun AUs, and plotty plotty good plot stuff. also - she always writes the most perfect endings that just make you feel GOOD. 

@sharkmartini - i think we share a lot of the same ideas about what we like in fics i.e. we like the same tropes, we like that baz is a vampire, we think the same things are hot and romantic. i love the way sharkmartini plots this and she always writes great dialogue. also, i do think we owe snowbaz smut to her - maybe it wasn’t the first-first, but ‘Monster Under the Bed’ (which is SO good, honestly still one of my absolute favourite things) seems to have influenced so much of what came after it. 

@krisrix - also an amazing artist, but for me an even better writer. the smut is amazing and sexy while also at the same time being really tender. kris also writes beautiful, long amazing kisses - and again, endings that are so beautiful and tender. also - let us talk about the plotty things! i love writers who mix plot and romance (or even dare i say - smut) because i love to have all the things in one fic. What Stays and What Fades Away is so smart and interesting. and, of course, kris has written my all time most favourite trope - fake relationship.

#my content #carry on

[yeoldontknow]

15, 17, and 18 for the author asks pls!!

hello angel <3333333

going under a cut because i talked a lot lmao

15. why did you start writing? gosh. tbh...i dont really know. ive been writing stories ever since i was a kid. my diaries and journals were full of them. other times it was poetry. but i guess for fanfiction...that too as so long ago. really my first fanfic - which i found this past week when i was visiting my family! - was for sailor moon when i was 8 lmao. but ill keep it for this blog and this fandom. 

i started writing for exo after a 2.5 year writing block hiatus from a different fandom. i was pretty confident i would never write again, and i was in a pretty low place in my life. i thought id grown out of writing fanfiction and i really did accept this like?? i wasnt even...mad? at this time i was in an unhealthy relationship and i was in a low point in my life, so looking back this kind of reaction is genuinely upsetting. given that writing is my form of therapy and something ive just always done, i probably should have been more alarmed than i was. but i fell into exo and there was something...inexplicable...some kind of magic. for the first time in years i felt excited about something, i wanted to make something for it. i avidly read fic for about two weeks and was so excited to be reading. at this time i didnt have a tumblr account, i was just lurking on ao3 and tumblr, reading and reading. at the time, there were lots of vamprie au fics on the platform and they were brilliant but i had an idea for one that didnt seem to exist, didnt seem to relate to any of the ones id read, and it felt important. so i wrote the prologue and first chapter of hero in one sitting. that was the first time id sat down to write in almost three years. i cried a lot after i finished them, because id finally felt like myself again. lmao anyway

17. if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be? does it seem fun? does it seem exciting? when you think about writing, does it feel like a relief? if the answer to those three questions is yes, then you must do it. you must start. the white page is a sea and it feels endless, but you can kill it. youre stronger than it - even your ugly words are stronger than the white page. you will make them pretty, pretty is learned and pretty is born, youre always in control of how things look. and you love control. this is the one place where everything is yours, so make it.

18. were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they? oh god yes. almost shamelessly so. my favourite authors of all time are mark z danielewski and isaac marion - the authors of the house of leaves and the warm bodies trilogy. they have this way of writing that feels like youre reading poetry, like theyve carefully chosen every single word. the sentences arent long or complex, but they have so much emotional impact. their grasp on vocabulary is astounding, and every time i reread their works im floored and emotional because how are there still so many words? and how wonderful is it that words change texture and feeling when theyre put together. words look better when theyre next to the words they like. and even more, both these authors are not afraid. theyre not afraid of confusing their reader, not afraid of hurting their reader, not afraid of hurting their characters. their settings are brutal. the situations are intense, and they make me feel so many things that linger long after ive stopped reading. 

another author i really love is andrew davidson. his book the gargoyle is one of my all time favourite books ever because of its plays on religion and romance and religion as romance. however, i dont talk about it much anymore because its out of print so i dont want to recommend something if people cant find it.

this got so long im sorry lmao

author asks!

#author ask game #hi jae i love you #j-pping

[ightham]

ranking dragon age companions

this is all my own opinion so im sorry if you disagree

1) Dog. there is absolutely nothing wrong with dog. Dog is perfect, and a constant positive force. 

2) Varric. I really wish Varric was romancable. hes charming, attractive, and so good with words. He’s a loyal friend, and always seems to know how to handle things to the best of his ability. He is the type of person to sit and infodump about his friends.

3) Alistair. Alistair is a comfort character and I’m guilty of creating an oc to ship with him. His romance is amazing, but so is just his friendship. Again, a very loyal friend/lover. His awkward, but witty, banter is charming. I wish bioware made him bisexual, because, uh, come on. Seeing a possible zevristair romance if the player doesnt pursue a route with either of them would be extremely pleasing.

4) Zevran. can you see a trend in extremely loyal companions? Zevran’s romance, like Alistair’s, is entertaining and really worth it. He’s quick-tongued and smart-mouthed, unabashedly bisexual, and a very open person to the people he trusts. He speaks his mind, and stabs with his heart. 

5) Cole. Cole is, deep down to his core, a lover. Not in a sexual or romantic way, though. He was made to love. He loves people, he loves animals, plants, things. He receives nothing in return, but gains immense joy in helping. His backstory is that he manifested specifically to comfort a little boy as he was dying. His human route (the only choice in my mind) is powerful, and while i believe the man deserved to die, Cole sparing him was. powerful. 

6) Merrill. Merrill is sweet, cute, and so very powerful. She could take someone out with a wave of a hand, but she wouldn’t unless she believed they deserved it. She has strong morals, a deep love for her clan, and is incredibly smart. She likes to ramble but is self conscious about people being bored of her. 

7) Sera. She is so passionate about so many things, it’s so hard to dislike her. She would be higher on this list if bioware had written her correctly, though. I would have liked her to feel acceptance of her elven lineage and reconcile with mages. Overcoming her trauma is something i’d love to see her accomplish. She’s funny, smart, and her stubbornness is something i really love about her. She is not afraid to speak what is on her mind, be it negative or positive, her boldness sets her apart from a lot of other companions. Sera is a memorable character who deserved so much better. 

8) Dorian. I love Dorian a lot, I repeatedly have romanced him, but unfortunately, his views on elven oppression are disagreeable. His flirty, charming exposition is one of the biggest things I love about him. He’s smart, funny, and witty, and takes good care of his image. 

9) The Iron Bull. I’ve romanced Bull quite a few times. I love his banter, his friendship with the inquisitor, and his chargers (Krem being my personal favourite). He’s open about his sexuality, suggestive with all his jokes, and willing to teach about his culture. 

10) Fenris. I hate that Fenris is so against mages, but i also understand it. I’m a big advocate for mage rights, yes, but Fenris has experienced such recent and intense trauma administered by a mage, it’s understandable that he’s so wary. He’s closed off at first, gets surprised when Hawke flirts, but as time goes on he gets more and more comfortable with sharing his emotions. I can only hope that Hawke and his friends help Fen overcome his trauma properly, and he can finally find comfort in settling down instead of spending his life running. 

11) This number is going to contain all the companions I don’t have any strong feelings for, in no particular order. I feel no strong negative emotions towards them, but they dont evoke interest in me enough to give them their own paragraphs. Leliana, Wynne, Sten, Shale, Aveline, Bethany, Carver, Sebastian, Isabela, Cassandra, Vivienne. 

12) Morrigan. She is interesting and i enjoy her banter, but I am not particularly attached to her. I think her powers and backstory are cool. That’s about as much as i have to say about her.

13) Anders. I believe Anders was thinking the right thing when he did what he did, but he went about it incredibly poorly. He killed so many innocent people, people who most likely turned to the Chantry as a form of comfort from some trauma in their life. Yes! The Chantry is predatory and oppressive! But killing the people trapped in that oppression was NOT the way to get revenge. If the building was empty, sure. Fuck it. Go ahead. But people were in there. There were most likely KIDS in there. Also, he’s incredibly racist to Fenris, and has admitted he believes Fenris deserves to be abused. 

14) Oghren. I do not like Oghren. He is terribly written, his personality sucks, and his backstory is boring. I’m sorry.

15) Solas. Fuck him, I hate Solas more than I could hate any other character. He’s stupid and irresponsible. The dread wolf chose a terrible fucking champion. Fen’Harel, you dumb bitch, I love you, but FUCK Solas with a serrated knife. I hate his stupid bald head and stupid fucking morals. I am NOT sorry for saying this. 

#screech #txt #da #dragon age #long post #text heavy #i didnt proof read this sorry if i misspell anything or dont make sense

[violet-sabres]

Some quick observations re: TROS and some "reylo"musings (spoilers)

- the editing removed A LOT of emotional pay-offs for so many scenes. The decorations and actors change quickly, a bit randomly - in fact it takes a while before this movie finds its tempo and footing. Something weighty happens and no reflection is allowed even in briefest sketch of a reaction. Next scene. Next scene-

- Poe, Finn, Rose and two new female characters were absolutely robbed. Both by the ungodly pace of this movie (there is much potential for scenes that could mean much much more in the whole storyline. As is, they are discarded as soon as they happen). The bond between Finn and Poe got severed in the beginning with some awkward finnrey moments and strange jealousy (was that what it was???) from Poe. I say either carry out the finnrey thread (which was also beautiful actually, though Finn deserves so much better than how she treats him in TROS...) or finnpoe, something which JJ himself built up. Rose should be given an independent arc with no romance involved, or a love interest of her own.

- Rose's infatuation with Finn is never touched. Rose herself is absolutely erased - she is a statist, providing some dialogue with absolutely no weight behind it. JJ treated her terribly - it was his privilege and responsibility to utilize whatever he got from Johnson as he saw fit; but throwing away her potential only underlines the racist sidelining he did to all characters of colour.

- the heteronormativity I can't understand - Finn and Poe are JJs babies after all (and yeah, I know - shareholders...). Why tease hetero relationships for both and STILL leave even them hanging?? Like, he discarded Rose bc first of all racism, second - Johnson's 'leftovers' I guess? Unacceptable. The lady of Poe's was sketched boldly - but still sketched. Her inclusion wouldn't feel so random if Poe wasn't shown to be this randomly emotional abt her all of a sudden. Why now? It felt a bit forced and this is a shame bc she (and Janah, omg Janah...) is super cool. I'd love to read and see way more about all of them.

- Finn and Janah - wonderful rapport, so much empathy and loyalty, they are wonderful together. I definitely could see them together as well - so many threads to explore! There was so much potential to embed meaningful relationships for Finn into the plot. Janah is one of those that felt quite right but deserved more still. She deserves a story of her own. Not for the first time it is a secondary character of colour who carries so much potential and substance and gets sidelined. I dont mind Kylo content btw - but this series was shown to concentrate on 3 people and a villain. Keep to this proportion or perish I say. They didnt keep them and the movie feels unfairly skewed towards the force dyad of Rey and Ren. Hence, robbed. We were robbed of much of quality content here.

- the implication/suggestion that Finn may be Force sensitive held so much promise. I love Finn and Boyega played him with so much passion and dignity. He grew into leadership without pretense or drama, was competent and knowledgeable about the inner workings of the Fleet and found hope he was struggling for. Honestly the problem here is that his prominence was teased to be greater than the actual time and the weight of scenes he was given. This movie should be longer, scene order less abrupt and random - so the characters that were shown to matter in the first part could matter here as well.

- JEDI FINN please. The potential of it was teased - they should scrap some of the scenes and build those kinds of plot points more thoroughly. Finn's arc should be more - but that doesn't mean Boyega played it any other than magnificently. He got what he was given and made it his. I hate that this still means it was not as much as he and Poe deserved it. Same with Rose.

- galactic generals (*husbands) Poe and Finn. It could be marriage, it should be - Isaac played a man in love. I enjoyed this new romantic angle with the spice smuggler lady as well - but it required more buildup. As it was, it made for an awkward and frankly homophobic ersatz for finnpoe plotline of the first and even second movie. I hate wasting the potential of new characters in the movie, and this is what happened here. Also Poe's smuggling past - no previous setup that felt offensive to many bc of its randomness and no previous grounds in existing media. Felt like unnecessary sensationalism here.

- Rey is complicated here. I didnt like her attitude towards Finn and wished for more appreciation of their own idiosyncracies between them. Finn deserved his love (whether romantic or platonic) to be recognized. It was lacking here.

- I loved the fight scenes, the dialogues with Ren that should begin in TFA if they wished for the romance to be acceptably wet up. Driver is so fucking physical and huge, a bit awkward and very strong. To me it was attractive - but to me Kylo always lacked the threat in him when it came to Rey; I know this isnt so for others and respect that.

- Choreography is super effective here, the body work of Rey and Ren is wonderful.

- lighting, the sith locations were one of my favourites

- the creatures - while in the background, theybwere lovely. They made for lusher world out there.

- Palps was eh. Needed for the ending setup, ultimately fell a bit flat. The twist re his endgame would feel better if the whole scene didnt play this fucking quickly.

- the death (you know whose...) is quick and abrupt, passing fleetingly with no real depth or importance. They are rushing to another scene so quickly they forget that if you love somebody enough to accept them fully, this person's death tends to leave some kind of impression. As it is, Rey is hardly the first character robbed of emotional engagement in TROS.

- sigh. Ren. I love to hate him and hate to enjoy him still. Also feeling like a hypocrite bc would I enjoy him if not for my prefernce for how Driver looks like? Would anyone who I respect a bit more than his most fanatical reylo fans? I have no answer really.

I've never seen a character ripped into shreds from so many angles. For incels and dudebros he is a pussy (a lot of girls I know also mentioned that). He is supposedly not cruel enough, not awesome like Vader, whatever.

For others he is a genocidal criminal, and that he is. You can't sidestep Tuanul or his passivity in front of Star Destroyer wiping out whole planets. He is implicated in this genocide - and that scene where he is supposedly mutely watching it from the distance falls flat if its intention was to show he wasn't entirely behind Hux's agenda. He still never stopped him. So yeah, it is obvious that for many he is absolutely undeserving of any empathy, much less a romance plotline with movie's heroine. Especially when the first scenes setting it up were so messed up.

Now I hate the word reylo and I'd rather choke than call myself that. But I did enjoy their enmity and idk love?? towards each other? It should be plotted more consequently and I believe if JJ didn't muck it in tfa people would be a lot less opposed to the whole villain x heroine thing. Nobody opposes it bc of that - it's the torture bed and it's the "whatever I want" line that made so many recoil. It's the absolute lack of coherence at a time where more self awareness was needed from the director of the very first part in the series.

I believe there is a kind of generational divide on topic of their romance. Youve got gen z "antis" who argue about the abuse (and have a lot of good point more reylos should think hard and long about) - and mostly adult to older women (this includes older milennials also!) who grew up steeped in gothic romanticism that, up to gen z growing up, was a dominant romance paradigm in the West.

Youve got your Wuthering Hills, your Pride and Prejudice and Beauty and the Beast. I hate it. I absolutely abhor it, and the more the reylo fandom hammered their whole relationship from this angle, the more I was distancing myself. I believe the whole genre is steeped in toxic masculinity and yes, you can look at reylo from this angle as well - and I understand that when you saw those scenes from TFA, and didn't feel convinced by entirely paradoxal romance teasers (bc JJ mixed them both in equal measure, and thus killed wide enthusiasm for reylo for good) then what happened in TLJ and TROS must look like the embracing toxic hetero romance in entirety. And to some degree it is - entirely by JJs fault. The other elements that you mightve ignored in tfa suddenly get amplified in tlj, in tros and youre left wondering why the hell Kylo Ren could ever be seen as romanceable?

But the thing is, while the analogy of angry white male pursuing a pure young woman seems fitting, it doesnt work for me here. I also acknowledge that it may be in part bc I'm used to the gothic paradigm, attracted to Driver as Ren and feeling safe and assured that Rey would stay herself despite whatever he wanted from her (and she did in my opinion, she never caved even when she loved him). Kylo is white, and he is aggressive - he is a villain, he tortures and hurts Poe and Finn and plays psychological games with Rey, he shouts a lot and is very physical, which in itself looks threatening.

All those could end up somewhat accepted bc he is a villain - people will accept the consequent villain, or paradoxical one done with self- awareness on side of their creator. JJ was absolutely unaware of what a mess he did I bet - the worst elements that crossed "reylo" off the list for so many people I'd argue were first sown by JJ himself in paradoxical chase of I tease this-now I don't. Here's what I mean.

It was JJ who put Rey on that horizontal torture bed, even when Poe's was upright. It was JJ who had Ren say those gross words abt taking what he wanted. It was also JJ who irreaponsibly and paradoxically played with symbolism normally reserved for gothic princes DESPITE the gross elements he himself planted - the mask going off to reveal a goofy Disney prince, the crouching so as not to scare her, the freaking bridal carry, the humanizing via showing Ren's vulnerability. I actually hated some of those scenes - I loved the face reveal no lie, but what followed was unacceptable. Why style your villain this lush and vulnerable when you're shooting your own foot a few minutes after, with dialogue that had whole groups of young women discard him as trash? Why not polish your villain with more self awareness so that the ground for the romance is understood and cautiously accapted?

So youve got an internally cracked TFA that for some was obviously teasing reylo but for others made it unacceptable forever. This is one hell of a difficult mix to continue with and I believe if JJ was given the 2nd part to work with, perhaps he might be able to somehow work with Ren so that TLJ wouldnt feel like slap to the face to those who saw mostly the worst parts of Ren that JJ himself designed. Perhaps he would also polish the romance teasers or got rid of them altogether, idk. TROS shows that while he was eager to discard anything that Johnson had put into motion, he chose to leave reylo content still. This is really paradoxical to me, today as it was back then.

Now reylo isnt super mainstream - if he got rid of it, it would surely anger a lot of people but also satisfy an equal amount of others. Yet he chose not to and I'd argue it is because he planned for reylo to happen from the beginning, just in a shitty way we first witnessed in the worst scenes of TFA.

I'll also argue another point - if Johnson was given the saga from the beginning, reylo wouldnt be nearly as much hated and regarded as abusive for so many. It is this particular humanization of Kylo that was criticized by so many that would protect the 1st part from that torture bed, and from taking whatever Kylo wanted. As it was, when all this sudden humanity followed JJs paradoxical mess, only opposition could come bc it kind of must - it looked for many as woobifying somebody who was already irredeemable. The irony is that JJ probably never planned for this - maybe he thought he could pull this off, somehow work out the agreement between ugly Kylo and Kylo worthy of Rey. Johnson just put a fat line between TFA and his own vision, and irresponsibly ignored all the ugly heritage that should be better worked on if he ever hoped to rectify JJs paradoxes. He didnt do this and thus the mess.

I dont know if it would ever be possible though. Perhaps theres been a shift in ethics, in aesthetics even, so big that for the gen Z this kind of relationship is unacceptable. I dont see anything bad in this - even if I enjoyed a lot of reylo's potential, there will be better content, better romances done by those kids who despise reylo now as well. Meanwhile I plan to stay on this weird pole stuck deep into my ass between reylo enthusiast and haters bc I cant for shit choose a side fully.

Bc I dont see the abuse this clear cut - but am also unsure how much of it is my cultural baggage, the history of normalizing toxic masculinity etc. I bet it's both to some degree, like with all gothic romance genre, - and that there wouldnt be this whole rift at the heart of tfa without toxic masculinity normalization at all. Without it there would be no torture bed and no threats. And the irony is that Johnson would probably see to that better. But not as good as a woman behind the camera to begin with - if you want a heroine at its heart that is.

Like, you can see JJs initial vision as pretty homogenous - the bed, the words, and ignore all the paradoxical romance symbolism in there. You can also look at it as fractured and absolutely lacking coherence, and fish for the elements youd like to stay in next parts. I welcomed Johnson bc he took the best in Kylo and left JJs mess behind. This is also the very reason youre gonna hate the TLJ if TFA felt coherent for you. Bc you cant ignore that which felt threatening and cruel and very much obvious.

I have no easy recipe at dealing with this saga. I cant throw my weight behind reylo fully, ever, but will cautiously accept the potential it could have should it be more coherently written. I love so much of art and those fics that are in line with my wishes towards how Ren should be done from.the beginning.

When I was considering what to.think abt all that, back in the beginning, I didnt want for Rey to cater to emotional demands and baggage of an aggressive male, and I believe she actually doesnt - time and time again she asserts herself, maybe messily but she has the right to her anger and pain so the messy it has to be. She is shown to hope for him becoming better - and isnt manipulated or groomed to do so, and if loneliness was the only reason to stick to him then any other person would suffice, which isnt the case. She is loyal to the cause to the end and happily carries on despite Ren dying, even if it's clear she loved him. She is her own woman and the magnitude of his emotions, the physicality of his behaviour hardly influence her - she neither cowers before Kylo nor caters to him, ever. I love her for this, actually.

So there you have it, my messy thoughts on both TROS and 'reylo' dynamics. I cant say Im satisfied with both. There could be more, Ren could be fleshed out better in the beginning. The potential of so many characters was left undeveloped. I dont feel satiafaction even with elements I loved abt reylo bc there is no counterpart in other aspects I hoped to see developed. I wanted Rey to have more time with Finn, for Finn to have more time with Poe, for Rose to matter in tros as well. I wanted more of Rey and Leia, and for Ren to have more coherence to his character. Ultimately I got crumbs and some bits unable to be stomached.

Go and watch tros, stay in the place of engaging with this series that feels best to you, closest to your needs abd perceptions. Tros will not satisfy anyone in full, also bc of editing and the pacing - which is terrible. Reylo will either frustrate you or frustrate you for entirely different reasons. Dont take JJs shit, dont take Johnson's. Take from the saga whatever works for you.

I dont think it's possible to fully embrace reylo, without reservations. There are grounds for the so called antis to point out the toxic masculinity and potential for abuse. There are tropes suggesting romance despite this still, all in just TFA. It was a mess from the very beginning and it's normal people took sides.

I'm just glad it's finally over.

#tros spoilers #sw spoilers #return of jedi spoilers #reylo

[vatican3]

7, 15, 25 marshall. 5, 4, 29 iowa. 9, 8, 10 mal. 19, 26, 6 sam. 12, 16, 14 laz.

I’M PUTTING THIS. UNDER A CUT BECAUSE IT’S GONNA GET LONG. cws for religion, abuse, gore/self harm and whatnot (nothing graphic).

7. What is the nicest thing someone has done for your character?

this is a REALLY hard thing to quantify because marshalls life has had. a lot of profound kindness and a lot of profound awfulness. i think that the amount of fierce love and patience and kindness that the jones family has given him is incredibly nice, but at the same time i don’t think they’d want me to look at it like that because they aren’t doing him a service, they just love him and care about him and it isn’t an act that takes anything out of them. but audrina took him into their home after everything happened in 2014, when he wasn’t speaking to his father and his relationship with his siblings was evolving to say the least, and gave him a place to sleep and he always had idaho nearby and there was always dinner and lots of patience and love and understanding.

answered 15!

25. What’s your character’s favorite holiday/festival?

marshall is a good catholic boy & a haines through and through, so his favourite holiday is christmas. his family has historically gone all out both in the fun, aesthetic parts of christmas, and the religious parts of christmas. he’s also very warm and loving in nature so he likes the spirit of giving, he loves getting gifts for his family and friends and baking cookies and making big christmas dinners. he also really likes church and prayer and worship and the holy feeling of the winter holidays.

5. Describe your character’s favorite weapon.

THIS WAS A HARD ONE BECAUSE. iowa is not necessarily a violent person? at least not on purpose, but they are definitely weird. i think if you asked them this they’d say a scalpel? because it’s precise and very, pointed and deliberate. iowa does in fact like, dissect their own flesh for fun.

4. Your character is buying a walking stick, what does it look like?

whatever it looks like, iowa is painting it immediately and like, gluing human teeth to it.

29. How many partners has your character had?

OK LIKE... iowa dated jason for awhile in high school and was completely heartbroken when they broke up. but then they dated sam for a bit and got over it however they were never like. officially dating sam?? they never talked about it. and then now they’re with nicky for the long haul but they met literally in the hospital where all of that 2014 trauma was taking place,

9. What is your character’s favorite flower?

mal seems like a daisy kinda gal to me... something light n springy

8. Has your character ever stolen anything?

NO.. mal is a law-abiding woman. she’s not actually super hard on laws or anything though she’s just. not in the habit of shoplifting + has money to spare so there’s no need

10. Does your character have any distinctive markings?

i very pointedly always give mal acne because. she has acne, she’s always had acne and i don’t think its ugly!!! and i think its an important thing to have that small bit of representation of like what. real human beings look like.

19. How affectionate is your character?

sammy is actually pretty affectionate if you’re like, romantically involved. he’s very physical and loving and cuddly as a person, he struggles with like, verbal affection and communication sometimes and he DOES actually get anxious that peter and nolan dont know the extent that he loves them to because he’s bad at words.

26. If your character had a different job, what would it be?

currently his job is being a body runner for a local funeral home but IN THE FUTURE he will be a general oncologist so like this is cheating but he’ll be a doctor.

answered 6! owo

12. Is there anything that makes your character weak in the knees?

i KNOW that this is meant in a like. butterflies in the stomach romance kind of way but my first thought was “well he has a heart condition so,” DGHIFDGJOIDFJGOIDFJG but. jokes aside. he loses his fucking mind every time leon gives him art and, leon loves to draw laz, all the time, and draw things for laz, so he’s just constantly going insane.

16. Does your character like to eat snacks?

food is. actually a very important part of laz’s whole character DJGPDFJGPDF he. does in fact very much like snacks the pin about your priest spending $80 on buffalo wild wings in the gc WAS about him the man. likes to eat and shows love by feeding others.

14. Does your character have any disabilities?

YEAH! laz is very much deaf, acquired deafness not genetic deafness, as a result of an infection when he was 19! he also has a heart condition RELATED to his growth condition like there’s no fucking winning. he gets to be 6′7″ but he has to pay in heart problems.

#oc tag #mishka.txt #THIS WAS. GOOD