#and in the end they would get rewarded with their ship going canon

[booasaur]

Pinned post - F/F Fic Recs

  Anonymous asked:

Hi, I've see you saying that you're reading a lot of fic lately and I was wondering if you could rec some? I so trust your taste and I think we have so many fandons in common...

Hiya! So first, what I was reading over the summer were some new fandoms that I'm still mulling over. Those ships and fics, I'm not ready to recommend anything for, I'll come back to them later.

As you know, I find it hard to pick out faves and recommend things but coincidentally, some time back, when I hadn't read fics for years, I decided to see which I could easily remember. It’s not close to being an exhaustive list, I just noted down whatever came to me over a few hours, and almost all are pretty old, often from my first go-around in each fandom, but it’s a fair number. I've read other great ones that might not be as easily remembered for any number of reasons, like if I was in a particular frame of mind or if I read too many good ones at once so none really stood out, if I read them in between other things going on in life, etc. These ones slotted into the ole memory bank but that doesn't say anything about those left off.

I'm not sure how many of these are fandoms you're into, but when I'm in a real fic-reading mood I'll often try fandoms I don't know, so hopefully you can still give some of them a shot. I tried to organize by fandom though they're mostly in the order I remembered them, so it's not alphabetical or fave first--though it did end up being pretty chronologically backwards. I was literally going back through the years and I don't think I've read some of the anime ones in like, more than a decade? And while for my own list, I often was like oh, all of that author's fics for this ship and would know what I meant, here I tried to narrow it down to one fic per author, since it can be hard to know where to start, but definitely give their other fics a try if you liked that one.

Added a cut for length. All stories are f/f and complete unless specified. As I go through some of these, let me come back here to add that it’s worth keeping in mind as you read these that they are products of their time, some more than a decade ago. 

Gilmore Girls - Paris/Rory

The Best Of It - by dollsome - 74k words » Canon, fake dating, set after the original series (so ignoring A Year in the Life). To win a point on a talk show, Paris announces she's dating Rory. It's incredibly in voice and matches the show vibe so it's just so funny and sweet and just a plain delight. It's what actually made me create this list, I was idly wondering what else I'd read that brought me this much joy.  

Boston Marriage - by Jae - 5k words » Canon, college years, Paris has a proposal. The first fic for this ship I read, I think? Where I was like, oh, so it’s possible to be that in voice and replicate everything about a show even as distinct as this one. One of the ship’s classics (and being from 2005, just a f/f classic overall?).    

The Unbearable Weirdness of Being - by klynkey - 3k words » Canon, assumed high school years, Rory and Paris get into a debate. After having read the one above, I found this soon after and was like, okay, is everyone able to easily replicate that Gilmore Girls patter? (No.) Another ship classic.

Agents of Shield - Bobbi/Jemma

To Keep My Wolves From Your Door - by pirateygoodness - 41k words » Werewolf AU, so elaborate and for a ship so relatively rare, I’m not sure how this exists but I’m glad it does. It’s got some plot, a sweet romance, smut with feelings, just a rewarding read every time I go back to it, which is pretty often. Given my main audience, I’ll mention there are some flashbacks to Bobbi and her ex husband but that didn’t affect my enjoyment at all.  

Soulmate AUs (just chapter 2) - by alittleunstable - 3k words » Canon, cute little soulmate AU, which I’m always a sucker for. 

Star Trek Voyager - Janeway/Seven of Nine

Where the Dream Takes You - by nejvit - 27k words » Canon, one of the tamer getting together Trek setups, more introspective rather than caused by some alien tomfoolery, but I really like how it handles the very commonly featured J/7 conflict of Janeway dating someone in her crew. It is a bit dense but I found the character and dynamic exploration so insightful and interesting. When I first read J/7 fics years ago (in the late ‘00s), this author’s fics didn’t particularly stand out but when I came back to the fandom more recently, they were among my very favorite.  

The Rod and the Staff - by Trek in Tandem - 13k words » Canon, deals with the aftermath of an existing ep where Janeway went on a mission and ran into trouble. The religious stuff comes across as more the writer playing with the episode’s actual religious references than anything heavy-handed so I found it easily ignorable. Really great, clean prose, one of the writers who always stuck out to me for that.    

Not Just Strip Poker - by Pink Rabbit Productions - 15k words » Canon, a funny, lighter piece that definitely starts out as full comedy, after a misunderstanding, but there’s some deceptively interesting discussion later on in this one too.

Stargate SG-1 - Janet/Sam

Bits and Pieces series - by Pink Rabbit Productions - 278k words, WIP » Canon, this series integrates Sam/Janet into the first season of the show and I don't think it was ever finished, and the last one especially was left on a cliffhanger, but the rest of the “episodes” are worth the read. Also, when I put this down for my own list, I just said "Pink Rabbit's Sam/Janet stuff", because I remember going through all of them at some point, the stuff outside this series was fun too, and if this full incomplete series is too daunting, definitely some of the one-shots might be more fun.

The Devil Wears Prada - Andy/Miranda

Truth and Measure - by Telanu - 272k words » Canon, diverges from the end of the movie as Andy decides to stay with Miranda. What even is there to say about this one? A true f/f classic, has been in the top three of my general f/f recs for more than a decade and still holds up. Just a perfect continuation of the movie, same world, same characters, continuing growth and development of characters and dynamics, a true believable slow burn romance. And the author’s published it without taking down the fic. :)

Facts of Life - Jo/Blair

Ribbon - by Della Street - 15k words » Canon, diverging in the college years. This is the first of her fics I read for this pair and I fell in love with her writing. Back in an era when a lot of authors started off with lots of exposition and setting up the scenario, I was so impressed by how quickly and easily she did her worldbuilding and character development, and how in-voice and and close to the show everyone was. Definitely recommend going through the rest of her Jo/Blair fics.

Birds of Prey (2002) - Barbara/Helena

And Another Thing - by fembuck - 12k words » Canon, a straightforward getting together fic, things come to a head after Helena starts pulling away. After seeing which of the fics I remember best and like most here, I think I really just favor a great execution of a simple premise. And because this is fembuck, whose fic was a load bearing pillar of f/f fandom, there’s a nice balance of humor and angst with the romance.    

An Empirical Question - by harper_m - 30k words » Canon, an accidental fake dating situation spins out into something much more. In a funny coincidence, the same things I said about fembuck apply to harper_m, such a significant contributor to f/f fic over the years (see also this older archive account). This fic is again mostly a well done exploration of the characters and their dynamic if suddenly an explicitly romantic layer was added to canon.

Skins - Effy/Katie

An Imperfection in an Otherwise Perfect Plan - by harper_m - 21k words » WW1 AU, they’re nurses in the army. As with the Mockingnerd werewolf AU above, I’m surprised that for such a rare ship, there’s such a specific (and good) AU, but definitely not complaining. It feels that much nicer to find a true gem in such a tiny collection.    

fate is overgrown - by thememoriesfire - 53k words » Post-series, years later, Katie’s in a rut and stumbles into Effy again. I do find it funny that I have no Glee rec from TMF and instead went for the Skins fic that isn’t even transatlanticism but I really love this one, to the point where there were a couple of months where I just reread it constantly, even downloading my own version to fix formatting and typos. It’s almost slice of life, as Katie and Effy find themselves surprisingly healing together, after their fraught history. 

The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Sarah/Cameron

Resistance - by Anklebones - 120k words, WIP » Canon, diverges from season 2 as Cameron continues to glitch. Like a lot of the good Sarah/Cameron fics, this is a great dissection of AI and sentience and what it means to be human and have free will. I mean, within a great story, not just characters debating. It’s not finished but I really like what’s been written so far.   The author also has a three-part complete fic where Sarah and Cameron are already in a messy thing and then have to confront some things when there’s an attack at school: Just Another day in Paradise… 1 2 3 (19k words).    

No Rest for the Wicked - by InspectorBoxer - 172k words, WIP » Firefly AU, River Tam takes the place of Cameron while Sarah’s a new character to the universe. This is such a fun blend of the two universes and the romance is such a good slow build. As with most of the WIPs I’m linking, there’s enough to really enjoy even if not complete yet.

Once Upon a Time - Emma/Regina

The Secret's in the Telling - by pyrophoric - 250k words » Canon, set pretty early on but where Emma and Regina are at least nominally getting along. Things are set into motion when a mysterious thief shows up and keeps bullying Emma. This is one of my favorite iterations of their dynamic, with long-suffering secretly fond Regina and hapless too-earnest Emma.    

You do not have to walk on your knees - by dollsome - 10k words » Canon, mid-season 2, Regina and Emma learning to get along. As is dollsome’s specialty, a lot of character work and humor. Also would recommend Teenage ... Dream? (12k words), where Regina gets like...kind of emotionally aged down? You’ll see. The premise sounds cracky but again, the character exploration and humor and sweetness. :)

Once Upon a Time - Aurora/Mulan

a story, a tale - by maleficently - 27k words » AU where it’s Maleficent who casts the original curse on Aurora and her true love, not Regina on Snow and Charming. This is so fun because you can see all the similarities and differences in how the story unfolds compared to the show, including flashbacks to the fairy tale world before the curse is cast.    

Object Permanence - by badlance - 18k words » Canon, after Aurora and Phillip have made it to Storybrooke. Aurora’s still furious at Mulan for leaving them to go off with Robin Hood, but suddenly something happens to Mulan and Aurora can’t stop thinking about her. It starts off an interesting look at Aurora and how someone acclimatizes to the real world after Fairy Tale Land so like, therapy, jobs, but it’s quite romantic and sweet in the end.   Also Could Have Been A Year (5k words) and its sequel Bear It Out Even to the Edge (17k words), where Mulan learns the price of staying away from Aurora and gives up everything to make sure Aurora’s okay.

Wicked - Elphie/Glinda

Gelphie Trilogy: 1. Easier Said Than Done 2. Inevitabilities & Eventualities 3. Possibilities and Certainties - by mecelphie - 3.8m words » Rape trigger warning for the very first chapter: Elphie suffers a violent attack and much of the first story is her healing from that, though the other two stories also occasionally bring up the lingering effects on Elphie.     Back when I read it, the first story had some typos, missing punctuation and the like, that might also make it hard for some to get into it, but the world really unfolds into something incredibly rich and rewarding. Note that full series word count, it IS that detailed and extensive a story, almost slice of life, except for the precipitating event and things like homophobia and when Elphie's background is tackled. I haven't actually finished it yet, I pause every once in a while till I have a large chunk of chapters and then reread from the start and get sucked in anew each time.    

The Thrill, Basis Determined - by Ridiculous Mavis - 24k words » Bookverse, just delightful, beautifully written fluff. Everything this writer writes is beautiful. The further down I go on this list the less restraint I feel in linking multiple stories by the same author, so of her other Gelphie fics, I'll also specifically rec The Way Out of Myself (22k words), bookverse bodyswap with Avaric and Elphie where they both learn something about the other and Invitations Under False Pretences (27k words, WIP), bookverse fake dating, it's not marked as complete but it doesn't leave you hanging, if you know what I mean.    

The Week of Ill Repute - by Chudley Cannon - 37k words, WIP » Bookverse again, which, I don't prefer them over musicalverse, it's just worked out that I've remembered (liked?) these fics best. This one I remember from my very first Gelphie fic-reading tour and thinking, wow, this is so good. It never updated after that and I believe it actually does leave you hanging, but I mean, you specifically remember a fic more than 10 years later, it's gotta be on the list, right?

The Bletchley Circle - Millie/Susan

In the Blackout - by RidiculousMavis - 11k words » Canon, set during the Bletchley years, Susan’s just arrived and meets Millie, her flighty and irreverent roommate. A wonderful look at how they start to get along after their personalities and keen minds first clash.    

Clerical Work - by Kivrin - 3k words » Canon, also set during Bletchley, Susan tries to figure out her feelings the way she would a code and then things fall into place in a surprising way. Relatively short but I loved the sharp little characterizations of the main four, including Jean.

Legend of the Seeker - Cara/Kahlan

All the Days - by tcbg77 - 67k words » Post-series, some years after, everything seems to be going well until Richard and Kahlan’s child is kidnapped. Cara, now Richard’s general, sets off with Kahlan to rescue the child. I love the pacing of this one, the length allowing for a full quest and a slow burn, and combined with the well-written action makes it seem like a fantasy story with romance on its own. I basically treat it as exactly that and reread every few years.    

Within My Heart There Is Another Heart - by badlance and pirateygoodness - 26k words » Post-series as well, magic pregnancy. This is pretty in a way that makes my heart ache. i was surprised to see it was 26k words, since it feels so much longer and shorter than that at the same time.

The 100 - Clarke/Lexa

Within Me An Invincible Summer - by badlance - 62k words » Canon post-s2, Clarke gets over her anger at Lexa. One of the many great fics written during the hiatus, I’d put off reading it when I first got into the ship, during the start of s3, wanting to focus on what was canon at the time. And then of course 307 happened and I moved even farther away from canon, but this fic, its two-line summary, it showed up again and again in rec lists and bookmarks and was so haunting at the time, you know, seasons and people not changing, but finally I caved, and it was as wonderful as it had promised to be.    

Love on the Ground - by hedaswolf - 19k words » Also canon post-s2, taking the s3 knife scene from the trailer and again spinning it into eventual forgiveness. There’s a bit in it that is one of my favorite moments in fic ever.     

they take their shots but we're bulletproof - by nightshifted - 10k words » Again, canon post-s2, it’s like a whole genre of amazing fics just within one fandom, all the more precious for how that all turned out in canon. Like Within Me An Invincible Summer above, I couldn’t bear to read it for a long time but I knew it was one of the classics, I’d seen it pass by my dash very early on because of our shared Glee past. And yeah, it was very good, like all these post-s2 fics, allowed to be a little rougher and harsher because they didn’t yet know how much comforting the ship and fandom would need.    

More Women than Warriors - by steklir - 172k words » Boarding school AU, new American student Clarke arrives at a British boarding school where Lexa’s the Head Girl. I don’t know what was going through the author’s mind when they were writing this but given the timing and content, it felt like an extremely low stakes and ultimately fluffy take on these two kids. There’s a lot of the show’s language and customs worked into this school, so that only adds to the impression, but in the end I’ll remember this for being a rewarding sloooowwww burn and really flowery, pretty writing.    

Stud: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Pride - by coeurdastronaute - 61k words » Modern AU, Clarke’s a teacher and Lexa’s a CEO. Really plays into the effortlessly cool Stud!Lexa thing that was going around at the time, but tbh, she was confident but nice, so I liked it. coeurdastronaute tends to write most chapters as self-contained, so it’s more like a string of connected stories than one long narrative. They’re super prolific and have a lot of stories I liked, I picked Stud as the one I remembered first, and then grabbed a few of the other more memorable ones, all modern AUs: Strip:  1, 2, 3 (10k words) -  Lexa gets a lapdance HSAU (37k words) - College AU, I’m kidding, high school AU Heart: 1, 2, 3, Thanksgiving (30k words) -  Lexa’s a heart transplant patient at the hospital where Clarke works    

Aftermath - by MaraudingTurkey - 8k words » Canon, diverging from the middle of s2, Clarke accidentally courting Lexa. It’s super charming and cute (and because of how early it was written, avoids a lot of the angst to come).    

Prompts Collection: Clexa - by nutalexfanfic - 114k words (as of 2022-12-30) » Lots of various short stories with all kinds of premises, canon and AUs. The author has several popular longer stories going as well, but they’re at various levels of completion and I actually remember really liking of the one-shots here. If interested in the longer ones, the firefighter AU Polis 433 (131k words, WIP) is quite popular, and I think the first one I read was the Olympic AU Individual Medley (95k words, WIP).    

Abby Doesn't Ask - by onlyasdark - 3k words » Canon, some vague point past 307 where Lexa doesn’t die, short vignettes in Abby’s POV. A great example of an external perspective on a ship, because you get deliberately limited glimpses, and in this case especially colored by Abby’s not exactly positive feelings about Lexa, but despite all that, the relationship shines through.    

The Library - by ethiobird - 55k words » College AU, they work at a bar (called The Library). I think what drew me to this one is that the Lexa characterization is more stoic than you often see in modern AUs, especially high school or college. I’ve ended up liking a lot of different takes on her but as much as it’s obviously nigh impossible to recreate the circumstances that created canon Lexa, I do have a particular fondness for that version so I like any fic that approaches it.    

although i'm not making plans (i hope you understand there's a reason why) - by brokendevil - 6k words » Modern AU, friends with benefits but secretly in love. The kind of second person fic that really lets you wallow in the angst before the rewarding payoff. The author has several other popular works, especially a year of sundays (98k words), a small town AU, but this one just stuck in my mind.   

To the Victor Go the Spoils - by exfactor - 11k words » College AU, Clarke and Lexa’s sororities are locked in a fierce competition. The author has some other very popular (and angstier) works but this one’s cute and fun as hell.    

the business of caring - by coldmackerel - 72k words » College AU, pretty much a workplace comedy set at campus police. Someone’s painting graffiti masterpieces all over the place and as the head of campus police it’s Lexa’s job (she thinks) to catch the culprit. This author is so good at humor, and also can be really poignant at times, like in it's called contraband for a reason (54k words), a jumbled up timeline of the two in prison. I’m told the canon amnesia fic is quite good but I’ve not yet felt emotionally up to it.    

The 300 - by Bucklethorpe - 66k words » Modern AU, Clarke accidentally burns down 300 of Lexa’s trees. This starts off as a bit of a joking take on canon, and is laugh out loud funny the whole way through, but also quite sweet. Definitely a frequent reread.    

sworn under an oath - by faithtastic - 14k words » Canon, diverges from 307, smut with feelings but the feelings are so good. This authors probably far more famous work is don't wanna be your girl (105k words), with one-shot extras and even AUs, in which Clarke is a porn star, and that is funny and hot, but this fix-it so soon after ep 307 will always be a particular balm.    

beat the devil's tattoo - by isawet - 53k words » Modern AU, they’re in college but Lexa’s secretly actually planning to take back the leadership of her small country. They fall in love anyway and it’s funny, hot, sweet, romantic, just a great well-written story with excellent reread value.    

Your Heart On My Sleeve - by aredpen - 58k words, WIP » Soulmate-marking AU set in canon, if that makes sense. Starts when Clarke’s still up in the Ark and it’s just an interesting exploration of how it all would work in those circumstances. I love the little details and insight into what would change and how.     

AGAINST THE MULTIVERSE - orphaned - 13k words » Modern AU, art student Clarke reads an article Lexa wrote and fires off an angry response, starting a correspondence. Despite not being particularly long or having a unique premise, I remember this one because the writing’s so confident and sure of what it wants to be. It feels like a lot of fics--most writing in general, really, tends to flatten itself to not stand out and it was nice to read something so strong.  

To Wear it Like a Crown - by Laney_builds_cathedrals - 42k words, WIP » Teacher/student, kinda, and definitely an age gap, so don’t read if that’s not your thing. Clarke’s the new art therapist at a school for troubled kids and realizes things aren’t quite right. It hasn’t been updated in years but the writing is just gorgeous and I couldn’t leave it off, it’ll always have a place in my lists.    

Remember Me. - by C_AND_B - 11k words » Amnesia AU, they were in a relationship and then Clarke gets in an accident. God, the perfect mix of angst and fluff. This writer has a bunch of adorable one-shots, so check the rest out too.     

tear down the walls - by wariangle - 5k words » Modern AU, Lexa’s an MMA fighter but it’s not really about that, just Clarke falling for her. Extremely hot in a very matter of fact way, but also plenty of feelings involved.    

five times clarke and lexa aren’t sure if they're a couple or not - by nutmeg101 - 8k words » College AU, everyone keeps on thinking Clarke and Lexa are together. They’re not so sure they aren’t. It’s cute! I mean, it’s exactly what a fic like this should be.    

Help, I Need Somebody (Not Just Anybody) - by thesummerofrain - 92k words, WIP » College AU, Clarke volunteers at the college helpline, Lexa writes in. It’s an anonymous line, so no worries about weird tracking or anything like that, things just organically progress so that they meet and slowly become friends. It’s mellow in general and includes lots of slice of life moments with other people as well, and of course the romance is slow burn as heck.

Maleficent - Aurora/Maleficent

The Queen of Sunshine and Bright Things - by alittlelesspain (oprhaned) - 31k words » Canon, after the first movie, Aurora has to learn how to rule while Maleficient has to learn what her place in Aurora’s life is now. Through time skips, distance, and political crises, they relearn how much they still mean to each other. It’s beautiful and romantic and a great fic for those who wanted their connection from the movie to go further.

Glee - Quinn/Rachel

This Kiss - by poetzproblem - 141k words » Canon, set in s2, starting from a game of spin the bottle. Rachel and Quinn are shaken by their kiss and Quinn especially doubles down on her mean girl persona. Faberry’s had a lot of great fics and I’ve loved so many but I remember thinking while reading this one that this is probably how it would go, if it ever happened. It’s patient and takes its time and is one of my definitive fics for them.     Also the Don’t Blink series (788k words as of 2023-01-13) is this expansive, ever-growing universe set after graduation. I haven’t read it all, but I’ve reread some of the earlier parts many times, for the super rewarding payoff to them realizing their feelings are mutual, and others finding out about them.    

A Family of Trees - by powergrapes - 8k words » Canon, diverging after s1, Quinn keeps Beth. Rachel’s somehow the only one the baby will calm down for and Quinn is reluctantly forced to call on her for help. It’s sweet and funny, my favorite from this writer but they’ve written several great fics, most popular being Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - 60k words), a real Faberry classic, where to cheer up Quinn up after giving up Beth, the club goes on a road trip.     

Summer Mornings (oldest chapters at bottom) - by freshtilapia - 35k words » Canon, post-s1, we follow Rachel every morning of her summer vacation as she sees Quinn pass by on her daily run. Slowly they begin to hang out and bond. I think this was one of my first Faberry fics? I was a late bloomer, it took me a while to see their potential, but I really loved how authors saw their post-s1 dynamic and this was a super cute, endearing version of it.    

Boats in the Sky - by WaveGoodbye - 39k words » Canon, diverging after s3, now both in college, Rachel and Quinn are actually friends. Such good friends that Quinn’s roommate thinks maybe there’s something more. As with Clexa above, it’s so interesting how much character dynamics and fandom attitudes change depending on when a fic is written, because unlike the tension in s1 or s2 fics or Quinn being strung so tight with internalized homophobia, now she’s chill, they’re getting along. I love seeing a fic starting with them as friends, plus, a good chunk of it is external POV, which is a fave.    

Our Brilliantly Tangled Thanksgiving - by Elly-Bells - 4k words » Canon, diverging from s1, Quinn has kept Beth--actually, kind of AU too, because her parents are super nice here as well. But it’s just a super fluffy, super cute funny little fic. The author has a fair number of other fluffy fics of varying length to check out as well.    

Crazy on You -  by roxystyle011 - 82k words » Canon, futurefic written early on, Rachel’s a big celebrity now but gets into trouble and is court ordered to see a therapist, who turns out to be Quinn. This is written so early on I’m not sure if people would consider it the most in-character fic out there, though what is in-character when it comes to Glee, but it’s bold and fun and, as with the Clexa multiverse fic above, I just like when people take big swings with characters. There’s a moment near the end of the fic, when a certain page is turned, that still remains one of my favorite, most memorable reveals in fic to this day.

Dune - Chani/Irulan

Serendipity - by Tamoline - 26k words » Canon divergent, Duke Leto survives and Irulan ends up living in the Atreides household as a guest, while Paul is openly with Chani. When Irulan is called off world to testify, Paul sends Chani as her bodyguard. I’m always so grateful that I picked that year to randomly go through the f/f Yuletide entries because this is such a good fic and I could so easily have missed it completely. It’s got politics, action, enemies to lovers, just this great little novella that happens to be set in the world of Dune. It’s fics like this that have me going through the lesser kudosed out there because it’s a genuine fave.

Marvel - Carol Danvers/Jessica Drew

Smell Like I Sound - by Sineala - 7k words » Comicsverse, Carol meets Jess who’s great except Carol can’t shake an unpleasant feeling whenever she’s around. Mostly fluff surrounding the concept of pheromones.    

He Picked the Wrong One - by beckydawolf - 34k words » Comicsverse, Carol and Jess are knocked out in a battle and wake up in an alternate universe where most things are similar, except that Carol is dead and there’s no Jess. They have to figure out what happened and why they were brought there and certain feelings come to light. It’s plotty and fun and the reveal of why they were brought to the alt universe is actually pretty great.    

put them back in poetry (if only I knew how) - by singalellaby - 31k words » Coffee shop AU, Carol and Steve Rogers are best friends and come back from the army to open a bakery together. It’s a lot of slice of life stuff, making friends in the neighborhood, developing crushes on the regulars like one Jessica Drew, grad student, that kind of thing.

Teen Wolf - Allison/Lydia

Untitled - by elvesarebad - 13k words » Canon, post-s2, after recent reveals they’re no longer friends but Lydia asks Allison to help kill Peter. It’s angsty, a lot of raw edges and slow thawing of their frosty relationship in the middle of difficult circumstances, but the canon characters and friendship are so interesting and the writer captures that.

Bleach - Soi Fan/Yoruichi

The Art of Transformation - by siyentista - 30k words  » Mangaverse, mostly, Soi Fan is injured during a big battle and Yoruichi realizes how much Soi Fan means to her. Despite an action-filled start, it settles into more of a slower character-centric fic, lighter and often comical. Given their canon relationship, it’s refreshing to see the dynamic be more mutual and balanced, and despite the relatively short length, the story feels satisfyingly built up (perhaps because of how much history they already have in canon?).

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Amy/Rosa

Farm-to-Table, Non-GMO, Responsibly Sourced - by impertinence - 6k words » Canon, going undercover as a couple to bust a maple syrup heist ring. I mean, what more is there to say, except that it’s appropriately funny and cute.     

Margin of Error - by idiopathicsmile - 8k words » Canon, Amy needs a place to stay and Rosa offers. The humor matches the show so well, and it’s great to see Rosa’s POV since she’s so deadpan.

Les Misérables - Cosette/Eponine

Any More Obvious - by idiopathicsmile - 2k words » High school AU, Cosette decides to befriend the school goth. It’s just sweet and cute.    

This Longing I Inherit - by myrmidryad - 44k words » College AU, Marius starts dating Cosette and brings her into the friend group. Cosette’s so shy and sheltered, she’s thrilled to meet new people, including the cool and intimidating Eponine. As they all become closer, Eponine realizes maybe she’s crushing on her friend’s gf. It’s much more gentle and sweet and friendship-focused than how soapy and angsty this description makes it sound, and the length allows it a slower burn. A frequent reread, especially to get to the payoff.     

she knows her way around - by lavendersgreen - 18k words » College AU, Marius is too nervous to talk to Cosette so Eponine, pining after him, volunteers to be their go-between. Cosette turns out to be surprisingly fun and as they become friends, Eponine starts to question some things about herself. The premise is already cute with even a but the characterizations and dialogue are so snappy and flow so easily, it’s a great execution of this trope.    

to be loved and to be in love - by missandrogyny - 7k words  » Soulmate-marking AU, they’re musical artists who meet at a concert and immediately get along. They start challenging each other to try songs outside their main genres, much to their fans’ excitement. The soulmate reveal is pretty satisfying as it’s seeded early, and the whole fic is sweet and cute.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries - Gigi/Lydia

get loved, make more - by allthingsholy - 10k words » Post-series, Lydia feels uncomfortable around Gigi, given what they share in common and that everyone knows. In a series of vignettes over time, for each of the family events they meet up at, she slowly gets over it, given they have so many other things in common, including a love of gossip, fashion, and teasing their siblings. It’s a great character exploration and the writing’s so sharp and pretty.     

Searching For a Sound We Hadn't Heard Before - by Care - 13k words » Post-series, again things are uneasy at first but they thaw and the two end up taking a road trip. That’s a trope with a lot of potential, now that I’m thinking about it, the way people get to know each other under those very specific circumstances, and this is a great execution of it.    

from the dark with you above - by cairophoenix - 22k words » Post-series, again, an awkward meetup to slow friendship and in this case some prime pining afforded by the longer length. The strangers to friends to lovers pipeline just applies really well to these two, what can I say.    

Improvising - by krakens - 3k words » Post-series, some years after, Gigi decides to surprise Lizzy and Darcy with an epilogue posted on Lizzie’s vlog. She enlists Lydia’s help and things escalate. It’s cute and perfect for this particular series, it would have to be that vlog as the catalyst again.    

Candid - by rhymeswithblue - 5k words » Post-series, by simply hanging out with their famous siblings, Gigi and Lydia face some of the same online scrutiny. Again, I kind of love this aspect of a fic set in this world, because of course part it is that there’s a whole audience watching them and it influences them just as much they influence it.

She's the Man - Olivia/Viola

Loose Ends series - by fraidy_bat - 38k words » Post-movie, Olivia comes to terms with the fact that Sebastian isn’t Viola. By the time I was branching out and reading popular f/f fics many years ago, this was already a classic, both as a general f/f fic and in this particular fandom. One of those ships that makes so much sense, and this is an angsty but ultimately very rewarding take on what should have happened after the movie.

Tomb Raider (2013) - Lara/Sam

she traces your scars and rebuilds your world - by lescousinsdangereux - 18k words » Post-2013 game, Lara and Sam are still traumatized by what transpired on the island and lean heavily on each other, even as Lara heads off on another research mission. It’s a great character study at their PTSD but also building on the relationship from canon and sweet and romantic and funny. This was my definitive version of post-game canon, not the other games or the movie or the comics.

Game of Thrones - Margaery/Sansa

Keep the Bouquets series - by Netgirl_y2k - 7k words » Canon diverging...earlyish on, I don’t know the series, but most characters are still alive. Not thinking either’s worthy of Joffrey, the Lannisters arrange a marriage between Sansa and Margaery and they...make it work. Despite being relatively so short, each individual part under 3k words, they’re so effective, these two finding something in that brutal world.

St. Trinian's (2007) - Annabelle/Kelly

This Town We're Painting - by Fahye - 8k words » Post-movies, they’re an established couple, going about the not so normal lives of St. Trinian’s graduates. Funny and in the vein of the movies, bringing in many of the other former students, and solidifying the Annabelle/Kelly dynamic that seemed so full of potential.

Mai Hime - Natsuki/Shizuru

Inter Nos - by ethnewinter - 1.2m words, WIP » Ancient Rome AU, this very detailed, intricate story with all the Mai Hime characters, Shizuru’s a general and Natsuki’s assigned as her bodyguard during a visit to an allied kingdom. I’m gonna be honest, I haven’t read this in many, many years and definitely haven’t caught up, but even back then when it was a fraction of the size, it was already considered a classic. At this length, I feel like just reading what’s there is a reward in itself.

Kim Possible - Kim/Shego

Alone, Together - by Failte200 - 108k words » Canon, Kim and Shego accidentally get sent to an alternate dimension, same Earth, but no human. They have to get along to survive. Another f/f classic, I remember being much younger and the scale of the fic, the years they lived alone and grew older together, took my breath away.   

BSP01: Best Sidekick Possible - by Sobriety - 62k words » Canon, there's a King of Thieves competition and Shego wants the best sidekick possible, i.e., Kim. I think I ended up really liking the romance in this one.

Phoenix Wright - Adrian/Franziska

Follow the Fool - by CantFaketheFunk - 53k words » Canon, post-Phoenix Wright 2, Franziska feels guilty about advising Adrian to perjure herself so when Adrian asks to see her, she invites her to Germany to stay with her. The setting can be a bit goofy, as it is in the game, but the characters and relationship are taken seriously.

Sailor Moon - Haruka/Michiru

FwB - by harukaze - 321k words » AU, no powers, they meet as adults and decide to become friends with benefits. I remember this one Greyhound trip I took from NYC to Toronto, I was riveted to this fic and just read for most of the trip, wanting to see how it'd end. Soapy and angsty and very addicting.

Annnd then these two het fics:

The Big Bang Theory - Penny/Sheldon

The Paladin Protocol - by SpaceAnJL - 88k words » Canon, the guys take Penny LARPing and she ends up enjoying it, and bonding with Sheldon while Leonard feels left out. Very character driven slow burn romance while being funny and presumably true to the characters, I've not actually ever watched the show, but I've seen a few clips on Youtube. Just a great fic and one of the few m/f fics I've read more than once.

Star Trek (2009) - Spock/Uhura

The Place Between - by PsiCygni - 309k words » Canon, set before the movie, Uhura needs an advisor for her project and Commander Spock needs a partner while negotiating with a particular alien species. The only answer? Fake dating! Slowwww burn and since I like both the characters in all their forms, an enjoyable fic.

And ya know, however old some of these might be, if you liked them, think about leaving a nice review. I had a saved fic from a site that’d gone down and like, more than 10 years after it was written I sent an email to the address provided and actually got a reply! 

#this took so long... #if you see any typos or errors please let me know #replies #femslash related stuff #sent on 20221014 #Anonymous #fic rec #My favorite things #moved this over to a text post because the new tumblr editor has limits on the number of links #this was mostly done weeks ago #but having to move and reformat it made me put it on pause for a while #anyway #I really didn't move the order around much #you can see me remembering one fic from a fandom and then others from the same fandom #a fic by an author in one fandom reminding me of their fics in another fandom #and remembering different fandoms on different archives together #had to remove several entries from this version of the list since they were deleted :/ #it's interesting to see how I often remembered more from smaller fandoms #like I'm just not gonna remember everything good from faberry or SQ #clexa was an exception since I spent like a year or two ONLY reading their fic and even curating a rec list #you can see from how emo I got for the clexa blurbs just how well I remember that time #some of the other small fandoms I only noted down the whole thing so I had to look through bookmarks for this list #which is why they have more than expected

[fumifooms]

Heyoooo. I wanted to say, I'm sorry about that mean-ass, insulting anon you got a while back. That ask ended up pissing me off so bad I ended up actually reading your Marchil analysis posts. Originally, I was meh and kinda confused when the ship showed up in Ao3 because I didn't see what people liked about it. Reading your posts about how they were narrative foils opened my mind more, and I realized, Oh shit yeah there's a lot of potential in this ship for how these two can develop each other.

Part 2: Marcille and Chilchuck may not have scenes like the infamous bath scene with Farlin, but the concept of someone who's terrified of being alone, the reality of her friends' mortality, a hopeless romantic catching feelings for a repressed, divorced man whose wife left him--okay yeah, I absolutely understand the appeal of this ship. Marcille would be like, Why the fuck is my heart thrumming for this sharp-tongued bitch, and also the terror from falling in love with someone so short-lived Part 3: Either way, love your analysis posts. I am going to be contemplating the potential of Marcille and Chilchuck for a long while. There is something so tragically sweet about it

You get it, you really do… I could list off everything I love about them but I’d be here forever because it’s literally everything and there are so many fun ways to spin it… You’re very right about them being tragically sweet, overall where their arcs meet the most is "Loving is something worth doing even with the risk of loss", and I say risk but really it’s more the inevitable eventuality of it as canon does love to point out. If you want the reward of being loved you must go through the mortifying ordeal of being known. No love however brief is wasted. Let me see you and stay. It’s very much sort of the final boss to their arcs for them to get invested in each other in such a way, to get involved romantically— emotionally with someone knowing what’s coming and that she barely has two decades left with him (who mistreats his health so much he very well could die early), and to shoot your shot for something new with hope in your heart and enough confidence that you’re worth loving. He’s not a prince charming but to her he sort of is, all virtuous husband this reliable dependable Chilchuck that, all "you may be flawed but I’ll still romanticize your qualities and convince you that you and your love for your beloved are something worth fighting for".

What if I was old bread that solidified to be hard as rock and you were like warm soup and by soaking in your presence I softened……… What if you stubbornly grew on me like yeast and it brought out my flavor like beer as I opened up and allowed you in………. What if your hair was golden, the epitome of beauty to me, and my hair turned silver, your worst nightmare……. I think about them a normal amount

#And as always i am working on my marcille & chil arc analysis it’s just taking forever n also my job is ramping up rn… #Ask #Ask was sent on april 8th for the record #Dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #Marchil #it has it all. the halfling and the elf the social expectations the self-inflicted repression… #Like I don’t think there’ll ever be another ship like marchil tbh #Chilchuck tims #marcille donato #The post is so serious now but in tags I can say: ty this sorta ask means a lot to me!! Stays on the mind and makes me feel positive #In good news. We are suffering from our success (happy 60 fics on ao3!!) but we are also winning from our sufferings (hello spite shippers) #For every marchil hate comment a new marchil shipper is made sorry i don’t make the rules #This is a good summary of the ship’s appeal i feel… Non-exhaustive of course but still #Peace and love on planet earth <3 #Fumi rambles

[ariaste]

Are you, perchance, a 2013 BBC's Sherlock veteran

No particular reason I'm asking

I watched it and I think I probably reblogged a few things back in the day because I had mutuals who were into it. But I don't recall ever really feeling like I was in the fandom myself.

I'd guess that you're asking because you've recently read my Good Omens essay and your next question is about whether I was a supporter of The Johnlock Conspiracy, and the answer is a hard nah. At least to me personally, all the textual and meta-textual evidence made it abundantly clear, even a decade ago, that the show was not only inhospitable to queer fans, but actively and deliberately hostile towards them (one recalls that utterly mean-spirited depiction of what Steven Moffat thinks a "fangirl" looks and sounds like, as well as more than one occasion when he and others involved with the show mocked fans/fandom/fanfiction in interviews, on camera, with their actual human mouths). I do vaguely remember coming across people on tumblr in those days who were convinced that there was something else going on, that somehow Moffat was going to suddenly change his tune and start loving them back the way that they loved his show, that they would be rewarded for their faith by having their ship made canon, but that seemed extraordinarily unrealistic to me and not based on any concrete facts.

Now, don't get me wrong -- wishful thinking can be really fun, and you're not hurting anyone by hoping for the best and daydreaming about a happy ending. That's just basic human nature. But when someone shows you what kind of person they truly are, pay attention. Balance dreaming with prudence, and don't put all your eggs in one basket--or, rather, don't pin all your hopes on one stranger's artistic decisions.

Part of me wants to say that Steven Moffat is one of several significant contributors responsible for the deep-rooted media trauma that still afflicts thousands of fans today (consider how so many people watching the first season of Our Flag Means Death as it aired were utterly convinced that it was going to queerbait them and exploit their sincere, heartfelt desire for a queer love story on screen, the same way that nearly every other show had done already. So many people met that glimmer of hope with cynicism and pessimism, because when you've been not just disappointed but outright punished for wanting something, the natural trauma-response is to assume that you're not going to get it until you're proven wrong, because that's the only way you can protect your bruised, exhausted heart.

It is true that Moffat's cruelty to the fans of his show contributed to our collective media trauma. However, it is not the only thing that has done so: Particularly in America, we are in the midst of a literacy crisis. Schools have been failing us for more than two decades: They have increasingly failed to teach nuanced reading comprehension and to adequately equip young people with robust and agile critical thinking skills, and this means that an entire generation has been robbed of the tools that would help them to protect themselves from the psychic damage of media trauma before it happens. Moreover, it means that many people now insist on looking to canon to "legitimize" their ships, as if their own interest and enthusiasm was not sufficient. Instead of feeling empowered to reimagine the stories handed to us in order to suit our personal needs, we give away our power into the hands of strangers who do not feel any ethical responsibility to care for their audience as if the audience is a guest in their home. And thus, we get hurt. Media trauma is real, and it sucks.

To return to your original question, no, I don't consider myself a veteran of BBC Sherlock, because I wandered through town, saw that it wasn't worth the fight, and left before the war started.

Remember: In literary criticism and in science, you don't do good work by cherry-picking evidence that supports your pet theory; you do good work by assembling all the data and asking what theory would unify them into a cohesive whole. And if you're really good, you make the effort to be skeptical and look for evidence that might disprove your theory, and you invite others to check your math, because at the end of the day, you are a beautiful, imperfect human and sometimes you make mistakes.

#sherlock #steven moffat #media trauma

[hyde-nseek]

My headcanon is that every Link and every Zelda falls in love. But it gets a little more complicated than that because I don't think they get together every time. So... Here is how I would justify every Zelink in the Legend of Zelda franchise:

(please note that I'm not saying other ships aren't cool. I personally like a lot of them.)

Skyward Sword: This one is probably as canon as Zelink has gotten so far. I don't know anyone that says that they don't have feelings for each other. These two probably founded Hyrule together. Maybe as a kingdom, maybe just as a small village below the clouds. Either way, the Royal Family traces their lineage back to this couple.

Minish Cap: This Zelink is very cute. I think they dated, and maybe even married. From what I understand about the timeline, though, this Link abandons Hyrule and lives the rest of his life cursed by the mind-shattering properties of the Four Sword. So, it was a relationship for a while, but they didn't grow old together.

Four Swords: There actually isn't a lot of information about this Zelda, but I like to think that they got together after Link saves her. They're cute.

Ocarina of Time: The way Zelda looks at Link at the end of the game is full of remorse. She doesn't want to send Link away from her, but she knows it's the right thing to do for his sake and Hyrule's. Also, the way Sheik looks at Link can't go unnoticed. That ninja isn't good at hiding his feelings.

Majora's Mask: The same as Ocarina of Time, but it's much more brief. I don't think Link ever returns to Hyrule Castle, but it's possible. It's more likely that he founded Ordon with Malon. That means that Malon and Link end up together, but Link's true love was the princess he saved in another time.

Twilight Princess: Zelda and Link barely talk in the game, and when they interact, it's only because Midna put them together. But with Midna out of the picture, I think they would still bond. Ilia gets friendzoned. Sorry.

Four Swords Adventures: I think I'll have to put this one with Four Swords as well. These games are a little weird in that the Links are so affected by the Four Sword that it's hard to picture them in a situation without it. If anyone else has thoughts on this Zelink, please lmk.

Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass: Tetra and Link get together and found New Hyrule. This one is pretty self explanatory and difficult to argue against. Very cute and I love it.

Spirit Tracks: They were made for each other. They have so much of a connection because of their adventure together. Whether Link becomes an adventurer or an engineer, I think the princess has feelings for the Hero of Spirit.

A Link to the Past/Link's Awakening/Oracles: The cryptic uncle wants you to know that Zelda is your responsibility. Now that we've covered that, I think Link would have been with Zelda if it weren't for Marin. After Koholint, I don't think he really has it in him to have a relationship with anyone.

A Link Between Worlds/Tri Force Heroes: I think that after saving Hytopia, Link returns to Hyrule and asks for Zelda's hand. There's no reason why not to, and I don't think Link would have wanted to stay in Hytopia for the rest of his life. As cool as it is, it's a vacation spot. And Styla isn't the princess for Link.

Hyrule Fantasy/Adventure of Link: Two Zeldas, one Link. This one's kind of weird, but I think he'd rather be with the Zelda from his first adventure. Zelda the First only kisses him as a reward, probably the only reward she can give.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: I mean, they live together. They hugged at the end of both games. What else do you want me to say?

#zelink #all the zelink #even though it doesnt work out every time #i think that what matters in the end is that the feelings are there #theyre a tragic couple cursed by the demon king #legend of zelda

[ceruleanwhore]

Aang As a Father, in Response to LoK

⚠️CAUTION⚠️

This post is full of Aang and kataang hate. If you like Aang and/or ship kataang in any capacity, scroll on for the sake of your mental and emotional wellbeing. Thank you!

When Avatar: Legend of Korra came out, I remember there being tons of discussion around how much Aang sucked as a father and how surprised everyone was, even some of us who never really liked him as a character. However, I’ve been thinking about it today, and the conclusion I’ve reached is that not only is it not surprising that Aang was not a very good parent, but it was inevitable. The one thing I disagree on that I’ll get to at some point in here is how he sucked at parenting in canon as opposed to how I think he was set up to fail at it given the direction he was headed with his canon characterization.

I’d like to start by getting into that characterization and discussing some of the elements of Aang’s canon personality that I think are relevant. In the series, yes, as we all know and as Aang stans love to point out ad nauseum, he’s just a mere bitty child, but we can also see some of his flaws that, even in his 12-year-old self, have some serious consequences at times. Canon Aang is a messy cocktail of toxic positivity, selfishness, avoidant tendencies, impulsivity, and a dangerous lack of emotional control. He does things like casually throw away the fate of the whole world over his god-given right to have a crush on a girl and then, in the next season, compare that same girl’s experience of losing her mother to his radically different experience of losing his pet for a couple weeks as he tells her to get over it. He also has a tendency to go into the freaking avatar state when he’s upset about something and cause serious damage to everything around him until Mommy calms him down. Even when he doesn’t go into the avatar state, he does things like verbally abuse his friends and abandon them in the desert when Appa goes missing.

All of this is completely relevant to who a hypothetical adult Aang would be and what he’d be like because, all throughout the series, there is never any accountability from Aang. He literally never takes responsibility for the things he does and makes amends or even just apologizes in a meaningful way because he never has to — the narrative makes sure of that. That’s the key part of Aang’s flaws, that Bryke genuinely thought they made a perfect good guy and had nary a crumb of self awareness that they accidentally made him a raging asshole who is constantly being rewarded for his shitty behavior. Even when he’s clearly in the wrong, like with the Bato situation in s1, they somehow turn it around so yeah, I guess he fesses up and apologizes but, at the end of the episode, Sokka and Katara are apologizing to him and there’s no lasting consequences for the shitty thing he did. Because of this crucial element of the story and Aang’s character, it is very likely that he’d go his whole life being a dickhead while continuing to never have consequences for that and somehow managing to maintain his friendships and relationship with Katara.

I want to kind of go through these one at a time, starting with the lack of accountability. Since Aang is the avatar, literally no one in the whole world of atla actually has authority over him, at least once he’s an adult. His peers are his equals but, even though Katara, Toph, and Zuko taught him his bending, they don’t really have any tangible authority over him as his teachers. Combine that with the fact that none of Aang’s friends really ever criticize him or hold him accountable for his actions and it becomes very clear that, as a father, he will never actually be held accountable for being a bad parent. What goes with this is that he also won’t be open to advice because he assumes he always knows best and the narrative also supports and rewards that. Between the two, he’s set up so that when he inevitably turns out to be a lousy father, there will be nothing anyone can say (assuming they would even say anything at all) to help him improve.

With this in mind, let’s start into the actual character flaws that, as concluded above, won’t be corrected at any point, starting with the toxic positivity. One of Aang’s most recognizable characteristics is his bright, cheery disposition which can be a good thing but also leads to him being very dismissive of anyone else’s problems or negative emotions. As a parent, he would never take his children’s problems seriously and would simply brush them off and tell his kids to practice detachment and just let go of whatever is bothering them, regardless of how serious the issue is or how much it matters to the kid. This will teach the kids both not to even try to bring their problems to at least one of their parents and also that any problem they have is actually inconsequential, so even when they do have really big, serious issues in life, they won’t be able to recognize it as such and get whatever help they might need. It also will convey to them that their own father just doesn’t really care about them, at least not enough to engage with them in any capacity about anything serious.

Next up is Aang’s selfishness. Throughout atla, we see time and time again that Aang struggles greatly with prioritizing literally anyone else over his own comfort and desires. He was more than willing to sacrifice the whole world for his ability to avoid having to engage in conflict and then, in season 2, he showed that he was 100% willing to sacrifice the whole world for his crush on Katara. It’s not just that he tends to thoughtlessly give into his impulses and desires without giving thought to how it affects others, it’s also that, because of who he is, that has the potential to cause immense damage and he still doesn’t care. As a father, he would always put himself before his wife and his children. He would treat Katara at least as badly and unfairly as he did in canon and his children would have the lovely experience of watching that and also growing up in a household where their wants and needs don’t really matter to their own father.

Another key factor when it comes to Aang’s personality is his avoidant tendencies. We see multiple times throughout the series just how far he’ll go to avoid doing things he doesn’t want to do, like preventing the world from complete destruction. In his household, I imagine he’d want no part of any of the real, ‘messy’ aspects of parenthood and would just have Katara do all those things. Anything to do with the mess of child care (changing diapers, cleaning up spit up, any sort of wound care for scraped knees, etc.), conflict resolution between quarreling siblings, or correction of misbehavior would fall to her. He, like plenty of real men, would only want to do the cute, fun parts of parenthood, like taking the kids to Disney, while making Mom the ‘bad guy’ who has to do all the real work. 

Then there’s also the impulsivity. Aang tends to get these ideas of things he wants to do and then, without any further thought, just goes and does them. This can be pretty harmless when it’s something like wanting to go penguin sledding and then going off and doing it but, as we’ve seen, there’s plenty of times where it isn’t, like when he hides Hakoda’s correspondence from Katara and Sokka in s1 because he’s feeling pissy. In parenthood, I think this is where we ended up with the unfair treatment showed in LoK because it’s his impulsivity driving it, but I don’t actually think he’d be out here treating his kids differently based on bending abilities, I think they’d all be pretty equally getting the short end of the stick from him. 

The way I see his impulsivity coming out with his family is either with grabbing the kids to go do something on a whim (like riding the elephant koi) or going off on his own or with Katara on some spur of the moment trip that leaves their kids alone or drags them away from home for weeks at a time with no notice. If they’d leave the kids alone while going off without them, that could lead to trauma around neglect and abandonment while, if they take the kids with them, the kids get stuck being dragged along and then ignored while Aang goes off to do all the stuff he’s there for that the kids weren’t really ever supposed to actually be part of. I think that, with stuff like this, the avoidance, and the toxic positivity, he’d think that he’s setting himself up to be the cool, fun dad with Katara being made out to be the ‘bad guy’ when, in truth, he’s out here fucking up his children and they’re going to know and hate him for it in the end.

The last part is the matter of his inability to regulate his emotions. It’s bad enough for anyone to have to sit there and watch as the same toxic positivity dickhead then struggles with anger issues he never even so much as apologizes for, but for his kids, I’m sure it’s unbearable. My dad has struggled with anger issues my whole life, as have I, but we take responsibility and we’ve both spent over two decades working on ourselves, trying to get better. Aang would never do that in any capacity. For his children, they’d get this environment where they can never be upset at all because it bothers Dad but then Dad can fly off into the fucking avatar state as soon as he’s even mildly inconvenienced. This model of ‘you being upset is just a little inconvenience you need to get over but when Dad’s upset it’s a huge deal and he’s actually allowed to be upset’ would be downright infuriating to live with and would definitely contribute to their children’s childhood trauma. It’s not just that you’re not allowed to be upset, it’s also that you always have to be walking on eggshells trying not to set this guy off.

Another thing I would add to this last point is something I learned from my family that I think is relevant here. My dad genuinely thought he was totally normal and didn’t have any anger issues until my brother and I were born, and he also was always really great with other people’s kids and never had problems there until he was working on the railroad with two babies at home. Yes, we’ve already seen Aang’s anger issues in canon, but I would also speculate that his mood and stuff would get worse once Tenzin’s born. This could either lead to him being absent for most of the kids’ early childhoods as he’d just avoid being around them if they’re triggering him or his anger issues could get worse and more prevalent once there’s kids in the mix. Either would be detrimental to his children’s mental health.

So I guess my point here is that LoK having it so Aang’s whole issue with fatherhood is that he treated his kids unequally doesn’t really cover the ways in which he’s set up to be a terrible father. I really don’t think favortism would even be an issue (I think all 3 kids would get dragged around to air nomad stuff, not just Tenzin) but Lord knows there’s other issues to be considered here. As a father, Aang would be selfish, impulsive, dismissive, thoughtless, and hypocritical as well as probably struggling with completely unchecked anger issues. His children would have trauma because of him and they would hate him, but not because he would leave two behind while dragging the eldest around on vacations. The cherry on top of the shit sundae of Aang’s fatherhood is that he would have no self awareness whatsoever as all of this would go unchecked by his wife and friends, so he would genuinely believe that he’s a good, fun, loving father all the way up to the moment of his death.

#anti aang #aang critical #aang slander #aang salt #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #a:tla #avatar meta #atla meta

[blueskittlesart]

how would you define a ‘zelda’ game? im making an au of sorts for it but sometimes i cant tell if im taking the zelda out of zelda- whether the master sword is a requirement or not (maybe not because of the four sword?) or having light vs dark/good vs bad as a general theme. this also kinda fascinates me as people tend to complain abt botw as being less of a zelda game compared to past entries. why though? ive seen the lack of stakes being complained about but i dont think a story should have to have world ending stakes to be a zelda game or a good story- could be wrong though. also with how every zelda game strives for a different Vibe than the last what makes one better than the other? anyways yadda yadda replace a ships wooden boards until every board is replaced is it still the same ship, whatre your thoughts?

actually what makes a zelda game a zelda game anon here. i think a better question would be what makes a zelda story a zelda story

as someone who has also/is also writing their own zelda game i do have a lot of thoughts about this. obviously one of the things that defines mainline zelda games is the formula, which if you're doing a ganon/demise villain and you want to be canon-compliant, you're gonna want to follow to some degree in order to stay consistent with the lore. there are other things that go into it though, like the themes, writing style, the presence of certain elements, etc. let's get into what i think is important!!

first of all, the formula. this only applies to mainline games, so if you're looking to do a sequel-style story you have a LOT more freedom, and certain games bend these rules quite a bit so they're not hard-and-fast, but if you want your game to FEEL canon-compliant it's good to take these steps as a general guideline.

opening segment--this is where link wakes up with nothing and has to run around the starting point of the game collecting items to progress. almost every mainline game will have him begin sleeping in a bedroom of some kind, and the player's first action will be to move him out of bed, so if you're struggling for a start point, that's a classic. he usually needs to find at least a sword and shield in this segment, and the player will be encouraged to talk to npcs to get some exposition along the way.

at the end of the opening segment the player is given the true first task of the game, which usually involves travelling somewhere, often with the goal of meeting zelda. the player may also be told to begin seeking out dungeons at this point, or zelda might tell them when they meet her in person for the first time.

the first dungeon section of the game will usually include 3-4 dungeons, often forest/water/fire/air themed and located in those respective regions of hyrule. these dungeons will have a map item to be found as well as (usually) some other dungeon item which allows you to progress through dungeon puzzles (classic items include bombs, boomerang, bow & arrows, hookshot, etc) and a boss fight at the end. when the player completes each of these dungeons, they are given an artifact which they have been told will somehow progress the gameplay for them once they collect all of them. (e.g. in oot the 3 gems unlock the temple of time) this is a crucial point bc no one is gonna want to do your dungeons without a gameplay-advancing reward at the end.

after the final initial dungeon there's usually a mini-boss fight of some kind, often with a secondary antagonist (girahim, agahnim, zant, etc) (if you're using botw as a reference point, stop doing that now, because botw ends here in terms of formula)

after all of that, there's what i like to refer to as a catalyst. this can technically be anything, but the most important point is that it must dramatically shift the trajectory of the story and/or the player's perspective. in oot it's the time change, in wind waker it's the underwater-hyrule reveal, etc. often (but not always) this reveal will come along with a new gameplay mechanic in which something about either the player or the world can be modified to access new areas of the map/solve new puzzles. (oot age-switch, alttp dark vs regular world, tp wolf form, etc) if your game includes the master sword, this is usually when the player will get it.

with a changed perspective and access to new areas, the player is now informed of a NEW goal, usually to beat ganon, who by this point has definitely kidnapped zelda and is holding her hostage. this kicks off the second segment of dungeons. usually there are 6-8 dungeons in this section, following the same map/item/boss/reward formula. (most classic games have you rescuing PEOPLE from these dungeons, but modern ones kinda did away with the damsel-in-distress thing lol)

once those dungeons have been completed, it's time for the final dungeon of the game, which is ALWAYS hyrule castle. this one may have a map, but usually doesn't have any dungeon item or even that many puzzles, it's really more about hacking through menial enemies to get to the big guy. the final battle of the game will be your big bad (usually ganon) and will traditionally have 2 phases, one inside the castle (where, if he ever looked human, he will look human) and one outside of it (where he will become much more monstrous.)

that's the VERY BASIC formula of MOST mainline zelda games. but like i said, plenty of games bend or cut out parts of this formula completely, and some games that follow it pretty well don't feel quite as 'zelda' to me as others. so there are obviously other things that make a zelda game a zelda game.

the first & one of the most important to me is the theming of the games. the franchise has cyclical overarching lore which really lends itself to explorations of coming-of-age, trauma, and healing, which is often what the most successful games focus on. I don't think a successful game NEEDS to be a coming-of-age, but it ABSOLUTELY needs to have SOME central theme to be built around. the best zelda games are the ones which clearly have something to SAY, a secondary thematic narrative that makes their stories relatable and impactful instead of just pure fantasy escapism. if you're looking to emulate the impact that zelda games have on their players, finding something relatable to the human experience and building your story around an exploration of that theme is a great place to start.

another thing to consider is the zelda writing style. zelda games occupy a really interesting niche among modern rpgs because they have such a long history and are often very married to emulating their predecessors. What this means in terms of writing is that zelda still employs a VERY player-based mode of storytelling. the games which define this franchise were built and released when storage space was the single biggest constraint game developers had on their stories; thus, they were built with the incentive to keep cutscenes and dialog to a minimum. this meant that if the developers wanted to tell a story in their games, they needed to get the PLAYER to tell that story for themself. what sets modern zelda games like botw apart from other rpgs (for me, at least) is the almost complete lack of action-breaking cutscenes and dialog. whenever you have a long cutscene in an rpg, you're forcibly removing the player from control of their character and therefore taking them out of the action to some degree, ESPECIALLY if the player character makes decisions during those cutscenes free of the player's influence. zelda games are very careful to avoid taking the player out of the action in almost EVERY instance. you will very rarely see cinematic cutscenes, and you will NEVER have link moving or taking action on his own independently of the player. the entire story & writing process tends to follow that same principle--how can we convey this story to the player through the player's own actions? very rarely will the story be outright stated to you through dialog or cutscenes, instead you will have to piece things together yourself, keeping the player centered in the story at all times.

you mentioned the presence of the master sword in your ask, and i think that breath of the wild is a good example of a zelda game that removes a lot of the standard elements of the franchise without losing the feeling of a zelda game. the master sword, while technically present, is not required to beat the game at all, and it's completely possible to beat ganon without ever finding it. the triforce is totally absent and not even MENTIONED throughout the ENTIRE game. despite this, (in my opinion) botw doesn't lose that zelda feeling. i think the reason for this is because it holds on so tightly to the theme and writing style i mentioned above, and pulls in just enough elements of the formula that it's still recognizeable despite clearly being something new. (the divine beasts are the dungeons, dungeon items are replaced with runes, there are clear REFERENCES to the lore even when its not stated outright, etc.) i also think part of the reason that botw is successful in this regard is because there's a REASON thematically for it to be divorced in this way from other games. it takes place at least 10k years removed from every other game and in the wake of a massive kingdom-ruining tragedy, so the fact that some changes have been made to the standard mechanics players are used to feels natural when paired with this changed version of hyrule. if you want to make a drastic change like that, i think it's always going to feel a bit more natural if you give players a REASON for that change, even if the reason is just 'well EVERYTHING is different so obviously this thing is too.'

final point, and not necessarily as important as the others but still worth noting, i think mood and art direction are something worth considering as well. I have NEVER seen a dark&moody adaptation of zelda that still felt like zelda to me. not to beat a dead horse, but these games originally come from the NES. for YEARS they were defined by sharp, brightly-colored graphics, and i really do think something is lost when you strip all the color and cartoonish-ness from them. (this is NOT a dig at botw btw, i actually think botw did a REALLY good job of creating a world that was both adequately colorful AND realistic. this IS a dig at twilight princess.) many of my favorite zelda games are defined by their bright and blocky art styles, and if anything i think zelda games are a testament to the fact that you can make a thematically dark game WITHOUT sacrificing your art direction to black overlays.

anyways!! hope this helps lol

#asks #can you tell ive thought about this a lot. sword of fate made me think about this SO much #zelda analysis

[amemenojaku]

Hisami and Zanmu for 1 on that ask game!

When I started shipping it if I did: Since day 1 when I read Hisami's dialogues, like most people I believe lol. I mean, how can you see her and not start cheering for her to get what she wants... Since it's still pretty recent I can add that two lines in particular made me seriously consider it and think about it beyond 'this is nice/funny': when Hisami tells Zanmu that she doesn't have to hold back around her, and when Zanmu tells Hisami that she knew Hisami would mess up on purpose, and that she'll give her a reward anyway - both are about danmaku obviously, but it got my brain gears turning >:]

My thoughts: They've slowly but steadily been going up my favorite ships, especially for the past 2-3 months... They work well together. Obviously I'd love the ship in touhou where one of them has a big fat actual canon crush on the other one, I've been in this hole since 2010 or something so Hisami's kind of a gift... but also in general I think it's a good spin on the boss/henchman trope when the boss is some mega charismatic chessmaster who could probably get anyone they want on their knees and yet their subordinate is one of the only people they can't fully predict/control. The wild card aspect is really funny to me and I love seeing fanworks where Zanmu's like... fondly sighing at Hisami's antics.

Things done in fanworks that annoy me: I think there's too many fanworks where Zanmu looks generally uncomfortable around Hisami despite never doing so even once ingame, and also too many fanworks where Hisami harasses Zanmu, sometimes to make very early 2000s jokes in very poor taste... I won't name anyone but there's a few big yuri artists on twitter who do that and it makes me want to bash my head against the wall when they get praised for it just because their artstyle looks good..... On a more positive note there's a few people who've been creating constantly good content of this pair and I think given a year or two nature will be healing!!

Also I'm of the opinion that Zanmu's fairly tall herself, just a bit shorter than Hisami, so I'm not big on the crazy size difference stuff (funny coming from a seishin fan, I know......)

Things I look for in fanworks: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING!!! Getting to know each other past the infatuation (in Hisami's case)/the curiosity (in Zanmu's case) in deeper ways. I promise this isn't about sex lol (I do think about that too but not here rn) I really want to see how their relationship can grow and I especially want to see Zanmu enjoying it (as a petty reaction to the stuff listed above...). In their case I think physical intimacy would be a good setting for that kind of scene where their emotional bond grows, so that's what I'd go with if I were to create something like it, but anything can work if it's done in good taste imo. And in general I want to see Zanmu answering Hisami's affections with a positive emotion... whatever it is... I'm desperate.......

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: It's difficult for me to imagine Hisami with anyone else, although I do think she'd have physical relationships with a bunch of women while her feelings for her boss are still unrequited. Zanmu on the other hand I can picture being interested in a few other characters like Reimu or other onis or even the sages, but ultimately not as something she'd commit to and take seriously. The only real endgame is still zanhisa haha

My prefered future/ending for them: Whenever Zanmu considers them close enough to tell Hisami to drop the honorifics and overly reverent language when they're alone, and whenever Hisami feels comfortable doing that would be the ideal "endpoint" for me because of all the things it implies :) I don't care if at that point they actually consider themselves in a relationship or if they just aknowledge there's something going on. Though if they do get in a relationship proper I imagine they'd be very discreet about it. Also I think Hisami should get a promotion so she can directly work as Zanmu's prefered right hand arm man. woman. her everything. her confidant. her silly rabbi

What is their favorite activity together: Probably drinking. I imagine with how old she is and hanging out with onis Hisami's built up a decent hold on alcohol, and Zanmu appreciates it. They reminisce about their respective pasts and talk about the inner workings of hell and Zanmu gets a huge ego boost from showing off her 4D chess plans and Hisami praising her for it

#thank you for sending something!! I got a few other asks for this pair and it makes me really happy haha

[sixth-light]

WoT 2x08 thoughts

WoT s2 really, I haven't got to blog the season like I would have wanted because (checks notes) everybody in this household has been sick for a month and counting (do not recommend). No order here, just things as I think of them, full series book spoilers possible:

They really did stick the landing on this season for me, as well as line everything up so neatly for next season. I think S2 is really going to reward a rewatch.

Particularly re:Lanfear. I literally choked when she walked up to Bayle Domon and started talking about the pieces of cuendillar she'd sold him. I know the Dark Prophecy is probably still legit because we flashed back to Ishamael reciting it as he released her BUT ALSO I am now imagining her lying on her bed surrounded by screwed-up drafts as she tries to make it sufficiently ominous.

The Forsaken shenanigans this season have just smashed it out of the park and we only had two of them. I presume we're going to highlight one or two a season for practical purposes (and ofc TSR/TFoH are the Moghedien-Nynaeve books) so I reckon next season we mostly get Moghedien and...I guess Asmodean if we're doing that plotline at all?

Man I so liked my "evil Seanchan/less evil Seanchan" theory but the way they ruthlessly killed off every named Seanchan character this episode (yes we didn't see Suroth and Alwhin's bodies, but that seemed pretty fatal, they explicitly did NOT show any ships getting away) says to me that they want to put that plotline on ice until the Corenne and Tuon arrive. It could still work but we'd have to introduce more Seanchan nobles to make it happen...or...they could make the whole Extremely Dysfunctional Imperial Family dynamic real by having one or more of Tuon's siblings tag along. That was a very tell-not-show element of the books and then rendered irrelevant by Semirhage murdering all of them at once.

Extremely out-there theory: the way they're focusing on Moghedien being 'insane' and having Lanfear refer to the rest of the Forsaken as 'the boys' and being visibly wary of Moggy...what if they merge Moghedien and Semirhage? After all, Moggy goes after the Sad Bracelets first even if Semirhage is the one who uses them...

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP as that gifset going around demonstrates, this really was the theme of the season. I continue to love how much these kids love each other (and the lingering fear the show has planted that it won't matter, because look where Lews Therin and Ishamael and Lanfear ended up...). Totally bought that they would all just roll with running into each other like that when there was a clear and present threat.

Rand is still so much in his 'just trying to protect my friends' era, poor kiddo, we're going to see that get more and more worn away as the Pattern forces him into bigger and bigger confrontations.

MAT, goddamn, his story took a bit of time to get moving but looking back all the pieces are there. Everything about the knife-on-a-stick sequences was just. fjlkfsdjklfsadjlkfsd. Amazing foreshadowing AND a funny and effective piece of storytelling in the moment. Particularly enjoyed the use of the dagger to open the box with the Horn.

Re: Min's vision: I'm thinking that at some point next season someone will report back to her what actually happened and we're going to see an arc with her learning about her own power and realising that her visions can be partial or metaphorical.

Man I hope Egwene gets lots of nice things next season because this one has been (not unexpectedly) brutal. Completely on board with her killing Renna. I wonder if they're getting rid of the 'sparker/learner' distinction in the show, given what she said to Renna about sul'dam just being very weak in the Power. I also wonder what 'very weak' actually means coming from Egwene, who canonically in the show can hold up against a Forsaken for some length of time (another change I am fine with).

Fascinating to think about Perrin in 2x08, straight-up killing Geofram Bornhald for killing Hopper, vs Perrin in 1x08 deliberately choosing pacifism. I don't actually mind that they gave him some unquestionable culpability here; in the books it was always SO obvious he wasn't in the wrong that it felt silly.

Relatedly, I think what's going on with Nynaeve (to the extent that anything is, she certainly didn't suffer for screentime this season) is that like Perrin her PERSONAL plot actually stalls out around book 8-9 - they're slowburning her block storyline for the same reasons they're slowburning his Wolfbrother one, I reckon. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't heal stilling until much later in the show than the equivalent of book 6.

I didn't even notice that we left all the White Tower-related plotlines behind entirely this episode until I got to writing this post. FASCINATED to see where we pick up with Verin, Alanna, Siuan, et al next season...not to mention Liandrin

I haven't even talked about Aviendha! She hasn't had a lot to do beyond be introduced/introduce the concept of the Maidens and the Car'a'carn but it was solid set-up for next season and in line with how much she actually had to do in TDR.

My one big lingering question for this season is whether Ingtar isn't a Darkfriend on the show or whether he IS and they decided that his verbal confession wouldn't happen/work in the show and left it as a subtextual easter egg for book readers. I think both positions are arguable from the text, I'm curious what the intent was.

#wheel of time #wot tv show #wot s2 spoilers #wot book spoilers

[wri0thesley]

Cat dad anon here: ironically by the the time you posted my response I got sick again lol funny how that works (I’m not mad btw i thought it was just funny because i forgot i sent that originally)

I would like to add to this with genshin WOMEN as cat moms.

Arlecchino is technically a cat dad literally because she has Lynette and Lyney. But also those two have snuck in many a stray into the hearth to keep as their own. Ironically enough many end up becoming hers in the classic: dad who didn’t want cat ends up being cat’s favorite. Well she sees no reason to fight it now, it makes the kids happy to have the cat even if it seems to prefer her. Rest assured that kitty will be well cared for not just because it has a bunch of orphans caring for it but because Arlecchino makes sure it only eats the most delectable of fish.

Jean is probably the one who gets a emotional support cat. A gift from Lisa perhaps? A affectionate little fluff ball that lingers around her helping her feel more at ease. Its been trained to bump her with its head whenever she gets too tense or stressed in order to indicate its time to relax and give the kitty some pets. It helps immensely as if she stays up too late the cat will simply lay ontop of her work forcing her to turn in for the night.

Another is Undoubtedly Chlorine. Awaiting her each day is a cat waiting by the door to greet her by immediately begging for food. A very loud kitty maybe a siamese as its miles more chatty than she herself is.

Ningguang possesses a common breed of cat surprisingly. Not s luxurious breed at all but rather a simple black cat. (Fun fact black cats were originally thought of as good luck) but this cat isn’t not at all poised or graceful. Infact its quite troublesome. It seems to be mischievous on purpose. If it is hungry then you will know from the sudden sounds of pottery falling. Since then most pots are reinforced to not be knockable. But the cat is a plump bastard because the staff struggled to calm it. Still even with its mischievous nature is Ningguang quite content with the creature. She sleeps with them cuddled by her as she used to cuddle cats while she lived on the streets for warmth. In fact the very cat she owns was picked out because it resembled her stray cat friend who passed long ago. Which is also why she will not even entertain the idea of replacing it and glares at anyone who suggests it. Her kitty is her respite from her stress as she can now spoil her little friend.

Beidous cats would be different. As she is a captain it actually would make sense to have cats onboard. Infact its a common. Ship cats are good for mice management but that also means they may not be as affectionate as they’re more wild like. More busy below decks stalking the mice. But beidou’s cats are a bit different. They proudly display to her their bounties so she’ll reward them with much love and affection. Plus there’s her pal kazuha who is canonically a cat magnet. Those cat lives better lives than some people!

And of course Lisa. Lisa definitely seems like she’d end up attracting other cats than actually having one of her own. Like if Kaeya has a kitty then it may find Lisa swaying it to her side with promise of quality naps and treats. Or if Jean is out on business she is the cat babysitter who will be lounging with the kitty enjoying a nice nap. Eventually she’d end up attracting a permanent cat who snuck into the library during a storm. She let the guy stay in of course but even after weeks have passed does it refuse to leave. Its more of the library’s cat but she is the librarian. She playfully gave it the title of her assistant as it likes to sit at her desk with her paperwork displayed like its actually doing buisness. It even has its own Favonious collar labeling it as a official employee of the Knights. The cat seems to Mimic Lisa alot. It follows her to greet and check on jean and play with Jean’s own kitty cat. But it doesn’t like going outside where its more noisy. It would rather nap on the sunlight coming through the window.

CAT MOMS . . . be still my heart. and oh no anon i'm sorry to hear that; i am sending you soup and hoping if you have a kitty of your own it is providing the healing snuggles and purrs that you deserve!

lisa's library cat is making me feel so soft; i adore her and the thought of walking into the library to see her snoozing behind the desk with the cats of the rest of the knights of favonius deciding she's a lovely pillow and a perfect napping spot . . . sigh.

navia definitely has a plump spoilt kitty who is dressed in the finest of clothes; she can't resist giving it a sweet treat now and then, and everyone in poisson knows that the cat with the lovely ornate collar belongs to their demoiselle and as such gives the cat a freshly caught fish or a bit of chicken or too many pets and loves!

miko is very fond of cats because they're just as tricky as she is; they tend to follow her around - but her favourite is a sleek black cat who sits, mostly, off to one side. it follows her but it doesn't want fusses or too many pets; it follows her to the shrine, to the publishing house . . . she's named it 'ei'.

#nat.txt #genshin impact posting #long post

[getvalentined]

Have you done tess or keira for the ask meme?

TESS

🎟️ SEXUALITY HEADCANON: Tess is a big bisexual babe

⚧️ GENDER HEADCANON: Cis woman, nothing else to it for her

💕 A SHIP: I really love that Tess and Dax are canonically a thing, even if I don't precisely like the "girlfriend as reward" thing at the end.

🖇️ A BROTP: I mentioned how much I like Torn+Tess over on his post, but for Tess I really like her and Keira hitting it off; they're both engineers that are routinely underestimated because they're teenage girls, they have so much in common. Likewise, the differences between them would be a great way for them to bond, since Tess is so much harder than Keira, and could help her figure out how to survive the rougher sides Haven on her own.

🚫 A NOTP: Torn/Tess is a no-go for me! (No shade to anyone who ships it, it's just not my vibe.)

💭 A RANDOM HEADCANON: Tess is Jinx's niece; her parents passed when she was 10-11, and it was Jinx that took her in for the next few years, getting her into weapons development and taking her with him on pretty much every job he ran, no matter how dangerous. This is how she wound up falling in with Torn—who may be Jinx's third cousin on his mother's side, although Jinx may also be lying about this, it's very unclear—just a few months after the collapse of the holy district. Torn was still very much in recovery at this point, and Jinx had to run a job that he couldn't bring Tess on due to limited space, so he asked Torn if he'd be okay having Tess stay with him for a day. Torn was like "...why the hell do you have a teenage girl?" and the rest is history. Tess has been working with Torn ever since! (This is also why Krew hired her to work the bar so readily, since he's the one that hires Jinx most often and thus had some experience with Tess already, leading him to consider her trustworthy but naive.)

🗣️GENERAL OPINION: I love Tess! I appreciate that she's not just fanservice, because she could have been quite easily—instead she's a valuable member of the Underground, working intelligence and espionage, and later she works in weapons development for the Freedom League. Nobody questions that she can do any of these things, she's openly relied on by Torn and Jak, while the affection between her and Daxter is sincere and genuine. She's a sweetheart with sharp parts, and I adore that about her.

(For the character ask game.)

#ask game #headcanon warning #tess #tess jnd #jak and daxter #jnd

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Problems with the Romantic Flight Scene

As I drag my feet to watch HTTYD 3, I am still fairly neutral on Hiccstrid. Don't love it or hate it - it's just there. But honestly thats how I feel about almost all canon romances in the media I have consumed. The canon romance is just there for the hero to have a wife or girlfriend at the end in most cases.

Anyway, I was rewatching Pop Culture Detective's brilliant video essay on 'Abduction as Romance'. How deeply entrenched this trope is in media...am I the only one who sees this kind of playing out in the Romantic Flight scene??

Hiccup basically kidnaps Astrid as she tries to run back to Berk. It's understandable why he feels he needs to do that...but wasn't he planning on running away anyway??? At least Astrid telling Berk would give his dad closure that his son wasn't kidnapped or something. Did Hiccup even write a note??

So yes, Toothless drops Astrid on a tree so she has no avenue to escape and is forced to go along with Hiccup to prevent falling to her death. All the while, the scene is framed romantically.

Then, to make matters worse for Astrid, Toothless decides to give her the flight from hell, terrorizing her. I hated how Astrid hurt Hiccup in the forrest with her axe so part of me thinks its deserved punishment...but it's still not cool. So Astrid is forced to apologize to appease Toothless. All the while, Hiccup gets to have Astrid clinging to him for security. It's kind of the vibe of couples going to see a horror movie so the guy can act as a protector when the girl gets scared.

But all of this ceases to matter, because Toothless takes them on a beautiful flight. Suddenly, Astrid's kidnapping becomes a romantic flight with sweet music and imagery. She realizes how amazing dragons are. Suddenly, Astrid completely mellows, all grievances forgotten. Hiccup wins her over and is rewarded by Astrid snuggling into his shoulder.

Hiccup takes Astrid against her will and at the end he gets a cheek kiss from his dream girl who out of nowhere has a crush on him now.

I liked the scene when I first watched the movie. I thought it was gorgeous but I wasn't a die hard fan of it. I was just confused why Astrid liked him all of a sudden. I think Hiccstrid is cute but I just dislike the execution in the two movies, especially movie 1.

Edit: I tagged as both hiccstrid and anti hiccstrid because the post could fit either based on perspective. I am more criticizing the trope than the actual ship itself. But I do want to get views from fans and critics of the ship to hear what people think about the romantic flight scene.

#httyd critical #how to train your dragon #hiccstrid critical #anti hiccstrid #astrid hofferson #hiccup haddock #anti romantic flight #romantic flight #abduction as romance #httyd #impromptu post #wrote this as soon as i rewatched the video #toothless #hiccstrid #httyd hiccup #httyd astrid

[mdhwrites]

Could you please explain the difference between the goal and the objective to me? English is not my first language, and when i opened translator, i found out these two things mean the same in my native language, so i don't understand it well enough. Thanks in advance

This EXTREMELY reasonable, especially since when I first read it I had to pause and think about it for a second, and I kind of wish I'd thought ahead about it because I don't blame you at all for this. For those missing context, I posted this quote last night saying that I could expand on it but that it was a perfect phrasing of how Luz and Amity see their relationship, or bare minimum how they treat it.

So the simplest way I can explain it is that: A goal is the final destination. The end point of a plan or desire. An objective needs to be achievable and needs to be clarified as 'final' if it's the last one. It is the steps in which you take to reach a goal.

For Amity, improving herself, becoming better, etc. like that are all objectives to serve the goal of being an awesome girlfriend because her goal, as far as the two are concerned (and kind of in life in general but that's at the point where this gets depressing), is to be an awesome girlfriend and never stop being one. It's not a goal that she can ever cross off though because being an awesome girlfriend means continuing to put in the work towards the other person.

Luz meanwhile treats "Get a girlfriend" as an objective for her larger goal of "Live out my ultimate witch fantasy." Remember the fervor she had about befriending Amity no matter what? And then how she blatantly ignores her being in danger or in pain once they're together? That's because once they're together, she considers the work to be done. It's like she completed a sidequest for the emote "Spin girlfriend" and now she has more important things to do than talk to an NPC with no treats left for her.

If you think this is overkill... It's what happened to Willow and Gus. She befriended Gus and Willow and then literally never sought them out again once they unlocked Hexide for her unless it was for key items required to progress the Amity quest chain like the library card. Gus and Willow always had to come and see her. And how does it go with Amity once they're together? Amity keeps coming to Luz minus Clouds on the Horizon where Luz has to get talked INTO going and seeing her girlfriend.

This disparity (let alone what it did to Amity's character) is what makes canon Lumity so sad to me. No, neither of them should only care about their girlfriend but one frankly cares too much where as it becomes her only real worry while the other doesn't care at all. It's just an ugly situation and yes, very real to being a teenager but I also think entirely unintentional seeing as they are still together to go to college.

It also makes me wonder if Luz living in the human realm for three years is the only reason they're still together. No human girl can compete with Amity because they don't have magic and she isn't spending enough time with Amity to get bored. They're effectively in an endless honeymoon period where Luz can do whatever she wants and be rewarded with the fun parts of a relationship.

When she has to find out she has to grind to get her next reward though... Is she just going to find a game with faster to achieve objectives? Just find a new project to work on? Or will Amity finally stop caring about the lying because it hurts her ability to be an awesome girlfriend and instead just realize that being lied to constantly sucks?

Or would those two collide into something truly sad because Luz won't admit she's playing a new game?

*sigh* I'm now just thinking about a quote I once heard. "The worst thing that can happen to your ship isn't that it doesn't become canon. It's that it becomes canon and then is done poorly." And blogs like these make me wonder why I've put over half a million words into these two.

Because they sure did become canon and sure were done poorly.

===========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#Lumity #Luz #Amity #toh critical #the owl house criticism

[queerfics]

[QueerFic's] NSFW Alphabet: Yara Greyjoy

A/N: Hello!!! Yes, this has been done before, but I wanted to give my own personal spin on Yara's NSFW alphabet:)

NO MINORS BEYOND THIS POINT

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

In my mind, Yara is quite the chatterbox. She's not really up for extensive aftercare, though she certainly wouldn't refuse a bath together, but I feel like aftercare for Yara resides in conversation or physical touch. Did you enjoy yourself? What did you like? How do you feel? She wants to hold you and draw out those last fleeting sparks from the skin to skin contact.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Yara is an ass woman. Everyone's got an ass, man or woman, and she loves them all. Having something soft to grab on to, and the way that it extends into your hips, your thighs, she adores it.

On herself, I think Yara probably likes her hands or her shoulders. She likes something that makes her feel strong, and her arms bare the most of the physical labor and fighting she does, so they remind her of her capability and strength, and it kind of turns her on a little bit. She likes to be intimidating.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically)

Especially with women, Yara is a swallower. It's symbolic of her hard work, and I think she views it as a reward rather than an end goal, and something for you to both enjoy. I think Yara has a bit of an oral fixation, so I'm sure she loves to have her face covered in it in all honesty, or to ride her partner's face and have it on theirs.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Yara loves to seduce any woman on the ship. Crewmate, passenger, prisoner, it's her little game of cat and mouse, and she plans on winning.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

I don't remember if this is canonical or just fandom stuff, but I heard/read somewhere Yara has fucked a woman from each of the seven kingdoms? Yeah I believe that. She's probably aiming for 20 from each about now.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Yara loves to ride, Yara loves to be ridden. It's a must for her. I feel like she would also love having someone in her lap, or missionary or a mating press. Anything that commands power, eye contact, and complete openness or vulnerability,

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

She'll definitely crack a joke or two, especially in aftercare. We all love Yara for her smart mouth, boldness and outright attitude, and I don't think that's something that simply slips away when she's horny.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

I don't think she cares, and tbh I don't think she cares about other people's grooming either. Definition of "baby call me Moses cause I'm gonna part the Red Sea" or "the wilderness must be explored" or something LMFAO

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Intimacy is key for her! And being a little silly or sarcastic doesn't ruin that intimacy. She needs to feel a connection to the person, and she thrives on that moment when she "syncs" with someone and it turns into more of a dance or rhythm. Eye contact is crucial.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

In some ways I feel like Yara is a 5 minutes and go girl, or she's just too busy and just waits to find a partner, but I also like to think about her late at night in her bed, full of her own fingers, without a care in the world.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

VOYEUR oh my GOD I am a devout believer in voyeur Yara. YES she would fuck you in front of her whole crew, in ANY throne room, on ANY ship, in ANY dining room, for fun or to prove a point. She herself might not get naked, but she loves that anyways, it makes her feel so powerful to be fully dressed while her partner is bare and vulnerable.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

I feel like Yara loves to fuck in public, like on the deck late at night or giving head on a balcony somewhere, but I feel like she also holds a special place for her own large bedroom, perhaps a secluded tower, where she can really lean into her deepest desires and do whatever she pleases, even if it involves getting a little sadistic.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

When is she not ready to go???? I feel like she's always ready ngl, but I feel like if she saw you fight someone off or help with manual labor, she'd go nuts. Or like sitting on her lap in front of the crew, making any bold comments or attitude.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Yara is up for a threesome, foursome or orgy on occasion, but she isn't going to do an open relationship in a committed relationship or marriage. If you were just a hookup buddy, it wouldn't bother her, but if you're serious, she doesn't like the idea of you being intimate without her being involved.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Head is Yara's expertise. When she gives, she usually likes to be completely in charge. When she receives, it's 50/50. Maybe she's sat up and playing head pusher, or maybe she's tied up and growling and whining.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Yara is typically large and in charge lmao. I feel like she can definitely both, but given her tendency to intimacy, multiple rounds, and basking in pleasure, I feel like she leans more towards slow and sensual, but still fairly rough, to really draw it out.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Oh she 100% would. She'd fuck you until you cum on her face then wipe her mouth and walk out on deck like nothing happened. Better a quick fuck than none at all I guess.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Absolutely. Yara loves creativity. She sleeps around because she loves new experiences, so she'll take experimentation anywhere she can get it.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Yara can definitely go for a while, especially when receiving, she's an absolute soul-sucking demon.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

YARA WITH A STRAP SUPREMACY! Yara will give that strap to anyone who asks for it, and I'm sure she'd love to ride one or get stuffed.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

We're talking about the same woman right? Yara's whole thing is teasing and banter. She's grabbing you in front of anyone and everyone, saying the nastiest things over the dinner table where anyone could hear, reaching under the table and grabbing at you.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

I feel like Yara is definitely expressive. She'll grunt and groan and let out soft moans, but she's not exceptionally loud. She moreso leans into dirty talk, but she'll get on her knees for a partner who will scream her name.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Yara has got to be a scissoring LEGEND. No strap? No problem. She's meat-to-meating that pussy like it's her dying fucking wish.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Scissoring legend is till on my mind so I'm fingers crossed for big clit Yara :') Like she has big dick energy but no dick so I'm hoping that translates.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Yara has "it's five o'clock somewhere" energy when it comes to sex, but I feel like she's definitely crazy about morning sex, or middle of the night, wake-up fucks.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

I think Yara fucks in the daytime honestly more at night time, and it probably reinvigorates and energizes her because of that, so I wouldn't be surprised if it actually kept her awake and that's why she has such insane stamina.

#yara posting #yara greyjoy smut #yara greyjoy x reader #yara x reader #yara greyjoy #game of thrones smut #game of thrones #house of the dragon #house of dragons #daenerys stormborn #daenerys targaryen #Theon greyjoy #Jon snow #robb stark #stark #winterfell #ironborn #iron islands #pyke #brienne of tarth

[fruit-salad-ship]

I come baring angst: Human Plum gets seriously injured in battle and Peach gets flashbacks to Sea Monster Plum's death

“come out!” Peach rolled her head against the solid wooden floor where she’d been knocked down to, feeling its cold wet surface on her forehead. It took all her effort to push her body up, shoving a shattered crate off her, one hand falling on a barrel close by, dragging the woman to her feet thanks to its support. “I know that didn’t kill you- so come up and face the music! Let’s finish what we started, old friend.” The voice was chilling, a voice she’d swore she’d heard the end of, one irritating bounty hunter who’d stalked her for years hoping to reap the rewards for her capture. Her foe was clever, kept peach’s body regenerating, it weakened her, she slowed down when having to heal at such a rapid rate. She’d been knocked into the cargo hold by boxes and debris, falling hard. It was only once back up, eyeing the hole she’d fallen in that peach noticed the long 30cm splinter of wood poking from her side. It hurt. She was immortal, and yet would feel everything, from paper cut to canon ball, there was some unfair rule there, reminded of its irony as the wood was pulled from her with rattled breaths. It even hurt to heal up at her accelerated rate, feeling organs knit together, tissue stinging, tugging back to its original form.

By the time the woman made it back to the top deck, the ship was quiet, waiting. The crew she’d come to love were injured, tired, but still fighting on, the image of Grey managing to defend one of the smaller men, felling the enemy was a mild relief. Her eyes landed on the more obvious thing she was looking for, seeing her captain in the white jacket be singled out by the hunter who’d come here. Her steady pace turned to a run, blade drawn, ducking and diving around other fights going on. Her men, the staff she loved seeing what she was going for, stopping all other incoming hostiles so she could make her way there unhindered, watching as plum’s blade was knocked from her hand, her body stepping back in retreat slowly, looking at the oncoming, daunting form of this man. She did not run, even though she should have, you could see on her face she was frozen with fear, the strong grab for her jacket dragging her closer to this man who was not looking at her, instead locking eyes with his prey, the item of desire that he’d hunted for so long, Peach, skidding to a stop a few meters away. “Let her go Mulligan, this is between us.” The man seemed relaxed, his body littered with scars, many of which peach had made, a sleek long jacket that had seen better days and a swept back messy dark mop of hair peppered with silver. “I never thought you’d join a crew again, it’s made you soft.” She had a lot of mortal allies now, pressure points this hunter could squeeze, one specific one currently in his grasp, slowly reaching for something while his attention was elsewhere, an act Peach saw, she had to keep his eyes on her. “I’ve sunk three of your ships, you this desperate to make it a fourth?” His grin gave a glint of gold, the canines in his mouth coated in metal, his sword now lowered to face her, ready for Peach should she advance, as if Plum was no longer a threat. “Immortality does not mean Invulnerability. You have weaknesses now.” His tug to Plums jacket brought her closer, one of her hands pushing against him, a futile move to feign a useless behaviour, while her other hand continued to sneak behind her, up to her belt slowly. She had one shot, she couldn’t get seen and ruin it. “Call your men off, you can all go back to your ship and leave alive while theres still a chance.”

It all happened so fast, he seemed to ponder the option, and in that moment, as his eyes sat on his target, Plum finally got the shot in she was betting on. Her hand reached a dagger, whipping it out, shoving it right under this mans ribs in a swift motion, up into the vital organs, twisting it as she went. He lurched from the pain, giving Peach an opening, body moving in, sword sinking right into his gut, in one end and out the other. Both women were close, seeing him slump a little, body going heavy, before his head shot back up, face to face with the pirate, the one he’d hunted for years. “Just kidding.” With a mighty grunt, the man stood tall and kicked, peach being knocked down, taking her sword with her from his body, able to look up, he was fatally wounded, his grasp tightening around Plum’s wrist, dagger still in him, blood dropping to the floors as the fights around them continued on. “Did you think you were the only one to figure it out? The only one to gain such a gift?” She got back up, a little winded but fine, sword ready, disbelief forming. “I can hunt you to the ends of the earth if I have to now, and I’m going to take everything you loved along the way!” There was no time to move, no time to act quick enough. Mulligan plunged his sword into the captains torso, a central hit, the pain that rattled through Plum forcing her to make some ungodly shout, before his grip loosened and she slid off his weapon to the floor, a heap, curling in on herself out of instinct.

There was no thoughts that echoed in her head, nothing, it went blank. Peach didn’t register that she’d become reckless in her movements, he was getting hits in on her, plenty, but not one slowed her down, she was relentless in backing the hunter up to the rails.
“You can’t kill me! All this rage and you finally can’t be rid of me!” His laugh made her sick, head tipped back in a jovial state as she kept her sword in his shoulder to push him to a prone position. “I’m glad you cant die you piece of shit!” The sword in her grip was held with such ferocity she was able to pin in to the wood of the ship, still through him so he was held in place. “I’m going to show you what immortality is like first hand!” He picked a fight with the wrong person, her hand finding a side arm, a small short sword on his person, whipping it out. Grey by this point had rushed to his captain, their men triumphing around him, not picking her up, almost afraid to move her. She was still breathing, the blood pouring from her wound alarming in amount, growing paler by the second. He watched as this monster, the reason his captain was hurt, the reason they were attacked by hunters, the cause of this all, carved the heart from her foes chest. It was not like a human heart, it looked like an eel was coiled up, but also, there were plates of perhaps crab shell on it? It beat in her hand, the body remaining limp and lifeless as she pulled her sword and pushed it overboard. The heart was pinned to the wood railing, still beating despite the sword through it, before he saw the monster turn to face the consequence of her presence here. She couldn’t bring herself to approach, the look Grey gave her was…disgust, fury, and rightly so. She did this. As their foe finally all fell, dead or dying, the ships doctor was rushed out, priority being captain, she’d sustained the worst wounds, by far, even his typically tired and docile behaviour was now urgent.

The woman felt her legs give way, body sinking to a seated position, the sound of that heart beating beside her, it’s echo the only sound that cut through. The shake in her hands and the shallowness in her breathing made it hard to focus. It was happening again, she was losing something she treasured above all else once more. She so desperately wanted to get up and be beside Plum, hold her hand, but it was her fault, this was her doing, everyone was thinking it, they had to be. The flashes of her wife kept cutting in, moments she’d felt this same fear, gut wrenching, horrifying, awful fear that froze her on the spot.

Grey had sat the captains head in his lap while Doc tried to fix the damage, one of his hands holding hers, several crew members around trying to stave off their worry. He was so mad, so furious that this monster had wormed its way into their ranks and created this nightmare situation. He warned Plum that the pirate was bad news, that she’d bring an end to them all in time, and this now dying woman he’d come to respect ignored him. Now look. When he glanced up, Peach was gone, he’d not even noticed her move, the heart she’d carved out was missing too. He’d not know that she had slunk to her small quarters, gathered her things, and gone to the very back of the ship, calling for her serpent companion. She had to take this heart, and herself as far away from these people as possible. There was now an empty ship sat out at sea, their crew dead, she’d take that and leave.

The crew would later notice the apparently empty ship that had once come to kill them all start to move away, one lone woman on the deck of it, a writhing body beneath the waves pulling it along. For the first time in hundreds of years, Peach cried, alone on a ship, moving away from someone she’d wished she’d never gotten near, her desperation to just have anything around her that reminded her of better times an unfortunate trap. People got close to her, and then they died. Her wife was right, life did have a habit of repeating itself. Maybe if she left, some luck would return to the crew.

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

Peach had spent several months at sea, wandering an empty ship, no company other than the now present body of Mulligan, she’d thrown the heart in a cell and waited. Within a week, his body had reformed around the core, and he was back, alive. Removing it wouldn’t kill him, simply pause his destruction. He was subject to insurmountable torture, Peach knew he’d never die from it, so why not? He’d come to a crew she loved, and killed the last shred of anything that mattered to her. Nothing mattered once again. She drowned her sorrows, only forced to return to a port when the ship ran out of alcohol, taking a moment to sell the canons, sell the goods, pawn off the loot mulligan had gathered, and restock with enough booze to numb out everything. Until that was finished, she held up in a seedy bar, and waited for the docks to finish removing all the unnecessary gun power. What use were canons on a ship destined to be her eternal home? It’s not like she needed them.

Thats where she sat, she did not leave the bar, she did not get up, nor bother to eat, or even do more than continue to drink, until nothing seemed to creep into her head at all. Numb herself out, just make existing tolerable. The sounds of rushed footsteps approached, she didn’t even turn to them, not even defending herself when someone pulled her to face their direction, a sharp painful slap striking her cheek. The sound cut the chatter in the bar, everyone watching on as a small, long haired woman stood before one of the most notorious names in the pirate game. Peach focused up, not even shocked, defeated, finally able to look up at the person who’d come at her with such hostility. It was like looking at a ghost, her eyes widened a little, body straightened up, pressing herself up against the bar to get as far away as possible. “You- You didn’t-“ “No. I did not die. But you!” Her slaps returned, another sharp hit that peach didn’t try to stop, staring dumbfounded at Plum. Alive. Well. The colour was back in her face, she didn’t share the same fate as her wife. “You have some nerve to just run off like that, no note, no explanation, no nothing!” Another slap, she was leaning in, so mad, the fury of this woman something to see, small as she was, she didn’t half ass her anger. “I thought you’d come see me when I woke up, but NO! Nothing!!” Behind her Grey stood, angry, leant against a wall, mad that fate had brought them to the same port once more. He just wanted to steer clear of this woman, but luck was not on his side. “Give me the deed to the ship you took. Now!” It meant nothing to Peach, she didn’t even say anything, rummaging around in her pocket, pulling a folded piece of paper and handing it over. Plum pocketed it. The bar watched on as this tiny captain stared down someone with a bounty on her head large enough to buy an entire fleet of ships and then some, and she wasn’t fighting it, wasn’t causing trouble, she stayed quiet. The captain turned and started to leave, Peach was just happy to see she didn’t die, breathing a sigh of relief before returning to her drink. The footsteps returned, this time she flinched for another slap, didn’t receive it, looking back at Plum’s stern expression. “Why are you still sitting here? We’re leaving port tomorrow, theres work to do!” Peach’s sip hesitated, looked from her, to Grey, he was shaking his head, a mild threat in how he stood, in how he glared at her. “I’m not going, you guys have fun with the new ship. Mulligan’s in the cells…don’t let him out. Just going to hold up here and finish my drink.” The glass in peach hand is swiped, she doesn’t even have a say, watching Plum knock back its contents, slam it on the counter and grab the half filled bottle so she couldn’t pour another. “Drinks finished. Let’s go.” Captain turns and leaves, bottle in hand, moving past Grey, his stern form still just stood, hoping something would stop this from happening. Peach sees him, sighs, stands up, and walks past him. Pauses beside where he’s leant, out of earshot from Plum. “You don’t have to look at me like that. I know… I’ll get out of this somehow.” Before continuing to follow the small woman, stood by the door waiting, ushering them both to hurry up and follow.

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

Peach and Plum have a huge argument before leaving port, and it comes out that Peach is CONVINCED immortality was never the curse, it was her, shes the problem. Everything she ever loved is gone and she knows its her fault. Being near Plum makes it all the more likley that she'll lose another thing that matters to her. The only part of her sad, frustrated rant Plum hears is that this woman, this terrifying, undying, woman, cares about her. Queue one hell of a passionate kiss.

#pirate au #tw blood #tw injury #fruit salad #brainrot

[cosmicjoke]

Hi, I read your post about shipping and you just said everything that I have been wanting to say. Well , I admit to be an eruri shipper, But for my personal interests about these two very well written characters and the special relationship they share. It doesn't have to be romantic and thier lives don't have to revolve around each other. I won't go out my way insinuating Levi was all about Erwin and shit. That is totally disregarding his character.

I read eruri fics on ao3 everyday and I want to say most of them misinterpret both thier characters for sake of their "yaoi" fantasy. I am sick of it. I won't say don't ship who you want. I am an eruri shipper too but doing this is totally childish.

I think Levi was the one person Erwin trusted with his whole life and he was last and only person who ever understood who he was and saw him as a human. In a way Erwin's own va( Ono daisuke) saying Levi was the last holder of Erwin's remaining humanity. And Erwin being a commander who Levi trusted implicitly. Humanity needed Erwin but now that Erwin doesn't have the drive anymore he wouldn't be able to be the same commander, as you said. Levi saved him from living life of a devil, floch wanted and gave him salvation from the dream that was borne of his guilt and childish curiosity which turned him this cold but coldness was needed for his commandership.

Thier relationship is very well written even more so, in my opinion , Canon ship, I like the complexity and intricacies of thier relationship romantic or platonic. But those toxic shipper demoting thier characters to just revolve around each other and forgetting thier true motives is infuriating.

Levi's priority was and is always HUMANITY,FIRST AND FOREMOST.

Erwin was slave to his dream, Levi freed him of it and Erwin was grateful to have someone take this burden of this guilt and dream away and giving him some clarity and epiphany. Erwin knew Levi would never let humanity down, so hence letting him make his final choice.

Erwin provided Levi a way to serve humanity in survey corps, thier relationship is fascinating. But your point is valid and true to it's meaning. THANK YOU.

Hi there, and thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

I don't have any problem whatsoever with shipping Levi and Erwin, and in fact, the vast majority of fanfic I read is eruri, which is why it's so funny to me that I keep getting attacked over being "biased" against the ship, lol. I'm not at all, I'm just able to separate it from actual canon. Something I don't think should be hard to do.

Indeed, Levi and Erwin have one of the bets and most complex relationships IN canon, far more complex and, imo, meaningful than if they were simply a romantic couple, which is also why I don't understand this fanatical need by some shippers to make it into some cliched romance.

For sure, Erwin trusted Levi above everyone else, and in the end, that trust was rewarded, because Levi saw through to Erwin's heart, in a way I think even Erwin himself couldn't see. Levi trusted in Erwin for a reason too. He saw a goodness in Erwin that Erwin was blind to. So when Erwin doubted his own worth as a leader, and was beginning to question if he'd committed some horrific wrong because his personal motivation underpinned his commandership, Levi reaffirmed his belief in him and gave him a chance at redemption. Indeed, Levi gave Erwin his humanity back, when it was on the verge of being lost, and in the end, by choosing as he did to let Erwin die, he allowed Erwin to keep his humanity and to die worthy of his title.

That's way more powerful and meaningful than some silly, formulaic love story where Levi betrays everyone and everything for his love of one man, lol. I don't even know why people are into that concept, or into the concept of Levi being so rapturously enamored with Erwin, that nothing else matters to him but pleasing him or doing his bidding.

Levi chose to follow Erwin because he believed in Erwin as a leader with a far reaching vision, and as someone who could lead humanity to victory over the titans, and was pure in his intentions to fight for humanity. He saw him as admirably devoted to that duty, and believed in him for that devotion.

Anyway, thank you again for reaching out!

#Levi Ackerman #Erwin Smith

[loosescrewslefty]

I thought when one of the directors released a promo art of hunter and willow holding hands and the other promo art of them looking back, I thought they were gonna be canon in the first special but it felt like they were tricking us into thinking they’ll become canon in the first special. Any thoughts about this?

I know a lot of people are complaining about the lack of Huntlow in the special, but I'm actually pretty happy with what we got. At it's heart, The Owl House is a show centered around FAMILY, not romance. Even Lumity really didn't have a massive presence in the special, just a few nods that they're together and happy in between the main plot about Luz, Hunter, and Camila. I'm actually a little more disappointed that we likely won't see much more of Vee going forward, since she seemed to fit in pretty well with the group dynamic (Especially with Willow) and I'd love to see that continue to build.

As far as shipping goes, I've always been really happy that Huntlow is a pairing told through implication and build up instead of being blatant. This leaves fans like me with a lot of room to fill in the blanks, and makes rewatching the show rewarding because you notice little clues about the relationship you might have missed before (like the post I just made about Hunter having his own copy of the photo of him and Willow gardening together, and keeping it next to his bed)

For me as a fan, having the freedom to interact with the media, characters, and ship on a personal level is the most fun thing a show can give me, and it fosters a community that talks with one another and bonds over a mutual passion.

And I'm pretty sure that that environment is entirely intentional. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Lumity B-Plot in Any Sport in a Storm ended like this;

Canon crumbs are fun, but I don't need anything super in-your-face as far as Huntlow goes. The entire reason I usually settle my attention on crackships is because there is so much freedom to explore with them and build the relationships (the first date, nicknames, what they argue about, how they'd be as parents) with your own hands without ever being concerned about canon invalidating those ideas. And Huntlow gives us JUST enough canon tease to get us more attention than a crackship ever would without taking that freedom away from us.

#the owl house #toh #huntlow #thanks to them #any sport in a storm #spoilers #season 3 spoilers #toh season 3