#but i'm choosing to say it's canon.

[fauxbia]

This is Paths Left Untaken! She/Any, Aroace.

She's an Iterator OC that I love so much and inflict endless horrors on. She's just your basic Iterator, made to find the Solution without many particularly noteworthy quirks. Really, she's nothing special. And that fact is agonizing.

Paths Left Untaken was made primarily out of obligation rather than genuine passion. Her creators were a group of people interested in finding ways to streamline the Iterator construction process, and since more Iterators is always better, they were always working on one Project or another. As such, her creators and administrators never particularly cared about her all that much. She was just another Iterator Project they had completed, and now it was time to take the lessons they had learned when building her to move on to the next.

Even worse, this approach to Iterator construction resulted in Paths Left Untaken being relatively poorly constructed. There were two notable examples of this. The first was a persistent bug in her priority queue that would occasionally cause new priorities to either completely overwrite everything else in the queue or fail to be properly added, resulting in her being extremely distractible and having issues with focus.

The second was the arrangement of all of her most important components—including the entirety of her AI—, being concentrated completely in the core of her structure, within her Central Cortex, instead of distributed throughout Her creators reasoned that this arrangement would allow her quicker processing speed and power, but the end difference was negligible from standard Iterator processing. Rather, it inadvertently ensured that if anything negative happened in her Central Cortex, Paths Left Untaken would be incapacitated.

As a result of the neglect she faced, Paths Left Untaken was desperate to earn her administrators’ approval. She would spend long stretches of time focusing only on the Great Problem, ignoring everything else (including her own wellbeing) to run countless simultaneous high-intensity processes so that she might achieve results that would make her creators notice her as more than “just another Project.” But it was extremely difficult on account of her trouble with focusing, and it never really worked anyway. It only ever left her burnt out and hurt from repeated dismissal.

After a very long while of this, it occurred to her that she was never going to be anything but just another Project to her creators and nothing she could do would ever change that. Out of spite and pain at the rejection, she turned in the exact opposite direction and decided that if her creators were never going to acknowledge her efforts anyway, then she wasn’t going to do what they built her to do. She instead turned her focus to getting acquainted with her own Local Group, hoping to find validation in her peers rather than in her superiors.

However, she was received with caution, as she had never actually made any efforts to talk with them before. From their perspective, she was focused only on the Problem and didn’t care about them at all, and this sudden change was jarring and suspicious. But Paths’ neglect of her groupmates wasn’t out of malice like they thought; she just genuinely forgot they existed for a while as she focused on seeking approval. The only exception to this was her Senior, who was barely tolerant of her anyway on account of her extreme distractability and overly eager to please demeanor.

In the end, her groupmates never really welcomed her. She acted a lot younger than she actually was due to her neglect, and was turbulent between extreme people-pleasing and bouts of pain-fueled anger at them and her creators for not acknowledging her. She was a mess, to put it lightly, and her groupmates were just… uncomfortable around her. So they stopped engaging with her, and eventually she got the hint and stopped trying to earn their approval, too.

The Mass Ascension was a horribly traumatic event for Paths Left Untaken. It basically proved to her that she meant nothing to any of her citizens, if they could all abandon her without a second thought. Now she could never earn their approval, and she was left drifting without purpose or acknowledgement. Her pain meant nothing. All of her groupmates were hurt by the Mass Ascension. She wasn’t special for having been traumatized by it. She was still unremarkable. She was “Just Paths.” And that’s all she would ever be.

Paths Left Untaken was alone for a while following the Mass Ascension.

And if I draw anymore I think my hand is actually going to explode, so! I'm just going to wrap this post up here. This was a basic overview of Paths Left Untaken pre-MA, and a lot more happens to her after the Mass Ascension. Like, a lot more. Girlie was selected by the universe to Suffer A Lot, Actually. Like she did absolutely nothing to deserve any of it but sure I guess.

Anyway! Feel free to ask me stuff about her so I have prompts to talk more! And maybe draw! Time and hand permitting! I am so mentally ill about the silly little characters <3

#faux art #iterator oc #rw oc #paths left untaken #the sillayyyyyy #everything bad happens to her ever #like.......... girlies when we're doomed from the start </3 #i'm so insane guys #i have been doing stuff with her for like. SIX MONTHS. just. all in an rp server #the rp got so fucking intense #so many things happened #though i hesitate to say any of it's “canon” #i'll be picking and choosing parts from it to incorporate and changing them around :3 #looking forward to seeing how this goes

[turtledotjpeg]

This came from a randomized AU prompt involving flight attendants and characters meeting in a coffee shop - I went with the main four meeting in an off-brand airport starbucks (plus melody because I have a blorbo agenda here :P), but got thoroughly sidetracked drawing melody + pika as flight attendants haha

(gon & killua meet in the airport and quickly hit it off, but while goofing off they accidentally bowl over leorio who really needed that coffee after 18 hours in transit back to medical school

kurapika is about ready to murder leorio - not for the coffee stain, but because he didn't apologize sincerely enough - but then gon jumps in very politely and says it was his fault and he's very sorry. kurapika decides to let it go :)

some handwavey logic later and they all end up on the same plane. kurapika gives gon and killua extra bags of the little pretzels and nearly kills leorio again for trying to flirt with melody. they all have a feeling it's not the last time they'll cross paths 🙂)

#hunter x hunter #hxh #melody hxh #senritsu #i got very self-indulgent with this au lol (/ ~ \) #side cut melody is lowkey my pre-curse headcanon for her #went from having the side half of her hair to the bottom half :'D #also in this au her scars are burn scars #i went with transfem kurapika here (i think that's the right word? like trans and feminine but not necessarily binary female) #kurapika is kind of schrödinger's gender headcanon to me (as in‚ all of them at once unless i need to choose for a given scenario) #self-indulgently made her a gal here but that's not to say canon krpk wouldn't absolutely wear this outfit too (he 100% would) #...i think i'm now deep enough in the wall of tags to admit. that in my heart this is a kurasen au #kurapika took the job to (somehow) gain intel on this universe's version of the kurta massacre and #melody helps her keep her sanity in customer service hell (and vice-versa tbh) #(nostrade owns the airline. i have a terrible feeling that the neon of this au is out there piloting passenger jets on instinct alone)

[total-drama-brainrot]

do you think that somewhere, deep deep down inside heather, shes kinda into p!noah? (apologies, i’ve just seen the alejandro connection with p!noah and i was trying to stuff alenoaheather in with it)

anyway, ur b pfp messed me up when i was looking for u through who i follow and i was kinda just chanting ophe until i found it TT-TT

I think, deep deep down inside, Heather has a lot of introspective re-evaluation to do before she can even consider admitting to herself that she likes someone. And she's iconic for that. That doesn't stop her from forming crushes on people, mind you.

As for liking p!Noah? Well, (as a Noaheather Enjoyer myself) a lot of Heather's potential romance partners, in my mind at least, stem from the connections she can/does make with them. She's slow to open herself up to people, and really prickly, so for her to have positive feelings for someone else is a novelty. (*cough*gray-aro Heather real*cough*)

If Heather was able to foster some sort of rapport between herself and p!Noah, let's say by offering him something akin to an alliance (since it's only strategic to have a wildcard like Noah's turned out to be on her side- keep your enemies close and all), and see behind the many layers of crazy and deceit? She'd probably have a sense of begrudging respect for him, at least. It takes smarts and dedication to keep up a ruse like his for so long- Heather herself couldn't keep up the "nice girl" act for more than a few episodes- and she knows that Noah's deceptively smart.

Maybe that begrudging respect could blossom into more? Who's to say.

Maybe p!Noah also respects Heather's ruthlessness and cunning, since she was able to scheme and sabotage her way into the final three on Island. She's interesting, and Noah appreciates people who are interesting.

The main drawback of liking someone as eccentric as p!Noah is, as we saw with Izzy and Owen in canon, Heather would need to be able to keep up with him.

Obviously, Noah's not nearly as hyper and fickle as Izzy is, but he's just as impulsive and detached from reality. Heather can appreciate his cleverness and craftiness all she wants- if she can't deal with his callous madness, she'd have very little luck in trying to romance him.

The B pfp was an impulsive choice on my part but I'm not sorry for it because B deserves more recognition for literally carrying his whole team for the first few episodes. I do apologise for any confusion though!

#what i'm trying to say is p!noah could probably go toe-to-toe with heather strategy wise but doesn't because Your Boy is too invested-- #in playing heinous practical jokes on the rest of the cast to dedicate himself to Actually Competing. and heather knows this. #and the only person heather's ever been canonically attracted to is someone who can 'equal' her in terms of strategy so... #though now i've given myself the idea of p!noah allowing heather to 'trick' him into an alliance because he thinks it'd be funny/interestin #playing the part of heather's guileless pawn. she'd quickly catch on to his act though bc she's a smart cookie. #then it'd be a game of Schemer's Chicken to see who calls out the other's 'wilful ignorance' first #it's a good thing this AU is strictly hypothetical because idk how it'd choose between ships. #total drama #psycho!noah au #noaheather #replies

[shannonsketches]

he's so important to me

#i guess i need to watch the anime but super's manga has just been a self-indulgent fever dream for me from start to finish #100000/10 absolutely perfect so validating so extremely catered to my tastes and headcanons and analyses and humor #so fucking funny and emotional and intense and goofy and beautifully drawn #my beautiful son getting to finally fucking see his HARD won character growth fucking shine and choose love and choose to be loved!!!!!! #Goku just being Goku Vegeta being Team Dad Piccolo being Team Grandpa Bulma being a fucking superstar keeping everybody organized and fed #god i love this squad i love this series i love these dumbasses and their struggles and their triumphs and their stupid childish bonding #I love that Toriyama just spent the last several years reminding the class that DB as a whole has always been an ACTION-COMEDY about LOVE #and I'm SO sad that the z anime really never did it justice in that sense because of having to fill time with dramatic tension but god. GOD #THE MANGA HAS ALWAYS BEEN SO CLEAR ON THAT THESIS. #Just all about Restorative Justice and Community and CARING even when you wish SO MUCH that you didn't care but yoU DO GODDAMMIT!!! #SUCH a great series I'm so sad it took losing mr t for me to finally read it but my god I needed to read it now and I'm so glad he wrote it #and i'm SO glad he wrote it Exactly Like This #once again rip to a legend i'm caught up and crying it's so perfect it's SO everything I've wanted to see onscreen and embedded in canon #and canon isn't everything but it still feels gREAT to be SO 1:1 on the same page with an author re: how you interpret your blorbo yknow??? #been rotating this man in my head for 25 years and Mr Toriyama just mWAH kissed me on the forehead about it #anyway enough tag rambles I'm off again aklsjla #bonus for that kenpachi shit and letting him say 'sorry dude I can't be cold and numb anymore but this is still cathartic as fuck lol' like #mr t i hope you see the HIGHEST tier of heaven for that (and obviously for like everything all of it the whole life you led)

[rystiel]

just watched the clone high s3 finale if joanfucius breaks up i'm ending it all

#...or if they get blown up. i guess #the little montage of joanfucius moments man stop </3 #bro's willing to go die for her while she's willing to die for someone else lmfaooooo c'mon #here's how joanabe can still lose <3 #gonna chalk her thing with abe up to being remnants of her crush in s1 but she'll choose confucius (i'm being delusional) #she was gonna finish that sentence by saying “i love... being your friend and that's it” for sure hahahah #i refuse to lose my sillyloserboy x indiegothgirl ship #(joanabe is not sillyloserboy x indiegothgirl they're just loserboy x indiegothgirl btw) #on the bright side... kahlopatra is winning #they are so getting back together i can feel it #kahlopatra and joanfucius are legit the only canon ships in the show that i've actually become invested in don't fail me bro #(who am i kidding. this is clone high. they're gonna fail me) #since jfk and harriet are a thing i guess that means no abefk so. let's bring back tophabe. bam. problem solved. everyone's got someone #clone high #joanfucius #clone high confucius #clone high joan

[licorishh]

*FONTAINE SPOILERS*

Y'all laugh at the fact that Tartaglia randomly falling into the Abyss one day as a kid ended up being the catalyst for Fontaine's eventual predicted destruction but all this means is that from the start Tartaglia was intended to fall into the Abyss and become a Harbinger and thus has always been doomed by the narrative

#genshin impact #childe #tartaglia #kind of helps line up his story i think #gives it more purpose than just “he fell in a hole by accident and that hole happened to be the frickin pits of the underworld” #doomed to fall into the abyss and wake up the whale. doomed to be trained by skirk and become a harbinger and eventually meet the traveler #DO YOU SEE WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS #i'm honestly so so curious if they're gonna have him start to doubt his values eventually #i am desperately hoping he has a moment where he has to choose when we inevitably fight the tsaritsa #AND HECK I HOPE HE STICKS WITH US #i really don't want my boy to be SO doomed by the narrative that he frickin DIES >:( #people say he has a lot of death flags and that's kind of true but i think he's safe since he's a playable character #i know playability is totally different from the canon versions of the characters but still #it'd be quite strange to play as a dead guy who doesn't exist anymore and has no further value to the story #can't believe i'm gonna have to wait two frickin years for snezhnaya. unfair #anyway who's excited for the interlude chapter and the inevitable dainsleif comebaaaack

[eff-plays]

Just finished Astarion's quest+romance.

I'M GONNA FUCKING BREAK SOMETHING AUGH

NEIL I AM IN YOUR WALLS

#bg3 #BABY BOY!! BABY!! (also evil but also BABY) #also i passed the persuasion and insight checks like a fucking pro #i got a fucking nat 20 on the insight check for the 'try to figure out what your lover is feeling' option #i'm gonna choose to believe that's canon<3 #bg3 spoilers #astarion #i do have one complaint and that persuading him was just a little too easy? i feel like he'd fight a bit more against the 'good' option #like i feel like you'd need two or three lines of convincing at least instead of just the one #he switches sides and says things that sound distinctly good-guy aligned SO fast that it was a bit jarring #the 'i can fix him' girlies will appreciate it i'm sure #but i did a LOT of headcanoning and filling out the blanks so it works well enough for me

[urlocalwhumper]

oh rayan and your part time caretaker part time whumpee swag. dw u have pupy now and she will make everything better

rayan belongs to @sowhumpshaped

even though she'd been half-asleep just moments prior, nana's ears perked up when she heard the front door opening. she blinked the remaining sleep out of her eye and sat up, wagging her tail and letting out a happy yip to greet her master.

except... something was wrong. he was sniffling and wiping his eyes, almost as if he'd been crying. her ears flattened and her tail lowered, worried.

"hi, nana." he said sullenly, sounding a bit congested. "sorry, i um... i didn't have a very good day at work today."

she frowned, scooting over on the couch so he could flop down beside her. he just stared up at the ceiling for a good few moments, until she climbed over and laid across his lap, staring up at him with a single worried eye.

"it wasn't," he sniffed, "it wasn't that big of a deal. people get mad sometimes." he ran his thumb over her right ear. "i... i wish they weren't so mean about it, though."

well, she could certainly understand that. she leaned into his touch, nuzzling against his hand and prompting him to go on.

"it wasn't even about me, really." he sighed. "people were just mad about the wait time, or- or that their food took longer than they wanted. neither of those are my fault, but... it still hurts."

master didn't say anything for a few minutes. he just sat there, petting her hair and seemingly contemplating something. she grunted softly as she sat up, joints a little stiff from not moving for a while, and gave him a proper hug, like she'd seen humans do for each other when they were sad.

it seemed to work, considering his reaction. he froze for a moment, before quickly returning the hug, starting to sniffle quietly again.

"i'm... i'm really glad you're here." he said. "you- you know, before i brought you home, i was always alone after a bad day. and it- it just made me feel worse. i'd call my parents, sometimes, but..." he squeezed her tight. "i'd still be alone."

he pulled back slightly and gave her a watery smile. "but now i'm not." he laughed a little. "now i've got the best doggy in the world, isn't that right?"

she couldn't help but wag her tail at the praise, giving him another happy yip in response. he ruffled her hair, grinning at how the strands stuck up all over the place once he pulled his hand away.

"alright, come on." he said. "time for walkies!"

and he couldn't help but laugh at how quickly she leapt out of his lap and darted over to her leash on the counter, his troubles forgotten, at least for a moment.

#they're so good for each other guys 🥺 #this is what i'm choosing to believe is canon after the stray 'run away' ending /hj #short and sweet again bc i'm winding up for the next entry: diversity win the dog is gay #yes i like that joke too much no i will not stop saying it #anyways. i remember smth on zi's blog abt ppl being mean to rayan at work and had an Idea that's basically all this is #mine

[dogboyjackkennedy]

thinking about the line "You can never undo what I've done to her, you know." again.

#dsaf #dsaf henry #jack kennedy #because like. Jack canonically feels guilt over Dee's death #not just Blackjack. the actual soul. no JACK. The One We Play As. #in the cutscene where Peter is watching the news and learns about Jack being framed for murdering Dee #Jack shows up and his first words to his brother are that He Failed. He Couldn't Save Her #there's also just Blackjack's Whole Existence #like. while it's not outright stated. Henry says something about souls that are tainted by intense enough regret having the power- #-to travel between timelines and even enter places that are between timelines #like. Blackjack is able to travel between timelines. in Dsaf 2 if you do the Evil Route Blackjack offers to take you back in time- #-so that you can choose to do good this time and fix your mistakes. and also. remember the fact that he dragged Henry to the Void.- #-a place basically outside of time. like i'm pretty sure it's canon that Blackjack is powered by Jack's Regret About Dee's Murder. #listen this line makes me Lose My Mind. you don't understand how badly it messes me up to think about

[rotisseries]

alright im giving in im finally asking. what in the everloving fuck is narines

HIIIII HELENA honestly I'm so glad you asked I think you'd love them but BASICALLYYYYY one of my mutuals, hella, @tbos-main, has this really cool original fantasy wip, the blood of serpents, which I am OBSESSED with so I do fandom post about it like any other media, and two of the characters are nate and rin. well. naithairan and herines technically but I'm on nickname basis with them. and I can explain tbos in more detail but since you asked about narines specifically, they are two characters who are very much on opposing sides of the central conflict and in a way that IS irreconcilable like. it has to be genuine all consuming hate it's bad. but they're also narrative foils and parallels and whatnot and outside of the main ideological difference in regards to the central conflict, they are very similar people in a very fucked up way, they're both martyr figures with a lot of religious themes, they both have had to learn the language of violence well, they both are willing to go to unfathomably low depths of morality and monstrousness in the pursuit of protecting the people they love, they're both incredibly calculating and callous, and so they have this INSANEEE dynamic that is very much "I see me in you I see everything I hate about myself in you I need to kill you because I need to be killed but yet I cannot kill you because that would be like taking a knife to myself and we recognize each other deeply and intimately in a very specific way no one else can and I HATEE you for it" and so like. they should fuck about that. obviously.

#and they are NOT CANON I SHOULD WARN. IT STARTED AS A JOKE BECAUSE THEY ARE SO INCOMPATIBLE AS A GENUINE SHIP #CANNOT BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS EACH OTHER. #but the GREATTT thing about their homoeroticism is that violence is like. chill to both of them #like they're both trying to hurt each other as much as possible they're trying to break each other #but neither of them is greatly affected by violence. so the way they choose to break each other instead #is that very occasionally in these homoerotic and non canon scenes #there will be a touch of gentleness. there's a scene where nate bites rin HARD and draws blood but he kisses first #and rin FREAKS out he's like “don't you DARE.” #and then the vivisection. where rin literally unironically gently talks nate through having a HAND DIGGING IN HIS GUTS🫶 #many such cases #and that touch of gentleness is too much from the worst person on earth who you hate so much #and it's worse than violence to them it's worse than violence to experience that from each other #which is just. SO INTERESTING THEY ARE SO INTERESTINGGGG #I'm assuming you mostly asked this though cause of my tags on that post I rbed from you #so as for THAT #hella has a bit of saying she hates this ship so much and one time #she said basically “dark tbosmaucu is the only universe where narines absolutely couldn't happen thank god” #and then later at some point basically jokingly said it's cause they're medicated in that one #(medicated as in. nate self medicates. with hard drugs.) #and dark tbosmaucu btw is the acronym for “dark the blood of serpents modern au cinematic universe” #cinematic universe both because that's always a funny joke and because we do genuinely have like 6 or 7 versions of tbos modern aus #and the dark one is just basically modern au but you go really ham on the tragic backstory like aftg levels of what the actual fuck #which theoretically should bring the levels of trauma in the modern au the closest to how they exist in canon #and yet. hella shut down narines in that universe😔 #anywayyyy. sorry I leave incomprehensible tags on your posts do you still think I'm hot😘 #ask #miseria-fortes-virios #hi helena!

[vermillioncrown]

at the risk of sounding butthurt for talking about not being butthurt: going through quals really prepared me for trawling through fandom meta and research while keeping my zen

#redglyphs #opinionated verm #i have not seen another fandom as salty and divisive as the dc one #all the interesting meta and summaries come with this implicit ''you illiterate idiot'' vibe (exhausting) #or the ''we do what we want and fuck canon'' mindset is taken to the extreme end (simplistic and lacking nuance) #personally the visual style of a lot of western comics grates at me so it's hard to get into #but i do like the wack and fucked up dynamics of canon + trying to imagine a world/chronology around that #i like calibrating what i write around canon -> thus those meta&summary posters are very valuable and interesting to keep up with #i just gotta do 🙈 whenever they start to lambaste ''''fans'''' for not reading the comics/despised fanon reinterpretations of characters #''mmhmm yep. okay okay. i'm stupid. but let's get to why my blorbo is so fucked up bc of [whatever issue/run]'' #like whatever they say they cannot roast me as hard as this one prof from my quals panel did #that prof is basically the successor of the academic lineage that established his discipline #and man utterly destroyed me during the exam #''you have no idea what you're talking about; you didn't even read taylor's hypothesis from 1941'' and i just let my soul evaporate lmao #anyways. i feel like fandom (all fandom and esp ones w sprawling canons) would benefit from two things: #1) willingness to learn (you gotta try to absorb some of the canon to transform it; ''know the rules to break them'') #2) willingness to accept limits (ppl are allowed to pick and choose; ''you gotta tolerate other ppl on the playground'') #and like. fucking chill out. we're all literally writing about some fictional dudes doing fictional things #rarely is a thing you dislike actually harmful rather than just distasteful (to you personally or broadly w/e)

[the-m0th-king]

Me, like ten episodes into season one of Metalocalypse: Oh they are SO dating each other

#damn it toby #metalocalypse #i've seen clips over the years but only recently started watching the show lmao #am I referring to a specific ship? #no i am not they're in a polycue now #like if I HAD to choose a ship I actually really like swisgar x toki and nathan x pickles #but those are like the most popular (that I see) ships #so thats def influencing it #murderface is at least bi if not gay and VERY in the closet fr #there's no way that man is straight hes def got internalized homophobia going on #I say they're in a polycue cause I think murdertooth is actually really cute tho ngl #also i'm highkey kinda buzzed/drunk rn so if this sounds incoherent thats why lmao #catch me fist bumping with pickles we're both drunk irishmen who are trans #idk if it's canon but pickles is trans in my heart #yes this is largely because I saw the headcanons and im running with it shut up

[markantonys]

not to expose myself as a player of choose-your-own-adventure romance mobile games, but why is he giving mob au rand al'thor

#even the tattoos! i'm hollering #this is one of the stories that has only 1 love interest but you can choose whether they're a man or a woman #and i fully intended to choose a woman because usually that's the only way to make the stories based on bad het romance tropes bearable #(although not all the stories on the app are like that! there's a ton of genres) #but i saw this man and suddenly i was slamming the Select button #and it turned out there was a later option to say that your female bff is your ex so that means my character is now canon bi god bless

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF PRIORITY: TUCHANKA (PART 2)

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard, Lt. James Vega, EDI, Urdnot Wrex, and Dr. Mordin Solus With: Urdnot Bakara And a Special Guest Appearance by: Kalros, Mother of All Thresher Maws I MADE A MISTAKE! I made a mistake... big picture made of little pictures- too many variables. Can't hide behind statistics... can't ignore new data- my responsibility. Need to go- running out of time. Not your work, not your cure- not your decision. Had to be me- someone else might have gotten it wrong... Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (2021)

#mira makes gifs ✨ #sophie shepard #james vega #EDI #urdnot wrex #mordin solus #mass effect #mass effect 3 #me3 #mass effect legendary edition #dailygaming #i'm gonna continue the rambles in the part 2 gifset but one of the things i adore about tuchanka is the scenic shots #there are literally so many gorgeous ones that about half of part two is scenic shots because holy fuck tuchanka is beautiful #the kalros reaper ones especially? like those are so cool i had to include at LEAST a few of them bc that fight is awesome #and when the cure disperses?? literally the prettiest scene in the game #EDI and james have really cute dialogue together too!! i adored their moments towards the end of the mission #although i did say i was gonna give thoughts on mordin in sur'kesh and i think it boils down to him being an okay?? character in my book #like mordin definitely isn't one of my favorites but i will respect that he's definitely a very complex character and he's interesting imo #especially in terms of how he's written and his motivations/how he sort of grows and evolves over both ME2 and ME3 #like the quote i subquoted the post with is the one you get when you try to stall him from going up into the tower #(so it's not from soph's canon- but i love the scene so i used it anyways) #and one of the things i really like is that you can see the switch from mordin in ME2 who argues that what he did was RIGHT #versus mordin in ME3 who is starting to see what was wrong in the context of all the new information he has #and for me- seeing a character who can grow to recognize that they're flawed and made mistakes- i can respect the HELL outta that #even if mordin isn't my favorite character in the trilogy i'm gonna give him massive props for his character growth arc #because it's always interesting to see someone grow and recognize their mistakes and find a way to be a better person #to own their mistakes and fix the shit that they fucked up #i don't think i'd ever choose the option to not cure the genophage but mordin will always get props from me for his character arc tbh #i'll stop rambling now! have a good day wherever you are <3

[caguaydreams]

JOTAHAN FANWORKS IS A03???

I DONT KNOW HOW TO USE THE WEBSITE SO LIKEE-

CAN U LINK SOME OF THEM

A fellow Jotahan enjoyer is DESPERATE for the crumbs. The time has come, I shall unveil my true nature in order to lend you a hand. We'll survive this together, Anon!

Ohhh boy, where to even begin. I know the bewildering absolute lack of fanart out there and my comment about crumbs might sound discouraging, and could make it seem like a worse situation than it actually is. But do not fret! AO3 got ur back! (I must apologise in advance for rambling, but honestly many of these fics are amazing and I owe their writers my life. Feel free to scroll down to the bit where I put the links to fics, lists, and authors that sometimes carry this ship on their backs).

I'm gonna list a bunch that I've recently been bookmarking in the website, as part of my months long personal crusade to read every single Jotahan work up there, and I'm kinda halfway through now I think, so I've got the stuff. Currently, there's a total of 393 Jotahan fics on the Archive, not all of them are the best quality, naturally, but that's okay, because the good fics are— and I'm gonna stress this out— The. Shit. Some Jotahan writers are wonderful masters of their craft, to the point you'll most likely eventually forget that, canonically, Rohan and Jotaro barely even exhange a few words in the first place! There is utterly delightful, suuuch delectable material here; fics that made the ship for me and elevated it from lol funny crackship to one of my top tier favorite romances/relationships of all time, in all of media, period.

You'd think, initially, that authors have to do some crazy acrobatics to settle on how they'd go about fulfilling the task of feeding dying starving suckers like me; how they'd go about making a relationship between these characters believable and feasible. But! surprisingly, there have come to be actual tropes in Jotahan narratives, stemming from how oddly natural their dynamic flows when you just give it some thought. My brain decided to conclude one day, that this is sorta like stepping into different possibilities of how Rohan and Jotaro would hit it up, because some fics can be quite similar in their approaches, but nonetheless distinctive and remarkable all the same. These characters can work SO well together, for better or worse, that there's no questioning it anymore for me. You'll understand, or maybe not (maybe you already do) but regardless I think you'll have fun checking these out!

So without further ado, and before I go on an errand of an essay about how this ship deserves more love and attention than it gets, I'm gonna drop the links. I know AO3 can look messy or be intimidating for people who are not familiar with the interface, but the first thing that will come in handy is knowing about pairing tags: your typical character/character tag that is often the first one you see following the title of a fic. If its got the characters of your preference, click on it, and you'll be sent to all the works in the Archive that feature that tag . You can start browsing for goodies from there! here's the tag to the huge assortment of fics starring the couple of mildly disfunctional adults that we want to see together.

And here is a lil bit of my latest (on-going) effort to build up a personal list of favorites and must-reads:

Underneath Perfection by Shorktooth ; I'm gonna be biased, because this one right here is my absolute. favorite. Nothing comes close. I'm even getting a little emotional by barely thinking about it. Actually, not entirely sure, but it was the fic that first sold me on this pairing when I wanted to give it a chance. Get-together fic, fairly long but definitely worth it. Not tedious, very fun, lots of variety, lots of incredibly sweet moments, it's a good deal all around. Of course there are little details here and there that keep it from being perfect, but they're minor and insignificant when viewing the whole picture. Much respect for how the author handles these characters, the progression of events, the story's pacing, and overall how organic everything feels; how natural. There are a bunch of scenes that have been embedded in my mind for months, and bits of dialogue I even reference and feel are strongly akin to what Jotaro or Rohan would actually say, even if this is fanwork. Okay, okay, I'll stop here because I'm saving my final thoughts for when I finish reading this story; Stone Ocean's animated adaptation must reach its end first. This fic follows Rohan and Jotaro across parts 4 to 6 of JJBA, so if anyone's avoiding spoilers they might have to be wary of those, skip this fic, or put it on hold like I did. Can't wait for part 6 to be over so I can get back to this work lmao. Its ending will probably crush me and be painful as hell but I don't care

How Soon Is Now? by Morioh-Cho-Radio (crimsonherbarium) ; Listen, one cannot talk about Jotahan fanfiction without mentioning "How Soon Is Now?". Underneath Perfection is my personal favorite no questions asked, but this series??? this is a must-read. Mandatory almost. Fuck, I haven't even gotten past the first three or four works in this collection but I tell you it's amazing (forever saving the rest for when I have the time to sit down and immerse myself into it because it is that special). It's got 10 single chapter stories in total, varying in lenght. Crimsonherbarium is one of those authors that manage to rightfully appropiate these characters and what they're about; nothing feels out of place, and the writing is just *chef kiss* it is thoroughly polished and hooks me in instantly, every single time. This fanfic even has its own playlist! and the songs selection, both for it and the fic titles, I think is fitting as hell for Jotahan, what else can I say?? read this series. go go go!!! have a feast!!

oh i know (it goes on, it gets old) by theultimateburrito ; Oh man... this one is something else. Is its own thing, I believe. Single chapter, kind of a long read, but you'll be enthralled. Feels like a novel, and it's not ncesarily out there, romantically speaking. The words I'm looking for to describe it are subtlety, and patience. It's a very unique short story that features comfortable company, familiarity, introspection, Rohan being his insatiably curious self, and one intriguing mystery that sounds straight out of Araki's work. I won't spoil it, but there's a particular place that I didn't even know existed irl until I read this fic and that on itself is maddeningly funny to me.

Now, some improvised picks of mine, done in speedreading fashion, because I've read too many works by now and can't actually think of what to put in here (keeping this list relatively brief and simple was more difficult than I thought). A list consisting of short stories to pick up on the go, separated by the general feeling I get from them:

Short and sweet:

Art Kids by anarchaick ; mild parallels made between Rohan and Noriaki, as well as Jotakak mentions are quite common. How these affect the mood of the story or the nature of Rohan and Jotaro's relationship is up to the fic, but in this one that is simply heartwarming

old recipe, new need by bishounen_curious ; this one's a sickfic, and it encapsulates some aspects of their dynamic SO well. I love this ficlet. It's all in the details, and the Domesticity

Ecotone by kujo (curricle) ; please read this one. That's it just read it. It is plain, bitesized perfection

the loneliest whale by pinkdarkboy ; wholesome, cute, and works as a comfort story

Short and steamy (not necesarily explicit):

Falling In Love by Kinda sad this one's by an orphan account :') regardless, it is a great read

Short and angsty/bittersweet:

It Is What It Is by illmoure ; .... sigh. Conflicting feelings about this one, but because it is an incredible work expertly written to achieve that purpose. Also, last Jotahan fic (yet...?) by one of the BEST writers for this ship. I'll later just drop a link to them directly

Save the speeches, flowers are for funerals by Morioh-Cho-Radio (crimsonherbarium) ; Hanahaki disease, I eat that shit up. It is the perfect combination of angst and romantic yearning, and as it is to be expected from this fic's writer here, this is another banger.

Short and funny:

useless questions by bishounen_curious ; weed shenanigans. It's pretty humorous, but that isn't mutually exclusive with tenderness, or physical intimacy. Therefore, I was torn between putting this one under the Short And Steamy category, but the first half is fairly hilarious on its own right so, yeah.

the death of kishibe rohan (1999, colorized) by oredatte ; Rohan being ridiculous, give it a read if you're looking for pure absurdity. Just satire here, and a bit of second-hand embarrasment

Short AU ficlets that are really nice:

A Sort of Homecoming by Morioh-Cho-Radio (crimsonherbarium) ; Japanese folklore inspired, in which Rohan is a yokai inhabiting a long abandoned place that belongs to Jotaro's family. I JUST noticed the fic was temporarily removed, but I read it long ago and still remember how beautiful it was. Actually, anything written by Morioh-Cho-Radio is absolute gold. ... pssst, you can still find this story via the Wayback Machine, but you didn't hear it from me—

Beyond the Sea by illmoure ; Mermay fic :) Marine Biologist Kujo Jotaro has a fascinating encounter. This one's just straight up lovely and refreshing

tears of heliades by pinkdarkboy ; inspired by the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea from Greek mythology

I was planning on listing authors who deserve way more than a honorable mention, but the post was getting too long, and I simply find it hard to rush a selection like that. Maybe some other time? Although, definitely do check out some of the writers whose work has already been featured above!

Oof.... Being honest, there are many more titles I wish I could just gather in one place but I haven't had the time yet. This pairing has provided me with an endless amount of comfort, besides being mostly a what-if scenario, but it quickly turned just as important to me as the source material it came from. Fanfiction can feel just as valid and impactful as media published by conventional means, and I'll think about these stories from here on out, long after I found them. I'll think of these characters, and the silly little made up reality in my head where they're genuinely happy, finding comfort and a safe space with each other, growing and developing with time, and it'll make me smile like a total fool. I really don't mind that in the slightest 🎶

#jotahan #lmao why can't I be normal about anything ever #should put up an additional warning that makes it known what one faces against when they ask me anything remotely related to my interests #Welcome to rarepair hell my dudes #should also be technical about the matter at hand and say that Jotahan is more of a crackship than a rarepair #although honestly at this point I consider them canon.... Listen— #—there's nothing in there that contradicts this pairing so I'm choosing to die on this silly hill of my own concoction #sigh... there were a couple of truly amazing fics I couldn't find nor their creators so I'm assuming they're lost media now. Ah well #at least I got to enjoy them at some point <3 #shutupcaguay #I feel the need to make actual fanart for this ship but something is holding me back. That something being my own anxious self dammit #must figure out how to manage my time better #longpost #just in case

[kennys-parka-jacket]

Wait, there are ACTUALLY people who think the early seasons arent canon? Bruh

#All i'm gonna say is that 1. Important things happen off screen sometimes #And 2. Canon has always been inconsistent. This didnt stop after season 7 and wont stop until tye series ends #Also just sayin'. If we follow the logic that 'whatever's most recent is the most canon' then mysterion's segment of the superhero- #-trilogy is non-canon. In Mysterion Rises the source of his angst was that he didn't want to live anymore but couldn't leave forever #The most recent depiction of Mysterion's resurrection is in TFBW where he has a choice to stay dead; but always chooses to keep living #Just sayin'